I have to admit something. In an effort to fuel my enthusiasm for Big Brother during what's proven to be a pretty rough season, I've been dipping into the classics. Yes, I've been cheating on Big Brother 15 with Big Brothers 2-14. It started with this list of great Big Brother moments and then it led into a nearly complete rewatch of Season 11. I'm talking total binge. It wasn't that there was absolutely nothing going on during the feeds this week. As tonight's episode revealed, there was some drama. But I'd seen most of that already, and the truth is, the lack of suspense kind of killed the feeds for me this week. The outcome of tonight's eviction seemed to be a foregone conclusion days ago, possibly even before Andy won the Veto, and this simply hasn't been a season of eviction surprises. So I went back a few years and watch Jeff and Jordan. I may go even further back and revisit All Stars, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.
The episode began with the mayhem that ensued when Jesse started to realize she wasn't as safe as people were telling her. Andy had her nearly convinced that she was the pawn. Why he felt it necessary to blindside her, I'm not entirely sure. Maybe it was his hope that he could send her to jury without looking like the guilty party. Or maybe the lie was set up in case the house turned and sent Spencer out. Things ended up blowing up when Helen openly spoke about how Jessie tried to get Amanda out of the house last week. Jessie didn't take too kindly to Helen mentioning that in front of Aaryn, which sparked a tense conversation between Helen and Jessie during which Helen denied any involvement in that plan. Lie. She was in support of the evict-Amanda plan if they could get the votes, which they couldn't.
Of course Helen's going to protest Jessie's claims. The last thing she needs if Amanda on her - as though Amanda doesn't already have her sights on Helen - but aside from talking about how this was bad for her game, I would've liked to see more of Helen admitting to her role in the backdoor-Amanda plan in the diary room. Whether that's a matter of the way the show edited Helen's diary rooms or that Helen simply isn't willing to talk about things she wishes didn't happen, there wasn't much there, which just makes Helen look shady, and this is a big issue I have with her game. This Jessie scuffle aside, Helen's been doing a solid job of navigating through the game and making things happen the way she wants them to, Judd's eviction included, but we're not seeing her owning her game in the diary room. She needs a maniacal laugh, or at the very least, more openness in admitting to manipulating people. Instead, she's playing the good-girl angle inside and out of the diary room, which isn't working so well from a viewers' perspective.
The episode only showed a small piece of the trouble Jessie caused in the house after she realized she was probably going home. She told GinaMarie that Aaryn talks shit about her, which is true from what I know. GinaMarie casually dropped that little nugget of info in front of a cranky Aaryn. Remember earlier in the season when Aaryn was all attitude? That version of her hasn't been around much in the past few weeks, but we saw her return when GinaMarie mentioned the Jessie conversation. For some reason, Aaryn wouldn't let GinaMarie brush it off. It was odd, as if she was trying to start a fight about not fighting. GinaMarie feasted on her cup of ice chips and tried to drop it, but the two ended up fighting about not fighting, which led to GinaMarie calling everyone into the HoH room. That actually wasn't a bad idea. There's no better way to make sure the story isn't recanted all wrong the next day than to drag everyone out of bed and make them watch the not-fight happen. And that's where it ended.
Of course, feed-watchers know there was more to Jessie's backlash than that. The other morning, she sat around calling Helen a liar and Elissa Rachel's shadow. None of her zingers were all that zingy, and she eventually let it go and apologized to the house for her bad behavior. In the end, as I said, it never mattered. None of it did. Jessie was pretty much always going. Unsurprisingly, she was evicted unanimously tonight. In another season, Jessie's shenanigans might have caused a stir, but this season's houseguests seem dead set on following the herd, which is led mainly by Amanda and Helen, together or apart.
Before the eviction, Julie may have given the house a major clue about the perception of this season from the viewers. I think BB10/14's Dan Gheesling's talked about about that - how Julie's questions during the live show are often the only clues the houseguests will get about how fans are viewing the houseguests and the season. I think Julie's mention of the Twitter-submitted question about houseguests not making big moves this season was a prime example of that. Helen tried to (politely) argue that they've made big game moves this season, using Judd's eviction as an example - and admittedly, that was a bigger move than we've seen in a while, but I hope the houseguests take the hint and start playing this game before this season completely flatlines.
Tonight's Head of Household is was a knock-out competition where the houseguests had to listen to made-up songs about the competition and buzz in with either Head of Household, Veto or Have/Have-Not. The really interesting thing about this competition is that usually the more exciting part is seeing who the houseguests select to face off against one another. But that tension wasn't really there, as houseguests shook hands and hugged between rounds and seemed to pick the players practically at random. I expect Spencer's choice not to pit Amanda and McCrae against one another was to appear neutral from his end, but really, that's the whole problem with the season to begin with. No one wants to make waves. McCrae ended up losing to Amanda when the two eventually did face off, but only because he buzzed in with the wrong answer. I really hope he didn't throw it to her because it was clear from their round that she was having a hard time connecting the song to the competition, and not surprising that Aaryn beat her in the final round.
Aaryn's Head of Household. Again. This is her fourth Head of Household win. If she's smart, she'll make a rock-solid deal with some people and either put up Amanda and McCrae or Elissa and Helen. From what I've seen on the feeds, she's on good terms with everyone in the house, but she needs to make a move. Someone has to make a move!
The episode ended with Julie finally revealing the big twist. One of the jurors is coming back into the house! It's not America's vote that'll send one of the four evicted houseguests back. They'll apparently compete for that privilege, but this won't happen until next week's eviction. As I mentioned, it'll be between four jurors and there are only three right now - Judd, Candice and Jessie. Who will be the fourth juror? We'll have to wait and see who Aaryn nominates. Which I guess means I should probably start paying attention to the feeds again. If she decides to play it safe, she'll target Spencer, as I feel like he's the least guarded person in the house. But sometimes the least guarded people are the ones that can offer the most protection, and with four HoH wins, Aaryn has to realize people will be gunning for soon enough.
