Yesterday’s episode of ‘Big Brother 12‘ gave me cause to ponder why I watch the show. At first, years back, it was a voyeuristic curiosity about how folks might interact with each other in stressful situations. It was a trip into the psyche of others and more than a casual glance into different lifestyles.

As the seasons went on, I became more jaded and cynical. One can only watch so many seasons of chit-chat and mundane activities before turning to what the show is really about — brouhahas, personal meltdowns and showmances gone bad. I want to see train wrecks! True, tonight’s show had a visit from one of the few showmances gone right, but it was mostly about train wrecks. I loved it!

I realize that I must have a truly evil mean streak in me. But I can’t help being mesmerized by the Rachel Show. It’s all about her, all the time. When she’s upset, Brendon is her knight in shining armor. When Brendon’s upset, she says it’s not all about him. That’s because it should be all about her! By now, he should realize that! When she wins a competition, she can prance about and gloat, holding it over the heads of others. If Brendon wins something, she takes it as a win for herself. If Brendon loses something, all of a sudden it’s not a shared event — he didn’t try hard enough! To watch this girl mentally melt down in front of the world might be mean. But it’s definitely entertaining, too.

While Rachel claims that everyone in the house hates her, she’s brought much of it down on herself. Brendon is known by the company he keeps. Much of tonight’s episode focused on Rachel and the true love (cough) of her life, Brendon. As she reminded us so many times, she’s at the lowest point of her game — on the block with Brendon and one shall surely go home. Why is the house targeting the couple in love? Why, Rachel, did you target the other showmance when you were Head of Household? Oh, wait. It’s different because it’s you, Rachel. I should know that.

They’re strong players in the game, to a point. Rachel has won Head of Household twice and Brendon has won Power of Veto twice. Together, as a team, their record of wins puts a target on their backs. However, just as much of a factor is Rachel’s instability . She goes from crying to laughing without catching a breath in between the two. Her own personality is her biggest enemy. She just doesn’t realize it. Their relationship is an entirely different issue. Jumping into the sack and “love” within a few weeks does not a lasting relationship make. I don’t care if he’s a knight, he’s in love with the Tin Man … um, Tin Woman.

Seven players competed in the Power of Veto as Ragan automatically got thrown into the mix with his Veto Ticket. I didn’t realize that he had no choice as to what veto competition in which he plays. The hamsters were allowed to practice the veto game on a small bowling lane built in the backyard. Knowing how important it is that one of them win the veto, Rachel immediately ran inside crying and feeling sorry for herself. But then Brendon coaxed her out and they practiced all night into the dawn. Everyone else slept through the night. Rachel became a pro bowler, that she did.

In picking the PoV players, Matt pulled Kathy’s name. Unlike Matt, Britney, Rachel and Brendon, Kathy has the record for performing the worst in almost every competition so far this season. She tells us she’s holding back, but I can only think Barney Fife in drag. Rachel drew Britney’s name with a bit of a sneer. Brendon got the House Choice and chose Enzo, a person who’s not openly hostile with either Rachel or Brendon. I should mention that’s because Enzo knows how to play a social game and that’s the main issue with Rachel — she’s clueless about social games.

A bit later, the doorbell rings. Who could it be? An escapee from the set of ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ maybe? Why, no! It’s Jeff and Jordan from last season’s ‘Big Brother.’ They’re the one showmance I actually enjoyed watching over the years. Call me a prude, but I creep out when people jump in bed at first sight. Oh, I mean love. I didn’t say bed, did I? Jordan and Jeff were fun to watch together and I noticed that Jeff even emphasized how they started with a friendship on the show. He didn’t say love, but it seems to be to that level now.

Jeff and Jordan seem very familiar with the Meow Meow and with Rachel and Brendon. They’d be even more familiar with them by the end of their Power of Veto hosting stint. The way the comp was set up, the players went in rounds, each choosing their competitor for the most amount of pins knocked down in 45 seconds. Rachel was up first and chose the person she thought would be the worst, Kathy. Heh. Kathy won the round and Rachel was eliminated right off the bat. Kathy, of course, was gleeful. She actually did well at something! Plus, she beat Rachel, woohoo!

