S20.E13: Power of Veto #4

[Nashville]

9 hours ago, Snappy said:

Is it me, or does this season seem to have a larger than normal number of floaters/non-players? Rockstar, JC, Angela, other pretty girl, Jaycee, Hayleigh. Am I missing anyone?

Floaters, or free agents?  To me:

• Floater = a HG who “floats” through the game without making any attempt at significant game moves, letting their innocuous presence and House inertia carry them as far as possible.  They may be part of an alliance, but generally aren’t active participants in its stratagems; their primary value to an alliance is as part of its voting bloc.
• Free agent = a HG who is making game moves - but individually, outside of any alliance membership.  They may form associations (i.e., “soft” alliances) with other HGs and/or existing alliances - but these generally tend to be fluid and ephemeral in nature, lacking the durability or commitment of a formal (“hard”) alliance.

I see a big difference between the two, but I recognize that view may not be shared with others.  Within the context of these terms, though, I consider the majority of the players you listed as free agents rather than floaters.

 

8 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

JC looked shocked to even be considered by his good friend.

 

 

;>

Edited July 26, 2018 by Nashville
Edited down

[Jeanne222]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

 

 

I doubt it. :)  

Really think six months or a year from from now, Hay and K will even remember Sam’s words without making a conscious proactive effort to do so?  I’d be surprised.  Even if they do, that remembrance will be little more than an uncomfortable memory - and nobody gets through life without a few metric tons of THOSE.  

Unpleasant, yes; life-disfiguring, no.

Jeanne222

I immediately thought of those that have been bullied.  They remember the hurts and the words for years.  I think Sam's words to Haleigh and Katelyn will hurt for a long time.  Several here have posted about it so it must be very obviously hurtful words.

 

[Nashville]

@Jeanne222 - I suspect your and my definitions of “bully” differ some, but that’s ok.  :)

[IndyMischa]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

Floaters, or free agents?  To me:

• Floater = a HG who “floats” through the game without making any attempt at significant game moves, letting their innocuous presence and House inertia carry them as far as possible.  They may be part of an alliance, but generally aren’t active participants in its stratagems; their primary value to an alliance is as part of its voting bloc.
• Free agent = a HG who is making game moves - but individually, outside of any alliance membership.  They may form associations (i.e., “soft” alliances) with other HGs and/or existing alliances - but these generally tend to be fluid and ephemeral in nature, lacking the durability or commitment of a formal (“hard”) alliance.

I see a big difference between the two, but I recognize that view may not be shared with others.  Within the context of these terms, though, I consider the majority of the players you listed as free agents rather than floaters.

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with your definitions, but the only one in the quoted list I consider a free agent is JC. The rest are in one of the two big alliances. (Although I can see why a show-only viewer would consider most of them floaters per your definition!) 

Edited July 26, 2018 by IndyMischa
Autocorrect fail on JC vs KC, which is a huge difference in this context!

[Jeanne222]

51 minutes ago, Nashville said:

@Jeanne222 - I suspect your and my definitions of “bully” differ some, but that’s ok.  :)

Not to go on and on but there is one saying I like to think about.  "I might forget what you said to me but I'll always remember how you made me feel"!

[ghoulina]

7 hours ago, greyflannel said:

From what I've seen, Fessy seems to have Kaitlyn firmly in the friend zone and Haleigh in the "I want this girl to be my girl" zone. Unfortunately for Kaitlyn, her guides haven't clued her in. Maybe they think she's ridiculous too. Anyway, if you need to ask someone to choose between you and another person, you need to be prepared for the answer. Kaitlyn wasn't.

But the way Fessy acted pre-veto, there was no choice. He told Kaitlyn he would pull her off and even told her to throw the damn competition. It was only after he won that he gave her any indication he wasn't going to use the Veto on her. 

She's probably stupid for believing him. But they've both called each other "best friend" in the house. He really played her. 

