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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!




11 comments:

  1. Worst OTEV comp ever and the production of the episode was horrendous. Thank goodness for TiVo and fast forward.

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  2. Well I wish they would have set us up for future episodes like instead of them trying to convince us they might put up Vanessa this week they could have shown how she's a house wide target for future weeks which is true

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  3. In this awesome season, Vanessa is truly bringing the damn entertainment value down. Get her the fkk out!! Cmon Johnny Mac or James!!!

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  5. I blame Allison Grodner for the crap you bitched about. IMO, the show has been going downhill since Evel Dick's season. Vanessa is one of the most irritating contestants ever but she's escaped two consecutive backdoors and has a good shot at winning.

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  6. I love the OTEV comps. What was it about this one that was so bad?

    Btw, can't wait for Collette's interpretation of the "finger banging," which was quite obvious.

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  7. The set was very low budget, the constant high-pitch "butter" hurt my ears, and the questions were too easy. There was zero drama in the comp.

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  9. Doesn't Liz realize what she's saying when she calls her identical twin ugly?

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  10. You're right about the butter thing. And the no drama. Especially compared to other seasons. That comp can get bloody.

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  11. The only saving grace: there was no "who wants to see my HOH room" segment.

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