#173 - “Survivor: Nicaragua” - Episode 3

We start out at the La Flor camp, with the pre-schoolers returning from Tribal. They’re all confused and stunned about what happened, muttering things like “That blew my mind!” and “That was crazy!” Well, yeah, you got to watch Shannon completely melt down on national television, to the point where most of you couldn’t even pretend to be his friend anymore and you sent his ass home. (Good for you. Well, except for the few folks that didn’t vote to get rid of Shannon Palin.)

Speaking of, NaOnka has some special words for those few in a sidebar: “Everybody acting all cool with it, but they not. Alina, Kelly B and Jud, this is gonna bite you in the ass.” I already can’t stand NaOnka, she’s just got too much attitude for no reason, but in this particular case she’s right. You’re going to stick with a racist bigot and do his bidding? Then you need to go. Sadly, some of these youngsters will get distracted easily and forget, like when the kindergarten teacher comes in and hands out juice boxes.

Roll opening credits.

Cut to the Espada camp, where the older folks are all traipsing through the jungle. They can hear howler monkeys whooping it up somewhere, so they’ve decided to find the monkeys, since the monkeys should be near food in the trees. They finally find the irritating howlers, and Jimmy Johnson proceeds to make animal noises that the monkeys understand. The monkeys shut up and gaze at Jimmy as if Lazarus just stepped out of a cave and said “I was only kidding. I was just taking a nap.”

Cue Marty in a sidebar, where he proceeds to rip at Jimmy J. Marty can’t stand Jimmy J, because people are paying attention to him and not Marty. And Jimmy J has special talents like the ability to carry on conversations with other species. (After all, he worked for Jerry Jones for how many years?) Marty hates Jimmy. HATES him.

Then we have scenes with Jimmy J teaching most of the tribe how to fish. His advice proves quite useful, and suddenly everybody is successful. Fish are practically jumping out of the ocean and into the arms of the fishers. This pisses off Marty even more, with another sidebar where he tears at Jimmy J again. (Dude, he’s helping your people get food. And it’s working. What happened in your childhood that made you so bitter?)

Side note: You really need to pause your DVR when Holly is talking to Jimmy J. Study her one-piece swimsuit. Is that thing on backwards? Why does the crotch look that way? That’s not right. Seriously, really not right. Holly scares me.

A few scenes with Jill and Marty. He’s fussing about Jimmy J (big surprise). She tells him to chill, that people like Jimmy and hatin’ on him could be a problem. But then she blurts that he should show the Idol he has to everybody.

What? Showing the Idol can cost you.

Cut to the La Flor camp, where we are treated to scenes of Jud/Fabio starting a fire, but then forgetting to move his head back when the fire catches and he nearly asphyxiates himself with smoke inhalation. Then we see him in a sidebar: “I wanna be kept around for my mentality.” Kind of a big leap, don’t you think? (NaOnka in her own sidebar: His hair got on my nerves on Day 1.)

Back to Espada, with everyone sitting around eating, and Marty states “I have an announcement”. (An announcement? Is this a board meeting? No, it’s not.) He shows the Idol, they all clap. Marty: “We’ll play it when we need it.”

Jimmy T in a sidebar, with his ugly-ass hair: I love Marty!

Tyrone in a sidebar, um, without any hair: Maybe he got team points by sharing about the Idol, but Marty is shady.

Word.

Marty in a sidebar: In the end “the Idol belongs to me”. Have you told Jill that? Because she’s the one that really found it. She has red hair. This means she will cut you if you do her wrong.

Then we have Dan in a sidebar. He’s really hungry and tired. Then we have scenes of him being really hungry and tired, limping about and feeling sorry for himself. (Yve in a sidebar about Dan’s gumption: “He doesn’t have it.”) More shots of Dan being unable to lift a twig or stand up while peeing. But hey, if somebody’s cooking something, he’s the first in line at the simmering pot.

Over to the La Flor tribe, where several of the kiddies have gathered on a beach. They’re discussing the fate of Alina and Kelly B. They have to go. (Hello? What about Jud? He voted the same way.) Alina in a sidebar: “I’m not in the best position.” NaOnka in a sidebar: “We gotta get Alina out.” Jud in a sidebar…. Oh wait, he still doesn’t really understand what that is. Stay tuned.

Time for the Immunity/Reward Challenge.

In this one, the teams have to race out and collect 10 barrels, roll them back to a staging area where they have to arrange them on platforms, then they have to throw sandbags so that one lands on each barrel. (The Reward part of it is the “Survivor Garden”, a mess of spices, fruits, vegetables, and such.) The La Flor tribe opts to not use their Medallion of Advantage. Benry: “We don’t need it.” Really? After you guys made fun of the older tribe for not using it that one time? Uh huh. Hope you lose just because of your arrogance. And the fact that I can’t stand any of you.

Off we go. The younger tribe initially surges, but the older tribe catches up and it’s very tight, with everyone trying to do their best. (Except for Dan. Jeff actually yells at one point: “Dan, you need to do something.”) During the last bit, with the sandbag tossing, the older tribe initially takes the lead, with Tyrone hitting target after target. Then he falters, and Jimmy T starts yelling for Tyrone to step back and let him have a shot. Tyrone ignores him (this will prove a critical point later) until Jimmy J convinces Tyrone to let Jimmy T try.

But it’s too late. The younger La Flor tribe, with Benry doing the throwing, hits all of the marks first. They win.

While the Espada tribe marches back home empty-handed, the La Flor tribe runs to fetch their reward. Kelly B purposely lunges for the basket of fruit, convinced that there might be a clue to an Idol. As she hoists it in her arms, we see that she’s right. There’s a little scroll tucked into the winnings. Trouble is, NaOnka sees this as well, and immediately decides that she and Kelly B are going to be best friends and carry the basket together. (NaOnka in a sidebar: “I’m going for the paper!”)

The La Flor tribe marches back to camp, and as soon as they reach the clearing, NaOnka turns all linebacker and knocks Kelly out of the way so she can grab the tiny scroll. (In the process, bananas get smashed, a harbinger of doom.) NaOnka dashes off to the beach and into a sidebar: “You could say I got all hood on Kelly B. But I did not get ghetto.”

There’s a difference? I guess I need to pay more attention.

Later, NaOnka drags Brenda on a walk, and shows her the Idol clue. They try to figure it out, but they can’t quite get it. Then “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” comes on the Coconut TV and they get all distracted.

Cut to the Espada camp, where things are a bit tense with the fact that Tyrone initially did not let anyone else try tossing the sandbags. Jimmy T to the group: “My talent is being wasted!” (Say, Jimmy T, can you actually define talent?) It does appear that most of the tribe is at least slightly miffed with Tyrone not letting someone else try until it was too late.

Jimmy T in a sidebar: “I’m a born leader. I should be leading this tribe.” (Oh, puh-leeze.)

Tyrone in a sidebar: “Everybody can’t touch the ball.” (This distracts me a little bit, with my mind going places that don’t really apply.)

Marty in a sidebar: “I’m looking forward to Tribal. It will force the tribe to start playing this game.” (Dude, you want to go to Tribal? Do you not watch the show? I mean, I’m assuming that they get the broadcast signal on your planet.)

Cut to Marty and Jimmy J splashing around in the surf, strategizing. As usual. Jimmy J is telling it like it is. As usual, Marty is seething with jealousy that Jimmy J is able to both handle and speak the truth. (Marty in a sidebar: “I need to remove JJ so people will lose their daddy.”) Seriously, are we in elementary school here?

Scene with Marty and Jill talking. Marty: “Coach has to go.” Jill: To me, Holly, Dan and JJ are all the same. Whichever one needs to go. Just tell me what to do. (But in a sidebar, Jill fesses that she’s only trying to appease Marty because of the Idol thing, and that she thinks Marty is way too focused on the wrong person. Then she finds a seashell shaped like Rosie O’Donnell and we’ve lost her.)

Marty runs to tell Dan to vote for Jimmy J. Of course Dan agrees. (Dan in a sidebar: “I’m in much better shape than JJ.” You’re kidding, right? Because we’ve seen you lying on your sorry butt in the hut while JJ is out harpooning whales.)

Marty runs to tell Jimmy T to vote for Jimmy J. No problem. Jimmy T is firmly convinced that he has been anointed by God to save the world, despite his unfamiliarity with washing his own hair or having any social skills.

Scene with Jane and Holly, where they basically agree to look out for one another, and they don’t think that Jimmy J should go home. (Jane in a sidebar: “JJ’s my fishing buddy!”) This is followed by a scene with Jimmy J, Yve and Holly as they fish. Jimmy J fesses they “might not see me for a while”, because he knows what’s going on with Marty. Both of the women act like Jimmy J is going nowhere. Especially Yve, who tells Jimmy J that she is her favorite person in the tribe.

Marty runs to Tyrone. Marty: “Write Coach’s name down.” Tyrone: “I don’t know about that.” (Tyrone in a sidebar: “Marty’s paranoid. I think Marty’s all about Marty. I’m more worried about Danny.”)

Marty in a sidebar: “These people are not thinking the game through. Do NOT mess around with me.”

Really can’t stand Marty. Not as much as I hated Oompa Loompa Russell during his two seasons, but still. Don’t care for him.

Time for Tribal.

Jeff: “Today’s challenge. What happened?”

Jimmy T immediately seizes this opportunity to let everyone know that if Tyrone hadn’t been such a stubborn pig, Jimmy T could have saved the day. It’s all Jimmy J’s fault for not sending him in sooner. Really? Jeff’s not buying that, so he digs deeper. Jeff to Jimmy T: “How are you getting along with Jimmy J?” Jimmy T: “Maybe I’m a threat to his leadership role.”

Tyrone rolls his eyes. “I’m baffled by that statement.”

Jimmy J about Jimmy T: “I thought we had a good relationship.”

Jeff to Dan: “Are you a strong player?” Dan: I’m pretty good. Jill: I’m not so sure about that. Jane: Ditto.

Jeff to Jimmy T: “Who are the weakest players?” Jimmy T: “I won’t say, but there’s three or four.”

Jeff: Fine. Let’s do a roll call. He asks each of the tribe members if they think they are weak. The only one who admits to that is Jimmy Johnson. Again, he’s being honest, while in reality, half the tribe is lying, especially Dan and Jimmy T.

Marty: “These people need to wake up.” There’s a whole lot going on that they don’t realize.

Jeff: You really want to say that right now? At Tribal?

Time to vote.

Two things. One is that Jeff is clearly trying to steer the heat away from Jimmy Johnson. I normally don’t like it when Jeff tries to insert his own opinions or influence the vote, but in this case I’m fine with it. Second, based on everything that the producers have shown us in this episode, and the way key players are acting at Tribal, Jimmy Johnson shouldn’t be in any trouble.

Yet when the vote comes back, it’s unanimous against Jimmy J.

He’s very gracious in his exit.

But clearly, something monumental happened at the Espada camp that would make everyone vote for JJ. Every single one of them, despite appearances that only Marty, JT, and Dan had an issue with JJ. Obviously, this was a totally manipulated episode. But I shouldn’t be surprised, right?

Jeff: “You just voted out a proven leader.”

Marty smirks.

#172 - “Survivor: Nicaragua” - Episode 2

We start off with a review of the developments on the last episode, where the mostly-clueless Survivors where divided into tribes of the Old (Espada) and the Young (La Flora). We see reaction shots of the players being all surprised by this move, but none of US are surprised because the promo ads all summer have been bellowing about this. Oh, and we see enough scenes with the Younger Tribe that I’m basically convinced that I can’t stand anybody on that team. Sue me.

