Big Brother 17

[Timewalker]

I would use 'Vindictive'. She seemed vacant in the first couple weeks but as HoH she's been very deliberate.

I think Vanessa's gone. Austin, Liz and Julia may prefer her over Shelli, but they will vote with the majority if there's no chance.

I wonder who the second evictee will be. Becky and Austin seem most likely targets. Maybe James or the twins. Only ones I'd be surprised to see go tonight are Jackie, Meg, John, Steve.

That'd be kind of an awesome end to the night. Vanessa and Becky consigned alone to the jury house.

Except that's not how it turned out. Shelly and Jackie are now in the jury house.

So if Steve is so worried that Becky's out to get him, why didn't he put her on the block?

Damn, she went from "I barely remembered she was there" to "I can't stand her" all within a few days. And yes, "vindictive" is a good word. She was obnoxious tonight.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Steve is living the reality show version of Mr. Robot, complete with misplaced paranoia and voice-overs to a camera.

Snorting a few lines of morphine should straighten him right out.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I have no idea where Steve's nominations came from tonight. Jackie's the last person I expected to see go home tonight, but I guess you can't account for the random musings of a person's complete lack of strategy. What did happen? Was Steve planning to backdoor Becky and John figured it out and protected her? Anyone with the feeds have any insight into that?

I can't believe Vanessa managed to squirm her way out of eviction this week. That was a Dan-level escape.

 

[Timewalker]

Yeah, something far beyond what they showed last night must have gone into these situations. It looks like Vanessa found out that Shelly hadn't been honest with some of the people she'd talked to, and let them know. And evidently there was some compelling reason not to put Becky up - the obvious one being that if Becky wasn't voted out, she'd be even nastier. But that's a problem they face every week, so maybe it's something that only the people who have access to the feeds would have seen.

That said, while I'm not upset that Jackie was evicted, I wish it had been Meg. I really do not like her.

 

[fonzob1]

That said, while I'm not upset that Jackie was evicted, I wish it had been Meg. I really do not like her.

I agree. Meg is pretty annoying.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't mind Meg as a person but she has no game and I'm afraid she'll coast to the end.

It occurred to me that we're probably a week or two away from Zingbot. It usually happens in the 8 or 9 week. That's always a fun episode.

Why are they letting someone back in again? They've started doing it every year and always with the 8-11 people. It doesn't add much to the game when they do that.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Chenbot was very vague and said that Jury members may still be able to "affect" the game. The house guests are assuming that this means re-entry but it could be just voting on who to give a special power to, or participating in a comp and then returning to the Jury house.

I agree that the returning house guest thing usually fizzles and should be abandoned.

 

[Danny99]

The returning houseguest comes in with a target on their back and even if they get past the first week or into an alliance, they become expendable pretty quick (see: Judd)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I turned it off before the coming scenes, any hint that Zingbot may be tomorrow?

I won't be home at 8, just wondering whether I should stay up to watch it at midnight or if I can wait until after work the next day.

 

[Timewalker]

Chenbot was very vague and said that Jury members may still be able to "affect" the game. The house guests are assuming that this means re-entry but it could be just voting on who to give a special power to, or participating in a comp and then returning to the Jury house.

I agree that the returning house guest thing usually fizzles and should be abandoned.

I miss those crazy food competitions they used to have, to see what kinds of food they'd get for the following week. And why did they change from PB&J to "slop"?

 

[fonzob1]

Chenbot was very vague and said that Jury members may still be able to "affect" the game. The house guests are assuming that this means re-entry but it could be just voting on who to give a special power to, or participating in a comp and then returning to the Jury house.

I agree that the returning house guest thing usually fizzles and should be abandoned.

I miss those crazy food competitions they used to have, to see what kinds of food they'd get for the following week. And why did they change from PB&J to "slop"?

I agree about the food competitions. I liked that twist better than having two HOH's.

My guess about the slop is that, although it tastes horrible, it probably has better nutrition than PB&J sandwiches.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Battle of the Block was one of my favorite rule changes they've done because it increases the strategic complexity and places more emphasis on social game. Also you can account for it in your plans so it's not like "Surprise, you're screwed!"

The food competitions where they were all team competitions were a little dull to me and inconsequential but food/reward competitions can be fun. I like individual food/reward comps because it creates fun betrayal ops but I'm not a fan of have nots. Slop was a gimmick one year and I'm not sure why they stuck with it as it's not much more of a threat than PB&J. I don't know why they didn't stick to the BB Takeover. That was fun and I like the idea of having some kind of small rule change every week.

But the one I hate the most is Coup De Tat. "The audience gets to evict someone and usually after the veto is done!" Or basically anything where the audience votes somebody a power.

I wish they'd do something about everyone just leaning on the backdoor strategy. Like, I wouldn't mind if they added a twist "You can only put up people who played in the comp as replacements". And with that they'd have to make it so the houseguest and nominees all picked players again instead of the random draw. That would lead to interesting selection strategies, encourage just putting your target directly up and force you to call out anyone you wanted to use as a replacement.

Also I don't know why they abandoned Pandora's Box because it always leads to fun and amusement. Jessie Claus was one of the most hilarious moments of the show.

