Renny's Retrospective Remarks

[Renny Martyn]

Hello ladies. I hope you both had an awesome Christmas!

Congratulations to you both in getting to the final two! I assure you I'm going to take everything you both say in this finale into consideration before casting my vote and I truly hope the most deserving player wins. I think it should go without saying but I'm going to go ahead and concur with Dustin that lying at this stage will not earn you any points - and may cause you to lose my vote. Lying has its place in Big Brother when it's done in the context of the game, and within the bounds of the rules. At the very least, you are sometimes forced to lie by omission. But, now that you've made it to the end, I would appreciate complete candor from both of you in your answers.

First, let me just point out to everyone - Nicole and I are not "long-term" friends. I'm not exactly sure what Dustin meant by that, and maybe I'm reading more into it than he intended, but we did not know each other before this game.

Now that the perfunctory congrats and disclaimers are out of the way, I'll get started with my comments/questions. I reserve the right to ask follow-up questions based on your answers to my or others' questions. Warning: this may hurt a little.


Nicole, I'll start with you. I've read everything you've posted so far and I will admit there were some surprises for me. I definitely did not give you enough credit for how strategic and methodical you were. I thought of you as a nice, loyal ally who was a powerhouse in competitions. That is all very true, but you were playing the game much harder than I even knew. Don't let this go to your head, though. I still have some questions for you in regard to that strategy....


1. I heard about the G-Force alliance from Porsche fairly early on but I didn't really pay that much attention to it because a) By that time, I felt I had Porsche's trust, and b) I thought you were more loyal to me and Karen (mostly me since Karen wasn't around that much) than anyone else. Do you think I should have been more concerned about your loyalty toward me at that time?

2. When Dustin came to you with the story about a F3 of me/Dustin/Sarah with Porsche as an expendable 4th wheel, I admitted a few things to you like how I had pulled away from you a bit when Porsche was telling me you and Jun were closer than I had thought. This was to explain why I had made a F4 of me/Porsche/Sarah/Dustin (not the F3, like Dustin told you), and left you out of it. Was your motivation in telling me about this solely to prove your loyalty to the Slayers or was there any other strategy involved? Also, given the fact that I was putting my cards on the table with you, why did you decide not to tell me about the G-Force alliance then, or at any other time?

3. Did you throw part 3 of the final HOH as part of your strategy?

4. You have talked about Porsche's reasons for evicting me and how she has played emotionally, including that decision. Do you think that was a smart move on her part strategically? Did she make the right choice? Why or why not?

5. If I understand correctly, you believe Porsche's social game was her biggest strength. Was there anything about her social game which you think was a weakness? Why or why not?

6. Is there anything you straight out lied to me about in the game which hasn't yet come out? If so, what?

Okay, that really wasn't so bad.... Porsche, it's getting late and it's been a long day. I'll get to you tomorrow.

[Nicole Schaffrich]

Hi Renny, I'll answer the first three questions now and then come back to answer the last three.

1. When Jun and I first decided to work together, G-Force didn’t exist yet. We just agreed to share information and keep each other safe. Over the course of the first week of the game, Jun began talking more and more about Porsche, someone I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know yet. Eventually, Porsche was “added” to the alliance, which then became known as G-Force. At that point, I knew that my loyalty to Jun would ultimately be limited. That’s not because I didn’t like Porsche; as we all know, she turned out to be a lot more loyal than Jun did. But I realized that Jun would never be as loyal to me as she would be to Porsche. That’s what I meant when I said I put all my stock in Cougar Power. If there was ever a time for you to be concerned about my loyalty to you, it would have been in the first few days of the game, before G-Force was even officially formed. During that early time in the game, I considered keeping you and Karen as a “side alliance” to my core partnership with Jun, but it really only took a few days for me to realize Jun wasn’t a stable or reliable ally and you were.