Brendon went up next, choosing Britney as his competitor. Brendon did horrible. As he panicked, he threw one wild ball in frustration, which almost struck (not really, but I can embellish) Jordan and Jeff. Horrors! Britney won with five pins against his three. Although Rachel had already lost to Kathy, she went on about Brendon’s poor showing in a diary room segment — “a monkey could score four!” However, at the comp, it’s like the roles were reversed — Brendon pouted and fussed while Rachel tried to calm him down. As for the game, the rest had fun and high scores for the duration. Britney came out the winner with a perfect game at the end.

So, what do I like about the show? Meltdowns and brouhahas. What did I get? Both! Rachel kept insisting that Kathy needed to apologize to her for acting happy about winning the round while she (Rachel) is at the lowest point ever in the game. Stalking her, she just kept at it. Kathy walked away. Stick to your guns, Kathy! Even if you aren’t allowed to carry bullets! Even though everyone pointed out that Rachel acts the same way when she or Brendon win a comp … this is different. After all, it’s happening to Rachel and it’s her house!

After Britney told Rachel that for the good of her own game she just can’t use the veto, Brendon hatched a plan. Since Rachel is the one who HAS to be in the house and stands a better chance to win in comps, they need to skew the vote so he’s voted out. He’ll be mean! Ragan, in his role as the saboteur, played into it all unwittingly. He thought he’d create drama but when his saboteur video message warned Rachel that Brendon’s been throwing comps, she didn’t believe it. Yet, the others all now “know” the saboteur must be Rachel trying to get them to vote out Brendon.

Brendon tried mean at the PoV meeting, calling Britney a spoiled brat and calling her out for saying last week that Matt and Ragan have to go. Are they going to fall for it? Will they send Brendon packing instead of Rachel? We’ll know tomorrow night!

Finally, this season of ‘Big Brother‘ is getting to be a bit of what we (the true fans) expect from the show. Unless things drastically change in the house, however, this season just might go down as having the most boring cast in the show’s history.

Perhaps the producers feel that showmances make the show. In our recent TV Squad poll, however, ‘Big Brother’ fans said they wanted brouhahas and cat fights! We want the drama, the name-calling, the pouring of iced tea on heads, the possible fisticuffs … we don’t need a soap opera. I, of course, watch purely for the intellectual stimulation. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Rachel set the stage for the drama at the end of the nominations with her call to “bring it on.” The only friend she has in the house is her soulmate (whatever) Brendon. It’s a match made on a reality show, enough said. Rachel, despite her professed love of chemistry, is full of her own Vegas little self. Brendon is just a bit odd about his choice of women. He’s a serious science geek, albeit a very studly one. She’s loud and brash, while he’s controlling in a bizarre puppy dog eyed kind of way. Or, at least, he’d like to be. He tells her he loves her, she rolls her eyes. Enough said.

They’ve already turned everyone in the house against them. Rachel continues to fuel the flames as Brendon realizes that egging the house on against them is going to further alienate them. I say, “Not so! The target can’t grow any bigger. Just give us drama and stop the puppy dog eyed pleading!” Alas, even egged on by Rachel the bully, this cast just doesn’t react. True, the majority of the house — Hayden, Matt, Lane and Enzo — are in the Brigade. They know that their boy Hayden is safe no matter what. Most also want Kristen out so that Hayden can concentrate solely on their alliance.

Ragan isn’t going to create any drama. Thus far this season, he’s a disappointment. I expected him to be much more entertaining and into all the drama in the house. Kathy is a non-entity and always a prospect for eviction. Britney without Monet is one of the most entertaining hamsters in the house. But she’s going to look out for herself and she doesn’t really have a dog in this fight. So it’s up to Kristen, on the block and the one who exploded at Rachel after the live HoH show. Well, no excitement in that corner. Maybe the Power of Veto will change the drama levels!

Or not. I’m not sure the show staff understood the concept of ‘Pinball Wizard’ as they put little Merlin wizard costumes on the six veto players (Hayden, Kristen, Rachel, Enzo, Ragan and Britney). But, those hamsters sure played a mean pinball even if they dressed really hokey. This was the comp with the prizes, including the famed unitard, up for the trading as they were eliminated in the rounds.

