Is Big Brother's Daniele The Best Player in the House?

There's been a Big Brother question that has haunted me for weeks now -- is Daniele the best player in the house?

Somehow, beyond all reason, Daniele and Dick are still in the game. Considering how abusive Dick has been to his fellow houseguests, it's a bit surprising that he has managed to stick around so long, but since every player in the game must know sitting next to Dick in the Final 2 is a sure-fire way to win $500K, you can't blame the players for keeping him around. Daniele, however, is a completely different story. Why haven't the rest of the Big Brother players cut Dick off at the knees by taking out Daniele?

This is especially true, because Daniele is a force to be reckoned with in the house. She's won two HOH competitions, and picked up three Power of Vetos. In addition, Daniele is shockingly observant -- she's the one who discovered Eric had cast the two errant votes, after all, which is a fact that completely escaped the rest of her housemates. She's also a bit of a strategy maven -- she got Amber to basically sign her life away if Daniele would take her off the block, she was integral in hooking up with Eric and Jessica to eliminate Dustin, and she is behind the most recent Dick/Daniele/Zach pairing. She's also wisely maintained an extremely close alliance with her father, while at the same time distancing herself from his actions to the other houseguests, meaning she reaps the benefits of his tirades, without being held directly responsible for them.

All of this excellent game-playing is surprising considering how weepy and immature Daniele has been at various points. She has sulked and cried (usually when things aren't going her way), even declaring that "she wants to go home." Her flirtation with Nick was charming at first, but it quickly turned annoying, and the fact that she is still doing things in the house "for Nick" seems a little ridiculous to me.

But there's no denying that when it comes to Big Brother, she knows what she is doing, and if she makes it to the Final 2, she has an excellent case as to why she should win the game. If the rest of the houseguests are smart, they will evict her the first chance they get. Otherwise, Daniele Donato could find herself half-a-million dollars richer in about two weeks.

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