Cut to the Espada camp, late at night after Tribal, with all of them marching back home after sending crazy Wendy back to Montana or wherever it is that she does things with goats. The focus is on Holly, who is “feeling on the outs” with the rest of the tribe, and “needs to re-think” her strategy. (Let’s start with re-thinking your hairdo, honey.) We see enough of Holly to realize that maybe Wendy wasn’t the only insane person running about in the jungle.

Roll opening credits. As the cast members are splashed across the screen, we see that they’ve already changed Jud’s name to “Fabio”. That’s special. Wonder how long it will take them to change Shannon’s name to “Chauvinist Pig”?

Next morning in the Espada camp, everyone’s whining about not getting enough sleep, so Jimmy J gathers everybody around and starts organizing activities to rebuild their crappy shelter so they can all slumber more peacefully. This is a wise thing to do. But Jimmy T is all up in arms that people are paying attention to Jimmy J. First, Jimmy T has already shown that he’s on the Wendy end of the Crazy Stick, and second, I can’t take anybody seriously that looks like Jimmy T. He’s one butt-ugly Missing Link.

Cut over to the La Flora camp, where Sash and NaOnka are chattering away on the beach. Sash wants to bring only Minorities to the end. (In a sidebar, Sash says that minorities “have a bond that no one else can share.” Really?) During this, NaOnka is flipping her hair around and trying to act all street. I’m not sure what street she has in mind, but I don’t want to visit.

Back to the Espada camp, where Holly completely freaks over the fact that Jill is eating snails. Holly actually snatches the container of snails that people have worked hard to collect, runs off, and dumps out the snails. What the hell? That’s FOOD, you lunatic freak. Jill runs to tell the others, and then we have several shots of other tribe members expressing dismay over Holly’s grasp on reality.

Holly comes back from the Snail Liberation Festival, and overhears Dan talking smack about her sanity. (Everybody was, but Holly apparently has selective hearing.) So she sneaks into camp, steals Dan’s shoes out of his bag, fills them with sand, and sinks them in the ocean. Not making this up. Girl has issues.

Dan soon discovers that his footwear is missing, and is none too pleased. (Let’s put aside the fact that he was an idiot to bring these shoes on Survivor, since they are special alligator-hide shoes that cost $1,600. Somebody who brings something like that to a jungle deserves to face some disappointments in life.)

Another sidebar with Holly, where she admits that she’s “struggling emotionally”. (Ya think?) So she calls a tribe meeting, and fesses to Dan about what she did. She just wants to be honest, and now she’s ready to focus 100% on the game. Loser Jimmy T, because he’s from another planet with too much methane in the atmosphere, says “I accept that.”

Dude, Holly filled Dan’s shoes with sand and sank them in the ocean. That is SO many kinds of not right. And they weren’t your shoes. Shut the hell up.

Back to the La Flor camp, where NaOnka is in a tizzy, thinking somebody “moved her socks“. Because she’s as grounded in reality as Holly and Jimmy T, she decides that it’s perfectly fine if she takes a pair of Fabio’s socks and starts wearing them. Fabio, very confused because he’s dumber than a rock, approaches NaOnka to deal with this, but before he can even say anything, NaOnka goes ballistic and tears into him.

What is WRONG with these people? Did they only recruit at mental hospitals this season? I’m all for equal opportunity, but when did schizophrenia become a requirement to get on Survivor?

Over to Espada again, where Holly wanders up to Jimmy J and asks to talk to him privately. They mosey out to the beach, where Holly fesses that she’ “having a hard time”, and she starts crying. Jimmy tries to be supportive and all, since he’s had experience with football players who take too many drugs and get confused on the field. Holly decides to buck it up and stick around for a while. Then she wanders off to talk to a nearby tree, so I’m thinking rehab might take a while.

Time for the Immunity Challenge.

La Flor comes marching in doing another one of their stupid dances, once again not taking things seriously and firmly convinced that their mere youthfulness will rule the day. At this point, that entire tribe could be swept away by a hurricane and I wouldn’t shed a tear. Can’t stand them.

Anyway, we have a muddy obstacle course that people have to run through, and then attack a pile of hay looking for a ball. Once four balls are found, other tribe members have to bounce the balls along using shields and work them into a barrel. And by the way, offers Jeff, this is also a Reward Challenge. The winner can pick from a tarp/rope combination, or some nice fishing gear. The tribes make appropriate lustful noises.

Jeff also explains that the Golden Medallion thing (currently held by the Espada tribe) is really super special this time. If you use it, one of the four balls is automatically placed in the barrel, thus giving you a great advantage. The Espada tribe takes roughly 1.5 seconds to decide they probably should use it this time. (Of course, it also means that they have to give the Medallion to the other tribe. So one of the Espada peeps carries it over and hands it to NaOnka, who looks horribly offended that someone would expect her to hold something, and she quickly throws it at another tribe member. Hate her.)

And off we go. It’s very close at first, until it’s time for Holly to look for the ball in the haystack. She takes forever, probably because she can’t decide which of her personalities should actually conduct the search. But she eventually finds it, and things progress. During the ball-bouncing part, the Espada tribe catches up to the youngsters and eventually surpasses them, winning Immunity. They decide they want the fishing gear for reward as well.

When the happy Espada tribe marches off to their camp, several of them make little whoops of victory, nothing too extreme. But the teenage La Flora tribe takes offense. Oh, come on. You rugrats marched in here all confident and cocky, doing your Cirque du Soleil tribute, and now you’re going to get an attitude?

Cut to the Espada camp, where everyone is very joyous and celebratory. Even crazy Holly seems to have found a second psychotic wind, and is now ready to conquer the world. As the tribe digs into the fishing gear, they find a clue for a hidden Immunity Idol. (It’s in the same cryptic language that youngsters Kelly B and Alina received in the tree-mail that they didn’t tell anybody about.) The tribe works on the clues together, figuring out most of them, and then everybody scatters to track the Idol down.

Scenes of people running all crazy-eyed and pawing in the sand.

Jill, trotting along on the beach, suddenly has an inspiration and figures out the part of the clue the tribe hadn’t fathomed yet. But instead of running to claim the prize, she goes up to Marty (and Dan, because he’s standing right there) and tells him where to look. This is an interesting move. Why would she willingly give the Idol away?

Marty and Dan race to the area that Jill mentioned, and start digging. They hit the failblog, showing that perhaps they aren’t the best and the brightest. (Well, we already knew this about Dan, because he brought those damn shoes along that cost more than 5 of my car payments.) Jill finally has to waltz into the scene for assistance. She points at a spot on the ground, Marty digs, and finds the Idol. At first, Marty bellows about HIM being safe. Then he glances at Jill, sees her upraised eyebrow, and changes his tune to “WE’RE safe”. (Memo to Jill: You better keep an eye on Marty. I’m thinking he doesn’t really understand the solid you just gave him.)

Back to the La Flor camp, where folks are discussing who should go home. As opposed to last week, when everybody wanted to send Kelly B home so she wouldn’t get the sympathy vote for her leg, Kelly B now seems safe because she kicked ass in the challenge, and nobody can deny that. Most of the clueless kindergartners think NaOnka should go, but then Kelly B hatches a better plan. Let’s send Brenda home. Several heads nod, except for Chase, because he’s kinda tight with Brenda. (In a sidebar: “I’m torn. I have no idea what to do.”)

Next we have NaOnka and Brenda, wallering around in the surf and assuming soft-porn erotic poses. NaOnka: “Let’s get Shannon out. Then Fabio.” Brenda thinks this sounds like a sweet deal, so they plot, thinking they can get Sash, Chase and Purple Kelly to join their cause.

A bit later, Chase comes running up to Brenda and lets her know that half of the tribe has fingered her for eviction. Brenda is clearly startled by this revelation. Brenda: “Who’s behind this?” Chase: “Shannon.” Brenda: “Then let’s take him out.”

This conversation, because nobody in the La Flor tribe seems to have any sense and they don’t take precautions to plot in secret, is overheard by Alina. She immediately runs to tell the Shannon alliance everything, which leads to Shannon in a sidebar: “I don’t know who to trust!” (Good, because I can’t stand you.)

Time for Tribal.

Jeff to Shannon: “Is it difficult being out here?” Shannon starts out benignly, mumbling about it being much more difficult living in the wild than he expected. Then he completely jumps the shark, saying that if Chase “goes with his girlfriend”, then Chase is going home next. This opens up a firestorm of accusations and threats. It gets wild. It’s clear that Shannon does not understand how to play this game, alienating even his own alliance members.

Jeff: In 21 seasons of Survivor, I have never seen an opening question at Tribal “lead to that much whoop-ass.”

Jeff to Brenda, and I quote: “While Shannon loses his mind behind you,” what do you think? Brenda politely tries to remain civil, but Shannon keeps bellowing the entire time.

Jeff to Shannon: Do you not understand that what you’re doing is not the wisest thing to do? (Jeff is clearly over Shannon.)

Shannon suddenly turns on Sash: “Are you gay?”

Every single person in the tribe is mortified by this. Except for Alina. She seems to think it’s perfectly fine to bring orientation into the mix, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with anything. Let’s add her to the “can’t stand” list, shall we?

Sash: What the hell are you talking about? I’m straight.

Shannon: “There’s a lotta gays in New York. Not in Louisiana.”

Jeff is completely fed up: “They’ve got a lot of gays in New York?” THAT’s your strategy?

Then NaOnka pipes up, ripping at Fabio, stating “Fabio, I don’t like you”, and whipping her hair around some more.

This mess is just unbelievable.

Fabio: “Can we just vote?”

Jeff to Kelly B: “Your thoughts on all this?”

Kelly B: We need to work for unity.

Duh.

Time to Vote. If they don’t send Shannon home, I’m done.

Eventually, Jeff traipses in with the carefully-sequenced votes.

Shannon, Fabio and Alina vote for Brenda.

Everybody else votes for Shannon. He’s gone.

And he stomps out, totally stunned, which pleases me.

Jeff: “It’s very clear that the biggest threat to this tribe is the tribe itself.”

Word.

#171 - “True Blood” - Season 3, Episode 12

We start out in the parking lot of Fangtasia, with Eric and Russell sizzling away on the pavement, looking a bit under the weather. While they wait for someone to reach down with a giant spatula and flip them over, they bicker over the importance of Russell slaughtering Eric’s entire family. Suddenly, Godric appears to Eric, bathed in white light and spouting some Hallmark crap about “Forgiveness is love.” This makes Eric contort his face and scream really loud.

Cut to Sookie running through the forest in a billowy dress. A giant, gaudy chandelier descends from the sky and hovers over her, making her all glowy and stuff. She blinks her eyes, and she’s back in Fangtasia, with Bill shoving his face in hers. She leaps off the table or whatever and slaps him, because he interrupted a really pretty dream. “You betrayed me!”

Bill: “I only pretended to betray you, again, so I could save your life, again.”

He has a point, so Sookie changes the subject: “Where’s Eric?”

Pam, face streaked with blood tears and still gazing at the parking lot monitors: “Outside. Burning.”

Well, Sookie is not impressed with that, because it would be one less person who secretly wants her. She starts to rush out the door, Bill tries to stop her, angry words are exchanged, and Sookie dashes out anyway. She uses one of her Sookie powers to break the silver bond between Eric and Russell, hurls Russell against a fence, then drags Eric back into the family-friendly atmosphere of Fangtasia.

