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

On August 22nd Victor talks to the feeds while he plays pool and thinks aloud, “Like I said, I have an inkling that I am going home,” (Misses pool shot.) “Dangit, twice in a row! Just like evicted, twice,” and feedsters shake our collective heads in dismay that he’s likely correct. Michelle puts Corey on the block in Paul’s place when he uses the Veto on himself.

Thus Nicole immediately shifts into game mode; first yapping her lips all afternoon about what a great person Corey is compared to others who, “talk personal,” and “are hurtful,” then she makes cookies. There’s a rule in Season 18, it seems that as soon as you go up on the block you get mad domesticated. Since Nicole’s lost herself to Corey and he’s busy staring at the wall, it seems like she’s taking care of the homestead stuff for him. So, Victor’s cleans up  at the house like Rain Man at the blackjack table and Nicole’s the current in-house Betty Crocker. She’s baking her blues about potentially losing Corey.

Paul seems to have sensed the house shifting around him. So, even though everyone keeps telling him all is well with his game and that Corey’s going home on Thursday, his intuition tells him otherwise. Invariably when things feel awry in the Big Brother house, it’s for a reason. The big bummer for us = Paul doldrums. He talks to us about it in the wee hours of the morning because he took a long daytime nap and can’t sleep. He says he’s pretty sure he’s gettin’ “boned this week” and that Victor will go home. Paul notes that the showmances are obviously working together and he finds Michelle completely unreliable these days. So, now that Vic appears to be leaving, Paul assesses the potential resultant damage. His conclusions include that Michelle’s driving him crazy and he doesn’t understand her. At the same time she’s the one he could most likely beat in a final two situation. Paul describes her as “loose lips, can’t win comps, and destructive,” so he’s trying to figure out what to do next. Should he win HOH? Hope for the care package? Paul’s worried that with Victor gone he’ll be next. Of course, the house doesn’t know about the battle back but Paul mentions that he hopes maybe Vic can come back again somehow. The one time we get to see Paul smile on August 22nd is chatting with Corey. In their conversation Corey tells Paul he’s feeling anxiety and has never felt that way before. Even with this bit of happiness in Paul’s day… it was a tiny smile. We miss our happy Secret Service Paul!

Corey, meanwhile tells Paul that Nicole is the ONE to take to the end because she won’t get a single vote. That’s not what Nic thinks Corey’s thinking about her when he says she’s “the one,” though. She thinks he’s smitten. Yeah, smitten with a $500K sure thing. Sometimes an action tells you a lot about a person… In Corey’s case it’s that clapping he did on the heels of Paulie’s tense overclap after the Natalie confrontation. The guy hasn’t got a clue when it comes to social cues. It’s not that there’s anything bad about Corey, per se. He just seems out of it. Literally, like out of the game. So far Corey hasn’t campaigned or even really considered campaigning to save himself this week. All he’s really done is say he doesn’t care and then have a late night/early morning chat about feeling anxiety for the first time in his life. Maybe this anxious feeling means he’ll start playing the game from here forward. The only sign of life we’ve really seen thus far from Corey was during that double eviction when his heart jolted with electricity from the Zakiyah blindside and he cranked out two wins in a row while bleary-eyed and baffled about what was happening. Where am I? How did I get here?  Who are these people?

But Baffled though he is, Corey does have one thing right. He tells Paul  that if he takes Nicole to the end, he’ll win it all. Ugh. Please please don’t let that be the story of Season 18. There’s still a month left! Not that we care who wins… but we do care HOW they do it and smoching, cuddling, and napping are not a strategy or game play at all. Either way, Thursday night is around the corner and last hope all wrapped up in the beautiful sad burrito of Victor on the block. If he’s evicted maybe he can come back… truth is anybody coming back could be awesome if it pumps some blood into this dreary ass, anemic household. We need some action up in here!

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Natalie
HOH Nominated – Paul, 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

On the Big Brother August 21st TV show they start with the Black Box HOH competition. Houseguests have to wait holding a button (harder than it looks, apparently) and then search through goop, feathers, and other gunk for discs to slid on their pole. The show gives us a bit of background from in-the-house before the challenge. Nicole told Natalie that Paulie said that Paul was “coming after James”. Nat immediately runs to tell James that Paul’s after him. This definitely contributes to Natalie’s decision putting him up on the block. Right before the challenge she was already pumped up with “protecting her man” adrenaline. Of course she wins it!

