Big Brother 16: A Weekly Big Brother Season Retrospective

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[00:00:47] Welcome back to the Big Brother Retrospective Podcast. We are here this week to talk about Big Brother 16. I'm your host, Tern Armstrong, and I'm joined today by a panel of Big Brother 16 experts, the first of which is AJ. How you doing, AJ? I'm doing great, Taryn. I'm glad to be here as I talk to you and Melissa about this season.

[00:01:12] Honestly, the season that made me a super fan, if I'm being honest with you. Like this really was the season. So I'm excited to talk about it. Well, I have a thing I need to say, which is that AJ and I have been in an all guys alliance. Luckily, I feel like that's kind of played out. So we should probably invite a woman into the alliance. So I'm just gonna unilaterally make the decision. Melissa should also join us on this podcast. Melissa, how you doing?

[00:01:41] I'm just happy to be the last girl standing. That frustrated me so much. Anyway, okay. I'm doing great. I'm so excited to be here to talk Big Brother 16. I'm, I'm honestly like extremely excited to talk Big Brother 16 because Big Brother 16 was when I first started listening to Rob has a podcast.

[00:02:04] And I was like, get me on that podcast. I want to talk and then like it wasn't till like years later when I like actually joined but like, I would have loved to talk on Rob has a podcast during that season. I was like, I would respond like to the podcast and I would respond like on the live feeds being like that was so frustrating. So I am very excited to be here.

[00:02:27] Yeah, that's, that's actually an interesting point. I hadn't even thought about this. But yes, Big Brother 16 is the last season that I was not on the podcast for. Um, and in many ways, uh, is, is the catalyst for my involvement in the podcast because after the events of season 16, uh, Rob needed new people. Um, and, uh, and I was one of those people.

[00:02:53] Yes. After the undisclosed events on the podcast. Uh, yeah, no. And it was like, I, I was just so like, I felt this was one of the seasons that I felt extremely passionate about. There are a few seasons like that. Um, that I can remember feeling like this way about, um, I felt this way about big brother OTT. Uh, I felt this way about probably,

[00:03:23] probably the season with the cookout. I felt this way. Um, I felt I, and I, there's very limited seasons where I felt this much passion towards the show. I felt, um, and, and like, you know, there was actually a recent thread, um, on the subreddit asking like about big brother 16. I don't remember if it was one that said like, say something positive about big brother 16, or if it was like,

[00:03:50] like what, or what's the takeaway for big brother 16, whatever the thread was, but it was about big brother 16. And one of the comments said big brother 16 was like one of the few seasons that made me feel like the full range of emotions.

[00:04:00] And that's how I felt like I, I was thinking about it and I was like, yes, I felt super, super highs and super, super lows. I felt sad. I felt happy. I felt angry. I felt like all of these various feelings about this season. Whereas I do feel like in some of the more recent seasons, I haven't really felt that. And I felt more just like annoyed and that's it. Or I felt like, you know, kind of just mad. Um, and this was one of those seasons that had a lot of everything.

[00:04:30] And yes, there are obviously some takeaways that, you know, that people don't like as much. They think it's boring. They think whatever, but like, there was a lot going for it to watch live during the time. It was, it was a, it was a thing.

[00:04:44] Like I'm sure it was that the battle of the block and, um, the dominance of Darius Wynn has very much been a cloud over the season where people like, this is not that good of a season. This is not that fun. But like literally going back and preparing for this podcast, I was like, these are some amazing characters. Like these people genuinely made me feel like these people evoked strong emotions for me. Like, and I was like, okay, I remember why I became a super fan of this show. And like, sure. The strategy wasn't the most compelling, but it was like the people around it, the chaos, the chaos.

[00:05:14] The mess that was happening. Like these people, like say what you want about these people. I think at least 14 out of 16, these people came to play and they may have got outplayed, but it was like so much fun game to watch. Like people, great strategies like Derek and Cody and then actively insane people like Devin and Zach and Jody. And it's like, how do these things coexist? And it was like a mess of a season, but like such a fun mess for me personally.

[00:05:41] I view it similar to like Big Brother 12 where it's like the strategy is not that great, but the supporting cast though is knocking it out the park. Totally. I absolutely agree. I like, I just, so I did a binge rewatch recently in preparation for this podcast. And so I, I, it just was crazy to me how much I remembered every single person on the cast.

[00:06:05] I feel like there are so many recent seasons where I'm like, who is that? What, what is this person? And in this season, it was like, everybody brought something to the table. Everybody was an interesting character or has gone on to do other things that would have been interesting. And it's, it, you don't really get that very often. I think the cast was amazing. Amazing. I think not in terms of gameplay, but in terms of personal copy, like AJ said, like it was just star studded. I loved it.

[00:06:35] Like not take over your podcast there, but like this cast alone produced three Big Brother winners. This cast also produced a challenge winner. Like someone who went on, um, the traders and amazing race survivor. Like this cast was someone that kept going to because of the entertainment and good energy and vibes that it brought. Not everyone brought great energy, but like, it's like, there's a reason why they kept going to as well, because it's so deep. And I'm still like, why did they bring Donnie back? Why are they bringing this person back?

[00:07:04] Like we brought so many people back. Like these people deserve another chance to shine. Totally. All right. Well, speaking about shining. Darren's like, um, let me take over. Well, there's some business we have to get to because last week Chappelle and I talked about Big Brother 15 and the audience has been voting for who should be on the Big Brother 15 poster.

[00:07:29] The top three players, uh, AJ, Melissa, who do you think is on the Big Brother 15 poster? I think Andy. I agree with Andy. Um, and then I, I, I think, like, I think Amanda and I think Aaron, like I, as much as I don't love that cover necessarily to have Aaron on the cover.

[00:07:53] I do think that she is what's memorable from that season in not a great way, obviously. But like, to me, if I'm thinking like, who are the most memorable characters from the season? I have to say Andy, Amanda and Aaron. I think. I, I understand where Melissa is coming from. Especially because like, because of Aaron, Big Brother did so much changes and made so many changes. It's always because of her and what she did in the season.

[00:08:21] But I disagree with Melissa strongly with my entire heart and soul. Like Andy, yes. But like, but like, how do you not have Alyssa in there? Like, she was like one of the most beloved people from that season as well as Helen. Like, I feel like those two women in this dark season of Big Brother 15 were like a couple of light points in it. So I think if you want to have a good feeling in your mouth, I will put Helen and Alyssa there. I can see Alyssa for sure. I guess like, I mean, she does have the most famous gif of Big Brother.

[00:08:51] But I, I do think that like, if I'm, if I just immediately think of the season, the three people I said were the people I immediately thought of. But yeah, I, I do think Alyssa absolutely could be on there. Well, Melissa, I think that AJ may have stolen your voice because. Andy. The people just, look, I think the people don't want to give it to Aaron.

[00:09:16] Like I, not that I want to, not that I want to give it to Aaron, but I, and this has been the case throughout this whole retrospective podcast is I do feel like there's a difference between like who we want to put on there and who we like think should represent the season versus like who actually represents the season. I don't know. I mean, who would you want on your bedroom wall? Well, is that what this is for? Cause that would be a different list.

[00:09:46] We would take different people for that. Uh, yes. Uh, that is the big brother 15 poster. We will be making a poster for big brother 16. If you want to go and vote at, uh, Rob's website.com slash BB retrospective. Uh, once this podcast ends, if I remember to update survey in that. Um, so let's talk about big brother 16.

[00:10:11] Um, and yeah, I mean, I feel like, you know, at this point in time, I think, I think talking about the podcast is relevant because, uh, this is really like the social media season. Um, and you know, you bring in Frankie Grande who has a million followers and he's a social media mogul. Um, and you know, the show is recently, uh, been made in HD now.

[00:10:37] Um, and so it's a lot more sort of, it's one of the, it's one of the last shows on network television to change, to make that change. Um, and so it no longer feels gross to look at. Um, and, uh, and they've tried to clean up their image a little bit. This is a little bit more of a sterilized cast compared to what they've been doing, uh, in, in previous seasons. That doesn't mean it's a perfect cast by any means.

[00:11:05] Um, but, uh, but in terms of like casting people who come from different backgrounds, AKA are racist. Um, you know, they, they definitely tried to, uh, to tone that down a little bit. Um, and while I think some may bemoan that change in general, the change of like, oh, we have less arguments and less fights and less drama because everyone doesn't want to look bad.

[00:11:31] Uh, I think that this is a good example of a season where that's not necessarily the case. At least at first there was plenty of drama and then, and then it, and it got less dramatic. Um, but, uh, I, I think you guys are right to point out that the cast is, uh, is very interesting and very memorable. Um, and has a lot of, um, this one, thank you. Uh, has a lot of future potential in reality television.

[00:11:58] Once called the worst cast in Big Brother, uh, history, uh, it has now produced the most success of any cast in Big Brother history, uh, Big Brother 16. So there's definitely some, some interesting things to note about, uh, the cast and the season as a whole. Like, I will say, like, I agree. Like this cast just feels so much different from the previous cast in the previous seasons.

[00:12:24] Like, I feel like I could have met most of the people on previous seasons of Big Brother, like just anywhere I go. This feels like a bunch of cartoon characters, if I'm being honest. I mean, look at them. They're like, they're all action figures. These are not real people. Like Frankie Grande does not exist. Caleb Beast Moe Cowboy does not exist. Like, these are not real people. Like, these are insane people that, like, I feel like, like you said, they were more, they felt more safe, but more like appealing to a wider audience, like to a younger audience.

[00:12:53] Like, look at the person with the blue hair. Look at the big guy that quote unquote looks like the rock. Like, these are people that are, like, easily recognizable. Like, just looking at the cast, it's like, oh, all these memories are flooding back. It's like, what's interesting is that this was the first season that I watched where I felt like I could, like, hang out with these people. This was the first season that I was watching where I was, like, the same age as everybody in the cast, basically.

[00:13:22] I was, like, right in the middle. And I would watch the live feeds and, like, have so much fun just, like, hanging out with them. Like, it sounds so pathetic, but, like, I literally felt like I was, like, hanging out with a bunch of friends. Because they would have these fun conversations or they'd do silly things or they'd act out things. And, like, Frankie, honestly, in the beginning was so entertaining.

[00:13:48] He would do these, like, fake personas or characters or whatever. And everyone would get involved. And, like, obviously, Zach was so fun to watch. And Hayden was, like, really fun. And just everybody in the cast was just, it just seemed like, I want to be part of this. Like, I want to hang out with these people. Like, I could see myself hanging out with these people. And, in fact, I did end up hanging out with the people. I went to the finale party.

[00:14:17] And, like, I went with a friend. And we snuck in. And we, I met a bunch of them. And then I ended up hanging out with Hayden afterwards. Like, I met his cousin. And then we ended up going to his apartment a few days later. I have literally, like, photos on my Instagram. A photo on my Instagram, if you, like, scroll all the way down of, like, me that night at Hayden's apartment. And, like, Hayden's in the shot.

[00:14:44] And then after that, he would come to, like, my law school events. Like, some of my fun, like, it was, like, law school, like, club nights or whatever. It was not, like, a law event. It was, like, we would party or whatever. And it was so much fun. I had such a good time. You know those events about the law? Yeah, those things. It was literally called Bar Review. And it was, like, a party at, like, a club in Hollywood or whatever. And the law school would put it on. It was, like, an actually sanctioned event. But anyway, it was super fun.

[00:15:13] And he's just such a nice guy. And, like, honestly, it was so much fun because I went to his... Sorry, I'm, like, totally taking this over. But this is one of the reasons I wanted to talk about it. Because they're 16. And so I'm, like, it's all pent up. I went to his apartment, like, a couple days after the finale party. And it was so cool to be able to, like, sit. It was sit in a hallway. And, like, me and Hayden were sitting in a hallway. And I was able to, like, tell him everything that I had seen on the live feeds. And, like, what I was, like, why didn't you do this?

[00:15:42] Or, like, what happened with this? Or, like, this is what Cody said about you behind your back or whatever. Like, these are all these things that I had been, like, I was, like, how do the... I want the house guests to know about this stuff. And I got to be the person to tell him about it. And it was just so cool. It was, like, a dream for a Big Brother fan, you know? And it was just such a fun time. And I was so inspired after this season that, like, I applied. Because I was, like, I want to get on this show. I want to be on there.

[00:16:11] Like, I know what I could do. I could do this. And, like, I could be one of these people. I've met them. Like, I feel like I could be part of this. And, obviously, casting had other thoughts on that. They did not think I could be part of it. But, you know, that was my one and only year applying. I was, like, it inspired me so much. So, like, obviously, like, I have, like, very strong feelings about the cast and, like, this season. So, yeah, it was great.

