Also, something thats probably not coming across properly:
Im NOT a fan of producer rigging on Big Brother (Or Survivor, but were talking about Big Brother in regards to BB13). But the rigging in BB11 or BB13 doesnt bother me like, say, BB19, because ultimately the rigging didnt damage the overall season. Rachel may have won BB13, but she was in no way the producers pet, and all their more prominent pets got taken out by one of the most unlikely collections of newbies imaginable.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying about Ben in the hypothetical where the FMC doesn't exist. Personally I feel it's better when Ben idols his way to 4 and then loses to Hnstlers than Ben going out at 7 and seeing Lauren, Ashley and Dr. Mike get slowly picked off to get to the same result.
I agree that I would have ZERO qualms with the season under this scenario. The FMC just retroactively emphasizes how shitty it is that Ben needed to idol his way to the end. ---