Lady Calypso

So, I just watched it since I was unable to last night. I gotta admit, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I was worried about comp beast men teaming up but it seems like everyone is acutely aware that comp beasts are the ones who need to be the targets ASAP, which at least give the women a couple of more eliminations to skate by. No surprise even a competition show is filled with Big Brother-esque strategy. It's pretty much what I expected BB producers want the OG to turn into (huge comp-favoured). Britney is a hoot, as always. I absolutely loved all of her DRs and I love that she won the first comp. What I do like is that they FINALLY seemed to figure out equity in challenges. I mean, we now know they can actually make comps equitable for women to win. WHY ARE THEY NOT DOING THIS ON ACTUAL BIG BROTHER? Danielle's DRs are great, as are Taylor's. I have high hopes for the women IF the men are actually going to go against each other for a bit. Frankie's DRs are fake and intolerable, honestly. He's a great competitor, though, so people really do need to watch out for him. Of course we're gonna be stuck in BB16 hell for a while, which sucks. I do hope Nicole means it when she says she's ready to backstab Cody and Frankie, though. I'd love to see her actually dominate AGAINST guys for once in her BB career. She's annoying, but she's not bro-annoying. Taylor made a very rookie mistake in showing her cards to Frankie by displaying how close she is to Xavier and Josh. Taylor's great socially, but that was a blunder. Hopefully, she's able to recover. I do love that the women are playing hard right off the bat, though. The men keeping their mouths shut may be better strategy, but I don't hate the women being a bit more vocal if it works for them. I just think Taylor may have made a mistake if she doesn't connect with more people. I'd feel bad for Cameron, but he knew he was going in with a massive disadvantage, so he needed to play way harder than he did on day 1. He seemed invisible for the most part, which allowed him to become the target. He also lost against Xavier, so how much of a comp beast is he? Xavier isn't THAT spectacular at comps. The Santa stuff is cheesy (but I guess we get to meet the Big Brother announcer in person, finally!) but tolerable for now. The comps so far are ok. The Naughty/Nice comp needs a bit more of a disadvantage aspect because this episode didn't show that it would put someone so far behind. The Brawl feels a bit overpowered but in a game that's comp-based, it falls in line with what they expect. Overall, I am rooting for Britney or Danielle to take this. Taylor wouldn't be a bad option either. I'm super worried about Nicole falling back with Cody/Frankie instead of backstabbing them. If she does backstab them and puts them in Santa's Showdown, she may very well redeem herself. Xavier's boring (and I LOVE Britney's DR about how he gives absolutely nothing; it's true!), Cody's annoying, Frankie's annoying and Josh....is surprisingly the best guy in the house? Who knew? Jordan as the Elf Ambassador was fine, mostly. She's changed a lot since we saw her last (which was, what, BB13? No, after that, they had that engagement segment a couple of seasons later, right?). Overall, this was better than I thought, and I guess I'll just stick it out for the two weeks.

Sure, you're right. We'd need to see the first episode to see if Frankie's as good as he was or if he's worse. It really does depend, but it seems like Frankie's in good enough shape where he may be ok, even against the younger folk. To be fair, even though he wasn't picked for TAR or The Challenge, it doesn't mean he isn't a comp threat. Look at BB24 Michael Bruner. He wasn't picked for either and he was a clear comp threat. And Derrick/Cody weren't picked for those shows either, right? Actually, if I remember correctly, The Challenge/TAR didn't start regularly casting BB people until after BB18 (Paulie/Natalie were the first to make way for BB crossovers). I know TAR had Boston Rob/Amber be the first CBS crossover couple, but it was years until crossovers with the CBS Trifecta (leading into The Challenge) became a thing.

Fair point. Frankie could definitely be worse at comps now than he had 9 years ago (I cannot believe it's been 9 years since BB16; it really does feel like BB16 was so recent, but that's because we keep seeing Cody and Nicole everywhere lol) I agree, that's why I need to see him compete against non-BB25 people to see if he's actually a comp threat or not (I really don't know if he is; he won comps for BB25 when only, like, six people out of 17 won any comps).

