Return of the power rankings!

After a long absence, the blog is back! If you're wondering what happened, two of our members were busy uprooting their lives, while all of the members were busy hating this season. However, things have settled down, and the season is once again entertaining, so here's what you've all been waiting for!

1. Andy

A lot of fans have expressed very negative opinions of Andy and his game. The words rat and floater have been thrown around a lot. Here's the thing, being good at Big Brother isn't about being a competitions warrior, or a loyal ally, it's about doing what the situation calls for. Andy has done an incredible job maneuvering his way through the game and keeping the target off of his back. He was the most valuable member of 3 AM, and now that being associated with them is a liability, he's moved on. Like his strategy or not, he is playing the smartest game.

2. Judd

Judd left the house with no allies, and came back in with no enemies. Lines were drawn in the sand while he was gone, new enemies were created, and now J U double D gets to come back in after the fact, with clean hands and no targets on his back. Missing two weeks may have been the best thing that could happen to his game. Will the other HGs let a returning player win the game? Well I don't see Topaz around, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

3. GinaMarie

Do I think GM can win the game? No, but I wouldn't put anything past these houseguests. Watching GM go after Amanda was difficult, I don't want to cheer for GM, but this week was entertaining because of her. Taking out Amanda would give GM a lot of points with the jury, and it would show something we haven't seen so far... that she understands she's playing big brother. Her last HoH was wasted on somebody who had no allies in the house, she didn't take out a big target, and she didn't create any allies for herself. This time around she seems much more conscious of the game she's playing, and even though she probably isn't, the jury doesn't need to know that.

4. Spencer.

Spencer is playing an absolutely incredible second place game right now. Nobody wants to evict him, as shown by his ability to survive 6 nominations, but at the same time, what jury member is going to vote for the guy who won nothing, and made no major moves? If the bearded wonder wants to do any better than runner up, he needs to either start making moves, or hope for a bitter jury vote like last season. But hey, maybe second place doesn't look so bad right now.

5. Elissa

While Elissa may have moved up my personal likable rankings after how she's handled being berated by Amanda this week, it hasn't really resulted in a better position for her in the house. When Helen left, Elissa lost her only true ally, and she has yet to find a true replacement for her. On one side of the house, you have McCranda, and the other, you have the Exterminators. Then, right in the middle, you have Elissa. This could work in her favour as she could be an attractive free agent to any alliance, or it could result in her being the only person in the house everyone agrees to get out next week. I'm leaning towards the latter.

6. McCrae

I feel like McCrae deserves better then what's happened to him this season. Don't get me wrong, it's his own fault he is where he is, he knew Amanda was dragging them down, and he stuck with her. However, McCrae has stuck with her through everything, and stayed above all the bullying through all of it. There's something admirable about that. If Amanda leaves this week, McCrae has a very important opportunity to reinvent his game. If Amanda gets vetoed, it's game over.

7. Amanda

I would be genuinely interested to see a psychological analysis of what happened to Amanda this year. I'm not convinced she was crazy the whole time. I feel like the isolation, the pressure, and the power drove her mad. At the beginning of the season she seemed like somebody who had her head on straight, but lately, she's been so caught up in her self righteous crusade that she's become unbearable. Some of the logical conclusions she's come too while fighting with Elissa have been unbelievable. She can't see beyond her own cause and it's turned everyone against her. On the one hand, I feel bad for her because this experience has clearly messed her up psychologically. On the other hand, I can't wait to see this psycho go down.

RIP Jessie

Honestly, what is there to say about Jessie? She leaves the house after being on borrowed time from the first week. She had no real strategies, she flipped and flopped, and ultimately she talked too much. She was not particularly interesting to watch, she didn't provide any entertainment, and she had a pretty terrible personality. But, all that said, I will miss Jessie.

Jessie's development in this house was basically the inverse of most of the people who are left. She began the game as one of the worst people I have ever had to watch. She was conceited, believing she was much more attractive than she was. She liked to follow around men like a lost puppy, hoping that one of them would be attracted to a clingy, immature mess. She appeared to be in the house for the soul purpose of starting a showmance, I guess she hasn't heard of eHarmony.

After the first week, Jessie seemed to disappear from the house. She obviously wasn't doing anything of interest and became an outsider. During her time of anonymity, the rest of the house took a steep decline into the nightmarish hellscape we're watching now. But, within the last week Jessie reemerged. Like a beautiful butterfly breaking free from her imprisoning cocoon she started receiving actual camera-time. And what I saw of her was quite surprising. Now maybe my standards of humanity have dropped after forcing myself to watch this season, but I actually began to like Jessie. She began to seem like a real person and in this house that is all it takes to seem likeable.

In her dieing moments Jessie tried to shake the house up. She revealed Helen's plans to take out Amanda and she drove a wedge between Aaryn and GinaMarie, who had previously been so tightly bonded by their mutual racism. Whether or not Jessie actually succeeded in changing anything is yet to be seen, but we owe her everything just for trying.

Jessie "Surprisingly Likeable" Kowalski

Desperate Showmancer

Uninteresting Roller Coaster of Emotions

Survived by... Who Cares?

Why I hate this Season...

It's clear that no one is actually enjoying this season of BB. It's by far the worst I've ever watched. I just need to write a post to vent my frustration and add one more point to the five that Tim already made in his "Who Broke Big Brother 15?" post. I agree with all of his points as well, but I think at this time in the game there's one more that needs to be said.

As my brother so eloquently put it one day, this season is how people who don't watch Big Brother think of Big Brother. By that I mean that it is mindless, uninteresting, and full of lousy people doing lousy things. But what is the major problem of this season? The lack of charismatic players certainly doesn't help. The MVP twist was a disaster. And nobody finds racism entertaining. But for me there is one major problem with this season that has eliminated any entertainment.

6. Nobody is Playing

I would say that everyone is this house is a floater and I'm dead serious. Even Amanda and Helen, who seem to be running the house, aren't doing anything of significance. They talk a lot, but because no one in this game will go against the grain, they really aren't saying anything. Just look at the voting for this season. They have all been basically unanimous. That's what really pisses me off about this season. There's no challenge to get people out. No one has even tried to make a plan to save someone on the block, or turn the house on its head, they just go along with whatever the "house" wants. Even someone like Judd, who was universally loved, was able to get knocked out within minutes. Nobody questioned it, nobody said "hey, he isn't pretending to be stupid, he's just stupid,"they all just saw what was happening and went with it. These people have become so complacent that they're shocked when someone on the block doesn't throw a veto competition simply because they told him to.

Right now GinaMarie, Helen, and Elissa should be looking at either Spencer or Jesse and wanting to work with one of them. The numbers in the house are dwindling (thank God) and pretty soon it will get to the point where a 4-man alliance is basically unstoppable. The 3am squad (terrible name) will win this game if the rest of the house doesn't do something. But, because this season has no hope left, nobody will do anything of interest, 3am will make it to the end and Aaryn will probably win because why the hell not?

This season has become an allegory for the futility of life. Nothing changes in this world. Nothing inspiring ever happens without a dozen terrible things happening subsequently. Any likeable people are somehow oppressed by the dictators and warmongers, and everyone simply pretends not to see. Racism, still rampant, is believed to have disappeared and forgiven. And in the end the winner will rewrite this history and claim that the end justifies their means. It's a cold dark world, it was inevitable that eventually the Big Brother house would succumb to the unbridled misery that encompasses our depressing planet, I was just hoping for a few more good years.

-Matt 

Week 7 Power Rankings

Let me just start by saying these house guests are terrible. They're either racist, have no game play, power drunk, or a combination of all three. At this point I'm just anxious for the end to come so we can move onto the next season. Maybe if Amanda, Gina Marie and Aaryn were evicted, the house would at least be tolerable. Could someone get the producers a memo?


1) Helen (last week 1): Helen has a ton of power in this house. What's even more impressive is the fact that she's had a hand in many of the evictions, while only being HoH once. I have to be honest, I don't really like when she talks, but you have to admire her persuasive capabilities.

