Butt-hole Brother

It's crazy how this season has brought so much ugliness to the forefront. It began with the nasty racist comments made by Aaryn and Amanda, as well as GM, Spencer and Jeremy, and continues to this day with Amanda's personal attacks on Elissa's family and children. It got so bad that even production woke up, threatening her with a penalty nomination.

Many call this show a game but it's not game. Yes, there are games being played, both of the mind and competition sort, but this is about people being trapped in a house over an extended period of time. We can talk about strategy and we can talk about humanity. There are people who play this game ruthlessly and cruelly; and there are those who try to maintain some semblance of humanity. It's a tough call on who to root for. For my own mental sanity, it's time to break it down.

Let's start with Aaryn who is most likely the one going to jury this Thursday. I can't say I will be shedding any tears. She started the season as part of one of the most obnoxious alliances. Propped by them, she displayed a cruel and vile character, one that unapologetically, resurfaces with the slightest bit of encouragement. She taunted people on their looks, their ethnicity, their race, their sexuality. You name it. She said it. Then when her alliance was decimated, she turned the "good girl" act on that fooled many of them, especially Helen, into supporting her. She went on to win 4 competitions, putting herself in the position to be used by Amanda and Helen to take out Amanda's threats. During the HoH she won with Jeremy, one of her allies was evicted. For every other HoH she had, she nominated people that Amanda and Helen wanted nominated, even saying outright that she was being coerced. 

Now, she knows that her "allies", Amanda and McCrae, won't even vote for her to stay over their pet rat, Andy. Elissa tried to put all the personal aside with Aaryn yet again, despite the fact that Helen tried the same and paid the price of her game, suggesting that they work together. When Amanda won the PoV, Aaryn went right back to the pigsty of an alliance, trashing Elissa. When their plan to fool Elissa into nominating GM in McCrae's place failed, and she realized that she was SOL against Andy, Aaryn went pleading to Elissa yet again. Elissa would have none of it. She called Aaryn out on her lies and behaviour, finally blowing her off by saying she would think about it.  Aaryn failed in the game and on a human level this season.

Now on to Amanda, the Don of BB15. She started off the game by leeching onto the first HoH, McCrae, and created a personal relationship with him by swallowing him up whole. She helped execute all the evictions and controlled all the HoH nominations, until this week when she hit the wall called Elissa. This set off a chain reaction of demented behaviour like none we have seen before. That's not to say that Amanda's behaviour has been exemplary thus far. She has spouted as much if not more vileness than Aaryn or the others could ever think of, which is ironic because she's the one who called them on their racist comments. She' not only made racist, homophobic and other ick remarks, she spouted fantasies of violence against Elissa, Elissa's children, and Candice. Detailed, horrific fantasies of violence.

Her game could be called flawless but I often wonder if she would have made it this long (certainly not past 2 MVP nominations) if she were playing with people who had the drive, foresight and backbone to make some big moves. It's not like she hid her influence because it's not in Amanda to take the back seat to anyone. Her bullying tactics served her well with this crew but hit an iron barrier in Elissa. This is what drove her over the edge these past few days inducing a medication-driven whirlwind of vileness. Production put a stop to it with either medications, threats or both. This resulted in Amanda having a sit down with Elissa and apologies from both sides. I doubt that will change her behaviour but one thing I think it has changed and that's how the other HGs view her. This might have driven the last nail into Amanda's eviction.

I look forward to the BB15 house being cleansed from Amanda and her flee-bitten pet, McCrae. These are two people whose behaviour has vastly overshadowed any game moves they have made. Their only chance at an alliance is Andy and that's questionable. If the worse case scenario happens this Thursday that she or McCrae win HoH, and you know it has a high chance of happening, her game will continue but, on a human, level she has failed miserably.

