Each week, Deal or No Deal Island host, game master, and executive producer Joe Manganiello will weigh in with Entertainment Weekly regarding the latest events on the Banker’s Island. This week, he reacts to the power of fire, the art of persuasion, the latest elimination, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, it looked like a freakin’ 1980s Mötley Crüe concert out there with all those pyrotechnics at the excursion. Before we get into the actual gameplay, what was it like getting to preside over the physical set-up of the game and all that fire? That had to be fun when the flames jumped up on cue and the contestants freaked out.

JOE MANGANIELLO: Fun Mötley Crüe fact: Bubbles attacked Tommy Lee at my friend’s wedding a few months ago. Now back to your regularly scheduled DONDI column…

That big fire explosion wasn’t actually meant to go off there. That was a malfunction. But, in the moment, I thought it was planned, so when all of the players jumped, I just went with it. I’ll say, it made for a great moment in the episode, but it wasn’t supposed to be that big.

Give us your take on everything that went down at the excursion — which included Parvati and CK winning the Worst Timing of the Year award by simultaneously dropping for the same case, and David convincing Phillip to put his own game at risk by going for the $75,000 cash prize.

Yeah, CK and Parvati were pissed, and David basically worked out his own Banker’s Personal Offer if you think about it. He gut-checked Phillip to see if he’d give up power in the game for $75,000, and his bargain worked. That’s the beauty of a personal offer: It tests who is really there to win it all and as millions and millions of dollars are being waved around, it reminds us that it doesn’t take an astronomical amount of money to change someone’s life. 

David made a final three deal with Phillip at the start of the day and also convinced him to not go for safety in the excursion — only to then cut him from the game just a few hours later. Was Phillip too naïve for believing that someone like David would keep his word in a game like this?

I’m going to cut to the chase here: If Phillip could have hung on for a few minutes longer and let go on a higher case worth more than the $1.5M that CK and Parvati were stuck with, he could have walked away with the $75,000 as the last person left and he wouldn’t have been able to be eliminated by David at The Temple. It most likely would have been CK going home and he would have made it into the final four. 

Finally, CK has been playing the middle all season long. That can be either a very savvy or very dangerous position to be in. We’ll see how it all plays out on the other end of the cliffhanger, but what do you make of that approach in the game as opposed to all the folks who have seemed pretty firmly planted on a Family or non-Family side?

To be clear, when you say “playing the middle,” you don’t mean the way that Jordan played the middle during season 1, but rather that she’s playing both sides of the alliances. She’s not afraid to make a move, which I see as a good strategy. There isn’t much game left and she’s playing the right game for her — get to the end by any means necessary and then let the chips fall as they may in the final excursions.

CK has played a very aggressive and emotional game at times this season. She has not been afraid to speak up and make some enemies, but despite it all, has made her way to the final four. Now, I wouldn’t have recommended playing the game the way she has at certain points, but somehow, it’s worked for her and has made her one of the more interesting players from a season of great characters. And then there were FOUR…

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Deal or No Deal Island airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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