[00:16:40] And maybe when we talk about Big Brother 17 next week, we'll discuss who Melissa would have replaced if she had made it on Big Brother 17. Wait, yeah, you need to say how I would have done with that cast. I do not think, I do not think. And that's what's so funny is that the next season, I did not. I was, like, thank God I didn't get on this season. I do not feel like I could have, like, fit in with these people. So, it's very season-season. Like, Melissa, imagine being in the house with Vanessa. I would have struggled a lot.

[00:17:06] So, like, yeah, I honestly, like, at that season, I'm so glad I didn't get on because it's just totally opposite of this. But the interesting thing now is I went and I don't recommend doing this, looking up the ages of all the house guests when you're, like, watching the show because it will blow your mind. I am older than every single person on this cast except for Donnie. I'm almost 10 years older than Devin. Is that not crazy? Yeah. Like, you can't sit here and tell me Devin is 26.

[00:17:36] Like, what is she? Devin is 26! Like, literally. Brittany, who, when she has that whole, like, monologue about how she's the old lady in the house, she's 29. I, like, I, it blows my mind. So, yeah, I don't recommend doing that. Like, what got me onto that track was that the other day I was listening to Brittany talk about Big Brother 12 with you guys. And she had, and I was like, man, that's so crazy because, like, Brittany was so much, like, older than me at the time.

[00:18:04] And then I was like, I wonder, like, which she was not, but I thought she was. And then I went and I looked, looked it up. And she's, like, two years older than me. I've always thought of her as, like, this, not that she, like, looks older or anything, but it's just, like, I've always thought of her as this, like, older person because she's, like, been on the show so many times. And she's, like, a Big Brother legend. And I was like, I'm just, like, little old me. And it turns out we're, like, the same age. So, yeah, that was wild. It was, like, my mind, like, got, yeah. Yes.

[00:18:34] Some funny things, I think, to note about this cast in the preseason. Devin was a very popular kind of frontrunner. Everyone thought Devin was going to do so well because he was so charismatic in his preseason interviews that everyone talked about his great smile. Thought that was very funny. I remember Rob saying about Zach. He said, if Zach wins this season, it'll be the best season of all time.

[00:19:01] Because what a season it would be if this guy could win a season. And I close to that statement. Like, Zach will win this season. That's so funny. Oh, my God. So let's dig into it here. We start the season with an introduction to a new twist. The Battle of the Block, of course. Everyone knows what this is.

[00:19:28] There are going to be two HOHs every week, at least for a good portion of the season. They are going to each nominate two people. Those nominations, those nominees, will then compete against the other HOHs nominees. The winner of the nominee Battle of the Block competition will be safe. And their HOH that nominated them will be dethroned.

[00:19:53] And the losers of the Battle of the Block competition, their HOH, the HOH that nominated them, they will stay in place. And they will stay on the block. And the rest of the week will proceed as normal. The whole point of this twist, theoretically, based on the way they presented it at first, was that they really, they were like, winning HOH does not guarantee your safety in this season. They were like, what do you mean?

[00:20:20] Because you could be dethroned by having your nominees win the Battle of the Block challenge and then be nominated by the other HOH on the renom if the veto was used. We eventually see this happen to Nicole. And it wasn't even that interesting at all. No, I mean, I think like the idea of it like is like, oh, that's kind of an interesting concept. Two HOHs. Oh, interesting.

[00:20:46] But it completely eliminates the ability to nominate any threats because they'll just like win battle. Like it makes it so that nobody wants to nominate threats and you just like want to nominate someone weak. And it ends up being it just it's bad. No, it truly is terrible. And honestly, the antithesis of what the brother is supposed to be like.

[00:21:12] First off, what Melissa said, like, hey, people were scared to make certain moves that they was like, this is good for my game. I put these two people up, but they're likely going to win the Battle of the Block, then I'll be a danger of being put up and going home on the week I won HOH. Which is even doubly terrible because the point of winning HOH, why we love the show is we love seeing people that are in bad position rise to power. And now people that discarded them, they now have all the control and discernment your fate in the game. And now we're in a situation where it's like, it doesn't matter if you're the underdog.

[00:21:42] We can just take you out of power. Screw you and your power. Like we still run this game. Like what is this? Yes, we've talked about this many times, but in case you haven't heard much discussion about it, the Battle of the Block is flawed in many, many ways. The biggest of which is that it is very simple. Big Brother, numbers game, all about majorities, right? If there is a majority alliance and they compete in any given HOH competition, they have an advantage to win that competition.

[00:22:10] There's more of them, more of a chance for them to win that competition. However, if they lose the competition, then the person in the minority, the outsider, they have a chance to nominate two people from the majority and force them to turn on each other and all kinds of fun things when they're the two nominees, right? So while it's less likely to happen, you will occasionally get those moments where the outsider wins HOH. It's harder to find, but it will sometimes happen.

[00:22:35] In the Battle of the Block scenario, in a Battle of the Block scenario, there are two winners of the HOH every single week, which only further increase the chances that at least one of those winners will be in the majority. Now, in order for the minority to actually have control of the week, two of them need to win. Two of them in the same week need to win.

[00:23:01] Otherwise, a majority winner will be a co-HOH. And because of the way that the twist works, if you have a majority and you have a decent amount of control over that majority, you can game the system, which is exactly what happens. We'll talk about it. You can nominate at least one person who's willing to throw the Battle of the Block competition to guarantee that you remain as the sole HOH. And then you can do whatever you want after the veto.

[00:23:31] And you can continue to do whatever you want because you control the votes after the veto. You can even like, let's say you're saying, oh, well, OK, well, what if the minority tried to do that, too? They nominate somebody that's also going to try to throw the Battle of the Block competition. And then it'll be like a competition of who can throw the best, right? That's still a little bit fair, right? Only, no, because you're nominating an ally who's willing to throw the competition.

[00:23:56] And even if they succeed, they're now still on the block and you are not in the majority, which means you do not control the votes. So they need to also be able to get vetoed off the block in order for you to succeed. It's just so, so incredibly difficult to overcome a majority. And that's just based on the numbers. What you see immediately happen in Big Brother 16 is that is even on a higher level, on an even simpler level, there's so many competitions.

[00:24:24] It's going to be so hard to beat the people who are really good at competitions. And so if all of the big, beefy guys start getting into an alliance who are all going to win all the competitions, then they're going to have an even greater chance of success, which is exactly what happens in Big Brother 16. Immediately, all of these big guys think, well, we can dominate a season like this with all these competitions. Let's all group up together and work together and crush this season.

[00:24:53] And you might say, well, Karen, this is Big Brother. Just because they're big, beefy guys does not mean they're going to win all the competitions. That's not how Big Brother goes. Except this is really where that starts to not be true anymore. Because let me tell you, the male winner to female winner ratio for competitions this season is very, very skewed. There's a lot of guys that win a lot of comps.

[00:25:23] And in particular, the bomb squad, which forms, win the vast majority of the competitions this season. It is the first of its kind in how dominant a performance an alliance has. And a huge part of that is their ability to manipulate the twist. And so for those and many more reasons, it's a bad twist. And it lasts forever. Forever. Like even past jury. I couldn't believe it.

[00:25:52] Like in my mind, it was like a two-week twist. And then I realized as I was rewatching, like, oh no, this lasted so long. Oh my God. It's horrible. We're on.

[00:26:33] Let's get into some of the details here. In the first week, you had some really, I think the season is pretty interesting up through like week three. Then it gets pretty like, and then as soon as Hayden and Nicole are taken out, it's just a straight shot from there for the most part. But these first couple of weeks are wild.

[00:26:57] And you have exactly one person to blame and or thank for that. And that is, of course, Devin, who is Devin Shepard here. Everyone's favorite coming into the season. He looked like The Rock, as AJ said. That was said many times. He had this great smile. He seemed really smart. He seemed really charismatic.

[00:27:26] This guy's, he seemed really like on top of it strategically. This guy is going to crush the game. And wouldn't you know it? He goes into the game. He's one of the first people to enter the house. He's one of the first eight people to enter the house. They enter eight people first and then they wait a while. They enter the second half later. And that's part of this whole two HOHs thing. One person from each group is going to win an HOH.

[00:27:48] And he helps facilitate an immediate alliance, which is the Crazy Eights or something. Oh, yeah. Right away. Oh, the first eight people. Yeah. Yeah. Let's, let's all make an alliance. It's, we're the, we're the next coming of the elite eight. Let's take out our exes. And, and then within that, he makes an alliance, a secret final two with Donnie, which he calls the double Ds.

[00:28:18] And, and then the women of this group try to form their own alliance, which they call El Quatro. El Quatro. Which is going to, I believe this is the one, because at this point, because they're Big Brother Canada had started, right? It had just started. Yeah. Started. And so this was, this was, this was like, Hey, you can't, they just Big Brother Canada season one had an alliance called Quatro. You can't call yourself El Quatro. I was like, this is my copyright. They didn't care.

[00:28:49] Luckily it didn't last very long. Maybe unluckily, who knows? But all of this is basically for not because the second group comes in and, and like Devin sees, you know, some of the other people, um, and realizes with wide eyes, full of hearts, like, Oh, more buff bros. Um, and so, uh, him and Derek and, uh, Frankie and Caleb, uh, they come together.

[00:29:18] They're like, let's form a bro alliance. Let's pull in some other bros. Uh, they're going to grab Cody and, um, they're going to grab, who am I missing here? Zach. Um, and, uh, and so those six form what Caleb dubs the bomb squad. Uh, and, and Devin is like, Oh man, you know, I was really all in on the crazy eights and my double D alliance, but now I'm with the bombs.

[00:29:48] Now I'm with the squad, you know, I'm with the squad. And so, uh, now I've got to trick all of my other alliances into thinking I'm still loyal to them. Um, because that's just how Devin operated. Um, and, uh, and this is the start, this is the start here. And it all comes from Devin. Yes. He was wild and it's wild to like, see it happen to like where he's just like, Donnie and I were tight. We're going to do this together.

[00:30:15] And then like one minute later is like this guy, like, I'm just going to lie to him. Like it's just, he, he just turns on like a switch and it's, you don't know what you're getting with him. Like it would be impossible to be in an alliance with him because he's just like, he's this way, that way, this way, that way. It's like whatever way the wind's blowing is the way he's going to go. And it's, yeah, it makes for exciting TV, but yeah. Now that I'm with the squad, I need to make sure that Donnie thinks I'm still with him. So I have to put on my best acting chops. Yeah.

[00:30:45] It's like, what, what is this? Like, Oh God. Yeah. Like I understand the idea of like wanting to get into a big group first. Like that's been better one-on-one at this point in time. Like try to find the big group early on to lock in and go deep, run the game with. And like, this is like just the start of Devin's wishy-washiness because it gets actively worse. It's like, we haven't even got to the worst of it, but it's also like, why do you have to fake it with Donnie? Donnie could be your side piece. Like, why do you have to fake it? Exactly. Exactly.

[00:31:13] It's like, you can have more than one thing going on. Like, you don't just need to be like, it'd be good for you to like be, it doesn't need to be like your ride or die Alliance. Like I'm only going to go to the end with Donnie, but like, you don't have to sit there and lie. Just like work with him on the side. Like his logic just didn't make any sense all the time. The problem is he soon spots Donnie, like holding court, according to him, like basically making a couple people laugh. And he was like, this guy. He's like, I can't.

[00:31:42] He was like, what, making bird noises or something? He was in the army. I'm telling you, he's lying about who he is. He's lying. He's, he's, he's tricking us. This guy, he's, he's gotta go. Now, all of a sudden his secret final two Double D Alliance member has to go in the first week. He wants him gone. He wants him on the block. Like, that's the thing is like. Who cares if Donnie's been in the military? Like he's, if he's in your alliance, that would be like, maybe a good thing for you.

[00:32:09] If he's secretly like super athletic or something like, why does that, why does that hinder you? I don't know why it's like, we have to take him out now because now I'm out. Now I'm actually against him. It doesn't make any sense. Like, like, here's why it don't make sense. He's targeting someone for something he made up in his own head. Like Donnie actively did something to prove that he's untrustworthy to Devin or that Devin shouldn't trust them or Donnie's doing anything more than being a funny, goofy, lovable old Donnie. Let me tell you something. I've seen this cast.

[00:32:38] These people never met a country guy in his life, in their lives. So they're just like intrigued by him, by his insistence. Like, there's no way. Exactly. But yeah, he wants to turn this into this paranoid spiral that someone is lying and deceiving. And because of that, they're the biggest threat in the game. Like someone was lying and deceiving. He was the biggest threat in the game, but it wasn't Donnie. Yes.

[00:33:01] So with the excuse that they're just nominating the four people who were out first in the HOH competitions, Brittany, Victoria, Donnie and Paola are the first four nominees. And Brittany and Victoria end up winning the Battle of the Block, which means that Caleb is going to maintain his status as the first HOH Frankie is dethroned.

