S26.E05: AI Arena #1, Eviction #1

[Rodney]

The three nominees compete in the first-ever AI Arena Competition.  The winning nominee is safe from eviction.  The first houseguest is evicted of the remaining two nominees.

[Stats Queen]

Kenny took a slot from someone who actually wanted to play the game.

[Rodney]

4 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

Kenny took a slot from someone who actually wanted to play the game.

Right?  Angela was a bit OTT in her reaction, but she was right about that.  Though I think it helps that Quinn was just as disgusted as she was.

But now that Matt's gone, maybe Kenney will step up and focus on the game.

I did not see it coming that Kimo would win the AI Arena.  But the competition really did look like it would have all three on about even footing, so kudos to the competition designers for that one.  I'm also glad that Kimo won because the vote actually did get interesting.  If either Matt or Kenney won, then the other would've been out by a landslide vote.

One of the best parts of Matt's eviction was how absolutely blindsided Makensy looked!  She and Matt really did think that he was staying last night, all the way up to tonight.

With this week over, Angela is now out of power.  Now to see who seizes power next.

Edited July 26 by Rodney

[argrow]

 So glad that

1- I don't have to listen to Matt go on and on about his BS. That interview was painful to say the least.

2- Don't have to focus on that 'showmance' of two boring people

3- Grodner now have confused viewers who has no idea how/why the blindside happen by giving her boy the golden edit he didn't deserve.

4- Equitable comps so far this season. Keep that up please. So happy for Kimo!

What a rough live episode though. Between the mascots blocking camera shots, the nominees giving their speech twice, Joseph waiting for the ghost of his fam in the hallway, that was rough. But at least Matt is gone. And Kenney respecting Matt's dad cause he's a cop is just pukeworthy.

Edited July 26 by argrow

[Sass]

As a 50+ woman, I’m embarrassed by Angela’s behavior. Yes — Matt might have been cocky but did not deserve her tirade. She’s a 50 year old woman who is jealous of not having an opportunity for a showmance. She was totally out of line. She was a bully. Hope she’s taken out next. What a horrible example for her children.  

[mojoween]

What was Joseph waiting for after he voted?  He’s so weird.

It sucks that Angela got her way.  Atrocious behavior should not be rewarded.

The mascots whamming into everyone after the AI Arena was hilarious.

It’s highly irrational, and violence is never the answer, but I have an insatiable urge to fly to California and smack those glasses off the end of Lisa’s nose.

[Rodney]

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

What was Joseph waiting for after he voted?  He’s so weird.

He probably thought that another person was voting.

[dancingdreamer]

43 minutes ago, Sass said:

As a 50+ woman, I’m embarrassed by Angela’s behavior. Yes — Matt might have been cocky but did not deserve her tirade. She’s a 50 year old woman who is jealous of not having an opportunity for a showmance. She was totally out of line. She was a bully. Hope she’s taken out next. What a horrible example for her children.  

I hope the next HOH puts her up, and she's next out the door. I think  shes a horrible  person.

[Nashville]

45 minutes ago, Sass said:

As a 50+ woman, I’m embarrassed by Angela’s behavior. Yes — Matt might have been cocky but did not deserve her tirade. She’s a 50 year old woman who is jealous of not having an opportunity for a showmance. 

My take on Angela’s behavior is simple, albeit a little different: she’s one of those people who are great to be around, so long as everything (and everyone) goes their way.  The moment everything and/or everyone does NOT kowtow to their every whim, however, they instantly turn into a king-sized toddler throwing a mega-fit - as if they think if they shriek and cry and make faces long enough, God (or everybody else) will be sufficiently cowed enough to capitulate and let them have their way.  In other words - a Karen.

Not that Matt was any prize either - but IMHO Matt’s moves and behavior, albeit dull-witted in the extreme, were done without malice; I do not think the same can be said of Angela’s.

[Rodney]

4 minutes ago, Nashville said:

My take on Angela’s behavior is simple, albeit a little different: she’s one of those people who are great to be around, so long as everything (and everyone) goes their way.  The moment everything and/or everyone does NOT kowtow to their every whim, however, they instantly turn into a king-sized toddler throwing a mega-fit - as if they think if they shriek and cry and make faces long enough, God (or everybody else) will be sufficiently cowed enough to capitulate and let them have their way.  In other words - a Karen.

Not that Matt was any prize either - but IMHO Matt’s moves and behavior, albeit dull-witted in the extreme, were done without malice; I do not think the same can be said of Angela’s.

Or it could just as simply be that she's a lovely person in general, but the paranoia of the house hit her REALLY hard.  Even the gentlest people can be driven mad by the paranoia caused by the game.

