Jillibean

I don't know why Callum is even bothering trying to beat the cheating allegations. Just own it. I'd be shocked if he gets a return invite; he's only at the reunion so Michelle can confront him about lying to her. I know Nurys is telling everyone her timeline for engagement, marriage, and babies, but I could potentially see trouble ahead for this couple. He's very low-key and kind, and clearly doesn't want drama with anyone. I could see Nurys struggling with him not harboring grudges or being angry on her behalf, or continuing friendships with people like Olivia when Nurys is done with her. Laurel and Cara Maria's friendship is one of the true challenge staples. It's weathered so many ups and downs over such a long period of time. It's nice to see the respect they still have for one another.

Wow, Evan looked truly ill. I'm relieved that they managed to pull through safely. That lift could have gone horribly wrong. I was sad to hear them say this could potentially be their last Nationals. I'll miss Madi and Evan greatly when they step away from the sport.

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into this season. I agree that it's not interesting to watch an alliance run the entire game, regardless of who is in that alliance. I can't blame Jay and Michelle, because the power alliance format has worked against them so many times that it only makes sense that they take their chance to be on the winning end of it. But it's frustrating to watch, especially when it protects duds like Moriah and James. My favorite elimination format is one where the person going in can call out anyone other than the day's winner. I think it's one of the most fair ways to keep alliances in check, because if you can't prove it in the sand, it doesn't matter what your numbers are. Brad did not look great. I assume this was Johnny's week that he backed out of and that production had to find a last-minute replacement, but...this was not exactly an advertisement for beating the best. I hate that they're making me root for Kyland. I don't like Kyland. Also, as much as this season would like me to forget this, I don't like Nurys. I remember what she was like on EotB, and the act she has going on right now where everyone is just making things hard for poor Nurys when all she did was fall in love seems pretty familiar to me. She did the exact same thing last season, just with a different guy. Twice, in fact.

Taran speculated that Bowie's inability to share anything about her personal life impacted the others feeling like she was a genuine person and feeling connected to her, but I also agree that the fact that Cirie's reasons were game related as well. And clearly joke was on herm, because Bowie was actually the blindest soldier that ever there was. Felicia did a live with Meme the other day where she continued to Felicia...namely that she can see now looking back that every gut instinct she had in the house was correct. (Reader, they weren't.) Please enjoy: Cory has mockingly recreated Matt's infamous thirst video

I wouldn't be shocked if production edited the footage, but I also wouldn't be shocked if Jordan just absolutely decimated Ciarann, because it's Jordan. Putting athletics aside, he has always been one of the best if not the best at figuring out the logistics of how to win something.

It seems pretty clear that Matt had maybe given some thought to what he might say in a speech, but none to how he might answer some of the questions the jury might have. I'm not sure whether that reflects complacency on his part or a genuine lack of understanding of how the F2 jury interactions would occur. Either way, Jag had not only prepared but did a good job of figuring out what he was going to be asked and how he could respond. I think he hit all the points the jury wanted him to hit, even if he was overzealous. Of the three, I'm glad Jag won. Matt is terrible and Bowie is so extremely embarrassing. Taran on RHAP seems convinced that Matt has been intentionally creating and driving strategy from the backseat for pretty much the whole game. I also watched the feeds, and I'm honestly not entirely sure why he thinks that. Matt was a strong social player, but his main thing was agreeing with whatever anyone else wanted to do (and then sometimes doing it and complaining later about how they manipulated him into doing it). I think he had a lot of luck and the right alliance and, yes, some degree of empathy from the other houseguests. Other than keeping himself from getting evicted a couple of times, I don't know that I'd give him a lot of credit for strategy. I think that in addition to clearly being a poor speaker and not thinking through his responses, he didn't have much to articulate to the jury. At least he went out in true Matt fashion--bringing up America for no reason that makes any sense at all.

I didn't want Matt to win because I think he's a jerk and a misogynist, but I'm doubly happy he lost after those abysmal answers to the jury. Jag had clearly at least thought about and planned out what he would say, and Matt clearly had not. They must have fed Meme that line about Cameron being the season's hero, and I think she did her best to deliver it with a healthy dose of skepticism. I'm not sure the show even realized she was sort of calling them out by saying she thought Cameron was a villain she she was in the house but learned differently on the edited show. The pre jurors always talk about how they're going to come out swinging, and in reality I think the show dictates pretty much exactly what they say. A bit surprised that they didn't ask about Jared and Blue's relationship, and I can't help but wonder if that was by Jared's request. Maybe he's back with what's her face? I laughed so hard I cried at Matt thinking Cory and America were related but in retrospect, and I hate to give Matt any benefit of the doubt, I'm going to say that if he didn't get the question written out on a teleprompter, he might not have processed the language quickly enough to really understand the question.

