TV

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Zakiyah
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Bridgette, Corey, James
Have-Not Supplement – Hash browns and corned beef

The show begins with Meech’s breakdown after the nomination ceremony. Then, for contrast, we see the “executives” laughing and dancing, jumping off the beds, etc. in celebration. Then Michelle calls out the true executive, “I’m not the one who put him up on the block and backdoored him,” eyeball shot to Paulie. He then talks to Zakiyah alone and acts mega shady when she asks if he’d take her off the block with the Veto. Z says she doesn’t trust Paulie. Meanwhile Paul and Victor are in HOH saying they think Zak really needs to go this week. She’s too comfy.

After this we see the beginning of the end of PeePee paradise when Paul and Paulie disagree about who should go. We already knew this was happening. There’s further validation when Paulie tells us in DR that he’s going to do what’s good for HIS game alone. No shame in that, it’s BB, bro. Thing is, Paulie’s playing SO hard, people are noticing.

In the next scene Paulie tells James that whoever “we choose” to use the care package… blah blah blah. Um, it’s James who picks, Paulie, and he noticed that “we” for certain. In the process of the Veto competition we understand why it took such a long time. It’s the hide and seek competition that takes forever and ever. The houseguests each hide a Veto card in the house and take turns looking for them. The card that remains hidden belongs to the houseguest who wins the Veto. When Paulie wins he claims to not be certain what to do but makes it clear his decision has to be whatever will benefit his game most.

Truth is, he doesn’t actually make the choice that’s best for his game. In one way he goes with his penis rather than his posse. But really, he makes two bad choices. One is deciding to fight to keep Zakiyah, which bites him in the butt later, as we know. But Paulie also manages to piss Zakiyah off when he informs her that he’s not going to take her off the block. He says the goal is to get Michelle evicted regardless as if that’s going to be some sort of consolation. It’s not. So, he’s managed to make everybody mad at him while looking out only for himself. Not a surprise then that the last thing we hear him say on the evening feeds of August 10th is, “Why is all this aggression focused on me?”

Speaking of Paulie on the August 10th feeds, he’s BONED. Still smug and with his eyes closed. He spent the evening with a tomato-red face and, “never cared” coming out of his mouth but every other word indicating otherwise. In the end he tells Natalie that she’s “as fake as those things on her chest,” and huff and puffs at Michelle when she calls him out too.

At 4:18AM Michelle tells him she was going to blow up his game tomorrow but he already did it for her. Paulie unravels even further in response, calling her “trash” and his attempts to laugh it off keep failing as he yells through walls at laughing and taunting Michelle. No matter what he says, she dishes it right back twofold. He’s in the Toyko room and she’s in the London room each with people near them laughing so hard they just may pee their pants. James says, “Just be careful you don’t talk about his haircut because he doesn’t like that,” and the laughs in the London room just keep rolling.

It all began coming at Paulie because Natalie told Z all about her Paulie opinions at around 6:30PM. There’s ongoing Twitter debate about whether Z believes Natalie or Paulie and if she’s a sucker for him/in love with him. We at Fetchland think she’s just doing what she has to with him because she’s kinda “stuck” in this showmance for now. It seems like she heard Natalie’s advice loud and clear. Yes, she did retell stuff to Paulie and Nicole before spending the rest of the night with Paulie. But maybe Zakiyah just didn’t want to mess with the fact that she’s on the block right now and tomorrow’s eviction night. Paulie’s the “hero archetype” for her right now – remember? Check out Zak’s eyeroll as Paulie “talks some sense” into her – it’s our featured photo of the day above. In contrast, Zakiyah says to Natalie,- “You knocked a lot of sense into me earlier today,” before giving her a big hug. Maybe it’s all lies and Z is just a beautiful bot or an amazing actress. Either way, we’re thoroughly entertained.

August 10th’s truly a feeds carnival ride. You can basically watch from 6:30PM until 6:30AM and stay riveted every single second. Golden glory and joy with a tomato-faced blowhard to boot. That’s entertainment! Thursday night is the live and double eviction so get ready to strap yourself in for some more shock, tears, and all-around excitement.We’ll be back with a fresh recap of everything for you along with our ongoing twitter feed @RuiningBB18.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Zakiyah
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Bridgette, Corey, James
Have-Not Supplement – Hash browns and corned beef

August 9th was a glorious day on the Big Brother feeds. After a yawn of an afternoon with Paul still attempting to make the pelican floaty look “happen” he finally gives up at about 8PM BB time. Then it turns out somebody deflated it but nobody will admit to doing the deed. Speaking of floating blowup toys, Looks like Paulie might finally get popped with some reality. Michelle, Natalie, and Bridgette start yappin’ it up major big time and gettin’ real. They work on James hardcore and bring him around to their point of view – FINALLY. Then Paul also gets a good serving of “Spy Girl” strategy more than a few times and finally finally finally… it starts to work in the wee hours of the morning BB time in the London Room. Sleep tight Pee Pee! We’re here to officially proclaim that Paulie’s biggest mistake in BB18 was sleeping all day on August 9th. He’s BONED.

