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| Which side are you on? |
Superfans originally worried that this disconnect would prevent the exposure of Aaryn Gries' Texas-sized bigotry, but thankfully those ugly truths became too much to ignore. Now though, four weeks into the game, an actual discrepancy between TV portrayal and online reality has emerged in the person of Howard, thanks to an episode that featured a textbook "good edit."
Think about what producers chose to show us on CBS Sunday night. We got two cutesy segments with "Howie" - playing Tickle Monster with Candice; and self-deprecatingly stumbling through a yoga routine with Elissa. Meanwhile the show couldn't take a commercial break without a soundbite or ten from Amanda saying how Howard is the worst and needs to go immediately. If you only watch the show three hours a week and don't keep up on the daily, what are you going to think about Amanda??
As the most ardent #TeamAmanda supporters will tell you (over and over and over again), this portrayal of Howard as the Hero of the show and Amanda as a scheming conniver who's against him for no good reason is grossly inaccurate. True, the pizza boy-loving real estate heir has been adamant and persistent in pushing Howard as a target this week, and her attempted hijacking of Judd's HOH has definitely turned off more than a few of her former fans...but it's also true that Howard has been gunning for Amanda just as hard.
He's really been anti-Amanda since almost Day 1. Some people think he's mad cause she was more attracted to McRae than to him, but whether that's true or not, Howard was a constant voice in McRae's ear during the heyday of The Moving Company, insisting that Mac drop his dreamgirl sooner than later. Her name has been in his mouth as often as his has been in hers (almost...Amanda is quite the talker, after all).
Besides the unequal representation of his mutual enmity with Amanda, there are other parts of The Full Story that TV viewers aren't getting with Howard. It's not a huge deal to me, but I'm sure there's a certain segment of his fanbase that would be dismayed to learn about the multiple times he's sworn "on the Bible" about something that wasn't true. Obviously BB is a game of deception, and you kind of have to set aside your inner principles to survive at times, but swearing on the Good Book is a little much.
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| #TeamAmanda goes on the offensive |
I love Howard's tempered, big-picture reaction to all the racism he's been forced to deal with in the House, and I'm certainly not trying to say he's some kind of monster. But he's been just as disingenuous in this game as anyone else, and the editing of the show is not reflecting that. Instead producers are building Howard up as a saint, while setting Amanda up in opposition to him.
As far as "why" this is happening, I presume it's because the BB storytellers feel they need a Villain to replace Aaryn once she goes home in the next week or two. I get that, but why Amanda? Other people in the House have been vocal about targeting Howard, but they pin it all on her, kind of of a bum rap. Up til now, Amanda herself had been getting the "good edit" treatment (especially w/ DR's), but because she's a strong woman with a bit of a bossy streak, I guess she has to be the bad guy.
The shift in editorial treatment has freaked out Amanda's fans, especially with the "America's Nominee" twist in play this week. To discuss this further, I'll have to throw in some spoilers from the last few days of live feeds, so let's get to today's Power Rankings after this image from Sunday night's episode that can never be unseen:
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| I got your Spoiler Alert right here! |
Bottom Tier - Waiting to Say Goodbye
13. GinaMarie12. Kaitlin
11. Aaryn
If Howard is getting a "good edit," I don't think I can come up with an antonym strong enough to describe what's being done to GinaMarie. Of course in this case, portraying her as an insecure, under-educated nutcase is pretty much right on the nose.
Despite forming a nominal "alliance" a couple nights ago with Kait, Spence, Howie and Judd, GinaMarie remains completely powerless in this game, and is literally just hanging around until the rest of the group no longer needs her or just plain gets tired of having her lame personality around. My money is on the latter happening first.
Dispensing with the Spoilers, I can tell you that Wednesday's episode will show Elissa go up as America's Nominee, then win the POV to take herself off, with GM going up as the replacement (I'll write more about the mechanics of this after the ep). I don't *think* she's in big danger this week, although you never know, she just keeps getting more and more annoying by the hour. Whenever she does end up going, though, I do wish all the best to her and her FroYo Baby.
Kaitlin remains by far the smartest in this group of fallen angels (not saying much, at ALL, but still). She slips on the power chart though because the rest of the House is on to her, and knows she's a bigger threat than either of her wicked stepsisters. Expect her to go home this week even though she's scrambling, hard, and still has a couple days to save herself.
On the topic of Aaryn, Queen of Prejudice and Irony, very little more needs to be said. But she's actually become so weak that it's a form of strength, and Amanda has been leading the charge to keep her around as a fringe voting number to help keep the Knockout Alliance (Am/Mc/Judd/Andy/Helen/El) in control of the House. She's on the block but I expect her to survive another week, unless CBS just steps in and drops the hammer.
