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 #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor #11 Michelle
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – TBD
Have-Not Supplement – TBD

The September 1st Big Brother live TV show started off with a fizzle but soon sparked into an emotional boom. At first, the show focused on Corey’s BB bribe by attempting to inflate the paranoia James aroused when he propositioned Corey to give it to him. But, as we know, this was much ado about nada and Corey did the expected move, bribing Victor to do what he was going to do anyway (evict Michelle) as a gesture of goodwill among alliance members. It just so happens that five thousand dollars is our favorite friendship token and now it’s probably Victor’s too. Meanwhile Meech, nat and James are completely clueless about what’s going on. Yawn. They remain utterly clueless in captivity.

The banality of this opening segment shifts into a higher gear soon, though when the houseguests each get a video greeting from their families. Victor and Paul both collapse into sobs and it’s pretty darn terrific to see how cool, warm. and loving the families all are to their beloved Big Brother contestants. Victor’s family especially gets a nice long segment where they show lots of Victor-growing-up photos. His parents are lovely and sweet in all their pride. It just makes us adore Victor all the more to see how he completely loses himself in tears upon seeing his parents. He’s smart, cooks and cleans, works out, gorgeous, and hottie’s sensitive too!

In the live eviction that follows Meech gets feisty, especially when Nicole ends up breaking the tie votes to evict her. Michelle declares that they all have to get Nicole out of the house because she’s “gonna float her way to the final two,” which may be true but it doesn’t exactly make Nic regret voting her out. Speaking of floating, Meech steals Paul’s floaty, Pablo, on her way out and then threw him into the audience. In his goodbye message to Meech, James says if she’s been evicted then he was blindsided and that gets the #SadMeech waterworks flowing. Yes, the level of cluelessness James has come to perpetrate in the house this season wreaks havoc upon many of the houseguests’ games, including his own.

It’s another classic Big Brother HOH competition after this with the chicken wire coop egg challenge. It’s called “Poached Eggs” and the houseguests wear fox ears as they steal eggs from chicken coops and then roll them down chutes to knock over the letters H.O.H. It comes as no surprise when our hero, Victor wins the HOH yet again. It only takes about two hours after the TV show ends (and the challenge  began) to finally accomplish this arduous task. Looks like Victor will nominate James and Natalie, who will finally not be surprised by what’s actually going on in the house but it’s too darn late to do anything about it. We’ll admit it, we’re mostly sad for Natalie in this case.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Paul
Veto Winner – Nicole
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – Victor, Corey
Have-Not Supplement – Squid and seaweed

The August 31st TV show is a fun extravaganza to watch thanks to the Christmas-themed Veto competition. It’s the noteworthy “counting competition” that Big Brother engages every season. Corey throws the Veto challenge to Nicole with a pretty obvious bad guess of one billion. So, now she has all the power in her hands and we know that in the end of the episode she won’t use the Veto, leaving Paul and Meech on the block.

The TV show reveals the origin story for Michelle’s cave-dwelling with a scene about #sadmeech where she takes to her bed and cries, wailing that it’s all falling apart for her. Natalie tries to console her but, alas, she cannot be comforted. She’s lucky she has Natalie to turn to. Many houseguests in her same situation from all the years of BB have done this alone with virtually nobody to turn to. Michelle will likely look back on this and realize she was not in the worst position even if she felt like it at the time. In the Veto meeting the only noteworthy event is Nic’s choice of shirt, which was an abomination – especially paired with cutoff jean shorts. Yikes.

Meanwhile in the Big Brother house we see on the feeds Michelle has gone full-blown cave dweller now. She’s barely functioning and sleeping twenty hour a day. For some reason James and Natalie seem oblivious to the blatant friendship between Paul/Victor and Corey/Nicole. They seem blissfully unaware although nobody’s really hiding their strong connection. In fact, Corey finally uses his Big Brother bribe on August 31st, giving it to Victor. It’s a sweet interaction because Victor’s genuine delight at the $5K is a joy to behold. Never mind that he certainly didn’t need a bribe to vote out Michelle and keep his best buddy, Paul. It’s a glorious exchange and seals the deal for this Final Four Alliance. They are a quatrain of truth and it’s lovely to finally see Nicorey playing the game. They could have just set it up so Corey used the bribe to have Nicole keep the nominations of the block in the Veto ceremony, as she did. But they wanted to show good faith and help out a buddy – Victor. We approve 100%, Nicorey. Anything that gets Victor closer to the final two is a bonus in our book.

