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Sunday, August 30, 2015

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 30 Recap

For the few of you who visited the site on Thursday looking for a recap, I have an explanation. I was in the process of writing one when the skies suddenly opened up for a record-setting downpour. In less than an hour, my little city saw six inches of rain fall. Cars were floating down the streets; a few businesses lost their roofs. It was nuts.

Of course, I was oblivious to this. I was frantically writing until right after the jury house segment began. It was here that our local affiliate began cutting in with weather updates, followed by my cable system's EAS warnings.

Over the course of the last 45 minutes, I saw less than a third of it. I missed Becky showing up at the jury house. I missed John and Steve's speeches, and the votes. I didn't get to see the jurors go back into the house.

I did witness the start of the HOH competition, though, and the few minutes that remained when the feeds came on after the end of the broadcast. Somehow, that sorry example of an "endurance" competition is going to dominate the beginning of tonight's episode. How they'll stretch it out to the usual two segments will be interesting.

So let's get going with the comp. In case you didn't see Thursday's show, it's similar to a season 11 competition. This time, they're standing on small plates attached to a rope. The entire apparatus spins around in a circle that also includes a couple of "Yellow Submarine"-ish giant "hands". Last one standing in the new HOH, and the last juror standing gets to return to the house.

It all starts with Shelli babbling about the "importance" of this competition. Jackie says she's "ready to play". Yeah, they're all basically stating the obvious. Steve doesn't want Jackie's return, though. Liz doesn't want JohnnyMac back because they could be "royally screwed". John says the hands touch him "inappropriately", and Vanessa says this comp is important. See, it's all predictable!

We do get a rule verification here. One foot has to be touching at all times. So shut up with the online petitions.

Clow music then comes on, which of course means it's time for stupid comments from Meg and James.

Austin then babbles about how it's so essential that one of his twins win this competition, and almost immediately Julia drops. Time to start over with the commentary, as Shelli babbles about how tough this competition is. It's supposedly spinning oh so fast. Meg states that even though they're working with the twins and Austin, she needs to do well. We then see Steve and Meg both drop. Shocker! James now thinks he has to win, especially if Shelli returns to the house and comes after him for sending out Clay. Shelli affirms that's exactly what she wants to do (although she has said before it's Vanessa she's after). James then goes into a spin and drops.

At this point, it's nothing but jurors, Liz, and Vanessa in the game. Vanessa is crouched down so low that her ass is on the plate, but both of her feet are firmly in place. Becky is finally seen on camera, which is interesting as we have yet to hear anything from her. Liz then drops.

Jackie's feet then slip down, so she's out. Vanessa is then spinning out of control, and she says she then notices that she's the only non-juror in the comp. "There's no way I'm leaving my fate in their hands." Becky then hits the hand and falls. She claims to be "devastated" as she "gave it my all". Shelli is then out, which means that John is officially coming back to the house. "This is awesome. Now I just got to win HOH." For some reason, well for obvious reasons for anybody who didn't watch the competition live, we head to commercials.

Just in case you forgot, we're now reminded that it's between John and Vanessa for HOH. Austin is nervous. Vanessa tells John that she really wants a letter from her girlfriend, but he says he has "business" to take care of. John then informs us that right before his eviction, he made up with Vanessa. After a flashback, he says that the rest of the house can't know about this so he refuses her deal. He hasn't received a letter, but Vanessa reaffirms that he's safe. He then drops, making Vanessa the new HOH! (BTW, despite what she complains about later, Meg does hug her.)

They all head inside, and Liz is pissed. She heads into the have-not room with Austin to bitch about what John was saying during the competition. "He is absolutely going after Austin and I", says Liz. John is joking around in the kitchen as Julia joins the bitchfest in the bedroom. "He has a vengence towards us for no reason", says Liz. Um, nominating and eviction is not a reason? They all want Vanessa to re-nominate him.

Vanessa then goes into the lounge to relax, and says that she's "happy" to the camera. She thinks this is a "reset" that will allow her to "redraw the lines". James, though, is stressed because he doesn't know how close she is to Austin and the twins. Really? He tells Meg that he wants Vanessa to go after those three. "She might just come to us randomly." Well, she won't.

Steve and John then reunite, and do a stupid air guitar thing. John says that he feels safe, and a super-excited Steve agrees. He's a bit worried, though, that people will think they're working together again. They decide to not be seen again.

Vanessa then enters after Steve leaves, and John (stupidly) admits that he did fall in the comp. Why give her a reason to go back on her deal? Luckily, she says that he's still safe. "Let's take these people out." They hug, and Vanessa explains that she has finally realized she's the bottom person in the Austwins alliance. Vanessa says that they also have to pretend like they have no deal.

In the bathroom, Austin is now whining to Vanessa about John's return. He's still all fired up about John's "shot" at him, and Vanessa says she's going to do what's best for her. Steve joins them, and says "we're the Detonators of this season". There's a flashback of Steve apologizing to Vanessa from earlier in the week. When Austin leaves, Vanessa says that she wants his "strategic input". Steve is a bit paranoid about it, but she reassures him that she wants to do what is best for the "three of us" (Vanessa, Steve, John). Vanessa wants to target James, but wants more intel on Austin's plans.

Filler time after commercials as we have to endure Meg. Fast forward time. I can't deal with Grandma Meg.

Oh god, even more filler as we have to see Vanessa's HOH room reveal.

Back to the game - Vanessa is now whining to Austin and Liz that Meg didn't congratulate her after her HOH room. She needs to do what's good for her game, and it's now John. She wants to target James and Meg, and we go back to Thursday morning when the pair attempted to switch the eviction to Steve instead of John. Vanessa tells them about this talk. Well, she gives her own personal spin. She tells them that James said, "I love the girls and Austin, but it is a game." It immediately works on Liz, who says they've ridden on their coattails for the last two weeks. "I feel fooled by them, and I want them out", she says. Oh, you silly twit.

If you're still watching, you're going ot want a barf bag. They filled this segment with footage from last Sunday night. Liz and Austin had a "date", and he officially asked her to be his girlfriend. Gross. Gross. Gross.

There's even more filler, as Julia is now trying to prank Austin. Fast forward.

Ok, back to the game. Meg and James go up to talk to Vanessa, who wants to pump them for information about Austin. Yeah, this won't go well. Vanessa tells them that her mind is open to big moves, but she needs some information. There's an awkward silence, so Vanessa moves on to how she was the target the previous week. Meg denies knowing anything about this. Yep, that's pretty stupid of them, so Vanessa moves on to pawn talk. She claims to want to put out John, so would either of them be pawns. James then says that if one of them has to be a pawn, he will volunteer. Meg says "no", and starts to cry. "Put me up before him." Vanessa can't believe what she's seeing. "You all are nuts." This is giving them even more reason to put them up, as they're acting like a married couple. James then says that next week he'll be willing to put up Austin and the twins, but Vanessa complains in the diary room that they didn't give her any reason for HER to do just that this week.

Back downstairs, Meg and James giggle about the chat they just had. They think they did well, and James says he'd be shocked if the two of them go up. He also doesn't think Vanessa is as close to Asutin and the twins as they originally thought, and will keep them so that they do her dirty work next week. Oh my, these two are so clueless.

We're almost finished her, but in the last seconds before nominations James suddenly remembers a deal he had with Vanessa from weeks ago. We get the flashback to that moment from day 44. Stupidly, though, instead of racing upstairs to remind her, they decide not to just in case they weren't going to be going up. They certainly don't want to piss her off, you know. Stupidest move of the game, and competely representative of Meg's game. Dummies. Big dummies.

So it's time for nominations. Vanessa had spent the day practicing this "epic" nomination speech she was going to give, so I'm expecting something ridiculous. Everybody has their little diary room moments on what they expect and what they hope doesn't happen before they're all called in for the ceremony. Yep, the nominees are Meg and James. "This couldn't be farther from personal. It's a game move. If nothing else, it's a chess move. Unfortunately for you guys, it's my move now, and as anybody who has played chess with me would know, I won't hesitate to put a King in check and a King isn't worth much without his Queen." Um, ok. She spent all day for that?

Meg says she feels "super played...my game is falling apart". Well, you had no game. Austin says they're getting what's deserved. Vanessa talks about he "side alliance" with John and Steve. "I'm sorry, James and Meg." Of course, James regrets not telling Vanessa about their deal.

That's it. What did you think? Are you feeling ok after that Austin/Liz date? Let us know what you're thinking!


Saturday, August 29, 2015

Big Brother Gossip Show #510: D-List At Best

It's almost shocking that this far into the season we still have so much to talk about. Here's just a partial list - Austin and Liz making it official, Rock Paper Scissors being considered as a potentil method to evict, an endurance comp that took less time than it takes to clip on Julie Chen's microphone, and worthless Meg FINALLY being in danger.
It's a funfilled 2 1/2 hours that you should download NOW via the usual sources, including...

