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