Roll opening credits. Did you know that people in Louisiana like to wear dirty ball caps? A lot.

Inside Fangtasia, Pam announces that Eric is very weak and “can’t drop fang”, which I’ve decided is a very fun expression and plan to use in the future. Sookie makes Bill bite her, so she can then feed her magical fairy juice to Eric. Bill and Sookie glare at each other while Eric slurps.

Zip over to Sam’s place, where he and Tara are all aglow after a night of squat tag, and he’s making breakfast for her. When she discovers that the menu includes hoecakes made with bacon grease, this causes the conversation to steer towards why Sam barks in his sleep. He fesses up to being a shape-shifter. She’s not every hungry anymore, faced once again with supernatural people making her life difficult.

Back to Fangtasia. Eric’s all better now that he’s gnoshed on Sookie. And he wants Sookie to run back out to the parking lot and rescue Russell. This is met with displeasure from Bill, Pam and Sookie. Fine. He’ll go himself. Sookie sighs. (Men are just so stupid.) Then she grabs a silver chain, heads back out, and wraps the chain around his neck to drag him back inside. She’s pretty strong for a waitress, lugging half-dead dead people around and all.

Back to Tara and Sam. Tara: “I cannot deal with non-humans right now. I wish I could just re-boot. Be a new person. And forget all this crap I’ve learned in the last few weeks.” Sam: You should be able to do that. You’d be surprised how easy it is.” Tara: It never catches up? Sam: Well, there’s that. You gotta keep moving.

Fangtasia again. Russell is silver-chained to the stripper pole. The vamps have got to go to ground, so Eric tells Sookie to stay and watch over Russell. She’s not really excited about the task, but reluctantly agrees, mainly so she won’t have to look at Bill’s hateful face. As the vamps leave, Eric calls somebody and tells him he’s going to need their help tonight. Hmmm.

Cut to the Bon Temps Sheriff’s station, where Andy is dealing with some DEA honcho who is all hopped up about raiding the place where Crystal’s creepy family is selling V. Jason wanders up, sniffing to find out when the raid might be. Andy drags Jason to his office to school him and make him shut up, but simple Andy spills that they raid will take place today. Jason bolts.

Tara is trotting out the door of Sam’s place, moseying toward the Merlotte’s parking lot, when she suddenly has flashbacks to the hundred or so people she’s seen killed there. This makes her really sad and pensive.

Hoyt shows up at his jobsite, only to find his momma, Summer the Biscuit Maker, and his high-school guidance counselor. They gonna do an intervention, just like on Dr. Phil! Well, it doesn’t go as they planned, mainly because Momma is just too twisted for words. Hoyt ends it with “I love Jessica. If you don’t like it, you can’t be a part of my life.”

Awww. And they say true love never dies. Literally.

Over to Sam’s again. He walks out of his place to find Lafayette hanging around outside Merlotte’s. Laff came in early to make some oyster stew, but forgot his key. Sam lets him in, but not before Laff has one of his visions about Sam, bloody hands and evil threats, that stuff. Okay, we need to find out what’s going on with Laff.

Back to Fangtasia. First, Russell tries to barter with Sookie so she will release him. She plays along for a bit, getting him to offer up 5 million dollars, his plantation, and a promise to kill both Eric and Bill. (Wow. She really is mad at them.) Then she decides not to let him go, so Russell tries to scare her by snarling that every vampire on the planet will be after her for her Sookie juice. And they will suck her dry.

Sookie doesn’t think such threats are very polite, so she sprays him in the face with some of the funky silver mist. Rather than just shut up, Russell continues to threaten. Well, two can play at the bullying game. Sookie snatches up the crystal urn with Talbot’s remains. “Why are you carrying this around?’ Turns out that Russell is actually planning to bring him back to life. Really? How so? Apparently Russell plans to use Sookie’s blood for this miraculous feat of engineering.

Or maybe not. Sookie takes the urn behind the bar, dumps the Talbo goo in the sink, and then flips on the garbage disposal. Russell freaks while blades whirl and Sookie laughs maniacally. Oh my. We be gettin’ vicious up in here.

Jason and Crystal roll up to the drug-shack compound. While very dirty and half-naked kinfolk mill about, Crystal Daddy comes out hollerin for Jason and Crystal to leave. They try to explain that the Feds is comin’. Crystal Daddy finally believes them, and starts ordering his relatives to hide stuff. Suddenly, there’s a gun shot and Felton appears. He’s not keen on gettin’ rid of the V, money to be made and all that. When Crystal Daddy argues, Felton just shoots him in the head. (These are some really nice people. I wonder if I can book a tour?)

Cut to Sam showing up at Terry and Arlene’s. Terry’s sitting on the porch steps, bawling. (Who knows, it’s Terry.) Sam apologizes for the things he said when he was drunk, and Terry cries more. Turns out these are tears of joy. Arlene’s good, the baby’s good, and now he’s got a nice apology to go with it. Ergo, the floodgates are open.

I really don’t understand these people.

Sam has no idea what to say to messed-up Terry, so he goes over to the house Tommy was renting. The place is trashed and Tommy is gone. Uh oh.

Back to the police station, where the DEA agents are rolling out for the big raid. The honcho won’t let Andy come along, instead sending him to the store to get him a pack of cigarettes. Poor Andy.

Once again to the drug factory. Felton has whipped himself into a frenzy, threatening to kill everybody while kinfolk stand around in their underwear and show us their bad teeth. Jason tries to calm him down, saying that’s just the V talking. Felton doesn’t care. He likes violence. (Big surprise.) Then Felton orders “his woman” Crystal to get in the truck so they can drive off and hurt some more people. Crystal agrees to do so, afraid if she doesn’t that Felton will kill Jason.

Before she leaves, Crystal tells Jason that somebody has got to take care of these poor, dirty people. Jason: “Tell me how to.” Crystal: “Just help them. Any way you can.” Then she says her teary goodbye. Jason: “I will find you.” Once the trunk thunders away down the dusty road, Jason turns to the dirty clan and introduces himself.

Tara arrives at her momma’s home, only find Momma playing slap and tickle with her preacher. Harsh words are exchanged, and Tara realizes this is no longer home. She wishes her Momma luck and drives away. Momma just stands there with her fake wig and looks confused.

Cut to Merlotte’s. Sam marches into his office and finds the safe gone. (Courtesy of that model citizen, the now-missing Tommy.) Sam shoves a gun in his pants and stomps out. Meanwhile, Lafayette is just trying to cook food for people, but he keeps seeing those demon images, causing him to flip his burgers wrong and spill grits. He gets on the horn with Jesus. “I’m seeing things. BAD things!” Jesus: “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Fangtasia again. We see a truck drive into the parking lot. Inside, Russell thinks its “my wolves, come to rescue me.” Well, no. It’s Alcide. Sookie spies him, has a small orgasm, and races up to him. “You’ve come to rescue me!” Well, no. Alcide: “Eric called me. Wants me to do somethin’. Said he’d settle all my dad’s debts.” Sookie frowns. “Oh.”

But before they get around to doing anything constructive, Alcide has a beer while Sookie hovers. Alcide: “I’ve been thinking about you a lot. I’d hate it if we never saw each other again.” Sookie beams, because her stable of admirers is apparently intact. But she tells him “don’t be such a good guy right now.”

Eric, Bill and Pam come marching in from… who knows. Eric unchains Russell and starts to drag him out to Alcide’s truck. Bill wants Sookie to stay here, “Pam will protect you.” Sookie wants none of that, she’s going home. And she rescinds the invitation to her house from all the vampires in the room, including Bill. As she flits out the door, Bill and Alcide glare at each other. (Which prompts Eric to say funniest line in the episode, and it’s entirely unprintable.)

Sheriff’s office again, with Andy staring at a vial of V in total fascination. His contemplation is interrupted by the DEA honcho barging in, dragging Jason along. The whole drug bust was a bust. Everybody gone, Jason tipped them off. The honcho storms out, calling everybody backwoods hicks. Once he’s gone, Andy tears into Jason for screwing things up. Jason stops him. “This is bigger than us. Sometimes the right thing to do is the wrong thing.”

I don’t know where they are headed with the Jason character lately, but me likey.

Merlotte’s. Jesus arrives, and he and Laff have a confab in the hallway. Laff: What is going on? Jesus: You opened up something inside you. You’re more sensitive now. Laff: I don’t WANT to be sensitive. Jesus: I’m a brujo. A witch. Laff: A witch? You’re a witch, who’s a nurse, who’s a dude. Jesus nods. Laff: Well, I guess I lucked out, then, huh?

Cut to Tara in a bathroom at Sookie‘s, reaching for scissors. They play it up like she might be about to engage in some bodily harm, but instead she cuts off most of her hair, resulting in a really cute new ‘do. Sookie arrives home, and they chat over a meal. They bond again, sisters once more. Then Tara suddenly announces that she’s “gonna run over to Merlotte’s. Gotta talk to Lafayette.” They hug and Tara leaves.

Something’s going on here, not sure what.

Cut to a construction site. We see Alcide about to drive off in his truck, talking to Eric. “We’re done now, right? You leave my daddy and my family alone.” Off he goes. The camera pans to Russell, thrown into a deep pit, with wet concrete being poured around him. This is apparently Eric’s new plan to keep Russell from finding any redemption after the True Death. Russell won’t really be dead, but will be wrapped in silver and encased in concrete. He won’t get out for a long time. A hundred years for him to go mad with grief.

You think Eric has a little bit of a grudge?

Russell: “I will kill you both.”

Eric gets another vision from Godric, who is very disappointed that Eric couldn’t just let it go. Eric explains that “this is what you made me”. Eric hits a button that sends in more concrete, covering Russell. Godric vanishes, sad.

As Russell’s cries die out, Bill offers his hand to Eric, appearing interested in a truce. When Eric accepts his hand, Bill slaps some silver on it, immobilizing Eric. Bill then knocks Eric into another pit, and starts pouring in concrete. (I know, right?) While Eric disappears beneath the grayish goo, Bill whips out the phone he stole from Eric before shoving him in the pit. “Reuben” answers. Bill: “This is Northman. I want you to find my progeny Pam and kill her. Now.”

Cut to Hoyt and Jessica arriving at a house. He leads her, blindfolded, through the front door, then lets her see where they are. He’s put a security deposit down on their first home. Hoyt: “I want to marry you.” Jess: “We can’t.” Hoyt: “What’s to keep me from becoming a minister and marrying ourselves?”

It’s totally sweet. But as the camera pans away, we see what looks like a creepy voodoo doll lying in one of the other rooms. Great. Nobody can ever be happy in this show for any length of time.

Now we’re in some gun shop, and Momma Hoyt is checking out rifles, her face all pinched and Republican.

Sookie’s house, and a knock on the door. It’s Bill. “We must talk.” Sookie: “Come in.” (So I guess she’s already over her vampire ban.) They chat, with Bill fessing that Russell is gone (Sookie: “Yay!”), and so is Eric. Sookie: Wait. What? Why? Bill: He tasted you. Even if we go our separate ways, I must protect you. I intend to bring the True Death to all who have tasted you and know what you are. Even if it means not being a part of your life. This I swear to you.

Well, then.

The front door flies open, and there’s Eric on the porch. Oh?