There is not much to say about McCrae who has been Amanda's strap-on this whole season. He, more than anyone has been the biggest disappointment for me personally. I had high hopes for him from the preseason interviews and winning the first HoH, but then he turned out to be a gigantic dud. He quickly blew off the Moving Company, putting all his eggs and both his balls in Amanda's basket (pun not intended). He may revive should Amanda be evicted, but he is going for second at best. 

Although he started out showing some sense of individuality by calling Amanda out on her questionable comments, he's since disappeared into a filthy emaciated hull of a human being who cannot articulate a full sentence without saying "I don't know." He's shown that he's incapable of thinking for himself throughout this season and has no problem bashing people behind their backs. I think this must come from a deep knowledge that he's effed up his game. The best I can say about McCrae is, I don't know.

Andy has played the rat game this whole season. He hitched his wagon to McCranda and hasn't budged since, not even to realize that the dumbest move in BB is to ally yourself with a showmance. He's been cut throat and insipid in his game and personal connections with people, but when the Zingbot called him on it during the most recent PoV competition, it hit a nerve. He wondered if he was being portrayed as this season's Shelly, getting more and more agitated. Andy, you're not being portrayed that way. You are that way. I don't understand why any player would adopt that strategy as it hasn't worked for the likes of Ronnie and Shelly. 

He's said that now that his eyes are open he will go after McCranda but will he really? My guess is that he will throw the next HoH and go with whomever gets power. It's a flopper's way to make it to the end and it inspires me as much as overcooked noodles. Andy has mostly not participated in the slamfests but he's never discouraged them and sometimes laughed at the ugly comments some of the HGs have made. He's playing a spineless game, not one I respect. He's middle of the road in every way.

Judd has returned and I hope he makes the best of it this time. He seems aware that he was duped and playing Amanda's game before he was backstabbed and evicted. He made a deal with Elissa and is part of an alliance-of-the week but I don't set much store in either of them until I see him actually act on his intentions. He seems to have had enough of the McCranda show. Here's hoping he has the power to do something about it.

Spencer and GM get one paragraph. Spencer is there, floating along, surviving 6 times on the block, the stigma of The Moving Company and his association with BB15 public enemy #1, Howard. On a personal level, he sucks slugs. His constant perverted statements culminating in the sexual abuse of children makes him foul in my eyes, and hoping he's not dragged, like the goat he is, to the F2 chair. GM, on the other hand, has shown some remorse for the ignorant statements she's made and some heart in this game. She's obviously someone who appreciates honesty and kindness, mirroring the company she's in. She needs to find better company in her life. She too has survived being part of an alliance that has been decimated. I don't know who she will stay with moving forward. GM is a big question mark.

I saved Elissa for last. She's the one person, other than Judd, left in the game that I'm rooting for because of her game moves and her strength of good character. I know there are people who don't like her because she was given an unfair advantage of 3 weeks of MVP but she needed it because she had the unfair disadvantage of being the only person related to an ex-cast member. Those lame decisions are on production not her. Some hate her because they hate her sister Rachel who was a very polarizing person in the game. I like Rachel but Elissa is nothing like her. 

Elissa has held on to her inner strength all season and even more so these past few days when Amanda launched her nasty campaign of bullying against her. What was Elissa's reaction? To laugh and rise above it. How can anyone not admire that? I don't know how I would have reacted but certainly not that gracefully when someone is attacking my child to my face. I wanted to punch walls just reading about it.

I've gone into detail why Elissa has played a very good game. Sure, people criticized her this week because she didn't put up Amanda with McCrae. She did a smarter thing. She put up two of her targets, now three people who have been Amanda's army. It's win-win in a lose-lose situation. Aaryn has been foul, gunning for Elissa, untrustworthy, playing emotionally and winning competitions. In my mind, Aaryn is the bigger threat; but if Elissa had gotten Amanda out, that would have been great too. She went from being alone at the beginning of this week to having formed some alliances and have some numbers. Maybe she has 3 people gunning for her next week, but she's shown the others that there is life outside of Amanda's butt-hole. And maybe, just maybe, they will all reclaim their balls from Amanda and stand where the sun does shine.