Thursday night’s eviction is most likely going to be a final farewell to #SadMeech so the real action comes in the next HOH competition. We can’t wait. Check out Fetchland for Big Brother 18 TV show recaps and live feed updates.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Paul
Veto Winner – Nicole
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – Victor, Corey
Have-Not Supplement – Squid and seaweed

It’s been uber quiet in the Big Brother house and August 30th is no exception. The most interesting houseguests by far remain Victor and Paul, especially given the couple dynamics of the showmances. Natalie and James have slipped into a pattern where she complains constantly while James wistfully wishes they could be kissing right now. It’s not making for the most funtacular feeds.

Meech does her best to create excitement from her prone-under-the-blankets-position because she made some comment about selling Big Brother houseguest stolen items on eBay. This happens just as feedsters put it together that each current houseguest has been pissy about missing items, some tweets about this even list out the missing items. At one point Victor even says that he found his missing hoodie in Meech’s bag. Shock and awe. We can hear BB fans typing ferocious tweets at this mention. Cries of “thief!” etc. almost drowning out the seventy billion jokes about how much food Meech keeps shoving in her face… but not quite, the nasty food jokes win by a nose. One of the funniest tweets about Meech’s “theft-gate” scandal comes from Ian Terry, Big Brother 14 contestant. Michelle has said she’d love to meet/date Ian and talks about him frequently in the house… apparently he doesn’t mind.

So, Meech and Ian haven’t even met yet but are having a more compelling relationship than Nicorey at this point. Surprise, surprise, folks! It’s going nowhere between Nicole and Corey. It’s newsflash city in here. Basically, Nicole talks for nine days solid about how she and Hayden didn’t work out because he wouldn’t ever get married and have kids and blah blah blah. Who told Nicole this was how to communicate? Maybe it was the same person who taught her how to listen because she fails to hear Corey’s many attempts at shutting the conversation down. In fact, the summation of the Nicorey story is that it’s bound for a major shutdown, all systems kaput. He said it at the beginning of the summer anyway, but for those who wonder if Nicole has changed Corey’s mind; he tells Victor on August 30th that, “I’m not coming out of the BB house in a relationship,” thus sealing Nicorey’s fate as a flash-in-the-pan. Shocker.

But not all duos are so banal. Victor and Paul remain boisterous and amusing at all turns. Victor does funny skits as a nature guide while Paul keeps the conversations scintillating – mostly. We just hope they can stay in the house a mighty long time… like maybe until September 22nd, season 18 finale night.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Paul
Veto Winner – Nicole
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – Victor, Corey
Have-Not Supplement – Squid and seaweed

Nicole didn’t use the Veto in the ceremony of August 29th, so Paul and Michelle remain on the block – no surprises in that. Natalie’s the only one who’s noticed that Paul is all-up-in-that HOH and best buds with Nicorey now …but nobody else seems to care much. In Meech’s case, she’s basically given up and James hasn’t noticed because he’s actually on The Bachelorette right now and not even playing Big Brother. The plan remains to vote out Michelle but there are murmurings of possible interruptions to this on the horizon, as always. Right now, Corey intends to use the bribe on Victor so that he’ll vote Michelle out – as if FitVic would ever vote Paul out anyway, Ha!

Still, the house seems relatively divided even as everybody pretends otherwise; with Nicorey on one side and Jatalie/Meech on the other. Paul and Victor continue to play the middle and keep everybody feeling comfortable with them, even Meech. It’s interesting how James dropped out of the HOH competition for Nicole and now he sits, resolute, on the opposite side of the house. One thing we know for certain is that in the same situation Victor never would have given it to her. He doesn’t respond to pleading when HOH is on the line. Victor’s playing the game. Unfortunately for those of us determined to be entertained, the houseguests are mostly horizontal these days, getting up to eat and chatting about nothing the majority of the time. But we do enjoy the workout sessions with Corey and Victor. They’ve taken on a new level of charm now that activity in the house has slowed to a crawl.

The current feedster rumor mill worries about the imminent tie vote – a highly likely scenario. James and Natalie are set to evict Paul. While Victor and Corey will vote out Michelle. This tie means Nicole (as HOH) has to vote and break the tie, thus making the ultimate decision and therefore losing that evicted houseguest’s jury vote. Those of us watching the feeds for entertainment value (and NOT because we’re somehow emotionally vested with Michelle) are ready for her to go. She’s in full blown hibernation cave mode now. If all goes as we (and Meech) expect, Nicole would vote to evict her. This has been Nic’s goal all along. And, let’s be honest, she wasn’t getting Meech’s jury vote anyway.

