We already looked at Ty’s dominant competition win-heavy Big Brother Canada 11 game. He became the ultimate comp beast of the season. Then we examined how Claudia’s social capital and knowing how to pivot has helped her make it to the final three. Now we’re going to discuss Daniel Clarke’s Big Brother Canada 11 game.
With only Digital Dailies, it’s a bit hard to talk about Daniel’s game because the producers didn’t think his game was interesting enough to show much of on the Digital Dailies or the episodes. However, there is enough information to discuss the highlights of Daniel’s game.
Daniel had a great social game. It helped him make it further than Kuzie and Anika. Because players presumably liked him, they wanted to see him go far. He also seemed like less of a threat than either because of his lack of competition wins and he took a supportive role in that alliance. He wasn’t the star of it.
Daniel’s decision to use the Veto to save Ty has been one of the best decisions he made all season. Obviously, Kuzie had a heavy hand in that move, but Daniel was the one who won and allowed it to happen. Kuzie couldn’t push him towards the move if Daniel hadn’t won and agreed to it. That single move has been worth the investment because Ty has kept Daniel this far because of it.
The opposite case for that move is that if Daniel had not used the Veto, Ty could have been evicted that week. However, most likely Dan S was still going to jury that week because he seemed like more of a competitive threat. Also, even if Ty went to the jury instead of Dan, Dan could have become the new comp beast that they can’t get out of the game.
Therefore, at least by using the Veto, Daniel gained an ally with Ty instead of taking him out and then having a different comp beast take over the game.
Daniel was also in a lot more alliances, that we know about, than Ty and Claudia. He was in the Shadiest bunch with Anika and Kuzie. Then he was in The Crown with Kuzie, Anika, Jonathan, and Hope. He was also unofficially/kind of officially in the all-girls group and in that shaky final six alliance with Claudia, Shanaya, Renee, Kuzie, and Anika. He also then formed a separate thing with Claudia, Shanaya, and Anika.
Having so many alliances showed that people wanted to work with him. That at least proves that his social game was strong enough for people to trust and see him as an asset in the game. Daniel also was allowed to make moves as a team with Kuzie and Anika. He also let their personalities be more dominant so that if shots were taken, he was able to stay in the back. This would ensure that if any of them had to leave, they would leave before them.
This turned out to be a good decision because this allowed him to be the final Crown and Shadiest Bunch member standing.
Now where Daniel’s game arguments fall apart is that he has 0 moves that he can claim as just his own. Everyone knows that Kuzie ran his group. She made the moves and Anika and him benefitted from it. He was hurt when Kuzie said that she carried him, but, unfortunately, I believe most of the house will see it that way as well.
Competition wins aren’t everything, as we’ve seen in the past, but if you don’t have the competition wins, strategy comes into play. Kevin Jacobs didn’t win many competitions, but he manipulated so many people and pulled off so much behind the scenes.
He had a hand in almost every eviction that season. Daniel almost had no influence in any of the major evictions. He sort of went with the flow. Things happened to or around him, instead of him bending the game to suit his needs. Nevertheless, jury management is an important Big Brother game factor.
Daniel has only truly offended Kuzie, but he did nothing to upset anyone else in the game. Ty has done a lot to upset many players and Claudia hasn’t fought hard enough to keep her friends in the game. Of the three, he has done his best to manage the jury by simply not doing anything to offend the other houseguests.
Additionally, if Daniel wins the final HOH and cuts Ty, he has one strong final move on his resume. He would also now have two competition wins, and he would not be far behind Claudia’s three wins. This could shift some votes in his favor.
Daniel probably did a lot more than we saw, but I can only go by what little I know about his game. His social skills may be just enough to rip the victory away from Claudia or Ty, but he will need a killer speech and great responses to the jury’s questions to sway any undecided votes.
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