['Big Brother 12' - 'Head of Household #10 Conclusion, Nominations #10']

In what seems to be the power move in the ratings ploy game, we had to endure yet another "to be continued" live Head of Household competition this week. It's not that I don't understand the concept of endurance competitions. I wouldn't have an issue with the continuation if indeed 'Big Brother' was doing endurance.

It seems like they believe the cliffhangers will bring in more viewers anxious to know the results. Yeah, that works ... especially on a holiday weekend. It should go without saying that folks will cancel their holiday plans just so they can catch the ending of the HoH comp. Wake up, CBS!

Part of the problem with these continued competitions is the fact that concluding the competition and also providing extensive recap material tends to take up nearly half of the entire episode. How many times can we see Ragan evicted? How many times can we see Enzo and Ragan leap for the Power of Veto? Wait, scratch that last one -- that one is kind of amusing.

So we left our happy hamsters decorating Christmas trees in blinding snow while it's a hot summer day in California. Looking at the task, it first seems geared towards someone with smaller hands, AKA Britney. But that's not the case. One actually needs longer fingers to work the ornaments up the outside of the chicken wire. In comes Hayden with his baseball background. While Britney was breaking ornaments one after another and Enzo was being his usual inept at comps self, Hayden was leading the pack.

It's not surprising that Hayden won. Of the final four, he stands to do best at any kind of skill competitions. This is such an odd final four that the boy is all but golden in the game. His social game has been good and, of the four, he has the best track record at comps. Enzo may have a great social game, friends to all, but I don't believe there's ever been anyone in the final four all these seasons whose as incapable of winning almost every comp thrown his way.

Britney's pretty decent at competitions, but she's so much better with house knowledge than she is with any kind of skill or athletic comp. Lane is um, well, Lane. His mother thinks he's bright. He claims to be a dodo who needs to bring out his smarts. I think it's quite possible he left his smarts behind in Texas as he's not really showing them on the show. That said, he's goofy entertainment, so it's not all bad.

This season really hasn't given many extras to the inmates hamsters. In other seasons Sheryl Crow played a mini-concert in the yard, Neil Patrick Harris visited, they got shopping sprees set up in the house, one hamster got to attend the MTV Music Awards and more. This year they've had one movie for three lucky winners and a Will Ferrell one at that.

So tonight's luxury competition, a chance to win $10,000, was a welcome respite from the monotony and scheming. Now, if they were hiding a real coin, they'd be searching well past the finale date. But the coins looked the size of a DVD disc. The last coin standing won the money and, while it looks like they all hid them fairly well, Britney's inside the box covered with trash and then chicken gook won her the cash.

It's a good thing she won it because she doesn't really stand much of a chance to make it beyond this week. She knows the boys are "tight" but doesn't realize there's an actual alliance going on amongst them. She puts too much faith in Lane while he's not going to make any power moves. While they have a semi-relationship in the house, they're from two different worlds. Lane's more the barefoot, pregnant (yet hot!) and in the kitchen believer while Britney prefers a man from this century. In the end, Lane will go with the Brigade rather than create waves solely to protect her. He can't be faulted for that. He needs to concentrate on his own game.

Enzo worked on his boy Hayden emphasizing the Brigade and how Britney needed to go. Lane, for his part, didn't step forward to protect his little girl. Although Enzo and Hayden were a bit leery about Lane and his relationship with Britney, that problem is easily solved -- put Lane and Britney on the block. The Power of Veto winner is the sole voter this week. They have a 3-1 shot of winning and Britney surely leaves. As a side note, please don't ask Lane to figure out the math, thank you.

Lane and Britney are on the block and I've grown a bit ambivalent about the winner this season. In every other season, I've had a clear favorite from the first week or so. We're approaching the finale and I still don't have one. On the live feeds, I'm finding both Britney and Enzo entertaining. But entertaining does not a favorite hamster make. How about you? Have you strongly cheered on anyone this season? It's all so odd.

'Big Brother 12' airs on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8PM ET on CBS.