Meech, on the other hand, is first out of the comp, pissy and covered in feathers yet still kinda cute somehow. Houseguests still competing lose shoes in the goop, collect feathers in their mouths, and complain constantly. It all happens in the pitch dark and houseguests lie to each other about how close they are to winning. After the comp ends they count discs out in the open backyard. Corey found the same number as Natalie so they’re tied for first place. Then Natalie ends up winning by four seconds. She’s super excited and immediately slips into a rampant case of big-haired, indecisive HOHitis

Of course, after the thrill of winning that HOHitis fever takes hold along with nerves and indecision. Meanwhile Victor and Paul’s (justified) paranoia starts rolling especially when Victor walks in on a whispery Uncle Sam in the HOH bed with Meech and Nat. Nicole also plots and schemes with Natalie, Meech, and James . This explains why they nominate Paul and Victor soon after. It isn’t just that they believe these two are going to win the game but also the gossip about Paul’s lies and manipulating. The “future winner” reason is the smart one to give in the nomination ceremony, though because it’s a convo ender. Victor and Paul are humans, after all, with intuition. So, of course they suspect something’s up and talk about their fears. Still, it’s a shocker (to Paul) when it happens and their buddies nominate them. Victor was lucky enough to find out before nominations when they forewarned him and declared his “pawn” status but he doesn’t have time to tell Paul before the ceremony.

The Big Brother TV show then diverts from the main story (the game) to do a little bit on Paul’s friendship time and some on Nicole’s clumsiness. Next we see the care package delivery to Meech. She can’t open it at first and shrieks about her epic box-tied-with-a-string struggle. Thus, because Michelle is Co-HOH with Natalie, they do the nomination ceremony together. It’s a big surprise to our favorite  penguin-floaty-clad Secret Service agent. So. Paul says, “Shocking!” and then we know the confrontations are about to begin. Not friendship on all counts.

It was a disappointing day on the August 21st feeds because James, the deciding vote this week, wants the final four to be all showmances. Upon this proclamation, the collective grown of every feedster in the land could be heard coast to coast. Our mourning for actual gameplay in Season 18 begins now. We’re clad in black and feeling blue as F***. But then our travail of tears gets even worse… Corey rambles on forever about how he doesn’t care even the teeniest bit if he gets voted out or wins the game. He’s just like whatever, bro and then Nicole promptly offer to sacrifice her “game” for him. Not that Nicole has much of a game this season but to offer it up on a platter to a guy you met six weeks ago who JUST said he doesn’t care if he wins or loses. This isn’t Big Brother all of a sudden; it’s the Bachelor.

Nobody likes seeing Victor go back to jury. HOWEVER keep in mind there’s another battle back and if he gets sent home Thursday FitVic’s a likely winner. Maybe he’ll get another fancy belt too! All we know is that Victor and his sublime friendship with your boy, Paul keep our feeds worth watching. We here at Fetchland prefer fun and games to showmance scenery. Natalie’s great… when she’s playing the game. But when she’s whining to James, though, not so much.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Natalie
HOH Nominated – Paul, 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

On the August 20th Big Brother feeds Natalie’s particular brand of HOHitis carries the unusual symptoms of big hair and enormous indecision. She flip flops back and forth about who her actual target is this week. Luckily the Veto competition follows suit in the afternoon to help nail it down a bit. Initially Nat battles a mental tug of war between Paul and Corey as her ultimate evictees. The only thing she’s certain about is how find she is of Victor and that she’ll be upset if he ends up going home this week. It’s hard to imagine, since he came back the house how Victor could have been such a pariah before and remain so beloved now. Yet he’s somehow the same Puerto Rican sensation. Maybe it’s because when he came back into the house FitVIc came to PLAY the game. Whereas upon first entry Victor really seemed more interested in becoming a soap star or some such media darling nonsense.

Paul wins the Veto and the feeds come back at around seven Big Brother time after four and a half hours of competing. Natalie thus immediately begins her guilt spiral that Victor’s still on the block… and a Have-Not. Lucky for Nat Nat, it doesn’t matter anymore that she can’t decide anything. The decision once Paul pulls himself off the block is wholly in Michelle’s hands.

Thus, Victor and Paul talk with Meech about it in the Safari room. When Michelle out Paul up on the block she said he was a liar and a manipulator, given some info she’d accrued in the BB house. So, there’s a funny moment during their conversation when Paul says he doesn’t want to tell her what to do and then proceeds to tell her she should put Corey up on the block in his place. Michelle tells him to, “stop manipulating” and it’s pretty snicker-worthy. She seems to be vacillating between putting up Corey and Nicole. All we know is that we want our Puerto Rican sensation kept safe. Corey on the block would make this more of a certainty, so we’re cheering for that choice right now. We’ll stay abreast of the decision-making progress for you here at Fetchland and on twitter @RuiningBB18.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Natalie
HOH Nominated – Paul, Victor
Veto Winner – TBD
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 – TBD

The beginning of August 19th feeds brought America’s care package into Meech’s grateful hands. This wasn’t an ideal scenario exactly because Victor, our hero,  isn’t safe this week… yet. There’s always the Veto, which could be twisted into yet another nickname for Victor if you look at it cockeyed enough. But at least Michelle’s co-HOH ends up bringing lots of excitement to the house with drama, scheming surprises, and even some fighting. Natalie seems genuinely pleased to share the bloody gloves with her buddy Meech and thus they decide to make an unexpected move together.