BB15 Shenanigans Redux

Yeah. Yeah. I know. I said I was over this season, but who knew that Elissa, the beast, would come out and win HoH? The 2nd HoH of the season. You're probably thinking "WTF Genie? It's week 9."  That may be so but it's the first time Amanda has not been the real HoH, from taking over the nominations to commandeering the HoH room. And it shows. She's losing it.

This video says it all.

Elissa, finally free of Helen's well-meaning but completely misguided decisions and shenanigans, is able to play her own game. Helen refused to listen to Elissa who urged her to help get Amanda evicted the two weeks she was on the block by Fan MVP nominations. Instead, Helen was instrumental in voting out her own allies. That's why Helen is in jury right now.

 Elissa showed her independent thinking by MVP nominating who she wanted gone even if Amanda did not agree which was highlighted the week she put up Jeremy instead of Howard. The fact that all three of her MVP nominations were voted out, says a lot about her insight into the game.

Now, she found herself alone in the house with her allies and support-group gone. But, using her HoH, she has been successful in getting the newly returned Judd on her side, taming the beast in GM and having her eating out of Elissa's hands, and more suprsingly, this...

Making a deal with Aaryn.

Who would have guessed this turn of events? Elissa told Aaryn that they need to put the past behind them because "this isn't high school" and work together to take out Amanda first, followed by the rest of her allies (McCrae and Andy). She added that Aaryn needs to win PoV but she would prefer if she herself wins it to take her off the block, proving to Aaryn her intention to work with her. She urged Aaryn to talk to Judd and Spencer and get their support.

Surprisingly, Aaryn stuck to the script and said nothing to Amanda, McCrae or Andy who is in the dark about what's really happening for the first time this season. This has been one of Aaryn's smartest moves. Despite the fact that she's been in power 4 times, her nominations have not been her own, becoming Amanda's hired gun. However, she has been successful in keeping herself safe and longer in the game. If she does stick with Elissa, GM and Judd, Aaryn's chances of making it to F2 have grown exponentially. But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

Today, is the PoV competition with Elissa, Aaryn, McCrae, GM, Judd and Amanda playing. The worst case scenario for Aaryn is that Amanda wins the PoV and takes McCrae off the block. In the event that happens, Elissa is planning on replacing him with Andy. I will, for the first time this season, be updating the whole process this week.

Why? Because, finally, they are playing Big Brother not Big Amanda.

Update: Amanda won PoV. Of course. Andy will probably go on the block. Do we say goodbye to Aaryn or Andy?

Stay tuned!

P.S. For my more snarky updates, follow me on twitter :D

Big Shambles Brother

After 7 years and 8 seasons of being an avid Big Brother fan, I am throwing in the towel. This was the straw that broke this fan's back. I can't take it anymore. This shambles of a season with the most ridiculously clueless and largely unlikable cast has spelled the end for this blogger.

Between the horrific vileness coming out of the mouths of Aaryn, Jeremy, GinaMarie, Amanda and Spencer and the absolute blindness and inability to play the game displayed by most of the others has left this fan with no one to root for. Unlike others, I don't have a short-term memory when it comes to the ugly shenanigans of the twisted sisters who are ruling the roost right now. I could care less how many competitions they win or how manipulative their strategies are, if I cannot stomach them as human beings, then I do not want to witness their victory, I felt sick to my stomach when Evel Dickhead won in season 8 and when Adam Jackasski won in season 9. Season 15 will end just as disgustingly, it seems, with someone who is even worse than those two. Under her beauty, Aaryn is a mean, small-minded, cruel person. Amanda is even worse. GM is struggling to fit in, taking on the ugly when it's around her.

I guess I'm not a game purist. I guess I don't "love" the game as much as those who choose to root for two women who are absolutely vile. There have been arguments that Aaryn and Amanda are playing great games, but all that's relative. They've got the upper hand because everyone else in the house sucks fiercely at playing this game.