Frankie was actually exceptionally good at comps. I think it's easy to forget, but Frankie did very well in many of the comps. I know BB16 was weird with the Battle of the Block comps, but technically, Frankie still won multiple comps that season, and did well in the ones he didn't win. I'd count him as a comp beast, easily. Xavier probably less so, so I'll take that back (I also forgot Xavier was on The Challenge; I guess he's more forgettable to me than I thought because I really thought he comped out at the end of BB23 for some reason). Cameron has done fine at comps, but he didn't start winning comps, or even doing well, until after Hisam left, and Cameron's placements ranged from first to dead last in comps. I know some of those comps he threw but there were some he legitimately lost. Cameron's fine at comps and it's probably the reason why he'll make it halfway, but I don't think he's so good that he'll comp beast to the end. He really does range from fairly good to just average. He nearly gotten beaten in a couple of the comps he played in. I just think he's overhyped in comps to an extent. He's better than the average Big Brother player, no doubt, but he still has lost comps (and been in the bottom of comps). That's the only reason why I say to an extent, he's overhyped; it really depends on the type of comp for him. He nearly lost the first comp he played in against Izzy, Felicia and Jag, after all. I think Cameron's on a similar level to someone like Cody and Josh. He's above average, but he wasn't so good that he couldn't be beat. He got taken out twice, both fairly early. He can be taken out. And I think people calling him a comp threat are overhyping him a bit. He did well in comps, but many men have done well in comps on Big Brother. Cameron won six comps; so has Cody. So has Xavier. It also doesn't matter about Frankie's reputation, as nobody on this season really knows who Cameron is so even with Frankie's reputation, he has more connections than Cameron does. It makes Cameron an easy target if there IS an ability for strategic gameplay. Frankie not only has his BB16 alliance (Cody and Nicole), thanks to Big Brother, he ALSO has Britney and Danielle who he got to film different segments with earlier this year. That automatically makes him safer than Cameron. And with how I assume this Reindeer Games is set up, even though it does rely on competition wins, we don't know how players get taken out beyond there being a Santa's Showdown. I assume there's a way to still strategize people out of the game even without voting.

I don't want to watch but there's a small chance I, at least, tune in for the premiere. I expect this to be a Big Brother producer's dream and what they've been leading to all along: Big Brother being a competition show. This is what they can lean into without changing the entire format. They've basically done everything but on Big Brother, so they can really embrace their need for their show to be about the competitions. I don't want to reward them with actual views, and I also don't like most of the people they've cast (half are boring, the other portion aren't good at comps or were known for comp status, and then there's infuriating annoying people who are both). Also, Janelle said that Rachel was initially reached out to and they allegedly decided to go with boring ass Nicole Franzel over her so....yeah, not thrilled with that. I just expect it to be exactly how we've seen regular Big Brother seasons to go: the real comp beasts team up, they take out the weaker threats or the outsiders, so we're left with people like Cody or Nicole, Frankie, Britney (who doesn't win anyway) and Cameron or Xavier. I mean, I love to see Danielle here, since I never saw her original seasons and have heard great things about her, but unless she's about to be a comp beast, I expect she's taken out early. The only comp threats I really expect are Frankie, Xavier, and like MAYBE Josh (who at least has done The Challenge so he has some experience). MAYBE Cameron but I think people overhyped his abilities to an extent. I also think, with Cameron's lack of connections, and again depending on how the comp aspect works, he'll have to keep winning out, and I don't foresee him beating people like Xavier and Frankie. I expect the women to be screwed early since, let's face it, Big Brother will always have issue with the actual type of comps. And some of the men will automatically pair off with each other. And I think Cody/Nicole are still fighting from All Stars, but Cody will team up with people like Xavier and Frankie so I fully expect an Xavier/Cody/maybe Frankie finale. Maybe throw in Britney for female representation. Big Brother hasn't been able to fix their comp issues for women vs men, and they're not gonna suddenly figure it out with Reindeer Games. So cue a lot of women going out, in however these comps are decided, and it's gonna be dull AND frustrating all the way through. Let's see if I'm right by the end, if I'm even still around by the end of the six episodes.