Everyone expects Nat and Michelle to nominate Corey and Nicole and it makes sense, especially after they spend most of August 19th chatting it up with Victor and Paul. Right after Paul and Victor exit the HOH room, though, it’s time for plotting against them – Paul specifically. Michelle and Natalie decide to put up Paul and Victor. They have a few reasons, most of which they never tell the pair after nominations. For instance, Natalie keeps saying she thinks that in the scenario of Nicorey on the block Corey will win Veto and Nicole will end up going home. Nat says she doesn’t want to be responsible for “a girl going home” given that she’s all about girl power. Also, they both believe Paul is a threat and needs to go home. He’s been manipulative, lying, and all-around sketch. So, they forewarn Victor and tell him he’s just a pawn. After noms Nicorey meet in the storage room to celebrate with jumping and hand moves.

Right after they tell Vic the plan it’s time for nominations. So, Victor has zero time to warn Paul. The resultant fireworks after the ceremony are FUN and end up flipping the house yet again. Paul confronts everybody and keeps saying that they could have just said, “You’re gonna win this game so I’m putting you on the block,” and that would have been fine but they called him a liar. So, now he wants to talk about it. Funny thing is that the whole time Michelle and Natalie were chatting before noms they kept saying they could totally see Paul winning the game.  Then the whole shebang ends up in the late night hours of August 19th with that particular fear brought to fruition. Paul most likely IS going to win it. He talked his way out of his liar liar pants on fire status and flipped this whole thing back into his favor. Many confrontations bring it all out, followed by Paul-brand soft talking and then it’s all friendship all over again.

Soon after Paul distills the HOHs back down to approve putting Corey and Nicole on blast, he takes that job upon himself. He faces Nicole across the kitchen about lies she’s told. It’s not as funny as the “whole family” confrontation right after the nominations because Paul doesn’t have his floaty on this time. Also, we already pretty much know what’s going to happen because Paul talks about it with Meech and Natalie, along with Victor and James (the silent duo) before the confrontation. One funny element, though, is that clad only in his undies, Corey puts on his patriot unitard costume throughout the tense convo.

So, the Sunday veto competition is crucial for Paul. He’s up all night August 19th “studying” for it all the way until past six in the morning. The guy who always talks about he’s just in the Big Brother house to have fun and for kicks is cramming like his life depends on it. He’s in it to win it, that much is certain. In fact, during the “friendship” talk with Natalie and Meech in the wee hours Natalie felt so badly about nominating him she cries and apologizes to Paul. Meanwhile Victor and James sit by silent and nodding the entire time. By the end of the “friendship” convo Nat and Meech are contrite and determined to backdoor Corey. It’s as if Paul’s already won the whole thing at this point..

Quote of the day:

Paul after nominations talking to Meech and Nat – I’m not here to tell you that you made a bad decision… but you guys did blow it.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Natalie
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
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – Paul
Have-Nots – TBD
Have-Not Supplement – TBD

The live show of August 18th begins as an exceedingly sad Paulie sits next to Uncle Sam on the block, red-eyed and puffy with an infinite frown. Julie even says in the intro that Paulie has hit “rock bottom” and then they show Paulie crying over the butterfly in the backyard. Next Paulie refuses to make the apple pies. The other houseguests pep talk and prod him to be strong and do the right thing. Make the damn pies, kiddo. Meech is happy because she’s no longer, “the biggest crybaby in the house”. Then Corey’s Paulie pep talk feels a lot like a cutting room takeaway from Hoosiers and BB provides some music in the scene just to let us know how to feel about it. Corey’s speech “works” and Paulie starts campaigning hardcore while waving his tiny pie flag. The funniest part of this section is when he’s campaigning to James who can’t take his eyes off the back and forth of the flag in front of him.

In the jury house Da’vonne says her biggest regret is not keeping her mouth shut in the game. Then she’s disappointed to see Zakiyah join her in jury after throwing the HOH. Day then gets seriously righteous about Paulie not using the Veto on Zakiyah, understandably. Bridgette joins them and they’re thrilled to see Michelle’s “goodbye” snake message about Nicole on the BB-provided video. After that the trio chant for Paulie to be the next one evicted.