Aaryn won 4 HoHs, one with the cheating help of her partner Jeremy (there are pictures to prove their cheating), sure, but look who she's up against. McCrae is too terrified to win a comp and not throw it to the woman who has his balls hostage. Helen is too busy cheering everyone on and trying to turn them into Disney characters. Elissa goes dead blank in most comps because her sensibilities cannot survive a season like this. GM is too busy planning the dungeon in which she will enslave Nick. Andy's focus is playing the rat game, and though he's won a couple of competitions, he's no more than Amanda's puppet. Amanda is absolutely useless in competitions. Spencer is there. And really why would Amanda, McCrae, Andy or Spencer try to win comps when they have their clownie do their dirty work for them?

Winning competitions is only as good as it serves furthering the person's game not everyone else's. Who did Aaryn want to put up this week? Spencer and Elissa. Why? Because she hates Elissa and doesn't trust Spencer. It doesn't matter though because she put up Amanda's picks; Helen and Elissa. How anyone can say this chick is playing a good game boggles my mind. She's winning competitions up against a motley crew of losers. Great. But her game is not better than anyone else's in the house, with the exception of the Dragon Mistress, Amanda Zuckerman.

When Elissa won the PoV competition (I wonder how many people will say it was given to her) Aaryn had the golden opportunity to strike and take out someone who has been dictating the house since week 1. Had she done that, she would have indeed earned the title of a good gamer. She fell back on the cop-out excuse that Helen would not have the votes to stay, but would Spencer really vote to keep Amanda over Helen? Spencer who called Amanda out on her BS? No, she's just choosing to play it safe. A good competitor she might be, a good player she isn't. I'm not going to even get into the fact that yet another minority is leaving on her HoH, with the third one having left under her co-racist's reign. It might not be the reason she's targeted them, but it sure doesn't look good, does it?

Amanda's success is largely due to the fact that Helen is an absolute moron at this game. She was too busy trying to get them all to hold hands and sing kumbaya as Amanda got her to vote out all her own allies and the people she promised to protect: Kaitlyn, Candice and Jessie. Not to mention the countless times Helen threw her closest ally, Elissa,  under the bus. Now, where is she? Yup, on the block with maybe 2 votes. And she deserves to be there because any time anyone tried to get her to see the light, or call her out on her discrepancies, she would run away crying to the very people she shouldn't be trusting. You would think that after the 3rd time she went to Andy with the plan to vote out Amanda and he balked, she would realize that he wasn't on her side. Instead she acquiesced, only realizing how treacherous Andy is now when it's too late.

Andy has been able to sustain his rat status mostly because of Helen's blind loyalty to him. However, his game has blown up this week which will probably get him out before Spencer, GM or even Elissa. I won't be shedding any tears.

McCrae blew up his game as soon as Amanda blew him. Nuff said.

Elissa is the only person I like in the house but her social game is spotty because of the very reason I like her. She can't fake getting along with people she cannot stand which is most of the people left. She's won two PoVs but if it's a competition that requires concentration, she cannot sustain it. She's proven that she has a mind of her own but she's never had a strong alliance with people who would stick with her. After Helen leaves this week (it's inevitable), she won't have any allies. I doubt Aaryn or GM will stick with her to take out Amanda or McCrae.

GM and Spencer are not even worth my time typing about.

So yeah, someone might be coming back Thursday. The best chances of a power shift would be Helen coming back. Candice would be motivated to put a dent in the reigning regime but she's proven to be a very poor competitor. Judd will just target Elissa because he's far from the mastermind they've all made him out to be in the house. Jessie is a big question mark.

What's not a question mark is that I'm done. So I say my farewells!

BB15: Mad, Medicated and Mean.