[00:33:33] And this means that they're on track to take out Donnie here, essentially. Donnie, who is Devin's target because he was in the military. And Donnie, I just wear a camo. It's not because I was in the military. It doesn't make any sense. Or no, it's high water socks. It's high water socks. He doesn't have hair on his legs. So that means he must be in the military. Could you imagine?

[00:34:00] Like, that would be like if Derek came in with his uniform. Like, I hope nobody figures out or like comes in with like a, you know, like an LAPD hat or something. Like, man, I hope no one figures out I'm a cop. Like, why would you, why would he be wearing the camo if he was trying to maintain his cover as not having been in the military? No, but he also had a Harvard shirt. It's almost like, oh, he's a Harvard law professor.

[00:34:31] It's so crazy. They're like, there's no way he's the groundskeeper. They just didn't believe it. However, he wins the veto. And that is bad news because they can no longer take Donnie out. And so they're going to have to find a replacement nominee. And in the meantime, there's some more things going on because Devin has decided.

[00:35:01] You know what? I'm a feminist. I'm not into this bro alliance. It's all guys alliance. That doesn't work. We need some women. We need we need a woman's touch here. And so he goes and he finds Amber and Christine. Why? Who knows? Who are we to question his genius? Because they were great picks. It really actually did for as much heat as he got for this, for as much as people clowned

[00:35:31] him for this. This was one of the most successful moves in the game. Yeah. I mean, those two were so loyal. Like to the to an infuriating degree, they were loyal. This was his approach to Amber and Christine. He said, hey, there's already a guys alliance. Yeah. I want you in it. And it's like, I love that. They said, I love that. I love being at the bottom of a guys alliance. He brought them up and everyone else clearly had no idea what was happening.

[00:36:01] And they were like, oh, yeah, you're in it too now. And they were like, wow, I'm in an alliance. And they were like, you didn't ask us about this at all. You just went on your own to invite these people into our alliance. Like that. It why? Why would he go? Why would he just go in unilaterally ask them to join instead of communicating with his alliance? Like and you can tell me I'm wrong. This is in the middle of the night. He woke up. Someone's like, hey, I got something to tell you.

[00:36:31] I did a thing. Caleb. We've got some new alliance members. In the middle of the night. Oh, my God. He's like asleep. So so people. So the bomb squad, the squad, they're freaking out. They're like, what is happening? We now have to deal with two more people who apparently know about the alliance. That's that's scary. That's a huge alliance. They don't need more people. Mm hmm.

[00:36:58] Of course, at this point, Derek and Cody have already locked in. They are the hitmen. I don't think this happens in the episodes for quite a while, but they were very early on going to to to work together in this in this alliance. And so obviously when this when this happens, Derek is like, that's we can't work with this guy. And but they do what they do what they have to.

[00:37:27] Like there's Christine and Amber are here now. So that's just the way it is. And and Caleb didn't mind too much because from the moment I saw Amber, I knew. Oh, God. She was to be fine. Oh, God. I guess this. Oh, poor Amber. Yeah. That's that. It gets bad. So the bomb squad is now an eight person alliance.

[00:37:56] It was originally a guy's alliance, but it now has Christine and Amber. Now, like, don't. OK, so why don't Christine and Amber like ever question? Wait, oh, we're like the last ones brought into this. We're not, you know, we're not truly part of it. I don't feel truly in it. Yet they the entire season are like, I have to be loyal to my alliance, blah, blah, blah.

[00:38:24] It's like that was so infuriating. It's like no one ever questioned. They never questioned like the fact that they were brought in so late, the fact that they don't have any like individual alliances within the alliance, aside from Christine and the detonators, blah, blah, blah. But it's like everybody was doing their own little thing and they were never part of that. And they didn't question a thing. I think it's like we questions like we question this, like I feel like almost every season saying, OK, there's this big alliance. Why don't you create a counter alliance?

[00:38:53] Like, but this time you have two people who like had had the blueprints and been like, OK, I can do something better than this. Now, now, now. I don't want to be the other side of the house. The other side of the house. Why do I want to be on the bottom of this giant alliance? Now that I know about it, like obviously like they could. I totally agree. They have to say, yes, I'm part of this. This is yes, I'm totally in.

[00:39:18] But they should know in their minds that they have to think of something else to do, because even if they get all the way down to the end with this alliance, they're the first ones to go. They're easy pickings like. So I think it's worth kind of placing ourselves in time. Right. Because the bomb squad is the first real big alliance that actually succeeds at the time that the bomb.

[00:39:45] Now, of course, you had like you had the brigade, which was laughed at at first, but then it succeeded. You didn't. You were like, well, well, the bro alliance can work. What what happened to the four horsemen? Like but this was like it was a big alliance. It was at six people. It was it was already too big at the at the moment that Devin introduces two more people to it. It's an eight person alliance. Now that's way too big. It's way too messy.

[00:40:14] And this was destined to fail. The fans were clowning on this so hard at this time. It's the first one that actually succeeds right at this size. And it is this season that teaches future players the lesson that you need to be careful about when you're invited into the alliance and where you place in it.

[00:40:36] And if there is a big alliance, you need to do something about it because they might just steamroll because prior to this season that didn't really exist. And so I think it's like for as much as these people do deserve the clowning that they get for just accepting the place that Devin chose for them in this alliance. There was much less sort of historical record for them to fall back on to sort of like understand what they should or shouldn't do in this position.

[00:41:06] Because to this point, if you were included in the alliance. That's you got an alliance. That's good. And I will say, I think Amber and Christine, even though similar, took two slightly different approaches to it. And both were shown to be unsuccessful, their approaches. So you could have learned this would not do. I think Amber was like, okay, to your face, I'm going to be a happy lawyer soldier. But I'm also going to be looking other ways because I don't particularly like you, Devin. I don't particularly like you, Caleb.

[00:41:35] I don't like y'all as people. So let me try to see if I can do something else. And she had a confidant in Christine because she was like, hey, I don't like these people. I don't like how you're doing stuff. And that got her in trouble with the alliance because why are you planning against the alliance? And then you have someone like Christine being like, okay, I'm the last one in. Let me make myself extremely valuable to these people. Let me show them my worth and let me give them everything. She started becoming a rat from the outside people to the inside people. Like, I think Christine is a big part of why the bomb squad was ultimately and the Deteners was ultimately successful.

[00:42:03] But then Christine saw like they valued me for what I brought them back in the day. I'm still on the bottom with them. So that's not a good strategy either. She had no individual relationships with any of the people in the bomb squad on like a strategic basis. Like obviously her and Cody had like a friendship or whatever, but they, they weren't, they weren't, they didn't have a close strategic, they didn't have an alliance. They didn't have a final two. She didn't have anything like that.

[00:42:31] Her closest ally was Nicole. And within that, like Nicole Hayden, Donnie, Christine group. And like, she totally blew it. Like she, she should have been keeping that Nicole relationship as much as she could. And the Hayden thing, she should have been keeping that while also, you know, yeah, I'm with

[00:42:55] you guys, but she chose to betray Nicole extremely early, way too early. I think she, she could have absolutely like kept Nicole along way longer than that and used her as like, you know, like the parachute sort of thing. Um, and said, we can use Nicole, we can do whatever. But instead she like immediately starts ratting Nicole out and trying to like turn Nicole against Hayden and do all this like inter like personal stuff with Nicole. And that is, that was just totally the wrong move.

[00:43:25] Like she should not have been doing that. She should have been looking out for herself and keeping her others like alliance close while also you doing stuff with the detonators. It's just, I don't understand how she was like looking at the detonators and being like, okay, so like Derek and Cody obviously are like very close. Zach, Zach and Frankie are obviously very close. Like Caleb, you know, whatever.

[00:43:49] I don't have anyone in there that I can really truly work with like on a, like a deep level. I need to start, you know, keep some other options around. And she just like, didn't do that. And it was so infuriating the entire season to watch because like, you know, Christine's not a dummy. You know that she like can do it. And she just actively chooses to do stuff that's like not in her best interest.

[00:44:15] I think it can't be understated how, uh, how powerful Cody and Derek were as a duo, especially within the bomb squad, because both Amber and Christine, uh, kind of fell victim to, to Cody, uh, in terms of like feeling very connected to him. So like you had this sort of like down to earth friendship vibe from Cody of like, Hey, he's in the Alliance. I have an ally in him. I have a friend in him.

[00:44:42] And then you had the like voice of sanity in Derek who was like steering the ship. Like, Hey, we know that these other people are out of their minds. Uh, but us were the ones that understand what's actually happening. We're going to actually, you know, do, do what we need to do. Um, and so yeah. And I'll give this to Christine, right? Like, and I understand the idea of like, okay, you have Nicole, you have Donnie, you have Hayden over here who all trust you that that would be a good group, a good Alliance for you.

[00:45:12] But then there's like this large Alliance over here and they want me to be a part of it and just want to run to the numbers and feel safe. And then when you get to the numbers, you're also brought into a more inner numbers with like more of the same people, Cody, Derek, uh, Zach, her, I forgot who's the last member of the debt leaders, but like, it's like, okay, Frankie, thank you. And like, yes, thank you. Okay. I am in this big Alliance and I'm only that I'm protected. I'm in this shield with the big Alliance, but still these are not people you have Cody. You're cool with Cody. Yes.

[00:45:41] But like, these are not the people that you feel best with. These are not the people that vibe best with you. These are not people that looking out for your best interests, like always keep people around that. Like we'll like move heaven and earth for you. And that's not what Caleb, not Caleb. That's not what Derek was willing to do. That's not what's definitely not what Zach was going to do. That's not what Frankie was going to do. So it's like, sure. You can have this side thing, but don't forget to look at your pieces. What's valuable to you and don't ruin it.

[00:46:07] Don't throw your other piece to the side or don't like ruin your other pieces game because you feel safety over here. Cause safety is only going to last for so long. Cause that story, like the wolf eats the sheep, but you ignore it until it's your turn to get eaten. And then it's like, wait, where's everyone out to rally behind me? No, they're all that, you know, already. Well, that's what happens. I think very early on, right. Is that like, uh, and this ties back into the first week where, you know, uh, Joey is the

[00:46:34] player who really wants to make El Quatro work. Um, and she, she, she, listen, Joey is unfairly, uh, maligned because Joey was correct. She was like, there's a bro alliance happening. The women should stick together. And she said, they immediately rat her out. Yeah. She's saying this to Amber and Amber's like, she's right. There is a guy alliance.

[00:47:04] And I'm in it. Oh my God. I hate it. I'm so like the women in this season made me so mad with the, I'm in it. And then when they're like, and they're like, I'm just happy to be the last girl standing. I'm like, Oh my God. Thank you guys for making me the last girl standing. It is. So I, you don't want to be the last girl standing. You want a group of girls around you. Like what is wrong with you people? Oh, it made me so mad.

[00:47:31] The women in this season were just like, uh, so infuriating. Yeah. So she immediately gets ratted out by the women and the guys are like, Oh, we knew it. I knew these girls would do something like this. Uh, that's why we made our alliance in the first place. Um, and so, uh, of course she becomes like, Oh, I'm just going to like admit it. I'm so sorry that I, that I made a girl's alliance to try to get you out.

[00:48:01] Like why, why? This is a pattern this season. She knew she was okay. Okay. This is the thing though. She knew she'd been ratted out. She knew that they knew she might as well come clean and try something. Right. Yeah. But you don't say like, I wanted to get you out. You say like, look, I was just having a strategy conversation. I was just talking like, you know, I actually wasn't going to do it. Whatever. Like you, you play it down. I'd be like, we were just chatting and we were saying like, it'd be really fun to have

[00:48:29] like all women somewhere. Wouldn't like, we weren't actually serious. There was nothing actually made. We were just saying, wouldn't it be fun? You know what I mean? Like you just, you don't just immediately say like, yeah, you guys were my targets. I was trying to get by, I tried to rally the boats to get, like, I tried to rally the people against you. Like you don't actually admit to exactly what you did. And this is a pattern for this season. But it is what she did. She let her out it up for it. Zach goes and does the same thing when he's like, I did try and target you. Like I did say we should get you out. Zach was way worse. I felt. Zach was bad. Zach was bad. Everyone was doing this all season.

[00:48:58] It's like the second that someone like questions you about something, you're like, yeah, I did. Like, don't do that. You, you deny, deny, deny, deny. Obfuscate, deny. Like, that's like, you know, what you got to do. Like, I'll give Joey this. Like, and I don't know how good of a player that Joey would have been in this season, but Joey had a good instinct. She had a good gut start. Like, okay, this is a big alliance probably made up of all the guys. Let me go and build a counter. Let me try to build something that's going to oppose that.

