Recap of the Week 1 Eviction

As soon as the other girls decided to sell out Joey and her dreams of an all-girl alliance, her eviction was all but guaranteed. Still, this year's batch of Houseguests is doing a great job keeping excitement high and making this week a success. (Image credit CBS)

        

         This year's batch of Houseguests is doing a great job keeping excitement high.

Devin and Caleb continued their paranoia of Donny on Wednesday's show. Instead of believing he's an actor or professional comedian, Donny is now ex-military! That's right, super-soldier Donny doesn't have hair on his legs, so Caleb is now completely convinced that Donny used to be a soldier.

When Devin asks Donny about his profession that night, Donny replies honestly that he's just a groundskeeper, but the trust holding the Double D alliance together (which is just a sham by this point anyway) has been eroded.

Before we talk about Joey, I wanted to touch on the most important topic of conversation in the Big Brother house...Nicole has found her ghost! Honestly, watching her and Christine freak out over the Big Brother Ghost was kind of adorable and it makes them even easier to root for.

The arrow may be pointing up for them, but it plummeted for Joey on Wednesday night. She tried to reconvene the girls' alliance for a meeting...but suddenly, no one was on board anymore. Jocasta of all people was the voice of reason, telling her (in the Diary Room) that you can't start an all-girl alliance with 7 people.

And then Amber, who's total loyalty apparently now lies with the Bomb Squad (who're certain to kick her out at Final 8 or 7 anyway) ratted Joey out to Caleb and Devin, who each then had one-on-one conversations (read: interrogations) with Joey. After becoming House Target #1,  Joey decided to come clean, which I actually think was the best course of action. Obviously it didn't work out for her, but I think it would have gone even worse had she lied. Although I guess it's hard to get a worse deal than a 13-0 vote, huh?

And when super-soldier Donny uses his military skills and comedic powers to win the Veto (not that he had much competition...I mean, "competive"? "Caltoru?" Come on!), Joey caltorus herself onto the block. I think I'm going to use that word in this blog now. It's a good substitute for anything.

        

       Super-soldier Donny uses his military skills and comedic powers to win the Veto.

Even though Joey pulled out all the stops by introducing her alter-ego Alex, Christine, Brittany, and Nicole expressed discontent with the dictatorship in the house, and Devin drove everyone crazy by trying to get a unanimous vote (which he did), Joey was still shown the backdoor last night. RIP Joey. You were fun while you lasted.

We then were treated to two HOH competitions; one for women and one for men, ostensibly to ensure that we got a female HOH this week, which I'm all for. Although I really wish it wasn't someone so loyal to the Bomb Squad like Amber. I certainly wanted Nicole and Christine to throw it, so that they'd stay low, but Brittany and Victoria have a bone to pick with the guys and I'd have liked to see them win.

For the guys, my thoughts were the same. I was really rooting for Hayden to win (even though it would have made him a target, but he'll be a likely nominee this week anyway), or possibly Donny, so he could put up some Bomb Squad members. 

But Hayden and apparently Cody choked right at the end of the comp, leaving Devin as the winner...which, as some have pointed out, makes him a prime target for backdooring. If Devin's nominees win the Battle of the Block, he'll be dethroned as HOH. If Amber is on board and someone who's part of the plan wins the Veto, Devin could be going home this week, which would be hilarious.

Alright...time to update my thoughts about the Houseguests.

Amber Borzotra
What I said: "She could be the challenge goddess of this season."
What I saw: She's definitely the strongest of the girls..we shall see how she stacks up against the guys. I hope Amber is in on the backdooring plan to send Devin packing.

Donny Thompson
What I said: "Everyone does love him and his cricket noises, but he's also intelligent and held his own in the comp."

What I saw: Donny SHOULD have been safe, but for some reason, Devin decided to target him and Donny was forced to win the Veto to save himself. Apparently Devin has now decided not to go after Donny until jury, so hopefully he'll be safe now.

Zach Rance
What I said: "I want to like Zach, because he's one of the nerds/gamers of the season, but he's too abrasive. He'll go soon."