[Jel]

I find Angela exhausting in every way. Manic when she’s happy, manipulative tearless crying, angry tirades, insulting physical features, etc. She’s easily the worst this season. I usually love a delusional houseguest, but she’s the wrong kind of delusional. She really put me off with the “crazy eyes”. Glass houses, bish.
 

Edited July 26 by Jel

[North of Eden]

Disappointing.

Kimo brings nothing to the table, and I was looking forward to Matt vs Angela round 2. Not clear if there will be a battle back but I think TBTB are probably disappointed as well to have that storyline truncated and perhaps will try to get him back in.

Somehow, I was expecting the AI Arena to be a very physical competition not what it was. Anyway, what's worse than Angela? A DOZEN Angelas!

She had an evil smirk on her face when Matt went out and by the way what was with that OVER-THE-TOP reaction from everyone when Kimo won? I don't get the sense that he would be someone universally loved to that can only lead me to the conclusion the house hated Matt?!

Was Julie really all that well known in 1993 seven years before the infamous misfire of BB Season 1...marked for banishment indeed!

Discount Freddie Mercury mucking around in the hallway kept me on pins and needles to see if Julie was going to freak.

In the end being downgraded added up to a whole lot of nothing unless you count ruined camera shots thanks to those outfits.

And finally, LOL at Julie desperately pimping houseguests to go to private rooms to negotiate so they would have some "transition  from BW footage" to pad out the Sunday night show as flashbacks.

Edited July 26 by North of Eden

[Rodney]

7 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Not clear if there will be a battle back

Julie mentioned Quinn and Makensy's powers in front of Matt, so definitely not.  He's gone.

Edited July 26 by Rodney

[Nashville]

41 minutes ago, Rodney said:

Or it could just as simply be that she's a lovely person in general, but the paranoia of the house hit her REALLY hard.  Even the gentlest people can be driven mad by the paranoia caused by the game.

I hear what you’re saying, but if Angela is this flakeazoid after Week 1 then there is simply no fucking way in hell she will survive an entire season - TPTB will be having to check her into the nearest rubber Ramada before OTEV has his flights booked.

[TimWil]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

My take on Angela’s behavior is simple, albeit a little different: she’s one of those people who are great to be around, so long as everything (and everyone) goes their way.  The moment everything and/or everyone does NOT kowtow to their every whim, however, they instantly turn into a king-sized toddler throwing a mega-fit - as if they think if they shriek and cry and make faces long enough, God (or everybody else) will be sufficiently cowed enough to capitulate and let them have their way.  In other words - a Karen.

 

She’s a Karen AND a Martha (as in Baby Reindeer). Shes also like those tourists I see here in NYC who demand directions from me without so much as an “Excuse me” and I respond “If you ask politely next time I might tell you what you need to know.”

[Nashville]

23 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Was Julie really all that well known in 1993 seven years before the infamous misfire of BB Season 1

Chenbot wasn’t activated in front of a camera until 1995, when she started as a reporter for an ABC-affiliated station in Dayton OH; prior to that, I doubt the rest of the planet (other than family and co-workers) was aware of her existence in the broadcasting industry.

[Halting Hex]

2 hours ago, argrow said:

And Kenney respecting Matt's dad cause he's a cop is just pukeworthy.

Police officers respecting each other for doing the same difficult work they do is a bad thing?  Gee, no wonder the streets are such hellholes, then.

(I know there are plenty of deeply awful cops; I was once nearly shot dead by a patch of them.  If I wasn't as white as Taylor Swift, I doubt I'd be here today.  But I have a hard time disdaining the very concept of professional respect, just off the cuff like that.)

**************

Well, that sucked.  (Not about losing Matt, per se.)

Apparently the entire house HATES Matt.  (At a guess, I'd say it was for such brilliant reasons as he's reasonably athletic, he's in a showmance, and…one other.)  The squeals of joy when Kimo was revealed as the AI comp winner had me fearing for the durability of the laundry machine, given that it sounded as if at least 10 people reached simultaneous completion. The ability of modern Americans to hate so quickly and deeply scares me.

And yet, I had no idea until then.  The editors completely sacrificed an honest look at the House Dynamics for the sake of some fake "dramatic" "campaigning" footage.  (I take it that nobody in "The Barbershop" had the slightest interest in the alliance, bar the duped Makensy and Leah, and that the moment they left the room, all the others spewed venom about what horrible people the "Throwmance" are and how they can't wait to get rid of them, and how they have to hold themselves back from beating Matt bloody and so forth.  If we're going really old-school, there might have been talk about killing Matt's mom and raping her corpse, but I didn't see Dickless in the room, so I shouldn't jump to conclusions.)