His second biggest mistake? Underestimating Natalie. He slammed her behind her back saying she’s phony and “always gives pageant answers,” thus enflaming the wrath of Nat Nat. Turns out after all that the blood of her enemies is Nat’s favorite snack – not chips. After a long evening of exposing all of Paulie’s strategy, secrets, and lies, it all finally hits maximum conflagration. The blow out is actually gonna happen! Paulie is goin’ down. The tipping point is likely the moment when Natalie turned James around 6:30AM in the storage room. She pointed out to him how Paulie pits the singles and couples against each other. This leaves him swinging free in the middle with no blood on his hands. James finally sees reason after she explains it a few times (haha). Bridgette comes in to help Natalie get through to James. In the end James says if they can get Victor on board with keeping Michelle this week, he’ll go for it. He’s ready.

Later on (8AM, folks) Natalie, Michelle, and Paul talk truth in their trio of London room beds. It all comes out about Paulie. He really thinks only of himself, they all agree. Paul realizes he’s truly getting “boned” being with Paulie. In fact, when Paul thinks that James will be the hardest nut to crack to get Michelle out, he has the idea that the three of them have to talk to Victor all at once so he can see the numbers are there for him to use the nix votes care package deal strategically. “If just one of us talks to Victor, he’ll run right to Paulie with the info,” Paul says. This is pure and unfiltered glorious MUSIC to our ears. That Paul’s thinking this way shows he actually means this whole conversation with Natalie and Michelle. In fact, though, Victor will easily come on board. The hard one to convince was James and Natalie converted him so well that he was the one to suggest they call Paulie out in front of everyone. James is playing the game now! Yay.

Natalie stays super amazing and sweet throughout all of it, telling Michelle how proud she is for how she’s been handling being on the block since the Veto ceremony. Nat also decides to carry the weight of “blowing the house up,” she’s actually flipping the whole frigging house. The plan involves convincing Victor to get on board with them for the double eviction plan to get Paulie out. This, of course will come after they flip the votes and evict Zakiyah. Natalie speaks the most truth and even talks about how James (sleeping) is the biggest floater of all. You gotta love that girl! Her eyes are wide open.

Another lovely aspect of the whole turn of events is how Paul stays pretty humble and realizes he looks like a Dbag for how he latched onto Paulie. Paul admits it’s a losing proposition. But he says it in Paulspeak, “I’m boned,” and everyone just nods in agreement before saying they too are boned in the current situation anyway. Meanwhile Natalie has the most balls of all. She’s ready to rock the house and take over – no holding back. Michelle even says, “Sometimes it takes an outsider,” about Natalie and says she’s outplaying everybody. Natalie responds that she’s just so proud of Michelle and how she’s being strong through all this. Neither of them are scared of anything anymore. Both know they could go home right away anyway. That “Power of Now” guy, Eckhart Tolle once said, “Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to ‘die before you die’ — and find that there is no death”. This cuts to the heart of what’s happening right now in the Big Brother house. Natalie, Bridgette, and Michelle have nothing to lose at this point. They know the taste of BB death well – the metallic flavor of blood in their mouths. These are the people to most fear in any game, the ones with nothing to lose by playing hardcore. It’s wartime, baby.

We’ll be watching Natalie with poms poms in the air today and tomorrow. Natalie’s ready to confront Zakiyah and start the ball rolling. It’s all happening, guys. Trumpets are blaring and we can’t wait to hear Natalie’s battle cry shatter the BB walls. Stay tuned to Fetchland.com for the latest and our twitter @RuiningBB18. Our eyes will be locked on the BB feeds and reporting back to you. It’ll be a fun ride the next few days; that’s for sure!

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Zakiyah
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Bridgette, Corey, James
Have-Not Supplement – Hash browns and corned beef

After the Veto ceremony of August 8th, in which Paulie declines to use the power to save anyone from the block, the campaigning begins full speed ahead. Michelle chats with Paul about how Paulie seems sketch. He, of course, then runs upstairs to tell Paulie every single word she said. After clearing his throat forty seven thousand times, Paulie advises Paul to “fuck info out of Michelle” from now on. Ahem. …Meanwhile in the London room Zakiyah abruptly asks Bridgette if she has her vote. But Bridgette doesn’t really answer and instead says she’s going to see where the house sits. At least Bridgette’s honest about it. Michelle continues to campaign outside. For some reason she implements an off-putting strategy with Corey and tells him that he never really does anything in the house. He doesn’t talk game with anybody and never really wins comps either, she points out. Maybe Meech’s just filterless free stylin’ now because she feels she has nothing to lose. It seems like Michelle really believes she’s going home, despite her ardent campaigning.

Some fun spy girl stuff happens with Bridgette, who decides to remain a spy – feeding the feedsters spoonfuls of hope across the nation. She goes into the Have-Not room solo and talks to the feeds, telling us that she doesn’t trust Paulie. Then later in the backyard Bridgette sits with.Corey and tells him she trusts Paulie, thus releasing lots of intel from him about what’s going on outside her BB jurisdiction. In case you were wondering about the boundaries of Bridgette’s jurisdiction, they’re mainly between the oven and the fridge with an occasional trip to the storage room permitted just for sugar and flour transmission. Later in the backyard, though, it’s evident from all the ass-kissing and giggles that Bridgette has suddenly transformed to the hottest ticket in town. Everybody wants her vote and to exploit her spying technique. She’s also looking pretty gorgeous these days.