[00:49:24] And when nobody is on board with you, when they're just giving you crickets, what do you got to do? You got to pivot. And I don't like how she pivoted. But I like, I like that. I got to pivot and try to appease these people instead of just like going down in this singing ship. That's clearly going nowhere. I think she should have said she should have gone to Derek and, or she should have gone to Devin or whatever and been like, look, like, or Caleb, whoever she went to. I don't remember. But she should have said that, like, look, like I recognized that, like, I was on the outs.

[00:49:54] I was trying to find common connection with people. I was trying to talk with people and like try and make something happen. Nobody was taking, and no one wanted to be in an alliance with me. I'm totally alone. Like, I want to be like, I want to be in something. If you like, if I can work with you, I want to work with you. You know, like, instead of saying that, like, I'm targeting you or I was going after you, like, it should have just been like, I don't have anybody. I was trying to find like some sort of connection with somebody. Now I'm now I'm alone.

[00:50:21] I am a puzzle piece to be picked up. Please like, you know, use me, let me whatever and get to the next week. Well, so here's the thing. Basically, what happens is the entire house agrees that she must be the worst player in Big Brother history because she tried to start an all women's alliance and that never works. In fact, when she tried to start the alliance, I think somebody said like, oh, a seven. You can't get seven women together to all work together. That would never work.

[00:50:48] Meanwhile, the bomb squad of six guys together is an alliance. But now she's, of course, the worst player in Big Brother history. She dared think that the women could work together and then admitted to it. And so therefore she sealed her own fate. Really, I think the worst move she made was her alter ego. Yes. Because because here's the here's the problem, Joey. Joey, you were only there for one week and you made an alter ego named Alex.

[00:51:16] And how are people supposed to remember which one is your real name, Joey? Joey, when you have two different names that could both be a man's name or a woman's name? How are they supposed to remember which one is the real one, Joey? Also, it was like so it didn't make any sense either. Like, it's fine if she wants to do it for fun or just like be silly. That's fine. But like she went around being like, this is my way to try and like win votes or to get people to, you know, keep me in the house.

[00:51:45] I thought it was a funny meta commentary on the state of gender in Big Brother. It was an interesting. Yes, that is true. But it was weird because she was like, oh, you don't you don't think I'm a threat? I'm a threat. I'm going to get you out, whatever. And she's like, oh, you feel threatened now? And it's like, why are you? Wait, I'm sorry. You're trying to threaten them to make them want to keep you? Like, I don't obviously they didn't actually feel threatened, but like just the thought process behind it, like it didn't make any sense. Like that that would work in any way. The people just you saw their faces.

[00:52:15] They just thought like she was kind of being weird. And she was she was kind of being weird. That's not the way to get people to keep you around. And I think also first boots usually have like a really hard time because it's like they'll just go off of anything. It's like you just think of any reason or any little thing. And then it's like, yeah, let's just get that person out. We don't really know them very well. Like as long as it's not me, it's fine to be anyone else. So like I think like Joey could have maybe done something if she had stuck around longer.

[00:52:44] But like obviously you find one little thing and it's easy to just kick them out. Like I personally do not believe Joey is the worst player this season. Full stop. Honestly, there are several people that comes to my mind before Joey. Yeah. How do you try to save yourself by dressing up like a guy and yelling at folks? Just yell at them. Yeah, just yelling at them. Like that's not how you win friends and influence people. Like that is actually not a part of that book.

[00:53:11] I am a Joey apologist and I will have no more insults on Joey. I will also now reveal to you in case you forgot that Joey was actually the first voted in member of the other twist of the season. The Team America twist. People remember Team America as Donnie, Derek and Frankie. But first, before any of them came Joey.

[00:53:41] She just got voted out before she could actually do anything with it. But yes, Joey is voted out here. It was always going to be this way. Her fate was sealed. But Team America comes together afterward. Donnie, Derek and Frankie. And this is definitely a boon for Derek's game.

[00:54:03] In the game, Donnie is going to be one of, if not the, or now I would say one of the only people who is ever going to really be able to see what's happening in the game. And with Derek to some degree. And there's a case to be made that his participation in Team America is what helps him see what's happening with Derek.

[00:54:24] But, but in general here, the involvement of Donnie into this group just gives Derek a lever of control with one of his most dangerous adversaries, really. Like truly Donnie is one of the first people. And he does this early on clocks Derek. Like Donnie quickly sees who Derek is and what Derek can do. But like this Team America thing really gave Donnie being like, okay, but I have to be loyal to him.

[00:54:53] I have to be his ally. I have to work with him somewhat. Like clearly I don't trust him completely because he don't trust me completely. But America has put us together. So I got to do what's good for America because America likes us for some reason. So I do think that hindered. Because I think Donnie would have like, when Donnie was 8-8, he would have made different decisions if he didn't have that relationship with Derek through Team America. Yes. And Team America, of course, was the three most popular players voted into Team America. They were given tasks all season long to accomplish.

[00:55:22] They were, they received extra cash for accomplishing these tasks. Some of them were funny. Some of them were fine. Overall, I would say. Some of them were supposed to be game related. Like some of them. Like the ones that. Well, Amber kind of gets voted out because of one. Which was not what we wanted. That was not. They did not follow the rules. They did not. Thank you. They did not follow the rules on that. They said. America specifically said.

[00:55:48] And I just remembered like the, like Reddit and Twitter at the time was like, it was like, we want a physical threat up on the block. A.K.A. One of you guys. Not like one of the people in the, like detonators in the bomb squad, whatever. And they're like, well, they want a physical threat. Amber. That's what they're thinking. America wants this. This is what America wants. It's like, no. That is not all. We don't think of Amber as a physical threat. We're talking about you guys. Oh, that was so.

[00:56:16] I would give it to them that Amber does become a future challenge champion, which is a very physical show. But they did not know that at the time. That was. That was no information at the time. And at the time. I would not know. A physical threat was someone from the detonators. All right. Well. With a big muscle. We get into week two after Joey is evicted.

[00:56:39] Amber wins one of the HOH competitions and Cody wins the other. Or so he thought he actually just, just barely was disqualified at the last second. They have to inform him after the fact, after he thought he had won. And instead of Cody winning, Devin is there instead.

[00:57:02] And Cody is pissed because he can't stand Devin or the, you know, the, all of the, the wild actions that he's, that he's taking. And he's like, now this guy, this guy is going to be the HOH. Are you serious? And, and what a wild week this is with Devin and Amber at the helm. We are truly better for it. Like if Cody was HOH this week, this week would have been so uninteresting. It would have been so boring.

[00:57:31] Probably a similar outcome to actually what happened. But Devin likes to take us on roller coasters of emotion and rise. It was very entertaining to watch on the feeds. It was so much fun. So, uh, so Devin has the HOH and, um, and he, he's starting to feel a little guilty because he saw, I don't know if you know this.

[00:57:54] Um, but Devin has a daughter and when he wins the HOH, he sees some photos. He gets a little taste of home and he remembers, he realizes that he was there to play with honesty. He was there to play an integral game. And, uh, and for that reason, he is starting to feel very guilty about what he did to his double D partner, Donnie. And, uh, and he has to fess up.

[00:58:24] He has to be honest. He goes to Donnie and he says, listen, I have to tell you, uh, you know, I know we're double D's, but, uh, I was trying to get you out. I did tell people that I thought you were lying about who you were and what you did. And I, I'm, I forced them to nominate you. Well, speaking of babies, little babies. Oh boy. Oh, look at the baby. Yeah.

[00:58:55] Look, it's a podcast. Melissa has a baby. Guys, Melissa has a baby. He's not a daughter, but he has a son. It's time, Melissa, for you to be honest with us. Yeah. Now, now that the baby's here. Tell us how you're doing. I would do exactly what Devin, what Devin did. I want to play, I want to podcast honestly and integrity. Hi. Okay. I'll, sorry. I'll let him go. He's so cute. Aw.

[00:59:24] So cute. Okay. Bye. And the dog. Oh yeah. We have another baby. The other baby. It's a great example of what happened because, uh, the baby reminded, not that his daughter was a baby, but his daughter reminded him of who he really was. He needed to own up to what happened. Donnie in the meantime is like, I'm sorry. What? You think I do what? What?

[00:59:54] And Devin's like, you know what? That was not sufficient. I need to call a house meeting. Um, and so he calls a house meeting so he can fess up in front of everyone that he is the reason Donnie went on the block and he feels very bad about it, but he's here to play an integral game. And, uh, and, and, and that's, that's what happened. Um, and, and Brittany's like, I'm sorry.

[01:00:22] I thought we were nominated because we were the first out of the competition. Not because you were controlling who was being the, who was being nominated. And Devin is like, how dare you? How dare you question my honor and integrity after what I just did? Like, why are you not talking to your freaking alliance?

[01:00:49] Your alliance that have power that made up this entire story about why we nominate these certain people and be like, I lie, they lied to y'all and I manipulated them to lie to you. You cannot trust what they said because of what I did, but also I'm honorable and honest person, despite the fact we've been deceiving you and I will no longer deceive, um, except for you who called me a bad person, which she didn't even say. She was like, wait a minute. Yeah. This is inconsistent. She didn't say nothing about him out of his name or nothing.

[01:01:15] He becomes dead set on Brittany as his target. Uh, he coordinates with Amber so that she nominates Hayden and Nicole together. They're already starting to become a bit of a duo, a bit of a showmance. Uh, the showmance part comes a little bit later, but they're definitely a duo at this point to some degree. Uh, and they're both seen as fairly strong competitors. Um, while, uh, Devin nominates, uh, Brittany and, uh, and Paola.

[01:01:39] Um, and, uh, he, he tells, uh, Paola, uh, throw this competition for me. Uh, I would like you to throw the battle of the block competitions that I can remain the HOH and I will make sure that you stay safe if you do so because Brittany is my target. This is my guarantee to you, to which she says, okay. And then doesn't do that because why would she do that? Um, but he's convinced that she did. Cause cause here's the thing. If you're a powerless position, just say yes.

[01:02:09] And if you don't do it, you're safer. He can't do nothing. He can't be empowered. But if you don't do it, guess what? Now he's promising you safety. So it's like, okay, it's a woman for me, but the devil's alive. I ain't about to throw this. I want to play. Yeah. That's, that's the situation where you just say yes. Yes. So, so they lose the battle of the block competition. Devin remains the HOH, uh, Brittany and Paola on the block. Now Brittany is his target, but Brittany is not Derek's target.

[01:02:40] Um, Derek. Which is what matters this season. Literally every week I would just be like, okay, none of this matters until I find out who Derek wants out. And if Derek wants you to stay, like you're staying. If Derek wants you out, you're out. And this is the first week where that feels very true. Um, now granted he was, he was definitely a huge part of sending Joey out the previous week, but it was such a house consensus that it didn't seem to matter. Brittany has good relationships with many of the people in the bomb squad.

[01:03:07] There are a lot of them that don't want her out, but in particular, Derek has a good relationship with Brittany. Um, and, uh, and at the time, a lot of people are still looking at Frankie as probably the most influential player in the game, uh, because he has so many relationships and Derek is a little bit lagging behind in that respect, but everybody wants Brittany to stay basically except for Devin, but Devin's pushing Brittany super hard. He wants Brittany gone.

[01:03:33] Um, and so this causes some issues, uh, because they're all just like, we're like, you've already unilaterally invited people into our alliance. You're now like exposing us, causing us to get into trouble with people because you're exposing like why we nominated people. Um, and you're trying to tell us now that like Brittany definitely needs to be the one to go when all of us want her to stay. And we'd rather power leave, uh, like, no, we're sorry. We don't want this to happen.

[01:03:59] Um, and, uh, and so like, you know, Amber is talking about it. Everyone's talking about, they talk about it with Caleb and Caleb is like, Oh, excuse me. Devin is my bro, but I'm not going to have that kind of thing against my queen. Um, and so Caleb takes it upon himself to go speak to Devin about this. Uh, the way that he's acting in the Alliance is causing some friction. He doesn't like the way that he's talking to the women.

[01:04:27] Um, and Devin is like, Whoa, excuse me. What do you mean? They get into a whole fight. Uh, and Devin's like Alliance over. That's it. No more bomb squad. Um, and, uh, and Caleb the next day is like, you know what? That was my bad. I need to apologize to Devin. I, you know what? Bros do, uh, come first. And, uh, and I, I really need to, to get back in there with Devin. And so Caleb goes and apologizes to Devin.

[01:04:56] He says, I'm so sorry. It's, you know, all these other people, they're just worried about you. And I don't want to put you up. Like they want to put you up. And Devin's like, they want to put me up. Uh-oh. He's like, no, I mean, yeah. I mean, just, yeah, a little bit, but not me, not me. Uh, and so then Devin calls another meeting, but this time just the bomb squad. And he's like, listen, this is why Brittany needs to go. Because I told palace, you need to throw the competition. He did throw the competition for me. So I would not feel comfortable letting Brittany leave. Does anybody have a problem with that? Or letting Brittany say, does anybody have a problem with that?