Speaking of which, Paulie’s goodbye speech goes a bit long as he kisses everybody’s BB butts. Corey has a similar farewell message including that Nicole is “the sweetest cuddliest snake”. Then all the houseguest votes evict Paulie. There’s no sympathy vote after all. His ticket opening feels like a heart-pounding adventure crammed into thirty seconds but then it turns out he just has a one way to the jury house, after all. The suspense was fun, though! Julie asks Paulie about his crying while on the nomination block and he says it was all strategy. She then asks him about Zakiyah and he says he “definitely wasn’t playing her” but also seems uninterested in any relationship with Zak outside the house. Michelle says Paulie’s a “poor man’s Derrick” in her farewell video message which is funny because it’s true. Then once Paulie’s gone the houseguests each open their envelopes and Paul has the one way ticket. Though it’s moot now anyway Paul has fun dancing around in his Secret Service suit and pelican floaty. We’re still fans of the man for moments like this. In the end, Julie reveal a new twist, a jury buyback. So, one of the jurors will get back into the house after they battle it out competition-style..

After the show on the feeds before the HOH competition there are many re-tellings of Paulie’s campaigning comments. One that keeps coming up is how Paulie advised Michelle AND Natalie to join up with Nicorey so they can put Victor and Paul on the block together as a team. Meech has the most fun of all repeating it. Meanwhile Nicole goes straight to James and tells him to put up Paul and Michelle next to each other rather than putting her on the block – all before anyone has even played in the HOH comp. Then, after a long and apparently messy HOH challenge, Natalie emerges victorious. She’s happy and chatty all night long with her nomination decision still up in the air come morning. We’re excited to see who wins America’s care package to share the HOH by her side. Will it be Victor? Tune in to Fetchland.com and check out our tweets @RuiningBB18 to find out the daily scoop.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Corey, Paulie
Veto Winner – Victor
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Michelle, Nicole
Have-Not Supplement – Sunflower seeds and corn

The August 17th TV episode brings Paulie’s game decay and the zings we’ve all been longing to see. It opens with the aftermath of nominations and Paulie telling us he’s headed into full-on beast mode in Diary Room. It’s not just a game to him because he’s a “born and bred competitor. Then there’s the kitchen confrontation between Paulie and Victor when Victor stands strong. “Some plans don’t work out. That one didn’t work out for you,” and Paulie has to suck it up, which just spins his top even harder.

After that we see the Veto player pick and Paulie asks Michelle if she would take him off the block if she won. She says, “No,” so, he picks Nicole. This means Meech is the only one who won’t participate in the Veto comp because Natalie hosts and everyone else plays. Paul says after the player pick that he’s going to mess with Paulie so he’s stressed out for the Veto comp. Then we see that other early morning kitchen battle when Paul and Meech put Paulie on blast. He’s proven himself to lose his marbles a bit when he’s under strain so it’s a great strategy before the Veto. Even James gets in on it, confronting Paulie about how he flirted with Natalie even though he’s supposed to be James’s “boy”. Paulie claims in the Diary Room that this just fired him up even more to win the Veto. It’s a sympathetic edit for Paulie, making it seem like he’s being (2016 version) “bullied” as they gang up on him right before the Veto comp.

Next we see Zingbot and he zings every houseguest, including calling Victor a Dbag and Paulie a less attractive, less charming, and all around lesser person than Cody. Zingbot says Meech is a vomitcrybaby and blasts Nicole the worst, saying she can never win BB with her lame gameplay. He also calls out Paul’s catchphrases and thus Paul places his Pelican floaty on Zing’s waist. James also takes a Zingbot hit but Nat quickly comforts him. Once done with zinging, Zingbot announces he’s running for President and it’s time for the Veto comp. Nobody will go home empty handed, but only one of them can claim the Power of Veto. It’s that classic game of dirty Santa. You can take another houseguest’s prize just like in dirty Santa. First the houseguests have to “earn electoral votes” using catapults. When Paulie loses he has a hard time keeping his emotions still and even more so when Victor wins and trades his Apple Pie penalty for the Veto. He snarks that he “won’t be baking apple pie,” and then maxi-mopes in the Diary Room.

The August 17th episode wraps up with all the penalties distributed. It’s cute how Paul’s face lights up when they call him in to do his Secret Service Agent for the first time. Then he makes it look super fun. We believe in living like this, he embraces the cards he’s given and has maximum fun as he can doing it. That’s livin’… and it’s also good times for us to watch. Paulie’s pie penalty is another story as he calls waving the flag, brutal, and tears up while doing it. He’s contrite AF and gets pep talks from everyone… at least at first. As the Veto meeting begins, BB sounds a RED ALERT and Paul enthusiastically checks everyone and then sits down, satisfied and saying, “You can never be too safe”. Then in the Veto meeting Victor says it’s really all between the two of them and he can forgive but not forget, the same thing Paulie said to Victor before his eviction. Of course, Victor doesn’t use the Veto.