BY CLICKING HERE TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD!!!

Big thanks to Mike for his help tonght, and special thanks to Ms. Colette Lala for her triumphan return to the show. It's such a relief to have her expertise back on the air. Of course, thank you all for listening, whether you do it live on mixlr or via later download!


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 28 Recap

First off, I apologize for not recapping this Sunday's epsiode. I had some technological issues that transpired just before the episode began, and out of frustration I just gave up. Sorry. Given Austin's horrific nomination speech, though, you readers should feel relieved that you didn't have to endure my rage.

Tonight's episode could be a frustrating watch. While there was a flurry of activity in the 24 hours after Austin's HOH win, the house quieted down for most of Saturday. Although Vanessa stirred things up a bit on Sunday, I have a feeling the little of it will make the air.

We do get the return of Zingbot tonight, however, and that's always fun. What's weird is the lack of chatter on the feeds after the Zingbot POV on Saturday night. There was plenty of talk about the actual competition, but not that much about "his" actual zings. Usually we hear each and every one of the jokes. This year, we only know of a couple of them.

So let's get going with the aftermath of Austin's nominations of Steve and John. Austin says his nominee selections represented the "least risk for my game", but still hasn't ruled out putting up Vanessa. (Yeah, right.) John says he's "not dumb" and "doesn't feel safe". Steve talks about how even though Austin promised to not put him up, he saw Vanessa running up to the HOH right before the ceremony. "I'm really frustrated that Austin went back on our alliance, but I've got to give Vanessa credit. I don't know how she's working this magic, but as a superfan I have to appreciate her game play, and she is good."

Steve makes his way into the bedroom, and John says he doesn't believe they're the real targets. Steve again compliments Vanessa on her game play. "She's incredible!" John asks if he knew they were going to be up, and Steve replies that he knew John was going up but there "were certain other choices" for the second nominee. John rolls over and says ,"they won't use (the POV)". They both know they have to win the veto.

Vanessa is now heading up to the HOH, and she talks in the diary room about how not being nominated is an indication that her relationship with Austin and the twins is a "great starting point in rebuilding this relationship in what it used to be and what it could be." She puts on the tears and thanks them. Austin replies that "I may be Judas, but I keep my word". Well, except to Steve. He still claims he has no idea who he is really going to target.

Steve then joins them, and Austin says that if the noms stay the same "you will not be going home". Oh Austin. "This stays in this room here", he adds. He asks who the target is, and Austin says that it's John. "He's the last person I made an alliance with." Vanessa then announces that she's heading out to get some sleep. After she's gone, Steve asks why he's not going after her, and Austin says that if he comes off the block he'll have to put her up.

Filler time, as James pulls more pranks. Fast forward time.

Mercifully, the phony funk comes on as it's now time to pick POV players. (Hmmm, already a lot of game play has been skipped.) Austin pulls out Vanessa's name, John gets Meg (as usual), and Steve pulls out Julia's name. She's excited as it's her first time playing POV.

In the bedroom, Vanessa sits down with a drink. Steve comes in and hugs her, and reminds us that they have been super-tight in the past and he wants to rekindle that. He then leaves the room.

Meanwhile, Liz is worried about how her and Austin have been playing all sides of the house. Liz thinks Steve and John "need to be separated...I want JohnnyMack to go home this week". Austin counters that Vanessa has pulled a lot of shit, but Liz thinks she's always been on their side. "I'm just very much onto Steve and JohnnyMac", says Liz, mainly because she "doesn't know where his head is at". Julia then comes in, and she's told to definitely try to win it. "Things are going to get ugly", says Austin. "Very ugly."

After commercials, we see everybody lounging around as the Zingbot walks in. "I'm back. What's up, losers?" Let's hear some good zings!!!

Zingbot starts to walk but runs into a chair. Julia saves the day. The Zinbot announces that he's "newly zingle, so I got an upgrade. That's right, losers. You can now call me the Zingbot 9000, and I'm now on twitter."

Here we go, starting with James. "I heard Meg is going to take you someplace very, very special after the show. The friend zone."

Liz is next. "I'm confused. Suddenly you're less attractive, less intelligent, and less charming. Oh wait, that's just Julia."

Now it's Steve's turn. "What's less cool than a trombonist that cries for his mommy? Nothing!"

"Will someone please take out the trash? It stinks in here. Oh wait, that's just Austin." POW!!!

"Megggggg. Your New York attitude is very 'Sex and the City'. Too bad your gameplay is more 'Sucks in the City'."

"Johnnnnn! Five out of five dentists agree the only thing less attractive than your laugh is your back hair!"

"Vanessaaaaa! You have been playing a masterful game, assuming that game is the 'Crying Game'!"

"Lizzzzzzzzzzz! You've become such an important part of Austin's life. Are you more excited to meet his mom, his dad, or his girlfriend?????" POWWWWWWWWW!

Now it's time for the POV competition. Oh wait, it's not. Before we get to that, though, Liz has to talk about the situation with Austin's girlfriend. She's not real happy, and he whines that it's a "huge distraction" coming right before their competition.

After commercials, it is time for the POV. It's the old morph competition set in Zingbot's "bachelor pad". They have to guess which house guests are on each morphed photo, and the person who gets through them the fastest wins the "newly Zingle" competition.

We'll just fast forward to the completion of the competition, as it's annoying to listen to their play by play. Especially since Julia is the first up, although she leads for quite some time. Vanessa is the fourth up, and she easily beats Julia's time. John has to beat her time of 2:51, but he narrowly misses. It's all up to Meg, and we know that she fails at all comps. History doesn't change here, which means that Vanessa is the new HOH! "I can finally get some sleep around here", she proclaim. Well, she doesn't. John knows he's now in trouble.

John is now shown eating outside after a commercial break, and Vanessa joins him. She asks him if he's over the "thing" with Becky, and also Clay. "They're gone", he says. "I've lost friend after friend after friend." He knows that everybody likes Steve more than him. She plays up the empathy card, and adds that maybe they should work together. Knowing he has no choice, he agrees to "make a deal with the devil". She agrees, claiming that she has "no one" in the game, but has to talk to Austin before she plays the veto.

Austin is then shown entering the bathroom area as Vanessa is washing her face. Vanessa says they're "dumbasses" for keeping Meg and James. Austin is pretty unsure about this idea, especially when Vanessa says the target should be Meg. Austin counters that James would go nuts if his girl is gone, especially if Jackie was to the be the returning player. In the diary room, he even calls her "selfish" for even coming up with this plan. "If you use the veto, I'm really fucked."

John is then shown later coming into the same bathroom, and Vanessa informs him that Austin doesn't want her to use the POV. "I hope you understand that I tried. It feels like shit to always be on the bottom of the totem pole." John counters that even if he leaves, she's still on the bottom. "They told me that we had a five person alliance to get you out (last week)." In the diary room, he says that he's doing anything he can to save himself. He explains more about that alliance, and we get old footage of that meeting. "I just don't understand, though, why they did that", she complains.

Vanessa then confronts one of the twins about it, who of course denies that this happened. "It was Steve's idea", she finally tells Vanessa. "He wanted to bring JohnnyMac into it." She adds that they really didn't want to do it, and it happened because Steve and John are friends. Vanessa is pissed, and doesn't say anything when Steve then walks in. He asks if she's ok, and she responds, "I'm great, Steve. I'm really fucking great. You're suddenly so concerned, aren't you?"

After he retreats to the bedroom, Vanessa asks to talk to him. The alliance is brought up, and Steve claims that he did NOT orechestrate it. She asks over and over, and says "at least you should have the balls to admit it". The fake tears come on once again as Steve begins to hyperventilate. "I'd be breathing heavy, too, if I were you. Goodbye." She then storms out of the room as we head to commercials.

With another set of adverts out of the way, we then get the POV meeting. Despite all the diary room babbling, it's pretty obvious what's going to happen here. Steve is asked for his plea first, and he congratulates Vanessa on her win and says he'll "gladly respect" her decision. John babbles something nonsensical about how asking for the POV to be used on him would be like "asking a gazelle and a tiget to not each other...don't use the veto on me".

Vanessa then goes through everything that she has just learned about that alliance, especially targetting Steve. "Needless to say, I have decided to not use the power of veto."

There's some of the usual blabber about wanting to stay, and Vanessa whines about the lack of loyalty, and then the show is over. What did you think of tonight's episode? Did you like the Zingbot zings? Let us know your thoughts!