Eric: “You did tell her that you were sent by the Queen of Louisiana, to procure her for what she might be?”

Sookie: “What?”

Bill: I didn’t know in the beginning why she wanted you. As I grew to know you, I purposely kept you from her.

Eric: What about you letting two psychos beat her, so you could feed her your blood the night you met? Think she’ll forgive you for that?

Sookie: Is it true?

Bill: Yes.

Eric: He tried to silence me tonight so you would never know. He doesn’t want to protect you. He only wants to protect himself.

Sookie, livid, to Bill: Get out of my house!

Bill is forced through the air but hangs onto the door frame: It was YOU I loved, not what you are.

Sookie: Don’t come near me. Don’t call me.

Bill: I love you.

Sookie: You don’t even get to use that word! I rescind my invitation.

Bill is forced down the porch steps and into the yard, flopping around in the dirt while Eric picks bits of concrete out of his hair.

Eric, to Sookie: I’m sorry to see you suffer like this, but I thought you had the right to know. Then he smirks, because he just got a notch up on the tracking spreadsheet of Sookie’s suitors.

Merlotte’s. Tara drives into the parking lot, gazes wistfully at the building, and then drives away.

She’s gone.

We see Tommy walking along a road. A jeep comes thundering along, and Tommy runs. It’s Sam, and he jumps out of the jeep and chases Tommy through the woods. There’s a confrontation, Sam demands his money back, pointing his gun at Tommy. Tommy doesn’t believe him and turns to go. Sam shoots. I’m guessing he was serious about wanting that money back.

Sookie’s house. She’s crying. Then she suddenly runs out the door. Maybe she forgot to pay the water bill.

Bill’s house. The Queen shows, all haughty. “Bring me the girl. I’ve waited so long to feel sunlight.” Bill: She’s not here. I brought you here under false pretenses. But I do have another surprise for you. Only one of us will leave this house.

They bare fangs and fly at each other.

Quick scene with Eric and Pam at Fangtasia. She’s fine, apparently surviving whatever Reuben tried to to, and getting home in time to watch “Wheel of Fortune”.

Back to Sookie, running through a graveyard. She finds Gran’s headstone. “I followed my heart, but it led me down a dead-end road. I’ve never felt so alone.”

Mystical music plays, and a woman appears. “Sookie, you’re not alone. Come with us.” The woman holds out her hand.

Sookie takes it. Pretty lights sparkle around then, and they vanish.

Roll end credits.

#170 - “Big Brother” - Season 12, Episode 30

It’s a live show, so we start off with Julie, almost bursting with excitement because the series run is almost over and she can quit working nights. She’s babbling about how, for the first time ever, a secret alliance has made it all the way to the end. (Um, they really didn’t, because Matty got booted some time back. Part of the alliance made it all the way, yes. Jules, don’t think you can lie to me just because your earrings cost more money than I will ever make in my lifetime.)

Then, on cue, the crowd erupts into a frenzy of worship. Because it’s the finale, half of them are waving those suspicious “homemade” signs that look like the same person made them all. These people didn’t bring those things from home. They were handed to them in the line.

Anyway, cue the Announcer guy to do his thing. It takes him a while this time, because he’s reviewing the whole season, but we don’t really see anything new or different. Of course, the producers skew things a bit making it look like The Brigade was a well-oiled machine that rolled over the rest of the house, instead of four guys who bumbled along and managed to survive by luck and circumstance.

Back to Jules, explaining how the evening is going to go. Lane and Hayden are going to play round three of the final HOH. Whoever wins will choose which guy to keep and boot the other. The loser will then scamper out into the studio and join the rest of the jury. Then Julie bellows “But first!”, so you know some filler material is headed our way. Let’s review some recent clips to see how The Brigade is now turning on one of their own. (The live studio audience screams in glee and excitement.)

Hayden in the Diary Room: “I win this final HOH, and I’m golden.” (But he’ll still have ugly hair where homeless people can live.)

Lane in the Diary Room: “I want the easiest person to beat sitting next to me in the Final Two.” (Think of that all on your own, did ya?) “Trouble is, I don’t know if that’s Hayden or Enzo.” (Then one of his biceps distracts him and he’s really not sure what he was talking about.)

Enzo in the Diary Room: “I’m screwed right now… I’m the mastermind, I’m the Godfather, and it looks like I made a hit on myself.” (Mastermind? Dude, you totally went to a different school than me.)

Scene with Lane and Hayden in the kitchen. They’re discussing how “huge” it is that they’ve gotten this far, but it’s hard for me to pay attention because they’re both wearing some t-shirts that they’ve finger-painted with Brigade slogans. It looks like some pre-schoolers broke into the art room when they were supposed to be napping.

Hayden and his hair in the Diary Room: He wants Lane to think that if Lane takes him to the Final Two, Lane will win. So he’s decided to downplay his accomplishments in the house so Lane will feel more confident than he should. This shouldn’t be too hard, since Lane will not be getting a Mensa invitation in the mail any time soon.

Shots of Enzo at night, by himself, still babbling about how unfair it would be for him to not win. In the Diary Room: “I made the Brigade. I put all the work into it. I’m not going to lay down and die.” (This guy seriously has an altered perception of reality. Must be nice to live there.)

Hayden and Enzo on the patio. Enzo is still whining about having no power, Hayden is trying to appear supportive. “You still have a chance. Best social game ever in the history of Big Brother.” (Um, no. Sorry.) Enzo whines some more. “I only won one POV. They’re gonna chew me up.” (Well, it’s a little late to be worrying about that now, Slacker Boy. Maybe if you had taken your hands out of your pants, you might have won a few more things.)

Hayden in the Diary Room: “Maybe I should take Enzo.” He didn’t do squat. (Hayden, neither did you, until it got down to the end, and there was nobody in the house. Of course you’re going to win some things at that point. Enzo was too lazy, Lane was too simple, and Britney was too busy ensuring her makeup looked good on TV.)

Lane and Enzo in the kitchen. Guess what? Enzo’s still whining. Lane doesn’t think he can beat either one of them. Enzo keeps telling Lane that he can’t win against Hayden. Interspersed with this, we keep getting shots of Hayden really enjoying washing himself in the shower. No explanation is given as to the need for this.

Jules again: Up next, Britney tells the rest of the jury about The Brigade. Yay!

Commercials. If your vehicle doesn’t have Bluetooth, your life sucks, got it?

Julie talks to the Final Three in the couch room. She asks all of them pretty boring questions, so I just sit there and wait for the mess to be over with.

Cut to Britney arriving at the Jury House. She waltzes in wearing an “Alternate Brigade” t-shirt, and immediately spills all. Of course, no one takes very kindly to this news, except for Matt. Then even he blows a gasket when Britney reveals that Enzo is taking credit as the mastermind. (For the record, Ragan doesn’t cry, but he gets close.)

A bit later, the jury members all doll up and head out onto a patio to discuss the Final Three. It starts out with Rachel and Brendon thinking the Brigade got by on luck, since the rest of the house was busy fighting each other and not paying attention. (Completely on board with that.) But the others disagree. Then they start analyzing the individual three, and it’s clear that both Hayden and Enzo have some admirers.

Rachel: “I think strategically Lane played the best game.” And off we go, some people agreeing and some people completely disagreeing. Bottom line, by the end of the semi-staged discussion, it’s not clear if there’s a real favorite. Which is exactly how the BB producers want it, natch.

Time for the final round of the HOH with Hayden and Lane.

As is tradition, this round is a series of statements made by jury members, with Julie giving two possible endings to the statement. You get a point if you get it right, and the most points wins.

They both answer the first question correctly. Same with the second. And the third. And fourth. They both miss the fifth. And they miss the sixth. Tie breaker question, answer will be a number. Closest without going over wins. And Hayden gets it.

Julie: “Hayden, we’ll be back for your decision in a few minutes.”

Commercials. One of them is the E-Trade talking babies. There’s just something not right about that mess. Creepy.

Time for Hayden’s answer and the save-me speeches.

Enzo: Whatever you gotta do.

Lane: No hard feelings.

Julie: Hayden?

Hayden: Votes to evict Enzo.

Exit interview.

Julie tries to ask questions, but Enzo cannot stop talking about how great he is. Apparently life on this planet was not important or meaningful until he was born.

Julie brings out the first six members of the jury. They still don’t know about Enzo, so Julie quizzes them to build the suspense, then they finally drag Enzo out to complete the jury. They will now ask their prepared questions.

And none of the questions really change anything. Generic questions, generic answers. If there’s any distinction made, it’s that Lane is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but we, and he, already knew that.

Time to vote.

Final “save-me” speeches of the summer.

Hayden: The bottom line is when it comes down to competitions, I won more. (He pushes it a little too far, and might possibly be alienating a few people.)

Lane: He stays more with the social aspect of the game and how he played that. Winning shouldn’t be all about just the competitions. (A bit of advice, Lane: When you run out of things to say, don’t just make stuff up. Smile and sit down.)

Each member of the jury gets to vote and say some final words. Then the votes are locked in.

Jules: Up next! Annie, Monet, Andrew and Kristen are the only ones who have watched everything up to this point. We’ll bring them back and let them spill! Hurray!

Let me sum it up for you: Monet doesn’t regret calling Rachel a skanky Ho, Kristen is perfectly willing to have Hayden’s baby, Andrew is still a total geek, and we didn’t get to know Annie enough to really care. All caught up? Great.

We still have plenty of time left, so Julie kills some minutes by showing funny scenes and discussing sho-mances. It’s fine and all, but come on, folks, let’s crown the winner, okay?

Ragan is revealed as the second Saboteur, much to everyone’s surprise.

Finally, the Results:

Rachel, Brendon and Britney vote for Lane.

Kathy, Matt and Ragan vote for Hayden.

Which means Enzo casts the deciding vote, and he goes with Hayden.

Celebration ensues.

We close the show with Julie revealing America’s player:

Britney gets the $25K.

And we’re done. 30 Reviews in 10 weeks. I need a nap.

Hope you enjoyed it…

#169 - “Survivor: Nicaragua” - Episode 1

We start off, of course, watching pretty location shots while Jeff Probst babbles about how everything is really remote and dangerous. (But not remote enough, apparently, that the producers can’t get a full-blown camera crew in there.) Jeff gives us some history of Nicaragua, details which are immediately forgotten because everybody is still getting settled in front of the TV and checking the beer supply. Some mess about active volcanoes, that’s all that really stuck.

Finally, we start getting glimpses of the 20 Survivors as they march along in a jungle. Some blonde guy starts talking (I guess we’re not supposed to know names yet, because they don’t flash his name on the screen.) “There’s monkeys hanging from everything!” Of course, I get a flashback to my last staff meeting at work.

Then Jimmy Johnson appears, and he instantly talks about winning Superbowls and how great he is, so I’m already not sure that we’re going to get along. This is followed by Jeff explaining that the Survivors think they’ve already been divided into teams, but they haven’t really. For now, they’re just marching along, and supposedly not talking. But they are talking in sidebars, with several people pointing out that they already hate other people just from looking at them. It’s nice to see people being so warm and accepting.

Oh, and we have the requisite skinny girl claiming that she’s going to flirt her way to the money. I instantly want her to go, and I don’t even know her name yet.

The opening credits finally roll, and now we have names for the people, but since we haven’t seen most of them, it’s pointless to do into any detail. Besides, half these people will be gone before we figure out who they are anyway.

