Ruining Big Brother 18 – August 23rd

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Natalie
HOH Nominated – Corey, Victor
Veto Winner – Paul
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – Victor, James
Have-Not Supplement – Pies

Special Characters of Season 18 Edition

Right now, August 23rd, the houseguests have been living together for two months – 70 days, actually – and have settled in enough to show us at least two sides to their respective characters. We at Fetchland are using the current lull in action to explore the two extreme sides of each houseguest that remains in the house. Not to suggest that this is all we’ve seen in each of them, quite the contrary. In fact, our interest doesn’t lie in the “true nature” of these characters. We’re not into authenticity, baby. We want entertainment. Thus, we’re exploring the best and worst of them.

Nicole – At her worst she’s clingwrap incarnate; Nicole makes the same mistake she did in season 16 and envelops her game in man juice. It would be no biggie if Nicole didn’t completely lose herself in limerence. She’s still a kid. It’s puppy love. Meanwhile Corey is more like a man and he has had a really long relationship before (9 years) so he’s no puppy. That’s the main reason their showmance is hard to watch. The inequity of Nicole mooning over him with his distant gaze. It’s annoying to anyone who’s ever been in those shoes… And haven’t we all at some point liked someone a heck of a lot more than they liked us? It’s tough to stomach what’s happening to Nicole when she freakin knows better. Get your head in the game, girl!

But it’s not all bad with Nicole. She’s managed to stay off the block for seventy days! That’s no small accomplishment. Also, we’ve heard complaints about her bein’ a snake slithering to end on a bed of lies. Sure. She ratted out Da’vonne to Frank. She’s lied. Sure. That’s the good stuff, baby. It’s keeping her in the house. We just hope she’s also lying when she tells Corey she’d let him win in the end and fall on her sword for him. He’s just a guy. Take the money and run, girl.

Corey – just a blank space at his worst… Which sadly is most of the time. He gazes off into nowhere; or says nothing even though words seem to be coming out of his mouth. Even BB seems to be in on the joke of simple simple Corey and his complete lack of distinction. Nothing sets him apart. Showing his “love for Christmas” and dogs and all things frat boy with clips and funny bits tells us that Big Brother thinks it’s pretty funny too. It can be slightly amusing, but we’re not fans of his latest trick (talking up how little he cares about the game, going home, or winning). Either be in it to win it or get out. That’s what you’re there for.

Of course, there is an exception to this, and that’s when his adrenaline pumps. Unfortunately we only got to see this “beastmode side of Corey” during the ultra lightning quick double eviction when he was jolted by the blindside. This makes us wonder if Corey might be more of a player on his own, paranoid and lonely – now THAT’s the condition to play the game. Look how well he did that night after Zakiyah left and he was trembling with his first tremors of actual BB emotion. He won HOH and then Veto! Zip. Zap. We’d like to see more of that Corey and less of the schmoopie kissing and cuddling crap. We gave up that soap opera BS when we were seven… And outgrew it.

Natalie – Powerpuff at her best. Even if she keeps insisting on calling “girl power” when she’s, in fact, a grown woman and playing this game entirely for herself, she can be a powerful force. She’s a torpedo princess, the most delightful BB gif of the season by far is her telling Paulie to fuck off. If only she was on her own… That damn shomance is such a damper to Nat Nat’s flame. He’s gotta go.

But we can’t blame James for Natalie at her worst. That’s all on her shoulders. Every season one houseguest balloons in weight (usually a woman) because of lifestyle shifts and stress. It is that nobody really cares out in the world and if they do they’re not talking about anything interesting. This is exactly the prob with Nat’s reaction to her minor weight gain. She’s insecure about it. She’s vocal. It’s gettin whiney. We miss our princess powerpuff.

James – People pleaser extraordinaire at his worst. We don’t really understand James, we’ll admit it. As far as we can see he’s not playing Big Brother at all. He pleases the house and floats like a butterfly, which would be fine If he also stung like a bee. But he has no sting. How come Bridgette had to come to Natalie’s defense when Paulie was playing douchebag? Where was James? Oh yeah, silent. Remember how America gave him that care package so he could knock out two of the votes to that week’s eviction? Yeah and then he pussyfooted around that decision so many times until finally he just went with the larger numbers – pleasing the house, as always.

At his best James is an excellent boyfriend to Natalie. When she was sick he was patient, caring, and kind. He said and did all the right things. He was a dreamboat. This is the other side to his people pleaser personality. James cares deeply what people think of him. He cares too much, in fact. So, when you’re his sick showmance on a national TV show, it works to your advantage.

Paul – the entertainer at his best, Paul makes us so happy with his fun and frolicsome ways. This is a guy who knows how to have a good time and doesn’t care about looking a fool. He also cares little about what people think while maintaining a strong sense of self and that’s mighty refreshing. We see Paul’s entertaining aspects all the time like when he makes joyful frivolity out of his Secret Service penalty. There’s also evidence that he stays strong within himself, like how he distanced himself from Paulie for being a douche even though It was his strongest alliance in the house. That’s integrity, folks. But it was also the right move in the game at that time. Paul’s a natural at BB. He’s got good instincts.

At his worst, Paul talks way too much and all the name dropping and “I can get us into the coolest clubs” stories go far too long. It makes sense given that he’s only twenty three. But in every other way he seems much older, so this is the low point of Paul. Not too bad. We also weren’t big fans of the PeePee alliance, you may recall. But that was Paul trying to save his ass when it was on the line. That’s really just part of the game, annoying though it was.

Victor – our hero at his best is a dreamboat with good looks who cooks and cleans. He got Paulie out of the house. He battled back. He puts on funny puppet shows. He’s a great buddy to Paul. We could rave about Victor for another thousand words… but alas it just makes us all the sadder that he’s likely leaving this week. It’s possible he could battle back again (and make BB history) but do we dare to dream of such perfection actually happening? We do not. It’s too upsetting losing him again.

There’s not much to say as far as Victor at his worse. We hear from the other house guests that he eats too much without regard for their dietary needs but we’d be lying if we claimed to care. Yes, his laugh can be kinda annoying but have you seen him dance? He dances too. See? We can’t even get through the “worst stuff about Victor” without slipping into fitVic compliments.

Michelle – the lone wolf is the only player going solo these days… but it may not be by choice. She has so many quirks and, much like James, her best and worst qualities are made of the same stuff. In her BB intro on the very first night of season 18 she was already a character. Her collage of fears and conspiracies were funny stuff in Michelle’s mere 30 second segment. This actually summarizes Michelle well. Annoying, yes. But funny too. Her quirkiness is her best quality in many ways. She makes us laugh more than any other houseguest with unexpected little moments and quips that come out of nowhere.

Michelle at her worst is that same character full of unexpected flights of emotion, she makes everybody laugh or else she’s bursting into tears. It’s the same with her chats and plotting. She’s direct and blunt, a shocker. In the end it can be off putting and may be the reason the house guests don’t connect with her as well as she’d like. Michelle’s gotta work on those social skills. We’re pretty certain that when she re-watches this season she’ll get cracking on them. In fact, she already experienced quite a bit of personal growth through her friendship with Bridgette. Michelle has a long way to grow and we’re happy we got to see her start blossoming into her better self right before our eyes.

It’s a long week this week with all the grumpiness and grousing but we’ll keep you abreast of all the good stuff. So, check back here and on our Twitter @RuiningBB18.

– Katherine Recap