 

[fonzob1]

I wish they'd do something about everyone just leaning on the backdoor strategy. Like, I wouldn't mind if they added a twist "You can only put up people who played in the comp as replacements". And with that they'd have to make it so the houseguest and nominees all picked players again instead of the random draw. That would lead to interesting selection strategies, encourage just putting your target directly up and force you to call out anyone you wanted to use as a replacement.

How about the person who loses the Veto competition is automatically a replacement if they are not already on the block?

 

[Timewalker]

I wish they'd do something about everyone just leaning on the backdoor strategy. Like, I wouldn't mind if they added a twist "You can only put up people who played in the comp as replacements". And with that they'd have to make it so the houseguest and nominees all picked players again instead of the random draw. That would lead to interesting selection strategies, encourage just putting your target directly up and force you to call out anyone you wanted to use as a replacement.

How about the person who loses the Veto competition is automatically a replacement if they are not already on the block?

There are 6 people in the Veto competition, and only two of them are on the block. One is the HOH. So depending on who wins, there might be 3 people who fit this condition. How would you figure out which one would be a replacement - assuming a replacement is needed?

 

[fonzob1]

I wish they'd do something about everyone just leaning on the backdoor strategy. Like, I wouldn't mind if they added a twist "You can only put up people who played in the comp as replacements". And with that they'd have to make it so the houseguest and nominees all picked players again instead of the random draw. That would lead to interesting selection strategies, encourage just putting your target directly up and force you to call out anyone you wanted to use as a replacement.

How about the person who loses the Veto competition is automatically a replacement if they are not already on the block?

There are 6 people in the Veto competition, and only two of them are on the block. One is the HOH. So depending on who wins, there might be 3 people who fit this condition. How would you figure out which one would be a replacement - assuming a replacement is needed?

Whoever comes in last. Remove the HOH from the competition. Whoever comes in first gets immunity.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I would still have the HoH pick the replacement, I just think that if the plans are to put somebody up as a replacement they should have to call them out and beat them in a comp.

That OTEV thing was annoying. Did they have to have him scream 'BUTTEEEERRRR' in a cheesy hair band voice every time?

 

[Timewalker]

How about the person who loses the Veto competition is automatically a replacement if they are not already on the block?

There are 6 people in the Veto competition, and only two of them are on the block. One is the HOH. So depending on who wins, there might be 3 people who fit this condition. How would you figure out which one would be a replacement - assuming a replacement is needed?

Whoever comes in last. Remove the HOH from the competition. Whoever comes in first gets immunity.

What if both nominees come in last? As I said, there are three people in the competition who are neither a nominee, nor the HOH. If one of those wins, who becomes the "automatic replacement"?

In last night's episode, Liz won (and she was also HOH). But hypothetically, let's say that Austin had won (neither HOH nor a nominee). Let's say he chooses to veto John, so John comes off the block. Who is the "automatic replacement"? Becky is still on the block. Someone else has to go up. Are you saying it has to be someone who played in the veto competition (which would mean either Meg or Steve? Considering that both of them were picked by lottery, how is that fair?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

@Timewalker

My suggestion is that the veto selection process goes back to the HoH and nominees picking participants instead of a lottery. The idea is that, if you are the HoH and want to backdoor somebody, you have to put them in the veto comp. Also it would create a situation where nominees have to risk exposing their allies to get them in.

I know the themes of these Big Brother comps are inherently a little stupid but I think this year's OTEV was a little too stupid. In some cases like the comic books and Zingbot the stupidness is entertaining enough to not care how stupid it is. But this OTEV was just annoying, looked ugly and screamed a lot.

I think Liz was strategically correct not to put up Vanessa. Vanessa is the only thing keeping people from noticing that there is a right power of 3 sitting right next to her.

 

[fonzob1]

What if both nominees come in last?

Choose comps where there is a clear pecking order and only one person comes in dead last. If both nominees come in the last two spots both nominees stay the same, and no one serves as a replacement.

As I said, there are three people in the competition who are neither a nominee, nor the HOH.

Every house guest should participate except the HOH in this scenario. I believe the game rules use to be such that everyone participated in the Veto competition. That was changed somewhere along the line because it decreased the odds of a nominee winning.

If one of those wins, who becomes the "automatic replacement"?

There would only be an automatic replacement if both of the nominees did not fill in the last two spots in the competition. Otherwise, the house guest who won the Veto competition would have to choose which nominee to pull of the block to automatically replace with the lowest tiered player.

I would like to see them try something like this because it would raise the stakes for house guests having a mind to throw the comp. It would give more meaning to the comp because everyone would be at risk. It would also eliminate the issue of the HOH getting "more blood on their hands."

In last night's episode, Liz won (and she was also HOH). But hypothetically, let's say that Austin had won (neither HOH nor a nominee). Let's say he chooses to veto John, so John comes off the block. Who is the "automatic replacement"? Becky is still on the block. Someone else has to go up. Are you saying it has to be someone who played in the veto competition (which would mean either Meg or Steve? Considering that both of them were picked by lottery, how is that fair?

See above. Everyone plays like back in the old days (except the HOH).

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I wouldn't want last place in the comp to decide the replacement, as it takes away from the strategic aspect of the game if nominations aren't the result of another player's choice.

I'm just sick of everybody planning a backdoor every week.