Cut to a beach, where Jeff is bellowing “come on in, guys!”. Folks come traipsing in, and once again, some of the people are dressed completely inappropriately. Two of the girls think it’s just fine to be wearing cowboy boots. Uh huh. Try running your ass off down the sand in those. Two of the other girls are wearing what looks like a modified washcloth. I guarantee you they will be the first to complain about being cold when it rains. And there’s a guy with a tie. These people know there‘s not a mall around the corner, right?

In a sidebar, we meet Kelly B, who had one of her legs amputated at an early age. Wow. As long as she’s nice, I’m already rooting for her.

In another sidebar, a guy named Marty is already going off on Jimmy Johnson being out here. And really, why did the producers even let Jimmy on the show? People know him. And people are going to want him out. Oh wait, I keep forgetting that these shows are supposed to make money, not sense. My bad.

Jeff chats with the folks for a while, focusing on the “first appearances” thing. People respond with how they are already feeling each other out and learning to bond with their team. It’s pretty boring, so Jeff gets to the first challenge. He points at a nearby lagoon. Somewhere in there is the “medallion of power”, and if you find it, your whole tribe will benefit. “You can start now.”

The thundering herd races toward the water. Well, sort of. A few of them are strolling along like they’ve just had brunch and they’re a little gassy. We have shots of people running about all wild-eyed. Suddenly, the self-proclaimed slut (Brenda) spies something in a tree, and scampers up to retrieve it. Bingo. Jeff calls everybody back to the beach.

Jeff then breaks the news. New tribes. 40 and older over there, 30 and younger over here. Of course, the youngsters are high-fiving each other in delight, because they still belief that youth is everything. The oldsters sedately join each other, because they have to save their strength. Buffs are handed out.

Jeff then has a proposal for Brenda and her medallion. She can keep the medal and its mysterious, not-yet-named power. Or she can trade it for fire and fishing gear. Whatever she gives up goes to the other tribe. Quick shots of the youngsters biting their lips and trying to decide what to do.

Cut to commercials, so that we will be insane with anticipation by the time we get back. Or not.

The kids take the fishing gear. The medallion goes to the other tribe.

Cut to the Espada camp, where the older folks are getting to know one another. Jimmy has a side bar where he whines about not being in control like he normally is. (Poor thing. Must be rough, not being able to fire people.) But Jimmy decides that he’s going to play up his “superstar status”. Meanwhile, Holly, a swim coach, is already strategizing. She apparently gets in an alliance with the older cowgirl (Yve?) and also offers an alliance to Wendy, a goat rancher with a really weird accent.

We meet Jane, who tells us in a sidebar that she’s no prim housewife. From the look of her hair, she ain’t lyin. (On a heavier note, she just lost her husband last year.) Then she marches out on the beach and quickly starts a fire using a pair of glasses, so she immediately has a leg up on everybody. She then does a victory dance which is very startling in nature. Perhaps she should have refrained from that last bit.

Cut to the La Flor camp with the kiddies, where everyone is really loud and really tan. We meet Sash in a sidebar, where he’s psyched because “we know we’re going to dominate”. Then he talks about all the beautiful girls, so you know he’s really focused on what’s important. Next up in a sidebar is Jud, also happy about the youth of their tribe. “These are my people!” Really? Based on what, Jud? The fact that none of you can remember a President before George Shrub? You’re already missing a “D” in your name, what else is AWOL with you? Then he manages to stomp on something that cuts his foot, justifying my early judging of his book cover.

Shannon (a guy) in a sidebar, calling Jud a “dumb blond”. And he thinks one of the other guys is “retarded”. Nice. Then Shannon hooks up with one of the guys that they don’t identify. (I think it’s Chase.) They both feel they are the strongest and best players and need to stay tight. And they don’t want another girl to win. Shannon in a sidebar again: “We gotta control these girls. I mean, we already get owned in marriage.”

Shannon can go home at any time. Just sayin.

Then Kelly B decides to reveal the situation with her leg, just so she‘s not hiding anything. Everyone seems to be supportive, but then we have Shannon in a sidebar again. He wants her to get booted out so she won’t get the sympathy vote in the end. This guy just shoots decency out his ass, right? Then Naonka, in her sidebar, says “I don’t want to talk bad about Kelly,” and then proceeds to do just that, wanting her to go home as well. What is wrong with these people?

Back to the Espada tribe, at night. We see Jimmy Johnson throwing up, and claiming that he overworked himself. (Isn’t it intriguing that the Survivor producers will blur out any hint of man bits jiggling in underwear, but if someone’s blowing chow, we get it in 3-D.) Next morning, he’s whining about “zero sleep” and how miserable he is. To everybody. This is not a good idea.

Back to La Flor. Brenda and Chase seem to be getting close, flirting a wee bit as they strategize. He admits to his alliance with Shannon. (Brenda in a sidebar: “He’s a really nice guy, but he’s clueless. Of course I’m going to use that information to get me to the end.” Then she runs off to straddle a fallen log seductively.)

Alina and Kelly B check treemail and find a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol. It’s up to them whether they share the clue with the others or not. Of course they aren’t going to say a word, but they can’t seem to figure out the clue, pointing at some cryptic symbols and giggling because they’re on TV. (Alina complains in a sidebar that she wishes they hadn’t found it together, because now she’s in a pseudo alliance with Kelly B, and she really wants Kelly to go home because of the sympathy vote thing.)

Is there anybody on this tribe that has a shred of humanity? Should we take Kelly B out in the woods and just shoot her? God.

Espada tribe again, with treemail. It appears to be a clue about the first challenge. So of course Jimmy J decides to play coach and get people motivated. Then he surprises me by telling everyone that he knows he’s not going to win, no jury would give him a million dollars. But he’s here for the adventure, and he wants to help one of them win. Well, then. I might have to like Jimmy even though he’s already on my nerves. The rest of the tribe nods their heads and seems psyched. Except for Jimmy T, who seems to be having a conversation with someone that doesn’t exist.

Time for the Immunity Challenge.

The older team comes in and stately takes their place on the mat. The younger tribe comes in doing a stupid dance with a little flourish from the girls at the end. They are clearly not taking this seriously, convinced that they’ve already won, and Jeff is none too impressed. He tries to make fun of their dumb-ass antics, but the pre-schoolers don’t get it because Jeff is not an MTV video. Jeff sighs. Let’s get to it.

Basically, they have to fill troughs with water, so that it will flow into a tub thing and cause a bag of puzzle pieces to fall, then figure out the puzzle. Loser goes to Tribal. Oh, but wait. That Medallion of Power thing? It’s a huge advantage at challenges. If the older tribe chooses to use it, they get help with the challenge now, but then the Medallion will flip over to the other tribe for the next challenge.

The older tribe opts to keep the Medallion for now and not use it. Interesting.

And off we go. It’s actually a very tight race for a while, despite the fact that the person pouring the water for the older tribe seems confused about the laws of gravity. The younger tribe gets their puzzle pieces first, but only by a bit. Then it falls apart, with the older tribe lethargically diddling with the puzzle pieces while the younger tribe is bouncing and screaming and shoving pieces into place. Younger tribe wins.

Espada camp. Jimmy T in a sidebar: “This place has already knocked me down, and it’s only day three.” Then he marches over to a few of the other tribe members and tells them he’s voting for Jimmy J to go home. (“Stars blind people.”) But he’s really agitated about it, and comes off a tad unbalanced. Methinks he should have just kept his mouth shut.

Jimmy J and Holly go for a walk, strategizing. He says they should vote out the weakest player, which is either him or Wendy. Really? Just what the hell kind of game is Jimmy playing here? In a sidebar, Holly agrees with him, and is regretting her rushed alliance with Wendy.

Holly runs up to Jill, Yve, and Marty, and tells them what Jimmy said, that it should be him or Wendy, and now she doesn’t know what to think. (I’m thinking she needs to pull her bathing suit out of her crevices, because that really looks painful and I can’t concentrate on what she’s saying.) Jill suggests that the four of them do a round table and just say who they think should go. Yet they can’t do it. No one wants to make a decision, so they just stare at each other while crickets chirp.

Time for Tribal.

Jeff: “Let’s talk about first impressions.” And so they do. Jane calls herself a “southern hillbilly” but she actually comes across as kind of fun. Jimmy T lets it be known that he’s a little peeved that he’s not being perceived as a leader. Jimmy J does his “no jury’s gonna give me” thing again. Jimmy T begs to differ. Wendy proves that she might indeed by psychotic, upset that no one even asked her how old she was.

Jeff: Time to vote.

Wendy: Can I say something? And then the “might be crazy” changes to concrete fact. She babbles on forever about what she perceives as her strengths, and makes no sense. (“I have no calluses on my feet!” What the hell?) The rest of the tribe squirms in discomfort.

Jeff: Time to vote. (Is that okay, Wendy?)

The Results:

Wendy votes for Yve. Everybody else votes for Wendy.

And thus continues the Survivor tradition of the first person to leave getting sent home because nobody knows enough about anybody to really make it a fair vote. In the first few days, the mere fact that you are a goat rancher with no calluses is enough to get the boot. Wendy wanders away from Tribal, down a path that apparently leads through a graveyard. That’s nice. Nothing confirms defeat like a stroll through a field of dead people…

#168 - “Big Brother” - Season 12, Episode 28

We’re live, with Julie and the caterwauling audience. While they destroy the soundstage with the sheer vibration of their over-caffeinated yodeling, Julie babbles: “Enzo! Hayden! Lane! They have orchestrated every eviction this summer!” (Um, no they didn’t. But yelling at the TV screen apparently does not make Julie retract her statement.)

Then it’s the Announcer Guy, reviewing the last few episodes, and the way they frame it you would think Hayden is single-handedly saving the planet. Oh, and “The Beast, The Animal and Meow-Meow are battling it out in the jungle right now.” (Um, no, they’re sitting on swings in the relatively tame courtyard. This is not a battle in the jungle. This is a crappy ride at a sucky amusement park.) “And emotions explode in the Jury House!”

Julie: Let’s go back to the Big Brother Rainforest for the exciting conclusion of Part One in the HOH Competition! The audience screams themselves into a frenzy at this apparently life-changing opportunity.

The camera cuts to the courtyard. Enzo, Hayden and Lane. Sitting on swings and slamming into a padded wall. Over and over. Totally boring.

So we go to the Diary Room for some confessions.

Hayden: “The Brigade is dead! It’s every man for himself.” (Then he just kind of sits there, waiting for an actual man to show up, because we haven’t seen a lot of them this season.)

Enzo: “I gotta win. They aren’t gonna take me to the Final Two. I’m popular in the Jury House.” (Maybe for now. Wait until Britney shows up over there with a mouthful of choice words.)

Lane: “It shoulda been me and Britney in the Final Two.” (Well, Lane, you only have yourself to blame for that. If you’d acted sooner, Enzo and/or Hayden would be sitting in the Jury House right now, trying to avoid lacerations from Rachel’s hair extensions or Kathy’s eyelashes when she blinks.)

The we have more shots of the swings and the wall-banging in the “rainforest”. Enzo is hollering the whole time like an idiot.

Lane in the Diary Room, discussing what it feels like hitting the padded wall: “It’s like being in a Texas bar fight, when you wake up the next morning and your testicles hurt.” (One, I clearly don’t understand what happens in Texas bar fights, and two, does Lane even understand what a testicle is?)

Then Enzo falls off his little swing. A mere 19 minutes into the competition. Puh-leeze.