Later on in the bumper cars for nap time, James and Corey trade stories and plot game moves. Corey’s darting eyes are remarkable in their swiftness. Somebody must have plugged him in and started his gears because the guy’s finally scheming. What becomes evident later, a bit after eight at night is that Corey and James are paired off versus Paul and Victor now. The seeds for this opposition were planted by Paulie, of course, and it’s a great tactic to situate yourself right in the middle of two opposing pairs. But before we get too proud of Paulie for his machinations, let’s refer to his later antics of the evening. Here at Fetchland we’re the first to admit that nothing is ever 100% certain when it comes to watching people on camera. But one great thing about the Big Brother live feeds is that you can “flashback” to any time in the BB house. All you need to know is the time and date that an incident happened. Then you can look and see for yourself. So, at about 8:55PM BB time on August 8th, Paulie gets into the hot tub in his boxer briefs and merely seconds later the hot tub water turns yellow around him. This is while he’s talking with Paul, who’s nearby on the fake grass and doesn’t notice. Later Paul gets in that hot tub and thus the PeePee alliance is officially sealed. Let’s put any judgements (or even rationale) we may have about this aside and just look at the act for its symbolism. It could be seen as a territorial move – a canine type thing. Dogs pee on things to mark their territory. Or, one could see this as Paulie peeing on the other houseguests – a superiority type thing. Bottom line, though, is that no matter what it means, Paulie knows his fellow houseguests will all stand in that same water at some point and be soaking in his pee.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Zakiyah
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Bridgette, Corey, James
Have-Not Supplement – Hash browns and corned beef

The August 7th TV show starts with the “Harsh Hashtag” HOH competition. One thing we learn after the competition on the feeds is Victor’s insightful tactic for winning. It’s evident when you watch it on the TV show that he figures out how to stabilize his center of gravity and not spin; exactly what he explained to the other houseguests later. Poor Natalie spins like crazy and eventually gets off when she realizes Victor isn’t dropping no matter what. Later on August 7th night-time feeds Natalie tells James she held on for so long to “scare people” so they realize she’s a competitor.

Meanwhile Z gets understandably upset with Paulie because she feels set up by him with the Da’vonne blindside. Then he adds fuel to the fire by dropping off the HOH comp right after her. It as if Paulie was waiting for her to drop – which he was BTW. He admitted so in the Diary Room. Speaking of DRs, Michelle’s post HOH one is hilarious when she says about James, “America’s favorite, my ass,” which wins her the Fetchland award for best Diary Room of the episode. Congratulations, #VomitCryBaby! You’re the big winner.

Next we see Victor’s bravado at play when he talks about how excited he is to be “competition best bros” with PeePee. Afterward in the Diary Room, Paul points out the “PeePee prevails,” no matter how much Victor wants to be a trio which we already knew but it’s good to have certainty about it and that’s what we love about the Diary Room sessions. It’s a place to get the alleged “truth” except from people like Paulie who seem a bit unaware of the actual truth at times. Then James has a “chatbattle” with Michelle about why she’s cranky toward him and the house. After this the guys come to a strange conclusion – that Michelle’s just too darn emotional for the house. It’s as if any tiny expression of emotion is forbidden in there now. This is also a key moment in the game because it’s where the battles between Paul and Paulie begin over whether Zakiyah or Michelle should go.

Then America’s next care package comes and James gets the goods. Unfortunately, we know that behind the scenes he chooses to throw it in the garbage. James also tells us the power makes him nervous… oh you poor poor thing James. We’re REALLY sorry we gave you such a tremendous burden. Funny thing is that on the August 7th evening feeds we find out that Paulie already asked James to use the power on him and Paul to eliminate their votes. This takes the “blood off their hands” when it comes to the eviction. So, James may not have a choice to stay neutral on this after all. He may be forced to actually make a decisions and choose between people. Yay!

Victor’s weird nomination speech makes very little sense after he says he put Z and Michelle on the block because they voted to evict him… and honestly that part isn’t really logical either. Seven others also voted to evict him! Bt his speech gets much worse and Victor sounds like an immature weenie who’s mad at Zakiyah for giving affection to Paulie and no attention to him. Then he’s uber nasty to Michelle before throwing beads at both of them. His comments are unnecessarily obtuse and mean with absolutely zero regard for his future jury votes. On the other hand, that red HOH robe looks fantastic on Victor.

On the August 7th evening feeds we see Corey and James have an interesting convo in the Have-Not room. They both realize that Paulie wants James to X out his vote so that he doesn’t have to own responsibility for it. Corey says, “All Paulie wants is to keep it the same so he doesn’t piss Paul and Vic off, then not to vote so it falls on me and you,” and he’s right. Corey’s playing Big Brother, guys. It’s a Christmas miracle! James and Corey decide they should X out two other votes instead. They agree evicting Michelle is the smart move and wonder why Victor and Paul are so set on getting rid of Zakiyah.