2) Andy (last week 7):  Although Andy is HoH this week, his power will be short lived if he doesn't step up his game play. We've seen relatively little of him thus far in the game, and that's because he hasn't done a whole lot. That could very well be part of his strategy, and it's worked so far, but he can't keep that up forever. Even though his nominations were pretty weak, kudos to him for not blindly following Helen's orders.

3) McCrae (last week 2): McCrae is in a good place. He has a lot of control but doesn't flaunt it. He's going to have to split from Amanda sooner or later, especially if she continues on her power hungry rampage, but he's wise to her faults. He is quick to call Amanda out and knows how to do damage control. Not throwing the HoH competition to her was also a good move. Just like he said, he doesn't want people to think he'll make and concessions to Amanda. What is usually the down fall of every showmance doesn't seem to be plaguing McCrae.

4) Aaryn (last week 3): Aaryn seems to be holding her own in this game, unfortunately. She seems to have learnt that she needs to lay low, and keep her mouth shut. She has turned her social game around, and is a bit of a beast in competitions. Her only weakness seams to be her inability to throw a competition. She looked genuinely mad when she won HoH last week. She'll become a target again, but it's not super imminent. At the same time, she doesn't have a ton of power, but is allied with some pretty powerful people who can take her far if they so choose.

5) Amanda (last week 4): Although Amanda is very powerful in the house, she is unraveling. It seems she has a beef with a new person every week. If she can't control her mouth, people will get rid of her out of annoyance. And if she can learn to control her mouth (which is unlikely), they'll realize she's a threat soon enough. When you think of the McCrae-Amanda alliance, you immediately think of Amanda as the larger threat, and that spells trouble for her.

6) GinaMarie (last week 5): It pains me to put GM anywhere other than a crater on the south side of the moon, but alas, she must go somewhere on this list, and unfortunately it's not the bottom. She is a despicable attempt at a human being, and her lack of decency is nauseating. Harsh words? Yes. I'm done with her. 

7) Elissa (last week 9): Since Elissa hasn't been the MVP in a few weeks, we've seen refreshingly little of her. She's not doing much besides riding on Helen's yoga pants. She's floating, which will only get you so far. Her expiry date is quickly approaching but there are bigger threats people are going after. She may make it far, but not because of expert game play. 

8) Spencer (last week 8): This week, Spencer is on the block for his fifth time. I don't think he's the target this week, but maybe next, unless someone decides to shake things up. I like Spencer, he's one of the only likable people left in this house, so I'm hoping he sticks around so I don't gag. 

9) Jessie (last week 11): Jessie is uninteresting, and kind of annoying. But, the annoying threshold this season is so exorbitantly high, she's kind of likable. She'll be going home soon. It's inevitable without any smart game moves or allies. She'll have fun with Judd in Jury.

Until next time,

Sam

RIP Judd

Judd, I don't have a lot to say about you, because we didn't get to see a lot of your game play this season. From what I can tell, and what I've heard, you were not a good player. You seemed to have deals with everyone, and as soon as that was figured out. you were sent packing. Along with the fact that Amanda was "almost 99% certain" you were MVP, your fate was sealed.

In the end, even your showmancer gleefully voted to evict you. Perhaps she was happy she was taken off the block moments earlier, or perhaps she saw your true colors like the rest of the house. Regardless, you went out by a unanimous vote. You didn't even have one person secure on your side, even though you had made a final four deal a week earlier.

From a personal stand point, you obviously had a big impact on the houseguests. Nearly everyone was crying as they voted you out. Maybe they'll miss your accent, or your bear shirt, or your love of frogs. Or maybe they were simply crying because they lack any shred of human decency. Who knows. But either way, you will be missed. You were one of the only likable people left in the house.

Until next time, 

Sam 

Judd "Bear Shirt" Daughtery

Awkward showmancer

Believed MVP

Survived by an entire house of Allies

RIP Candice

After the first episode, I picked Candice to win Big Brother 15. My approach has always been to pick a quiet, unassuming character who can float to the end. Someone who isn’t easily identifiable as a competition threat (muscles are a curse in the Big Brother house), and someone who won’t shoot their mouth off and make enemies. Candice seemed to fit the profile. Sweet. Quiet. Even tempered. And then last nights eviction ceremony happened. I can’t blame Candice for losing her cool. She was the target of racial attacks from multiple house guests, and as if that wasn’t enough, she seemed to get into a personal battle with Gina Marie during her last week.

Part of me was disappointed in Candice near the end. I was worried that she was sinking to Amanda’s level during the veto competition. I was worried that she was sacrificing her dignity when she was exchanging insults with Gina Marie on her way out the door. But you know what? I would have lost it a lot worse, a lot sooner. She endured a lot. And she knew she was going out. So she spoke her mind while she had a chance. And I can’t possibly hold that against her.

You have to adjust to the unique makeup of your season's house. Sometimes that means being an aggressive strategist; sometimes that means staying out of the limelight. This year, apparently, it means being an insufferable, intolerant, lowlife. And she just didn't have it in her. Julie alluded to the possibility that players evicted to the jury could possibly return to the game. Part of me hopes Candice gets another shot in the house. Part of me thinks she’s just too good for it.

R.I.P. Candice "My Boo" Stewart

Wearer of clownitard

Reclaimer of beds
Survived by the most despicable Big Brother cast of all time

Who broke Big Brother 15?

If there's one thing that everyone can agree on about this season, it's that it's terrible. Like, really bad. We're talking about Season 9 levels of bad here. So Let's take a look at the 5 groups of people who collectively broke Big Brother 15.

1. The Mean Girls

Originally, this group consisted of Kaitlin, GinaMarie, and Aaryn. Aaryn being the most notable of the three. Aaryn was shown blurting a ridiculous amount of racial and homophobic slurs, eventually leading up to "Bedgate". While this was painful to watch, it made for an intriguing story line and actually got people watching the show. Since the bed incident, Aaryn has calmed down a lot. This is probably because she realized she made herself a huge target, not because she realized that she's an intolerable human being who needs to change.  As a result, instead of seeming catty, she just seems fake, which is oddly even more difficult to sit through. Every time I see her in the Diary room I seriously want to turn the tv off. I've hated Houseguests before. I hated Rachel, but she made the show entertaining. Aaryn is actually unbearable. More so then any past contestant.

2. The likable players who are terrible

If I were to pick four players who I genuinely believe are likable people from this season, they would be Howard, McCrae, Nick, and Candice. Of those four, McCrae is the only one who isn't completely awful at this game. From Nick having the poker face of a 3 year old, to Howard's riddles and terribly timed lies, to Candice deciding to call a house meeting to call out the only person who is truly on her side, these people are genuinely awful at this game. This means they are leaving early, and hard to root for. I wanted so bad for Howard to win this game, but not for a second did I think he'd even make jury.

3. The potentially likable players who aren't playing

Every season has floaters. It's inevitable. It's part of the game, and it works. There's no reason to put a target on your back early if you can avoid it, and players have won doing this in the past. The problem is, people like Andy, Judd, and Jessie could potentially be likable, but they don't get any screen time because they aren't doing anything. Remember Jen from last season? She was practically ignored until the second half of the game. I want to like Andy, he seems smart. He's not playing, and that means that he's not getting camera time, and I can't say I like him yet.

4. Brenchel Fans

The MVP twist was a bad idea from day one, it was never going to go well... having said that, it didn't have to be as bad as it was. Then, Brendan and Rachel from Season 12 and 13's fan bases decided to control it. Elissa is not a particularly entertaining player, nor is she particularly good at any aspect of this game. Yet, because she's Rachel's sister, the Brenchel fan base decided she deserved to win MVP every damn week. If it weren't for Brenchel fans, we would not have been subjected to three weeks of Elissa MVP, and the producers would not have had to pull the plug on this twist to change it up.

5. The Producers

There were a couple of things that were doomed to fail from the beginning this season, and that can only be blamed on the producers. As discussed already, the MVP twist combined with Elissa being in the house was a guaranteed disaster. But there was a more important mistake made. When I think of past seasons, I feel like they've always hit their stride at around 9 or 10 people remaining. I believe this is because at around this time it becomes harder and harder to slide through the cracks as a floater. People are forced to pick sides, and start playing the game. This season, we have 16 houseguests playing from the start. The producers extended the game to be longer then it's ever been. I believe this resulted in this peak of the season being pushed back even further then it normally is.