2. Part of my motivation was, like you said, to again prove to the Slayers that my loyalty was 100%. At the same time, part of that decision was also about severing the bridges that Dustin was building. I never fabricated any of the things that Dustin said to me but I certainly emphasized that he was offering me deals, suggesting that Porsche be backdoored, etc., because I knew that I had to redeem myself after the Jun situation. The way that Jun impacted people’s perception of me was, in a lot of ways, out of my hands. So I had to put all my effort into countering that image by displacing it onto someone else. I did that to both Steven and Dustin. When I was HoH, I urged everyone to vote out Steven because, at the time, I didn’t have any dirt on Dustin yet. I knew that Steven had been making similar assurances to both Sarah and Porsche, so I placed a lot of emphasis on it in order to ensure that he was evicted. And when Dustin came clean to me about the final four alliance and proposed a deal, I had to do the same thing. My goal was to emphasize the stark contrast between the boys and myself: “They’re cutting deals, they’re being dishonest, but look at me, I’m telling you everything.” (That’s not a direct quote, obviously lol.) It was the only way for me to rebuild my image after my name was dragged through the dirt. It was two straight weeks of intensive damage control.

3. I absolutely did not throw Part 3 of the final HoH. I’m way too competitive to throw any competition, and I was dead-set on winning. If anything, it was my own eagerness that caused me to lose. I was disappointed that I lost and I was embarrassed by my answer to the tiebreaker question because it basically makes it look like I can’t add. In the Big Spenders competition, I knew that Sarah and Annie finished with 50, and April finished with 51 (which was enough for her to win). That brought the total to 151. Dustin didn’t do the competition properly, which gave him a 0. Jun gave up all her points for one of the powers, also leaving her with 0. I put 49 of my points towards the second prize and 1 point towards a punishment (which I didn’t receive because someone else had also put 1 point towards it). That would have left me with 1, thus bringing the total to 152. I didn’t account for that 1 point, came up with a total of 151, and submitted 150 as my answer just to be safe. It was a stupid mistake that cost you a place in the finals, but I can assure you it wasn’t intentional.

Answers to questions 4-6 still to come.

[Renny Martyn]

Porsche, hope you're feeling better. Nicole, you kinda suck for skipping me but w/e.

Okay, so to get to Porsche. I apologize in advance for the length of this. I tried to condense it but it was necessary in order to explain why I feel the way I feel and to preface some of the questions.

You and I didn't make an alliance on night one, but we did start talking after the first HOH and then more and more until we became very close. You came to me with a LOT of issues. You constantly talked to me about Jun. You talked about how she didn't follow the rules, how she wanted to share answers in the HOH when it wasn't allowed, how you disrespected her because of this. You came to me about how you didn't trust her and how she was playing way too hard. You came to me about how she didn't stand up for you in the Jordan issue and, in fact, denied she had any firsthand knowledge when she told you otherwise. You mistrusted her long before her little self-destruction the week she was evicted and we talked about how we wanted her out of the game long before that week so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it sound like you didn't think about getting her out until right before Steven's HOH.

My point in bringing this up is that, with all your talk about how Jun didn't follow rules, didn't stand up for you when you needed her, not to mention how she told both of us separately that she had gotten inside information from a PW who is a friend, your blatant disregard for the rules of this game after Jun was evicted really made me lose respect for you. I told you I reunited with Nicole and felt that, since I gave her my word before I gave it to you, I was going to honor a F2 deal with Nicole should I win the final HOH. I didn't get into it all at the time but there was more to it than that.

You came to me often about another game you were playing and talked to me about reasons we shouldn't trust Nicole which were solely to do with that other game. I told you more than once how I didn't want to use someone's actions in another game against them. I also had no firsthand knowledge of those so-called actions, and it was a different game altogether, so it wasn't fair to try to use that against her. It bothered me immensely that you would try to do that to someone. Anyone. It wasn't fair and you, with everything we had gone through and talked about in this game, should have known not to bring it up to me, let alone try to use it against someone.

You also had Jun in your ear, after she was evicted, telling you how "devious" Nicole was. I told you Jun shouldn't be talking to you about the game, but you didn't need me to tell you this. You should have cut Jun off the minute you knew she was giving you or trying to give you information in THIS game, from the jury. I don't know how many other times you were getting information you shouldn't have been getting, but I certainly wondered about that.

As far as your game, I feel you were a hysterical player. By that, I don't mean you made me laugh hysterically. I mean you got hysterical about every little thing. You would come to me every time someone mentioned your name. You were constantly paranoid that people were after you and that if the wrong person won HOH you were going on the block. You freaked out about anything and everything that had to do with your safety in the game and, quite frankly, it was exhausting.

