Tonight's episode of Big Brother brought us from four to three. And this may be the first time since Season 9 when I'm not sure who I want to win among this trio because I don't really want any of them to win half a million dolars. Of course, there are arguments to be made for all three remaining contestants, and I'm sure I'll come up with those arguments in the coming days, because that's how I tend to watch this show. In a season where my favorite houseguests don't make it to the end, I try to find the next best player to cheer on. Or the least unlikable, if that's what it comes down to.
Let's be fair though. The Exterminators made it happen for themselves. They lost Judd along the way, but the other three got to the end by sheer force of numbers. On the sinking ship that was this season, GinaMarie, Spencer and Andy locked arms and formed a human raft on which to direct themselves to the end, taking turns paddling based on who won Head of Household that particular week. It got them to the Final 3, so technically, they deserve to be there. I guess I would've just liked to see that kind of gameplay from any of them early on. As a trio, there's strength there. Andy played a rock solid social game, Spencer allowed himself to be repeatedly used as a pawn, and GM was mostly loyal to her people. She didn't turn on Aaryn until it was looking like she could be up against her.
Andy won the Veto competition, which had to do with ordering houseguests' faces with when things happened in the house. McCrae might have realized he was a goner when GinaMarie cheered when Andy won and Spencer hugged him. Following the competition, it looked like Spencer tried to make a play to get Andy to use the Veto so they could send GinaMarie out, knowing could very well win over the jury if she gets to the Final 2, but it seems that plan never went through. Those watching the Live Feeds today knew what was going to happen tonight. This morning the Exterminators sat down with McCrae and told him about their alliance. In fact, they told him just about everything, including when they got together and what choices they made as a group since then. I think Andy actually told McCrae about every sneaky move he made, which could come back to bite him. Maybe he's just relieved to get it all off his chest, or maybe he thought showing all of his game moves to McCrae will help him in the jury. Maybe it will. Or maybe McCrae will go to the jury and tell everyone in there just how Andy screwed each of them over, assuming they don't already know.
Andy seemed to recognize that it didn't matter who was nominated before the Veto competition. He made that clear to GM and Spencer before he put Spencer up with McCrae. Andy won the Veto and as expected, he left the nominations alone. McCrae gave a bunch of shout-outs during his speech tonight, which seemed to indicate he was well aware he was going and not wasting his words trying to convince Andy to use the Veto or GM to vote to save him. GinaMarie voted to evict McCrae, after telling him that he's an awesome game player and they all love him. McCrae left with a smile and a plug to Hamsterwatch.com.
Did McCrae just give up when he found out about the Exterminators? It seems so. The feeds cut out today not long after the Exterminators had their talk with McCrae. His reaction to the big reveal was to mostly-calmly say "I knew it" and "Fuck." a lot while he tried to process what they were telling him. If he attempted to campaign with any of the houseguests on an individual level, we didn't see it, but the feeds cut out hours before tonight's episode, so who knows? At the very least, he could have tried, and it's a shame if he didn't. Yes, the Exterminators have been loyal to one another, but I don't think any of them have done that for personal reasons. As we saw tonight, Spencer was willing to fold on the alliance if it meant a better shot at the money.
From how I've seen it, the Exterminators has always been about sheer numbers. The alliance was formed when Elissa was on the block Andy and GinaMarie were both at risk of being put up as a replacement nominee against Aaryn. They just wanted to make sure they had the numbers to stay if they did, and after that, they stuck together because it benefited them to be with the majority. Big Brother is a numbers game.
McCrae could have promised Andy and Spencer that he'd throw the endurance portion of the final HoH competition in exchange for sending GinaMarie home. A deal could have been made for him to stay. I don't know that they would have gone for it, but McCrae could have at least tried. I hope he tried. It doesn't matter though. Julie showed McCrae the conversation from this morning. McCrae said he didn't see it coming and admits he should've been smarter. He knew something was up with Andy, but he didn't trust his instincts. He thought Andy wanted Amanda out so he could work with him, but now he feels bad for sending Elissa out.
McCrae saw how his showmance with Amanda helped and hindered his game, and inevitably crippled him. I agree with him on both counts. I think it helped him to team with Amanda in the beginning, but toward the middle of the game, both of them got kind of lazy. They both gave up working on their social games on both an individual and couple level, relying on pre-established alliances to carry them forward when they couldn't win the competitions. Maybe they got too comfortable. Maybe they just got tired of the game and preferred to lay around than try to keep track of who was allying with who and how things were happening. So in the end, I think they both benefited from the showmance, but it eventually cost them the win. McCrae's probably right that if Amanda had left a little bit sooner, he might have gotten his own game back on track. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. So they'll have some time to talk about that while they're in sequester together, assuming McCrae's brought to the jury house.
We got our first Jury house segment tonight! Aaryn took her entrance segment as an opportunity to apologize for the insensitive things she said. Then Amanda showed up and talked about how she got Exterminated. Elissa followed not long after and Amanda gave her the wedding ring back. It seemed like things were kind of ok with the women. At the very least, they were all so excited to talk about what's been going on that the tension seemed minimal. Helen seemed to respect Andy's sneaky game play, noting that it's part of Big Brother to form allies and break promises along the way. I don't disagree with her. Like him or not, he's played a strategic game to get to where he is.
After the commercial, Judd showed up and that's when we saw some of the tension. Amanda's already campaigning for McCrae to win, and judging by the way Candice was talking and the things Aaryn said about Amanda's "drama," that sort of confirms my theory that if McCrae had made it to the end, Amanda might do more harm than good for his game in the jury. But that's a moot point. I will be curious to see where Amanda's loyalty goes once McCrae walks into the jury house.
And speaking of loyalty, who will take who to the end? I'm thinking Andy and Spencer might decide to stick with each other. As for who GinaMarie will bring, if she's smart, she'll take Spencer, since he has the fewest competition wins and game moves to use as an argument to win.
The episode ended with no competition, so it seems we'll be waiting until Sunday to see what Part 1 of the final HoH competition looks like. Usually the feeds come up for endurance competitions, but since it didn't start on the episode, we might have to wait. Either way, we'll fill you in once we know who won Part 1!
In other news, Big Brother has already been renewed for Season 16. Casting is underway.