We’ll keep you BB updated on Fetchland.com but will also be the first to admit that the feeds are a bit of a snorefest these days. You may be better off just reading this daily recap refresher while spending your valuable time enjoying the last few whiffs of summer. Count on us for the dirt when anything significant happens in the Big Brother house.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Paul
Veto Winner – Nicole
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – Victor, Corey
Have-Not Supplement – Squid and seaweed

The August 28th TV show promises HOH challenge and juror Battle Back competitions but as soon as it starts we see the pre-competition dispute between Paul, Meech, James, and Natalie. Paul’s super pissed that Victor went home and it was on Michelle’s HOH. During this fight Natalie admits that she wants Victor to stay which permanently blows up Jatalie’s alliance with Corey and Nicole. Also, Paul calls Michelle a C-word, which she didn’t love. The genius of Paul’s fight finagling works only if he can keep Nicorey and Jatalie at odds, then get Michelle out of the house. If he can implement that plan he and Victor will sail through the middle to the winner’s circle.

Next we see the HOH challenge and it’s a killer Loch Ness storm. Paulie’s legs are a massive assemblage of trembling muscles. Nicole’s eye makeup runs down her face and out the door. The houseguests struggle, shiver and fall, one at a time. When it gets down to the final two for the juror’s Battle Back position, Victor declares that although he’s in pain, that’s his house and he’ll be damned if Paulie will take his spot there. That’s how a winner wins. They gotta believe in it first, envision the prize, fight for it, and then finally own it. This fierce mental state’s how Victor ends up winning the Battle Back… again. Victor’s certain he can do it. So, he does. But that’s about all he can do – he’s a big guy after all. FitVic doesn’t make it to the HOH final two – leaving Paul up there to hopefully win it for them. After Paul falls off the wall, the final two (Nicole and James) make a deal. She promises not to put him up and claims that she JUST wants a letter from her mom. So, James drops for her mom and tells Natalie he trusts her because they’ve had each other’s backs all season.

Paul isn’t so worried because he’s been “cozying up to her (Nicole) lately” and he has utter faith in his own social game. In fact, Paul trusts the sanctity of his position in the house so completely that he offers himself up as a pawn. Meanwhile in the less-trusting corners of the BB house, Natalie seems pissy that James sacrificed his chances at winning the HOH because this was a comp perfectly designed for him.

Then we see Corey get the care package and he “feels like a kid on Christmas morning,” of course. Thing is, the $5K bribe isn’t as important to Corey’s game as he claims (in his diary room session) because he doesn’t really have anything at stake with his girlfriend as HOH. Also, the fact that Corey wants to use it to “make the other guys do stupid stuff in the house” spotlights this fact. He doesn’t really need it. We at Fetchland STILL don’t really understand why Corey was chosen for this care package. But we’d guess that Nicole’s belief that Corey got the care package because he’s so loved isn’t quite the answer.

In the next scene Nicole says she’s most threatened by Michelle. This leads to the ultimate bland team formation “Final Final Four” composed of Nicole, Corey, Paul, and Victor. Although it seems tainted by Nicorey, we’re just thrilled to see Paul and Victor still viable in the game. Nicole won HOH at a really great time for her own game and she made it this far without going on the block, which is impressive. Speaking of impressed, Meech’s ability to make it through the nomination ceremony without shedding a single tear shows some growth as well. So, now Nicole’s happy because she’s keeping her alliance with Paul a secret while also getting Meech out – her ultimate goal for the week. At the same time, Natalie and James are just grateful they aren’t on the block. Everybody’s happy… for the moment.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Paul
Veto Winner – Nicole
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – Victor, Corey
Have-Not Supplement – Squid and seaweed

After an eternity of answering Paul’s hypothetical philosophy/ethical questions on the August 27th Big Brother morning feeds, the houseguests find out Victor and Corey are the Have-Nots this week with a supplement of squid and seaweed. In the afternoon all the houseguests play the Veto competition except for host, Natalie. Nicole wins the Veto and afterward Paul won’t leave her alone to think for even one second. It feels like an infinite chatteroni. Then Paul finally leaves Nicole in HOH only to talk Michelle’s ear off in the Have-Not room. He’s just doing jury management with her at this point and because it seems like Meech senses that, she drifts in and out of indifferent listening.