In the end Paulie says he’s hopeful he has the Round Trip ticket. We’ll find out tomorrow night for certain because the way the house is cemented in their decision to evict Paulie isn’t likely going to change in the next twenty four hours. Tune in on Thursday night for the live eviction and to find out once and for all who has that Round Trip ticket. We’ll keep bringing you daily updates on the feeds and TV show here at Fetchland.com as well as tweeting from @RuiningBB18.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Corey, Paulie
Veto Winner – Victor
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Michelle, Nicole
Have-Not Supplement – Sunflower seeds and corn

The night before August 16th, the houseguests picked pies to determine the next set of Have-Nots. Michelle, James, Victor and Paulie – if he’s still around – got the unlucky Have-Not pies. So, Victor spends all of August 16th cooking and eating in the kitchen, anticipating a week of hunger ahead. Meanwhile in the realm of interior design news, the large kitchen dining table gets broken down to the mini one that seats eight people. This is symbolic and exciting for the houseguests because it represents that they’ve lasted in the house past the midway point.

Natalie lost mucho gusto because she’s sick, crampy, and still in pain. So, she takes to her bed for some restorative rest after lots of kindness, pep talks, and caring from James. He’s a master healer and says all the right things with just the gentle attention Nat needs. As soon as Natalie expresses a vulnerability, he’s right there telling her how strong she is. At one point she asks if he’s getting “annoyed with all this negativity” and James instantly comes back with a Marilyn Monroe paraphrase, “If I can’t handle you at your worst then I don’t deserve you at your best,” and even though we think that saying is kinda BS, one can’t help but admire James for saying it. He’s racking up major boyfriend points these days. On the less bright side, Natalie still has the neck pain and crankypants to go with it but we’re pulling for her to rock it out by Thursday. One thing we’ve learned for certain this season is that Nat’s tougher than she pretends to be.

August 16th serves as a major napping day in the Big Brother house with just a few bits of fun interspersed. Of course, there are RED ALERTS for Paul to do his Secret Service agent checkpoints and searches as well as Paulie’s pie time. Paulie does a strip down for one of Paul’s body searches (awkward) and then later in the evening he drops trou with his apron on while making pies. Right on cue, BB calls for another RED ALERT and Paul does a Paulie search – naked tushy and all. Many of the houseguests have fun with these RED ALERTS and disappear or at least require chasing to make the whole experience more fun.

But the most fun arises when Victor snatches up Corey’s eagle, Baldwin, for a fun and furious puppet show. Victor transforms Baldwin the stuffed eagle into an angry old man with ten baby eagles back at his nest in the hood. Baldwin yells at James about money he owes the cranky ass old eagle and berates him to the point that afterward James admitted, “I started to feel like I really owed that stuffed eagle money,” and everybody laughs, in the house as well as feedsters. Victor was truly hilarious as the curmudgeonly eagle, even making the puppet move in all the appropriate motions to intensify his outbursts. This won’t likely make it to the TV show due to the numerous F bombs Victor attributed to Baldwin.

Meanwhile when it comes to Big Brother gameplay, right now it appears we’ve got three teams settled and squared off against each other. There’s Corey and Nicole, who get more nervous with each passing moment he remains on the block. They spend many hours of August 16th whispering nervously. So, we see the seeds Michelle and James planted sprout into beautiful paranoia petunias in the Nicorey bed of the Toyko room. The other two teams are Paul with Victor and James joined-at-the-hip to Natalie. Where’s Michelle in all this? Still sitting pretty, Meech has situated herself into a strong, unpaired position. Each pair trusts her and would welcome her in their final threesome. All she has to do is keep it up and she’s golden to get through this. Meech helps it all along as she offers herself to be a pawn whenever game talk arises. We think if you asked Michelle who she’d most want to join for final three, she’d say Paul and Victor. And right now it also seems like the most likely scenario.