Obviously, there was also a decision to leave Lisa out of the vote (probably to punish her for not immediately telling Kimo that of course he was safe, Matt is the Devil and we need to burn him alive, blah blah blah) and now The Plan™ is for The New Collective (or whatever) to evict all these disgusting horrible people, starting with Lisa (she won a comp!), Kenney (he nearly won a comp!), Makensy and Leah, and then we're all in Jury, woo-hoo!  

Of course, Jury may just as well start at 9 remaining as at 11, and the Big Alliance probably wouldn't last until then, anyhow.  But this has the potential to get real boring (and real hateful, albeit Grodner will try to hide that) really quickly, I'd guess.

I hope I'm wrong, but…grrrr.  (In my defense of what might only be paranoia, it's not as if the show doesn't have [lots and lots of] form for that sort of thing.)

I can't say that I'm particularly happy about the decision permanently exile HoH to Sundays, meaning that Julie will do exactly zero iive hosting until we get rid of the twist.  (We'll hear "Julie" when the delayed-airing comp is shown, but that will be a dubbed-in voiceover, as is usual in these circumstances.)

And the thought that we won't hear one single Goodbye Message all season long deeply depresses me, given that "I don't even care about your stupid Jury Vote!" is one of my fondest memories of the whole series.  Sigh.

(Hoping I'm wrong…but these days the depressive side of my imagination is rather running free. Apologies, I suppose.)

 

Edited July 26 by Halting Hex

[30 Helens]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

What was Joseph waiting for after he voted?  He’s so weird.

At first, I thought he was just admiring his reflection (grooming the pornstache, perhaps?) but I quickly realized he was waiting for the next person to come in for a high-five/ do-si-do. Once the camera switched to the living room, I'm sure production yelled at him to move his ass, the way he came scampering in.

2 hours ago, argrow said:

  Grodner now have confused viewers who has no idea how/why the blindside happen by giving her boy the golden edit he didn't deserve.

 

Right? I think production may have been blindsided as well, because the edit certainly favored Matt. I'm pretty sure that they're pissed off about it. Lost a Golden Boy and the season's only showmance* in a single vote.

*at least until Kenny hooks up with Angela. Sorry/not sorry for that image.

1 hour ago, Rodney said:

Or it could just as simply be that she's a lovely person in general, but the paranoia of the house hit her REALLY hard.  Even the gentlest people can be driven mad by the paranoia caused by the game.

In ONE WEEK? No, she definitely started out with a few screws pre-loosened. And the spiraling happened so fast... Matt was barely out of the HoH room before she was doing bug-eyed impressions of him and calling him names. There are a lot of words I might use to describe Angela, but "gentle" is not one of them.

Kimo cracked me up with his apology for slapping his knees. I'm glad he won the comp; I feel like he needed the ego boost. Maybe not the most exciting player, but it's not a bad thing to keep a few nice people around. For now, anyway.

Quinn's "You've known him for ONE WEEK!" also made me laugh, because exactly. I fully expected Kenny to fall on his sword and ask the group to vote him out instead of Matt. I kind of wish he had, because Matt vs. Angela Round 2 could have been amazing.

And the way the comps have (so far) not favored the athletic types, maybe Matt wasn't the best choice to go.  Give him 2 more hours and I bet he still couldn't have counted all the Quinns on the wall.

[Cotypubby]

Matt in his exit interview: “I  wanted to show more than the stereotype.”

…the “stereotype” you were whining about last week that good-looking muscle bros quickly get into showmances? Which you then said you started with Maquenseauy 40 mins after entering the house?

Uh yes Matt, I’d say you have lived up to that stereotype perfectly.

I was happy Matt was the first out but annoyed that Angela got her way. She’s a nasty toxic person.

[Blissfool]

 

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

Somehow, I was expecting the AI Arena to be a very physical competition not what it was.

I think BB has entered an era of non-physical comps. They'll be doing more puzzles, mazes, spelling, rolling the ball type of comps in order to even the playing field. 

 

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

She had an evil smirk on her face when Matt went out and by the way what was with that OVER-THE-TOP reaction from everyone when Kimo won? I don't get the sense that he would be someone universally loved to that can only lead me to the conclusion the house hated Matt?!

I think Kimo is just a sweetheart and everyone was just happy to show their appreciation of him. He sure was nervous right before the AI competition.