Taking turns at a crude giant pinball table, Kristen was out first. She just happened to pick the wizard’s hat that held the veto. We all know that won’t stick — someone is going to grab it away from her. Ragan was eliminated next, selecting a veto ticket that enables him to play in any future veto comp. That’s a new and interesting prize, although this comp premise is growing a bit old in the tooth. Next out was Enzo, who snagged a 3D flat screen television.

Then it was Rachel’s turn to exit the game. She got a “second chance” ticket that she had to use on one of those already eliminated, taking their prize and putting that person back in the game. Did she take the veto so she might be able to control it? No. She selected Ragan (who actually performed the worst in the comp, score-wise), snagged his veto ticket and sent him back in. She thinks he’s the only one who definitely won’t use the veto.

He scored a one again and was immediately booted out. His new prize was $5,000. Oh no, it’s going to put a target on his back! He swapped back with Rachel, got his veto pass back and now she received the money. She’s worried about the target, too. But nothing could make her a bigger target anyway. She might as well take the money. If nothing else, perhaps she could buy some new hair extensions or something.

Down to Britney and Hayden; it was Hayden’s turn to lose. His prize was a “hippie-tard” — a sort of psychedelic version of the unitard of previous seasons. Loyal showmance dude that he is, he took the veto from Kristen and gave her the unitard. What a stand-up guy! True, it’s likely that Britney would take it from her, but it’s still a bit lowdown in my eyes. Britney, the ultimate winner of the game, took the veto from Hayden and stuck him with solitary confinement. Good, he deserved that!

Kristen claims she so wants to remain in the game. But she isn’t standing up to Rachel and she’s not even upset with Hayden for snatching that veto right out of her hands! She plays some kind of finger make-out with him under the door of the Have Not room where he’s serving his 24-hour sentence. I just shake my head in dismissal. That’s it, she can leave the show. She has no real gumption.

Although Hayden and Britney cooked up a scheme in which Rachel and Brendon would be convinced they had a new powerful alliance with Hayden and Kristen, Britney would use the veto and Rachel would put Kathy on the block, it was a no-go. No one, except perhaps Kathy, would mind if Kathy left. But the problem is that Rachel claims to be after floaters and she rattled Lane’s name off as a floater to Britney. I can understand why Britney won’t take the chance of losing Lane. It’s not a showmance, but they do have a mini-alliance going. The nominations remain the same. Either Kristen or Hayden will leave this week. I can bet which one it will be. Can’t you?

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Big Brother 12 Updates 9:15PM BBT Saturday July 24,2010 Regan and rachel Talk

Regan is telling Rachel how things change week to week and you can’t keep fearing that people are coming after you. Regan says he thinks people will start playing harder this week because people are starting to talk about how they want to be in the jury. Stupid me, i thought these two were going to just talk the two of them but now I see that Brendon is right there. Rachel tells Regan he is her Yoda in this game. She tells him what a big help he has been to her. brendon agrees.  Regan tells the two of them  they have to have faith.Then he leaves. Brendon wants to go and be with everyone in the Cabanna Room. Rachel does not want to. Brendon has a container of fruit and he wants to give it to the people in the Cabanna Room. In the Cabanna Room is Kathy, Brittany, Matt, Regan,Hayden, Kristen and now Brendon and Rachel. When everyone starts eating the fruit, they realize it has been soaked in wine. Kathy says her Mom told her she got drunk when she was two years old. She was at a wedding and somehow got champaige. She said she was laughing and jumping around in her crib. Brit says she didn’t drink until she was 20. Kathy says her son shares stories with her about everything he has done and sometimes she does not want to hear it. Now they are looking at the fish. They have one they named Survivor, They found a spider and they wanted to feed it to the fish. It comes across the speaker”Stop That”  Matt says are they talking to us. Yes, because they are the only ones doing something they shouldn’t. Rachel starts talking about Las Vegas. She says she loves to play 25 cent black-jack. She loves to play poker, too.She loves a place that has drink that are in a huge container. They are 20.00 a drink and she says it is all Everclear with a splash of mix. She loves it. She wants to play Flip-Cup or Beer Pong in the Big Brother House. She is telling them how to play. Matt says it is very competitive. Rachel is showing them how to play. She wants to have a tournament. Andrew says he will play with ice tea. Brit will play with water. Rachel is so excited. She runs off to get the cups.