It does seem odd that Station 19 would be cancelled, especially given it has one of the highest ratings on ABC currently, but I guess if ABC wants 9-1-1 to work (it garners more success online, I guess) and they don't want two firefighting shows, I guess choosing to cancel Station 19 makes sense. But I agree with some other theories; usually, in these cases, it's all about money, so them getting 9-1-1 is going to cost a hell of a lot of money. If 9-1-1 can maintain their ratings, or even increase their ratings from Fox, I can see why they chose it over Station 19, if that's even what has happened. But I think part of it is that, despite Station 19 doing well on the network, it probably doesn't do well streaming OR social media-wise in the way that 9-1-1 does. Station 19 does fine, but I guess not enough for the network to commit to it for longer. They may also be looking to pick up new shows that may be more expensive, and they're willing to sacrifice Station 19 to free up their budget and schedule. I guess we won't really know the answer, at the end of the day. It's probably a lot of reasons behind this decision. I personally prefer 9-1-1 to Station 19 (both aren't great shows but I find 9-1-1 more entertaining) so I'm not particularly upset by this; however, only having 10 episodes to conclude the series is what I'm disappointed about. I think 13 episodes would be enough to conclude, but 10 episodes feels short.

I WAS rooting for Austin until he said he was fine to lose if it meant Dee won, and when he sold out the plan to Dee because "he felt bad". The moment he showed his head isn't in the game, it solidified that he's just too bad of a player for me to want to see win. To be fair, they didn't know Julie had an idol; only the Reba 4 knew. ETA: Unless I'm wrong about that. I know Drew/Austin emphasized it has to be a total blindside, but I didn't think it was because everyone knew about the idol.

I think Emily should have kept her mouth shut on the Bruce stuff. Had she not told, she might have been able to survive the vote tonight. Alas, she did and she ensured that she was seen as too big of a threat to keep in the game. But hey, respect on that front. Emily went from a terrible player who was surely getting voted out after Hannah's quit to one of the best players in the game. I have never seen an arc on Survivor like hers, where she started off abrasive and rude and making major mistakes left and right, and course correcting so quickly and finding her place not just with Kaleb, but with other members. The women this season are WAY WAY WAY better than the men and Austin just solidified that. This man was so wrapped around Dee's finger that he threw away his entire game for her (and Drew's). Now Austin has Julie ready to take him out, Drew's pretty much a goner next if he doesn't win another immunity, and he's only helped Dee out. But honestly, good on Dee. She's playing a stellar game, she's been in control since pre-merge, and she's doing a fantastic job if hardly anyone is actually targeting her. Her name has barely floated around. Otherwise, she's been a blip on people's radar, not realizing how much she's running the game. The fact that they showed HER making the decision to tell Julie and then Dee giving the choice on who to take out to Julie while maintaining the whole "you gotta vote logically, not emotionally" argument that led to Emily's departure instead of Austin's was great for her. Katurah gets her backstory told and it is heavy. I think it does explain her immediate bullshit detector with Bruce and why she's been playing how she is. It sucks to see Emily leave. Who knew I'd go from hating her to wanting her to win?

I think Katurah's edit last night only shows how she gets more votes than Jake (since we know Jake is third place and Katurah gets at least one vote). But yeah, Dee's getting the dominant winner edit, an edit usually reserved for men, mind you.

Ooof, we're seeing everyone voting for Julie? So Julie's decision will send someone to jury.

Interesting edit, having Dee give the whole "I have to make a decision" segment. Oh, and that segment didn't last long. Dee immediately told Julie.

And there we go, Austin ruining everything by being so scared of Dee's reaction. On the one hand, how nice that players are scared of how a woman is going to react, but not in a "she's gonna be so emotional" kind of way. It shows how much power Dee has when multiple people are fearful of Dee's reaction. On the other hand, what a coward, couldn't even play his own game and now Julie's gonna target Austin/Drew hardcore.

Yeah, Austin seems to wrapped around Dee's finger to go through with it so I think Emily's gone.