What I saw: Zach has toned it down a lot, and apparently sleeps all day, which is a great strategy this early in the season. He also has a close relationship with Frankie which could help him out.

        

                  Zach sleeps all day, which is a great strategy this early in the season.

Victoria Rafaeli
What I said: "She'll be Frankie's pawn, which I'm fine with, but I don't foresee Victoria making moves on her own."

What I saw: Well, she's not Frankie's pawn...maybe she'll be Brittany's. I don't like Victoria but I hope she helps the house minority take back control.

Cody Calafiore:
What I said: "He's not as dumb as he looks."

What I saw: Very little from Cody over the past few days, except for fouling in the HOH comp. He seems like he's in a good spot if he can stay unnoticed. 

Derrick Levasseur
What I said: "I thought Derrick got off to an admirable start, and his parental connections will help him."

What I saw: Not much from Derrick, but he seems like a smart cookie. I think he'll stay off to the side and observe.

Brittany Martinez
What I said: "...she was engaging the other Houseguests at the HOH challenge and has given no indication of extreme emotions...yet."

What I saw: I was rooting for Brittany to win the HOH comp, not because I like her, but because I think she'll put Bomb Squad members up. She's not Head of Household, but hopefully she can find other ways to fight.

Nicole Franzel
What I said: "I'm still looking forward to great things from Nicole; she seems very smart."

What I saw: Nicole is great! She has a strong bond with Christine and apparently with Hayden as well...that would be a final 3 I'd be interested in seeing! She needs to stay low and not make any moves.

       

                          Nicole needs to stay low and not make any moves.

Frankie Grande
What I said: "Frankie is here to play, and my only worry with him is that he will be too big of a target, especially because he won that first HOH."

What I saw: Frankie is actually in a great spot, at least for now; he's got a strong alliance behind him, and even if that alliance gets targeted, Devin and Caleb will go first.

Devin Shepherd
What I said: "Devin is going to have a tough time of things, but he's a likable guy and I think alliances (like the Double Ds) will carry him through."

What I saw: Devin is a trainwreck! He's hilarious and ridiculous and it would be great if he gets backdoored this week, but also great if he stays to cause trouble.

Joey Van Pelt
What I said: "I think she's fully invested in her girls' alliance. Whether that succeeds remains to be seen..."

What I saw: Spoiler alert. It didn't succeed. During the pre-game assessment, I said Joey's gameplay would be "Decent. She'll ingratiate herself with the women to survive." Well, she tried at least. I was entertained by Joey and I'm disappointed she's gone so soon.

Paola Shea
What I said: "Paola seems to want to take over this house, and I'm rooting for her."

What I saw: Instead of ruling the roost, Paola is the default pawn...but I'm still rooting for her! 

Hayden Voss
What I said: "I can see him working hard at every competition and then becoming a huge target during his HOH week."

What I saw: Hayden's going to be a target for the Bomb Squad whether he's HOH or not, so he might as well try to win. If Devin is overthrown this week and the majority alliance starts to fracture, he might have a chance...if not, it's only a matter of time before he's targeted.

Caleb Reynolds
What I said: "It's strange because Caleb is extremely aggressive and willingly shows off his strength, but it's just making people like Devin want to ally with him."

What I saw: As soon as the Bomb Squad crumbles (which will be soon), Caleb will be a huge target and I do not predict he will make it another month.

        

               As soon as the Bomb Squad crumbles, Caleb will be a huge target.

Jocasta Odom
What I said: "She was invisible in the episode and all I found out about her is that she's super religious...which we already knew. Stay tuned."

What I saw: Still pretty invisible. But at least she's funny!

Christine Brecht
What I said: "We haven't seen too much of Christine, but similar to Nicole, I think she could control the endgame if she can get that far."

What I saw: She's a little less under the radar than Nicole, and needs to keep her challenge prowess under wraps, but things are still looking good for Christine!

I'll be back for the Sunday night episode recap, as well as a preview of the TARCAN cast, so stay tuned!

