Wednesday, July 25, 2012

BB14: That and Two Packs of Smokes

What's a vote worth in the BB house these days? The answer? Two packs of cigarettes.


Or so JoJo thinks. When Joe told her at 10:41 PM BBT last night that she has his vote, he qualified that it wasn't for the smokes. He would vote for her if she were to work on and persuade Frank. JoJo didn't really hear this. Joe is playing the game he's been playing all along. Hedging his bets. This is proven when he throws out the "possibility" of Joe and Wil working with Shane and JoJo. Who's gonna tell Wil this? When she gives him the packs, she asks: Swear on your kids. He says: Swear on my kids. But what is he swearing on his kids? Is this even reliable? JoJo is counting on it but from Joe's track record thus far in the game, that's highly unlikely. Remember, he promised Kara his vote, and we all know how that stuck.


An hour later, Britney worked on Janelle by campaigning against Dan to get Danielle out. The twist, the twist, the twist. Dan is dangerous. Boogie is working out too much. Blah, blah, blah. The only twist they've managed is to twist their shorts in a knot.

Let's talk about the twist, shall we? They've been talking about this coaches' twist since Britney brought it up to Willie last week which was the first step in his downhill course out of the house. Twists, by definition, are unexpected curve balls that production throws at the players and, this season, at the coaches. Even if this were a possibility, why would AGP go ahead with it after it's been expected and talked about almost since the beginning of the game? Especially if it doesn't favor who they want to keep. Oh, that's right. They don't manipulate the game... Anybody want a pack a smokes? How about smarties?

Furthermore, what the houseguests don't know is that these speculations have been aired by CBS on the show. I could be over-thinking this, but would they out their twist to the TV onlies if they were planning on doing it? They need to create suspense to keep the ratings, and this countermands their directive. If we're expecting it, it's not unexpected. But then again, it could be a double bluff.


Either way, it serves to keep the paranoia up in the game; and Britney is using it to fuel Janelle's insecurities when it comes to Mike and Dan. It's evident that it's gotten to her when she talks to Wil on the hammock around 12:53 PM BBT. She brings up the whole idea of getting Dan out of the game, but Wil nixes it, saying that his greatest threat in the game is Shane, implying that he wants Shane's strongest ally, JoJo, to go. He says he would prefer to weaken Britney by leaving her with one player. He also brings up the fact that Ashley is more of a liability than an asset. Janelle brings up Dan again, but Wil brings it back to the players in the game (subtext: not the coaches).

Wil makes the point that he's not comfortable playing for a twist that might or might not happen. Bingo Wil! Who would have guessed from the pre-season interviews that Wil would have been the voice of reason in the BB14 house? I sure didn't predict it.


A little while later, Janelle works on Joe, saying she feels nervous that Mike is working out so much, thinking he's coming into the game. Joe points out that if Mike is coming in, she will be coming in. Janelle doubts that Dan will be helping them. Here is where she is losing the plot. If the coaches were to come into the game, they would be competing against the players. In which case, why would any player worth the 1/2 mil buy into the coaches' agenda? They would logically not want what the coaches are pushing for, a point that was brought up by Willie in the first house meeting. It backfired on him, but his point had merit, and it's stuck in the players' minds.

Bottom line, Janelle's insecurities about Mike and Dan, gave Joe the perfect opportunity to push for JoJo to stay, but he didn't.  By the time Wil has joined them after brief fish, the discussion shows that they have moved on from voting Danielle off to her being a valuable vote. Joe isn't pushing to keep JoJo, rather saying that their goal next week will be to get rid of Shane. You know, the same Shane he told JoJo he wanted to work with? They agree that if they were to win HoH, they would put up Ian and Shane, with Frank being the replacement nominee. Looks like those two packs of cigarettes, or the non-oath didn't buy JoJo anything but fewer smokes to take with her out the door on Thursday.

UPDATE:
Hedgehog Joe
9:25 AM BBT: Joe is up to his shenanigans by "coaching" JoJo what to tell Frank when she talks to him, saying he would rather play with Shane than Frank. He urges her to push the idea that they can get a coach out of the game. Joe is hedging his bets again. This should be an interesting day! :)

9:45 AM BBT: Mike tells Shane about his talk with Britney last night, saying that he told her that no matter what happens with the vote Thursday, that there's a possibility that they can work with Shane. He adds that he doesn't want to tell her too much because he doesn't trust that she will keep it to herself. When Joe comes out, they flip the conversation to umm flipping houses. When they find themselves alone again, Shane tells Mike about what Joe told him. Mike says that Janelle's team will turn on each other and Shane has a better chance with them. Joe the Hedgehog's shenanigans aren't fooling anyone.


10:19 AM BBT: Wil and Joe connect privately to talk about Ashley's untrustworthiness, Janelle's motivation and worry about her own game with the coaches. Wil says he's not averse to getting rid of Ashley sooner than later. Joe says that's a plan for down the road. They both agree they can trust Frank over Shane, with the latter being the next target. They also think that Danielle will vote with them next week. The gist of this conversation is that they don't trust Ashley or Janelle and need to do what's best for their game.

2:39 PM BBT: Shane tells JoJo that he talked to Joe about voting for her, and Joe said that he will vote with the house. JoJo gets angry saying she will take the cigarettes back. Bring on the drama!

A little later, while JoJo is congratulating herself about how she and Shane would make the sexiest final 2 ever, how America loves her so much, voting her back and bashing Janelle, Frank and Danielle cement their deal...

Pinky Swear
Call me crazy but this looks a lot more solid than a deal made of smoke. He tells her she's safe and she doesn't need to campaign, adding that he trusts her to have his back.

3:37 PM BBT: Ashley, Janelle and Jenn are left in HoH. The last two are doing all the talking. It's non-game talk but the subject is Shane. Janelle calls him boring but Jenn explains this: he grew up in an overprotective household, and now works so much that he doesn't have the pop culture experience to be able to contribute to the discussions. During this whole conversation, Ashley hasn't said a peep.


Is she sulking because she isn't included, gathering ammunition against Jenn for later, holding a grudge against Jenn, or simply chilling? Who knows? We'll see if there are any implications later. She leaves HoH, finding Ian a little later to apologize about starting the F2 rumor mill. (4:09 PM BBT)


4:35 PM BBT: JoJo begins her pitch to Frank. It's a rambling one, disassociating herself from Willie, saying she's the strongest girl (that's not going to help you) , she will do anything, begging, begging, begging... She says that Kara deserved to go home and Frank points out that she voted to keep her. She backtracks... This is the most messed up plea to stay in the house. She tells him that she only trusts Shane and Ashley (I hope Ashley likes this shiny new target) and of course him... Then the praise comes in...

She is very clearly grasping at straws without a clear path to a reason for staying. It seems Frank is thinking the same thing. He's non-committal, saying that people will vote the way they want. She brings up the cigarette trading fiasco, telling him everything that Joe said. This isn't going to end well... Flipper is on a rampage with the fish throughout this conversation. She goes on to attempt a deal with him, and he says they'll talk if she stays. Denied!

Interesting to note, Mike was napping there throughout the conversation until he's called to DR. She's still talking a mile of minute. Poor Frank. When she mercifully leaves, Frank smiles and says "She's scrambling." When he goes downstairs, he asks Joe and Joe doesn't deny it. He laughs and says he will tell him later. Frank says if Joe wants to keep his word and the smokes by voting for her, it would be okay because it's a throw-away vote. (Ummm no, a vote is never a throw-away vote.) Ashley comes in to tell them something but they decide to leave it for later.

Stay Tuned! :)