Squeezing 4 Days Into Ten Minutes

One of the more frustrating aspects of Big Brother has to do with the CBS broadcast schedule. I've complained for years and years about their rigid schedule of events that are shown in each episode. Let's break it down:


Sunday. Outside of a flashback or two, the entirety of this show comes from less than 24 hours of feeds. The show begins where Thursday's live show leaves off (7 pm Big Brother time), and concludes with the nominations held on Friday afternoon.

Wednesday. This episode covers less than 72 hours of footage, starting where Sunday's episode leaves off and concluding with the POV meeting held on Monday morning. A good percentage of this episode is the POV competition, and quite often the last 24 hours of this time frame is squeezed into one short segment before the POV meeting.

Thursday. This is where it gets ridiculous. Eighty hours or so of activity is squeezed into ONE ten-minute segment. Ok, sometimes there's a portion of another segment devoted to house activities, but they rarely handle this part of the show in a realistic manner. It's all designed to make us think the decision to evict is up in the air, which is rarely the case.

To be fair, there have been seasons where little needs to be shown after Monday's POV meeting. The decision has been made, and everybody just waits around for the live eviction. That's not been the case this season. Look back to two weeks ago when Becky wanted Vanessa out. Wednesday's episode ended as if this was a done deal, and Thursday was edited in such a way that made it look like she saved herself with just a couple of conversations. Live feed watchers know this wasn't the case at all. It took a lot of work from a variety of people, and ultimately it wasn't even Vanessa's manipulations that saved herself.

Outside of that ocassion, Monday afternoons are generally when Vanessa does most of her work. This week was a perfect example. She pretty much had private meeting with everybody in the house, and the decision between evicting Steve or John has changed multiple times over the last 48 hours. Equally frustrating and intriguing, her manipulation of Austin and the twins is something that should be shown to the viewers. The insipid rock/paper/scizzors idea that she just came up with NEEDS to be shown. Instead, we're bound to see only short conversations held with the two nominees, along with diary room footage where she (and others) proclaim this to be a tough but important decision.

How can producers fix this? That's the tough part. The obvious fix is to get rid of the nonsense. Recent episodes have relied too much on silly stuff, such as Steve talking to the cameras and James pulling pranks. Maybe more of the Thursday evictions can be dedicated to house material. The family segments and interviews with former "legends" can be cut. A couple of minutes can be saved by that uncomfortable time the house watches the evictee's picture go to black and white. Julie Chen's insipid interviews can also be minimized.

What do you think? Do you wish the broadcasts better reflected house action?

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

At The End Of The Day...

Well hello there. :) Yes, yes I'm still around even though I've been MIA since last week. Things in real life have been a little busy so I haven't had the motivation to do much updating, though I am keeping abreast of things happening in the house via twitter.

I'm really hoping that you all have kept up to date on the major happenings by listening to the Big Brother Gossip Show but just in case you haven't: Austin won HOH and nominated Steve and JohnnyMac. Vanessa won POV (which was Zingbot with the face morphing competition) and though she tried to create a reason to use POV in order to orchestrate Meg or James going up in a justifiable manner to Austin it didn't work and she did NOT use the veto and the nominations remain the same. The target on who the house wants out is currently in flux; the main target for the Austwins is John but Vanessa fluctuates, especially since she found out from John about the 5-man alliance that she was NOT included in last week.

I actually wasn't going to write an update tonight either, since not much game-related has happened since I turned the feeds on after dinner but a few minor things of note occured. When I got the feeds going the house guests were in the process of setting up for a game of PotBall and that's all that been going on since.

There was a very short conversation between Vanessa and JohnnyMac in the comic bedroom. He was in bed and she went in to grab something. She asked if he would be coming out to join them in Pot Ball and he indicated he would. They then had a short exchange where John basically said to Vanessa that she was the only person he had left to work with in the house. He told her that she was his #1 and that if he wasn't her #1 then he should just be voted out because he's in the game all alone. He said that although they've been going after each other/butting heads he'd rather dance with the devil he knows. Vanessa tells him that she doesn't hold anything against him because he didn't owe her anything, that Steve owed her loyalty. The conversation ends and JohnnyMac leaves to join the game.


Pot Ball begins and it's your typical game. In the end I *think* Team MA (Meg/Austin) wins despite James hitting the Glory Hole. The game devolved into their traditional chocolate war as well and Meg took a chocolate to the face hard enough to start swelling and leave a bruise. She takes it in stride though and laughs as she sits around with some ice to her face.

JohnnyMac went and sat by the hot tub by himself for quite awhile after PotBall as the others made 'creeps' (as James calls crepes). He gets called to the DR and the twins start a game of pool. They have a couple minutes to chat before Austin comes out. They both agree they want to keep Steve over JohnnyMac. They know he's mad at them for putting him up (well, at the alliance since it's Austin's HOH) but they'd rather face him going forward rather than JMac.

Currently going on is a conversation between Steve and Vanessa regarding the outing of the alliance whose goal was to get Vanessa out of the house. This was one of the things I missed earlier, but Vanessa is currently turning on the waterworks talking about how hurt she is, that she thought he was her friend and loyal and to find out he was plotting against her was so hurtful. Steve is trying to play off that he told her and trying to mix up the time frame. John enters the bedroom and Vanessa wants him to clarify; Steve throws out a comment and Vanessa tells him "Let him [John] fucking talk." She then goes outside and gets more confirmation from the Austwins as well regarding the time frame. She and Steve retreat to the hammock to talk more.

The Austwins were around the hot tub discussing the circumstances as well. They just don't understand John's choices to out alliances, despite the fact that he's, you know, on the block and all. They're concerned that Meg/James may use this info as a reason to turn on them. They are paranoid about next week; they are pretty certain that HAVE to win HOH next week in order to remain together.

Other things of note:
  • James had a conversation with Meg where he indicated that he may be interested in making a big move if he wins HOH this upcoming week by putting up Austin and Liz and taking a shot at them. (*pleasepleasepleaseplease*)
  • Vanessa had a very busy, busy day today and had lots of intel gathering conversations with various houseguests. Please note this tweet of @BBGossip that has the time stamps of most of the pertinent conversations she had throughout the day.
  • Vanessa did have a bit of a blow up just before the POV ceremony with Steve regarding this whole alliance thing she's currently obsessing about.
  • Steve apparently had a conversation with the cameras about how he thinks Vanessa is trying to do him dirty.
I'm going to call it a night tonight as I just wanted to make it a short recap since I hadn't done one in so long. ;) Feel free to follow me on twitter @Shienara33 if you're so inclined. I tweet a lot (of course!) about Big Brother, but also about life and other interests as well. Occasionally. ;) Have a great night!


Saturday, August 22, 2015

Big Brother Gossip Show #509: Finger Popping

Ok, our beloved Ms. Colette Lala wasn't with us tonight, and it's all because of the dead fish antics of Liz in bed with Austin. As we discussed on tonight's show, we sent a compilation of Austin/Liz sexploits to assist her in creating tonight's erotic fiction. Unfortunately, their sexplay was so dreadful that our girl started violently puking. Get well soon, Colette!!! (Maybe purchasing something from the amazon links on her site will help her get better.)

(Note: Colette wasn't actually ill. A technical issue was the reason she missed tonight's episode. She appreciates your concern, though.)

Besides their naughty bits, we covered everything else that happened in the house this week, including Austin's HOH win, Vanessa's mind games, and Steve suddenly going thorugh puberty and growing some balls.

Grab this from the usual sources, including iTunes and Stitcher, or...

CLICK HERE TO DIRECTLY DOWNLOAD OR STREAM!!!

Please leave us some comments on iTunes to help us beat the major shows in the TV and Film category. Or is it Film and TV? Whatever it is, we'd love to see our show at the top of the charts!!!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Your New HOH Is...

Just a short update to keep you in the loop. This was a horribly executed HOH competition which saw us live feeders forced to endure more of the Jeff and Jordan "Jeffloops" than the actual competitions. Vanessa was disqualified for "twitching" her hand off the sensor, and then John lost in a semi-controversial race. The buzzers didn't work, so production apparently had to go watch the footage to see who lost. Steve was the next out, and then Austin beat James to win HOH. And yes, he finally got that victory kiss...which is not much of a prize considering what he's been getting every night.

So this should be a non-exciting week. I stated in my earlier recap that it was important to split up the twins and Austin. Obviously, that's not going to happen, and I doubt that they'll even go after Vanessa this week. Our only hope is that Jackie returns next week, as she will shake things up (if she has the opportunity).

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 26 Recap

While the decision as to who evict was made days ago, tonight is probaby the most important night of the season...but we won't know the outcome until after the broadcast concludes. Yes, it's another endurance-type competition for the next HOH.

