S17.E34: Episode 34

[Nashville]

Please tell me if I am contravening any board rules by saying this, but Vanessa just seems very.....tweaky to me.

  

I am not sure if you are, but I totally agree with you.  I've wondered about that too.

Maybe she found out the bathroom cleaner was good for more than hairspray...?

[AbsoluteShower]

I can't for the life of me decide which I find more annoying - Vanessa's green knit hat, or the douchey trucker cap she wears slightly sideways.

[Bazinga]

The funny thing about Vanessa's advice to pick Austin over Johnny Mac, is that, even if Vanessa is correct that Austin is not going to throw the competition to Julia, calling him early serves no purpose.  Julia needed to beat him if he was throwing it or not.  Calling him out served to enrage him into a win, but if Julia did what she was supposed to do and pick Johnny Mac, she needs to beat Johnny Mac, whose strategy of spinning slow, would have probably led to a JM victory.  That he already went wouldn't make any difference in that he went slow and wasn't that dizzy and he rested between turns.  Assume Julia beats JM, then Austin takes on Vanessa and presumably wins and then Julia meets Austin in a final showdown, which she needs to win on her own or with his throwing it.  Calling him early was in no way beneficial to protect her from going up, as she could have faced off against him later. There was no benefit to Julia, with the only possible result to cause suspicion in her ally, as it did.  To sum up, Julia is stupid. 

 

But, did the amazing move actually benefit Vanessa?  Though Vanessa deflected it well, her advice caused the twins to turn on her.  If she did nothing, Julia takes on John and presumably loses and someone who is not Julia wins the veto.  Alternatively, if Julia calls John as she should have, and she beats him, she still has to face Austin later, who may or may not be throwing it, and beat him. 

 

Liz was already out and only Austin would use the veto.  What Vanessa needs to happen is for Julia to lose, but getting her to face off against Austin early, at Julia's instigation doesn't really facilitate that.  Assume Austin does intend to throw it, Julia gets a win against him.  Vanessa faces off against John and presumably loses to him.  The finals become Julia against John, who is the same person she would have faced earlier. 

 

My assumption, again, is that John, who was clearly better at this then Julia, wins and doesn't use the veto.  Vanessa is not put up on the block, Julia is not on the block. Vanessa just needed Julia to lose, but changing the order of things had limited effect, here serving to get Julia on the block, as she needed anyone but the two on the block to win to stay safe. 

 

What Vanessa did actually had more blowback on her then anything positive happening.  It only served to splinter the alliance and put Julia, who doesn't seem to be her target, in danger over Austin and I don't think her actual intention was to cause tension in the alliance.  IMO, just made Vanessa look masterful without really changing anything or really benefiting Vanessa in the end.

[AndreaK1041]

I think it was a good move for self-preservation, because if the veto had been thrown to Julia, she would be in trouble.  I think her best move of the game though was first getting Steve's trust and then convincing him right before the Double to evict Jackie.  That was the eviction that really shifted the numbers to protect Vanessa.  I can't actually think of a better game move by anyone currently in the house other than "winning comps" which is not in and of itself a strategy.

 I also like that Vanessa big time pushed for the Austin and Liz showmance early on to deflect attention (though she can never claim that in any jury arguments).

 Personally, I find Vanessa annoying and tiresome, but she has made some good, if subtle, moves.

Edited September 10, 2015 by AndreaK1041

[HurricaneVal]

I've decided that his tattoos are a representation of the box art for Angry Orchard and that he loves hard cider.

 

Oh my gaawwwd-uuuuuh!  It has been driving me nuts what Austin's tattoos remind me of--or at least the gnarly tree looking ones on half his body--and Biosynth nailed it.  I just couldn't bear to look at him long enough to suss it out. 

[runforcover]

Even though I will promptly forget her existence in two weeks, I fucking love Vanessa.  I love, love, love that she can switch registers so quickly:  her emotional vulnerability (which is real, you guys) and whatever her attachment issues are AND a game theory head?  To pull those off simultaneously so that I'm not always sure which is which, because maybe they are just the same thing,  AND respond with such speed AND AND AND  smooth out the wrinkles of her last mistake.  She moves AND she's totally emotionally invested.  That's crazy shit.  

[LoneHaranguer]

 

IMO, just made Vanessa look masterful without really changing anything or really benefiting Vanessa in the end.

She would have been better off convincing Steve to make JMac the replacement. If she sends Liz out, she can count on being next to go (barring some serious producer chicanery).

