Entertainment

Leave Donny Alone!

by Laura Rosenfeld

The moment we have feared from the beginning of Season 16 of Big Brother might be upon us. Big Brother favorite Donny, the lovable Duck Dynasty doppelganger, is up for eviction. Now that Livefeeds revealed Cody won the Power of Veto and didn't use it to save either Donny or Nicole, it sounds like the houseguests may finally be able to get rid of Donny, the perennial nominee since the beginning of the season.

This is good news for The Detonators, the alliance that has come to dominate the house, but terrible news for everyone watching at home. Although the season began with Frankie as an early fan favorite due to his over-the-top personality, YouTube success, and his relation to some pop star named Ariana Grande, Donny soon stole our hearts. He's been the most honest, most loyal, sweetest, funniest and kindest houseguest on Big Brother 16, especially when compared to all the lying, backstabbing, and downright rude players still left in the game. If the vote goes as planned come Thursday night's live eviction, we're sure going to miss him, scraggly beard and all.

However, as fun as Donny is to watch and as likable as he is, he really did play Big Brother all wrong. You can play an honest game and go out of your way not to hurt anyone's feelings in Big Brother, but you will probably lose. Donny's niceties worked in someone's favor. It just wasn't his.

Early on in the game, Donny partnered up with Devin, who quickly turned on him to form the Bomb Squad and then planted the idea in everyone's minds that Donny is not who he says he is. Sure, Devin later apologized for it, but the rumors still haunt Donny to this day and have contributed to why the houseguests will probably evict him. But did Donny do much to blow up Devin's game? Other than winning the Power of Veto to help backdoor Devin, which the Bomb Squad told him to do, Donny played nice with Devin. He should be glad Devin was evicted, because if he wasn't he definitely would have come after Donny.

Now let's talk about that Team America mission when Frankie and Derrick tried to convince Donny that he should vote against the majority of the house so they would each get their $5,000. Donny said no dice because that wasn't the way he was going to play the game, and he has something foreign to the Big Brother house: integrity.

This could have been a very stupid move that may have unnecessarily rocked the house. Or maybe... this was just the sort of power move Donny should have taken a risk on. Think about it. Donny could have used his insider information about the situation to leverage some new information or protection in the future. Or maybe Frankie and Derrick would have gained newfound respect for Donny and even formed an alliance with him that would go to the end. One of Donny's biggest mistakes this season has been his inability to become a part of an alliance, so he really missed out on working with his Team America partners in a more strategic way.

Most recently, Donny has tried to partner up with Zach before he was evicted and Nicole upon her return to the Big Brother house. After winning the Battle of the Block, Donny did Zach a solid and told him to watch out because he would probably be nominated next. Donny and Zach formed a friendship, and it seemed like Zonny was going to be our next showmance. However, it was too little, too late, and Zach walked out that door.

Donny has also gotten closer to Nicole. In last Sunday night's episode, the remaining Detonators and Victoria (gag) spotted Donny and Nicole whispering about the game. They basically pledged that they would stick together now that they're the odd people out. It's hard to tell if this was Donny's attempt at strategic gameplay or if he just felt sorry for down-and-out Nicole. I have a feeling it was at least partly the latter. Oh, Donny. Maybe Nicole was the easiest to strike up a partnership with at that point, but you made yourself even more of a target by associating with her, and you probably should have worked harder to convince the Detonators you would be an asset to their game if you stayed. Bad move, man.

It's like Zingbot said: Donny's social game really is Suck Dynasty. Hopefully, when Big Brother 16 is all said and done, all of the houseguests will realize how much Donny did for them this season to help advance their games. And here's also hoping they feel very, very bad about how they treated him.

On the bright side, Donny's probably a contender to win "America's Favorite Houseguest," if the show awards a contestant with that title and the $25,000 prize again this year. So that's something.

Images: Lisette M. Azar/CBS; thatgirlanna/Tumblr; bombshelljanelle/Tumblr; nedskalantar/Tumblr