What Corey and James don’t understand is that both Vic and Paul want to be Paulie’s “Hand of the King” and Zakiyah is gettin’ in the way. Paulie’s the Alpha male and if Paul and Vic can’t be Alpha they sure as hell wanna be Beta. Funny thing is that James and Corey speculate that it’s because Paul and Victor are actually “closer than they pretend to be” implying they have a secret final two deal. Corey also speculates that maybe Paul and Vic will try to bring Bridgette and Michelle into their secret “team” and make a strong foursome to fight the showmance side of the house. It would actually be genius if they did…

Later in the evening Natalie tells James, “You’re all 3 trying to play Derrick’s game. I can see it. But you’re more of a floater,” talking about Paulie, James, and Nicole. She suggests that they (James and herself) form an alliance with Bridgette – just the three of them. James will always be her number one, Natalie says, but they could definitely use Bridgette to help them get to the end. But James isn’t honest with Nat in this conversation. He doesn’t tell her about the  Executives alliance even though she asks him directly if he’s in a guys alliance. We’re still pulling for Natalie to somehow make it to the end of this game. Too bad she can’t get another care package..She’ll just have to fight fight fight! Go Natalie!.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Zakiyah
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Bridgette, Corey, James
Have-Not Supplement – Hash browns and corned beef

The August 6th feeds bring us the Veto player pick and competition. So, the feeds were often blocked from feedsters with these TV-only events; seven and a half hours to be precise. The Veto players are Victor (as HOH), Zak, Meech, James, Paulie, and Nicole. So, the way things stand before the Veto challenge, unless Michelle wins the Veto herself it’s unlikely she’ll get pulled off the block. Zakiyah is another (more dramatic) story. Thing is, the houseguests lie to Zakiyah, especially Nicole and Paulie, saying they have her back. In fact, they only have their own backs, as is the usual case in Big Brother. There’s an ironic moment after the Veto when Michelle “interviews” Z and asks her the hardest part of Big Brother. Zakiyah says into a hairbrush that it’s “knowing who to trust,” and boy she’s right on the mark with that one. Yes, it’s part of the game, of course, but the outright lies  to Z aren’t really necessary at this point. They could just say they don’t know yet in a gentle way and avoid being an actual liar until it’s completely necessary. But neither Nicole or Paulie seem to consider their jury stakes yet… maybe because they hope to have James cancel out their votes. Dare to dream, guys. We’ll see what the house wants.

In a pretty dumbass turn of events, Paulie wins the Veto. The Veto challenge is a trash-the-house hide and seek type thing. This works out for the best overall because afterward the ladies wear really cute fifties-style bathing suits and everyone has to clean up the leftover disaster zone. Thus the house ends up much cleaner than it was before. It’s a win-win, except for the one guy who actually won the Veto. Paulie now has to either piss off Paul and Victor by taking Zak off the block or piss off Zakiyah by not doing so. At least that’s what we’re hoping. We like drama.

Another hope we currently cherish is that the houseguests will notice Paulie’s running the house and winning everything. Are they in BB to win it? Because if so they need to start shooting at worthy targets – AKA Paulie. Competitions aren’t the only way to win Big Brother. Seed bombs can be planted. Whispers can ignite ferocious battles. The whole battle can be won off the battlefield if you’re strategic enough. Paulie’s got this thing in the bag if things continue on this same loop. He spends the rest of August 6th telling everyone but Zakiyah that he’s going to leave things as they are and not use the Veto. At one point he tells Nicole he’s going to need her to help “manage Z” after the veto ceremony cause she’s going to freak out. So, apparently Paulie’s mistaken the BB house for the douchebag house. But we already kinda knew that. Right? Even if he’s lying to everyone and intends to use the Veto on her, it’s a dick move to talk this way about his cuddle buddy, Zak.

Meanwhile Bridgette’s getting a lot of information these days because her knee injury has made her seem “weak” even though her brain functions fully still. It’s funny because everyone knows the challenges get more and more mental as the summer passes. Yet Victor tells her everything and now even Paulie pulls her aside for “truth-telling” too. Bridgette knows about the plan to evict Zakiyah this week and talks with Natalie about how it seems stupid for Paulie to win the Veto with this particular plan in the works. Yes, it does, ladies. Keep using those noggins. Also, we love Bridgette’s song about how much she hates everyone. It’s music to our ears because it gives us hope that she’ll actually take down some worthy targets in the near future. Truth is, in the current state of this BB season, we wanna see either Natalie or Bridgette win this whole shebang and put PeePee into a permanent state of RIP.

Why we love Natalie She says things like, “I’m in an all girls alliance with me, myself, and I. I’m gonna take all these guys out by myself.”