I am so incredibly nervous about tonight's vote. I really, really hope it's not Emily, but now I have to prepare for the possibility that it is.

Yes Drew, Austin DID make a huge blunder by giving her a free idol. It IS her idol now.

I also will say, even though it's been years since all of this happened, if this is part of why Katurah went no contact with her mother (since it sounds like her mother was a major cause of joining the cult), production sucks for forcing contact between them just for views. Not another boat. GIVE THE BOATS A REST.

This really does explain a lot about Katurah, why her bullshit meter is so strong with Bruce.

Seriously, show, 11 episodes in and we finally get more Katurah. We're starting to see a bit more on Katurah's background, at least.

I have to reiterate: the men on this season have been terrible for so many reasons. Thanks, Austin, for confirming that!

Austin wanting him and Dee to be the new Boston Rob/Amber. Mmmkay, buddy.

Oh, I don't think Emily saying that was good for her. She wanted to keep that under wraps.

If this is true, I'd expect it to be Emily, since she's one of the few women left who still have been theorized to win. Not sure how accurate THAT is, but at least it gives someone who isn't Dee a chance to win.

With points so close together, I actually don't think it would have. But we'll never know (as we usually don't) as the number of votes will never be released. But I genuinely don't think much would have changed. Jason/Xochitl definitely would have been closer together in votes, but I still think Xochitl had the advantage. I mean, look how fast voting closed after Xochitl's Freestyle and she still won. And, had the votes been SUPER close, I feel like production would have had Alfonso announce the super tight race between second and first (something they did with Taylor Swift Night, for example).

There's been plenty of seasons that have done this. MMY is usually the week where there's no eliminations. Either that or Disney Night or week 1. Season 30 had no elimination on the first week, leading the scores to be accumulated into week 2. That same season had a two night Disney Night, so scores rolled over into night 2. Season 28 had no elimination week 3 because Ray Lewis had to withdraw. There's been many seasons where scores have rolled over into another night. I do love when the show has a non-elimination week for the first week. That makes the most sense to have no eliminations. I also don't mind it for MMY, because sometimes production really digs into the past of people for content so it can be an emotionally draining night. I don't think an elimination for semis would have impacted the finale's results. I think Xochitl still would have won, Jason still would have placed second, Ariana third, etc. I think the placements didn't change, regardless.

