“By golly, it’s either Evel or Evel Spawn that’s gonna win.” That about sums it up, Dustin. I have to guess that the toughest part of being on this particular Big Brother jury is looking back at all the wasted opportunities they had to evict the Donato-nators. In the words of runner-up Daniele, it must be so… “frusterating"!It has been an interesting, entertaining but, generally, predictable summer in the Big Brother house, so I was really excited that we ended with an unexpected victory. I thought for sure that the jury would reward Daniele for her skill in the competitions (Jen and Jameka agreed with that philosophy, though I think their votes were more about personally disliking Evel Dick than the game itself). I don’t know if it was Eric’s impressive ability to sway the jury or their own acknowledgement of being thoroughly played, but Dick emerged victorious over his offspring. After looking back at a number of episodes courtesy of my DVR,...
read more
No matter how you feel about the Season of the Donatos (and based on your comments, I think it is fair to say they have been a decidedly polarizing force), it was definitely fun to look back at what has been a very entertaining summer diversion. Truth be told, I haven’t been a fan of Big Brother since the early days. I started watching during Season 5, got hooked with Season 6 and then really got hooked with last summer’s all-star outing. After seeing players like Janelle and Dr. Will throw it down, I doubted I would ever find any season as engrossing or enjoyable again. Man, was I wrong. After a slow start, I was quickly sucked back in this summer, and despite all the ups and downs, I have thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Unlike some of you who claim you are done with the show, I will be back to see what’s in store for Season 9.As we prepare for the finale on Tuesday, I’d like to thank all of you passionate Big Brother fans for sharing your comments this summer. Now...
read more
Hey, CBS, I’m sorry to say it, but Season 8 of Big Brother basically ended tonight… with a whimper. As finale night approaches, let’s face facts. Since Daniele and Dick played the entire game as a team, it really doesn’t matter which one the jury ultimately selects. (Though obviously they will opt to reward Daniele for her prowess in the competitions and for having Dick as a father.) No matter how you slice it, the Donatos dominated this game almost from day one and it was no surprise to see Zach walking out the door as the final evictee. The only thing that surprised me was his "teary" reaction to Dick's farewell video. Were we watching the same video? I guess after a week of no-holds-barred infantile tirades, that video felt almost cuddly by comparison. I saw an interesting comment this week that I wanted to talk about for a minute. Someone questioned whether or not it is legitimate to really call Big Brother a game and as the season wraps up, I think it is an...
read more
The Evel Dick-proclaimed "Season of the Donatos" is drawing to a close, and the dynamic duo has made it to the end of the line, along with, quite possibly, the most unexpected HouseGuest of all. After tonight’s display of juvenile cockiness courtesy of Dick, I have to say that I am really, really rooting for Zach. Yes, the renewed faith bit is a little contrived for sure and he certainly waited too long to align with, as Amber would say, the "good people" but he was also the only one who made a real effort to get Dick and Daniele out. For either one of them to fault Zach for going his own way and breaking their (shaky, at best) alliance is incredibly hypocritical. How many people did they backstab and throw under the bus along the way? Let's ask Jessica and Eric, the two most recent evictees.Once Daniele won the PoV, it was all over for Jameka, and she accepted her fate with the same maturity and grace she has displayed throughout the game. At times Jameka allowed herself to be...
read more
Geez, you go away for one week and all hell breaks loose! There is so much to talk about tonight, but first I’d like to send along my thanks to Nina for doing such a great job during my vacation. Thanks to her fantastic recaps, I was able to catch up on all the action. And boy was there a lot of action since last I blogged! And tonight, I am so excited by what went down, I don’t even know where to begin! So here goes....Jessica and Eric are gone and Dick, Daniele, Jameka, and Zach are in the final four. And how about Zach? If you told me back at the beginning of the game that he would make it this far, I would have laughed. Guffawed even. This was a guy who rubbed people the wrong way just by being in the room (unlike, say, Dick who put a lot of effort into rubbing people the wrong way). Throughout the course of the game, numerous HouseGuests have mentioned Zach’s weirdness. Daniele summed it up tonight, saying that Zach is the friend who calls your cell phone and you...