This leads me to ask the question, is this season redeemable? Well, we are quickly approaching the point I would consider to be the peak of the game, and pretty soon new lines will have to be drawn in the sand. Perhaps this double eviction tomorrow night is what will finally kick these players into gear, as well as kick some of the more unwatchable players out of the house. I can only hope so, because I'm not sure I can take much more of this house.

Week 6 Power Rankings

I'm really starting to get sick of this season. I can say with certainty that this is my least favourite season I've ever watched. Now I haven't watched all of the seasons, granted, so that statement doesn't carry the same provenance as if one of the other writers said it, but still, I'm getting pretty fed up. But, without further adieu, here are the rankings for a bunch of people that I wish were all sitting at the bottom.


1. Helen (last week 1): Simply put, Helen controls this house. Some people might think they have power, but that's only because Helen wants them to think that. She has influence over every person in the house and somehow no enemies. If she continues how she has she'll probably win, which is really depressing.

2. McCrae (last week 3): McCrae is somehow a mix of a floater and a powerhouse. He has a lot of influence in the house, but he never uses it. This is probably smart since he doesn't need to use it, but he's certainly boring to watch. Also, he's calling out Amanda which is the first step to breaking ties with her and that would definitely be a good idea at this point.

3. Aaryn (last week 10): Aaryn being near the top of the ranking is largely why I hate this season so much. A lesser man might riddle this paragraph with expletives out of sheer frustration. She is just a terrible person, but she is largely in control of GinaMarie's HOH so I've been forced to put her near the top. Even if America puts her up, which if there's any hope for America they will, she won't go home.

4. Amanda (last week 2): Man, Amanda what happened? You showed such promise in the beginning, but now you are a powermad tyrant. Somewhere throughout the course of these last weeks Amanda has gotten way too comfortable with her power. So much so that she is announcing who is going home, and that person wasn't even a target prior to this. This is fine while she still has power, but her alliance could grow tired of her and her threatening ways. I'm sure she'll be the first actual big target to go home. If she wasn't my pick to win I'd want her gone as soon as possible.

5. GinaMarie (last week 9): GinaMarie HOH is a puppet regime controlled by a puppeteer who has somehow given puppeteers a bad name. I really have nothing more to say about her.

6. Judd (last week 4): I was really hoping that after Judd's HOH stint he would actually start playing the game, but he hasn't done anything. Also his "girlfriend" is probably going to be evicted and he seems unconcerned. Either he is an emotionless robot, they were never really that close, he realizes that she's doomed and is playing it cool, or he's too stupid to realize she's actually in trouble. I'd probably suggest it's the last one, but who really cares about Judd's strategies?

7. Andy (last week 5): Andy is one of the finest floaters I have ever seen "play" this game. He has made himself so unthreatening that people laugh when his name is suggested as a target. He's a joke, but in such a divisive house people will keep the laughter over their enemies, or even their friends if they seem like targets. Honestly, I'd put Andy at the top if this list was simply based on who's likely to be evicted soon, but because of his lack of power/influence he remains in the middle which I'm sure he'd be content with.

8. Spencer (last week 11): Spencer  seems to have played it smart since Howard's eviction. He's laid low and made sure that him and Amanda are okay. A lot would have to happen for him to be put up this week, but also a lot would have to happen for him to gain any sort of power back.

9.Elissa (last week 8): Elissa has two things to worry about this week. Firstly, it's possible that America will once again put her up as the third nominee. But what's more likely is that she would be a replacement nominee if the veto is used. Also she hasn't really done anything in the last few weeks and her closest ally, Helen, appears to be growing tired of her. I'm sure if given the opportunity Helen wouldn't hesitate to cut her loose.

10.Candice (last week 6): I like Candice, for the most part she seems to be a nice, intelligent person, but this being such a terrible season I'm sure that this last likeable person will be kicked out very soon.

11. Jessie (last week 7): Amanda wants Jessie out and in this game that appears to be a death sentence. She's also a flip-flopper and oh so annoying. She complained profusely over not being invited to a barbeque. She's a child; a feeble-minded, immature child, and there's simply no room in this game for someone who has such a brazen lack of control over her emotions.

RIP Howard

Howard, Howard, Howard. What is there to say about you that hasn't already been said?

I've grown to respect Howard a lot during this game. He quickly became one of my favourite players in the game. After the first episode I was really tempted to pick him to win. He seemed like a good, strong, intelligent person. The only thing that convinced me to go with someone else was the size of his arms. Nobody who looks that intimidating can win this game, they'll be singled out as a threat far too early. Even though he didn't win a single competition, he was still seem as a huge threat early on.

I liked Howard early on, but when Aaryn flipped the bed and was taunting Candice, Howard walked in and picked her up and took her out of the room. In my eyes, this changed Howard from a likable person, to one of my favourites of all time. The way he put up with hate and racism by being the bigger man and refusing to sink to Aaryn's level was incredible. I can't imagine how hard it was for him to live in that house. I couldn't help but cheer for him, which was hard, because he is really, really bad at big brother.

I'm still not sure what sealed his fate. Julie Chen certainly seems to think it was when he lied to Helen about the Moving Company. Let's be honest here, it was a terrible attempt at a lie. Helen told Howard she knew exactly who was in the alliance. He was caught red handed and still tried to lie about it. Not only was he a bad liar, he chose a terrible time to lie. He never seemed to recover from that moment. When he made attempts to recover, it became painfully clear that he is a terrible communicator. The rest of the house seemed to think he was speaking in riddles, which turned them even further against him. If you can't lie well, you can't communicate the truth well, and you can't win competitions, you can expect a short life span in this house.

Part of me wants to believe he was just too nice for this game, but he listed Jason from season 3 as his favourite player. Jason may be the nicest person to ever play this game, and he made it to the final 3. Howard may be one of my favourite people to ever play this game, which is what makes it so unfortunate he was truly terrible at it.

R.I.P. Howard "The Riddler" Overby

Bearer of arms
Defender of peace

Survived by a man with a beard and a woman with a vengeance

Week 5 Power Rankings

This week, the power rankings pain me. It pains me to put somebody I don't like at #1, and somebody I have been man crushing on since week 2 in last place. But alas, I have to rank it the way I see it. It's a tough game to read right now because nobody seems particularly great at the game. However, rank them we must. Onward!

1. Helen (Last week 4) - Here's what I can't figure out, is Helen actually running the house, or does she just think she is? Either way, she got Aaryn to do exactly what she wanted her to do, and that makes her the most powerful person in the house. On top of that, while she seems to be a powerful player in the house right now, she doesn't really seem to be on anyone's radar, which makes her the most dangerous player in the house.

2. Amanda (Last week 10) - Along with Helen, Amanda is one of the only two people who seems to really be able to get people to do what she wants in the house. The difference is that she's created a bit of a target on her back while she's doing it. Amanda has jumped around our rankings a lot. This is partially because she is creating targets on her back that we see some weeks more than others, and partially because the rankings change hands every week.

3. McCrae (Last week 6) - I struggled with whether to put him about or below Amanda. While Amanda's greatest weakness is the target on her back, it's also McCrae's greatest strength. He reaps all the benefits of Amanda's hard work, while keeping the target off of his own back. His greatest weakness is that if he is ever going to have the chance to win, he needs to show that he can play the game for himself. Otherwise, he'll be back to making $126 every two weeks.

4. Judd (Last week 1): While Judd drops a little bit after his HoH boost, he doesn't drop far. He showed that he knew what HoH was really about, it's not about taking out a target early, it's about coming out of the week in a better position then what you started. He managed to run his HoH while creating no new enemies, and gaining more trust with the people on his side of the house. He also gains bonus points for the epic bear shirt, although it may have been Aaryn tainted now.

5. Andy (Last week 3): Right now, Andy seems to be very good at this game. As much as you don't want a house full of floaters, staying out of the spotlight early on is incredibly smart. The question is, what happens when the numbers start to dwindle? When the spotlight gets harder to avoid, that's when we'll see what Andy is all about, that's when we'll see how good at this game he really is.