– Katherine Recap

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

August 5th starts with a bang when PeePee uses Victor’s HOH to put up Michelle and Z. Then they laugh like maniacs in the bathroom because this will definitely make Victor look weak – putting up the two lamest competitors. But their bliss doesn’t last because afterward PeePee argue all day over which nominee should ultimately go. Paul wants Zak gone while Paulie keeps arguing for Michelle to leave. After nominations Michelle cries and loses her sh** big time while Zakiyah handles it fine – utterly unphased. Paul and Paulie pretend they had nothing to do with the nominations. Meanwhile they’re fighting behind the scenes every time they get a minute alone over controlling the ultimate outcome. Problems in PeePee paradise? Yes, please.

Michelle keeps getting us feedsters all excited when she says things like, “I’m gonna blow some shit up!” but we haven’t seen anything blow yet other than her nose from excessive crying. Maybe she needs her old platinum blonde hair back so she can kick some ass. We know that Meech had Janelle hair before she came to BB. So, Fetchland recommends maybe sending her a @JanellePierzina care package so she can get her bright blonde mojo back and kick some competition ass. We admit a tremendous bias toward our beloved Janie… but nobody can deny the lady would rock that house out of its current “friendship” funk.

Speaking of that wretched word “friendship,” tarnished for now because of PeePee, it seems like Paulie might be eyeing James for his final two fantasy. That’s because James really seems like a puppet in the house now, especially after he decides to “share” the care package power with the house. It’s so effin weak, this lack of game move. So, James gave his HOH to PeePee and now he gives the eviction vote deletions to the house. He’s made no moves this summer, other than on Natalie. Not only that. James went back on his word to Bridgette (future jury member) and that’s at least one strike against him (possibly more) for jury votes. In other words, your boy, James, is perfect to place next to you in the final two. It also seems like Paulie undermines Zakiyah as prep for a possible final two. Keep her weak and confused = his strategy. On the other hand, if Paulie’s up there next to your boy, Paul, he’s probably going to lose; AKA Paulie’s gonna take second place. So, when does he plan on taking care of that messy business? We’re counting down the minutes in eager anticipation of a spectacular showdown. Bros be in a beatdown. That’s our favorite brand of BB “friendship”.

No matter who you’re pulling for at this stage of the game, keep in mind that it’s only half over and not “all over” even if it feels that way sometimes. Lately the guys are running the place, especially PeePee. But we’re constantly being told to “expect the unexpected” in Big Brother and they say that for a reason. Many don’t like it when the show producers “mess” with the show but we think it could use some messing with even if we can’t trust America to pick the right care package recipient. Here’s a hint: IT SHOULD’VE BEEN MICHELLE.  But who can blame America? They mostly watch the TV show only and thus love James and his prank antics. It makes perfect sense they’d pick him. He’s Mr. Popularity in the house right now too. But we’ll see how long this smooth sailing lasts. We predict a coming cataclysm when Your Boys want to oust Natalie and he has to actually make a final decision knowing full well that she’ll eventually see it when the show’s over. Say what you want about James but he adores Natalie and for that, we’ll always like him at least a little.

Quotes of August 5th:

Paulie: Am I laying in Victor’s wet dream?

Natalie: Thanks, America! I’m so excited James received the care package because he was really jealous when I got mine.

– Katherine Recap

[For Preacher “Finish the Song” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]

AMC Summary:
Call and Response. It is the day the entire town has been waiting for, as Jesse tries to follow through on his promise to get answers from Heaven.

First of all, I must say that I found Preacher on the whole this season to be highly entertaining. I think stylistically it brought something to the table that most shows don’t these days. I think it took some bold chances in the storytelling and really relied on a slow build to get people engaged in the universe they were building. The action sequences were amazing; with some of the best fight choreography and cinematography I’ve seen outside of say Daredevil on Netflix. And above all else, the chemistry and performances of the three principal characters was just fantastic. Dominic Cooper as Jesse, Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy and Ruth Negga as Tulip (oh Tulip!) were just so charismatic that it was hard to look away any time they were on screen together.

That said, from a storytelling perspective, the finale was kind of a waste. Don’t get me wrong, like the season on a whole, the episode itself had its moments, and it was entertaining enough for me to be engaged throughout, but the ending also had me questioning the point of the season altogether.

Jesse finally gets his moment at the church to fulfill his promise from episode 8 to call down GOD himself in front of his entire congregation (and the town of Annville). The whole scene was actually really funny and sort of encapsulated the absurdity of Preacher perfectly. My fiancé, who has never watched the show before, was sitting on the couch next to me during that scene and just had so many questions about what the hell was going on. At first the GOD character looked so fake that I wasn’t sure what was happening, but given how Preacher has operated for most of the season, I thought for a second that it’s entirely possible that in the Preacher universe GOD would have a fake white beard and seem a little off. But after some questions from the crowd we come to find (with the help of Genesis) that this was in fact an imposter and the GOD is in fact missing.

With the knowledge of GOD being missing, the townsfolk begin behaving as you’d expect a town of God-fearing people to behave. They went insane. But thankfully they only had to endure that for a short time as the Methane plant that fuels the town ended up building up too much pressure, setting off an explosion that destroyed the entire town, and killing all the characters that we were forced to endure in between scenes with Jesse/Tulip/Cassidy (poor Emily).

