Liamdonahue55

**Liamdonahue55** was the runner-up of Big Brother 5: Cinema. He later returned and was crowned the winner of Big Brother 8: The Power of Two.

## **Big Brother 5: Cinema**

Honestly, I'm not really sure how Liam had this season planned out gamewise. Early on in the game he was very disregarded and his antics went unrecognized as he flew under the radar. However, it seems like Liam never got past this stage, and he continued to stay under the radar all the way up until the Final 2.

Although he would always claim that the following week would be his "big move", it never came to fruition,  and it left me slightly disappointed that I was never able to see him evolve as a player. Liam lacked adaptation in the game, and in the end, it may have cost him the win because no one was able to credit him for moves that stood out to the jury. In Final 3, Liam finally won his first competition of the season, but by that time it was too little too late, with both other Houseguests in the Final 3 having a good chance to beat him in a Final 2 situation.

However, there are a few things Liam should be noted for that went unnoticed. Liam was a major influence in Reality's backdoor on Week 5, and he also went the longest amount of time in the house without being nominated, the only times being in the Final 5 and the Final 4. One of the reasons he may have been disliked was his rat-like personality, which was a result of his consistent lies, some of which he did not need to tell.

Although he was impressively able to swing over 2 jury votes to his side in the Finale, he fell just short of the crown to his close ally BwinterT.