Hayden in the Diary Room: “Enzo has zero intestinal fortitude.” (Again with people using phrases that I don’t think they actually comprehend.)

More shots of the remaining two swinging and banging.

Lane: “Where’s Enzo?”

The camera shows him inside the house, making soup and pizza. Really? This is a clear violation of Big Brother tradition, where even though you may get eliminated in a competition, you remain in the courtyard and pretend to cheer the other players on, even if you are bored out of your skull and/or hate the people still playing.

Then Enzo actually brings his piping-hot pizza out to the patio, and noshes away in full view of the starving and cold guys on the swings, another violation. He truly just doesn’t get it. (Lane is furious in the Diary Room.) To top it off, Enzo is still obnoxiously whooping and hollering, in between rounds of wiping grease off his chin.

Lane falls at 2 hours and 35 minutes. Hayden wins the first round.

Back to Jules. “Lane and Enzo will face off in round two a little later. But coming up, the Jury House explodes!”

Okay, with all this promo, there better be something damn good happening in that Jury House, or I’m going to cut somebody.

Commercials. Did you know that you can get meat wrapped in meat, with a meat sauce, on a meat-flavored bun, at your nearest fast-food restaurant? Hurry! Your arteries aren’t going to clog themselves!

Julie: “Let’s go talk to the Final Three in the Couch Room!” Julie: “Enzo, how’d you make it this far in the game?” Enzo: “No idea.” Julie: “Lane, how hard was it to keep your alliance secret?” Lane: “Very.” Julie: “Hayden, now that Britney’s on the jury, are you concerned about the reaction?” Hayden: “They’re gonna hate us!” Then all three of them laugh.

Thanks, Julie. Very insightful. Learned a lot.

Julie explains some protocol for the rest of the season: The winners of Round 1 and Round 2 in the HOH Competition will compete in Round 3 LIVE on Finale Night. The winner will then pick his Final Two buddy, and they will go face the jury, who will question them and then vote. Got it?

Time for some filler material, since there are only three people left and none of them are all that interesting. Julie: “Enzo never won HOH, but back home he rules the house.” Cut to Bayonne, New Jersey, where we meet Enzo’s family. Surprise! They’re Italian! His wife obviously loves him, so that’s good. His entire family, watching on TV when Enzo slams into Ragan and sends him flying through the air, cheers like the Red Sea just parted, so that’s not so good. In the end, it’s very clear that his family was watching a different series than we were, overly praising Enzo for things he didn’t do.

Cut to the Jury House.

Kathy lets us know that she still hasn’t forgiven Matt for the lies about his wife, and is, in fact, even more upset with him. More than fair.

Ragan saunters in. Fake hugs abound, especially the one between Ragan and Rachel. (And what the hell is Matt wearing? Is he twelve?) Sidebar with Rachel: She’s all aglow with the possibility that Ragan will push her buttons and there will be a fight. She’s such a nice person, that Rachel girl.

Matt to Ragan: “Let’s step outside and talk.” (Kathy to Ragan: “Take a drink, you’ll need it.”) Once on the patio, Matt fesses about his wife. Ragan does not take it well. (In his own sidebar: “I feel like Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football out.”)

The rest of the jury house joins them on the patio. Brendon and Kathy are supportive of Ragan, making it clear that they are not impressed with Matt. But Rachel doesn’t care because, well, let’s face it, she’s a bitch. So when Ragan does his own confession, admitting to having a PHD in Communications, Rachel jumps. “Do I have a bad social game?”

Ragan: “Yes, you wear your heart on your sleeve.”

And immediately the fur flies. As we’ve seen before, Ragan is very calm but very straightforward, telling it exactly like it is. While Rachel screams and flips her hair as her inability to remain civil rears its ugly head. (And it’s the same thing they fought about in the house. Rachel causes a LOT of problems because there’s something off kilter with her and human relations. He’s right, she won’t listen.) Ragan: “We don’t share a common reality.”

Rachel finally bellows “Grab your tiara and be a [dramatic expletive] queen!” Then she and her hair turn and stomp into the house.

Okay, from a confrontation aspect, I’ll give it a 3, maybe 4. But we’ve seen much more exciting things. Once again, the BB producers have oversold not much about nothing.

Time for Part 2 of the HOH Competition.

This one’s called “It’s Alive!”, and we’ve seen this before. Behind five curtains are five photos of two house guests morphed into one. Playing separately, Lane and Enzo will have two minutes to figure out the combinations. Whoever makes the most matches wins. If they get the same number of matches, then whoever buzzed in with the shortest playing time will win. And off we go.

Lane is first. He gets all five matches in 1 minute, 13 seconds.

Enzo is next. He gets all five matches in 1 minute, 43 seconds.

Lane is clearly the winner, but Julie throws a curve into things, because the BB producers apparently think we are just as stupid as the house guests that they intentionally pick for their stupidity.

Jules: “We have a tie! We will determine the winner when we return!”

Uh, I can tell time. Lane won. What’s the deal?

Commercials. Need a quick “payday” loan? Head on over to Tully’s House of Fast Money and we’ll fix you up. Tully is missing most of his teeth. Don’t worry about that.

And we’re back. Julie takes us to the Couch Room, where Enzo and Lane are sweating in the nomination chairs. (Why? They aren’t nominated for anything.) Hayden is off to the side, totally chilled, because he thinks he’s got this thing wrapped up.

Julie: It was a tie! (Enzo perks up. Lane is wondering if this is a formal occasion.) So we have to go to the clock. Who finished up more quickly? (We KNOW, Julie. God.) Enzo, you finished in blah blah time. Lane, it only took you blah time. Congrats!

Julie to Lane: How are you feeling right now? Lane: “I feel sweaty and numb and I can’t walk.”

Julie to Enzo: “How does it feel” to have sucked once again? Enzo: Well, I was born a poor black child on the outskirts of-

Julie: Whatev. See you guys next Wednesday!

Roll end credits.

P.S. Apparently Sunday’s show is just going to be a recap of the finer moments in the show thus far. The fact that they have managed to cobble together a full hour of things that might be considered “finer” makes a compelling statement that I should actually tune in, but we’ll see. I usually skip this one. We might not chat again until next Wednesday…

#167 - “Big Brother” - Season 12, Episode 27

Editor’s Note: I missed the very beginning of this episode, since there were just a few tiny little things going on, like tornado sirens blaring and the pretty newscasters informing me that a tornado had just touched down just a few miles away and I better run like hell. But that all settled down, no personal damage other than frayed nerves, and the local station finally tuned us in to the Big Brother broadcast.

We’re dropped right into the action, with Hayden, Lane and Enzo sitting on the patio. Apparently there has been some type of heated discussion, because they’re all glaring at one another. (Hayden in the Diary Room: “I hope Lane stays loyal.” Enzo takes his hands out of his pants long enough to go to the Diary Room as well: “I’ve had my suspicions about Lane. I’m in the worst position.”) Who knows what happened. I would like to think Lane was trying to do the right thing by Britney, but I’m not sure he even knows what that is.

Britney and Hayden in the HOH Room, flopped on the bed because these people are apparently anemic and can’t be bothered with standing upright. Britney: “I’m nervous.” Hayden: “Nobody’s gonna take me to the Final Two.” Britney: You do realize that if Enzo goes to the end, he “will win unanimously.” (Britney in the Diary Room: Hey, I’m playing ALL the angles at this point.) Britney: “I have too many enemies in the Jury House. I’m not gonna win in the Final Two.” (Hayden in the Diary Room: “She has some very good points.” Yes, she does. Are you listening?) Then some nurse comes in and gives them B12 shots in the butt in the hopes that they will finally get out of bed and change their underwear.

Back to Julie with that beyond-irritating live studio audience. She’s in one of her over-exuberant moods again. “This will be the most important Veto Competition of the summer! Who will have the sole power to evict?” Then about 14 people in the audience have simultaneous orgasms as they think about the options.

Commercials. Well, there should be commercials at this point. Because of the local weather conditions in Dallas caused by the dying but still kicking Tropical Depression Hermine, which has resulted in massive flooding and/or houses floating away down raging rivers that were just dried-up streams two days ago, we have blow-dried newscasters making us feel bad that we haven’t lost everything like the shell-shocked people on screen. Good times.

Time for the Veto Competition.

Each player has a station, with a giant wall, where there are 8 clues running along the top and 8 clues running along the bottom. They have to take these fake movie poster things, showing two evicted houseguests apiece, and match them up correctly. Trouble is, the posters are double-sided, so either view could actually be the right one. First to match all 8 correctly and hit the little bell thing wins POV.

We have Enzo in the Diary Room, saying something, but for the first time I actually pay attention to the subtitle blurb that mentions he’s an “insurance adjuster”. Really? In Jersey? With that attitude? Something tells me there’s a lot of angry claimants in that state who have unkind thoughts about Mr. Meow Meow.

Hayden in the Diary Room: “Britney’s good at trivia.” Enzo and Lane, not so much. “So I’m gonna have to be the won who wins this.” Then he turns and waves to the crowd of paparazzi that isn’t really there.

Lane in the Diary Room: “I want Britney to win, so she can take herself off the block, Enzo goes up, and there’s no blood on my hands.” Then he turns and waves at the crowd of Longhorns that isn’t really there.

And the competition starts.

Lane in the Diary Room: Basically, “I’m really stupid.” Thanks for the insight, Lane. Figure that out all by yourself, did you?

Other people pile into the Diary Room, describing the strategy that they used during the running about. It’s not very interesting. You figure out the clues and you put the photos in the right order. Get it done.

Shots of everybody in the courtyard, sweating and thinking. (Every time we see Lane, they play corny hillbilly music.) Enzo is actually the first to hit his bell, but he’s got 5 incorrect out of 8. He grunts and gets back to work. Britney seems to be doing well, but she hasn’t hit her buzzer yet, so we don’t know how close she is. Lane? Well, he’s Lane.

All the sudden Hayden hits the bell and he has all 8 right. He wins POV, totally catching everyone off guard. Britney is especially stunned, gazing at him in amazement as she pulls her short-shorts out of her crack.

More scenes in the Diary Room.

Hayden: He’s celebrating his victory and kissing the POV medal, his biceps and his hair. He turns and waves to the crowd of horny supermodels that isn’t really there.

Britney: “I feel pretty good. Enzo could still go up.” She turns and waves to the crowd of Razorback fans that don’t actually have TV’s and therefore don’t know that she exists.

Lane, sighing: “Now I have to reverse back to The Brigade, and make them believe that I’ve always been on their side.” Then he pauses to wonder what “reverse back” really means.

Julie again: “Will The Brigade feel good enough to reveal one of the biggest secrets of the summer?” Then she turns and waves to the producers who cut her a check every week.

Commercials. Blech.

More Julie: “All secrets eventually come out!” We got it, Julie. Somebody in The Brigade is going to blab. Your hints have been so subtle, I never would have figured that out on my own.

Hayden, Lane and Enzo, sitting around. Hayden: “I was SO lucky”, winning that thing. Enzo: Are you kidding? You Da Bomb! (Yes, that sound you hear is full-strength ass-kissing.) Hayden: “When should we tell Britney about The Brigade?” (Oh?) Enzo: “Now.” Hayden: I want her to know that’s why I’m not going to use the Veto. (Lane in the Diary Room: Hoo boy. I’ve gotta be careful here.) Lane: “Tell her tonight if you want.” He gulps.

This should be fun.