[01:05:26] And it's, and it's crickets. Nobody says anything. Why would they say anything? They don't want to get in trouble with Devin. You know, who does say something? Zach. Zach says something because it's Zach. Why wouldn't he say something? Zach says, I don't want Brittany to go. And I don't think other people want Brittany to go. Who's with me? Nobody. And so Devin says, it's Zach. He's the one that wants me out. He questioned Zach about it afterward. And Zach says, yeah, I did say that. I was just like, what are you doing? Why?

[01:05:53] There were so many times this season where I was just like, Zach, no, don't say that. Why are you doing this to yourself? He was just constantly putting his foot in his mouth and he shouldn't be saying the stuff that he said. And it was just like, it was so hard being a Zach fan because it was just like, you were sitting on the edge of your seat at all times, hoping he doesn't say the wrong thing. Like truly, I think Zach was my favorite this season. Like I adored Zach this season. Oh, me too. But Zach is an actively bad player.

[01:06:23] Like every time Zach does something, he puts himself in a worse position. Like if you just sat there and did nothing, he would have been fine. He would have been actively okay. But he kept doing stuff that puts heat on him and put Atari on his back and have his allies not trust him even more. So it's like, Zach, please, let's just stop. I want to see you succeed. You know, like, but yeah, you just do your own grave. And anytime that Zach like, like was saved or like was in a bad spot and then ended up not being in a bad spot, it was never due to something he would do.

[01:06:51] It was always due to something around him, like the swirling house around him. And all of a sudden Zach saved. But like if Zach ever tried to like take matters into his own hands, like he always, like AJ said, would put himself in a worse position. And anytime he got power, it was so bad for him. It was like, we'd be like, yeah, he's HOH. And then we're like, no, he's HOH. Oh my God. Like, please Zach, stop. It's like, he was just, uh, he was my favorite by far.

[01:07:19] And it's like, but it was so, it was so exciting being a fan of his because you were just like, you didn't know like what was going to happen. And you would just were constantly like, is Zach in danger this week? Oh my God, what's going on? And it was just, uh, it really made the season like a rollercoaster. But, but, but back to the man at the hour, Devin needed to get checked. Full stop. The man was doing crazy stuff that is not acceptable in any alliance.

[01:07:47] Why are you unilaterally adding people to the alliance? Why are you unilaterally telling people they're safe? Why are you doing stuff by yourself, calling a house meeting and exposing your allies' lies? Like Devin keeps doing stuff that someone needs to tell him, yo, you can't be doing this. This is not good for our games, but no one did. And the one time someone tried to tell him something, which was Caleb. I was like, you know what? He needs to hear this. Like, yo, Devin, you talking over the women. You making the women feel uncomfortable. That's not okay.

[01:08:15] And his response is, no, I ain't. I'm not talking over the women. They feel very uncomfortable with me. Yeah, I believe how the apology from Caleb went was like, Caleb was saying, listen, we need to, you know, I'm sorry. We need to be aligned. And Devin said, you know, it's fine. It's just the thing about you saying that I said that about that I treat women a certain way. Like, that's what I'm not okay with. And it's, you know, it's very important that us two men have this conversation about that. We don't ask the women. We just do this outside.

[01:08:45] And we just, you know, decide that that's actually not true. So the women are fine. And truly, why are you not talking about with your allies? What's the plan for the week? What do y'all want to have happen to this week? Let's come to a consensus. Because Devin, you're not Derek. This is not your world. You don't get to do whatever you want. Well, it gets worse. And even so, like, even so, Derek would never. Like, Derek would always, like, at least communicate to his allies this, like, and make them. He would honestly make him think that it was their idea. It was their plan all along.

[01:09:14] And, like, that was Derek's superpower was to convince someone that his idea was their idea. And that he's just going along with it. He's happy to go along with it if that's what you want. And it was, he was just so good at that. And Devin was the opposite. He was just like, this is my idea. And I'm going to do it without talking to you about it. And he's going to be like, how dare you not agree with my idea? Like, like, like, just because you don't agree with someone's idea does not mean you don't want to work with them. Does not mean y'all can't have a good relationship.

[01:09:41] But the one time they push back, he's like, screw the alliance. Alliance is done. I know I made it. But we ain't doing this no more. So he discovers that Zach, in his mind, Zach is the trouble starter. Zach is the one that's talking about him, that wants him gone. So Zach overhears him right before the veto competition. Tell Paola, I will use the veto one if I win. And Zach knows what this means.

[01:10:09] It means that all of a sudden, Devin's now looking to backdoor him. And wouldn't you know it, Devin does win that veto. And so now all the pieces are in place for Devin to backdoor Zach by vetoing Paola. And Zach even has a conversation with him. He's like, listen, I just don't I just don't want you to be like thinking about nominating me or anything. And Devin's like, who said anything about nominating you? Now that you mention it, though, maybe it's a good idea.

[01:10:37] You put this idea in my head, actually. It was actually you. Exactly. So he's ready to do it. Here we go. Paola, who he in his mind threw the battle of the block for him. And, you know, you know, he said that he promised that he would take her off the block with the veto. He's all set to use it. But first, Brittany comes up and talks to him. And she says, Devin, there's anything I know about you. It's that you have a daughter. And I, too, have children.

[01:11:06] And I want us children havers, you know, I want us to succeed. And Devin is like, I've misjudged you. Oh, you have kids. Oh, my God. Oh, like it's insane because literally from the conversation Brittany had with Devin, actively nothing changed. There's not a single thing that changed from the moment she started that conversation to end that conversation. She just traded facts about life.

[01:11:36] And he throws Paola under the bus so hard out of nowhere. In his mind, she's been a loyal soldier to him doing everything he's asked. And because of this one conversation, he goes, you know what? I was trying to take you out. And I told Paola to throw the battle of the block competition to make it happen. And she did. And that's why you're here. But, you know, I'm going to save you instead. And so he takes Brittany off the block, leaving Paola.

[01:12:05] And in one of the most unhinged veto ceremonies of all time. It was crazy. Because Brittany's pissed and Paola for throwing the battle of the block competition. She's like, I would like to say something. Yeah, she says, can I just say something? And then the episode ends there, by the way. So it's like so exciting. And you're like, wait, wait, what's she going to say? And then the next episode comes. I feel like so many veto meetings, like nomination ceremonies, whatever, had exciting excitement.

[01:12:34] Like people would just get into fights or they'd say stuff or they'd do these speeches or whatever. And it was just like you never knew what was going to happen at these meetings. So Brittany comes off the block. Zach replaces her. The bomb squad is imploding already. Brittany wants to say something. She's going to call out Paola for throwing the battle of the block. I was like, I didn't throw it. I just said I did. And Devin's like, I know you did it. And Zach is like, my turn.

[01:13:04] Which was so funny. Like Brittany says, I'd like to say something. And then Zach goes, me next. Zach gets all the way up. He stands in front of all of them. And he has all the energy and none of the words. None of the words. None of the words. None. He's just like, he can't think of the words to say. And ends it with like, what do you have to say to that? He doesn't even like have like a finale.

[01:13:34] This guy wants me gone. And you know what? I know this couch is going to vote for me. Frankie, I'm not sure. Caleb, I'm not sure. But I know I'm going to stay. And I'm going to be coming right at you, Devin. And you lied. You lied about it. And then you. Yeah. So what do you think about that, Devin? And Devin's like. Frankie, don't be. Frankie, don't be nervous. He's like, oh, you're smiling at me with that fake smile. That's what I thought, Devin. What do you think about that? Yeah. Like, it's actively insane.

[01:14:02] Because Zach was just spitting like nothing. Like, literally, he had nothing to say. He just won at the spotlight. He was like, this is my moment. I'm going to be on television. So let me just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Like, he was just like. And pause. If I started saying this with like, you don't have to worry. You actively have to worry about what I'm about to say. Because I'm not going to say nothing good. He tells Frankie, don't be worried, Frankie, or whatever. And it's like, wait, why does he preface it with that? Like, why does he start with that? Because he doesn't say anything about Frankie.

[01:14:30] Like, it doesn't make any sense why he like called Frankie out. And Frankie and Caleb are pissed. Frankie was mad, Alyssa. Zach does the famous like, impression of Devin where he's like, oh, I would never compromise my honesty and integrity. And like, and he does this whole impression of him. And it's just like, it's so good, but it's so stupid and bad. And it's just like, you want, you want it to be good. Cause you like, want him to have like the words and like the fiery takes. And it's just like, he just doesn't have it.

[01:15:00] But it's still very exciting. I truly believe he was so confident. He was like, I'm going to stay. And this is why I'm going to stay. And like, wait, I can't write out my alliance that I have. Right. I think, yeah, I think you're totally right. I think, cause he was like, I know this couch would be up for me. And I'm going to be in this house. And I'm going to come after you. And then he's like, he specifically calls out his alliance members on the other couch to be like, I don't know about, I don't know about Frankie or Caleb. It's like, because at the time they were voting him out. That is, that is the sort of under remembered part of this.

[01:15:30] They totally were. And I remember being like, oh no, this is so horrible. Zach's leaving. And I was checking all the boards and checking everything, like every single day being like, what is going on? What's happening? And then eventually I saw an update that said like that Derek was like, actually, I think maybe we'll keep Zach. And I was like, yes, it's happening. Zach's going to stay. So, so Frankie and Caleb backed Devin here. You know, Frankie had a great in with Caleb.

[01:16:00] I think people sometimes, people probably remember that because of the throwing later, but like Frankie felt really in with Kevin, with Kevin, with Devin and Caleb. And for as much as Zanki was a thing, they were never actually that strategically linked. They should have been. They certainly should have been. Frankie made like such grave errors when it came to Zanki because he had Zach wrapped around his finger and he just like threw it away. He didn't even care.

[01:16:30] And he was trying to throw it away here. He was trying to get rid of Zach, who he felt was also a wild card. He might as well stick with Devin and Caleb who, where he feels like he's got that power core. And, and, you know, the, the rest of the house was willing to go with the Zach vote and the rest of the Alliance was mostly willing to go with the Zach vote. And Frankie, remember at this time, I will never forget this because this was the moment everything changed in big brother 16.

[01:16:55] From my perspective, uh, you, we were all looking at Frankie as the decision maker, as the shot caller, because he wanted Zach gone. And we were like, why? But he's making it happen. He was going from room to room and getting into groups of people and convincing them to vote out Zach. And they were agreeing with him. Um, and Zach was, was dead in the water until Derek started going into those rooms right after Frankie left them. And they'd, and he'd be like, so what are you guys thinking?

[01:17:25] He'd be like, you think it's Zach? Like, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally Zach. Uh, let's lay, let's talk it through. Like what's, uh, what's going into the decision? And he would just get them talking and he would start asking some questions. And by the end of the conversation, he'd be like, okay, so what are we thinking again? And they'd be like, actually, we think the smart move is to keep Zach. He'd be like, oh, oh, interesting. That's an interesting thought. Yeah. Yeah. I think maybe I agree with you.

[01:17:53] And, and it was, it was ridiculous to watch. Um, and I don't think this really made the episodes ever, but like it was, I was, I was in awe. I was just like, this, this is unreal. Uh, the way that he was able to flip everyone back over. So the, by the time Frankie came back to check in with people, he was like, all right, so it's still Zach. And they were like, actually, we had the idea that Zach should stay. And then Frankie would go back to Derek and be like, I don't know what happened.

[01:18:23] Nobody wants to vote Zach. And Derek's like, oh, really? Uh, man, I guess we don't have the numbers then. Um, and just like that, he, Derek just took control of the entire game and he never let go. Like, no, there, there, there's a reason why Derek plays one of the greatest one-time games, but like it actively made no sense for any of them to want Zach gone. Like active, like that would have been such an actively bad move to vote that man out.

[01:18:53] I understand he's a performative asshole who does crazy stuff sometimes that you can't always control, but you can control his game moves. You can control what he does in this game, like strategically. Like he's not like Devin going to invite random people into an alliance. Like he's like, that's not who Zach is. And Zach is closest to you, Frankie. Like you are his guy. Like, why are you willingly throwing away someone who's willing to throw away their game for you? Because, because of what? And like, and again, Zach is in your alliance.

[01:19:23] And I'm going to be honest with you. You're telling me that showboat would not have disposed your alliance had he got voted out this week? He did it multiple times this season. And that's when he wasn't in danger. He just was so good at like, he would always make people think that his decisions were their decisions and that they, they had come up with the idea and that he was just going along with it. And he, but he was happy to do it.