Thankfully the Big 3 were at a diner outside of town planning their next move while the poor townsfolk of Annville, Texas were meeting their smelly end. Jesse sets them off on a road trip across the US to “Find GOD”, and thus sets up season 2 quite nicely.

Now don’t get me wrong; as I’ve said before, the Big 3 are really what makes Preacher the show so great, so I’m excited at the idea of next season being basically a road trip with them hunting down the real G.O.D. I also think the “Carlos” storyline may show up again, but this time with Cassidy playing the role of Carlos. As we learned in the finale, Carlos was once Jesse and Tulip’s partner, and during a bank robbery he let one of the guards loose and fled, causing Jesse to kill the guard and Tulip to miscarry.

When they confronted Carlos about it, he said he did it because “you just looked so happy”. I thought they did a pretty sloppy job of really conveying that in the few scenes we saw, but I can totally understand the idea of feeling like a third wheel and feeling more and more resentment as your two best friends/accomplices are also in love with one another. Given that we know Cassidy has feelings for Tulip, and the look he gave the two of them as they kissed from the back of the car, I wouldn’t be surprised if this became a bigger issue in the future.

But back to the destruction of Annville, what was the point of us learning about Odin Quincannon, Emily, Eugene and the rest of the town over an entire season if you were just going to kill them all off anyway? The main things that ended up mattering in the end were:

1. Jesse getting Genesis
2. Jesse understanding Genesis and learning how to use it
3. The Angels trying to get Genesis back
4. Jesse finding out GOD is missing
5. Jesse getting Tulip and Cassidy to come on a road trip with him to track down GOD

You could’ve accomplished 1-5 in the first five episodes and then spent the second half of the season on the road. Instead I got countless boring scenes with Donnie and Emily. It’s almost as if Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg needed to prove to AMC they could get a fan base first before AMC would be willing to invest more money into the production of the show (because obviously a show set on the road would be way more expensive then centering it in a single location).

Nevertheless I like the fact that the season ended basically how the comic begins, with the three central characters embarking on a road trip adventure. And I still felt like the finale, along with the season on a whole, was entertaining enough to engage me throughout and ignore some of the sloppy storytelling.

All in all, I’d give the season a B+, and I’m really looking forward to where they take this show in the next season.

-Osyp Lebedowicz

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

The August 4th morning feeds (before they locked us out for the live show feeds lockdown) didn’t bring much excitement – just tooth brushing and dread, mainly. We feedsters anticipate Day’s departure while the houseguests plod through their morning rituals seemingly without a care in the world. “Do, something, Day!” many of us might even shout at our screens to no avail. It’s like watching sheep to slaughter, but without the bloodshed or the innocence… but the sheep? We’ve got your sheep, bro.

The most disappointing element of this dynamic hits the screen right out of the gate in the August 4th live TV show. James reveals his betrayal of Day and says he’s “forced to vote her out or ruffle feathers in the house,” which we find a tad bothersome. Effin’ ruffle, bro! You’re the bottom of that bro totem pole and you know it. Do what you want! But no. James goes “with the house” and thus we then see the producer’s version of the slip James made about Bridgette still being in the house the next week.

Next Day tells Natalie and James she needs them to have her back. He says he would but she doesn’t completely believe him and tells him it hurts her feelings. James may screw up his jury with this betrayal because Da’vonne will be the first member of the jury. He then tells Natalie it would be a personal move to save Day and a better game move to vote her out. Natalie just supports him. So, when the live voting is about to begin Day gives her speech and says, “I hope there was no lies and deception this week!” James laughs hardest of all. Thus, hearts fell across the nation. We knew it was happening… for reals.

Hearts fell in the house too because Michelle and Zakiyah didn’t see it coming that their beloved Day would be evicted. It was a total blindside to them. With James voting to evict Da’vonne and only Michelle and Zakiyah voting to keep her, she’s officially out on August 4th. Day’s hugs are only for Zakiyah but she does kiss James goodbye at the last minute. She stage-whispers to Victor that the house wants to take him out with the (imminent) double eviction. The fact that Da’vonne didn’t hug Michelle is the source for a later #BigMeech waterfall of emotion on the feeds. Loyal to Day till the end, Meech is heartbroken. Paul consoles her and claims it was a blindside to him too. The guy’s social game on ON POINT, bro. Nicole tries a similar social move with Meech but it just turns into a slam Day session.

Sitting with Julie, Da’vonne says she knew and sensed it. We’re sad that Day didn’t feel she could do anything about it. You could’ve put those IDGAF pants on, Day! We’re pretty sure Tiffany left a pair in the London room. Funny thing is, the only person in the house willing to wear that brand of pants right now is sweet little innocent Bridgette. She hates the whole bunch with unparalleled venom – they just don’t know it yet. Julie opens Day’s envelope but it’s another One Way Ticket. Zakiyah’s goodbye message makes Day cry with her sweet words. Maybe this sweet and understanding side is what’s holding these women back from fighting for their spots in the house. You gotta ice over that sh**, girl! Fight! fight! fight! But, alas Day’s not a fighter in this game today. She’s the BEST talker and emoter on BB18 by far. Unfortunately there’s no transitive property for these qualities that make you great at the game of Big Brother. Sure, they make you fun to watch and people pull for you… but that’s it, sugar.