So … you’re watching ‘Big Brother‘ and waiting to see who wins the Head of Household. What? It’s an endurance competition, the first one of the season. Now you know that there’s no way those hamsters are going to stay on those surfboards until Sunday night. Yes, that’s when the results will air.

But, thanks to the 24/7 live feeds, we know right now who’s the new Head of Household. You could know, too. If you knew, you wouldn’t jolt awake at night in a panic thinking, “I know one of them won! Which one? Will the powers shuffle sides again? Will Britney win and put half the house on the block?” You could sleep at night and not worry havoc with hamsters. If you want extreme spoilers for Sunday night’s show, read on.

The feeds, blocked for the live show on East Coast time, came back on approximately 9:10PM ET. Kathy was already down and Lane fell shortly after the feeds went live. That Kathy went down first doesn’t surprise me — Barney Fife reincarnated as a woman deputy! I was surprised about Lane, but two factors come to mind. First, he likes to eat and he’s a big guy. The first five down become the Haves this week. The second came to me as I watched the competition unfold. It’s not a competition for big people or those with big feet. Technically, the girls should have done better.

Kristen was the next one out about five or six minutes after Lane. That left Britney as the sole woman in the comp. Yikes! With her small stature and teeny feet, she should do well, Right? She did better than Hayden. Yes, the young athletic guy went crashing into the moat next. That leaves one slot left for those who wish to eat. Oops, there goes Britney!

Down to Brendon, Enzo, Andrew, Ragan and Matt, it looked for a while like none would give up. The idea of food for the week is no longer an incentive as the remaining four will be Have Nots while the HoH will eat like a king. Brendon has to win to keep himself and Boy George Rachel off the block. Andrew has no alliances in the house and probably feels he needs to win to protect himself. Ragan doesn’t seem anyone’s target, nor is Enzo. Matt should worry a bit, but not all that much as he has the Brigade and Ragan on his side. It’s down to who wants to win HoH the most.

‘Big Brother’ kept pelting them with shaving cream and rain, moving the boards in and out of their slots and then stopping all action for long periods of time. When the boards withdrew into the wall, those with the larger feet couldn’t balance as well. I found out tonight that Brendon has size 13 feet. But was he out next? Nope, Enzo slipped. He lost his focus for a moment and now he’s a Have Not for the second week in a row.

Brendon was out at 9:44PM ET, the next Have Not. Then there were three, the most unlikely trio that I would have thought would be in it at the end. None of them seemed to want to give up. Andrew, with his larger frame and feet, was having to make more drastic moves on the board than were Ragan and Matt. He had to tuck one foot back whenever the board receded while Ragan and Matt were almost playing a game of “Mother, May I?” with baby steps. Ragan seemed like a pro at it and Matt made the whole thing look like a piece of cake. I knew that if only Andrew would go down, Ragan and Matt (allies) would end it before dawn.

Ragan tried to deal with Andrew, telling him he’s safe if he drops. No go — Andrew hung in there. He made a valiant effort for over an hour and a half, then fell. He became the third Have Not and the battle went down to Ragan and Matt. They sent the others into the house so they could talk. Both could stay up there for a long time, Matt saying forever. (No! I can’t watch this forever!)

Matt wants the HoH more than Ragan and needs it more than him, too. Before Ragan could drop, they had to hash out who they wanted or didn’t want on the block. Matt insists he wants Kathy out this week. He considers Kathy an extension of Brendon and Rachel. Ragan likes Rachel and doesn’t want her out, though he’s willing to send Brendon out the door. For some reason, Britney isn’t even mentioned although she was a huge target this past week.

It’s decided that Matt will win HoH. He’ll put Andrew on the block as a pawn with Kathy, the target. He’ll tell Rachel and Brendon they’re safe from the initial nomination, but if someone uses the PoV, one of them will be the replacement. Then they decided to hang on the boards for another 20 minutes or so to make it “look good.” Yeah, like the others don’t know they’re dealing for the win in the yard!

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