I was committed to our F2 because I really wasn't talking to Nicole much outside of the Slayers' alliance for a while. I just got tired of the constant talk of other games you were in with Nicole, the constant paranoia about nothing, and finally the attempt to turn me against Nicole because of stuff Jun told you after she left the game. I decided Nicole was playing fair and she deserved my loyalty more.

You had a good social game. That has been stated. You were online frequently and for long periods of time and made more connections than anyone in the game. I give you credit where credit is due.


Here are my questions:

1. Did you make a mistake in part 1 of the HOH or did you make a decision to stop posting at 4 hours?

2. You may not have crossed a line for some people but you did for me. Why did you talk to Jun about the game after she was evicted and then relay it to me? Do you think that was the right thing to do?

3. Why did you tell Jun she had an "amazing social game, one of the best" when you were constantly complaining to me about Jun's gameplay during the game? Sorry, but I don't believe you thought any part of her gameplay was amazing. Also, why did you make it sound like you didn't want Jun out until you found out she was turning on the Slayers right before Steven's HOH, when we both know that's not true?

4. You stated that part of the reason you played such a great game was that you got other people to take out your threats. First of all, I don't think the people who left were all just threats to you. Secondly, why couldn't you just do it yourself? If, in fact, you were in such danger during the game, why do you think that was? Do you think that was possibly more paranoia than actual threat? Would you call it a strength to constantly feel in danger and need others' protection?



That's really all I have unless I feel the need to comment on your answers.

[Porsche Briggs]

1. Did you make a mistake in part 1 of the HOH or did you make a decision to stop posting at 4 hours?

In part 1 of the HOH competition I did not make a mistake. It was 1 in the morning my time and I had to get up a couple of hours later for work so I was unable to post for longer at that time.

2. You may not have crossed a line for some people but you did for me. Why did you talk to Jun about the game after she was evicted and then relay it to me? Do you think that was the right thing to do?

Jun and I along with Nicole are in another game that is running right now so we do talk. There was 1 comment that was made a while back about her feeling like Nicole had betrayed her in some way and I don’t think that it was intentional on her end to compare it to BBR. It was something that had been mentioned during the game once as well. We talk so much about stuff for that game I can see how she may not think before making that comparison I said also that she did not say anything more about it to me as she didn’t want to discuss BBR and that was the one and only reference to BBR that ever came up. This was also before many details from the jury questions came out so if she felt betrayed it was her opinion not that she really was and my main points that I stated to you were of my concerns based on the conversation that Nicole and I had in discussing Sarah’s eviction. I pretty much relayed just about everything to you and I was on the block and obviously with the move that was made in regard to Sarah by all of us I felt that it was a strong possibility that I would be evicted as it clearly would have been a good game move. You had no impact on the vote that week and I was expressing my worries to you as you were really the only one left that I could talk to and I trusted you. I did not intend to “cross any lines” or try to use anything to convince you to choose me for final 2 in the end as I thought that we already had that deal. Was it the right thing to do to have heard something that I did not bring up in the first place and mention it to you? I hardly think that it makes me some sort of evil conniving person and it’s not something that I plan to beat myself up about but if it bothers you that much I guess not.

3. Why did you tell Jun she had an "amazing social game, one of the best" when you were constantly complaining to me about Jun's gameplay during the game? Sorry, but I don't believe you thought any part of her gameplay was amazing. Also, why did you make it sound like you didn't want Jun out until you found out she was turning on the Slayers right before Steven's HOH, when we both know that's not true?

There were issues that I had in regard to Jun and at various points in the game where I was bothered by choices that she made or things that I felt directly impacted me and that is no secret but those issues were not indicative of what I feel of her overall social game. It is true that I think that her social game up until around the time of her eviction was amazing. From day 1 she made a tremendous effort to bond with everyone in the game and to maintain those relationships. I think that many of the players this season felt that they had a bond with Jun and that is what I was referring to as her social game.