At the end of last season, I had decided to can BB blogging because I was so disenchanted with the way this show is run. I was disgusted by the way the editing fed into last season's object of hatred: Danielle Murphree. I did not like the mixture of vets and newbies. And I was sick to death of the casting formula.

When it was announced that this season would have all newbies, I was excited because it seemed that finally things were changing. Little did I know that the casting this season would be one of the worst ever. This season has been muddied by all the vile, racial, violent, inhumane comments made not just in the heat of the moment, but constantly by Aaryn, GM, Jeremy, Kaitlyn, and most aggressively Amanda.

Here are a couple of videos to highlight the nastiness: (Keep in mind that Aaryn's parents have hired a PR firm to cleanse Aaryn's image and a lot of these videos are being taken down. I don't doubt Amanda's parents will do the same. Watch them while you can.)

Here's the thing, while some people are calling this "beating a dead horse", in reality, this is simply a true reflection of what's going on in the house without production's intrusive edit. While CBS pretended to tackle the issue because it's "driving the story", they only focused on Aaryn's bigotry and have completely given Amanda the hero's edit. Amanda, who has surpassed Aaryn not only in bigoted, racist and vile comments but in threats to cause bodily harm to Jessie and Candice, is still portrayed as the valiant one, dealing with Elissa's mean statements about her hoochie outfit.  Amanda is the Golden Girl this season.

A couple of weeks ago, a "source" came forward to claim that Amanda has ties with Grodner and has been chosen as the fave to win by production. Read for yourselves.

While I did not believe it at the time, since logistically it's very difficult to guarantee that someone win this show, the show's edits are starting to persuade me of this. Also. interesting to note, that a lot of the sites that ran this story, have deleted it. The only reason I have this screenshot is because I saved it on my computer.

But be that as it may, whether CBS and production are trying their best to control the story, this story is uncontrollable. People do not want to see any of this behaviour be rewarded in any way despite the "game play". Aaryn and GinaMarie have lost their jobs, and it seems Amanda has followed suit. The real world has condemned them for their words, it's time CBS and production grow a pair and do the same.

Big Brother is losing a lot of fans, despite the fluctuating ratings. The sole cause of this is poor show management, a ridiculous casting formula and an inability to actually run a reality show with more reality and less production manipulation.

And speaking of casting, how did they manage to cast so many on anti-anxiety and other psychiatric medications? What kind of screening do these people go through? It seems not much since quite a few are recruited for their "personality" and looks. Your formula has failed, Grodner. Reap the rewards of the fuctercluck. This season's cast is so disappointing because either they are examples of the lowest point in civilization or they don't have a modicum of understanding how to play this game. We can't even discuss or appreciate the "game" because it's been cluttered by this horrific social injustice.

To that end, being a person first and a fan second, I'm not going to sit around and watch this hot mess of a season come to its deflating, demoralizing and disgusting conclusion.

It's time the fans showed CBS what we really think of some of the disgraceful HGs in that house, by switching the channel. It's time we allow the outrage to hit them where they love, and that's in the ratings. It's time to stop watching.

Strategy is Everything

The name of the game in Big Brother is strategy. There have been several successful strategies used in the past to carry players to the end. There have also been some unsuccessful strategies that have sent people home.

There's the floater strategy, that Jun used in BB4.  Its core characteristic is the ability to remain fluid in alliances and to choose which competitions to win or not. It's the ability to stay under the radar while manipulating situations to one's benefit, behind the scenes.

There's the social game strategy most successfully used by Dr. Will Kirby in season 2. He won the game based on sheer manipulation and personality, as he is the only winner to have never won an HoH or PoV competition.

There's the ninja strategy (Dan's term) which is a combination of social game, winning competitions when necessary  and relying on a small, solid, often secret, alliance. This strategy was successfully used by Dan Gheesling in BB10, Hayden Moss in BB12 and Ian Terry in BB14.

There's the goon strategy (my term) which is one of intimidation used successfully by Evel Dick in BB8. It's aggressively social and competitive game play that involves a lot of risky moves (such as using the veto on someone else) that pay off.