Then we see Britney wandering up to the HOH Room, where Enzo and Lane are sitting about. Enzo to Lane: “What are you gonna do tonight?” Lane: “Drink beer.” Enzo tries again with another leading question, clearly trying to steer the conversation into a direction where they can tell Britney what’s up. But Lane is a few cow-pies short of a bushel, and doesn’t really get it. Or doesn’t want to get it.

Enzo gives up with the Lane angle, and turns to Britney: “You think there was an alliance in this house?” Britney: Sure. “Rachel and Brendon.” Then Enzo gets, to me anyway, rather cruel, having too much fun teasing Britney about not knowing about The Brigade. Really not caring for him right now. Not that I ever did, just sayin.

Then Enzo finally fully fesses up about The Brigade. Lane confirms: “From Day Two.” Enzo then gets very cocky, which is no surprise, but this is NOT the time to be that way. This is why Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, and Enzo is from some self-important galaxy that doesn’t even have a real name, just a number. Enzo on The Brigade: “I think it’s greatness.”

Britney lays on the HOH bed, absently picking at her fingernails as she tries to act nonchalant, but you know she’s devastated.

Hayden comes up to the room.

Enzo: “I told.”

Hayden: “Without me?” He turns to Britney: “I’m sorry, Britney. But I’m glad you won the 10 G’s.” Translation: You’re done.

Britney: “So I’m definitely going home?”

Hayden: “I’m not gonna use the Veto.”

Enzo: “That’s it. Know what I mean?” Classy guy, right?

Hayden: “The last thing I wanna do is make you cry.”

Britney jumps off the bed and starts to leave: “How do you think this feels, knowing you have no shot?” The others try to console her, but it’s too late. She storms out the door.

Britney in the Diary Room: “I’ve been completely played! Lane’s been lying to me! I don’t wanna talk to them. It makes me sick to think of voting for any of them.” Then she makes a hog-calling noise, and there’s the sound of cloven feet racing up to do her bidding in the middle of the night, seeking porcine retribution.

Lane starts to leave the HOH Room, to see how Britney’s doing, but Enzo tries to stop him: “Stay here. We need to talk.” (My fingers are crossed that this little snippet is shown to the jury members, so they can see what Enzo’s all about, but it probably won’t happen.) Lane leaves anyway.

Lane in the Diary Room: “It’s like one of my good dogs died.” Really, Lane? Britney is one of your good dogs? And Brendon was the Neander-tall?

Lane finds Britney in one of the bedrooms. “Want to talk?” Britney: “It’s not a good time. I’m going to bed.” Lane: “I wasn’t playing you. I never played you. I do have a lot of feelings for you.” Britney, sniffling and snuggling up to her pillow: Whatev. Good night.

Cut to Julie, acting all somber and dramatic after all that mess: “We’ll be back with the Veto Ceremony and the Eviction.” Then she turns and waves at her stylist.

Time for the Veto Meeting.

Hayden to the Nominees: “I hope to be friends with both of you. But I’m not using the Veto.”

Julie: Time for the Save Me speeches for the sole voter, Enzo.

Lane: He totally sucks up to Enzo. “Without you, this house would be dull and boring.” Which is a slam to everybody else, but I doubt that Lane thinks more than one sentence ahead in his life.

Britney: “I love you all. We’re friends forever.” She turns to Lane: “You’re my best friend! I’ll miss you forever!” Then she goes on with what turns out to be a very eloquent speech, no hard feelings, I hope the best for everybody. The only dent in this oratory is her bit about “It’s an honor to be kicked out by The Brigade.” No, it’s a symbol of you not paying attention, especially since other now-booted house guests tried to warn you. Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh.

Julie: Enzo, stand and evict somebody.

Enzo: “I’m going to make this short.” Then he proceeds to do the exact opposite, rambling for hours about meaningless crap. In the end, he fingers Britney. She graciously hugs everybody and departs, her designer heels clattering up the three short steps to freedom.

Exit Interview.

Jules: Lots of love and forgiveness at the end. What gives?

Brit: “I truly love them. They are my friends.”

Jules: Why didn’t you believe Ragan?

Brit: I thought I was working with The Brigade.

Jules: Forgive Lane?

Brit: “I really believe he wanted me in the Final Two.” But things happened.

Goodbye videos.

Hayden: “I feel like I betrayed you.” (You did.)

Enzo: “This was very hard.” (Didn’t seem like it.)

Lane: “I’m gonna miss everything about you. I wanted to take you to Final Two, but then Hayden won HOH.”

Britney cries throughout this bit, shedding enough tears to be realistic but not enough to cause mascara complications. Then Julie shoves her off the stage. “The final HOH Competition is coming up!”

Commercials. (Well, in our local weather case, more news reporters talking to rain-soaked citizens “See that there lake right there? That was just a puddle yesterday. Sure was.” Then a cow floats by. They turn and wave.)

Back to Jules, talking to the three remaining boys in the courtyard. As is usual, the final HOH Competition is a three-parter. The winners of the first two parts compete in the final round for HOH. This first part involves the boys riding on little swings that whip from side to side in the yard, slamming the riders into padded walls. Enzo is greatly impressed with this, screaming stupid Meow-Meow phrases of eventual triumph, so I’m guessing he knows all about S&M.

Julie, startled by Enzo’s apparent thrill at being hurled against a wall: “Oh my.”

Commercials again. Did you know that fake butter can change your life?

Jules again: Tomorrow is the conclusion of Part 1. We’ll also see Part 2, live. Then next Wednesday is the two-hour finale! She beams like this is a gift from Heaven.

What, no Sunday show? Then again, Julie’s only here for one hour a week, so she may not be totally clued in. We’ll see.

Back to the live competition. Jules: “Time for a grenade!” A waterfall starts pouring down in the middle of the yard, so the swinging boys have to splash through it as they swing from side to side.

And the three fool boys scream like it’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to them.

God.

Roll end credits.

#166 - “Big Brother” - Season 12, Episode 26

The Announcer Guy does his standard review of the last few episodes. More shots of Ragan running about the house, trying to save himself. Lane in the Diary Room, constantly repeating that he wants to take Britney to the end, but not actually doing anything to make that happen. Glimpses into lots of empty rooms to show that this place is basically a ghost town, with faded memories of hair extensions and mascara. Oh, and the HOH Competition is still going on.

Series of Diary Room confessions.

Hayden, about the HOH Comp: “A lot of glass is gonna break!” (Yep, especially with Britney apparently misunderstanding the directions, and hurling her ornaments across the lawn with wild abandon.)

Enzo: “This is the biggest HOH of the season!” (Perhaps. But you’re still not going to win, right? Because no one would know what to do with themselves if you did.)

Lane, about being unable to compete since he’s outgoing HOH: He’s very frustrated that the other three are so stupid at this game. (Kettle, black?)

Britney, whining: “I’m the outsider! It sucks!” (Uh huh. And where was your sympathy when all those before you fell under the crushing weight of being the outsider? It’s a whole different world when your ability to accessorize is no longer important.)

And we head back to the HOH Competition, where the BB producers have snuck in and built a barrier around Britney, because the flying glass shards from her four billion smashed ornaments could turn this into a “True Blood” episode at any second. After a bit, it gets boring watching fingers poke through chicken wire, so we head back to the Diary Room.

Enzo: I took my time because I wanted to be very accurate. (So that’s what you’re doing now? Reclassifying your suckiness as “accuracy” so that it sounds better?)

Hayden: “In baseball, they teach us about soft hands.” (What the HELL does that mean? That Ragan would be the best at this challenge? That there was hanky panky in the high school locker room disguised as athletic advice?)

Lane, about Britney: “I don’t know what happened in your childhood. Do you hate Christmas?”

Enzo, about the sounds coming from Britney’s booth: “I thought I was in Newark. Glass shattering everywhere.” (Then his eyes get a little misty, as he fondly remembers the good times on a Newark Saturday night.)

Suddenly, we see that Britney is starting to figure things out and catch up, passing Enzo. (Okay, passing Enzo is no big, but still.) There’s actually some excitement building, as Britney’s suddenly nimble fingers start zipping along, racing to catch Hayden. On the sidelines, Lane’s jaw drops open. (Of course, this happens with Lane over many things, like the wind blowing or indoor plumbing.)

But her last-minute efforts are not enough, and Hayden wins HOH.

Britney in the Diary Room: “It’s the first time I’ve felt like no one will help me!” Then her eyes well with glistening tears, but she refuses to allow them to fall, because a wet face in the fashion world is SO not cool.

Enzo, Hayden and Lane, sitting around. Enzo: “We’ve won four competitions in a row!” (No, Enzo, you only won one. Everybody else has won, like, 700 times. You, ONE.) Then Enzo is in the Diary Room, going off about The Brigade being the greatest alliance ever. (What did they feed him as a child? We need to find out, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.)

Shots of Britney in bed, flopping around and looking devastated. Then she’s back in the Diary Room, overwhelmed with her helplessness, and finally the tears start gushing, who cares if it makes rivulets in her multi-layered foundation.

Time to see Hayden’s HOH Room, but instead of the former thundering herd running up the spiral staircase, the tiny quartet is gingerly tiptoeing along, like they’re in a museum. Once in the room, we have the normal fake oohing and ahhing, except for Lane, who is greatly disturbed by something he spies among Hayden’s goodies. (In the Diary Room: “He had girly foo-foo shampoo in his basket!” That is WRONG!)

Scene with Lane jacking around with outdoor grill, trying to get it to start. Britney tries to tell him to quit banging on that igniter, because we could die. (Britney in the Diary Room: “All I want is a simple hot dog, not my flesh to melt.”) Hayden runs to join Lane while Britney quivers at the back door. Suddenly, the thing catches and there’s a small nuclear explosion, luckily contained within the closed lid of the grill. Lane: “That was awesome!”

And this boy child is allowed to drive on our nation’s highways. Feel safe?

After this near-death experience, they traipse back in the house and find that the kitchen table has been replaced with a dinky little thing that barely holds four. They marvel at this, and then, as apparently directed to do so because it seems so staged, they sit down and reflect back on their time in the house. We learn nothing of any interest. Next.

Hayden and Lane, somewhere, reflecting on the final strategies. Hayden: “Nobody’s gonna want me at the end.” Lane begs to differ, and they end up basically promising never-ending devotion no matter what, even though neither one of them really means it. (Lane in the Diary Room: “I’ll say whatever Hayden wants to hear.” Now, how do I get out of this room again?)

Enzo and Hayden, somewhere, discussing performance abilities. Enzo is whining that he never wins anything. Hayden begs to differ, saying “I’ll let you win if you take me to the Final Two.” (At Hayden’s words, the BB producers insert one of those dramatic noises on the soundtrack, so I don’t know if they know something we don’t, or if they’re just messing with us.)

Hayden, Lane and Britney are sitting at the kitchen table, bored. They suddenly spy a giant pig out in the courtyard, and race in that direction to see what’s up, because any activity is better than having to look at each other for one more second. It’s a piggy bank, and it’s time for a Luxury Competition. Each player gets a coin, they take turns hiding their coin in the house, and then everybody searches for the other coins. Your coin gets found, you’re out. Last coin standing wins $10K.

So then we watch the “hiding of the coins” ceremony. The locations of the coins are not important. What is much more interesting is when they all race back in the house to do the search and seizure. These people tear that place UP, knocking over and breaking things, shoes and bras flying through the air.

Enzo finds Hayden’s coin. (Hayden and his air go back outside to pout.)