BB16 Week 1: Sunday Night

We had wild scheming and late night strategy sessions, but he thing that surprised me the most about Sunday's BB episode was...the new theme music/intro!! And it was great! Although I suppose I'm here to talk about the other stuff, huh? Let's get to it then (Image credit CBS).

                                            

                                                            Frankie's reign is now over :(

Starting off the episode, two two-person deals were made; Frankie and Caleb made an HOH pact and Christine and Nicole formed the Nerd Glasses Alliance, which I am VERY excited about! I would absolutely love for Christine and Nicole to be the final two. Can they go the distance? I think so.

But a much bigger alliance dominated this episode. The Bomb Squad began when Frankie and Caleb decided to recruit some numbers in the form of Derrick and Devin, which is not a bad move, I suppose.  Although I have to give props to Derrick for balking (in the Diary Room) at jumping straight into an alliance.

And THEN the Bomb Squad needs a fifth and sixth, right? So naturally we'll recruit Cody and Zach. This was the point I stopped taking this alliance seriously and started laughing. Cody voiced my thoughts perfectly when he said he wasn't sure if he'd just joined the next Brigade or the next Moving Company.

Devin really proves to be the brains behind the operation...the overthinking, hyperactive, paranoid brains that constantly gets in trouble. He scrambles so much that he makes Andrea Boehlke in her vote-off episode on Caramoan look like she's having a relaxing afternoon on the beach.

Because Devin is so confident in his new 6-person alliance, he informs us that the Danielle DiLorenzo alliance with Donny is now over, and fake cries in the storeroom with Donny for some unfathomable reason.

That's it, right? Wrong. This is Devin we're talking about! He's always playing the game...even at 4:30 in the morning, when he recruits Amber and Christine to join the all-guys alliance. Hang on...I'm pretty sure the key word there is ALL-GUYS. 

The funniest part is when Devin then wakes Caleb up and says something like "Bro, we gotta talk. I think we need to add Amber and Christine to the Bomb Squad." Caleb responds with "What?" which is a reasonable answer. Devin continues to explain and says he told them everything because "They know, bro. They already knew." 

Ummm...no they didn't! Not until you told them! Christine sums it up nicely, wondering why Devin would trust her.

So the Bomb Squad now has an 8-person alliance...half of the house! Have we EVER seen an alliance this big before? I predict there's no way it lasts through week 2.

But Devin is still not done. Instead of targeting the women like the Bomb Squad originally intended, he starts to grow worried that Donny is secretly a comedian because he's so funny and told a "pastatute" joke. Apparently Devin thought it was hilarious and dangerous, because he implores the Bomb Squad to shift their target to Donny, which they balk at. Another prediction: Devin is backdoored by the end of week 3.

                                         

                                                               Secretly a comedian.

Enough of Devin...time for nominations and the Battle of the Block, which seems like it will spice up the Sunday episodes for a time. Frankie and Caleb nominate non-Bomb Squad members, but realize there's no one left in the house that isn't part of the alliance. Just kidding. Caleb's nominees are Pow-pow and Donny, while Frankie nominates Brittany and Victoria...which is a bad idea, because Victoria thought she and Frankie were tight and now doesn't trust him. The ire of Victoria...what a scary thought.

At the very end of the episode comes the Battle of the Block, and I found myself very much rooting for Pow-pow and Donny, of course. Sadly, Paola couldn't seem to figure out how to swing in the very cool pouring-with-a-twist-on-it challenge with a 1920s theme. Eventually she got the hang of it and nearly caught up, but Victoria and Brittany pulled out the win.

Tonight's episode will hopefully see Paola or Donny (preferably the latter) pull themselves off the block and get someone boring or annoying evicted. And hopefully my winner pick of Hayden, who has so far stayed out of the spotlight and the crumbling alliance, remains safe. 

                                          

                                                       Hopefully Hayden remains safe.

I'll be back after the eviction show to recap Wednesday's and Thursday's episodes, so stay tuned! In addition, the Amazing Race Australia premieres on July 8th, and I believe Ethan and I will be covering that this season as well.