## **Big Brother 8: The Power of Two**

After coming up short in season 5 by only one vote, Liam waited a long time for his second chance. He had a reputation as a floater that was weak in competitions and often played as a rat to advance himself, so when he finally had his shot at redemption he made it a personal mission to reinvent himself as a player who had grown in the past 3 years. Considering Liam came in as the best-placing second chancer, a former runner-up that nearly won, and also had a past rival from Big Brother 5 out for his head, Jared, one would think that he would be in trouble from the start. However, he was partnered up with BIadez for the secret duos twist, who then went on to win the first HOH. Additionally, Liam had a relationship with Turt going in and built bonds with the close pairing of Briana and Yitzer. Given that Turt and Yitzer were a duo that felt close to Liam’s partner, BIadez, as well, an alliance was quickly formed between the five of them called The Undisputed Era. Liam went on to win the following HOH and cut ties with Ninjaz’s dead alliance by sending him out the door Week 2 in a unanimous vote. His ally Briana then won HOH on Week 3 and sent home Candy, another outcast in the house. Liam’s game had started off strong as he was in a power alliance that won all of the HOHs for the first three weeks, as well as a sub alliance with his fellow HOH winners, BIadez and Briana, called The Comp Hoarders. Additionally, BIadez and himself had created a duo alliance with Briana and Zach, as well as an unspoken deal with duo of Jared and Biggy to protect one another. Given that Liam had figured out all of the duos with BIadez by Week 1 and was now socially insulated, he seemed to be in a solid position. However, things took a turn after his ally, BIadez, allowed Nicole to take over responsibilities as HOH on Week 4. Nicole’s nominations were incredibly unpredictable and resulted in Imposs and Brittnee being the final nominees. This caused a massive divide in his alliances as newbies such as BIadez and Zach wanted to save Brittnee, but Liam and his fellow allies, Briana and Turt, wanted to save Imposs as they feared having a vet leave for the fourth week in a row would set a trend and place them next on the hit list. Liam and BIadez aggressively campaigned for opposing sides the entire week, and eventually, he and Briana ghosted BIadez and Zach after they failed to agree on the vote, driving a wedge between Zach and Briana. In the end, Nintendo and Yitzer were persuaded to flip over and save Brittnee, leaving Liam, Briana, and Turt in the minority. Then, BIadez dismantled The Undisputed Era by backdooring Yitzer in the following Double Eviction, taking out Turt’s duo and the only other person willing to work with the trio of Liam, Briana, and Turt. The three of them once again voted in the minority to save Yitzer, although Liam accidentally voted against Yitzer, and quickly found themselves on the outs heading into the jury phase. Unsurprisingly, Brittnee won the following HOH and left Liam’s allies, Briana and Turt, as the final nominees. Luckily, Liam had devoted more time to his relationships with Brittnee and Iconic than Briana had, both through BIadez and his own conversations, and this ensured Briana was the primary target over himself. Despite BIadez’s recent actions opposing Liam’s interests, he still wanted to protect Liam and their past allies, but their efforts to save Briana proved to be in vain when she was evicted in a 6-2 vote. The following week Iconic won HOH and now had Liam in her sights, and thus Liam was nominated for the first time against Turt. Fortunately, BIadez’s connections to the pair of Iconic and Brittnee ensured that he would not be nominated, allowing Liam to throw the POV to his duo partner once they became the last two remaining in the competition. BIadez saved Liam with the veto and he lived to fight another day, but their ally Turt was still in a precarious situation. BIadez and Liam bonded with Nintendo over her disdain for Nicole, who just so happened to be the replacement nominee against Turt. Although the three of them failed to save Turt in a 4-3 vote, their aligned goals eventually led to them forming a new alliance called the bare naked ladies. Veterans were dropping like flies and Liam and Jared remained as the only two left, but he had just survived the first attempt to evict him and wasn’t down for the count yet. Due to his newly formed alliance, Liam was able to win the following HOH at a crucial point in his game by convincing BIadez and Nintendo to throw it to him in the last two rounds. This power gave him the opportunity to take a shot at the Charlie’s Angels alliance of Brittnee, Iconic, and the defector: Zach. Liam left Brittnee off the block as an act of goodwill to hopefully repair their game relationship in the future, but nevertheless he ensured that BIadez did not use the veto to save Iconic, despite their friendship, by threatening to renominate Brittnee anyways. Once he had Iconic and Zach as the final nominees, Liam also led a campaign to ensure that Iconic would go home, once again opposing his duo partner’s interests. He went to Biggy and exposed Iconic’s alliance with BIadez and Brittnee, which broke Biggy’s trust with Iconic and in turn got Biggy’s duo partner, Jared, on board as well despite Jared hating Liam. Additionally, his campaigns to Nicole were successful and she voted to save Zach as his dramatic antics provided a shield against Jared. Liam maintaining relationships with the outsiders paid off as BIadez and Brittnee voted to save their friend, Iconic, while Nintendo saved her for jury management purposes. After the vote tied 3-3, Liam cast the tie-breaking vote to evict Iconic and sent home a social, physical, and strategic powerhouse that he viewed as the ringleader of the other side. However, his victory was short-lived once Brittnee won the following HOH and renominated Liam next to Biggy for their roles in evicting Iconic. Liam and BIadez, along with Jared and Biggy, were the last two duos remaining in the game, meaning the outcome of the eviction would decide which duo earned the duo safety. However, Liam was clearly the bigger target between the two and a much bigger threat to win with BIadez as his partner, so all hope seemed to be lost. However, at the low point of his game, he continued his campaigning and offered deals left and right to Zach and Nicole. Despite Nintendo initially wanting to send him home due to his threat level, especially with BIadez as his duo, in the end, the trust that Liam had built with Nintendo over the past few weeks had convinced her that he was a valuable ally and shield that she could rely on in the endgame. Thus, Nintendo joined in on a master plan by BIadez to convince Nicole that Biggy and Jared had tried to form a new majority alliance behind her back. Using some misinformation and acting skills, the two of them misted Nicole into thinking that Biggy and Jared were playing the house, so Nicole evicted Jared to weaken Biggy. Miraculously, Liam was