PhoneCop

It's an odd season for sure. I have no use for Luke, a severe distaste for Jared, and hope Matt will reevaluate some of his ideas once he's outside of the house, but I don't hate anyone in this cast the way I have some past hamsters. There's no one I'd say I couldn't sit down and have a conversation with, even if I might reach across the table to slap a few of them. It's the excessive, ill-considered twists that ruined things and squandered a not-bad cast. One thing that never changes, though: The F5 game is way the fuck too long. Two weeks is too much during a good season; this time it's gonna feel interminable.

It's just stunning how badly TPTB have run this season. They've done 99-day seasons before; the late start gave them some extra time to think stuff out; they've dealt with ejected contestants impacting the schedule. And yet I've seen drunk monkeys pivot better. This season could be right up there with Riverdale as a textbook example of How Not to Be a Showrunner. The good news is that this is an experienced team that learns from their mistakes and will presumably implement a lot of changes that'll benefit future seasons.

Dad still rocking a 'stache in the '80s around other men with unconventional, hard-to-explain ways and similar grooming... Was your father a Village Person? 😄

That's about what I'd give it. I don't think the multiverse was inherently a bad idea, it just wasn't executed as well as it could've been (shocker). The invisible HoH in particular could've been great if it'd been handled correctly (and, preferably, done earlier). And we did get the Pressure Cooker back! One point for that, 20 points docked for Zombie Week.

I'm no Jeff fan, but I still say TECHNOTRONICS is a real word, or at least enough of one. And Philomena Cunk agrees with me! Granted, the word Jeff actually had on his board was TECTRONICS, so.

Tried to find a fork large enough to stick in this season. This'll have to do. Zombie Week, the random insertion of Cirie among reality-comp newbies, Jag suffering zero consequences for outing himself as the invisible HoH...so many baffling production decisions this year. Come on, Allison. Shouldn't you be good at your job by now?

I'm just hoping they can get one of the remaining guys out during the DE, then take advantage of the numbers and bounce the other at the first opportunity. (I'd say get them both out during the DE, but I figure the chances of that happening are close to nil.) In any case, an all-female F5/F4/F3 would be interesting, since they won't have gotten there by being in any kind of long-term alliance—just the opposite—and the knives will still be out in a big way. That could be fun to watch. But we can't have nice things, so it's probably back-to-back Matt/Jag HoHs next Thursday and the women getting picked off at their leisure. BTDT.

A dud twist on this show?! #wellinever I'm just glad we haven't been subjected to further Multiverse Shenanigans Starring Frankie Grande.

Players like Brandon and Hannah are the reason I still feel bad for Wanda and Jonathan. In contrast, I had to look up Kane. "Oh yeah, the dude who looks like Harvey from Stardew Valley."

Holy shit, there's a plot twist for this season: An actual zombie won HoH. Any chance she does something other than Cam's direct bidding?

Yeah, this. They could let him slide a week to make him less suspicious, but then they risk him being HoH at F8 and they'll be down a non-Bowie vote. Cam's too well-rounded a comp player and the window of time where he might not be selected for Veto is closing rapidly.

Damned if I know. This is such a weird topsy-turvy season where (1) I'm not entirely rooting against the icky mansplainer because he's a fantastic chaos agent and the kick in the ass this season's gameplay needs, (2) I'm kind of rooting against one of my all-time favorite reality contestants in other contexts, (3) we've reached jury with potential contenders like Meme still trying to find second gear, and...on and on. Plus we got a perfect DE, only for TPTB to yank it away like Lucy's Football. At least I've got someone I can wholeheartedly loathe in Jared and the perennial summer camper in Meg Jenn City Victoria Bowie to keep my bearings.

That tracks. Even by BB standards, the planning for this season has been astoundingly shoddy. I still wonder if the buyback would've been handled differently if not for Luke throwing things off right out of the gate, but at this point TPTB have had DECADES of experience producing this crap and should be able to pivot more smoothly than they have. It's perplexing. Needless to say, I'm glad I went to my out-of-town event on Thursday instead of canceling just to see a double non-elimination with a side of zombie bullshit. There's no way Cirie isn't bored out of her skull. Old-school Survivor would be in the can in 39 days, and now she's two weeks past that, stuck in a more limited physical space with a lower grade of competitors. Somehow I remain a fan—not of her parenting, granted—but even if Jared is officially ousted this week, I would be perfectly fine if she DORs or lets death take her. Seems like the easiest way to salvage what remains of the season.

This just keeps getting more ridiculous. I'm liking Cam's odds here, though. Assuming he maintain the lead, either he comp-beasts the puzzle or he lets Mr. ELDONG take a swing at it while we get a good laugh/facepalm.

Instead of stuntcasting Cirie, who I doubt is getting the standard hamster stipend, I wonder why they didn’t simply throw in a couple of extra randos to pad things out and bill it as Season 25, BIGGEST CAST EVER!” They can’t all be racist.

Or maybe they do and just think Cirie favors the other side of the Washington family.

Such a cool grandpa! For my part, I'm off to Palo Alto tomorrow for a mini-reunion. This has been in the works for months and the friends involved haven't seen each other for 15, 25 years. Imagine my pain when Julie revealed that this week would be a DE! Of all the nights. I keep thinking, well, I've seen all of these people individually within the last several years, so they don't really need me, right? They can still get together, I'll just stay home and watch BB with internet strangers...

This cast is interesting as an assemblage of deeply flawed players. There's Cirie, the ringer who's a social Jedi but sucks at comps. Cameron, a comp beast who has the wherewithal to shake up the house but zero negative social capital. Meme, who has some good reads and might be one of the book-smartest people but has largely been a ghost. Jag, so very likable as a person but so very, very game-dumb. All the way down to Jared, who has no known redeeming qualities. If there's such a thing as a BB all-arounder, we sure don't have one this year. I'm just glad they're messy. That's what's keeping it from being another Derrick season for me, at least so far. Well, that and no Frankie equivalent.

Never knew severe Duck Duck Goose flashbacks were a thing until now. Made for a great nomination ceremony, though.

No idea, but if I’m in Grodner’s shoes? I would not be above playing a loop of construction noises (augmented by the occasional real jackhammer for the vibrations) for days just to screw with the hamsters’ minds.

No love for Cam here either, but I'm trying to imagine myself in his shoes, about to have a reasonably executed plan thwarted by a bullshit twist—again, in his case—and finding adequate words to express my rage while I debate whether or not to DOR. It always comes down to the same four, doesn't it?

This is something that gives me a glimmer of hope for this season, that Jared is his own worst enemy in the game and that enough of his ineptitude at, well, everything plus sufficient bad PR will eventually force Grodner to realize what a bad investment he is and cut her losses. I mean, stranger things have happened.

...right?

Well, so much for that F4/four regions theory. I still think it's Kennedy or Wayne's to lose, though. At least until next week, when I get proven wrong again, LOL.

Nah, it's a Ramsay show. Edit-by-numbers.