 

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

Was Julie really all that well known in 1993 seven years before the infamous misfire of BB Season 1...marked for banishment indeed!

I wikipedia'ed her and found that she was doing local news in Ohio in 1995, as mentioned above. I wonder if he is confusing Julie with Connie Chung, who was way more prevalent in the 90's. 

[Skooma]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

It sucks that Angela got her way.  Atrocious behavior should not be rewarded.

Yes it was but Matt had some pretty bad behavior too though Groden decided to edit that part out because she thought he was her pur-ty, alpha Golden Boy for this season. 

She also thinks the audience luuuuvs "showmances" which is the most boring thing about BB.  Silly exhibitionists on TV are not anything I want to see.

1 hour ago, North of Eden said:

Somehow, I was expecting the AI Arena to be a very physical competition not what it was

So did Matt who thought he'd cakewalk to a win.  🤣

This is exactly what Kimo needed to boost his self-esteem.  I think he will turn out to be far FAR more interesting than old tired stereotype skeevy, alpha douchebag Matt would ever have been.

[mojoween]

I wasn’t sad to see Kimo stay because he’s funny (“there are a million ways this could go … ok three”).

[nickp1991]

this season is so good the ai arena adds to the drama

[laurakaye]

10 hours ago, Sass said:

As a 50+ woman, I’m embarrassed by Angela’s behavior. Yes — Matt might have been cocky but did not deserve her tirade. 

Also 50+ here, and I agree 100%.  Based on the other shows Angela has been on, she knows exactly what she's doing.  She knows how to get the camera to focus on her, and to my utter disappointment that's exactly who the camera focused on first when Matt was evicted - cue Angela, pretending to suppress a smirk and exhaling like she was practicing Lamaze.  I find her pre-rehearsed monologues and her "witty" one-liners exhausting in the extreme, because we know she practices for maximum drama.  I would find it almost impossible to actually play the game with her in the house because if you're not talking to her, you're on her list and even if you do, she's going to be suspicious anyway.  

 

7 hours ago, Blissfool said:

I think BB has entered an era of non-physical comps. They'll be doing more puzzles, mazes, spelling, rolling the ball type of comps in order to even the playing field. 

I really hope this is the case.  I wonder if Reindeer Games had anything to do with it.  It's far more entertaining to watch a competition where most players have an equal chance to win.  

I like Kimo and want to see what he can bring.  I think there's a lot more to him than he's been given a chance to show.

When Matt was giving his pre-eviction speech and was talking about forgiving Angela, did I hear Julie Chen-Moonves correctly when she said something like, "that's very Biblical of you?"  I have nothing against Julie's convictions but I don't think they belong in a game like Big Brother.  

Edited July 26 by laurakaye

[Rodney]

10 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

In ONE WEEK? No, she definitely started out with a few screws pre-loosened. And the spiraling happened so fast... Matt was barely out of the HoH room before she was doing bug-eyed impressions of him and calling him names. There are a lot of words I might use to describe Angela, but "gentle" is not one of them.

I meant in general, not Angela herself, because . . . exactly.  Not gentle.

[Halting Hex]

10 hours ago, Blissfool said:

I think Kimo is just a sweetheart and everyone was just happy to show their appreciation of him. He sure was nervous right before the AI competition.

I can't see that.  If Kimo was much-beloved (not that we'd actually seen anything to indicate this), his friends would still be able to protect him with their votes.  The completely-ecstatic and IMO hugely OTT reaction to the announcement of Kimo's win hardly seemed like "Whew! Sweet Baby Kimo is safe!" and more like "YESSSSSSS!!  THANK YOU, JESUS!  Evil Matt is out of here!  Bye, you worthless piece of shit!  Hope your mother drops dead because you're such a repulsive loser, you goddamn scumbag!"

It looked way more like a hategasm than it did an expression of relief.  JMO.

(And a caveat:  I've been watching the news, so I've seen a number of hategasms recently.  It's possible I'm now starting to imagine them…but it's also possible I'm more able to recognize them.)

A further thought:  perhaps the reason the Goodbye Messages are hidden away on Instagram wasn't due to time considerations, but because they were shockingly venomous?  Hmm.

[iMonrey]

I don't think the show has yet ironed out the wrinkles in this new format. What would happen if all three of them got the wrong answer to the AI comp? Would they have to do it all over again? Again and again, until someone finally got it right? These aren't the brightest people in the world, after all. I wonder if maybe whoever got the closest came out as the winner, even if the answer wasn't right: i.e. there are 36 Brooklyns, 30 Quinns, 27 Angelas, etc., and since nobody picked Brooklyn Kimo won by default by guessing the second highest.

