Matt and Brendon: The One-Two Punch

OMG! This season is just dragging by! Even a double eviction failed to muster any excitement among the house guests or for that matter, the viewers.

The house guests were prepped and ready for the double eviction and didn't even flinch when Julie announced it to them. Maybe it's time to rethink the DE as a tactic of throwing off the house guests. Overused and anticipated, the DE has really lost its punch.

Strike Three for Matt

It was a given that Matt was going home this week. At some point in the future, I hope that Matt sees it was his own arrogance that lead to his downfall. Feeling safe, he threw the HOH competition and then proceeded to push for Enzo to go on the block.

After Brendon won the POV, Matt shifted gears and began suggesting Britney put his "best friend" in the house, Ragan, on the block. Why? Because the Brigade is so loyal? Matt knew that the Brigade was falling apart, so why the sudden loyalty to them? At the very least, Matt must have known that his words would get back to Ragan.

Once on the block, Matt noticed that Ragan was acting differently, so he approached Britney about Ragan. While Britney fed Matt BS about the situation, he realized that Britney had told Ragan that he threw him under the bus. Duh, Matt, of course she's going to tell him.

So, Matt's idea of damage control? Talk more crap about Ragan to the "Brigade." Stupid strategy from someone who thinks he's the best player in the history of the game and is the self-proclaimed, "super genius."

Matt could have turned Ragan's moment of revelation about the Brigade into a positive for himself by saying something like, "Yeah, we were in an alliance but not anymore. They were gonna dump me last week for Lane, so I'm 100 percent a free agent." Instead, he runs to Hayden and Lane and tells them Ragan knows about their alliance.

Matt's biggest flaw in the game is trying to think for the rest of the house. He tried to turn things by making Ragan seem like the biggest threat to the Brigade. Did he really think Hayden and Lane would vote to keep him over Enzo because Ragan was supposedly coming after them?

Ragan's Light Bulb Moment

Ragan's "ah-ha" moment was great, and Matt's reaction to it was priceless. He has some interesting "tells" when on the spot. Matt looked away immediately and maintained a half-smile that made everything he said seem insincere. Ragan actually handed him a golden rope to save himself, and Matt threw it back in his face.

Matt should have confirmed it and then told Ragan that he could not out them because they would deny. He could have suggested that Ragan tell Brit and Brendon about Enzo's slip about splitting the votes, and his theory they were in an alliance. Who knows what might have happened.

Instead, Matt walked out the door. He should have worked the situation to his advantage because the only one close to being loyal to him was Ragan.

Awwwwkward!

Matt's interview with Julie was uncomfortable. Part way through, it occurred to me that Matt really wanted the "full" BB experience, and in his mind that experience included a showmance. Being married, a showmance with a woman was out of the question, so he opted for the gay member of the cast instead. Why else would he call it a showmance during the interview? I think he thought it made him cool or something.

He's still in denial about the condition of the Brigade. Matt would have been better off choosing a side and sticking to it rather than playing both sides against the middle which seemed to be the way he explained his strategy.

The worst part of the interview was how cool he tried to act with Julie. It never works for a nerdy guy to try to act cool. In fact, Andrew had one of the best after interviews of the season and came off way cooler by simply being himself.

Production Working Overtime On the "KISS" Philosophy

The HOH competition was ridiculously simple. One question and a race? Come on. Well, at least Hayden played to win but the competitions this year have sucked in determining the best player.

I would love to be a fly on the wall of a production meeting. "Hey, we've got five boys playing in the HOH this week. We need a fast, SIMPLE competition that someone will win without it going to a tie breaker." So, they toss a few ideas around, remember the leftover boxes and packing chips in the basement, and presto, they have a comp that even Enzo could potentially win!

My big question: Why didn't Enzo have to wear the penguin suit? Every other player has had to wear their costume through the entire live show and up to a few hours afterward. So why not Enzo? He eats when he's on slop, does not have to wear his costume the entire time, and generally disregards the rules. Yet still no penalty nom or vote? Would a penguin suit really have hampered his ability to play in the HOH?

Through the years, I've wondered about certain things. For instance, during BB8, I wondered if Eric's name was really in the bag when they drew for veto. Or last week, I wondered if everyone's buzzer actually worked during the veto competition. But during the HOH comp, I really wondered if Enzo had any names at all in his boxes. He did not find even one of the names!

The Pawn Always Goes Home!

Brendon should have had a "light bulb" moment when Hayden, Enzo and Lane headed off by themselves to discuss strategy prior to the nominations. Hayden and Enzo, sure fine, but Lane? Instead, Brendon joined them and was told he would be the pawn. I'm sure that's how it was expected to work out given the fact that Matt had spent a great deal of time making Ragan seem like the biggest threat in the house.

So after nominating, Brendon and Ragan, it was out to the backyard once more for the veto comp. The producers switched it up a bit this year when they used the Before/After competition for veto instead of HOH. It was a bit disconcerting and seemed hugely out of place.
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Enzo needs to rethink his comments about Kathy as a competitor. First out of the comp and simply not representing Jersey! Surprisingly, Britney did not do well in the comp, although, she may have thrown it to make herself seem less of a threat. In the end, Ragan topped Hayden (I've been wanting to use that phrase for awhile now :) ).

Ragan's veto speech was just a bit irritating as he invoked Janelle's words. But at this point in the game, I'm finding Ragan irritating on so many levels. As a result, Britney was the replacement nominee, and Brendon was evicted 3-0.

It was actually a win-win situation for the Brigade as both Brendon and Britney have each claimed an HOH and three POVs, so whoever they decided to put out was a bonus for them. I'm just surprised that Enzo did not want to split up the pair of Britney and Lane.

Brendon's interview was one of the best of the season. No malice. It's a game. His indecision about whether he would still be in the house if Ragan had not won the POV was a classic moment. Maybe he was just excited to be heading to the "real bed" where Rachel awaits. Who knows?

The real tragedy for me was that this week I liked Brendon far more than I had previously thought possible. I was even starting to hope for a Brendon win.

The show ended abruptly after Brendon's interview with the HOH comp to be played after the live show.
Here's a random piece of advice for the producers: After 12 seasons of this show, the time has come to switch up Julie's scripts. Julie is just too predictable both in her segues to a new segment and her interviews.

SPOILER ALERT

The HOH comp for this week was finally played and Lane won, putting him in the position of having to nominate either one of the members of the Brigade or Britney. Clearly, Ragan will go on the block, but will Lane put up Britney, Hayden or Enzo?

Here are some possible "worst case" scenarios for Lane.

1.) He nominates Ragan and Britney. Ragan wins POV and Lane then must replace him with Hayden or Enzo. The vote splits with Ragan voting for the Brigade member, and Britney receiving the remaining vote. Lane would then be forced to cast the tie breaker.

2.) Lane nominates Ragan and a Brigade member, the Brigade member wins POV pulls "hisself" off the block, and Lane puts Britney up leaving the power in Enzo and Hayden's hands, who conceivably might vote off Britney as the bigger threat.

Worst case scenario for viewers is the final three will be Enzo, Hayden and Lane. The first round of the HOH will last about five minutes as Enzo drops out immediately followed closely by Lane. Ugggh!