I don't want to sound like Julie Chen, but the stakes are high. A win by Austin or Julia pretty much ensures that at least two of them will make it to the final three. They have the numbers. It's even more important to split up that trio than to go after the obvious target, Vanessa.  Of course, even if one of the "minions" wins, it's not guaranteed that they will come up with the necessary conclusion that they must do the necessary dirty work. Hell, stupid Meg would probably target James and then whine that all her "peeps" keep getting evicted.

To get to the start of the competition, though, we have to sit through the various proceedings. So let's get it over with, starting with the (obvious to everybody but CBS editors) non-use of the POV by Liz, who starts things off with finally saying the real truth that in their minds "this week was not the week to backdoor Vanessa". She just didn't want any more "blood on my hands". Vanessa pats John on the back, and says they both great good speeches. She wants Becky to go. Becky is "confident in my people skills".

Liz and Austin head into the have-not room to whine about Becky's POV speech, which honestly was nothing to be mad about. "She basically said that if you don't take me off the block, I'm coming after you", claims Austin. Well, no. Steve walks in, and as usual asks if he should leave. He says that people read too much into these speeches, and he's right. The pair then kisses after Steve walks out.

Meanwhile, John and Becky hang out in the backyard "loser's court". He whines about Vanessa's compliment, and in the diary room says he's not happy that he's on the block with his best friend. He's confident he's going to stay, though, by utilizing the "dead fish strategy" of just doing nothing.

Back in the house, we get some filler of James and Meg. She's putting on spanx, and he grabs her and tells the camera that they're engaged. There's then a montage of the two of them giggling with each other. What a waste of time.

Going back to the game, the ominous music comes on...oh wait, it's back to silly James and his pranks. CBS must really want him to win America's Favorite Player.

Ok, now we're really back to the game. John and Steve are in the backyard talking about their position in the game. "We need some protection", John says. They are discussing whether to team up with either the twins and Austin or Meg and James. They decide that the twins and Austin would be better, as they wouldn't be the top dogs in that group.

The pair then head upstairs to talk to the twins. After some joking about a triplet, it is Julia and Liz that broach the idea of working with John. They've all heard about nutty Vanessa, and everything has been confirmed. Austin walks in, and they joke that he's not going to be in their new alliance. Vanessa is their new target. "I've wanted to do this for weeks", says John.

Becky then gets a shot to make her case to Austin and Liz. She claims that James and Meg will prefer for her to stay, so it's up to the trio to decide her fate. "I know it's intimidating because I win things", she claims. She also wants to take out Vanessa, so no matter what they'll all be safe for another week. She then leaves, and we're supposed to believe there is some doubt as to who will be evicted tonight. Well, there isn't.

We then get our first set of commercials before some more filler material. Chen talks to the house, and they do some stupid elaborate hand thing. It's a pretty awkward moment. She then shows a montage of Steve pranks. Why oh why? She asks him why he does this, and he says it's because of boredom. "I have to keep myself occupied." Julia claims that she's going to seek revenge. "I'm planning something, so you better watch your back." Meg's OTEV fall is then shown. Steve is then asked what he misses the most, and he says it's his family. "I've never gone a week or two without talking to them."

That's the setup for a profile of Steve's family. Fast forward time.

Oh wait, more filler. It's jury house time. Shelli is already there, and she hopes Vanessa is next. Nope, we all know that it is Jackie that walks in. They hug, and she tells her that it was because of Steve. Funny thing is that Jackie probably showed up just a few minutes after Shelli since they were both evicted on the same night. Oh well. they sit and watch the footage that ocurred right after Shelli was given the boot. They discuss Steve's reasoning, and they both start bitching about how Vanessa mangles the truth.

Finally, it's eviction time. Becky gives the first final plea, and she just says she wants to stay. John then talks about all of Becky's great qualities, and "keeping me here would probably be really, really, really dumb, but I want to stay".

Steve is the first to vote, and he votes to evict Becky, as does Vanessa, Meg, Austin, Julia, and James. Yep, it's unanimous. But we have to wait for commercials for Julie to announce the verdict. When she finally gets to it, she hugs all and hobbles out of the house (she hurt her toe earlier this week).

Becky is asked if she's surprised by the unanimous vote, and she isn't at all. The next question is about Vanessa surviving last week, and she admits that she was wrong in thinking that James and Meg thought the same about her as she did. Julie compliments the "bold move", and the audience cheers, but asks if she regrets being so direct. She does. "I didn't expect the unexpected." She says that "logically", Vanessa is the best player in the house, but she thinks that Steve "has some tricks up his sleeve". We then end with goodbye messages from John, Liz, Steve, and Vanessa. There's nothing surprising here. The segment ends with Becky saying that she may actually work with Vanessa to go after Liz. Oh wait, there's also a rerun of classic Zingbot moments, as he's coming back to the house this week.

With just a few minutes left, there's only time to show just a little bit of the HOH competition. It's called "Ready, Set, Whoa", and there are six races. After setting up on starting blocks, when they see the word "go", they have to run to hit the buzzer. But "go" may not come after "ready" or "set". The word can come within a few seconds, or up to thirty minutes.

They get into place, and they're almost fooled by the word "crow". A number of other rhymes come up before we finally get the one we're looking for. Shocker, but Meg is eliminated in the first round! She's so worthless. (Odds are that the other five "heats" will take place on the live feeds.)

The show then ends with Julie's announcement that next Thursday's live eviction will also include a competition to allow a jury member to return. That's it then! What did you think? Did you enjoy all the filler? Tell us what you think!




Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 25 Recap

There's really only one reason to watch tonight's episode - the return of OTEV.

In case you don't know what OTEV is, and at least one current Big Brother participant didn't, it's VETO spelled backwards. It's one of the most elaborate competitions of the year, and generally has its share of cutthroat moments. Apparently, this will be evident tonight.

Otherwise, tonight will probably set a season record for filler. It's been a quiet week in the house, with the house having to fill their time by creating their own games. Our only hope for real drama is if the producers decide to include more of the Vanessa/JohnnyMac silliness. After the nomination ceremony concluded, Vanessa upped her accusations against the laidback dentist, so let's pray they show her nutjob actions.

So let's get started with the moments after Liz nominated John and Becky. Liz claims she still is open to backdooring Vanessa (no she's not), and Becky makes another joke about being hit by a train. We get it! John is bummed to be nominated with his best friend, and he has to win the POV so he can get rid of Vanessa next week. Austin has his feelings hurt because John gives him a halfhearted hug.

John then walks into the have-not room with Vanessa, who wants to clear the air. She tells him that he's not going home. John doesn't really care, even when Vanessa claims that she only went upstairs before the nominations to find out if he was going on the block. Yeah, he's not that dumb to believe that. Hey, he makes a train joke, too. He wants everybody to know he's going to target her.

Austin walks into the lounge, and continues to whine about how John snubbed him. Really, this is ridiculous. Liz complains that he "wouldn't even look at me", which was a lie, by the way.

Meanwhile, Steve walks into the have-not room and tells him to stop fighting with Vanessa. He also doesn't think that John will be going home. Steve wants to find out why John isn't close to the twins, so he heads into the HOH where they're all bitching about him. He's asked about it, and he says that John is just "nervous". Wow, this is an interesting edit, as it's this conversation where Vanessa says she felt personally threatened by him. Instead, we get Julia telling Steve that they just want to get to know him.

Downstairs, John and Becky have a talk. She complains that it was the following Tuesday where it all went downhill for her. That's when the plot to keep Vanessa started. Yep, she's right.

Filler time. Liz has on a black facial mask. It's a waste of time as the clown music comes on as she peels it off. Let's move on.

John and Steve are now shown playing chess while Austin and the twins plot in the HOH. They decide to talk to John because he is an "enigma in the game", according to Liz. He comes in, and he's asked about the Vanessa situation. We get a replay of Vanessa's lies about the conversation, and then he tells them the excuse she gave him for heading up to the HOH earlier. He then says that he's been targetting Vanessa for a long time, and they both agree that her paranoia is driving them crazy. John then reminds them about how everybody she fights with ends up going home. John says he's feeling pretty good about this conversation. We even get another erroneous diary room comment from Liz claiming she may put Vanessa up. Nope, she never truly thought about that. In fact, those three were saying all week that it would be next week's goal.

After commercials, there is more filler as the lights suddenly go dark so James can pull another prank on Julia. Seriously, this is getting old.

Then the fake funk comes on, which means it's time to pick veto players. Again, we get Liz's lie that she just may put up Vanessa. She pulls houseguest choice, and she (obviously) picks Austin to play. John then, as Meg predicted, gets her name. Becky pulls out Steve's name. Julia then whines that she never gets to play in POV.

Liz and Julia continue to whine in the HOH, and we get some bitching about how Liz should have picked Julia because "sisters before misters". Liz calls Julia ugly...and I can't keep going on this.