Finally, there's the production assisted win that is the use of any of the above strategies but with the winner being helped by production via the twists and/or favorable show edits that sway fan voting . The twists alone did not win them the game, but the twists did save them when they or their alliance was in danger. This is most notable with Jordan Llyod in BB11 and Rachel Reilly in BB13.

Who are the strategic players this season? Who is production favoring via the twists and edits?

Though many believe Amanda is the only strategic player this season, it's not accurate. She's been using a combination of the social game and intimidation thus far. She's been able to manipulate some situations and people to get her way, mainly getting Kaitlyn evicted over the more game-vulnerable Aaryn. However, her main goal for 3 weeks now has been to take out Howard and she's failed. Will her plan be foiled again this week; will she succeed; or will her game end?

Helen, though I don't care with some of her waffling tactics and her tendency to say too much, is also a key strategic player this season. She's been using a fusion between the floater and ninja strategies, being the main force behind David's, Nick's and Jeremy's evictions. She gets very close to taking the ultimate steps but she second-guesses herself which might be her demise.

Production has had their hand in the game via the MVP twist and the show editing. The first 3 weeks, the MVP twist has been a huge factor in helping Elissa not only stay in the game but with her allies' ability to get key threats to them evicted. Largely due to fan protests of rigging, production switched it up making fans the MVP. The main goal for this was to get Aaryn, who has become the representative of bigoted statements made by several house guests this season, evicted. (more on this in tomorrow's blog) This backfired when Kaitlyn was evicted instead, as a result of Amanda's and Helen's campaigning.

This week, the fans voted for Amanda as the third nominee, mostly because they crave to see a shift in the power, and have been disillusioned by her tactics. This has happened despite production's attempt to manipulate the voting via their edits which have been showing Elissa in a negative light while giving Amanda the hero's edit.

The other cast this season have placed themselves in supporting roles thus far, helping to further either Amanda's or Helen's agendas. Unless these people step up their games, they will find themselves watching the show from home or from the edited DvDs in jury.

Stay tuned.

Grodner, This is Your Fuctercluck

Yesterday, was a fustercluck in the Big Brother house. Why? Because the people cast on this season are dumber than the rubber ducks populating Studio City. I take back all my ratings from the other day.

So let's see, Helen two days ago pulled Elissa and Candice in the Storage room, dead set on getting Amanda out of the house because she manipulates every situation and every HoH. Finally, clarity. But no, somehow she got it back in her head, after some Amanda brainwashing, that Howard is a threat and needs to go. Why does Amanda hate Howard and Candice so much? Because they see right through her shenanigans. So she convinced Helen to leap on board the Kaitlyn eviction train, trying to drag Elissa with her.

What happened to the promises Helen and Andy made to the sobbing Candice after Aaryn flipped her bed and mocked her? It seems only Elissa remembers this incident. Granted, Kaitlyn is a bigger threat in the game (for Amanda), but what happened to Helen's reassurance that Kaitlyn would be "safe"? Oh, that's right! Helen lied. I guess it's okay for her to lie but she will put Howard in permanent time out for lying to protect his now defunct alliance.

Meanwhile, Judd, Amanda and McCrae went on a rampage going through Howard's possessions looking for a secret power. I would laugh hysterically if I wasn't so disgusted in their pathetic state. I lost all respect for Judd after this and his tirade against Elissa and Candice calling one "bitch" and the other 'slut". Yup, Candice is the one who used his HoH room to do a strip show and his HoH bed to fornicate. *eyeroll*  I'm not even going to get into the grossmance between Amanda the Dominatrix and McSockPuppet. But it gets worse.