I was happy with whoever won out of this F5. I've said it before, I feel like each of them had a reason to win. Of course I would have loved to see Jason win, but I fully see why Xochitl won and am happy that she did. I think Val gave Xochitl some excellent choreography; he never took it too easy on her. I can't recall a dance where he didn't give her 90% content in it. Nobody was perfect in their dances this season, but I do think Xochitl was one of the better and more consistent ones this season. I think this season had a lot more celebs that weren't able to pick up on the dancing as much as previous seasons. I guess it's partially far less ringers, which has balanced out past seasons with great dances (look at the difference between Charli/Mark dancing in the finale vs everyone else) but having a lot of mediocre dancers and only a small handful of good dancers, let alone consistently good dancers, kind of showed the issues stemming from the choreography this season. The first half hour could have been interesting. Having a detailed analysis of each finalist could have been a fantastic idea. But where they faltered was: a) Analyzing two full routines from each finalist, and not even picking the greatest ones; and b) Not letting people know prior that the first half hour would be filler. The idea of analyzing each finalist could really work. It's a neat idea, but it didn't quite work. Alyson had so much growth this season, it was probably one of the best growth stories I've seen on DWTS. She really started out as a terrible dancer and grew into one that can actually do it. I know Sasha isn't everyone's cup of tea and his choreography is bland, repetitive and predictable, but the one thing he always does right is making his partner feel comfortable and happy each time. Alyson looked like she was having a blast and sometimes, it isn't about winning but improving while having fun getting there. Sasha gave Alyson the true full journey and we got to see the best sides to Alyson throughout. Her Salsa this time was SO much better than week 1's salsa (though CAI asked for sexy and Sasha gave silly, as per usual). Her Freestyle was solid, it had so much content but it didn't feel like a Freestyle. I think Sasha could have benefitted from giving Alyson some more BIG moments for herself. Give her some solos, get rid of the extra dancers, and just let Alyson dance. She did great with the content, but she got lost with the extra dancers. Have her shine, damnit! And I HATED that the judges lowballed her. Come on, in all these seasons, the Freestyles almost always get 10s, even if they're not deserved (hello Bobby Bones!). Yet Alyson just barely got a 10 from Bruno? It's ridiculous, as it wouldn't have changed the placement. MAYBE Alyson might have bumped up the fourth, but that's about it. I was so mad for her. Just give her the perfect score. There was no harm in doing so. Jason has had his ups and downs but I love that Dani figured out that performing is what will make Jason shine the best. Giving performance in his redemption Foxtrot was the best thing she could have done. Jason hasn't done well with strict ballroom, so adding flair to it definitely makes him more comfortable, and that is where his ability to dance shines the most. His Freestyle was out of this world amazing. It was so much fun, it felt big and like a Freestyle, and he got so much fast content. The only thing I wish he had gotten was a couple of more solo moments on his own. Dani gave him a lot of time to shine, but there were a couple of moments where I felt like Dani and the extras could have really stepped back and giving him more solo content. Otherwise, a fantastic ending for Jason. Ariana has had such a consistent journey this season. It IS such a shame that the most important night for her this season was filled with mistakes. Her Samba was absolutely terrible. It was riddled with mistakes and I don't think it was just because of Spice Up Your Life randomly being slowed down. As Ariana pointed out, this samba was the same tempo as Xochitl's samba last week. But Xochitl was still able to make it work while Ariana was slipping up a lot. Her score was a bit too high, honestly. I actually did like her Freestyle, for the most part. Pasha had the right idea; a lot of solo content for Ariana, a lot of moments where her or Pasha were the clear leaders in their sections, and some great material to showcase that it's a Freestyle. I do agree that maybe the overall content wasn't up to par and Pasha should have added more ballroom instead of all hip hop. But otherwise, I actually did like the idea of this Freestyle the most. Charity has had her own journey, albeit a smaller one, and I think she really did try to push past that issue with emoting. She's worked so hard and I do think she's been the best technical dancer, but the performance was never really there. Her Tango was amazing, though, worthy of a perfect score. CAI giving some bullshit reason to give her a 9 was ridiculous. It was definitely a redemption worthy of a perfect score. Her Freestyle had all the makings for a Freestyle and those lifts and tricks were insane. But yeah, her Pageant Presence failed her once more. The performance was almost there but it felt low energy and I was looking at Charity's facial expressions and I think she needed to give 110% into that aspect. She needed to give some fierceness, some power, some passion, but it wasn't there. It felt like she was just going through the motions. Alas, it was a fun Freestyle and could have used a BIT of ballroom but otherwise just needed more performance. Xochitl has had a much smaller journey but I do feel like she's been just slightly ahead of everyone the whole time. As I said above, Val's given her tough content and she's delivered. Factor in her amazing performance ability, and I'm not surprised she won. She's been consistent, she's been able to mask any mistakes she's made with her performance ability, and she's looked more and more certain as the season has gone on. I do think her Foxtrot was lovely, but there was a mistake that should have been called out. I don't think docking one point would have made a difference in her winning or getting second place so someone should have called it out. Her Freestyle was fun. It was filled with some interesting aspects, but I think Val's one mistake was not giving her some more BIG moments. She did a lot of group content and that showed her ability, but besides the beginning with her solo and Val playing the violin, she didn't get a lot of LOOK AT ME moments. He needed to add a moment at least at the end. Otherwise, a great Freestyle, one of Val's better ones. How is it that they STILL run out of time at the end? They were rushing to announce while the credits were rolling! DWTS really sucks with timing their live shows. They need to fire whoever plans out the timing of commercials and live show aspects because other shows are able to give their stars more than 10 seconds to blabber something at the end. Still, a decent season, not as good as others and not as many memorable dances, but it seems like this cast is going to be quite close for a long time. You can feel the appreciation, respect and love from all of them.