6. Candice (Last week 7): Candice's greatest weakness is also her greatest strength; her alliance. She is on the weak side of the house, and her alliance members are likely to start dropping off soon. At the same time, the targets on Howard and Spencers backs are so big that nobody is even thinking of Candice. By the time those guys are no longer targets, the house could potentially completely realign.

7. Jessie  (Last week 2): She got a boost last week for her association with Judd, but with 10 seconds of screen time an episode, how are we supposed to assess this girl? I'm not sure she has the personality to win, but I barely know her! She's like that foreign sounding thing on the menu, you want to try it, but you have no idea what it is and it could turn out to be a disaster.

8. Elissa (Last week 5): The "One-piece" incident showed exactly why Elissa will never win this game. She does not understand how her comments are perceived by other people. If you can't see how other people are perceiving events, and you aren't a competition warrior, you shouldn't expect to win. The sudden change in MVP fortunes for her could also put her in danger. I don't expect she'll be leaving soon, but I don't believe she has the necessary skills to win this game.

9. GinaMarie (Last week 11): GinaMarie has been fairly absent this week, which I'm okay with. Nick's been gone for two weeks, it's time to stop talking about him. While she's not in a whole lot of danger right now, GM has shown no ability to improve her position in the house, and is just along for the ride for a bit.

10. Aaryn (Last week 13): Aaryn has somehow escaped eviction again. She gets a temporary boost for winning HoH and saving herself for the week, but in the long term she may have put herself in more danger. She was saved because Kaitlin was a bigger competition threat, but now Aaryn has two HoH's under her belt. On top of this she hasn't used her HoH to make any friends, rather, she gave the power to Helen and Elissa, who are most likely going to discard her the first chance they get.

11. Spencer (Last week 8): Spencer has been dropping like crazy in the standings lately. When he first turned on the MC we thought he made the right decision to stay with the winning side of the house. It now appears that Spencer is still on the outside of the house, with very few friends. It pains me to say it, as he was my episode 1 pick, but Spencer is looking to be on his way out. If Howard gets vetoed, it may spell the end for #fearthebeard

12. Howard (Last week 9): Perhaps there's something that live feeders could fill us in on here. Howard seems like a great guy, who hasn't been a threat in a single competition. The target on his back appears to be based on either his large muscles, or his terrible attempt to cover up his involvement in the MC. Either way he's in some hot water this week, and as much as I hate to say it, he seems to be on his way out the door.

RIP Kaitlin

R.I.P. Kaitlin "But I'm from Minnesota" Barnaby

Tender of Bar

Owner of ALL the eye liner

Survived by the other half of the "Mean Girls Alliance"

Kaitlin took me on a bit of a roller-coaster during her short stay in the Big Brother house. A very insignificant and superficial roller-coaster. You know...like ones of those kids ones, with a theme, and no real drops, and it hasn't been maintained in 15 years and should probably be shut down...Anyways, I feel like the best way to articulate it, would be to post a timeline of my ‘Kaitlin related’ stream of consciousness. Mostly because I think that’s what J.D. Salinger would do, if he were alive and watched Big Brother (and If J.D. Salinger were alive, he would definitely watch Big Brother).

Ready?

“Wow, this is an exceptionally good looking cast. Particularly that Kaitlin girl!”

“It seems like everyone is set on pairing off this season. Except Kaitlin. She thinks she’s too good for all of the guys in the house. And I think she’s probably right.”

“Really? Jeremy? Kaitlin. I don’t know if you’re quite as hot as you think you are...but JEREMY?”

“I think Kaitlin just hooked up with Jeremy because she was bored, on TV, and he was standing closest to a camera.”

“I cannot believe how someone can go from unspeakably beautiful, to strange and peculiar, just by painting their eyebrows on crooked.”

“I don’t know if she was just standing too close to Aaryn, and she caught some of her stank, but I think Kaitlin might also be a giant bitch.” (I'm sorry Kaitlin...you CAN be both a bitch, and from Minnesota.)

“Oh great. We’re going to have to put up with Aaryn another week, so the house can evict Kaitlin, because Aaryn isn’t a threat to win HoH. I guess that makes sense...right?”

“............................” 

My favourite two things about Kaitlin’s stay in the Big Brother house, were her exit interview with Julie, where she basically admitted that she didn’t care to see Jeremy again, and she was just fooling around with him because the house didn’t have a Ouija board (at least that’s what I heard). And that the nickname I assigned early on in the game, ‘The Mean Girls’, stuck. Yes, I’m taking credit for that. I don’t care how obvious it was. 

Anyway, enjoy Vegas, Kaitlin. And in your memory...

Float On - Week 4 Power Rankings

1. Judd (Last week 9) - With the crowning of King J-U-Double D, the power rankings have been thrown asunder. Judd, having no real alliances in the house, has been able to grasp the power completely. After the nominations it's clear that Judd the Studd is not in the boat-shaking business. He realizes that right now it's not worth taking out any "big targets" because, frankly, there aren't any coming after him. He's so damn likeable and he plans to keep it that way.

2. Jessie (Last week 11) - Apparently her and Judd have a bit of a fling going. Honestly, I think they both could do better, but expect the unexpected! Right now Jessie is sitting pretty (but obviously not as pretty as she thinks she is).

3. Andy (Last week 7) - This week the floaters have floated to the top. Andy has continued his strategy of doing nothing of interest. He's on no one's radar and that is perfect for a week with an unexpected HOH.

4. Helen (Last week 2) - Helen was almost completely absent from this episode. Laying low could be a strategy of hers, or she could just be really boring and not warranting camera-time. Regardless, she got a big threat out of the house and seems to have made no enemies for it, kudos.

5. Elissa (Last week 8) - Elissa might be through the worst of the storm. Like Helen, Elissa seems to be laying low. This is smart. It will be interesting to see what happens with the twist when she loses her power though.

6. McCrae (Last week 4) - I never thought I'd say this, but Amanda has brought McCrae down. No major alliances have been formed since the moving company disbanded. This has drawn attention to the pairs that have populated the house. McCrae and Amanda are the closest pair right now and that could paint a target on both of their backs. But, McCrae is still in good with Judd so there's very little danger for him this week.

7. Candice (Last week 3) - After McCrae and Amanda the next closest pair seems to be Howard and Candice. Like McCrae, Candice is being pulled down by her better-half. Howard could be in trouble soon, and that will spell trouble for Candice.

8. Spencer (Last week 1) - Spencer's power rankings have been a roller coaster. Last week he played it smart with Helen, but this week he has mostly stayed away from Judd. This strategy works for someone like Andy who is on no one's radar, but Spencer has proven to be a threat. Him, Howard, and Candice are in trouble if one of them doesn't win HOH next week.

9. Howard (Last week 6) - Everyone's favourite, Howie, has dropped a few rankings this week. His name has been thrown around a lot. I don't think he'll be put up this week because Judd's his buddy, but he has half the house agreeing that he needs to go.

10. Amanda (Last week 5) - Oh, Amanda. We all know you're so smart, but Judd clearly doesn't respond to intelligence. She has pushed Judd way too hard. She should've just realaxed this week, she was perfectly fine. Just share a beer with him and realize that in the end he's going to make the easy call and put up the girls. If GinaMarie is put up by America, and then if the veto is used, I believe Judd will put up Amanda. She's a threat, and has really just annoyed him this week.

11. GinaMarie (Last week 13) - With Aaryn nominated GinaMarie is the next obvious choice for America's nomination. She's also racist, also annoying, and even crazier. And on the off-chance America puts someone else up, she will undoubtedly be Judd's replacement nominee if the veto is used. I think her reunion with Nick is rapidly approaching.

12. Kaitlin (Last week 12) - I feel like Kaitlin is the victim of her circumstance. She chose her ally's about as poorly as possible. I don't believe she will be leaving this week, but she seems unable/unwilling to try and improve her situation and for that she remains at the bottom.

13. Aaryn (Last week 14) - Racist, annoying, and so very alone. She's alienated herself from her final two friends in this house and we all can only hope that she is going home this week. If Judd hadn't nominated her I'm sure America would've.