[RedheadZombie]

I want to know where in the world they found ballet shoes big enough for Austin.

Did anyone notice that Jessie and the show made sure Jessie stood on the elevated platform while giving the veto to Austin? No way was he going to let us see just how short he is.

[candall]

 

 

[...] my husband sauntered out of the bedroom to find me wincing, covering my face, and shrieking - "I can't watch! I can't watch!" So he turns to see a large, tattooed guy in a tutu, spinning around like mad. I got the most "dafuq" look ever in our marriage! 

This is so funny, I sifted back through two pages of posts to read it again.  "Honey?"  LOL

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

 

I'm looking forward to watching John in the HoH comp tonight.  I did a little double-take when Johnnymac decided last week that it would be better for his game to be HoH this week so Steve could go ahead and take it. 

 

Has he thrown so many comps, he has it in his head that if he fully commits his best effort, it's a done deal?

 

But it's my first season, so I don't know what happens when they get down to four houseguests.  Maybe the 5-guest HoH is the most powerful position of the whole shebang--in which case I can see making a sacrifice just for the opportunity to be in the running.

 

I'm so excited!

[Nashville]

I want to know where in the world they found ballet shoes big enough for Austin.

 

Well, shit.

So much for getting ANY sleep tonight.

[peachmangosteen]

.

Edited September 11, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Skittl1321]

I want to know where in the world they found ballet shoes big enough for Austin.

 

Men do ballet too. You can easily find up to a size 14 men's off the rack, and surely producers have access to better sources than I do.

They even make pointe shoes big enough for men: http://trockadero.org/

Edited September 11, 2015 by Skittl1321

[RedheadZombie]

Men do ballet too. You can easily find up to a size 14 men's off the rack, and surely producers have access to better sources than I do.

They even make pointe shoes big enough for men: http://trockadero.org/

 

Yes, but drag queens are somewhat different from your average male ballet dancer.  Male dancers tend to have slippers a little more masculine looking, and without the cute little bow.  Austin was wearing girly slippers.

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=barishnokov&view=detailv2&&id=EBB049E98FB547DF4F9E2B42174CFC713C8A3ED8&selectedIndex=121&ccid=EArJu%2bqb&simid=608017612905447733&thid=JN.ycy5P3oMdcZOYH57vG3iPQ&ajaxhist=0

[mostlylurking]

Austin's face when Julia picked him for the veto comp was everything. I am embarrassed to say I also thought Julia was the "smart twin". Not so much.

I still think Austin is absolutely gross but Julia and then Liz making fun of him was just as gross. Listen Julia, Vanessa played you because you are a giant dumb ass. I get that she was transferring her embarrassment at being that brain dead onto Austin, but it just made her look even dumber, if that's even possible.

When V said she had a lot of damage control to do after the veto comp, all I could think was it wasn't going to be very difficult for her. She's just shooting fish in a barrel at this point with those two.

Forgot to add I couldn't stop laughing at John's tights since he's so skinny. They were so loose on him they looked more like sweatpants, heehee.

[Sounditout]

My theory with the Vanessa wanting Julia to pick Austin early is so that Austin will think he has to win to keep himself safe. To him it's no problem to throw it to Julia later, after JM, Vanessa and Steve are out but to let her beat him early is for him to have faith she will beat all the others and win veto. He didn't trust that would happen so he had to win. Vanessa wanted to make sure Julia got out early and didn't care if Austin won because she knew Julia would be the replacement nominee. I don't watch the feeds but I can see Vanessa running multiple scenarios in her head (or out loud to people) 24 hours a day. Does she ever take a break from game talk? For all the energy she has put into to thinking about the game she probably deserves at least 2nd place, it's exhausting!

[ennui]

Has he thrown so many comps, he has it in his head that if he fully commits his best effort, it's a done deal?

 

We have no way of knowing. That's the problem with throwing comps.

[himela]

I think this is one of the worst seasons ever. I started it disliking James, Meg, Jeff, Jackie, Shelli and Clay and I ended up hating Vanessa and the twins and Austin so much that I was praying that James would stay. I mean, I don't remember in any other season hating so many people for so long. Eve Frankie was kinda more likeable than these stupid and stupider idiots. Vanessa:  I honestly hope I never see you or hear your voice ever again. Urgh. Such uggliness. A poker player who makes millions of dolars every year and she can't let poorer than her people win. Greediness ftw.