[01:19:50] And he always, people always thought of him as like the voice of reason. And you could even see it. Like anytime he would like, they'd be trying to make a decision on something like Derek would come in and they'd be like, Oh, Derek is coming. He'll, he'll have something good to say. Like he'll be good. Like he'll have like a good idea. And like, they always would rely on Derek and always like be like, well, what does Derek think about this? And like, it, it was so impressive and he never made him feel like the people feel like he

[01:20:17] was like taking over or controlling them or like making the decisions for the alliance. Even though what he said would be what happened. It never felt that way. It always felt like he was like just listening to them and just listen, like trying to figure it out. And he just was, it was so impressive. This was like, yeah, it's such an impressive week. And every, like I said, every single week, whoever Derek wanted, that was like, you, if you, you knew that that person was going to go home.

[01:20:45] If Derek was like, no, that person's going like, or, or you knew they'd be safe. If Derek had said like, no, they're going to be safe. And it was, yeah. Wild. Yes. So, uh, Paula is voted out here. Um, really just. Oh yeah. And then when Zach is like, Paula, you suck at everything straight up. And she's like, yeah, yeah, I do. Oh, screwed over by Devin in so many ways. Cause Paula didn't do herself a lot of favors, but it's not like she actively played wrong this week.

[01:21:13] Like she did what she was supposed to do. If, if like, I don't know what I would have done differently from Paula if I was in her situation up to this point. Like that's like, it's us that she goes out like that, but like truly you have an insane person at HOH in a mastermind that's trying to keep his ally. Like you just get an unlucky draw. I don't know if Paula would have done anything this season, but still. Yeah. That's what I was going to say is I just think like Paula like didn't really bring anything. Like she just, she was fine, but she didn't bring anything in regards to like strategy

[01:21:42] or just anything. So, I mean, yeah, I, I didn't mind her leaving here cause it was just kind of like, okay, well, that's fine. Yeah. One thing I forgot to mention that before the vote flipped back, uh, to Zach, um, while Devin was still in charge of the bomb squad, uh, he did make the decision to, um, he said, you know what, now that we're taking Zach out, gotta replace him. Oh yeah.

[01:22:12] Gotta replace him. With Hayden. Hayden, why don't you come on up here? I hate it too. So, Hayden's an alliance called the bomb squad. It's been an eight person alliance. It was first to six person bro alliance. And we brought two people in, but now we're kicking one of them out. And so we're thinking that you should be the replacement. What do you think, Hayden? Hold on. This is happening. Yeah. He literally was like, this is happening so fast.

[01:22:41] I mean, it sounds like, yes, it sounds like my answer is yes. And he was just like, I mean, he was right. Like, first of all, his DR explaining this was so good because he was just like, okay. So first of all, now I have like the blueprint of what the, like what the house structure is. And yeah, of course I'm going to say yes. Cause I'm not going to say no to this, but like you guys just gave me, all the information I need. Yeah. But then after the vote. And like what in Devon's good mind made some think that, okay, I brought in Hayden.

[01:23:11] This is not going to leak. Everything's going to be fine. Like what strong connection do you have with Hayden? That's stronger than what he has with freaking Nicole. It's just he's a guy. Things just don't cross his mind. But once the vote flips and he is informed by Frankie that Zach is not leaving, he decides he's just going to tell everybody the whole thing. He lets everybody know about the bomb squad and how it formed and what it was. But here's the issue.

[01:23:38] Because it's coming from Devon and it's coming from, and Devon is the one telling story. And Devon is the one that put it together and made all these decisions. It's very easy for the rest of them to go. Yeah. That thing. What do you think it was? It was him. He just was randomly inviting people in. He woke us up in the middle of the night to tell us that two more people in the Alliance. We never thought it was a real thing. And, you know, did people really believe that explanation? To some degree, yes.

[01:24:05] But many of them kept it in the backs of their minds and they were really worried about it. One of those people, of course, was Brittany, who was like, wait a minute, Derek, my guy, was in this thing this whole time. And she's never going to forget it. And it's actually going to be the reason she goes home because she can't forget it, unlike some of the other people who are willing to forget it. But after Paola leaves, Derek and Nicole win HOH.

[01:24:33] And this is potential bad news for Derek because Nicole is one of the few people that, like Donnie, can sort of see through Derek. A little bit scared of him. The problem is the entire house is against Devon. There's no world for her to make any kind of move that isn't targeting Devon. So when Derek starts pitching ideas, she's kind of just like, whatever.

[01:24:59] If he wants to take on this move and take out Devon instead of me, I'm kind of fine with that. And so Derek pitches this plan. This is when I remember him, the fan base starting to call him King Derek and not in a good way. Because every decision has to be run through Derek all of a sudden. Why is he always getting his way? And this is, again, he just knows exactly what to do here.

[01:25:25] And this is, you know, if the previous week when he got Zach to stay was like when he took control. This is when he just shored up all of that power and started to use the twist to his advantage. He pitches to Nicole that he is willing to do this. He's willing to take the shot. He's willing to put up people like Caleb because we're not in an alliance. He persuades her that she should put up Amber.

[01:25:49] The idea here is that if Nicole puts up Amber, then he can put up Caleb and convince Caleb to throw the Battle of the Block competition to make sure that he retains his power as the HUH. Then he can backdoor Devon. And the way he goes about this. Yes. It's so smart because Caleb doesn't understand that like, because Caleb thinks like he's just being, you know, a hero or whatever. Can we talk about Caleb? Like a zit man.

[01:26:18] Well, I think let's explain what happens and then we'll talk about how Caleb interprets it, right? Because Derek goes to Caleb and he says, so here's what's happening. Obviously, we're back doing Devon. Obviously. Nicole really wants to nominate Amber, though. And what I said to her is that if you do that, Caleb's going to ask to be nominated so that he can throw it to protect her. And Caleb is like. I should be nominated so I can throw it to protect her.

[01:26:47] He literally just goes right into his. Really? Are you sure about that? And he's like, you know, of course, I got to protect my queen. I got to show her, you know, that I, you know, that I get. Um, and so, uh, and he's like, he's like, yeah, think about the conversation. So he, he grabs Amber. He's like, so here's what's happening. Uh, obviously we're back doing Devon. Obviously. Um, but Nicole really wants to nominate you.

[01:27:13] So what I said was, well, Derek nominate me then so that I can throw the competition so I can protect you. Now, at this point. We've already seen Amber has once nothing to do with Caleb. Uh, did he, he came into this game thinking she is my wife. Uh, he's talking about how she is his, her, his future wife. Um, and he has approached her saying like, I see the way you look at me. I know you look at me all the time.

[01:27:41] And she's like, do I, um, she's not into him. Uh, and so, and he kind of knows this at this point, this is his way of being like, see what I'm willing to do for you. Uh, and it's putting her in a very awkward position because in this moment, what is she supposed to say? Uh, like, I hope you don't think I owe anything to you for doing this. You're just going to be like, okay, thank you. I'll be safe.

[01:28:07] Um, and, uh, and so Caleb is, is literally saying things like, you know, she will now see what I'm willing to do. She will know that I'm protecting her. Um, once he throws the competition and she's safe, uh, and she's like, we're not together now. Uh, he's like, don't you know what I did for you? Like, what is it going to take Amber? Um, it's gross. It's very gross.

[01:28:37] It's yeah, it's a lot. Um, I think to me, the grosser thing and we'll get into it is the way the cast, the other cast members used that against Amber. Like being like, can't you see that what he did for you? He threw his game away for you. And you're like not treating him right. And like, you know, even though they knew that she wasn't into him and they, they were totally aware of that.

[01:29:03] They used it against her to better their games, to go like, you know, to make her game worse. It was a level of control for Caleb, who is a very valuable person to control. Exactly. And that to me was the, was the grosser thing because it was like, you guys know what's going on here. Don't do that to her. And I do wish, however, that like, if like, it would have been really, and obviously she does not have to do this, but it would have been really nice to see Amber just like use it to her advantage.

[01:29:32] Like use it as a lever of control of Caleb so that she could get further in the game. But I totally understand that. Like, you know, if you're not into someone, you're not into someone like me. And honestly, the unfortunate reality is that like, it still probably wouldn't work because like a guy like Caleb is interested in Amber. On his terms, not on hers. And so like, if, if, even if she tried to use it as, as leverage, it probably wouldn't work.

[01:29:59] And then she'd have even more like incels online being like, oh, she tried it. Didn't she? You know, so. Poor Amber. That's why I'm so happy that Amber ultimately got on the challenge and heard her rumors she was going to be on all stars at one point in time before she got dropped. Because literally her story of the season is Caleb. Like that is her narrative. That's what she's going. That was what she was remembered for. And week five, it got really gross. Like when Melissa was saying, like they were using the fact that Caleb was obsessed with this woman.

[01:30:27] Like even though like she's clearly no interest to her. Like time after time after time, she said no to this guy. She is not interested in this guy. Even when he hinted that he liked her, she was like, uh-uh, we're shutting this down right now. I'm not interested at all. And he didn't take the hint. Not he couldn't take the hint. He chose not to. He says, it doesn't matter. You're stuck in this house with me. And I'm going to keep making you uncomfortable. And it just hurts my soul.

[01:30:56] Because Amber would cry to these people about how Caleb is making her feel. And these people will take her tears and weaponize it against her. Yes, that's exactly it. They would use, if she would open up to them and she would cry and she would tell them like, this is so horrible. Like, I don't know what to do, blah, blah, blah. They would literally like take that conversation they had with her and run to Caleb to make Amber look bad to Caleb and use it against her.

[01:31:23] And it's like, just like, that to me was so frustrating. Because it's not game related. It's using like outside factors to influence the game. And I just, it's icky. It's so icky. And it's like, it's not okay. It's not. And like, I hated how like, they, in the episodes, they kind of like edited it to be like kind of funny and like, oh, he's just like really loves her or whatever. And it's like, it's not funny. Yeah. No, that's not cute.

[01:31:53] Yeah, it's not cute. It's not funny. And yeah, it's just, yeah. That's one of the worst things that happened in this season, I think. But yeah. Of course, the very famous screenshot, because at the time there was a new show starting on CBS that had a name that was very relevant and it was constantly being advertised while Big Brother was airing.

[01:32:21] And so we get this screenshot there. Talker was the show. So funny. I remember that going around. That's hilarious. Yeah. So with this in place, it all works exactly as intended. Caleb throws the Battle of the Block competition. Derek remains HOH. Nicole is dethroned.

[01:32:44] And then Donnie actually is the one to defeat Devin in the veto competition. The entire house cheers when Devin loses. Yeah. And Donnie, the Double D Alliance member, then uses the veto on Jocasta, who was up with Caleb. And Devin goes up next to Caleb. Now, this is a pretty straightforward vote, except for the fact that there is one person.

[01:33:14] Wait, is this when Jocasta says, I always give and now I get to receive? Is that where the thing is? Yeah. The one is from? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the famous DR. She was at the veto meeting, so they used her bow tie in the seat. Yeah, she was sick too, yeah. So funny. There's one person that does not want Devin to go here, not because he likes Devin, but because he really wants Caleb out. And that is Cody.

[01:33:39] Because one of the reasons why Caleb thinks that Amber is ungrateful is that despite the fact that he's the one that threw the competition for her, Cody is the one that she's all cuddly with. And he is going to confront Cody about it. It's a whole thing. And Cody's like, I don't want this kid to come after me because he's obsessed with this girl.

[01:34:08] Like, this is a great opportunity to take him out. But he is talked down by Derek in one of many situations that is to come. And the audience is going to continue to be frustrated because they would have preferred Devin stay here. Oh, house flip? Take out Caleb? Devin stays? Yeah. Yes, please. And of course, Derek is the one like Cody. It's not the time. It's not the time. And he's like, I'm going to do it. I want to flip that. Nope. It's not the time.

[01:34:38] So Devin is, in fact, voted out here. That is the end of the story for Devin. But what a time. What a time. Yeah. Truly, like such a fun presence on this season. Very exciting. Like he kept people on their toes. Like you did not know what this man was going to do day from day to day. Like this man was unhinged in all the best ways possible. Because it wasn't like he was like a problematic person.

[01:35:06] He was just insane game player that you could not trust. And you see people like him in the future, like a Frenchie. But like Devin himself, he had that certain pizzazz about him. That it was like, this was such a fun experiment to take. Like I'm happy he was on the screen. He was a fun person. And I'm sad to see him go this early. But like, honestly, I don't know how much more steam he has in him. Because everything, his entire thing has already crumbled. He did it all.

[01:35:35] He did it all. There was nothing left for him. Yes. And I'll be honest, I was like, oh, this season is going to be boring now without Devin. Because, pause, what is it? It was like Big Brother 16 is seven hours. And like half of it is Devin. And he's out with three. I mean, it's kind of true though. So Cody and Frankie win the next HOH.