But there’s no way to know for certain how the cookie will actually crumble. Like any other game, Big Brother always maintains an intrinsic element of luck and many unexpected twists get thrown into the game too. They keep those houseguests on their toes to never forget they’re playing a game. Even you, James! It’s not the Bachelorette after all… even if you did find the girl of your dreams in the season 18 house. You’re still “playing” Big Brother, bro. We love the Jatalie flirtmance, don’t get us wrong. It’s just that when it gets down to it we’re here to watch ass-kicking game play. When it comes to Jatalie, you gotta look to the Nat Nat side for that particular brand of awesome sauce.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Corey, Paulie
Veto Winner – Victor
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Michelle, Nicole
Have-Not Supplement – Sunflower seeds and corn

On August 15th the feeds are down for long periods because of the Veto ceremony and then a backyard county fair event for the houseguests. So, most of what happens during the day we feedsters figure out from subsequent conversations. This is no challenge after the Veto ceremony because Victor just leaves things as they are. Thus Paulie and Corey remain on the block. No surprises there. The backyard event is another story, though. Feeds are cut every time a houseguest mentions anything from the “county fair” so it’s hard to discern what actually transpires other than some boozin, lots of fun, prizes, and a visit from Ziggy Marley.

This may or may not be the reason for the “special show” on Friday, August 19th. But the fact that cameras are ultra-responsive with cutting feeds every time it’s mentioned makes this seem likely. Still, we manage to piece together a few facts from the county fair event. Only moments before the event begins Natalie strains her neck and subsequently withstands lots of pain, so it’s no surprise when she’s vomiting later, whether it be from drinking a bit too much to assuage the pain or from the pain itself. James holds the barfbag for her while she’s sick and at one point she asks if he’ll like her any less now. He assures her “No,” and it really does seem that, if anything, this only brings them closer.

Other houseguests are less successful in their attempts for deeper connection, especially Paulie. He starts a new sympathy-seeking loop bringing up his Aunt who’s sick with cancer. A low blow that’s been used in reality TV contests like BB before. Jonny Fairplay pretended to find out his grandmother died on Survivor to garner sympathy and it worked, so Paulie’s delving the sympathy strategy archives right about now. Even if he truly does have an Aunt with cancer, Big Brother is just a game. If you were playing scrabble with someone and they brought up a dying relative as a way to get an edge in the game would that be fair play? Yes, that’s why they call him Jonny Fairplay. He didn’t play fair. Fact is, though, Paulie doesn’t have to play fair. He can play as dirty as he likes and do whatever it takes to win. His challenge is that this sympathy strategy isn’t working at all. If anything he’s just alienating himself further from his former bros. In his other loop news, Paulie keeps repeating how he can’t handle going to the jury house like I get it, it’s a mansion resort and luxurious experience for YOU GUYS but I’m not like anyone else, I’m special and delicate. Resort vacations cause me anxiety. So, eyerolls abound every time Paulie leaves the room on August 15th.

Victor spent much of the day cleaning and thus upgraded his position as house dreamboat to “future perfect husband candidate” because America already knew he could cook from the amazeballs rice he made a few days ago. The houseguests are still raving about his cooking. Around midnight, as the rest of the house slept there was a convenient trio in HOH of Victor, Paul, and Michelle – potentially our final three, if all goes as they’d prefer. The threesome checked in a bit about game, basically just to make sure nobody falls for any of Paulie’s BS. But they talked mostly about restaurants and back home, in full relaxation mode. At around one in the morning, though, Paulie and Corey join them for an awkward bit of chitchat that gets nixed quickly when Victor goes to bed. Thus Corey and Paulie are relegated to a game of pool in the backyard. It’s noteworthy that this is the first HOH where the bed truly just sleeps one person. In fact, there were weeks when it slept four (two couples snuggled up). This HOH bed stands as a symbol for how the game’s headed. It’s now each houseguest on their own out there. No matter how tightly some of them may cling to each other right now (ahem, Nicole) this will all fall away sooner rather than later. Fun part is this is when the game really gets rolling too.

We can’t wait to see it spiral into individuals pitted against each other even as they shout “Friendship” to the mountaintops. Those days are clearly right around the corner and the player best positioned right now seems to be Paul. He’s lining up his jury votes, keeping his hands clean, and making everybody laugh along the way. Nobody’s playing Big Brother better right now. Yes, Victor wins tons of comps, looking amazing all the while AND he battled back into the house. Socially, however, Victor’s on shaky ground with many houseguests. It’s not that he does anything wrong really but he eats more than anyone else and Vic’s direct about the stuff that annoys him… like if you drop a crumb on the floor he just swept. While this isn’t on par with Paulie’s emotional blackmail, nobody wants confrontational Mr. Clean for a roommate either.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Corey, Paulie
Veto Winner – Victor
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Michelle, Nicole
Have-Not Supplement – Sunflower seeds and corn