4. You stated that part of the reason you played such a great game was that you got other people to take out your threats. First of all, I don't think the people who left were all just threats to you. Secondly, why couldn't you just do it yourself? If, in fact, you were in such danger during the game, why do you think that was? Do you think that was possibly more paranoia than actual threat? Would you call it a strength to constantly feel in danger and need others' protection?

I believe that what I said was taken out of context. I never said the words I got other people to take out my threats for me. I said that in aligning with the Slayers even if I was not the winner of the HOH competition that I had direct involvement in strategizing and discussing out of who was in the game at the time who would be the most immediate threats in the game. I never implied that they were threats only to me in any way nor did I even imply that I felt in danger and in need of protecting. Also I did also directly eliminate threats specific to me myself, April, Annie, and you. The only time in the game I felt in danger of being evicted was when you nominated me and I don’t find it a weakness in any way to have been worried about being nominated and faced with possible eviction I think many players on the block when it goes to a vote have felt the same way and it doesn’t make them weak.

[Renny Martyn]

Dec 31, 2011 0:24:08 GMT -6 Porsche Briggs said:

1. Did you make a mistake in part 1 of the HOH or did you make a decision to stop posting at 4 hours?

In part 1 of the HOH competition I did not make a mistake. It was 1 in the morning my time and I had to get up a couple of hours later for work so I was unable to post for longer at that time.

Ah, okay. Just wondered because I thought you would have gone much longer - like 6-8 hours - since you got an extension and could start whenever you wanted. I was going to go at least 8 but I posted then went to get a drink and didn't notice I'd posted 1 second too early. It was too late to correct it once I noticed. Lucky you I didn't make it 52 minutes longer.

Dec 31, 2011 0:24:08 GMT -6 Porsche Briggs said:

2. You may not have crossed a line for some people but you did for me. Why did you talk to Jun about the game after she was evicted and then relay it to me? Do you think that was the right thing to do?

Jun and I along with Nicole are in another game that is running right now so we do talk. There was 1 comment that was made a while back about her feeling like Nicole had betrayed her in some way and I don’t think that it was intentional on her end to compare it to BBR. It was something that had been mentioned during the game once as well. We talk so much about stuff for that game I can see how she may not think before making that comparison I said also that she did not say anything more about it to me as she didn’t want to discuss BBR and that was the one and only reference to BBR that ever came up. This was also before many details from the jury questions came out so if she felt betrayed it was her opinion not that she really was and my main points that I stated to you were of my concerns based on the conversation that Nicole and I had in discussing Sarah’s eviction. I pretty much relayed just about everything to you and I was on the block and obviously with the move that was made in regard to Sarah by all of us I felt that it was a strong possibility that I would be evicted as it clearly would have been a good game move. You had no impact on the vote that week and I was expressing my worries to you as you were really the only one left that I could talk to and I trusted you. I did not intend to “cross any lines” or try to use anything to convince you to choose me for final 2 in the end as I thought that we already had that deal. Was it the right thing to do to have heard something that I did not bring up in the first place and mention it to you?

Uh no. You knew she was talking about BBR because you specifically told me she was:


Porsche Briggs (6:35:23 PM): I want to know what Jun was talking about yesterday
Porsche Briggs (6:35:48 PM): I am looking that up again
Renny Martyn (6:35:50 PM): idk but hopefully she isnt still getting insider info from *** lol
Porsche Briggs (6:36:01 PM): I dunno
Renny Martyn (6:36:07 PM): and why is she even talking to you about nicole in this game?
Renny Martyn (6:36:10 PM): she's on the jury
Porsche Briggs (6:36:13 PM): ??
Porsche Briggs (6:36:25 PM): she brought it up im finding it now
Porsche Briggs (6:36:39 PM): its on my phone
Porsche Briggs (6:36:51 PM): I wasnt at the comp I need a refresher on what it was
Porsche Briggs (6:37:37 PM): ok
Porsche Briggs (6:38:02 PM): it says in BBR she was devious thats for sure I cant say much dont wanna ruin it
Renny Martyn (6:42:16 PM): well yeah jun... you shouldnt be saying anything lol
Renny Martyn (6:42:24 PM): she loves to break rules :-P
Porsche Briggs (6:42:29 PM): yes I know



I didn't really expect you to answer honestly, though.