The plan is for Nicole to not use the Veto and leave her nominations on the block – Paul and Michelle. Victor and Corey will vote to evict Michelle and she’ll go. In the event of a tie, if James and Natalie vote Paul out, which they probably will, Nicole breaks the tie and votes out Michelle. So, either way, the plan means Meech is outie this week. Thing is, it’s only Sunday and this is all set to happen live on Thursday night’s show. In the Big Brother house that’s a long long time. Also, Paul can’t seem to shut his yapper and that may just have an impact on the sticking power of his friendship.

– Katherine Flores

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – Michelle, Paul
Veto Winner -TBD
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – TBD
Have-Not Supplement – TBD

Nicole makes her nominations in the afternoon of the August 26th feeds. Meanwhile, earlier in the day TV watchers of Big Brother render us confused when they grant Corey the last care package with their votes. Why anyone would grant that to Corey is anybody’s guess. We honestly can’t fathom… First of all his ACTUAL name is Borey. Secondly, even if you were a Corey fan (for some reason) the care package is useless to him this week anyway because his girlfriend’s HOH. The guy’s not going on the block anyway, bros. Feedsters were hopeful that, because voting took place overnight (wholly between Thursday’s show and early Friday) only hardcore BB fans would make up the majority of voters. But “sadly mistaken” seems to summarize that theory pretty thoroughly.

Michelle and Paul (who volunteered to be a pawn) go up on the block with Nicole’s primarily intending to get Michelle out of the house this week. In fact, miracles do happen because it actually looks like Nicorey may stick to their alliance with Paul and Victor for “Final Final Four,” which they christen their union – a non-name standing in for a name. “Final Final Four” is the John Doe of alliance names. Of course, it’s unclear how much anybody tells the truth at this point. But when James finally treks upstairs to HOH for “the nomination conversation” Nicole tells him she’s not putting him up. Then right after Nicole tells Paul she’d put James up if somebody comes off the block with the Veto. The truth can only be told when we see what she actually does, so stay tuned.

The Have-Not part of Big Brother is likely over for this season, though not officially announced yet. James is the last Have-Not of August 26th and thus, at midnight he sits down to a celebratory burger and fries with Natalie. She eats with him and lists her doings of the day; didn’t eat all day, almost burnt down the house, slept, and then woke up really hungry. Whoah. Hold on… hold on… what was that thing in the middle of your list? It’s funny that no matter how eventful an incident might be, the Big Brother houseguests always surround it with their two greatest obsessions, food and sleep. Always.

James and Natalie are on the outs with Nicorey for certain but not as much as Meech, who goes into the BB cave, but only metaphorically thus far. Every season of Big Brother at least one houseguest goes into a state of cave-like living. Tiffany did a version of this early in season 18 with ehr sunglasses, hats, and sleepin’ 24/7. Cave-houseguests sleep all day and when awake for those few minutes to eat and pee, putter around the house with a blanket or some similar garment covering their entire being, a tented sloth. Many times the houseguest will even wear sunglasses in this state, to hide even deeper in their cave. Meech has thus entered the cave – though not yet clad in a sloth tent. She’s there mentally. It’s a state on non-being that happens when your nemesis wins HOH and puts you on the block. You called her out as a snake on national TV, so there’s really nothing to say now that she’s exacting revenge for that fun foray at her expense. What is there to do – really? Cocooning sounds nice at times like this. So, Meech has succumbed to BB hibernation but the game’s rolling forth with or without her. Stay tuned to Fetchland.com for all the latest and daily greatest.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Nicole
HOH Nominated – TBD
Veto Winner -TBD
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette #9 Paulie #10 Victor
Battle Back Winner – Victor & Victor (again)
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – TBD
Have-Not Supplement – TBD

The TV show of August 25th begins with a review of Paul’s masterful plan to set James and Natalie against Corey and Nicole while aligning them with Victor. He and Victor pretend to be at odds while Paul cozies up to Nicole and Corey. It’s genius and works in one way because it actually does get Paul closer to Nicorey. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as far as getting James to evict Corey… Luckily there’s still the battle back aspect for Victor to possibly get back into the house right after his eviction.