4 hours ago, toomuchtv said:

Did she say she was talking about JC? Or was she looking right at him?? I admit, I was only half watching, but I wondered how he knew she was talking about him?? I thought she was referring to Tyler at first. I don’t even recall Sam ever having any conversations with Jc, let alone “best friend”. Seemed like it came out of no where for JC to respond. And then the flip to Rockstar immediately was nuts. Like, ok then 

I was also very surprised that it was JC. I immediately thought she meant Tyler and started hyperventilating a little. 

[Halting Hex]

A "floater" is someone who shifts with the power, "floating" from one side of the house to the other as circumstances dictate.  Jun won S4 by floating between the Exes and the "Original 8".  Porsche started S13 in a newbie alliance, realized the couples were more powerful and switched to them, defected to Daniele when she took power in the mid-game, and then rekindled her alliance with Rachel when it suited her in the endgame.  (And kept her secret F2 with Adam in her back pocket the whole time, but he never took power, so it wasn't mentioned in the episodes.  The closest we got was when she threw the F5 veto, which was OTEV, to him and then we got a bullshit DR where she claimed she'd grabbed the wrong plate…but of course we never saw her "error".)

People who are solid alliance members that hide behind meatshields, such as Jordan in S11, are the opposite of floaters, I'd say.  There was never a thought that Jordan would defect to Jessie's side. (Or Lydia to Jeff's.) There was never a thought that Victoria would turn on Derrick.  Tail-draggers aren't floaters, IMO.

Speaking of S13, it was wonderful to see my Queen Rachel again.  And she was even wearing a lab coat!  For a second, I thought they were going to do the explosion/"chemistry" veto, but this was almost as good.  Say it with me, Britney: "She's a scientist, Monet."

For those having trouble telling the current Rachel from Angela of the Invisible Edit, Rachel is the sometimes-neurotic dancer with the black hair who came in 2nd in three consecutive competitions (Week 2's dating veto, Week 3's questions HoH, and Week 3's wineglass veto).  Brown-haired Angela has stayed mellow since Chris took his swaggy behind home, and after nearly winning the initial surfing comp, has essentially sunk beneath the waves.

I'm loving the continued implosion of the self-righteous nimrods in "Foutté".  It was appropriate that none of L5 played in the Veto; the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight was perfectly capable of screwing themselves into the ground without needing any assistance.  Even when they literally have nothing to stress about (it being obvious that Angie would be the backdoor if the Veto was used, and I'd be shocked if L5 didn't send her home to her kids tonight), they still manage to completely self-destruct.  How does Faysal manage to promise the same thing to both nominees…and then put his foot in his mouth by winning a Veto he didn't need to win, and calling Kaitlyn by the wrong name?  That's not an episode of this show, that's a Jack Lemmon farce!  (Kevin Kline?  Whatever.)

That said, this was a wonderful episode.  The editors did a great job of cutting from Fessy being emotional over girls he "hasn't even known for a month" to intercutting Kaitlyn and Haleigh both being overjoyed thinking he was going to take them off.  Best intercut since "I'm throwing this Veto…and Keith/Porsche has no idea!" in S13.

Sam's self-righteousness has been largely covered in the comments, but I will give her this:  what did H/K do once they were on the block?  Try to get the "big strong man" to rescue them.  That said, I don't really think it was so much gender politics; Faysal is obviously the strongest competitor in that alliance.  Swap him for Rachel and they would be appealing to her, IMO.

But as for Sam's HoH-itis, here's another example, partially seen in Sunday's episode, but more fully in Thursday night's BBAD.  (Only a very minor illustration; not really spoilery at all, I'm just being cautious.)