In the bathroom, Austin again tells John that he's safe. He wants John to throw it to him, and John says he has no problem with that as it would show them that he wants to work with them. "I trust you a lot." They do a bit of air guitar before we move on.

Back in the HOH, Austin informs the twins that he will throw it to them. She starts to complain about how that may help Becky win...and Austin chokes on his food. Wow, there's a lot of filler tonight.

In the bathroom, John says that the only way they both stay is if she wins, so he wants to throw it to her. She complains that Meg and James are safe, and won't do anything to help her. He tells her to just win it.

After commercials, the fake funk comes on again, which means it is POV time! Yep, it's OTEV, but this time with a food and rock & roll theme. Not quite sure how they go together, but whatever. Of course, we get Meg's screech in the diary room at this point to describe OTEV. In this year's version, they have to slide down a platform of "butter" to get the house guest name that answers the OTEV question. And by this point, I'm already sick of OTEV screeching "butter".

In round one, the question is about a "grocery boy" who said "ohmylanta". They slide down and start looking for Jason's name. Liz is first to make it back up, followed by Steve, and Meg. John does indeed throw it by not even really looking. Austin and Becky head up around the same time, and John is indeed eliminated.

For round two, the "song" is about the "first to go in the double eviction", i.e. Shelli. Becky is the first up this time around, followed by Austin. Steve claims that he wants to lose it this time to keep his "comp win count" down. Meanwhile, granny Meg falls down going up the platform. Liz passes her at this point, but Steve is still looking. Austin notices that Steve has been tossing out names on the ground, so he's going to target that pile.

Next up is about "Texas-sized tears that was one away from jury". Yep, it's Clay...and we get a replay of Meg rubbing her breasts in his face. Meg is the first up this time around, followed by Liz. Austin indeed goes through that pile, but Becky notices and shoves him out of the way to grab a handful of names. Unfortunately, the correct one wasn't in that bunch, and Becky is now eliminated.

For the next round, the tune is about the second person evicted (Da'Vonne). Meg knows she is in trouble, and Granny is indeed the last one up.

So we have the finale featuring the love birds - Austin and Liz. This song is about the person whose photo is no longer on the memory wall, which is Jace. There's a flashback to that moment, but Austin can't find his name in his stash. Liz finds it pretty quickly, though, so she is the POV winner. "No kiss for you", James tells Austin. She does anyway, and it's followed by the usual diary room sentiments. This was probably the worst OTEV I've ever witnessed. I'm almost happy to see commercials.

Too bad we still have 20 minutes of programming to fill, as the show is really over at this moment. Yet we have to endure Vanessa coming into the HOH to congratulate Liz's victory. She asks if John informed them of his target, and Liz lies. They also talk about Becky making a "professional athlete" type jump in the POV. Liz is annoyed as Vanessa continues to ramble and ramble about various non-existent plots. She finally leaves, and they all decide to just make her feel good the rest of the week.

Back downstairs, Meg is still talking about her fall...so we have to see a replay of that. John says he's still feeling pretty good about surviving the week.

Back upstairs, Liz suddenly slips that she loves Austin. The piano music comes on as they noisily kiss. She turns off the camera, and the porn music comes on as they start groping each other. She then stops it, saying their 30 second makeout session is over. Hmmm, how about the finger banging we've been seeing all week on the feeds?

The next morning, Liz has a hickey, and Julia is pissed. Austin is called into the room, and they blame it on his hair. Um, this is old footage from the first hickey he gave her. Gross.

Outside, Steve is laying under Vanessa in the hammock. He's mesing with her, and she suddenly starts crying that she feels "super lonely". "Seriously, I feel like I'm on the block again." Liz joins them, and asks why she's crying. Again, the sad piano music comes on as Liz listens to her bullshit about Austin doesn't talk to her anymore. "I always feel like the fourth wheel." Liz is tired, though, of her playing the victim. She sits and listen to her, but only half-heartedly.

Back in the HOH, Liz informs Austin of her silliness as Julia chomps away at chips in a bikini. "She is literally the most annoying bitch ever." They are paranoid that Vanessa may go after Austin if she remains in the game. Yes, the existence of this footage is only to make it look like Liz may change the nominations.

After a last round of adverts, we finally get the POV ceremony. It's a waste of time, no matter what the various people have to say in their diary room commentary. The nominees are asked to say why they should be saved, and Becky remind Liz that the previous week when she was HOH the three of them never had to leave the couch. John says that he thinks the couch is much more comfortable than the nom chair, and he really doesn't want to talk to Julie Chen on Thursday. Liz says that she believes that whoever is evicted will be coming back to the house, so she's not going to use the veto.

That's it! Well, there's more useless commentary, but it's really over. What did you think? Were you as bored tonight as I was? Wasn't OTEV a bit disappointing? Are you tired of Vanessa? Or the Liz/Austin relationship? Come on, fill the page with commentary!




Monday, August 17, 2015

At The End Of The Day...

So tonight was a bit boring in the BB house in terms of any game talk or strategizing, except for a little bit between JohnnyMac and Steve, but the house guests decided to do a version of a cooking competition amongst themselves that was definitely at least a little bit entertaining. Look, it can't all be fights and meltdowns ok?? And at least we got a break from Pot Ball for a night! haha

When I logged onto the feeds, the cooking competition was already underway and the appetizer round had already taken place. The teams were Austin/Liz and James/Julia, with John, Becky, Meg and Vanessa as judges. Only Meg and Becky would eat the food of course, since Vanessa and John are Have Nots. James and Julia won the appetizer round, Liz and Austin won the entrée round. It came down to the dessert round, which Austin and Liz also won. Honestly what made it entertaining was the dynamic within the teams and then of course between the competitors. There was lots of trash talking and accusations, hoarding of ingredients etc. The twins are SO loud though that sometimes it's hard to handle.

Meg was the only judge who stayed in the kitchen the whole time with the chefs. The other judges would only return for the official tasting. At one point JohnnyMac and Steve had a little game talk on the back yard couches. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but although I like Steve just fine, I find his attempts at game talking painful, and this was no exception. They are a weird alliance, in my opinion. They both tend to dance around each other, throwing out ideas/thoughts but never really committing to or formulating a plan. It's like they're working together but don't trust each other fully. Sometimes this is because of Steve's awkwardness in conversation, but sometimes it's also because John doesn't come right out and say exactly what he's thinking; he dances around it and throws out an awkward laugh now and then. Anyways, they discuss their options moving forward. Vanessa is definitely still on John's radar and you can see Steve trying to deflect it a little bit "You don't think it would be good to keep her as a human shield?" They discuss the pros and cons of making a final 5 with the Austwins or a final 4 with James/Meg. I think they're leaning more towards the Austwins than Meg/James. John: If we go with Meg/James we'll be the bigger targets, but if we go with Austwins, they'll be the bigger target. Steve points out that if they go with the Austwins, it'll be 3 vs 2 at final 5. John points out the likelihood of them making final 5 would be slim since you never know what'll happen. The conversation ends without any actual plan yet, they agree to think things over for the next day or so. There was also a short chat between Steve and Vanessa by the hammock at one point, but I freely admit I didn't watch it so I've no idea what was said.

The clean up of the cooking competition takes up the majority of the next little while. Outside James was doing a bit of laundry and John was at the pool table. James inquired after John, who said he was doing fine. He said he's not going to campaign against Becky because he feels bad that she kept him safe last week. James says he thinks JMac is good, that he's definitely got the votes.

They get another booze delivery and they're super excited about it since this makes it three nights in a row. Steve points out that he thinks 'they' hate the have nots this week since they've been getting so many booze deliveries. Currently they're drinking around the hot tub. I think they have plans to play Pot Ball later, so I'm calling it a night at this point! haha

Other things of note:
  • Apparently there was an interesting make out session with Austin and Liz before the cooking competition. I did NOT see it, nor did I go back and watch it once I got the flashback time because our good friend Mike (@BBGossip on Twitter has the time stamp if you're into that kind of thing) watched it and that lets me off the hook! ;) haha.
  • James pronounces crepe 'creep' which amuses me for some lame reason.
  • Becky is allergic to pistachios and celery.
  • Colorado has 3% beer. 
  • Becky doesn't smoke pot.
  • Austin had an allergic reaction to a dye in one of his tattoos once; it was infected for 6 months.

At The End Of The Day...

Hello again! :) Time for a little recap of this evenings shenanigans for those of you who may have missed them on the feeds!