able to narrowly escape eviction in a 3-2 vote, blindsiding Zach and Jared. As a result, he and BIadez earned safety for the final 7, granting them the freedom to throw the HOH to Nintendo. The bare naked ladies were bonded together closer than ever before, and after Nicole won the veto and foiled Nintendo’s plans, Liam joined in on the unanimous vote to evict his embittered rival from the past: Jared. After his safety ended, Liam won a crucial final 6 HOH in the second Double Eviction and finally took his shot at Brittnee. However, Nintendo and BIadez disagreed with his plans for a second time and both preferred to see Nicole evicted instead, resulting in BIadez vetoing Brittnee and Nicole being sent home unanimously. Although he was furious with his allies, Liam collected himself from his outburst the previous week and focused his alliance on taking out Brittnee and Zach. Unexpectedly, Nintendo’s doubts over whether or not to stay loyal to BIadez and Liam resurfaced just before Zach won his first competition out of nowhere and became the final 5 HOH. Liam was put up once again, but for the first time, he was up against his duo, which almost ensured one of them would go home. Knowing he wouldn’t escape the eviction vote a second time, Liam pulled out a clutch veto win in the final 5 to save himself and guarantee his spot in the final 4. After Nintendo was renominated, it seemed the odds of saving BIadez were little to none. However, BIadez’s threat against Brittnee turned the tides and Liam’s duo was saved in a 2-0 vote, leaving Zach dumbfounded once again. Despite knowing BIadez was a massive threat to win, Liam knew it was to his benefit to keep him around as he was loyal and a strong physical competitor. This paid off once BIadez dominated the Final POV competition and chose to bring Liam to the final 3 with him over Zach. Liam was now in the final 3 with his duo from the beginning against his long-time rival: Brittnee. This put him in a great position to make it to the end, but he knew that Brittnee’s personal dislike of him could very likely get him evicted if she happened to beat both himself and BIadez in the Final HOH. Shockingly, Brittnee did indeed win the final HOH against the odds, and it seemed as if Liam’s fate was finally sealed. However, in a last-ditch effort of a long-fought campaign, Liam successfully drove the point home that BIadez would beat both of them in the end, convincing Brittnee to finally turn on BIadez and cut him right before the end. Liam keeping a massive threat such as BIadez had successfully helped shield him through most of the game, but now he was on his own facing the jury. As Liam described it, he was “a cat with nine lives”: an underdog that consistently made it out of near-unsurpassable obstacles. Briana, Turt, Biggy, and BIadez had all been close allies of Liam that respected his fight from the bottom and his willpower to stay loyal no matter the costs as he never turned his back on an ally. Brittnee also received the votes of her close allies Iconic and Zach, as well as Nintendo, who respected her game, and Jared, who hated Liam. It came down to one vote, and in the end, Nicole felt Brittnee lied unnecessarily and gave Liam the win! All in all, Brittnee had great social connections with players running the game, but Liam made sure to connect with those on the bottom and outsiders of the game, which resonated with them as they cast their jury votes. Both of the final 2 houseguests played strong games in their own right, although vastly different, but Liam’s jury management and authenticity eventually won out over Brittnee’s more snake-like gameplay. In my opinion, having Liam return for a second chance after bringing someone to the final 2 and losing 5-4, only to then be taken to the final 2 and win 5-4, was a truly poetic ending to TSM Big Brother that I’m quite happy about. He did what he set out to do and completely reinvented himself as a player. In TSM BB5 he was weak in competitions and basically floated by unnominated until the final 5 and gained little respect from the jury. This time around he won competitions frequently and was very outspoken with different moves. This got him in trouble quite often, especially when he began taking out huge threats, and resulted in him being nominated 5 times: the second most out of the entire cast! However, I do have to note a few flaws in his game. Firstly, he seemed to rely heavily on BIadez to save him at times, whether it be through physical or strategic means. The final 10 POV doesn’t really count as Liam was going to win that regardless, but other times such as surviving the final 8 eviction, winning the final 6 HOH, and being saved by BIadez in the final 4 all seemed reliant on BIadez’s game sense and trivia knowledge. In addition, bringing BIadez that far in the game also presented a risk for himself as if BIadez hadn’t choked in the final HOH, he would have smoked both Brittnee or himself in a final 2 situation. This is made worse by the fact that Liam actually planned to bring BIadez to the final 2 with him over Brittnee for personal reasons, and he somewhat lucked out that he actually lost Part 3 to Brittnee. Who knows what he would have done in the heat of the moment, but I did notice that BIadez’s competition wins and connections to Iconic and Brittnee helped carry Liam throughout various points in the game, though that is a viable strategy to be fair. Liam also struggled to contain his emotions at times, such as during his arguments with fellow allies during Week 4, his outbursts during his DE HOH, and his consistent attacks against Brittnee. Although he had put himself in a good position near the beginning, Liam’s stubbornness got him into trouble early when he consistently tried flipping the eviction votes in his favor. However, while he dug himself into many holes, I did admire his willingness to constantly take risks and his determination to keep fighting no matter the odds. He made some strategic and social errors when dealing with those in control, but made up for that with the social capital he amassed with outsiders of the game that allowed him to pull off massive moves such as Iconic’s blindside. Physically he was on par with Brittnee, having 3 HOHs and 1 POV, and after the jury hit Liam showed he wasn’t afraid to make game-changing moves despite the target on his back. From a production standpoint, Liam was great as always as he was consistently active and always sent in Diary Rooms. He remained involved in the social politics of the game and never gave up even at his low points, which is a level of commitment he has always displayed as a long-time TSM member. Do I think he played a great game? Yes. Do I think he played a near-perfect game on par with the greats? Not entirely. Do I think he was deserving? Most definitely. In the end, the game is about connecting with people on a raw, human level, and Liam managed to do that in spite of his flaws such that the jury deemed him a worthy representative for the final season of TSM Big Brother, both for his gameplay and underdog story.