Spoiler

Remember how when Sam did the "Who wants to see my HoH room?"  and everybody went upstairs (Kaitlyn drying her tears) and we saw all the non-Sam HGs lined up against the balcony rail outside the HoH as Sam paraded down the line with her key and then turned around?  Well, the BBAD-only part was that Sam then went back down the line, parading her cheek for them to kiss!  Her cheek on her head, I mean…I guess she's holding off on making the HGs literally kiss her other set of cheeks until her next reign. I swear, that girl's head is so swollen it's a miracle it hasn't burst…

As far as great HG stupidity of the past, yes, "King Kaysar" scores high for winning a vote to re-enter, giving up the HoH to Jenny Vasquez, throwing the Veto, and then trying to dictate the terms of the renom.  No wonder he found himself backdoored and re-evicted when that hadn't been Jennifer's original plan at all. 

But as far as alleged brainiacs go, I can't forget S12's Mensa Matt Hoffman, who had to use the DPoV that Production had shoved into his hands because his Brigade alliance members had decided to keep Lane over him, and yet ignored the alarm bells that should have been ringing (remember, they'd already made their peace with your getting evicted! That's the definition of "borrowed time", right there!) and threw the ensuing HoH, complete with an obnoxiously cheery thumbs-up.  He then gave so little effort in the ensuing Prizes and Punishments ("BB Zoo") Veto that it led to the one moment of sympathy I've ever had for Bitchy Britney, when she was complaining that what should have been a "five of us versus one Brendon" comp had led to Brendon winning and only Enzo (who ended up in a penguin suit) had even tried to win.  And then, with the renom chair open, he "loyally" refused to pitch Hayden for the seat, instead trying to guide Britney into backdooring their supposed mutual ally, Ragan.  Never was a backdoor booting more rightly earned.

Of course, that season was followed by the idiocy of "The Regulators" in S13, the alliance that saw one member (Keith) get evicted in Week 1 after throwing the Veto while on the block, another (Cassi) get booted Week 2 after not getting assurances from a sympathetic HoH (Jordan) that she wouldn't be backdoored (and then picking a fight with one of Jordan's allies, Rachel), a third (Dominic) repeat Keith's Week 1 idiocy of throwing the Veto-while-on-the-block in Week 3 and getting caught plotting against the HoH before he was safe.  (Seriously, all he had to do was keep his mouth shut for a couple more days; Adam would have gone instead.)  And then, after the temporary initial booting of Brendon in Week 4, Lawon self-immolated in Week 5.  Worst Alliance Ever; if you don't count Dick being pulled for medical reasons [HIV+], they were the only four players that year to not make Jury.  Regulators!

Lastly, I'm amused to see that the "True Friends" message on the Pinpression wall has been reduced to "I PUL GFRICNDS" [the "g' being a Gamma, in this case).  Yep, it's hard to keep "true friends" from eroding in the BB house…just ask Faysal and his "best friend", Kaitlyn.  

(Or, as her friends call her, "Haleigh".)

Edited July 27, 2018 by Halting Hex

[Snappy]

6 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

There are a lot of floaters, I think it makes for a better game.   That said, this season seems kind of sluggish, kind of dragging at times for me. 

After thinking about it, its not the "floating" I mind as much as the disinterest in playing the game. Too many houseguests just want to sit around and do nothing, thus the reason we can't even tell some of them apart.

[green]

2 hours ago, Snappy said:

After thinking about it, its not the "floating" I mind as much as the disinterest in playing the game. Too many houseguests just want to sit around and do nothing, thus the reason we can't even tell some of them apart.

Oh they are playing but they don't bring the drama so they don't make the TV cut.

Edited July 27, 2018 by green

[Snappy]

18 hours ago, green said:

Oh they are playing but they don't bring the drama so they don't make the TV cut.

Maybe. 

[Gemma Violet]

Halting Hex, I admire you and others who can remember names and events from past seasons.  I can barely remember the cast from a year ago.

[D.CBies]

What do I have to say about Rachel? Rachel is my favorite girl in the B.B. House. Love her sense of humor, and she is not fake. Tyler is my favorite man in the B.B. house.