Zombie week was maybe the worst twist ever, but in terms of game impact I think out final 3 would be different right now if they hadn't allowed Jag to win back to back HOHs. And that bugs me, because it really violated the one consistent rule BB has always adhered to and gave such an unnecessary advantage to Jag and Matt. At this point, I have to believe Matt is having some sort of Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame crisis where he is attracted to America and hates it. There is no other reasonable explanation I can come up with to explain his behavior. I believe someone on twitter said he has mentioned America 163 times since she was evicted--and that was yesterday.

I think there's a good chance that Jag will do it. He's doing all the things he usually does before cutting an ally, namely complaining about how he's done Matt's dirty work for him. But it's frustrating to watch him spiral, because he knows he has to get rid of Matt to win. The fact that he's still unsure of whether he should do it even with that understanding lays out the case for why Jag shouldn't win this game. The fact that Bowie isn't persuading him to ditch Matt lays out the case for why she should not win this game. Of the four left though, I might be pulling for Jag. Bowie is less of a floater and more of a particularly vacant sheep. I haven't forgotten about Felicia's slut shaming, sexism, and liking certain people because they're better Christians than other people. And Matt has played the best game of those left, IMO, but he wins worst behavior of the season for me, and that is on a season that included both Jared and Cameron. I take some sick pleasure in seeing how hard Reilly tried to clout chase with Matt, not realizing that Matt was about to out himself as a misogynist asshole to everyone watching the feeds and, even worse, not win. I wonder how fast she can write an HOH letter for Jag...

The cradle robber stuff is gender bias nonsense, and they themselves have clocked that. But since BB decided to go there, it seems like they're having fun with it and basically showing that they're unbothered. So good for them. I hope they keep up the unbothered energy outside the house, because they're going to see a lot of hate for very stupid things. As opposed to other houseguests, who are going to see a lot of hate for things that they deserve to be accountable for. I think Jag will fold almost immediately in genuine contrition and we'll be seeing his carefully cultivated apologies within days. If Matt or Bowie apologize it will be strictly PR, in my opinion. I do not think Matt has enough empathy or awareness to understand or believe he has done anything wrong, and Bowie is almost incapable of independent thought. Jag was hinting to Bowie last night that Matt will win if he gets to the end and that he's played an amazing game. I can only hope he keeps up that energy through tomorrow night and that it prevails, since he's also said a few things that suggest he might keep Matt. Taking off my Matt-loathing goggles, the jury breakdown still seems favorable for him in spite of his poor play recently. It seems like he built up enough goodwill with people that they are still inclined to see him in a favorable light. He has Cory and Cirie for sure, so he probably has America and Blue also. That's enough. Unfortunately.

Bravo. I understand that the element of cognitive dissonance that we often see on this show. But I also don't think that means people shouldn't be held accountable for what they're saying. They know there are cameras on them all the time. They are making active choices about what they want to say about people. I don't think keeping people up with pots and pans should be the baseline for when it has gone too far. Meanwhile, Jag's family has been on social media all season talking about what a kind person he is, how he would never tolerate bullying of any kind, and how everyone should be Team Jag and buy tee shirts to proclaim themselves as such in honor of his commitment to respect and dignity for others. So...this is embarrassing, I'd say. It's interesting to me how much more likable he was as a person when Cory, who was actually anti-bullying and shut down personal attacks on people, was still in the mix. Jag seems very easily influenced by whomever his most recent game buddies are, both in terms of the way he speaks about people and his game moves. I really hope some of the press clocks Matt on the sexist statements. Among the more recent gems is the comment that America may be smart in real life, but she played a dumb game because she didn't know how to cook or do laundry. Which is obviously a sexist and awful thing to say, and even worse when you factor in that she's Mexican, but also...America did (her own, and sometimes Cory's) laundry all the time? What the hell is he even talking about at this point? Did he expect her to do his laundry? Like what even is happening? I think Cameron will have zero influence over Cory, America, or Cirie. Cory and America will vote for whomever they think is the best overall player, and they'll vote together. Cirie will vote for either the best player or Felicia out of solidarity if fe makes F2. Blue will vote for whomever she thinks is the best player, aka the person she likes the best because she can't tell those things apart. Cameron is going to vote for Jag, if he makes it, Matt, if he doesn't, and probably death, if neither does. I think Felicia and Bowie would both vote personally. I have no idea what Matt would do, because Reilly didn't tell him what to do for a F2 vote, so...