Elissa pulled Kaitlyn aside, trying to give her a heads up that the house is about to vote her out because they've heard about her alliance with Howard and Spencer. What did the idiot, Kaitlyn, do? She went straight to Andy -Yup, Pop Up Tattletale Andy- to tell him her hysterical version of what transpired. What did he do? He scampered to HoH to tell the Mistress of the house, the permanent HoH who has taken over the room/house, having even donned the HoH robe.

As if that's not stupid enough, Kaitlyn proceeded to tell Aaryn her version of what transpired between her and Elissa. Yes, the person who is on the block with her. It didn't stop there, folks, Kailtyn went throughout the house telling everyone, while Aaryn scuttled to Helen to tell her her version of Kaitlyn's version of the discussion with Elissa.

Helen then scurried to find Elissa to "rein her in" and make her tow Amanda's line, only to be rebuffed by Elissa who was talking to GinaMarie and Judd at the time. Eventually, everyone in the house wound up in that bedroom, except Amanda, McCrae and Candice, who slept through it all. This didn't stop the morons from blaming the latter for everything. Aaryn and Kaitlyn did their best to rattle Elissa who calmly told Aaryn that she had nothing to say to her and got Kailtyn to cough up the true version of events. It ended in a stalemate with not even a real smackdown.

Helen then scampered to HoH to tell her Mistress the embellished and untrue version of the version of the version of events, entering the room with "Elissa has got to go." This woman runs campaigns?

Yes, Elissa has got to go because she won't be bullied into going along with Amanda's agenda like all the other good sock puppets are doing. Yes, Howard, Candice and Spencer have got to go because they aren't intimidated by Amanda.

Yes, Kaitlyn will go this week, finally finding out what a huge idiot she is by exposing the one person in the house who was trying to save her ass.

Yes, Aaryn will stay and probably make it to final 2 because there is no integrity, no loyalty, no common sense in that house.

And yes, I blame Grodner and her stupid production company for the worst casting ever. Between the clueless recruits, the people chosen solely to fill stereotypical roles and throwing in only one relative of a vet who is one of the most polarizing people to enter the BB house, she has turned this season is one big hot mess of stupid.

Everyone has been busy complaining about the unfair advantage Elissa has. An advantage that not only has put a huge target on Elissa's back but one that was taken away from her this week and placed in the hands of the public. The public responded in droves against the very person these nut bars are trying to save this week. Did Gronder tell them or us the results? No. Causing a huge uproar in and out of the house. Epic fail yet again.

This season will go up in a blaze of disgraceful lack of game play. Fans have lost any sense of who to root for or what the hell is going on even. Those who seemed to be heroes in the house have turned into nasty dictators or wimpy morons. Everyone has been complaining that the show is being rigged for Elissa, when Amanda is getting the hero's edit. Allegations that there's a connection between Grodner and Zuckerman have already spread, making Amanda the favorite to win this season. And she will win, not because Grodner needs to rig it, but simply because the house has been filled with buffoons who can't keep a thought or an alliance longer than 10 minutes to save their lives. Good job, Grodner!

Does anyone have a fly swatter? I want to crush that fly on the wall.

Stay tuned!

Who's getting schooled?

Three evictions down. It seems like this season has already been going for 6 weeks. It was game one right from the start. So who's playing the best and worst games thus far? It seems to change from week to week, day to day, hour to hour; but here are their grades this week.

J.U. Double DEE is at the head of the class this week. His nominations did not stir the pot with the house; he's managed to make some side-alliances; and he's still well-liked. No one has even mentioned his name as a target yet, unlike Helen who managed to put a target on her back after her ridiculous run as the Love HoH. A+

Pop Up Andy. I swear he's a quadruplet. He's in one room. I switch cams, and he's already there. He's managed to get everyone's trust and secrets, yet there's no target on his back yet. Why? Because he's managed to reassure everyone that he's on their side and he's a self-proclaimed failure at all competitions. I don't know how long he's going to pull that off,; but he's doing a great job thus far. A

