‘Big Brother 17’ reaction: How do we remember Clay Honeycutt?

We traditionally do not write post-mortem articles for evicted “Big Brother” houseguests, with the simplest reason being simply that they’re not dead. Also, it is sometimes easy to figure out what the legacy of a player is going to be. Take, for example, Audrey is the inspirational story who played too hard, or Da’Vonne is the early exit who was supreme entertainment while still in the game.

So what is Clay Honeycutt? There are a few different archetypes he fits into looking back, and we’ve never quite seen this particular combination of them before in the past.

The quitter – This one is unique unto itself, since we’re not sure anyone has deliberately done this much to try to get themselves evicted from the game before. Sure, there have been people who walked from the game before for various reasons, but they were typically personal and not game-related. Clay left so that Shelli could play on. We suppose it’s admirable from a romantic standpoint, but you do have to wonder if this relationship goes sideways how quickly he will regret it.

The romantic – Obviously, being in a showmance is something that will get you a ton of screen time on the show. However, it doesn’t often get you fans. Other than Jeff / Jordan and Hayden / Nicole, the majority of the in-game showmances have not been well-received as of late. (Note we’re not counting Daniele / Dominic, since that was mostly outside of the game.) Even Brendon and Rachel were not popular at first.

The southern guy – This is always an archetype itself, a guy who tries to profess integrity constantly and values, even when his actions are not always reflective of that.

The villain? – Well, if nothing else Clay is unlikable. What he said about Meg to Julie Chen. Note that we don’t think he meant it as maliciously as some are taking it, but still he gave people another reason to boo him.

What do you think is going to be Clay’s legacy moving forward? Let us know in the comments! We’ll give you another updates on the feeds later tonight, but for now click here to see some of the latest, including the new HoH. Also, sign up here to get some further TV scoop on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)