[BB22]

From the official Big Brother site, Day 68:

Even though he often says things that upset people, Marcus does like people to get on. So, after the catastrophic events of the past 24 hours manifesting themselves as a Halfwit hate campaign, Marcus did his best to get people to see Halfwit in a better light.

"He brings it all upon himself. He pushes his views on other people," railed Charlie as Marcus talked to a few of the housemates in the Pool.

"I think Bea is very negative," said Marcus, trying to take the heat off Halfwit by explaining the complex relationship Bea and Halfwit have. "I think she overreacts to stuff in here and she still doesn't understand that this is a game. That's all Freddie is going on about. I know you're all thinking Freddie should drop it, but you don't see all the things that he has to drop," he added.

"Cut him a bit of slack," Marcus suggested, "and don't just think he's bringing it all on himself. He might be doing it a little bit, but not the whole way."

Rodrigo and Dogface, who were also listening intently to Marcus seemed to broadly understand what Marcus was trying to say, but Charlie wasn't to be convinced. And Bea certainly wasn't to be convinced either after Marcus left the Pool to join Bea in the Living Area.

"Freddie has turned on me," sighed Bea, trying to get Marcus on side. But Marcus was sticking to his guns.

"He hasn't turned on you, I don't think you realise some of the things you say and the impact they have. I think you don't even register when you're doing it," Marcus told her, trying to make her understand that comments from her hurt Halfwit especially hard.

"It feels like he's entitled to say what he likes and I'm supposed to not react. It's just cause and effect. I think Freddie's paranoid," she replied.

"No, he's not paranoid," said Marcus directly. "He had five weeks of going up for Eviction. You weren't here for the first few weeks when everybody was just at him. That doesn't just go away," Marcus reminded her.

Ahh, the wisdom of the Irrepressible Dark Horse...

I think I pretty much agree with everything Marcus said there, especially the last part about the early weeks and how they have affected Freddie. And I particularly like how he handled Bea.