[01:36:03] And this is when things start to get a lot simpler. Basically, Cody is again going to heavily consider taking out Caleb. But him and Frankie kind of coordinate this. Amber and Jocasta go on the block. This is when there's a Team America task to like nominate a physical threat. And they use Amber as their physical threat. Which is not it. No, no. Which basically is just, you know, would Amber have gone up here otherwise? Maybe not, right?

[01:36:32] But the fact that they used Amber, because Amber was like the best shot they had at having a successful day. She isn't a hell on. You know, so he nominates her. Kind of anticipating that then she'll be safe and that he'll be able to cross this off the list. But the fact that she's nominated by him in the first place, she's like, are you serious? Like, are you for real? Aren't I in the alliance? What's happening? She's going to talk to Christine about it. And then Christine is going to rat her out.

[01:37:00] And that gets her in some big trouble the following week, which we'll talk about very soon. In the meantime. It's like high key rich that it came from Christine. Yeah, of course Christine. She was not right. And wait until we see later on when they nominate Christine. In the meantime, Brittany and Victoria are on the block via Cody.

[01:37:25] And basically, like, Brittany is like, at this point, like, okay, Derek, what's up? Like, she hasn't forgotten that there was a big alliance. It seems like this is only further confirming that there's still a big alliance and that Derek is probably a part of it. And the fact that she's nominated via Cody only tells her exactly what she needs to know about Derek's loyalty to her. And she kind of confronts Derek about this to a small degree. Derek sees the writing on the wall and he's like, we probably have to let go of Brittany here.

[01:37:55] She's too smart. You know, she sees through it. She's not willing to accept the lies. So she's going to need to go. She gets a the first of these big overnight punishments where she has to kick like a thousand soccer goals or something along those lines. And in the veto competition, Cody is still heavily considering backdooring Caleb. He really does want to make that happen.

[01:38:23] And in the veto is the Yankees swap veto, which Caleb wins. But he doesn't take the veto. He takes $5,000 leaving the veto with Victoria, meaning Victoria is now going to veto herself off the block and leave open a massive space for Caleb to occupy that seat. Cody really wants to do it. And Derek talks about it. Like every time. Yeah. Like, what was it? Tell me I'm wrong.

[01:38:53] What's it like Brittany chose Caleb for houseguest choice? And then he chose to take the $5,000 instead of protector. Or did I make that up in my head? It's definitely possible. I don't remember that detail. But but basically Donnie goes up on the block instead.

[01:39:13] And this is, I think, one of the big solidifying things for Donnie that he also can't trust Cody and and Derek, given that he is the replacement nominee here. Brittany ends up being voted out. I should also mention most of these votes are unanimous or near unanimous. Donnie and Jocasta, the only people to vote for Zach in week two. Otherwise, every other vote has been unanimous, including this one where Brittany goes home.

[01:39:42] And like, again, big ups to Donnie, because he was the person that was able to see like, yo, Cody would not have done this on his own. I know this kid. I see how he walks around the house. This would not have been solely a Cody move because Derek did not want to have his fingerprints on anything. But Donnie was like observing enough to know, like, if if Cody put up him, it was because of Derek and Derek was getting his hands clean of it. And it didn't matter that. It's like, it's OK, Donnie, you're going to be safe. That's why I see.

[01:40:09] He saw clearly where he was positioned in the house and he wanted to do something about it. I hate the twist because, you know, we couldn't do nothing about it. Like, so so so big up to Donnie and like that on Brittany, like because what Brittany had was like very smart, very game sense. Like, sure, they might not trust Devin and we might have all just got rid of Devin. But like this group of people still hangs out all together a lot. These people still like rock with each other. Like maybe there's something still there.

[01:40:37] If you suspect that you don't go to the ringleader and be like, hey, I see what you're doing. What's up? Like you think you're well, unfortunately for her. He was the he was her connection. He was the only relationship she really had with that group. He was the strongest relationship. And you know what you do? You go to your other relationships outside of the group and be like, hey, remember that a big alliance? She did try. Fake and not, you know, fair enough, fair enough. Yeah. You're right. Let's do it. She tried, but not enough.

[01:41:07] And I think like, but I also think like. But like they had very, like there are people who don't say like Christine and Amber. I blame everybody. Don't get me wrong. I think everybody was. They had no path. They had no path. They couldn't. Because everybody. Even if they won a comp, it wouldn't have mattered. Everybody wanted to work with them. Like everyone wanted to be in. They didn't want to be on the outs.

[01:41:35] So that even if they were on the outs, they were like, no, actually, I might be on the end. Like where would they have even had an opportunity? You know what I mean? Well, here's the thing. Joby was like, no, we need to do something against this alliance. And they was like, no. Then Powell said we need to do something. They said no. Brittany, we need to do something. They say no. Amber, no. Like it keeps going down. But what I'm saying is even if they had said yes, it wouldn't have mattered. They didn't have the numbers to do anything about it. The competitions and the numbers, it did not matter. However, like if we lived in a world where battle of the block did not exist, they should have done something different.

[01:42:05] Yeah. If we lived in a totally different world. Yes. Yeah. Because this is sort of the thing, right? Like somebody like Brittany is damned if she does, damned if she doesn't. If she doesn't fight back at all, then she was just somebody waiting to be picked off. If she does fight back, then she's stupid for having fought back and putting a target on her back. Like there's just there really wasn't any leeway here for her. The only people that had any actual shot at fighting back and the chops to do it were Hayden

[01:42:35] and Nicole. And we will talk about them very shortly. Couldn't like those guys have all teamed up with Hayden and Nicole and like, you know, done something like, you know what I mean? Like that was always the frustrating thing to me. It's like the second they went HOH. Let's do it. It felt like Hayden and Nicole, like they were like Hayden, Nicole and Donnie were like smart enough to see what was going on. And yet I didn't feel like they did any work to try and pull in anybody else. Like, I feel like they had Chris Bean as well.

[01:43:05] Yeah, but she doesn't count. By extension, they kind of had Jocasta. They were perfectly willing to work with with Brittany and those people. But like, you know, when Cody and Frank, when Cody and Frankie and Frankie and Zach are all the HOHs like for HOH. And before that, it was Derek. Like. What do you know? Like you're not going to get them to take out their own people. And if you try, then it's going to be you. Right. Like, it's a tough spot. It is a tough spot. And I'll give Frank, not Frank, um, Taryn this.

[01:43:35] I'll give Taryn this. Like literally of all the HOHs, a member of the bomb spot was one of them every single time except for once. So it's like, what could we have actually done? Like you're going to build a power, go against the power alliance when you don't actually have power. We have nothing to do. So I understand the feeling helplessness and then, oh, I might say something. What if someone else runs it back to them and now I'm in trouble? I understand that feeling, but still at the end of the day, like, I don't remember you

[01:44:04] fondly, Paola, because you sat there. Like, like at least for like the viewing audience, at least leave it there. I tried to do something. I tried. I tried. Like Brittany can like at least, even though she wasn't successful, she can leave saying I tried. It didn't work. It was never going to work. And it was a futile effort, but I'm playing the game at the end of the day. Like the frustrating thing also was like the whole like loyalty that like they're all like, oh, we're going to be loyal to each other. But it's like nobody was like looking at what happens at the end.

[01:44:34] Like nobody was like everyone was like, we're just going to like barge our way to the end and just take out those little pieces. But it's like, OK, but then what happens? Like, I feel like for the most part, the only people that were really thinking about like, OK, then what happens was Derek. Like, I was like, I did this big up like Derek did a really good job in this alliance, making them feel good with this alliance. Like Caleb was like, I'm good. I'm winning this way on this route. Yeah. Cody felt good. Frankie was like, no, I'm going to win. Yeah.

[01:45:04] And I think Derek big them up and bigging up their self ego, you know, like they're loyal to me and I'm going to win. Why would I do anything against this? I also neglected to mention in week two into week three, the detonators were formed. And they basically were here. We are the we are the people in the bomb squad that aren't out of our minds. And and that was Frankie, Derek, Cody, Christine and Zach.

[01:45:32] And the idea was in like as as Devin was on his way out the door, that the detonators blow up the bomb squad, that they were the core within the alliance. And then you had somebody like Caleb on the outside, who is just such a team player. He didn't need the extra incentive because he just so firmly believed that the alliance was good for him. Um, and then you had Amber who you left on the outside, uh, because she was willing to just play ball and had no other choice.

[01:46:01] And the second she started complaining, uh, they took her out this week when Frankie and Zach won the HOH. Um, and so then you had this, this detonators inside of the bomb squad, uh, Frankie, this was not Frankie's ideal, but they were still keeping, uh, Caleb on the outside and he still felt good with Caleb. He felt better about Zach now. So he, and, and he of course felt very good about Derek. And so he felt like he was pretty well insulated. Derek of course was the real insulated person within that group.

[01:46:28] Uh, Christine thought she was in with Cody and Derek. Uh, and so this was your very classic example of what they call on survivor and onion structure Alliance. Uh, Derek referred to it as the, a wifi, uh, signal Alliance, um, where it's big on the top and then it slowly starts getting smaller. Okay. That's cool. Um, so, uh, this is a huge part of why this Alliance was just so firmly locked in.

[01:46:55] Um, and can I talk about another beauty about this too, outside of the Alliance, the people on the outside felt good too. Like Victoria and Derek were locked in for so long. Yeah. What is it? Um, Hayden and Nicole felt like they had a good connection with Derek and Cody. I don't know if they made that Alliance yet, but like, yeah, we'll talk about that soon. Yeah. Yeah. And then you have Donnie who is in this thing with team America with, uh, Frankie and Derek, which only leaves like what Jocasta out there. And what's Jocasta going to do? Love me some Jocasta.

[01:47:26] She's going to do nothing. Yeah. So, so basically what's happening here is that like, even though you have people like Hayden and Nicole who want to do something about this, they see that there's something in there out there that they, that is a big Alliance that they are not a part of. They know this, uh, Brittany knows it. There's just not much they can do about it. There's basically two ways you can, you can sort of affect change here. You can either win power and take them out yourself, or you can try to infiltrate and

[01:47:53] gather, you know, gather allies from that group to turn on the rest of the group. Um, they tried to do both and both ultimately fail partially because the people that they think they can lock in with are Cody and Derek, uh, for various reasons. Um, because when you look at, you're not going to get Caleb, you know, uh, you already think you have Christine. You don't, um, you, you're not, you're looking at Frankie. It's not going to be Frankie. Uh, Frankie's like, you know, it's not going to be Zach.

[01:48:21] So of course you, you gravitate toward who are the most reasonable people that we can pull in. And here's the thing. It almost worked. We'll get there soon. Um, in the meantime, Frankie and Zach, they win the HOH. Uh, they want to take out Amber this week because they have now heard from Christine that she has been complaining about, uh, being nominated that she's starting to feel like, where's my position in this Alliance? Um, and so it's time to take out Amber and they rat her out, uh, to Caleb. They, they throw a hundred of the bus.

[01:48:49] They go ahead with their plan to, uh, backdoor her. Uh, and it all kind of goes according to plan. Christine and Nicole win the battle of the block. Jocasta and Victoria are the people that remain on the block via Frankie's HOH. Hayden wins the veto, takes down, uh, Victoria. Amber goes in her place. Amber is then voted out. Uh, this is brutal stuff for Amber this week again, because they are now using all of the

[01:49:15] ammunition that they've built up, uh, with Caleb to, uh, to like really just lock that in. Um, this is also the very famous moment where, uh, at one point early in the game, Amber joked about like, if Caleb ate a pickle, she'd be willing to go on a date with him or something along those lines. Uh, Caleb is now cashing in that promise, uh, much later when she's basically on her way out the door saying, all right, I'm going to do it.

[01:49:45] I'm going to eat the pickle because he apparently hates pickles. And I'm not going to lie. I don't love pickles either, but, uh, you know, the, the, the vehemence with which he was disgusted of that, uh, with that pickle was absurd. Uh, he was like, I'm going to do it. I'm going to eat the pickle. And she was like, no, please don't. I don't want this. Please stop. And he was like, yeah, you got me. You, uh, you, you got me to do it. You're going to, I don't want you to do it. He's like, you're, oh, you're, you're getting me to do it.

[01:50:15] I'll do it. Uh, and he eats the pickle and she's like, oh my God. What? Poor Amber. It's us for Amber. Like it hurt my soul and people were egging it on too. It's not funny. It's like, I, I just feel like it's like she, she tried to be so polite about it and she tried to be like, let him down easy and all this stuff. And it's like, she's locked in a house with him. What is she going to do?

[01:50:44] And like, I just, I hated that the people like fed into it and treated it like a joke. And they like ruined her game because of it. It's one thing to be like, oh, okay. This guy likes you. You don't like him. And it's kind of this weird, awkward situation, whatever. But then the fact that they weaponized it against her to just completely tank her game. That to me, like was the frustrating thing that to me was so like, it just, it wasn't fun. It was sad.