So, gulp. Maybe this really is for the best. Perhaps Bridgette can shake this house off it’s Pee Pee pedestal. Somebody needs to. This brings us to the HOH competition of August 4th and it’s a doozy. Lucky for us, they let the feedsters watch it play out after the TV show ends. Called “Harsh Hashtags,” the challenge has houseguests hang on ropes attached to a spinning disc where they stand (or squat). They also hit a big block of #USUCK every time they circle around to it. As the August 4th episode ends Julie introduces Internet trolls into the hashtag challenge. They’re extras in troll costumes with hashtag emblazoned paddles to smack the swinging houseguests.

Natalie (officially playing out the princess archetype to the max) squeaks about how she’s “so scared” of these trolls even as she’s solid and strong on her spinning disc. In fact, she pleads, whines, and begs through the entire competition. In the end It’s a final two showdown between Natalie and Victor. She begs him to drop for forty five minutes but he makes a solid point saying that she can’t really be angry at him for wanting to save himself. He’s right, of course. And eventually he takes the win. The trolls come for weeping Natalie but Victor protects her from them and isn’t going to put her on the eviction block either. That guy’s game is pretty stellar at this point too… if only he’d think for himself more in the nominating process.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Paul
HOH Nominated – Bridgette, Da’vonne
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Corey, Paulie, Zakiyah
Have-Not Supplement – Trail Mix and Marshmallows

The August 3rd TV show revolved much more around houseguest strategies and dynamics than usual. The episode opens with Paul in the Diary Room saying he’s not really giving anyone in the house the whole story about what he really wants as far as Day and Bridgette. It seems like this is the theme of this episode, nobody in the house has the “whole story” on anything, it seems.

There are lots of fun and games bits, like the catcalling sillyness of the boys in the backyard. But the show then gets a bit more serious with a whole segment about Zaulie (Z and Paulie) showing their frequent zips between hot and cold. Z is the hot and Paulie the cold. He claims to “not deal with drama” but instead, we see him dealing drama out like poker hands in Vegas. His tone reads curt and Paulie’s resolute smugness grates on one’s nerves. The show validates Z’s point of view by showing this. At one point Paulie smugly says he’s “going to clip her” to Paul along with, “never cared,” which, even if true, is just a nasty thing to say even about just a friend. The segment ends with him condescending to her once again. Afterwards Paulie concludes in the Diary Room that he can’t deal with all her emotions and has to get her out. You know, Paulie, when you treat people with respect the whole emotions “type thing” handles itself.

Next the TV show revisits fun and games but even they can sometimes lead to emotions. Like when Paul puts shaving cream in Michelle’s coffee mug. She gets feisty/playful in response and hits him on the back with an apple. Afterward a bruise develops and Michelle feels terrible even though Paul insists it’s no biggie. The emotions keep flowing, though as contrite Michelle keeps hideous crying in remorse and being hysterically funny but not knowing why. The hashtag #SadMeech captures it pretty perfectly, though.

Back to business now as the Veto player pick meeting begins. Natalie, Corey, and Victor are chosen to play along with Paulie, Bridgette, and Paul, as HOH. Bridgette is happy because Natalie, her only real ally in the house, will compete. Victor’s also thrilled because he finally gets to play in a Veto competition. In between the Veto player pick and competition we see Paulie again being being nasty to Zakiyah. He keeps saying he’s going to put her up on the block soon. Meanwhile he’s all cuddled up to Paul as his “final two” BFF. This is why a lot of feedsters say Paulie simply copycats Derrick’s strategy from when he won BB16. Derrick had his bro, Cody and also his pretty pawn, Victoria just in case as a backup. So Paul serves as Paulie’s primary partner and Zakiyah his back up plan. It may not be consciously but it does appear that Paulie’s doing this.

The Veto comp is a “Ready Set Whoa” track meet where the players need to pay close attention to a screen because they can’t race until they see the word “GO”. The races are pretty tight and even require a photo finish to show who truly won each race. We already know, though, that Paulie ultimately wins.

At the Veto ceremony Paulie takes himself off using the “golden power of Veto” and Paul follows Paulie’s directons to put Day on the block. Funny part about the Veto ceremony is when Paul nominates Day then nods at her and says, “If you don’t mind?” uh, we’re pretty sure she does, Paul!

Bridgette tells us she, “hates all these people,” so, we’ve seen quite a performance from her. She’s pulled off an amazing facade of Betty Crocker, Alice from the Brady Bunch, and Dora the Explorer all this time in the house while filled with contempt for her peers. The final words out of her mouth are about how Da’vonne is at the top of her hit list and she’d like nothing more than to see Da’vonne walk out that door. These words are on the screen as we see her hugging Day after the Veto ceremony.