read more
Whew! That's a whole lot of episode to fit into one recap. I'm Nina, and I'll be your blogger for one more night while Trish is away. And what a night it was!Firstly, although she has shown tremendous restraint in her wardrobe and makeup this year, I would like to point out that the Chenbot, aka Julie Chen, seemed to have been dipped in glitter tonight. Not sure what look she was going for there, but it sure was sparkly.Now, to get into the action: To start things off, we were treated to a little behind-the-scenes scheming between the Ds, ED declaring that Jameka would have to "make a deal with the devil." The plan was to make Jameka (and, by extension, Jessica and Eric) believe that she (Jameka) was going home, and then at the last minute "save her." The goal the entire time being to get rid of Jessica. Jameka immediately had doubts about ED's supposed plan, telling Jessica that it may be a case of him saying one thing and doing another. Jessica and Eric — especially Eric ...
read more
Howdy again, BBers, Nina here while Trish is out this week. This episode really crystallized the incredible power of the Ds: Not only did they both manage to escape the block during nominations and the veto ceremony last week, but they also basically got a free pass to evict whomever they chose this week — without having to get their hands dirty doing it. Like them or not, they're playing smart, picking up an alliance when it suits them and then realizing when it's in their best interest to move on. I find it interesting that although they're obviously aligned with each other — by biology, no less — they're squabbling like crazy. Watching them reminds me of the kind of bickering most teenagers go through with their parents; I guess in Daniele's case, the whole process has been pushed back a few years. As for the other alliance in the house, Eric feels responsible for Jessica's nomination, as he really should — last week he could have used the veto, as Jessica wan...
read more
Things really got down and dirty this week as Amber worked hard to save herself. Her strategy of weeding out the "good people" from the bad led her to pit Eric and Jessica against each other. Fortunately, despite her efforts to cast doubt on Eric, he was able to regroup with Jessica, find out about their conversation and undermine Amber's efforts.I don’t think it was any surprise that it was Amber’s time to go tonight, and aside from Jameka’s emotional reaction, no one seemed all that sad to see her leave. Actually, her eviction resulted in one of the more boring episodes in recent memory. All of the drama that seemed inescapable just a few short weeks ago has really settled down, and now it appears that people are just biding their time until the end. That may change as the Chenbot promised a guest appearance from our old friend Janelle and a double eviction next week.I enjoyed getting a peek at Jameka and Eric’s families and hearing about the lady that Eric "le...
read more
"Amber’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, man." Evel Dick is not generally prone to understatement, but in this case, wow. Tonight the houseguests learned the details of Daniele and Amber’s trip outside the Big Brother house. Shockingly, Amber made it farther than Daniele did in the game. Not so shockingly, Amber did not actually win. But hey, she walked away with $1,000. That kind of money will buy a lot of tissues. My feeling is that she is going to need them come Thursday. Truthfully, I have no issue with people who are prone to emotion. I consider myself to be an emotional person. (For example, when I see comments saying that I don’t read what you posters are saying, it certainly makes me a little sad.) But there is a fine line between being emotional and being in serious need of therapy (actually, it's probably not all that fine), and I have to say that I think Amber is firmly planted in the latter category. I sincerely hope that this young woman is able to ...
read more
The ghost of Jen continued to make waves in the house even after her departure. With her farewell comments to Amber, she was able to cast suspicion on Eric once again. Jen was always good at planting that seed of doubt at just the right moment and that was the case right up until the end. However, Eric seems to have an uncanny ability to worm his way out of these potentially uncomfortable situations. I guess that’s why he is America’s Player. Speaking of the "twist," I am wondering where it is leading. What if Eric makes it to the final two? Couldn’t it be argued that he had an unfair advantage all along? And gee, I wonder who America will want him to kiss. That's a tough one to guess. CBS should stick with television programming and stop playing matchmaker — especially when there are people outside of the house who are watching their relationships fall apart from a distance.Poor, deluded Amber. I’m sure that Jameka thinks she is being a good friend by filli...
read more
