April 9, 2008 (Eviction 9)
At last, the four-week saga that's dominated the game since James' original eviction came to a close with James exiting the house for the second time this season by unanimous vote. I have to give him credit for playing one heck of a game (with a little help from the producers, of course). Regardless, he managed to find a way to survive three weeks with the target squarely on his back, which is no easy feat. In a way, I think the game will be less interesting with him gone, but at least some of the other players will have to take a more active role.
James didn't go down without a fight, though. It was funny to see him aggravating Natalie, mainly because I've really grown tired of her. He really got under her skin with the comments that made it to air (and according to some commenters of the blog, there was plenty more that CBS chose to leave out. Let's just say we would have been begging for James' tighty whiteys!) Also funny was how well he knew what she would be saying about him inside the house. More impressive than his attacks and efforts to turn the houseguests against Natalie was his convincing argument/proposition to Ryan once again to flip on his alliance and take a guys vs. girls approach. Obviously, Ryan again failed to take the bait, to his credit I believe. Again, keeping James might have mixed things up, but it was simply too much of a risk. And honestly, James said he's wanted out of the house since he came back in. Wishes can come true!
Perhaps the best thing to come out of James antics is the fact that everyone on "Team Christ" sees how Natalie is playing the game. Unfortunately, she has proven in the past to be quite a force in endurance competitions, making her a good candidate to win HOH. Even so, everyone on TC better have their eyes open for Natalie in the coming weeks. It was also interesting to see that Sheila is apparently still playing with Adam's interest. Not sure if that is just her gameplay, or if she is actually looking to take him deep with her. Even if it is her plan, she's got to start winning, because the single-mother sympathy probably wouldn't earn her enough votes from the jury house to defeat Adam.
I've made it clear on this blog that I am pulling for Ryan, but I am concerned that James said he "hates what he and Natalie stand for." I know Ryan has done his share of playing both sides, but I wonder if there are some more bold-face lies he's told that perhaps haven't been included on the show. From where I'm sitting, everyone in the house has been shady at some point, but Ryan seems to be pretty loyal (even to his secret alliances, at least until it's beyond his control.) It's obvious James and Ryan have had beef, but I would like to know if there is a dirty side of Ryan that perhaps we really haven't seen.
The segment on Sharon's family was OK, I guess. It was shocking to learn about her car accident, and her dad has an impressive number of medals from his service in the Marines, but there wasn't anything here that blew me away. (On a similar, but mostly unrelated note, does it drive anybody else crazy how Sharon yells at the camera when she is in the diary room? It's a good thing that room is sound proofed! I keep my finger near the volume switch every time she comes on screen.
Finally, we get to some footage from the jury house. Odd as it is to say, I've missed Matt, and he cracked me up with a few of his comments. (Mostly his remarks about Joshuah and his hopes that Natalie wins so she will buy him something nice). I'm sure he's had a rough week with Joshuah and Chelsia, and it doesn't look to get any better when James arrives. At least he can take comfort that his allies are basically dominating the game.
So for the second time this year, we ended the show not knowing who will be the new HOH. As I said, the endurance favors Natalie and Sharon in my mind, though Sharon was complaining of back problems as the show went off the air. Ryan probably will stay in longer than normal out of desperation to win, but that sweat is eventually going to take its toll on him. Maybe Sheila will step it up, who knows?
I'm sure many of you are watching the feeds to find out the latest, but if not, who are you hoping will win? Who would you like to see nominated? Share your thoughts in the comments and check back Sunday! -
Adam