-Matt

We hardly knew ye

I believe the Big Brother post eviction walk-out is one of the most telling experiences we as humans can observe. So far we've had a couple good ones. David, his feeble mind unable to comprehend the trauma, walked out in a daze. Nick, similarly walked out shocked, but what was more telling was GinaMarie's meltdown. So how did Jeremy fair in his walk-out? With unexpected class.

Jeremy in his pre-voting speech said "we all know what's going to happen." Like a man sentenced to death, he had come to terms with his mortality within the Big Brother home. He knew that he was out of tricks, not that he really had any to begin with, but his hope was gone. A man without hope can be a dangerous thing. We've all seen players lose it in their dieing moments. Decide that because they're leaving they should lash out in a furry of angst-ridden passive-aggression. Brandon Hantz (from last season of Survivor) had an epic meltdown in which he poured rice into the sand and flipped over what was presumably Phillip's favourite chair. It was great tv, but showed the world that Brandon had no control over his emotions. Similarly, GinaMarie demonstrated, and continues to demonstrate, that she is unable to face mortality even in a "reality" show, I shudder to think how she'll react if something actually tragic happens to her. But Jeremy didn't break down aggressively or emotionally, he tried to play his hand as best as he could, failed, and accepted it.

Jeremy said that "he had changed more in 3 weeks in the house than 3 years outside of it." I don't really believe that. Not because I think he's still a jerk, or a bully, but because I never really thought that to begin with. There's no doubt that he's egotistical, but other than that I don't see where this image of him as a bully is. Granted, I don't watch the 24-hour feed, but from what I saw on the show I think he was placed in an impossible position. Like all the contestants, he was thrown into a powder keg of emotions. Surrounded by people, mostly women, that have no control over their emotions. All of which are scared and confused, in a strange place away from their friends and families, like stray dogs gathered in a cage and told not to fight. It's ridiculous. Jeremy hit the proverbial nail on the head when he said that people perceived him as a bully because he's a big guy. The one scene the editors used to demonstrate his undeniable aggression was a scene in which he took the blame for drinking wine that was being saved for the have-nots. Gasps were heard for miles. Yes, he did do it in a slightly aggressive way, raising his voice and what-not, but he actually was doing it to protect his friends. The line between noble and dick-ish is blurred within the confines of the BB house.

So why did Jeremy go home. Was it simply because these child-like houseguests were frightened by this moderately large man? The go-to reason for his eviction for most people was that he was a "beast" in competitions. I guess his one (veto, that baby one) and a half (him and Aaryn won HOH, and he let Aaryn take it) wins were so dominant that people were terrified by his prowess. I mean if Big Brother starts having bench-pressing or shirt-removing competitions, then his eviction will be warranted, but until then you should be more afraid of the intelligent people with strong memories. This is what always confuses me in this game.

R.I.P. Jeremy "1/16th Cherokee" McGuire

Beast of Competitions

Misunderstood Bully

Survived by one of the few tolerable women left in the house

Where does the "MVP" rank with the worst twists ever?

Every year Big Brother adds a new twist to the game. Sometimes these twists result in jaw dropping moments, sometimes they change the way the game is played. Other times, these twists make me ashamed to be a fan of the show. I think it's pretty clear that the "MVP" has thus far been a terrible idea, but how bad is it compared to other seasons twists? Let's take a look at what I consider to be "The bottom 5" twists in big brother history. We'll rank the twists on a scale of 1-10 in 3 categories, Fairness, Entertainment, and "Twistiness". You may notice that these are from newer seasons. I'll allow you to interpret that data as you like.

#5 BB14: Coaches/ The coaches entering the game.

In this season, 4 veteran players were brought into the game to mentor the current players. If one of their players won, the coach would also win a cash prize. However, after just two live evictions, the coaches were brought into the game to play as regular players instead.

Fairness: 2
This twist was not very fair to anyone involved. First of all, some players got stuck with coaches who were bad for their game (Jannelle, your players would like a word with you) and then the coaches, who were under the impression that they were playing a completely different game had their plans turned upside down. As did everyone else in the house who now had to deal with playing with some of Big Brothers all time greats. Also, bringing the coaches in voided what would have been Franks eviction, which seemed like an attempt to keep Frank in the game from the producers.

Entertainments: 9
This is where this twist shone. Especially after the coaches were brought back into the game. Without Dan playing the entire house the whole season, BB14 would have ended up being rather forgettable. Thanks to Dan and his "mist" we ended up with a fun season.

Twistiness: 2
Twistiness, as in the sense that you've been twisted around... or something. This game started with 12 players, had 1 player evicted on the first day, and another player kicked out in week 2. That means that a game that was played with 14 people the season before would now be played with 10. If you didn't see this coming, you weren't paying attention. It was obvious from episode 1 the coaches were coming in, and the house figured it out. This meant that bringing the coaches in that late in the game was the equivalent of keeping them safe from the first two evictions.

Final score: 13
Did it make for a memorable season? Sure, but you could have just brought the coaches in from the beginning and had the same effect. Love those players, hated the execution of this twist.

#4 BB11 Coup d'etat

This was the second time the Coup d'etat was introduced in BB, but the first time it was used. This power gave someone in the house the ability to overturn both of the HoH's nominees, and replace them with two of their own, right before nominations happened.

Fairness: 0
This was as unfair as you could possibly get. America's favourite player gets to usurp the HoH, and put up whoever he wants. Essentially it said, gameplay, you're not important, what's important is keeping America's favourites in the house. If that's what the producers want they should have stuck with the BB1 format. This twist was actually so unfair, that it Caused Chima's brain to explode, and I'm no Chima appologist, but she had reason to be upset with production.

Entertainment: 5
This was shaping up to be a pretty good season. It was intense, competitive, and entertainting. After the Coup D'etat, it only took a couple of weeks for all of the good players to be out of the game. The final two of this season was by far the worst final two ever. You could have taken any two people from the final 4 and that would still be true. One very entertaining episode resulted in the most anticlimactic season ever. It gains bonus points for showing us Jeff trying to pronounce Coup d'etat.

Twistiness: 8

As I said above, that one episode delivered. We all knew Jeff would get it, but what he did with it was a complete shock, and resulted in one very good episode. When the twist came, it came hard.

Overall: 13
This twist delivered the goods for one episode, and then wrecked the season. It also undermined the entire structure of the game. Let's try and avoid that.

#3 BB11-14, Pandora's box

Fairness: 0
Matt from bb12 once called this "Producers box" because that's exactly what it is. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. It's generally good when the producers want to lend somebody a helping hand, and bad when they don't. Whether it's giving Rachel and Jordan the ability to both win the PoV, or handing out extra vetos, plently of players have benefited from the Pandora bump.

Entertainment: 5
From time to time, Pandora delivers a good laugh when the game has really slowed down. Who can forget Jeff stuffing his shorts full of cash, or the spectacular fight between Rachel and Ragan. Other times, it's a groaner. It's 50/50, therefore, 5 points.

Twistiness: 3
Sometimes it's a distraction, sometimes it's an unpredictable twist. Most of the time it's an obvious attempt from the producers to spice up the last few weeks.

Overal: 8
Yes, the final weeks need some spicing up, but anytime the producers give their favourites a better shot, I die a little inside.


#2 BB12: The Saboteur

In BB12 we met the saboteur, this persons job was to secretly sabotage the house. Essentially, they were a glorified prankster.

Fairness: 7
Technically, the best thing about this twist was that it didn't affect gameplay. It was a twist that didn't affect nominations, votes, or anything of the sort. It did however give our saboteur a rough ride as she was voted out first. I guess it was self espionage.

Entertainment: 0
This added nothing to the game. It wasn't that fun to watch, it was really just awkward. Luckily, the house took us out of that misery early.

Twistiness: 0
There was nothing shocking about this. There was nothing that made me get out of my seat, or want to see what happened next. At one point they tried to shock the house by naming a new saboteur, but it had mostly the same effect.

Overall: 7
On the plus side, the players actually got to play. So there's that.

#1 BB13: Dynamic duos

This season went along the theme of dynamic duos. The first 8 house guests were paired up, and then they were introduced to 6 returning players, who were all paired up in duos based on their previous games. You were nominated as a pair, and then one of the pair would be voted out, leaving the other to wait until the pairs were split up to continue playing.