Then afterwards Julie suggested the two remaining nominees might pull people aside for private conversations, only to instruct everyone to sit down for the speeches about 20 seconds later. 

And WTF, Joseph, standing there in the corridor after voting. He thought someone else was next? Can he not count?

I understand the motivation to target someone like Matt early on, but I honestly think the smarter play would have been to keep him around to keep all the focus on him and Angela. He didn't win HoH, Veto or AI, so he's not exactly proven himself a comp beast. 

[Halting Hex]

56 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I wonder if maybe whoever got the closest came out as the winner, even if the answer wasn't right: i.e. there are 36 Brooklyns, 30 Quinns, 27 Angelas, etc., and since nobody picked Brooklyn Kimo won by default by guessing the second highest.

I would guess that they made certain no two HGs had the same amount of pictures, so even if the Arena contestants picked the three worst answers, there would still be someone who had done better than the other two.

And if they picked the same answer (right or wrong), then the win goes to whomever locked in their answer first.

[LakeGal]

We are probably done with Matt.  Although Quinn & MJ's power ends after week 4.  Julie could mention it in front of Matt if he doesn't return till week 5.  They could still do a battle back if they needed to.  There is always the chance someone leaves early and they need to add someone back in for the numbers.  But unless Angela is still in the house at that point we don't need Matt back.  

I am sure Angela will find someone else (Kenny or Lisa?) to fight with.  I do not believe she will just become a friendly wonderful HG now that Matt is gone.  Angela reminds me of the type that always finds a target.  

[Halting Hex]

It occurs to me that Matt's failed alliance attempt (The Barber Shop) was named "The B.S." for short.  (It was even mentioned on air.)

Given that the majority of those involved had zero interest in keeping him and were just bs-ing him, that's a nicely-ironic name.  Fortuity, or did Matt know what was going on and was only playacting in response to DR pressure?

Personally, I'm fairly certain that Matt barely knows that the sun rises in the East (and besides, he wouldn't have left Makensy and Leah on the wrong side of the vote if he thought he was doomed), so it's probably just an amusing coincidence. But still…

[30 Helens]

15 hours ago, North of Eden said:

I don't get the sense that he would be someone universally loved to that can only lead me to the conclusion the house hated Matt?!

13 hours ago, Blissfool said:

I think Kimo is just a sweetheart and everyone was just happy to show their appreciation of him.

Both things can be true.

13 hours ago, Blissfool said:

I wonder if he is confusing Julie with Connie Chung, who was way more prevalent in the 90's. 

Ohhh... you may be right. In which case, oof.

6 hours ago, laurakaye said:

did I hear Julie Chen-Moonves correctly when she said something like, "that's very Biblical of you?"

I also thought I heard "that's very biblical". But my husband heard "that's very difficult". I didn't go back to listen again. Even if she said difficult, I'm sure she was thinking biblical.

[North of Eden]

17 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

 

Ohhh... you may be right. In which case, oof.

 

Yeah I think whoever posited it was Connie Chung he was thinking about was correct and yes you are right....oof indeed. An embarrassing accidental dusting off of one of the worst stereotypes sayings out there. God only knows what Julie was thinking.

[Rodney]

20 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Both things can be true.

Both things are true.

[SummerDreams]

On 7/26/2024 at 6:33 PM, iMonrey said:

What would happen if all three of them got the wrong answer to the AI comp? Would they have to do it all over again? Again and again, until someone finally got it right?

The person who found the second or third most viewed ib the videos would have won. For example Quinn had 19, maybe Brooklyn had 18 and Chelsey 17, if someone had Brooklyn or Chelsey would have won.

[FlyingEgret]

On 7/26/2024 at 2:41 PM, 30 Helens said:

Both things can be true.

Ohhh... you may be right. In which case, oof.

I also thought I heard "that's very biblical". But my husband heard "that's very difficult". I didn't go back to listen again. Even if she said difficult, I'm sure she was thinking biblical.

I heard biblical. And flinched.

And - I believe - that is why she invited him to join her in saying "love one another" at the end

[QQQQ]

I hate Ainsley's voice. It's like listening to someone read a college textbook aloud. Game directions seem to go on forever.

Edited July 28 by QQQQ

[choclatechip45]

I'm happy Matt is out!

[Nashville]

On 7/28/2024 at 5:42 PM, QQQQ said:

I hate Ainsley's voice. It's like listening to someone read a college textbook aloud. Game directions seem to go on forever.

Back in the frikkin’ ‘80s I programmed text-to-speech conversion systems which sounded more personable than Ainsle.