Dec 31, 2011 0:24:08 GMT -6 Porsche Briggs said:

I hardly think that it makes me some sort of evil conniving person and it’s not something that I plan to beat myself up about but if it bothers you that much I guess not.

It's not like I called you Satan's spawn or anything, lol. I don't think you're evil, but I did have a problem with some of your ethics and yes, it bothers me. Just like it bothered you when certain things happened.

Dec 31, 2011 0:24:08 GMT -6 Porsche Briggs said:

3. Why did you tell Jun she had an "amazing social game, one of the best" when you were constantly complaining to me about Jun's gameplay during the game? Sorry, but I don't believe you thought any part of her gameplay was amazing. Also, why did you make it sound like you didn't want Jun out until you found out she was turning on the Slayers right before Steven's HOH, when we both know that's not true?

There were issues that I had in regard to Jun and at various points in the game where I was bothered by choices that she made or things that I felt directly impacted me and that is no secret but those issues were not indicative of what I feel of her overall social game. It is true that I think that her social game up until around the time of her eviction was amazing. From day 1 she made a tremendous effort to bond with everyone in the game and to maintain those relationships. I think that many of the players this season felt that they had a bond with Jun and that is what I was referring to as her social game.

Mkay

Dec 31, 2011 0:24:08 GMT -6 Porsche Briggs said:

4. You stated that part of the reason you played such a great game was that you got other people to take out your threats. First of all, I don't think the people who left were all just threats to you. Secondly, why couldn't you just do it yourself? If, in fact, you were in such danger during the game, why do you think that was? Do you think that was possibly more paranoia than actual threat? Would you call it a strength to constantly feel in danger and need others' protection?

I believe that what I said was taken out of context. I never said the words I got other people to take out my threats for me. I said that in aligning with the Slayers even if I was not the winner of the HOH competition that I had direct involvement in strategizing and discussing out of who was in the game at the time who would be the most immediate threats in the game. I never implied that they were threats only to me in any way nor did I even imply that I felt in danger and in need of protecting. Also I did also directly eliminate threats specific to me myself, April, Annie, and you. The only time in the game I felt in danger of being evicted was when you nominated me and I don’t find it a weakness in any way to have been worried about being nominated and faced with possible eviction I think many players on the block when it goes to a vote have felt the same way and it doesn’t make them weak.

This is what I was referring to:

"By aligning with the Zombie Slayers who had become the most dominant alliance in the game I was able to be directly involved in eliminating anyone who I felt could be a threat to me making it to the end of the game. When I felt that I may be seen as a target I made sure to voice my opinions and even if I was not HOH that week I was able to ensure that my threats were in fact evicted. I believe Steven said it best when he won HOH and considered nominating me. He said that he felt I could be a threat as anyone that I had any sort of conflict with was evicted."


You keep talking about "your" threats but these threats were always threats to our whole alliance. It's not like it was all about "let's get out anyone who might put Porsche up", even though you may have seen it that way. Annie and Jordan were no-brainers to go first. Not because of you, but because there were both huge threats. After that, the pecking order was always Parker, Steven and Dustin to leave. It just happened that Jun left before Steven and Sarah left before Dustin for various reasons.


Thanks for answering timely.

[Nicole Schaffrich]

Renny, I'm sorry for taking so long to answer your last three questions; I was gone for a New Year's Eve trip and just got home today. I work in the morning but I promise to answer the last of your questions tomorrow when I get home. I know most people have already voted but I still plan to answer your questions as fully as all the others.

Has anyone heard from Jordan?

[Porsche Briggs]

Jordan hasn't been on since her eviction Nic, I am guessing as long as it doesn't end up a tie that 6 jury votes would cut it but I dunno

[Renny Martyn]

No problem, Nicole, I was just teasing you. Hope you had a good trip. And yeah, at this point I'm sure it's not very motivating to answer questions since 5/7 votes are in, lol. As far as your other question, ask your host.

[Chenbot]

The Viewers will be the Final Juror. Jordan hasn't logged on since her eviction, so I don't think she knows that she is even a juror. :/

[Porsche Briggs]

Thanks Julie that makes sense!

[Nicole Schaffrich]

Hi Renny,

Okay, fiiiiiinally, here are my answers to your final three questions. If you have follow-up questions, feel free to ask and I'll respond a lot more quickly.