Fairness: 0
Part of the problem was that you had no control over who you were paired with. Part of it was that it immediately created a "vets vs newbs" vibe, and the vets had an obvious experience advantage, especially considering they were all competition beasts. Part of the problem was that if your partner was eliminated, you were safe until final 10, which ruined any motivation to stay off the block. Part of the problem was that the newbies they cast were honestly not that great at big brother. The biggest fairness issue was that when the producers wanted to keep their vets around a little longer, they gave Rachel and Jordan the pandora bump by pairing them back up so they could win the veto together. The producers wanted the vets to be the story, and that's what happened. The newbies ended up being the supporting cast, and I feel like they didn't get a fair shake at big brother.

Entertainment: 3
This is mostly personal bias. I was not a fan of bb13. I feel like being in pairs removed a lot of the drama from the game as the pairs never felt the need to stay off the block, they just wanted to eliminate the partner and float through the next couple of weeks. Which was another problem, too many inactive players. In the end, bb13 suffered greatly from treating more than half of their cast like supporting members to the veteran stars.

Twistiness: 3
The moment that the veteran duos first walked through that door was intense, after that, the novelty wore off. The duo twist just resulted in too many players sitting on the sidelines, which is the opposite of an exciting twist. In my opinion, it ruined the season, and was therefore the worst twist to this point.

Overall 6

Big Brother, please, don't pit newbs and vets against each other like this. All stars or newbies, the mixes aren't the way to go.

Honourable mentions
"Till death do you part" bb9
I mostly didn't include this because I don't want to revisit bb9. Those were dark days.

"America's player" BB8
Perhaps the least fair twist ever, as it rigged the entire season for Dick to win, however it gets high scores on entertainment value and twistiness. This is the greatest reunion moment ever.

So what about the current twist?

It's not over yet, so it's hard to put a final judgement on it, but let's just say it doesn't look good. While Elissa can still technically be nominated, as long as she's on the majority alliance, she's safe. She is getting a power that nobody else has access too, and it's not even because she's popular, it's because her sister's popular. It's not entertaining, because, well, to be quite frank Elissa is not very good at this game, and it's not very twisty, because it's so predictable that she gets it every week. I don't know if the producers are happy with the results, but I can't imagine any of the long time fans like myself are.

To cheer myself up, I'm going to watch Jeff say "Coup D'etat" again.

Yup. That hit the spot.

Power Rankings: Week 3

Well, the nominations have been made, so it's time for this weeks power rankings!

1. Spencer (last week: 2) - Tim has to be feeling pretty good this week, because his week one pick is sitting on top of our power rankings! It might not make much sense that the Moving Company is no more, and yet their leader has risen to the top of our ranks, but Spencer continues to demonstrate the qualities necessary to win Big Brother. His instincts (and Helen) told him that it was time to disband his alliance, and he got out without any blood on his hands. That's easier said than done. He's subtle, and he's smart. Fear the beard indeed.

2. Helen (last week: 14) - That is the political consultant we've all been waiting for! In one week, Helen figured out that there was an all-male alliance in the house, convinced two of its members to evict one of their own, and then proceeded to win HoH! It's not always good to win HoH (you'll find last week's winner at the bottom of our list), but Helen seems to be doing a fairly decent job keeping her feet on the ground. Last week we criticized her for only having one friend in the house - Elissa. That seems to have changed drastically. We'll see if it's still the case when she's no longer HoH.

3. Candice (Last week: 6) - Like Spencer, Candice is showing she has the tools to win. She can smile her way through fake apologies. She can demonstrate compassion towards emotional balls of New York angst. She can bite her tongue and she can pick her spots. More importantly, all of her enemies seem to have a very short expiration date in this game, and she's just the type that can sneak to the end. I don't know how long this MVP twist will last, but can you name the two people who would have to be sitting next to her, for her to go home? I can't.

4. McCrae (Last week: 1) - I don't think I've ever smiled so hard, as when McCrae referred to Amanda as his 'Queen'. You can tell McCrae has literally never been in a position to assign a pet-name, but he's swinging for the fences! This season seems more dramatic than most, and McCrae's mellow ways don't seem to yield him much camera time, so it's hard to judge his game. He might have dropped from the top spot, but considering his alliance was abolished, he's doing okay.

5. Amanda (Last week: 13) - Amanda is way up this week. Most of this just has to do with the power swing in the house, and her being on the right side. But she earned all the credit with me she'll ever need when she prophesied for Aaryn what will happen when she leaves the house. You see, we all  know what's coming, because we've seen how the show has been cut, and because...well...we're not delusional, self-absorbed brats. But Amanda hasn't seen the show. Yet, she painted for Aaryn a very accurate picture of what waits for her beyond the Big Brother walls. A storm of opposition against her bigoted ways. And for that, Amanda, I love you.

6. Howard (Last week: 3) - Howard, if this were a list of my favourite people in the house...no... wait...in the world...you would be #1. There is literally nothing I don't love about you. Hopefully the other houseguests feel the same way, and that takes you all the way to the end. But you fell in our rankings because you're a terrible liar, and you pick inopportune moments to lie. That's basically a death sentence in the Big Brother house.

7. Andy (Last week: 4) - Andy has fallen a little bit in our rankings, because people around him are making moves, and he's not. So far, he's an ultimate floater. And usually, around week 4-5, when obvious targets like Aaryn and Kaitlin are gone, people start looking around, saying, "you know who could win this game? Andy!" And when that happens, and nobody has your back, you're done.

8. Elissa (Last week: 15) - Maybe we were a little harsh with you Elissa. Somehow, you aren't the most unlikable person in this house. So points for that. And you definitely get credit for winning MVP every week. But A) Howard is probably going to win MVP soon, because...have you met Howard? And B) If you win a third time, the Big Brother Producers will get rid of MVP. And when that happens, you will need some friends, or the ability to compete.

9. Judd (Last week: 10) - Hello Judd. Other than a comical southern accent, what is it exactly that you do here?

10. Jeremy (Last week: 8) - Maybe the fact that I hate Jeremy is affecting the rankings...But I really hate Jeremy. I'll give him some credit, once Nick walked out the door, Jeremy changed his tune and started sucking up to the other side of the house. He threw Kaitlin under the bus, which was absolutely necessary. But...did I mention I hate Jeremy?

11. Jessie (Last week: 12) - You jumped from one side of the house to the other Jessie. And that's great. I'm glad you feel like your new cohorts 'treat you with respect' and all...But whether you're with the 'good guys' or the 'bad guys', you're on the bottom of the totem pole either way, until you demonstrate some value.

12. Kaitlin (Last week 5) - Kaitlin actually hit the nail on the head this week when she said, "I feel like I'm in high school again but on the other side." You see Kaitlin, that other side is called LIFE! Welcome! Nobody is going to hand you a trophy for painting your eyebrows straight. You're actually going to have to be likeable, or demonstrate some discernible skill.

13. GinaMarie (Last week: 11) - GinaMarie...get ahold of yourself. Maybe you and Nick developed some chemistry while the cameras weren't recording, but the rest of us saw you throw yourself at a dude who wasn't interested at all. And even if he was, he was there for 2 weeks. How attached could you really be? You can't be that emotionally fragile in this game. Not to mention the temper tantrum you threw after his eviction. Do the math. The vote was 7-4. You're swearing vengeance against the people who have the vote. Now is not the time.

14: Aaryn (Last week: 9) - I don't want to waste many words on Aaryn. I'm hoping to leave those for this weeks RIP post. She's the worst player and the worst person. And the two are definitely related.

- Mark

He went before his time.

Oh Nick, Nick, Nick. What to say about you? I'm sad to see you go tonight. Not because of your expert game play, your budding showmance or your ski-jump hairdo. Simply because you were my 'authors pick', and I had higher hopes for you. Let's see where you went wrong, shall we?

The Moving Company was doing pretty well. They weren't in power this week, but Aaryn was controlled by a personal vendetta, keeping Elissa in her cross hairs, and her BFF Helen too. Sure, the MVP (Elissa) nominated Jeremy, but he was a beast during the Veto, even tearing off his onesie in a jouvenile display of primal superiority. All the Moving Company had to do was lay low, and let Elissa put up another girl as a replacement nominee.