The feeds are a but more frolicky than usual on the evening of August 3rd because it’s the 50th day of the BB18 season and so the houseguests celebrate. They get booze and music while the feeds are inaccessible to us but we can see they had lots of fun. Zakiyah did a strip tease/pole dance type thing that got the boys riled. But it’s lovely to hear Zak in HOH declare that she won’t let any man determine her destiny. Not in this house and not in the world out there either. You go girl. Stick to those words. Day, Natalie, and Michelle are in HOH with her and they discuss how the “boys alliance” is totally annoying. Yes. Yes it is. Natalie keeps joking that she’s going to win the next HOH too… from your lips to the Big Brother god’s, ears, Natalie!

Now here’s a screencap that serves as a Campbell’s Chunky soup commercial. Tagline, “Campbell’s Chunky Soup – perfect for snuggling with your bunny boo”

Quotes of the day for August 3rd

Bridgette: I’m annoying in my dreams too.

Michelle about Paulie: He needs to get Derrick out of his ass.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Paul
HOH Nominated – Bridgette, Da’vonne
Veto Winner – Paulie
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Corey, Paulie, Zakiyah
Have-Not Supplement – Trail Mix and Marshmallows

August 2nd was like Groundhog Day in the Big Brother house/beauty parlor. There was the usual smug Paulie action, Paul pontificated on several points, drama revolved around Michelle, and Natalie stayed cute. There was a major game mistake when James let info slip to Day – oops. So, now she’s got a whiff of what’s going on behind her back and murmurs her worries to Michelle (and us). Truth is that Michelle continually sits in the middle of the trouble that’s brewing. For that, we honor you, Michelle.Keep at it. Whisper it up, girl.

For example, Michelle sits in the middle of a Paulie/Zakiyah dispute that’s half romantic entanglement about trust and game play. The other half, the REAL half in our opinion, involves Zakiyah telling Paulie she feels that he’s cold to her. Paulie responds as per usual, “I’m being logical and talking to you like you’re a grownup,” cold and smug. What can she do with this? Zakiyah has developed feelings for Paulie and she’s now realizing (too late) they aren’t a great match. But she’s stuck in the house and paired up in the game with him, etc. We just hope Z doesn’t give up on the game because of her feelings. He’s just a guy, Zak. Let him go. Like Natalie and that whole movie, Frozen say. You’re gorgeous and cool. Focus on the game as much as you can. Hopefully he’ll be out of the house soon. In fact, it would be a beautiful thing if Z was somehow the one to get Paulie out of BB18. Stranger and less likely things have happened in the past.

The best part of the August 2nd is when Natalie sits in HOH with Paul, Paulie, and Zakiyah. They joke around to the max and it’s hilarious as Natalie insists that Bronte’s a mathematician who “does math all the time, like all day long,” and Paul says it obviously isn’t enough because she lost the math competition. Natalie then jokes about how she’s going to win HOH next and put Paul and Paulie up on the block for how much they make fun of her and her friends. Everybody’s laughing in HOH but we’re also laughing at home. In our case it’s because we hope it actually happens. In their case they’re just having fun. It’s kind of a perfect world, this dichotomy. Thanks, Natalie! Nobody knows (but us) that Natalie has the whole frigging thing figured out too. At one point on August 2nd she says to James, “You guys are running the house. Paulie, Paul, you and Corey. This is what happens every season,” see? The girl’s got it! She knows. Now just please let the next HOH comp be dancin and prancin all fancy-like with pom poms so Nat can flip this damn house on its ass.

There was lots of beauty parlor time on August 2nd too. It really did feel like Groundhog Day! Houseguests wore eerie clear masks like this one on Michelle. Thing is that Michelle also senses something weird’s up in the house. Around one in the morning she and Day have a long talk and both are getting a clear picture of smug Paulie and pontificating Paul. They point out how the guys lie. For instance, they said they didn’t lock the HOH door when they definitely did. Also Paulie and Paul both act cold and smug around the house. Then they say other people are “acting funny and evasive” meanwhile they’re projecting. They’re the ones acting this way. These ladies aren’t fools. Da’vonne says she’s feeling funky vibes about the Thursday vote too. This whole conversation is like setting up the fans for some shit to fly around that damn house. We can’t wait.

The reason Day knows something is up for certain now (about the Thursday vote) is that James screwed up earlier on August 2nd. In the safari room, Corey, Nicole, and Paul are talking with James when Day walks in. They’d been talking about evicting Day this week. So, when she asks what they’re talking about the silence takes over the room like a shroud of terror. Then James breaks the quiet to say they were figuring out a plan in case there’s a double eviction this week. Day sits with them and asks, “OK, so, what’s the plan?” and then James really pounds the nail in the crowd’s coffin. He says they think they’ll “put B and V up side by side,” meaning Bridgette and Victor. So, real calm-like, Day points out that if Bridgette’s gone this week how can they put her up on the block? Oh, shit – busted. They try to scurry with claims of mis-speaking etc but the cat’s out of the bag. Day isn’t going to forget it, either. So, get to the popcorn store now, while there’s still time.

– Katherine Recap