In other scintillating news the TV show reveals Paulie’s entry into jury house, where the disdain for him runs rampant and unchecked. Zakiyah calls him out as a “bitch” and it’s pure awesomeness to finally see Paulie face the consequences of how he treated her and the other women in the Big Brother house. Paulie attempts to call out Bridgette as a man-hater and she calmly explains that being a feminist just means standing up for women and that there’s no man-hating element inherent to it. This was glorious music to our agreeing ears. Wake up, America! The ladies keep their distance from Paulie in the jury house from this sublime confrontation forward and we’re thrilled to find out that Zakiyah and Paulie also subsequently maintain a healthy distance. She’s all grown up and next time Zakiyah’s in a relationship she’s going to be that much stronger in her sense of self. Hooray for personal growth!

Then the show brings us back to the BB house where Victor is promptly evicted; thanks to James and his deciding vote. We’re mad at James because we love Victor – it’s not a bad game move for James. But then we’re immediately comforted when James finds out there’s yet another jury battle back competition. He literally throws his head back in exasperation.  Ha ha! There’s also the glorious moment that follows soon after when Victor finds out he can battle back into the Big Brother game. His reaction says it all – certain he’s goin’ back in, baby! And, of course, FitVic’s right. Victor wins the battle back.

On the feeds right after the TV show the brutal HOH competition has a Lochness Monster theme and involves grueling challenges for the houseguests like hanging onto a wall in a major storm. Nicole’s the surprise winner of HOH and now we really see the brilliance in Paul’s buddy buddy bromance with Nicole and Corey right before this latest iteration of the game. Not to even mention the fact that Victor is BACK in the house. Paul keeps up his masterful social game while Nicole ponders who she’ll put up on the block. It’s tasty anticipation at this stage of the game.

We’ll keep you posted on all the upcoming events of the house including Nicole’s nominations and the subsequent fireworks. Our Puerto Rican Sensation is back in it, baby! Even if he gets nominated, Victor always has the veto and Paul’s immaculate social game on his side. BB history is officially rewritten even now because no houseguest has ever come back TWICE. If Victor ends up winning or even in the final two (hopefully next to Paul) that would make this historical event all the sweeter and more delicious. Stay tuned to Fetchland.com for all the latest in the Big Brother house.

– Katherine Recap

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

August 24th feeds bring high drama to the Big Brother house. Paul and Victor stage a rift. Because the anti-Paul sentiment is trending off the charts right now in the house the duo did this as a strategy to try to save Victor from certain eviction Thursday night. It’s all going splendidly and with a mighty fervor until they reach the same roadblock that always arises in these fun house-flip situations – frickin’ James. Literally every time we’re at the tipping point of a house flip James turns our waterfall of joyful hope into torrential tears of frustration.

Why must he mess with us so? Partially it’s  because James is looking out for his own game while we’re dead set on saving Paul and Victor’s. Little does James know that not everyone is pulling for him… but why should he care? Of course he should be focused on winning. We’d just rather not see houseguests win simply because they are “in the showmance group” which seems irrelevant to anything interesting. We’re here to be entertained.

Thing is, James doesn’t realize that not everyone in the house will be playing as he expects. Paul has a long talk with Corey and Nicole about how James plays both sides. They talk alone as a duo after the convo with Paul and agree that maybe they shouldn’t go after him because he could be a number for them given that Michelle is clearly siding with Natalie and James. So, depending on how things pan out after Thursday’s live eviction, it may NOT be all over for Paul after all. He’s covering his bases. We’re loving the games he and Victor are playing with the houseguests… You think were manipulative? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, bro.

In better and potentially game-changing news, Thursday will certainly be tons of fun for us feedsters. The live show and eviction will include a houseguest battling back for their personal game revival. But also the HOH challenge will be aired live on the feeds right after. Yay! It’s set to be an endurance competition. With so much at stake this late in the Big Brother game, get set for a long long night of feisty drama and fun-filled suspense as the houseguests hang on and fight to stay in the game. Michelle and Natalie will have to sit out because they’re the former HOHs. So, it’s a dead heat between the revived houseguest along with the remaining four. That’s right! Only four. Either Victor or Corey will go Thursday, depending on Paul and Victor’s machinations and how big of a douche James turns out to be. That means either Victor or Corey will compete along with Nicole, Paul, and James. So, the revived houseguest has a pretty good chance of winning HOH. They’ll know they’re the most likely to be nominated next AND have the adrenaline surge still from fighting their way back into the house. We can’t wait! Game on, bros.

– Katherine Recap

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