Deal or No Deal Island Recap: Big Dickson Energy

My favorite thing about my new religion, Deal or No Deal Island , is that it’s a lot like life: It’s full of grueling, stressful, skill-based challenges, but in the end, players’ true fate comes down to a game of chance. You pick a few briefcases based on your favorite baseball player or number of children, open them up, and pray you’ve got some good options left on the board by the time all is said and done. Survival in this world is one part ability, one part social skills, and 8,000 parts luck.

Which brings me to tonight’s stunning reversal of fortune. Despite the presence of two Survivor legends, David Genat and Parvati Shallow, as well as (supposedly) the greatest Big Brother player of all time, Dr. Will Kirby, the banker has called out “ self-proclaimed free-spirited nerd ” Dickson Wong as her biggest threat in the game.



We’ve all seen Dickson’s, erm, let’s call it uninspiring performance in past challenges, so how the hell did we get here? And more important, what do we think about our new briefcase-picking savant’s decision to break his deal with Dr. Will? To truly understand this era of “Big Dickson Energy” (our host Joe Manganiello’s words, not mine), we must begin with the showmance players began to notice between our island’s Adonis, Storm, and the young and adorable MG. Their flirtation comes out of nowhere, but you know what happens when two hot people find themselves caught in the rain together — sometimes, nature takes its course.

In real life, a scene like this would be an enviable meet-cute, but on DONDI , it’s a major threat. We’ve arrived at the part of the game when strong alliances are beginning to form, and everyone who’s not in a group is gunning for those who are. The most prominent faction right now would be “the Family,” a.

k.a. Parvati, David, and Dickson.

To some, MG is also part of this little group, but from the outside, at least, it looks like she’s not as securely attached as its three founding members. Still, lust is the strongest bonding agent of all, so MG and Storm’s flirtation catches more than a few eyes. The banker must be clairvoyant because this week, she dispenses with the sweaty physical challenges and instead demands that everyone rank their competition from highest to lowest threat.

We already know who can run and swim and shoot down a zip line; now it’s time to find out who the biggest social threats are. My one complaint for this week is that this game is not nearly as awkward as it could be. When Joe Manganiello says the banker wanted someone to be “bold,” Dr.

Will immediately volunteers before even hearing what he needs to do. It turns out, he just has to name whoever he’s picked as his biggest threat — which turns out to be himself. No one else has to name any of their picks.

Instead, they walk over to an ax-throwing station where everyone’s faces have been plastered onto targets. The four players who land their axes closest to the bull’s-eye on the two highest- and lowest-ranked threats in the game will receive immunity from elimination. Whoever nabs the highest threat will pick the next player to face the banker and receive the highest-value case (worth $5 million).

From there, case values will descend in order from highest to lowest threat. Is it just me, or should this game have been a little pettier? Some important takeaways from this game: Dr. Will and Parvati both go for their own faces.

Phillip goes for Seychelle as a potential low-ranked player, but then Seychelle also targets herself and lands closer to the bull’s-eye. Phillip plays this off, but I have a feeling he’ll try and get her back for that later. CK, who we all know hates Dr.

Will, makes an immediate beeline to his target — until he promises her that if she picks anyone else and he wins this game, he’ll make sure she doesn’t face the banker. Stunningly, she goes for it and targets David instead, only to miss his face. And in an ironic twist, Storm winds up aiming for MG’s target, which he hits — after she gives him a shoulder massage in front of everyone.

Guys! Subtlety! I beg! Everyone opens their cases at once, and sure enough, Will secures the highest value, meaning he is, indeed, seen as the biggest threat in the game. From there, the threat rankings (from highest to lowest) are as follows: Parvati, David, Phillip, Lete, CK, Storm, Dickson, MG, La Shell, Seychelle. This means that Will and Parvati have secured the top cases, while Seychelle and MG (who picked La Shell’s case) have the lowest, so all four of them are safe.

This is a telling moment for those of us who have not watched Dr. Will on Big Brother. How will he use his newfound power to choose who duels with the banker? He’s smart enough to know he can’t break his promise to CK, but he does want her out of the game.

Who can he send to the banker who will eliminate CK if they win? Phillip suggests going after the most “malleable” player. If CK faces the banker, they reason, she’d likely target Dickson — so why not give him the opportunity to kick her out instead? Storm floats the idea to Dickson, as does Dr. Will, and he seems to take the bait, so up he goes.

So begins the wildest “Deal or No Deal” round of the season. After picking his own case, Dickson manages to wipe three low-value cases off the board in his first round — mostly by associating numbers with hot case models from seasons past. Hey, whatever works! When the banker comes in with a $421,000 offer, Dickson looks at the millions left on the board and responds with an obvious “No Deal.

” The luck continues in round two when Dickson knocks off a couple of moderately high cases and two more low ones. The offer jumps to $1.45 million, and Dickson is still not enticed.

But surely his luck cannot continue, right? Eventually, he’s going to slip up? Nope! In his third round, Dickson manages to open the final low-value case, leaving only the two highest values on the board. The banker calls to offer $3.2 million, and still , Dickson says no.

(BDE, indeed!) It turns out he was right, and his own case had the $5 million inside. Dickson’s incredible performance teaches us three things: First, he should play the lottery more often; second, maybe everyone should start picking cases for hot models from now on; and third, Dickson’s got guts. Would a player that bold really placate Dr.

Will? Absolutely not. Instead of cutting CK, Dickson eliminates Storm — which comes as a shock to everyone, including Storm himself, who thought they had a solid buddy-buddy thing going. To his credit, Storm takes it like a champ, and MG makes sure to plant a big smooch (or several) on him as he leaves.

The season’s final case value now stands at a mouth-watering $5,531,001. But what do we think of Dickson’s strategy in the long run? He targeted Storm because he saw him as a threat, but I can’t help but feel like this will hurt him more. A backstabber reputation isn’t usually the most helpful launching point for new alliances.

Team Family is already a target in this game, and now, unless Dickson can up his game during the challenges, his fellow players might want to dispense with the wild card. Then again, no one else in this game has matched his spidey sense for good cases. Until another lucky charm surfaces, Dickson might live to fight another day.

See you all next week! By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us..