The finale of Big Brother 12 went exactly as most fans expected. Hayden won the last HoH, he took Lane to the finale and then Hayden Moss won $500,000. However, what was somewhat surprising was that the final vote was 4-3, a lot closer than anyone thought it would be.
Read My Recap of the Finale>>
That should certainly make you think that, maybe if he’d played it differently, Lane could’ve won. His performance during the final jury interrogation was weak enough that he probably could’ve done it.
To fully understand how Lane could’ve won we need to look at the votes. Britney was obviously voting for her best friend no matter what and Brenchel were united in their decision long before finale night. They said it was based on the social game, but surely the fact that Hayden lied to Brendon’s face on the double eviction night played a role.
On the other side, Enzo’s simple might was convinced by Hayden winning more competitions, Matt was convinced that Hayden was responsible for his eviction and Kathy seems to have voted for Hayden because she likes his sock monkey. Sadly, that’s not a euphemism.
Based on the comments, those six votes were locked and not going change no matter what was said. That leaves Ragan. I consider myself a Ragan expert because everything he said and did in the house was as if he was playing Big Brother with my brain. As he said, he voted for Hayden because he came to win and Lane came to give it away. He’s the best kind of jury member to have, because he’s the kind of person who would change his vote if a persuasive, logical argument came along.
And Lane actually had a persuasive and logical argument for winning. First, he needed to answer the jury’s questions honestly and directly instead of obliging them with lame non-answers. Then he needed to deliver a great final speech.
Lane’s Final Speech: Second Draft
As an aspiring speechwriter, here is my version of the final speech to the jury that easily could’ve won Lane Ragan’s vote and $500,000.
“Listen up, jury, I should win because I played a better game than Hayden. Did he win more competitions than me? Sure. But strategically, I was better.
We were both in the Brigade, and the main reason the Brigade succeeded was because of our side alliances. So you need to look at who had the strongest side alliance. Hayden’s was evicted in week 4 and didn’t even make the jury. Then he and Enzo tried to get with Brendon, but that only lasted a week. And Matt’s side alliance lasted longer than he did.
But my side alliance was with Britney, and she was the strongest competitor to have on my side all season. She won competitions and the two of us kept each other safe. I wouldn’t even call her my side alliance, she was a real alliance.
It’s cool that the Brigade made the final three, but I had TWO alliances in the final four. And I was loyal to both. I never turned against Britney or the Brigade in the game.
Winning competitions is fine. And having a secret alliance from day 2 is great. But I was in the two strongest alliances this season, and the combination of the two helped get me here. The simple truth is that I played the best game. When the Brigade wanted to get rid of Matt when Britney was HoH, who did they turn to so they could seal the deal? Me.
I got things done for the Brigade. I was a part of the strongest alliance in Big Brother history AND the strongest side alliance. That was my strategy and that’s why I deserve to win.”
I understand Ragan, and I feel like if Lane had given my speech on finale night, Ragan would’ve seen the light. He would’ve seen that not only did Lane want to win, but that he deserved to win. Unfortunately, as Ragan said, Lane just didn’t care. He was only in the finale to give away the win.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