And then comes Nick. First of all, let me address the super awkward, confusing proposal Elissa set before Nick. She told him that unless he threw the Veto, she would put him up as a replacement nominee. She also said, that if he did throw it, she would keep him safe, and was hoping for a two week deal. Let's look at how flawed that logic is.

A) Say Nick doesn't throw the Veto, but doesn't win. How will Elissa know he didn't throw it? She didn't say he had to obviously throw it. It is far too common in Big Brother for contestants to lose a competition and then proclaim that they threw it. Riiiggghhht. Because we all know you can sustain your 250 pounds of straight muscle mass on a cardboard popsicle stick.

B) If Nick doesn't throw the Veto, and wins, he could take Jeremy off the block and wouldn't be eligible to be a replacement nominee either. So Elissa wouldn't have any means of repercussion.

Anyway, Jeremy wins the Veto, and Elissa is debating between Kaitlyn and Nick as replacement nominees. She's a sweet person, underneath it all, so she didn't feel right about going back on her "deal" with Nick. Not without at least talking to him first.

And this, my friends, is the conversation that I think single-handedly saw Nick out the door. Maybe that's a little dramatic, but it did seal his fate in terms of nominations. Elissa goes to Nick and says "if I put up Kaitlyn, will you vote her out?" He says yes. Then she asks him, point blank "Would you ever consider voting me out?", in order to figure out where he stands. He takes about the longest sip of water humanly possible, opens his darting eyes as wide as he can, before saying "I don't know. When do you have to know by?" What? Nick! This is not a game of 'let me play mob boss and talk to my people' this is 'you have the power right now, so I'll tell you what you want to hear'!

So Elissa puts Nick up, which is the same thing any self-respecting Big Brother player would do. A series of events transpire before the vote, many of which involve Candice (Mark, your 'authors pick' is looking better every episode!) who was the first to be suspicious of the all male alliance, and Helen, who did a good job of swaying some of the floaters. In the end, it seems Nick's inability to think on his feet got him nominated, but it was his obvious threat-like qualities that made it impossible for people to leave him in the house when they had the perfect opportunity to send him packing.

R.I.P Nick

Loving houseguest, 

Willing showmancer

Survived by a crying ball of New Yorkian Pageantry

-Sam

The Moving Company, and other Alpha Male alliances

Last week MC (The Moving Company) seemed to be running the house. They looked like an unstoppable force. This week, they look vulnerable. They look like an unstable alliance that is in danger of losing its first member in just the second eviction of the season. What changed? To answer that, let's start with a little Big Brother history lesson.

MC was not the first Alpha Male alliance to form in the house. The first came courtesy of Big Brother 5, they were known as The Four Horsemen. They formed the exact same way most early alliances form. Somebody won HoH, and people rallied around him to form an alliance, assuming they would always run the house. The four horsemen were super athletes/ultra competitors Jase and Scott, the oddball Michael (Aka Cowboy) and Drew. Drew was the least interesting Horseman personality wise, but was the key piece in the fate of the alliance. In week one, Jase won HoH and Scott won veto. These two thought they were in charge of the house, and they acted like it. Then something came between the ultimate bromance, females. Jase fell for Holly, who nobody in the house could stand, and Drew formed a showmance with Dianne, who was at the time Jase's arch nemesis. Week 3, Drew wins HoH, sends Holly out the door, further alienating Jase from him, and the rest of the house. Week 4, Dianne takes out Scott. Week 5, the infamous six finger plan, the very first backdoor. Drew teamed up with Dianne and her allies to send Jase out without a chance to compete for veto. Showing that good strategic play can beat competition proficiency every time. While Drew and Michael went on to be the final two, it's hard to argue that The Four Horsemen alliance was still intact beyond week 5.

To find the second alpha male alliance we have to go all the way to season 12. Hayden wins the first HoH, Enzo goes to him with a plan to bring together an alliance of four strong men who have different skills, and can run the house. Hayden, Enzo, Matt, and Lane form The Brigade, and each of them form sub alliances. While people suspected they were working together, everybody thought that they were in a more important alliance with them. Ragan believed Matt was loyal to him, Britney believed Lane was loyal to her, Kirsten believed Hayden was loyal to her, and everybody thought Enzo was just a goofy guy who was getting through. With everyone feeling secure, the whole season became about the house trying to evict Brendan and Rachel, while the Brigade quietly controlled every eviction. The only member to leave early was Matt, and that was still done by the Brigade who no longer felt they could trust him. They dominated that season.

So where does MC fit in? Are they The Horsemen or The Brigade? Last week they looked like Brigade, but now they are shaping up for a Horsemen like collapse. They are allowing love interests and egos to get in the way of their alliance. Jeremy is pulling rank and alienating his allies, in a way that is reminiscent of Jase's fall, and now, after proving to have the worst poker face in the world, Nick is in danger.

If MC wants to regain control of the house they need to continue branching out. They need make sure that they can't be seen conspiring together. They need to remember that winning is not about taking all of the competitions, it's about keeping people around that you control. They made this mistake when they evicted David over Elissa. Yes, David is more likely to win HoH, but he would have been a loyal soldier. Elissa has no reason to stay loyal, and she has a lot of power.

Tonight eviction will come down to Elissa or Nick. Nobody will vote for Helen. There are 11 votes, meaning you need six to stay. They have four guaranteed in the alliance, and GinaMarie.  If they can pull in one more vote, likely Katilin, they are gold. However, I expect to see Candice fighting to pull the veil off of more peoples eyes. How MC handles this eviction could decide if they will be The Horsemen, or The Bridage.

Tim

Omar's Comin'

So here's my take on the game so far. For the more cultured television aficionados you may be familiar with the HBO series "The Wire." If not, you might as well stop reading this post because it will make little sense. I believe that this season of Big Brother is much like the first two seasons of The Wire so far. Now let me justify that egregious statement.

David, the first player evicted, is Brandon. Now for those of you who haven't recently watched The Wire, Brandon is Omar's boyfriend in season one.  Brandon was a nice kid, maybe a little simple-minded and careless, but nice. He was simply looking for love, but got mixed up in the game. He was taken out ruthlessly early on and without warning, sending a message to all those around him, leaving his boyfriend to clean up the mess.

David's partner, Aaryn (Omar), tried to protect her boytoy, but the game is the game. Aaryn understands this, but she feels the way they did David was excessive and sadistic. Now she's out for revenge. Anyone who had anything to do with David's execution is a target. She has two soldiers in her sights now, Elissa (Stinkum) and Helen (Wee-Bey), she'll only take out one, but wound the other.

This makes the Barksdale crew nervous. McCrae (Avon), had power early on. He ran the game briefly, but now he's powerless. He's left impotent on the outside looking in. Jeremy (Stringer) is forced to step up and take the game in his hands. But Jeremy is not only worried about Aaryn, he's also worried about who McCrae has aligned himself with, namely Amanda (Brother Mouzone). This gives Jeremy an idea, make his two enemies fight each other. But who is crazy enough to go after Amanda? Well, Jeremy approaches the craziest person he knows, a person who seemingly has no interest in the game, just revenge. He manipulates Aaryn into believing Amanda was the real mastermind behind how David was done. That she took it too far. That she went beyond the game.

Now is where the game will get really interesting. I believe it will continue to play out like The Wire in that Aaryn will come after Amanda only to discover Jeremy deceived her. This will form a tentative alliance between the two leading to Jeremy's inevitable execution. But remember, it's all in the game, yo.

*Bonus* Here are some supporting characters that are also making appearances:
-Candice (Bubbles); she's in the game, disenfranchised by circumstances beyond her control, but she's wise to the inner-workings.
-Spencer (Bodie); He hasn't had to step up quite yet, but when he does heads will roll.
-Howard (D'Angelo);  He's a big player, but he hasn't decided if he's prepared to get blood on his hands. I believe he will become a liability for the Moving Company and be taken out early on.
-Andy (Marlo); Andy hasn't really even shown up yet, but I think after some of this dust settles down he could be a big threat.
-Judd (McNulty); One word, four syllables; alcoholic.
-GinaMarie (Marla Daniels [Cedric's wife]); I don't have much justification for this one other than they both really annoy me.