On the August 14th TV show we finally get to see the production version of the Paulie Exposed Party. It’s fun to see how CBS chooses to portray the houseguest dynamics and it’s honestly the best rendering of BB reality we’ve ever seen in 18 seasons. CBS nailed this one. They quickly move into the scene where Nat sits Zak down to tell her about Paulie’s flirtations. Then Nat points out that if P was really protecting Z he would have used the Veto to save her. Sad but seemingly grateful, Z just listens. Next Zakiyah immediately tells all to Paulie and pisses him off, which we know was the plan all along (Natalie is no dummy). Paulie tells Z if he wanted her gone he “would have put her up there and ensured she would leave”. This, of course, doesn’t make Zak feel any better. Funny how Paulie rarely esed her pain whenever she sought him out for exactly that purpose. Meanwhile Natalie tells James about Paulie’s flirtations and he too immediately talks to Paulie. In both of these conversations Paulie keeps slamming “Jersey girls” which isn’t the smartest move, given that he and his family are from New Jersey, as is Zakiyah’s mother.

Then Paulie gets nasty AF to Natalie. He threatens her that she’s going home and telling her she’s “as fake as those things on her chest”. So, there’s a “house meeting” where Paulie gets confronted and douches out in front of EVERYBODY. Zakiyah leaves when it starts to get real. Bridgette stands up to Paulie for what he said to Natalie. Then he’s a major douche with the finale sarcastic clap and everyone seems to take note of how lame he is …except Corey. Paul in the Diary Room says it’s now time to distance himself from PeePee. Meanwhile Victor and Paul jump for joy in the storage room because they’re situated right in the middle of the two sides of the house and can switch between them because they’ve got “friendship” all around.

Corey hosts the HOH competition “Hollywood Squirrels” in a Park Ranger uniform. Everything about the challenge relates to Benny, the BB squirrel. Victor wins with an eagle eye and fast hand on the buzzer. Paulie says he’s happy because now he can “kick back and just cruise,” but what he doesn’t know is that BB cruise ship is about to crash and burn right into “FitVic” world. Paul and Victor play nice with everybody but they’re going to blow up the big boys, Paulie and Corey.

The next scene is 90 minutes before the live show when James tells Paulie he’s voting out Zakiyah. Paulie gets super aggressive with James and then confronts Paul about it. Paul in DR says he feels grilled like an ex wife confronting him about his secret family (haha). Paulie tells James he’s “being played by a Jersey girl” and he “better play hard at the next HOH”. Paulie apologizes after but James assures us in the Diary Room that he may forgive but never forgets. Then we see the nomination ceremony where Victor puts Paulie and Corey on the block. Afterward Paulie weeps in the Diary Room and Paul dances… on PeePee’s grave, it appears.

Losing all hope feels a lot like freedom. – Fight Club

Paulie on the August 14th feeds is a perfect example of this. The guy’s emotional. At one point he sees a butterfly and starts crying. He’s ruminating; pondering the meaning of life, rebelling against BB, and making all sorts of threats about not sticking it out in jury house. This isn’t the Paulie we’ve come to know. Remember the guy who mocked and humiliated Tiff and Michelle for crying when they were on the block? He’s gone. In his place is a new Paulie – Humble Pie Bro.

Meanwhile the other houseguests are still thinking clearly. For instance, Paul suggests to James they start instilling some paranoia in Corey (and Nicole) that he might go, to rattle them for the HOH comp. Then he says, “Sounds like a job for Big Meech,” which is exactly what we were thinking. But that’s really the only game talk in town other than Paulie’s pathetic campaign attempts. The bright side to all of this shifting in the house is that Paulie’s back to being semi-attractive again. In fact, that pie-baking outfit looks REALLY good on him, almost as good as his newfound humility. Paulie’s caught in a loop talking about an ex that hurt him so it’s starting to seem like all that bravado he spouted for the first half of the season was merely a shield to protect his tender heart. The hurting are usually the most hurtful, after all.

When he’s talking about it the houseguests offer condolences and whatnot. They are kind to him. Paulie does take it a little far and he seems to get sadder and sadder as he waves his tiny pie flag for forty minutes as part of his Veto penalty. This is just Paulie’s current phase. We predict it’ll change and probably even before Thursday’s eviction. Meanwhile Paul is making us laugh with his Veto penalty, chasing houseguests for their patdowns and playing his Secret Service Agent role to the max. It makes the show so much fun when the players just succumb to the game and have fun with it. Paul’s the perfect example of this. He’s got a healthy, happy perspective and it’s a joy to watch… unlike all that pity party pie-making and flag-waving.

Victor talked to us feedsters a bit about Big Brother and how he’s grateful to be back in the game. We’re voting for him to get America’s next care package. It’s co-HOH. So, because he can’t play in the next HOH and we want to thank him for shaking the game and the BB house to its foundation with these nominations. Also, he’s mega dreamy. But seriously, there’s a reason they call Victor the Big Brother Jon Snow AKA Juan Snow and it’s not just because he’s dead sexy. He rose like a phoenix. It’s hero time in here! He lit the fire so let’s show appreciation and keep this blaze crackling.