4. To be honest, heading into the final three with Porsche, I believed that both you and I would have a harder time against Porsche in the finals than against one another. Part of this fear, though, was everyone's attitude about Porsche throughout the course of the game. Probably about halfway into the season, more than a few people started mentioning how undesirable it would be to be sitting next to Porsche in the end because "she'll have so many friends in the jury." And, at the time, I thought that this was a pretty valid assessment; she was playing a very admirable social game. But when I began to think more critically about it, I started having a harder time pinpointing what, precisely, Porsche could hang her hat on when it came to discussing gameplay. Socializing aside, what were the real highlights of her strategic performance? And I couldn't come up with an answer. Now, obviously, that was partly due to the fact that I'm not privy to Porsche's DR so I didn't actually know the details of her strategy. My point is, Porsche was gradually built up as the most difficult person to beat in the finals...but this construction of her had more to do with people being intimidated by her social game than with the actual merits of her gameplay. Putting myself in Porsche's shoes, I wonder if it would have mattered to me who I took to the finals. I suspect there eventually came a time when even Porsche started to believe the hype about herself and felt confident that she could easily beat either of us in the finals. If her final decision wasn't purely an emotional one, I do believe it was ultimately arbitrary. But I don't want to answer your question by basically saying "I don't know." From what I know (and I emphasize that because I'm fully cognizant of the fact that my knowledge of certain aspects of everyone's gameplay may be limited), I think Porsche made a mistake in choosing me. There were times in the game when you mentioned being very distant from some of the jurors (Steven and Dustin, in particular), and when I realized Porsche had a final two deal with you, I imagined that this was one of the reasons. Moreover, I think the decision damaged Porsche's self-representation as a strategic player. The decision was essentially based on hurt feelings and disappointment over your being a "dishonest" player. (Personally, your actions were entirely within the rules of the game; interestingly, though, other instances in which a player's actions have been completely against the rules didn't draw Porsche's ire like your "dishonesty" did.) Had Porsche said, "Renny, I never actually planned to take you; I was trying to cause a rift between you and Nicole. I was actually going to take Nicole because I think she's easier to beat," then I wouldn't think the way I do about her decision. The fact is, she made it very clear that her motivation was personal, not tactical. It was the most important decision that Porsche made in the entire season and it was completely devoid of strategic thought; that's why I think it was a mistake.

5. If I had to identify a weakness in Porsche's social game, I think it was a general underestimation of other people's relationships. Porsche was very, very close to a lot of players, and there were times when I got the feeling that Porsche assumed she was the closest with these players, even when this wasn't the case. We are all closer with some players than others, and our relationships with each person is different. For example, I think I relate to Dustin very differently from the way that Porsche does. It isn't an issue of who's "closer" (and Porsche very well might be); it's simply that we're close in different ways. I think that Porsche's underestimation of these relationships made it more difficult to pinpoint some of the very important strategic links that existed between her competitors (ie. our alliance).

6. As far as I can remember, there's nothing that I deliberately lied to you about. My not telling you about G-Force was a lie by omission, but I never told you any outright lies and I never fabricated a thing. It could be argued that I misrepresented things - whether it was over-emphasizing other people's dishonesty or underplaying my own apprehensions about the game - but this was never specific to you. If you're thinking of something specific, it's possible that I just might be forgetting at the moment (it's been a long season). On the other hand, maybe something was misrepresented to you as a lie along the way. If that's the case, feel free to post a follow up and I'll address it openly and honestly. At the end of the day, my most binding loyalty in this game was to you. I was always playing the game, but I never deliberately lied to you and I never tried to mislead or deceive you.

Again, I'm sorry for taking so long to answer. I didn't want to just skip through it and answer half-heartedly. Thanks for your questions.

[Renny Martyn]

Thanks, Nicole. No, there was nothing specific I thought you lied to me about. I was just curious, lol.



Thank you both for your answers. I'm satisfied. FYI all the votes except mine are in, according to the newsfader, so you might want to just kiss up to me in your closing statements.

[James Rhine]

According to the finale instructions, there are no closing statements. So please cast your vote Renny.

[Renny Martyn]

Oh okay. Thanks James!