To get you up to speed, if you haven't watched tonight's CBS episode, please read Scott's recap here. For the events that lead up to tonight's show (and a much more accurate representation of those events I might add!) you should DEFINITELY listen to the Big Brother Gossip Show podcast from Saturday night. Trust me, Mike, Scott and Colette do their homework AND entertain you while keeping you informed! ;)

To sum up though, Liz is HOH and has nominated Becky and JohnnyMac for eviction. Vanessa's game has basically unravelled but the Austwins are still too scared of her to do anything about it this week. They want someone else to do it next week. What you might not know, if you don't have the feeds, is that POV has also been played already. Apparently it was OTEV and Liz won that as well! It came down to Austin and Liz and Austin let Liz win it. As of right now, there is no plan at all to use the veto to back door anyone. Becky is the current target; Austin has definitely come around on JohnnyMac and wants to keep him to go after Vanessa.

There was a bit of a pool party earlier in the evening; they held a competition with Gronk the inflatable shark to see who could mount it in the fastest time. This involved James and Steve along with Meg and Julia, with Becky and Liz cheering them on. There was a lot of splashing and laughter and good times had by almost everyone, except Vanessa who was silently observing from the hammock.

This was foreshadowing a mini-meltdown for Vanessa. She ended up breaking down in the hammock at one point to Steve, crying about how she's lonely, misses her girlfriend, feels all alone in the house. She feels everyone is treating her different, Austin used to be her friend and he's barely speaking to her now. She asks if she's going to be back doored. Eventually other's come to talk to her as well, and try to lift her out of her funk. They convince her to play some pool and the evening progresses.

I took a break to watch the show and when I came back to the feeds the house guests were getting ready for dinner and they got another booze delivery. This was exciting for a split second until I realized the only one I wanted to see drunk is a have not and can't drink! (Vanessa) The haves split the alcohol as they made dinner and it just made them really loud. There was a lot of conversations going on with people talking loudly over each other and it gave me a head ache. haha A silly conversation about which previous house guests they each found attractive occurred amongst them all while waiting to play their game.

They decided to play Pot Ball after dinner, which if you haven't had the luxury of watching before, is a game that's a bit of a take on Beer Pong. They set up a bunch of bowls and pots of varying sizes on the floor and try to toss tinfoil balls into them to score different amount of points based on difficulty. There's one single bowl with a very small opening at the very back they call the Glory Hole that gives the most points but no one has hit it yet. (if you don't know what it is, you should go google Glory Hole. Go on, I'll wait....Ok, done? Learn something new every day right? ;) haha) They play in teams and take turns going. The game took up the better part of my feed watching tonight.

The game ended up getting quite competitive; Austin and Meg won, as Austin sank a ball in the glory hole. (Becky did as well, but in order to win they said she had to sink two and she only managed the one as well). Turns out this action brought us our only other little bit of drama tonight. Liz ended up getting pissed at Austin for winning. Apparently her and her partner (I think it was Steve) would've been the winners of this round had Austin not scored in the glory hole. But he did, which meant she lost. At first I thought she was just joking around, but it ended up being that she was a little bit serious. She thinks he should've let her win but Austin doesn't understand why she'd want to win that way. At one point Austin does say to her "I let you win the VETO!" which made me chuckle. Even Julia at one point told Liz she was being ridiculous. (although Julia goes on to say that she knows Becky DEFINITELY has to go now because she also sunk a ball in the glory hole "She's goooood-uh, and so competitive-uhhhh. She has to goooooo-uh!)

In the midst of that, they also have a little check in regarding the house. Liz tells Julia that Becky checked in with her to see if she planned to use the veto. They confirm they want JohnnyMac to stay and feel a little badly for letting Becky think she's staying, especially if she's the one to come back. Austin points out that if the whole house votes her out, she can't be mad at one person. They also discuss Vanessa's little meltdown as well, and talk about how she's just not any fun anymore.

Prank wars continued as well. At one point Vanessa tried to tinfoil Steve's dental chair but he busted her. Later, as Steve was playing pool with Austin and Liz and Julia, James went and saran wrapped all Steve's belongings to his dental chair with layers and layers of saran wrap. Both Meg and Vanessa commended him on it, saying it was the best prank yet.

Austin and Liz's little tiff continued while playing pool as well. Austin was getting legit irritated with everything. Steve was trying to joke with him and he very bluntly told him he wasn't in the mood. Austin and Liz then went and sat by the hot tub and kind of made up. Austin invited her for a hammock date and they kissed and made up.

As I'm writing this they're having their hammock date and questioning why JohnnyMac gets called to the DR so much. Austin still thinks something is up with JMac for that reason. Liz goes on to say "He has to go. He cannot win this game. He won't get my vote. He's won a lot of comps but he doesn't have the social game part."

I'm ending this here since it's past my bedtime. ;) As things stand right now, barring any earth shattering fights/revelations look for the POV to NOT be used at tomorrow's POV ceremony. The nominations will remain the same, Becky and John, with the current target being Becky. The rest of the week will probably be slow, but if anything interesting happens I'll let you know! :) Have a great night!


Sunday, August 16, 2015

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 24 Recap

The Sunday after the double eviction episodes are always interesting, as we get plenty of answers as to what happened (or didn't happen) on the previous Thursday. Flashbacks show what happened in the house when the show went into commercials, including whatever wheeling and dealing went on with the HOH winner (Steve) and POV winner (John). We'll also see what happened during the HOH competition, which even feed watchers don't know much about.

Tonight begins with the moments after Jackie's departure. Meg thanks everybody, but she's pissed that Jackie is gone. "It's a total blindside." She has no idea what's in Steve's head, as "he barely talks game to anybody in the house". To be fair, neither do you, sleepy girl. Liz hugs her as she walks away. Becky also calls it a blindside. "I don't know what just happened." James thinks somebody was in Steve's ear. "He didn't have complete information, and somebody used that to get Jackie out of the house."

Steve wanders into one of the bedrooms, saying he didn't want that HOH. He thinks he was in good shape in the house by hanging out alone and convincing everybody that he had no side. He says that Jackie is the only person who he had heard had anything negative to say about him (not true), and we get an old clip of Vanessa telling him that very thing. She had told Steve that Jackie had planned to back door him. He's now thinking that Becky would have been a better target as she is good at competitions. "I want to throw up." He believes that this move cost him the game, and he'll be backdoored soon.

James and Meg are now shown walking into the bathroom talking about what happened. They think they're fighting against the whole house. James says that he doesn't believe that Steve came up with this plan by himself. James says they have to play dirty, but Meg doesn't believe she can. (Well, to be fair, she's not good at playing clean, either.) Austin then walks in and pats Meg on the back. Secretly, though, he's happy that this happened. Vanessa also makes a show by coming into the bathroom and hugging Meg. She's especially mad that Steve never talked to them about this before it happened.
Footage then goes back to right after Steve won HOH. Liz (or was it Julia) asks if he wants to talk to anybody, and he says he's "good".

Steve is alone in the bedroom, and the twins come in and hug him as he cries. Liz says that since he kept them safe, if they win the HOH they must do the same to him. "Nobody thinks you're a bad person", one of them says to him. "This is just a game." Vanessa also comes in to give him support. (Ok, I'm officially tired of Steve right now.) He finally says that he can't talk right now, and the girls leave him alone. Suddenly, the tears stop and he says that was "about 50% acting".

In the have-not room, Meg, James, and Becky are doing what they do best -whining. They decide to remain calm with Steve for the time being, as they are only three people so they need some help with numbers. Johnny then walks in, and Meg says "granny gets crabby sometimes". Becky asks him if he believes the other side of the house will now work with him, and Johnny answers by hugging himself. "Vanessa needs close", says Becky, but Johnny thinks they can get him back. In case you don't get the point, James explains that both sides are trying to get Steve on their side. Becky ends the segment by confidently saying that their side has better players. Excuse while I go spit out my Mountain Dew. Oh wait, Meg actually makes a funny by saying "except for me".

Steve then walks in, and asks if they want to talk to him. He says he wasn't prepared to be HOH so he had no noms in mind. He just thought about conversations that he had had, and tells them that he had heard Jackie was targetting him. Meg says that's not true, and Becky asks if it came from "one person or multiple people". Steve responds that they could probably figure out who it came from. They say there's no hard feelings, but Steve is not sure if he believes them.

After commercials, it's time for the HOH competition. The comp is based on emojis, some of whom are based on past house guests. Ugh, Meg, shut up. It's a tournament-style competition, and there are questions that have three possible answers based on emojis. The first to buzz in eliminates their opponent. First up is James versus Meg. Hmmm, interesting. Wow, this is hard to watch as once again Meg leads the diary room descriptions. Meg wins this round.

Next up is John and Austin, and John wins. Following up is Vanessa versus Julia, and Julia buzzes in for the win. Ending the first round is Liz and Becky, and Liz makes it to the next round.