Middle Tier
10. Elissa
9. Amanda
8. Candice
7. Spencer
6. Howard
Stripped of her MVP power (and apparently at times, her senses) Elissa is looking like a strong candidate to go home next week. After drinking a bottle of wine by herself on Saturday night, she picked a fight with Amanda, then denied the whole thing the next morning, including being drunk! No one really likes her except Helen, and that might not protect her even if Helen wins HOH again on Thursday (Ed: Please, dear god, no!) Besides a lot of people wanting her out, Elissa has dropped several hints that she doesn't even want to be there, and I don't think she will be much longer.
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| McRae asks Amanda to be his "Big Brother Wife" |
My girl Amanda is as tight with McRae as ever, but that's part of the problem. Despite the first three evictees in this year's game being involved in open showmances, these two cuties just can't keep their feelings under wraps, and that has made them both targets. Fortunately for McRae, Amanda is taking most of the heat for this, because she's loud and pushy, but eventually the BB Reaper is going to come for him, too. Being the smart gamer he is, McRae has recognized all of this, and spent last night's dinner date in the HOH room repeatedly telling her to slow her roll and just quit talking game completely until the Aar/Kait/GM trio is gone.
Alas, she seemed about as inclined to listen to that talk as Aaryn was to hear Amanda's earlier warnings about racist speech. Don't know what it is, some people just can't handle hearing negative things about themselves. Like I said earlier, #TeamAmanda spent the last couple of days freaking out that she'd be America's replacement nominee, and even though she dodged that bullet, she'll remain a top target unless she pulls off some major damage control over the next few days.
Candice's game has deteriorated as she has fallen further and further into lust with Howard. It's obvious that she wants him pretty bad, and it's reduced one of the smartest people in the House to mere Floater status. Despite feeling bad for what she's had to put up with from the Aaryn Nation, I've never really been a fan of Candi's, and would like to see someone target her soon, I don't think she'll go any farther than Howie can carry her, at this point.
Other than remaining a disgusting pig and forming a fake alliance with GinaMarie, Spencer hasn't really done much this week...He's a fairly busy gamer and not a total idiot, but it seems like a lot of activity standing in for actual progress. Still, a strong bond with Howard and his ability to tell everyone what they want to hear should see him sticking around for at least a little while.
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| Time for H to let the guns loose! |
Howard is a target for a lot of people but it's clear that the show producers want him to go far, so expect him to get every advantage they can sneak him. If it a few folks weren't gunning for him so hard, then is physical prowess, his two very loyal allies, and his adaptable social game would probably move him into the Top Tier, as it is he falls just short. He's been holding back in challenges so far, but expect him to go all out for the next HOH.
Top Tier
5. Jessie
She continues to contribute in more and more "game" conversations, though her lofty position on this list remains tied to her close relationship with Judd the Stud. Will be interesting to watch her over the next few weeks as she'll likely be free to operate without anyone really putting her in their crosshairs.
4. Helen
I might've been a little harsh on Helen in my last post, probably let my personal feelings affect my assessment of her power, but I'm still pretty sure that she talks too much, too condescendingly, and she'll likely get backdoored before the final stretch run of this game. As you might expect, she talks to a lot of her fellow Houseguests as if she's their mom, which gets old very fast, and she just seems like she's oblivious to how over-confident she often comes off. Like Amanda, her mouth will undo her eventually.
3. McRae
He's in danger of losing his closest ally (and the hottest girl he's probably ever been with), but at the same time he's avoided just about all of the negativity directed at "McRanda," and if she goes home soon it might actually help his game (a la Kaitlin now that Jeremy's gone). He's a smart guy who also knows Big Brother better than anyone else in the House, America loves him and he can even compete in physical challenges. On top of all that, he had birthday sex in Judd's HOH bed, so we can pretty much conclude it's been a pretty damn good week for Ol' McRae. Now he just needs to find a way to ensure that Amanda NEVER sees this video:
2. Judd
Judd is the most well-liked player both inside and outside the House, and he successfully shut down Amanda's attempt to hijack his HOH. He's in a great position going into next week because no matter who goes home from the Fallen Angel trio, none of the other nine power players will be mad at him about it, and even if one of the two survivors from that group was to win HOH next week, they're unlikely to target him because they're not really united, themselves. Still, he slips from the top spot because he's on the back end of his own HOH term and won't be able to dictate things again for a least a week (unless Jessie somehow wins, of course).
1. Andy
After a couple episodes of this season, I really didn't think I'd ever be awarding this spot to Andy, ever, and even now I'm thinking maybe I should re-work things and put McRae #1...but the truth is Andy's status as a mega-floater has actually put him in a very good position for the midgame - a lot of different people think he's in their inner circle. He does a lot more listening than talking, which bores and annoys the Live Feed fans, but he's doing the right thing for his game, he can "emerge" later when it becomes needed.
Andy is also the only Houseguest to figure out the America's Nominee twist on his own, and even how said twist worked to get Elissa nominated. I think we're dealing with a real smart cookie here, and if he can keep using this ability to stay friends with everyone and enemies with no one, he's guaranteed to be one of the final few players in Big Brother 15.
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| Fashion Sense: Questionable. Game Instincts: Spot On. |
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