Britney finds Enzo’s coin. (In the Diary Room, Enzo whines and then bites his knuckle. What was that maneuver? It didn’t look like something a straight guy would do, in case that’s what he’s thinking.)

Britney keeps fiddling with the recycling bin where Lane has stashed his coin. Seriously, she goes through that thing at least 46 times without success, while Lane stands nearby and keeps weakly saying “we’ve already checked that”. Suddenly, she hits pay dirt and celebrates just a little too much over winning the money. (Britney, say this word with me: “Target”. Quit bouncing and calmly go sit down somewhere.)

Now the producers show us some filler scenes, because there’s only so much strategy four people can talk about but they’ve got to round out the hour episode. First we have Britney in the Diary Room, still bored: “Everyone just sleeps all day.” To liven things up, she goes out to the courtyard and starts beating on Hayden with a pillow. (I fully understand the motivation. That hair must die!) This turns into an extended pillow fight, with Enzo getting sucked into the action, and people are running and screaming.

Then we have Britney and Lane in the HOH Room. She’s whining about her beau back home. “I don’t wanna be broken up with!” Lane, who lets us know in the Diary Room that he’s hated Spencer or whatever his name is since he first found out about this love obstruction, tries to trash her intended. “You like girly guys.”

Britney: “I want guys who praise me” and bring me flowers. Lane: “I’m not the mushy kind of guy.” (In the Diary Room, Lane fleshes this out: “Real men will give protection, not flowers.” A date means “going to the bar for a beer and a steak.”)

Nice catch, eh? Something tells me that Lane will unable to keep any woman in his cave for very long.

Hayden and Enzo in the HOH Room. Hayden: “We gotta get Britney out.” Enzo: What about Lane? He’s guaranteed at least the $50K.” Hayden: “Maybe we should get rid of Lane.” Then they run vague strategies, but it’s hard to pay attention because they keep shoving something chewy in their mouths the entire time.

Time for Hayden to make his “Duties as HOH” voiceover speech while he stares at the sparsely-populated House Guest Wall. We see Britney, Lane and Enzo in the Diary Room, but they don’t say anything interesting or new, so we go right to the Nomination Ceremony.

Hayden trots out with the key wheel, which is now bigger than the miniscule kitchen table. Of course, at this point, there’s only the single key, which Hayden promptly pulls out. It’s Enzo’s.

Britney and Lane are on the block. No real surprise.

Hayden’s explanation speech is very short: “Nothing against you. Strategy. Thanks for stopping by.”

Britney in the Diary Room: “I’m gonna win POV! (Do you think Spencer still loves me?)

Lane in the Diary Room: “My best shot is still Britney. I’ve got to win the Veto, save Britney, and send Enzo home.” (Do you think Britney still loves me?)

Enzo in the Diary Room: “If I don’t win Veto, I’m probably going home.” (I love myself, and that’s all that really matters.)

Roll end credits.

#165 - “Big Brother” - Season 12, Episode 25

Editor’s Note: As mentioned with the previous “Big Brother” post, there have been some DVR issues at the house. The following review is actually for last Thursday night’s episode, so there’s obviously been a delay. Luckily, the recording of tonight’s episode was successful, so I should be back on track by morning. Bear with me…

We start off with the standard review of the last few episodes. We have Hayden in the Diary Room babbling that “Public Enemy Number One is now Ragan!” (Seriously, public enemy? You need to branch out with your movie-watching, Hayden.) Another shot of Lane doing that weird thing with his tongue when he carried out the giant nomination wheel. (Who the hell was he looking at when he did it? THAT’S the burning question.) And yet another glimpse of Ragan throwing the CD that bounced off both the singing clam and Enzo’s head. (Still love that.)

The Announcer Guy has a teaser: “We finally get to see the jury house!” (About time.) “And the jury house explodes when Matt reveals his lie!” (Yay! Been waiting for that!)

Cut to Julie with the live studio audience. Shockingly, we see that someone has stolen parts of her dress, right at the shoulders. Poor thing. Anyway, she’s in one of her manic moods, frothing with delight at her revelations. “Will the Brigade lose their second member? Will the Brigade continue to fracture?”

Then we have another showing of Lane replacing Veto-winner Enzo with Hayden, which leads to Diary Room confessions.

Hayden: “That’s not cool, dude.” (Then a bald eagle flies out of his hair and three cameramen are killed.)

Britney: All my subtle breast-flopping with Lane paid off!

Lane: “I couldn’t risk sending Britney home. I want her in the Final Two.” (Then he hears Britney reaching for something on an upper shelf in the kitchen, and he races out of the Diary Room.)

Enzo: “The plan is for Ragan to go, so that’s who is going home.” (Then he does his weird trademark thing of look off to the left, even though we know nobody is standing there.)

Ragan: “I’m not gonna roll over and cry!” (Oh, I’m sorry, he said “die”, not cry. My bad.)

Hayden, Enzo and Lane sitting around. Hayden: “One of us is going to get the money!” Their eyes collectively sparkle with greed and subliminal all-male celebration. Lane in the Diary Room: I still want Britney beside me at the end. “Britney has more enemies in the Jury House than any Brigade member.” (Not really sure about that. Especially, since Matty is now over there, most likely spilling tea.)

Ragan goes to Britney. “Can we have a conversation?” (Ragan in the Diary Room: There are only two votes this time. I’m trying to get hers.) Ragan to Britney: How do you get to the end? What’s the best path. Then he spells it out, that Britney can’t win with the other guys beside her, she only has a chance if it’s Ragan. (Britney in the Diary Room: Ragan has some good points. Judging by what we’re seeing in Britney’s skimpy bathing suit top, so does she.) Britney to Ragan: I’d advise you to go talk to Lane. Now.

Ragan and Lane. Ragan: “Are you here to give away $500K? If you’re up against either of those boys, you lose. The jury always asks what your big move was. This is the week where you can answer that. It’s the move that nobody expects.”

Ragan is very persuasive, especially because he’s being completely honest. Trouble is, he’s talking to Lane, who was not blessed with the ability to think clearly or tie his own shoes. (Lane in the Diary Room: “It’s time for some tough decisions.” Translation: I have to think, and I didn’t go to that school.)

Back to Julie, with the caterwauling live studio audience. We’re about to get our first look at the Jury House! Matt reveals his lie! How will they react! (Um, I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count.)

Boring commercials.

Jules talks to the House Guests. How’d you like those three punishments? (Ragan thought they were pretty swell, especially the dancing, because he feels good when he dances. So he’s going to tap-dance his way out of the house?) Julie to Enzo: The penguin suit. Discuss. Enzo: “I did give the penguin some swagger.” (If, by that, you mean groping yourself at every opportunity, yes, you did.) Julie to Britney: Worst thing about living with just men? Britney: They dirty and nasty! (Brit, have you never met a straight man before? I mean, I know you’re engaged and everything, but you might want to check his references.)

Julie: It’s time to go to the Jury House!

So we first see shots of Rachel, relaxing and enjoying her quiet time, floating in the fancy pool without need of a raft, because she’s got Jupiter and Saturn keeping her afloat. Then Kathy shows up, and the two drag queens hug. (They show us shots of Rachel and Kathy bonding, which mainly consist of Kathy looking terrified that Rachel’s loud braying might kill her.)

Then Matt walks in, and everybody has to pretend that they are excited about this. They watch the DVD that Matt has brought, showing the latest exploits in the house. They continued to pretend that they are excited about this. Finally, Brendon walks in, and Rachel is clearly disappointed, instead of rushing into his loving arms. “I wanted you to win! You should still be there!” Rachel gets around to remembering that she’s supposed to support her partner, and allows Brendon to hug her. He does so with a beatific expression indicating that he has just wrapped his arms around the Madonna. Poor guy.

Cut to Julie in the studio. “Matt’s about to reveal his secret!” (Okay, shut up, girl. Just play the video.)

Back to the Jury House. Matt: “I have another surprise.” My sickly wife? She’s not really. Hee hee. Brendon: “You are going to hell.” Kathy, livid: “There ARE sick people out there. And I’m one of them.” (Which sounds a little odd, but remember, Kathy has been fighting cancer for years.) She stomps off. Rachel: “You are the most horrible person I’ve ever met.”

Didn’t go so well, did it, Matt?

Matt follows Kathy and tries to console her. She wants nothing to do with him. “Have you ever lost someone?” When Matt tries to save himself by saying that he was planning on donating some of his prize money to the disease (that basically doesn’t exist) Kathy, Rachel and Brendon lose it again. Me thinks that Matty is going to be spending a lot of time in his room.

Once again back to Julie in the studio, where she is talking to Lane in the HOH Room.

Julie: “Are you worried about fallout from The Brigade?” Lane: “I trust them 100%. But I couldn’t take the chance that they would send Britney home.” (Which means that you DON’T trust them, Lane. Do you have access to a dictionary?) Julie: “Are you trying to appear less smart than you really are?” Lane: His incoherent babbling thusly proves that, no, there’s no strategy with this. He’s just stupid.

Julie once more, trying to make herself heard over that one woman in the audience who always seems to be there, the one who wails like a fire engine over every single thing that happens. (WHY do they keep asking her back? Is she related to some big shot at CBS? Oh wait, that would be Julie.)

She goes back to the House Guests, huddled in the Couch Room. Time for the Save Me speeches. Ragan: He talks about his dad that passed away, and the importance of family. And that if he has to leave, he’s really excited about making cookies for everyone in the Jury House. Hmmm. First part good, second part, not so. Hayden: I’m just happy to be here. I’m not going to say anything bad about Ragan. But he has plenty of pointless things to say about everything else, rambling on for decades.

We finally get to The Vote.

Not surprisingly, but still a little disappointingly, Enzo and Britney vote for Ragan to leave. He’s going home.

Not that it appears to bother him too much. He seems very excited with what’s about to happen. “I get to meet Julie Chen!” Then he races out the door, pirouetting and such.

Exit interview.

Julie: “You made a compelling argument for keeping you in the last few days. What went wrong?” (Translation: Why are these people such idiots?) Ragan: “That group of four is closer knit. But it was a big mistake on their part.” Julie: “Why didn’t you act on your Brigade suspicions?” (Translation: Dumb-ass, you had your chance and you blew it.) Ragan: Matty wanted to keep them. And I think Matt is a wonderful, genuine, real person. (Translation: I wanted to have his baby, and I wasn’t paying attention.)

In the “goodbye” videos, Enzo actually has the nerve to ask Ragan to vote for him in the end. Figures. Jersey Boys, right? I shafted you but love me anyway.

Time for the HOH Competition.

It’s a Christmas theme. The players have to stand on one side of chicken wire, and then manipulate ornaments on the other side up the chicken wire and place them on a tree. First to fully decorate their tree wins. There are 18 ornaments and a star. We know right away that we are not going to see a winner during the course of this episode.

Britney manages to drop her first three ornaments right away, while quaint Christmas music plays in the background, so her suckage is immediately evident. The cameras do show Enzo and Hayden doing their thing, but there’s a constant distraction of shattered ornament glass from in front of Britney’s area.

We cut to commercial, because Britney’s performance is so sad.

We come back to Julie: “Next Wednesday is a special Eviction Episode!” Oh?

And we end with more shots of the Yuletide festivities in the courtyard. Britney is busting things left and right, Enzo is doing a little better, (I know, right?), and Hayden is in the lead…

Roll end credits.