Round two starts with Meg versus John. Again, Meg is the worst for the diary room stuff. John wins this round with the "punk rock" emoji answer. Julia then goes against her sister, and Julia rings in with the wrong answer.

So the final round is John against Liz, or, as John says, "our side of the house versus their side of the house. Come on, let's go." Too bad we have to wait for commercials to end before we see Liz buzz in with the correct anser. Yes, Liz-uhhhh is the winnnnnn-uhhhhh! She jumps into Austin's arms, and then Julia comes up to hug her. "Your either working with me, or your working against me." There's no need to go through the rest of the reactions. Becky and James are not happy. Vanessa is pleased.

They all walk into the house, and the twins do a victory dance in teh bathroom. Austin then joins them, and we get some stupid commentary from him. "We get the Brenchel room tonight." Ugh. This episode is beginning to piss me off. Once Julia leaves, the two kiss.

In the have-not room, Meg asks why she sucks at everything. Trust me, Meg, we all have been asking the same thing all season. They know they could be screwed this week, especially Becky. "Vanessa is going to be posted outside the room until I go home." She continues to go on her anti-Vanessa routine, and she's pretty spot on about how she's controlled almost everything all season. "I will be her number one target."

Now it's time for Vanessa to celebrate with the twins. Ugh, I'm getting tired of their dumb dancing. Steve walks in and joins the celebrations. Liz tells him he has nothing to worry about. Once he leaves the room, Vanessa clues Liz in that Becky has to be their target. James then interrupts them, and the conversation ends.

Meanwhile, Austin and James have a conversation about nothing. Seriously, it's about the movie Titanic. Fast forward time!

Vanessa is still talking to Liz about nominations, and she says she's thinking about Meg and John, with Becky as the backdoor plan. Vanessa likes her plan, especially since she didn't have to put Becky's name out there. Yep, there's no "blood on my hands". Vanessa points out that Meg isn't much of a threat, so Austin suggests putting John and Beckky up together. Yep, that sets up Vanessa to roll on why that's the greatest idea ever. Somehow, getting rid of Becky now guarantees them all to make the final four. Hmmmm. Oh yeah, they now have to come up with an alliance name. Austin's Angels. This is so stupid that we didn't even talk about it on last night's Big Brother Gossip Show.

It's now later in the night, and Becky is upstairs with Austin and the twins. Liz asks if there's anything that she should know, and Austin asks about the week he was supposed to be backdoored. "Vanessa knew about it?", he asks. "Yep." This gets Becky rolling, and Austin says he's "feeling pretty sick". They're giving Becky a little bit of hope...for these five minutes. "You've given us a lot to think about."

After commercials, we get some more filler. John throws a beach ball and it hits dumb Meg. It's sort of funny, but it also happened at least two weeks ago.

Austin and Liz are laying in the downstairs bedroom, and Steve and James come in to talk to them. The two boys are now buddies, so we get some bonding footage of the pair. Yes, more filler! "Steve likes books. I like beer." That's the extent of intelligence of this segment.

Back to the game. Steve is hanging out with Austin and the twins in the HOH, and Vanessa storms in. Her goal is to get Steve fully entrenched into this group, so the five of them will control the house. Yes, it's another waste of time as they try to come up with an alliance name. Liz says in the diary room, though, that she's just making Vanessa feel good as they actually do know about her dirty game playing. They decide to call themselves the Scamper Squad. (What they're not saying is that they had to come up with this name to replace Freaks and Geeks, which is a trademarked name owned by Fox.)

Back in the have-not room, John asks Vanessa if he's going up on the block. Vanessa replies that Liz makes her own decisions, but she says she knows he's not the target. In the diary room, Vanessa claims that she wants to work with John, but they had that weird moment last week with Clay. A short flashback is then shown, and Vanessa says she "wants to get it all out on the table". I have to call bullshit on how this is shown, though, as it skips ahead about an hour and misses most of what really happened. Seriously, and this is no blatant plug for our podcast, but download last night's Big Brother Gossip Show as we played close to ten minutes of what happened during not one but two conversations in a row between these two. What they show is Vanessa asking John if anything she says won't go back to Becky, and that he has something "unfounded" against her.

John complains that he felt "bullied" in that old conversation with Clay, and this sets off Vanessa. John says they are still on the same page, though, but Vanessa can't let go of the "bully" word (which is funny since she used that same word quite a bit a week before). The chat ends with John complaining that he doesn't like it when she "cries and yells at people". Angelic Vanessa is mad that John isn't on his knees thanking her for this opportunity, and Vanessa storms out of the room to the HOH.

Upstairs, (which we didn't get to see because the feeds went to fish for the nomination ceremony), Vanessa tells all. Well, her version of all, and it has nothing to do with the truth. "I'm not entirely sure he should be a pawn after this conversation." John supposedly had an attitude when he asked if he was going to be put up (which he didn't), and she is about to say more when John knocks on the door. Vanessa asks him to leave, and he says that it looks fishy that she came upstairs to talk to them right after talking to him. "What if he's crazy", she asks after he leaves.

It's nomination time, and by now everybody should know what the silly twin is going to do. Yet I'm sitting here listening ot Meg yell at the camera, along with various other commentaries from potential nominees. Yep, she nominates Becky and John. Liz calls John a "veto superstar" and Becky is an "undercover superwoman". Um, really? That's it? Silly fake blonde girl.

After the usual "I have to win POV" and "I'm so relieved" types of diary room comments, the show is over. What did you think? Do you have a better understanding of what happened on double eviciton night? Are you happy with the nominees, or Liz's surprise HOH win? Tell us what you think!






Saturday, August 15, 2015

Big Brother Gossip #508: Glistening Flower

As always this season, there was a ton for us to talk about. We had Vanessa's meltdown that ultimately saved her season, along with double eviction madness, John's crazy conversations with Vanessa, Liz's admitted desire for Austin, and so much more.
Grab this from the usual sources, and please leave us a review on iTunes. Even if it's a bad one. Seriously, although we prefer a compliment, obviously. Besides iTunes or Stitcher, you can also...

CLICK HERE FOR A DOWNLOAD OR STREAM!!!

Special thanks, as always, to Mike and Colette for their assistance on tonight's episode. And don't forget to visit colettelala.com.

Friday, August 14, 2015

At The End Of The Day...

Aloha again everyone! :) My apologies for not updating the last couple of nights, the feeds had some interesting moments, but nothing that was dramatically affecting the game, so I just didn't have the motivation...

Just in case you haven't watched the episode yet, here is Scott's recap. I didn't watch it live, but was glued to twitter getting minute by minute updates. The double eviction episodes are the ones that can be very exciting due the fast pace so I like to know what happens before I watch in order to lessen my anxiety. I'm weird that way.

The rest of this will be a short recap just to give you the general gist of what's going on, and who won the second HOH of the night.

When the feeds returned from the episode, Meg was crying in the Have Not room, and was being kept company by Becky and James while Vanessa and the Austwins were in the comic bedroom doing jedi drilling for the upcoming HOH competition. And honestly, this kind of sums up the difference between Van/Austwins and Meg and company-one group is focused and the other is crying. Meg doesn't have a clue about anything in the house really; she was shocked that Steve decided to target Jackie. She doesn't understand why all her 'peeps have to go!' You know, all her peeps who weren't in the 8 person alliance Audrey told James about that she DIDN'T care about because she just wanted Audrey out. (sorry, ancient history I know, but I just had to bring it up, haha) James gets called to the DR and when he returns he tells them Jackie requested that they pack her things for her.

Anyways, that's pretty much what took up the majority of the feeds. There was a conversation between Steve and JohnnyMac in the kitchen where it was revealed that Steve told JohnnyMac NOT to use the veto. Jmac: "Should I tell them [remaining Goblins] that you didn't want me to use the veto?" Steve: "Yeah, since that's pretty much what happened." When JMac does share that info, he also tells them he was worried that Steve would put up Becky or James and he didn't want that either. We'll probably find out the veracity of both of these tidbits on Sunday's show.

The feeds finally cut for the HOH competition...dun dun dun...and when they return...dun dun dun...(this is my internet version of a drum roll by the way, just in case you're wondering) LIZ IS YOUR NEW HOH!! There's massive celebrating in the comic bedroom, Vanessa is already scheming to get her way and Becky is pretty much peeing her pants. ;) My line of the night was from Vanessa: "She broke her word and she was mean to me!" [re targeting Becky this week] John comes into the room and lays down, the twins leave and Steve enters too. Vanessa indicates that this was the best thing that could happen for them. She tells Jmac he's got nothing to worry about this week, he is not the target, and if he ends up on the block, he'll have the votes.