Wait Felicia is saying something that isn't factually accurate as though it is uncontested truth? Strange...

I actually think there's a good chance Jag will take Matt out, or allow him to be taken out if possible. He does know now that Matt has spoken to people about taking the shot at him, which gives him a "you betrayed me first" escape clause. He also has been heavily contemplating Cory's statement that Matt is playing the best game and will have his vote. Between that and people talking about how Cirie won Traitors (though they think it is The Mole), the things Cory said right before getting evicted are heavily influencing people's thoughts this week. Regardless, I think Matt's tenure as HOH this week actually is really harming his game. Reilly letter gate alienated Bowie, and his noms have irritated Felicia and Cirie, especially since he had promised Cirie he would never nominate her. I actually think, for the first time in many weeks, that the scale has tilted and that Matt is now at a disadvantage if he goes to the F2 with Jag.

I truly wonder who Cirie would vote for in this situation. She is so done with everyone in that house, and the picture of her giving Jag the finger behind his back while he hugged her yesterday warmed my heart. But she's had a front row seat all season to Felicia's erratic, runaway train gameplay, and I have a hard time imagining calm and strategic Cirie endorsing Felicia's wild fumbling in all directions. Speaking of Cirie, it seems like she's in a lot of danger this week. It's Cirie, and she has a few days, so the target could easily switch to Felicia by Thursday. But even if it does, the only way she can win at this point is to be with Bowie at the end, and her path to get through both boys to do that is so slim it's highly improbable (but don't get me wrong, I would LOVE it). I think Cirie's self assessment that keeping Jag all those weeks ago when he should have been evicted was a major error, but I also think not keeping Cory was an error--she could have had three votes with her, Felicia, and Blue if she had decided to dig into it. I think you do it for the same reason Jag and Matt wanted him out--Cory wasn't good at comps, but he was better than America, and he was specifically good at the kind of comp you get for a DE HOH. I think the DE could have played out very differently if you have Cory playing that comp given how generally bad everyone else was at it. For someone who played as the most extreme kind of floater for most of the game, Bowie seems to take everything really personally. Felicia's complete disdain for everyone in the house under age 50 has been her most consistent quality this season.

Okay, I am slowly emerging from my mourning period for what we have left in this game. America has no pretense; she says what she thinks and I've loved that about her all season. It didn't make her game easy, but I appreciate how genuine she is. It was crazy to see the houseguests perceive her as shifty or untrustworthy or a snake when in truth her fault was being too upfront and giving people too much correct information. It really says something about the way people perceive beautiful women (and dare I say ethnicity plays a role as well) regardless of what they actually say or what they do. A win in the pressure cooker might have actually guaranteed an earlier exit date for her, since Matt had the power to nullify that eviction. She would have had to nominate two, maybe even three people and possibly have none of them actually exit the game. So she would have had a comp win, but possibly at great cost. The fact that America was kind to Blue in her exit press while Blue was kind to herself and ridiculously talked about her superior showmance highlights everything one needs to know about these two women. Not a girls' girl indeed. I think it's very clear that the time to take the shot at Jag was during the DE, and Matt's failure to plan for that might cost his the game, since he seems pretty locked in with Bowie now. I believe Jag will easily beat Matt at both the endurance and final parts of the final HOH. I just really don't want Matt to win, so I'm glad Jag pulled out the veto here. This Reilly stuff just shows how much Grodner wanted her blonde All-American showmance. Like, you had an actual, unexpected showmance with two generally likable people in realtime, but let's push Matt/Reilly on people instead. It'll be interesting if production's stunt to promote this "relationship" actually worsened Matt's position in the game by pushing Bowie to Jag. Did anyone catch the clip of Cirie telling Reilly not to believe that Matt is into her?