– Katherine Recap

Daily BB House Stats:
HOH – Victor
HOH Nominated – Corey, Paulie
Veto Winner – TBD
Evicted – #1 Jozea #2 Victor #3 Bronte #4 Tiffany #5 Frank #6 Da’vonne #7 Zakiyah #8 Bridgette
Battle Back Winner – Victor
Return Ticket Holder – TBD
Have-Nots – Michelle, Nicole
Have-Not Supplement – Sunflower seeds and corn

The morning of August 13th begins with Paulie on blast in the kitchen at 9:30AM. This may not seem particularly early among normal, working, human folk. But in the BB house they stay up until three to five AM on the regular. So, it’s basically dawn on their timetable. Even though it’s that early Meech is hot to trot and ready to call out Paulie. Paul actually starts the confrontation when he asks Paulie who the one guy he trusts is, “because I know it’s not me, right?” he keeps prodding, which gets the roast rolling.

Paulie can’t drop his defense or ego. He keeps saying he threw the HOHs to “see where the cards would fall,” and after the Veto says he threw it “to see if they’d pull him off”. Even the greatest competitors can’t win every time, Paulie. Those of us out here in the non-BB world are watching the Olympics and there’s only one gold winner each time. One thing’s certain, nobody throws comps when their ass is on the line and we all know yours is in the BB house right now. Paulie’s defensiveness shows up in other ways too, though. Paulie brings up Season 16’s Cody and Derrick numerous times until finally Meech points out that he, “will never be Cody or Derrick,” and finally appeases all the feedsters who’ve been longing for Paulie to hear these words. Not that it would matter if he were one of them. Fact is, the BB game is a vital, living creature and one must adapt their game because no two seasons are exactly alike. Paulie also blames others for his situation, even saying at one point that Zakiyah should have prevented his game from blowing up (BBtime 10:05PM). This the day after he says Bridgette should ask forgiveness in the afterlife from God for standing up to him. Hmmmmm. Seems a tad high and mighty, in our humble opinion.

But turns out the actual high and mighty (Big Brother) didn’t do Paulie any favors with the Veto competition. It’s a crap shoot “type thing,” much to Paulie’s dismay. The houseguests get penalties and prizes including a vacation for Nicole, a weeklong costume for Corey, summerlong apple pie-making for Paulie, and the Veto for Victor. Paul gets a Secret Service agent costume but what’s great about his penalty is all the stuff he has to do as an agent. He has to keep a straight face, pat down each houseguest regularly, and check in at five different checkpoints around the house. Paul can’t take off any of the costume, including the earpiece and sunglasses for the entire week. Only exception is the suit can come off while showering. Corey has to wear his for showering but can take it off to sleep.

The Veto theme this season was Zingbot for President! and the houseguests are happy they got to experience the infamous Zingbot’s zingers up close and personal, especially superfan Michelle. It isn’t clear exactly what they zingers were verbatim but Corey seems most bothered by his, which apparently refer to his showmance with Nicole. What else could you have been zinged for, Corey? The way you constantly gaze off into space with a creepy/dreamy expression? Or perhaps how you check out and go blank-face whenever anyone talks to you? Those aren’t necessarily funny zings, Corey… but they are true.

Meanwhile Paulie pity party campaigns and claims he won’t even stay in the jury house, if evicted, because of his crippling case of claustrophobia. Nicole assures him that, “the place is huge,” but for some reason this does not console our delicate petunia, Paulie. At this point all of the houseguests are pretty sick of Paulie-brand histrionics. You can sense it from watching the body language dynamics around him anyway but it’s ultimately verified when Paulie goes to Diary Room to get his pie instructions and the houseguests immediately started slamming him. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

There’s still several days before the live show eviction Thursday night and we’re hoping for some action with the houseguests tickets. Because they expire Thursday, if all the houseguests (other than Corey and Paulie) open their tickets it wouldn’t matter to their game. But it WOULD reveal whether or not Paulie or Corey have the Return Ticket by the process of elimination. This info would be highly valuable to prep before the live show. Paulie actually mentioned it on August 13th in the evening so we have hope that he pushes it. That guy can be mega pushy and maybe he can put it to good use for us. Use your powers for good, Paulie! We’d sure appreciate it.

Best Quotes of August 13th: “I’ve got my hand up an eagle’s ass” – Corey about his costume

“I didn’t have to shower with my sausage” – Nicole about Corey’s costume. He has to wear the whole thing including hand props, even while in the shower.

– Katherine Recap