There is then an alliance meeting between Vanessa and the Austwins in the lounge room where they discuss their options. Vanessa hardcore wants to target Becky, but with James or JMac as an alternate option. Austin is definitely leaning more towards JohnnyMac; he really doesn't trust him and is very suspicious of the amount of times he gets called to the DR.  Austin suggests that Vanessa go make a deal with JMac and Steve. Currently the tentative plan is to put up Becky and JohnnyMac with Becky being the primary target. Austin, surprisingly, talks about how he might have a different game plan from Vanessa, but "We'll see, we just have to see how things play out." Austin also makes a good point when he says that whatever they do, they need to be careful how they go about it "Look at Becky, she took a shot at a big target but how she went about it has left her in really bad spot." EDIT: I almost forgot to tell you the best part of this conversation! Vanessa, Liz and Julia decided they needed a new alliance name and they went with Austin's Angels. They did a lame take on a Charlie's Angels pose and I wanted to woof my cookies, but hey, it's working for them I guess. Ew.

Currently all the house guests are waiting around for Steve to get his HOH basket/letter/photos. [He still gets these things even though he doesn't get the room due to his HOH win in the double eviction.] Liz wants it all to hurry up so that she can get her HOH room too.

So, that's it for tonight! What do you think? Were you nail biting the episode? What do you think of Liz being the new HOH? Do you think this week will follow the plan and Becky will go? Do you think Meg will actually get out of bed long enough to have a conversation with anyone other than James? Who would you like to see nominated? Come follow me on twitter @Shienara33 and we can have conversations about your thoughts on the season, as well as my riveting tweets about cooking and other nonsensical things! ;)

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 23 Recap

If you're a CBS-only viewer, you're going to be a bit surprised as to what happens tonight, especially as last night's broadcast indicated that a grand plan was all set to take place. If  you're a feeds-watcher, though, you know better. A different decision was reached within 24 hours of that POV meeting, and despite a moment or two where it appeared it may swing back to the original plan, there's no secret who will be out the door tonight.

Unfortunately, you won't see too much of how or why this change of mindset went down, as it is double eviction night! Yep, there are basically two episodes squeezed into one tonight, and it's usually the most exciting broadcast of the year. Remember silly Jeff and his clown shoes? Or Elissa being outmsarted by Andy and a few others? This could be a juicy night, especially the way these fools have been acting recently.

So sit back and enjoy as we kick off with the dramatic nomination of Vanessa to replace the POV victor, Steve. Vanessa storms off at the end of the meeting, and whines in the diary room how she's up against one of her best friends. She crawls into bed and pulls her beanie over her head. Shelli walks into the room after saying she plans to lay low since she's been promised safety. Becky is told that she had a good speech by James, and she explains how she has the votes.

Vanessa gets out of bed and says she's "hurt and confused by the things Becky said when she put me up". There's a flashback to the big deal they all made last week, and Vanessa heads out to "get answers". She tells Becky that those were "harsh words", and demands an explanation. The talk goes back to that big meeting, and Becky says that her word was "forced". Becky then gets up and walks away. "I don't feel like explaining", she says, leaving Vanessa in (fake) tears.

It's a little later, and Vanessa is now wearing sunglasses in bed. Steve walks in, and she asks if she has his vote. He's torn because he has to "choose the ally who is staying in the house this week", i.e. John. He sort of explains this to Vanessa, but not really. Vanessa is now pissed at him, too, and calls it a "personal betrayal".

We don't have time for much actual game stuff, but we do have time for James to crawl into Julia's bed to scare her. Seriously, CBS?

It's the next morning, and Vanessa is working on her eyes as James walks in. This is her "fighting chance" to stay in the game, and she complains that it's "super unfair" that she's up. She tells him that Becky was going to target James in her earlier HOH, and that "every conversation that you guys had up there, she was coming down to tell Shelli and Clay".

James now says he "knew there was a rat" in the house, and he asks Meg and Jackie who is more likely to win the next HOH. "Shelli needs to go", he says. "She's coming after us for sure." His dumb pals agree with him.

Note, they're leaving out a big piece of this puzzle. In the hours after the POV meeting, Shelli suddenly got pissy about a hoodie that Clay had left in the house. James was now wearing it, and Shelli and the twins went into the have-not room to steal it. James finding out about this really set the stage for the vote change. Oh well.

It's now time for Julie to announce the double eviction, and we head into the final pleas. Shelli goes first, and she wishes happy birthday to Jason. "The house has been pretty boring without you". She gives shout outs to her family and Clay before babbling about "brass tacks". She loves "all of y'all", and hopes to return to the game. Yep, she knows she's out.

Vanessa then stands. "Ten years ago, when I was in law school grappling with what I want to do with the rest of my life, I was writing in my journal. I wrote the following words that have guided me ever since - 'I find my calm not at the finish line looking back at the distance I've travelled but in the moment, on the run, out of breath, looking forward'. I don't know where I'm going, and I hope to God I never get there as I'm happy as I am chasing something eternal and ethereal. The destination has never been, is not, and will never be what it's about for me. That's just the way I like it." She then gives a shout out to her girlfriend and family. "Please vote to keep me." (Now I'm exhausted.)

Voting then begins with Austin, who votes to evict Shelli (as Judas), as does Steve, James, Meg, Jackie, Julia, John, and Liz. Yep, it's unanimous. Shelli has been evicted. Julie announces the verdict, and Shelli hugs everybody before walking out. "Shelli, we love you so much", says Becky.

As expected, Chen's insipid interview with Shelli is way too Clay-centric. There's no need to really repeat any of this stuff.

After commercials, it's time for the HOH competition, and it's based on some videos they watched last night. We get a little montage of them viewing this footage, and they're now all in the backyard. It's called "Getting Loopy", and they have to answer true or false to questions asked about these videos.

The first video is about Audrey's hat in the conga line, and everybody picks false. Question two concerns Clay's bowl in the fly attack video, and James, Liz, Meg, and Jackie are eliminated. In the third question, it's whether a person was in the hammock. They all get this one correct. Question four is about bulbs in the powder puff video, and Julia and Vanessa are eliminated. The fifth question is about a fire extinguisher in the trash video, and they're again all correct. Question number six is about Jason's shirt, and Steve is the new HOH!!! Wow, what a shocker. I was hoping it was going to be JohnnyMac.

We get a bit of house video as they all walk into the house, but instead of game talk they're congratulating Austin for doing well. Wow, we're used to mad scrambling in the bedroom, but this year they're all way too self-absorbed to plead with Steve for safety.

It's then commercial time, and Julie calls for everybody to head into the living room. Steve then announces that he is putting up Meg and Jackie. "It's nothing personal", he says. Then it's already time for more commercials!!!

Finally, we get the POV competition, and those three (Steve, Meg, Jackie) will be joined by John, James, and Vanessa. It's a ski slope type contraption that they hold and move around, and they have to get a ball into each of three holes. Sinking them out of order automatically eliminates them, and there's a 3 12 minute time limit to the game. JohnnyMac wins pretty easily! Why couldn't it have been the other way around - John wins HOH and Steve wins veto! They all head inside, and Steve confers with John for a bit.

Guess what? It's time for more commercials!

When we FINALLY return, Meg and Jackie plead their cases to be removed. Meg has so much fun she just has to stay, and Jackie basically says the same thing. They've both played "honest' games. Ultimately, JohnnyMac says that even though he doesn't want to see either of them out there, he's not going to change the nominations. (Note: there's some weirdness there as we head to commercials. Jackie wanted a reason for the nominations. Steve walks out of the room upset at something.)

AND MORE COMMERCIALS!!!

It's now time for the second eviction. Meg is crying as Julie calls them back to the living room. Meg gives the first final plea, and she doesn't know what she's going to do separated from Jackie. "Please keep me in this house. I have so much more game to play." She babbles more about honesty and having a "good time". Jackie then says she loves everybody else, and she has "no bad blood" with anybody.

The voting then begins with Vanessa, who votes to evict Jackie. Becky votes to evict Meg, but John votes against Jackie, as does Austin, James, Liz, and Julia. Becky is the second house guest to be evicted tonight! Julie announces the verdict, and she hugs everybody before exiting.

Julie does get some answers from Jackie as to what happened a few minutes earlier. Apparently, Steve was told that Jackie planned to backdoor him when she was HOH, even though her plan was to do that to Austin. "Austin knows that. Everyone in the house knows that. I don't know who planted that on him." Then Julie moves to asking about how Jeff's departure helped her game, and she admits she took a backseat when Jeff was around.

That's it! Later tonight will be another HOH competition, which will be shown on Sunday's show. To get an early spoiler, either fire up the feeds or listen to the Big Brother Gossip Show on Saturday at 10 pm ET! Otherwise, what did you think of tonight's episode?


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