He's More of a Threat Than You Think

From the moment we met Big Brother 16 houseguest Donny, we didn't think he was very intimidating. With his soft-spoken southern accent and quips like, "I will probably be smarter than they think I am, but I'm not as smart as I think I am," Donny has won the award for teddy bear of the Big Brother house and will probably be a contender for "America's Favorite Houseguest" if that vote happens again this season. But it turns out, if the other houseguests aren't careful, Donny could run away with the whole competition.

As we found out during Sunday night's episode, Donny was one of the first four houseguests to be nominated for elimination, along with Paola, Brittany, and Victoria. It wasn't really clear why co-HoH Caleb decided to nominate Donny after discussing it with his "Bomb Squad," but at the HoH ceremony, he and the other HoH, Frankie, said they based it off of the first two people eliminated from their respective HoH competitions. Yeah, OK. Even though Caleb's rationale makes it seem like Donny is one of the weaklings of the group, he must have seen him as somewhat of a threat to put him up on the block. You don't just waste a nomination spot like that, do you?

Later on, Caleb's fellow "Bomb Squad" member Devin pushed for Donny's nomination, which came along with the reasoning that Donny is too likable and so he must be hiding something. Devin thought that if they don't get Donny out now, he'll go on to win the whole thing. You know Big Brother has been on too long when the houseguests start thinking everyone is hiding something, and no player could naturally be that nice.

Well, we all know the joke is on Devin in this regard, but he is right about something. Donny's amiable attitude and southern charm could help him win this season of Big Brother. To win this competition, you usually have to be a bit manipulative and not be afraid to hurt some people along the way. But sometimes, nice guys do finish first, as we have seen social butterflies Jordan Lloyd and Andy Herren win the whole shebang in Seasons 11 and 15, respectively. It would be a good idea for Donny to lay low and make friends with the rest of the house now, and then make some power moves later on in the game when he really needs to. It's just too early to be out for blood (cough, cough Devin cough, cough). If Donny keeps up this act of not being a threat, future HoHs won't feel the need to nominate him for a few weeks, and then Donny can slide right past them to take charge.

But Donny may be skilled at more than just a Big Brother social game. He hasn't done very well in the physical competitions so far, but (SPOILER) Donny will win this week's Power of Veto competition and take himself off the block. Although he doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, maybe he has more smarts than we (and he) think and aced a more mentally challenging competition? Or, the competition had to do with groundskeeping? Whatever it was, Donny has proven that he's not going down that easily... for this week at least.

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