-Matt

RIP David

I always feel bad for the first evictee. Still fresh in our minds are those cheesy videos where the guests express their excitement to enter the Big Brother house. They’re thinking about their summer of adventure, friendship, and the pursuit of a half million dollars! But don’t be so quick to unpack, because one unlucky house guest has to be the first one evicted. Often times, this is just bad luck. The first HoH challenge wasn’t really your game, or the ‘in-crowd’ has been decided, and you didn’t make the cut. There’s a certain amount of luck involved in Big Brother, and the first evictee is just the person who drew the shortest straw.

Not this time though. This year our first evictee was David, a 25 year-old lifeguard/surfer from San Diego. He lives with his parents and he has the IQ of a boiled egg. His strategy was to, and I quote, “be myself and let my good looks carry me to the end.” Well, he stuck to his strategy, and it got him a one-week shomance with Aaryn (this week’s HoH who is out for revenge), but it looks like he overestimated the value of his good looks in the Big Brother house.

In his short time in the house, David did make some history. He became the first contestant to fail to spell a word in the spelling competition. Let me be clear...I’m not saying he attempted a word and spelled it incorrectly. I’m saying, when he was asked to reveal the word he spelled, he didn’t have one. Why? Well...remember when you were in fourth grade, and you were stumped by a word on your spelling test, so you looked around the room to see if it was written somewhere on the wall? Well, rather than collect letters and derive a word from what was available like the rest of the house guests, David looked at the Big Brother banner, saw the word ‘Competition’, and thought, “I can’t lose! I have the answer sheet!” Who knew, confining himself to one possible word from the beginning of the competition was a bad idea, and he failed to collect all the letters. But hey! You made history David!

Unfortunately, we’ll have to hear about this boiled egg until his xenophobic girlfriend is evicted, or her blood thirst is quenched, whichever comes first (my money is on the former). Because like I said, she’s out for revenge. You made quite the impression in one short week, David. RIP.

- Mark

Week 2 Power rankings

This is the debut of our Power rankings feature for big Brother 15! We will be ranking the players based more on long term goals in combination with immediate concerns, meaning that just because you're HOH does not necessarily mean you're in the best position in the house. At times it may seem arbitrary, but keep in mind that's because it's still early, and we don't necessarily know some of the house guests all that well yet.

1. McCrae - Week 1 power rankings place the pizza boy McCrae at the top of the list. And to be honest, it wasn’t really close. Do I think he’s going to win? Almost certainly not. But so far, he’s running away with the game, and our hearts. Let’s do a quick pros and cons.

Pros:

McCrae has won the first HoH and the first Veto competition (making him an excellent candidate for this weeks MVP vote). He gained membership to the first real alliance, ‘The Moving Company’, consisting of McCrae and alpha males Jeremy, Howard, Nick and Spencer. And on top of that, despite all odds, he hooked up with the buxom real estate agent, Amanda. That’s about as good a week as someone can have, right? well...

Cons:

He was actually trying to throw the Veto competition. He won because he overestimated the ability of his competitors to spell third grade words, and follow basic instructions (seriously, David didn’t even spell a word, Elissa spelled TWO words, and Candice, who was up for eviction, came to the table with ‘rafts’....really? RAFTS?!?! . His dedication to the pizza boy persona is entertaining, but it will get old. And he suffers from the worst case of verbal diarrhea I have ever seen, and that’s usually a death sentence in the big brother house.

After accidentally winning the Veto, McCrae told us, “I feel like the stupidest smart guy in the house!” I’m still trying to figure out where that puts him in relation to his competition...but he’s right.

2. Spencer - He appears to be running The Moving Company, but is subtle enough about it that the suspicion lies much more on Jeremy and Nick. The Moving Company is running the show right now, and although I'm not sure it can continue to dominate in "Brigade" fashion, there is nothing clearly in their way quite yet. Then again, maybe I'm just biased because Spencer was my episode 1 pick. Fear the beard.

3. Howard - At first, I thought his physicality would make him a target, but he has shown no ability in competitions so far. This is actually a good thing for him, because he is smart and level headed. With the backing of the moving company and his likeability, he should go far.

4. Andy - While Andy does not have a strong alliance at the moment, his conversation with Aaryn showed a lot. It showed he understands the game and understands how people think. He could be a "float to the end" kind of threat,

5. Kaitlin - We haven't seen much of her, but she seems likeable and I don't expect her to be a target any time soon.

6. Candice - Seemed to get in danger last week, but got through it. She's on to the boys alliance, how she handles that information could determine her fate

7. Nick - While he has the Moving Company, and is a smart player, people are on to him. Any time somebody compares you to Dan you know it's trouble. First of all it means you're a target, second of all it means you're probably no Dan.

8. Jeremy - Right now he's the second most powerful man in the house, but in a week or two his hot head will catch up to him. I'm seeing visions of the Moving Company turning on him, much the same way the Brigade turned on Matt.

9. Aaryn - She's HoH now, but watching people awkwardly laugh at bad racist jokes because they don't want to be nominated is painful. Aaryn, you still have 14 competitors, don't make them turn on you because you have a little bit of power!

10. Judd - These next three are floaters who we've barely seen, so will sit at the bottom of the rankings for now.

11. GinaMarie - I think she actually had a line in this episode, yay her!

12. Jessie - I'm pretty sure I saw that same strategy to let somebody know you like them in grade 4. Seriously, the Nick stalking is only going to make things worse.

13. Amanda - I like Amanda, I think she's smart, but if that Veto gets used, or a Moving Company member gets MVP, she is on the block. Low ranking for immediate danger reasons only. If she gets through this week, watch out.

14. Helen - She's on the block and she seems to have alienated herself from the rest of the house. Her alliance with Elissa is dragging her down and I'm not convinced she has the social skills to get herself out of it.

15. Elissa - She has the ability to make people dislike her that her sister had without the ability to win competitions. Her only hope is that the MVP keeps going to her, and the Moving Company continues to keep her around for it. Even if it does work in her favor it is only delaying the inevitable. She will only make it as far as the Moving Company and America will let her. I predict she's out the door in 3 weeks or less.

So far on Season 15

If you're just tuning in, here's what you missed...

16 house guests entered the house, filled with dreams of friendship and community. These hopes were quickly shattered with the announcement of this season's twists. The MVP and third nominee! Gasp. Every week America votes for the newest Most Valuable Player and they get to nominate a third house guest for eviction. The interesting part is the MVP can remain anonymous if they so choose.

Shortly after entering the house the first HoH competition took place. It was a mix of emotion, giant popsicles, endurance and the inevitable admission of  "I threw the competition" after failing 5 minutes in. It is difficult for the big guys to sustain all their muscle mass on the equivalent of a foam pool noodle, so McCrae the scrawny pizza boy takes it. He nominates Jessie and Candice. They both cry.

After the introduction of the MVP twist, Elissa (aka botox schmotox) quickly alerts everyone that she will get MVP because her sister (Rachel Reilley- seasons 12 &13) has a ton of fans and they're the best fans a girl could ask for. Oh, and did I forget to mention? Her sister's a SUPER MODEL. As it turns out, Elissa does get MVP and nominates Hasselhoff... err David. When Jeremy (1/16th cherokee) questions Elissa about whether she did indeed get MVP, she quickly denies it and tells Jeremy she never said such things. Voices were raised.

'Thank you for choosing Pizza Hut' McCrae accidentally wins Veto by correctly spelling an 8 letter word and uses it to save Candice. He then replaces her with Elissa. David ends up going home and Aaryn is crushed, leaving her a fiery ball of blonde going into the HoH competition.

Another endurance competition for HoH has the houseguests transferring BBQ sauce from one bin to another in teams of two. The winning pair, Jeremy and Aaryn have to decide amongst themselves who will be HoH. Aaryn is crowned and her way of determining the have-nots is by calling out everyone she thinks voted for her boyfriend, David.

That's about it. We also learn that Aaryn is an ignorant racist and she nominates Helen and Elissa. Are these two things related? Who knows.


Until next time,

Sam