Jessie. She's managed to stay off the radar and has not involved herself in the embarrassing girl drama this week. She is very observant and has picked up on some of the moves others have been trying to make. She is also someone in whom a lot of people confide without putting herself on anyone's radar. I don't know who is actually allied with her, but she hasn't even been mentioned as a threat. A-

Howard. Despite being the target of Amanda's obsessive need to be put on the block, and despite being in a pretty sticky position last week, Howard seems to have gained some ground with various factions of the house; but he's still seen as a huge threat. Maybe Amanda did him a huge favor by manically insisting that he be backdoored, making her seem less trustworthy. B +

Kaitlyn. If she survives this week, she has a good chance of making it far in the game. She is indisputably a challenge beast, has managed to disassociate herself from Aaryn; and has kept a pretty level head despite Jeremy being evicted on Thursday. (Unlike GM who went batshit cray cray when Nick was evicted.) Although a few have approached her for alliances, I'm not sure how solid they are, or how long they'll last. B

Elissa. Nominated for the third time in four weeks, she managed to get herself off the block; she's tried to stay away, as much as she can, from the girl drama, despite being constantly dragged in; and has a pretty clear assessment of what others, like Amanda, are trying to do. She's solid with Helen and Candice, and through the latter with Howie, though I doubt that understanding will last long. I would love if she would team up with Kaitlyn who has vocally been against her. Secret alliances are my faves, but it hasn't happened so this does not figure into my assessment. B-

Spencer. He's also survived being one of the two biggest backdoor targets last week, mapping a steady route to safety by solidifying ties with Judd. His allegiance to Howard, his friendship with Jessie and his easy-going attitude with GM are helping him gain a stronger footing in the house. C+

Helen. The curfew punishment is the best thing that could have happened to her. It's saved her from her runningmouthitis that put a target on her back last week. Despite that, she still doesn't have a clear understanding that not everyone can be trusted, especially, Andy who has no problem blabbing her secrets to his other alliance: McCranda. She's lucky there are bigger threats in the house, but she is not safe by any means. I had high hopes for you Helen... C

Candice. She's loyal, intuitive, unafraid to speak her mind and smart. She is the bridge between the Howard/Spencer and the Elissa/Helen factions; but I'm not sure how high on the totem pole she is with any of those people. The very fact that she speaks her mind has and will have gotten her into hot water, but her fierce loyalty might be an asset that will serve her to last longer in the game. C-

McCrae. I don't even know what to say about this dude. He managed to go from being part of the power to getting "engaged" to one of the biggest targets in the house. As soon as he shacked up with Amanda, he threw his game into the pyre of a showmance. He lost his voice, his will, his family jewels, it seems. Hopefully, he'll get his head back in the game if/when Amanda is evicted, but I'm not sure about him. Another one who dashed my preseason hopes into the conjugal hot mess he's in... D+

Amanda. Yeah, she needs to be gagged. Her non-stop mouth, her pushy insistence on running other people's games, her being at the epicenter of most drama have made a lot of her former allies distrust her. It's unfortunate because she's a savvy player; but she overreached way too fast. She's as subtle as a two by four between the eyes. If she had been more understated in her machinations, she would have been a front-runner in this game. I knew from her preseason interviews that her mouth would get her in trouble; and unfortunately, that is quickly becoming the case. D

GinaMarie. She's made too many unfortunate mistakes in this game. She's all mouth and drama, but that could work in her favor. The others might take her along as a safe bet in the F2 chairs. She's made an alliance with Judd, Howard and Spencer but it's unlikely that this alliance is a real one, at least with her in it. D-

Aaryn. This girl has dug her BB grave with her mouth. However, she's not a huge threat in the game. That being said, it seems people want her evicted, both in and out of the house. Should she make it this week (I would personally evict Kaitlyn this week but I'm not playing), she will be the easy target. And one thing's for sure, the other house guests do not want her in jury. F

That's it for this week's grades.

Stay tuned.

Update: Two days later, and my ratings are in the toilet...