[01:51:13] And yeah. Now, now that this is very sad. And I know we talk about this week, like it's a very straightforward week, but don't forget about the insanity. That was a Zach HH for like a few days. Oh my God. Yeah. He's like the biggest HH-itis ever. He always, this contributes to what happens the following week as well. Yes. But yeah, Zach is HOH is basically the next coming of Devin.

[01:51:40] You know, he's, he's got all these ideas and he's, he's got orders for people to follow. But, but it's not until the following week where that really matters because the following week is the one and only time in the entire season that somebody not from the bomb squad is the HOH. The only time. Oh my God.

[01:52:10] The only time. The only time. The only time they have one opportunity and they actually came kind of close to making something happen. And it ended up backfiring pretty dramatically. So there's a lot of different strategies that you can take. Like obviously you can guarantee to put two people up in this case, you have to put four people up from the majority and then have to hope that the veto doesn't happen in a way.

[01:52:39] I mean, at this point they could nominate four people from the detonators. Then the fifth one could win the veto, save the other one. And, and like now all of a sudden, like you don't have the numbers anymore. You're screwed. Anyway, the idea here, Donnie and Nicole win the HOH. Um, and they're not entirely on the same page. I mean, it's not like these people are like in lockstep. Um, but, uh, the idea is that it would be fantastic to, to take shot of power structure. Um, and they are, you know, well, well, Nicole is skeptical of Derek.

[01:53:09] She saw how she, how he operated on their first HOH. Um, they feel like they have a good connection to Cody. Um, and via Cody, Derek. Uh, and so if they have to pick their poison, who should we try to pull in while we try to target somebody else? Who should, who should that be? Uh, they decide they're going to try to work with Derek and Cody to take down Frankie, who has a lot of power in this game.

[01:53:37] Um, and it's a good thought because again, the structure of this game prevents them from being able to do much of anything. There's a lot you can criticize about this week, especially the way that it plays out. But like their hands were tied behind their back from the start. And the fact that they very nearly managed to do their, you know, uh, like, uh, you know, puzzle or whatever is, is pretty impressive. They, they create an alliance called the rationale with Derek and Cody.

[01:54:07] Um, and they actually do get them on board to take a shot. Uh, and the idea initially is that they take down Frankie, the backdoor Frankie. Uh, they want to do that by nominating Zach. Um, and so, uh, Nicole nominates Jocasta and Zach in the hopes that Jocasta will basically mean like make Zach lose the competition, the battle of the block competition.

[01:54:31] Um, and, uh, and Donnie's nominees of, uh, of Caleb and Victoria end up winning it. Meaning that Zach is now still on the block against Jocasta and, uh, and, and, and Hayden and Nicole, they have been working on Cody and Derek for a while. At this point, Cody and Derek are convinced by them. It's time to drop Zach is trying to drop that whole group and move forward with us instead.

[01:54:59] Um, and that is the plan going into the veto competition. Zach realizes that he's in a lot of trouble. He loses the competition. This is when he gets his, his famous kind of like, um, like, uh, like, you know, moment of like just desperate to win that veto competition. BB comics. Was it BB comics? Uh, BB comics. Yep. And that was famous when Zach is like, like, they're literally like on the feeds when we're

[01:55:26] like waiting for Zach to finish and everybody's like, it's taking forever or whatever. Like, and then they heard, they said they heard like stuff shattering or whatever. And then it, cause he like threw the comic and it hit the camera and like broke a lens or something or hit a light or something and broke it. And, uh, and then that it's so dramatic on the show. It's so well done where they're like, he's, he's like so upset at the end and he's laying there and the camera like slowly like fades away or whatever.

[01:55:56] Like, and you just see him like in the sea of just, uh, it's, he's so depressed. It was, it was such a good, it was so well done. That was the first BB comics. Speaking of the podcast. Uh, I remember, I think it was the day before the eviction, uh, on the podcast, Rob and company held a eulogy for Zach, uh, like man, he was such a great character, you know, like, uh, uh, it was, it was over, uh, for Zach. Yeah.

[01:56:26] Um, partially the plan fell through with, with, uh, Frankie because the idea that the, the, they were feeling that the, they did not have the numbers to, to get Frankie out, uh, next to Jocasta. Um, and so, uh, pause, pause. I'm like, again, very impressed with what Nicole was able to do. And Hayden was able to do this week, like to come so close to, um, getting a desirable outcome. Why on God screen there for Jocasta on the block? Like, like that, well, again, I think part of it was in the hopes that she would lose

[01:56:53] the battle of the block competition and, and aid them in. But like, wouldn't it not matter though? Because it's like, if Donnie and Nicole are the two- Well, again, they weren't really entirely on the same page. Uh. But couldn't, shouldn't they have tried to get out like Caleb? Like that, I feel like that could have been a, that could have been a potential. I mean, Caleb was seen as less of a threat at this point. Uh, Frankie was the real threat here. Um, and at this point of that, I mean, that was kind of a threat. It was kind of, it was Frankie and Derek were the two power players of the game.

[01:57:22] Um, and if they really wanted to make an impact, taking a shot at Frankie and then ultimately failing and then getting Zach instead, which still would have been a shot across the bow, um, wouldn't have been that bad either. Like, uh, the issue is that Derek literally just changed his mind at the last second. Uh, he, he had a conversation with Caleb where Caleb was preaching loyalty and he was like, these people are so stupid.

[01:57:50] Hayden and Nicole are way smarter. Maybe I should, maybe I should just roll the dice and hope we can get these two out and work with these other people. Uh, and so at the last minute he changed his mind and they blindsided Hayden and Nicole and they voted out Jocasta instead of Zach. Oh man. I mean, I personally was really glad because I wanted Zach to stay. I mean, like I wanted them to take a shot at the Alliance and I was really glad that they did, but I was like, not this shot. This is not what I want. As they get like Caleb out or something.

[01:58:19] Like, I don't want Zach to go. Ugh. Yeah. Like, like, like that going at this time would have been good for, um, Nicole. Cause like Zach was not like a Nicole fan. Like they weren't working closely together. In fact, he actively antagonized her multiple times in the season. Like I love Zach. I think I would have hated living with that kid. Um, yeah. Like if he wasn't a fan of you and he just like thought it was like so many times he just like antagonized people.

[01:58:46] And it was just like, I mean, like it was great watching him. I mean, I didn't love watching him antagonize people, but like he was so much fun to watch. Uh, but I do feel like if I was in the house, he probably would try to antagonize me and I'd be very frustrated. So instead the only HOH to not be won by a bomb squad member ends with a Jocasta eviction. And that is the true result of the battle of the block.

[01:59:15] I mean, I was actually okay with, cause I was like, well, Jocasta is not really giving me anything. So like, that's fine. She can leave. But like, yeah, I see your point. Like this is, this is what happens. They have way fewer opportunities. And the one time they do actually manage to have the HOH power, they are still powerless in the sense that they still needed so many other things to go right in order to actually take out a valuable target.

[01:59:39] And instead they took out Jocasta, uh, speaking in tongues, by the way, during that competition, during that veto. Do you remember that where she was like, just everyone was like, what is happening here? So that's very memorable. But other than that, not that much. She also has a very famous gif, uh, Jocasta. Uh, yeah, that's true. The, the, I've always give and now I get to receive that one's great.

[02:00:08] Well, the, the, the, the look from like behind the couch. What's that? I don't know when she's like, yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. That one is good. I'll try to find it maybe. Her kissing Nicole on the lips. That one. Yeah. So she does have a lot of, uh, a lot of moments, but not really game related moments. Mm. Um, so, uh, so Jocasta is out here. This is part of a double eviction.

[02:00:34] Um, and, uh, and it works out perfectly that, uh, Derek and Cody blindside Nicole and Hayden. Uh, and in the event that Hayden, you know, wins this HOH or that like something goes wrong and somebody else wins this HOH, they could be in a lot of trouble because they just betrayed all these people. But instead Caleb wins it. Uh, it was the right call. Uh, Caleb wins and they take out Hayden. Just like that. So sad.

[02:01:03] I was so sad because I really saw a lot of potential in Hayden and I was just like, he's got it. He sees what's going on in the house. Like he knows he just doesn't really have any, like he doesn't have any power. He doesn't have anything to do with it, but like he, he can make something happen. I really truly thought that like with Hayden there, the outsiders like had a chance. Um, and then he just immediately got kicked out and I was very, I was very upset about it. No, like, and I think Terrence said it's like, if someone was going to do something against

[02:01:32] the power lights, it was going to be Hayden, um, this season. And he was smart enough. He was athletic enough that he could have done something about it. I think it's just unlucky with how the tides turned. And it was like, Derek realized, Hayden, you're too good. You have too much potential and I can't be playing with people with potential. I need to play with people like Caleb. I need to play with people like Victoria, like not someone who will sniff me out at the end of the day and take me out. It's also interesting that he was never like, I mean, obviously Devin approached him about

[02:02:00] joining late, but like he was never included in any of those like bro alliances. Like I understand like Donnie wasn't included either, but like that makes sense because he's not really like a bro, but like Hayden was never included. And I always found that to be very strange because it's like, what, what was, what was wrong with Hayden? Why not? I don't know. Yeah. I wonder what Jocasta thinks about that. No, that's so good. It's so good. She's just like looking. Oh, Jocasta.

[02:02:31] Hayden was kind of weird. That was, that was, that was the vibe. Can you tell me I'm wrong? When I was rewatching this, like he's low key giving me like Quinn vibes. Like if Quinn had an older cousin. Okay. I don't see it guys. I don't see it. No, you guys are all wrong. Hayden was, I felt like Hayden was extremely like friendly and easy to get along with. And he seemed like he was just like, he was funny. Are you saying Quinn's not friendly?

[02:03:01] I mean, listen, I say weird because I think they named their alliance, the weirdos or something. Um, but like, uh, the reality is Hayden was normal in a house full of like muscled up bros. You know what I mean? Like he was just a chill dude, uh, who didn't get along with like the, the guys that were walking around like this, like, you know, like, uh, like, like strutting around the house. Like he was, you know, uh,

[02:03:29] You came down with the guy. He was normal. Well, that's true. Yeah, that is true. He was very normal. So maybe, yeah, if that's the case, then yeah. And yeah, he, he wasn't like bro-y, I guess. So like, that makes sense that like, he wouldn't gravitate towards them. And he was hanging out with like Nicole and Christine, which by the way, like, We never mentioned this, but like Nicole and Christine's friendship and their like alliance together in the beginning was like so great. People loved them together. They were very fun to watch.

[02:03:59] And they were like, the people were rooting for them. And Christine, like, um, it was interesting to see like, like where and why like the public kind of like turned on Christine. But for the longest time, like people really liked Christine. They liked the Nicole and Christine dynamic and the friendship and, you know, them hanging out together. And like, um, it was interesting and we'll get to it later. But like, yeah, like I just wanted to make sure I make clear that like Christine was really loved in the beginning.

[02:04:28] And people loved Christine and Nicole together and they loved Christine, Nicole and Hayden and that whole dynamic. And yeah, I don't know. But like Christine did some shady stuff. Like what was it? He like, she like tried to break up Hayden and Nicole at one point in time. Yeah. Yeah. No, like at that point. No, that that's where I think it started to turn where it was like, okay, why are you trying to like she told Nicole that Hayden and Victoria made out and that she was like, oh, I'm so disgusted by that. It's so gross.

[02:04:58] And then like Nicole went to Hayden, like, is that true? And Hayden's like, no, obviously not. And she's like, okay, now I don't trust Christine. And that's where that whole friendship ended up kind of like disintegrating. But Christine made some moves that like, I think were, I mean, I was trying to track like what the various things were as we went along, like that made the public really turn on her. And so we can talk about that as we're going. But yeah, that that is one of the things I think is like an initial turn.

[02:05:26] I think Nicole was just America's sweetheart. Like she was such a sweet, like country little girl. And like she was an underdog. And she was an underdog. And not only that, she was smart. She saw what was happening. And the fact that Christine was like undermining her. And like every time she tried to get going, Christine shut it down and was writing everything out to the major alliance. Like I get why the public turned on her. I don't know if she deserved what she got at the end. But like, I get it. Yeah.

[02:05:53] No, there were there were various points that like Christine did things where it was like, don't. Why did you do that? Why did you know that's not good. And I think also the fact that it was never like in her best interest. And it was always like, it wasn't like, oh, but it makes sense from a game perspective. It was like, it was everything Andy was doing without the benefit of Andy then winning the season. Right. Like it was all for a purpose. Like it was all worth it. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Totally.

[02:06:19] Um, so, uh, Christine and Nicole win the next HOH. Um, and, uh, and so this is of course the, um, the famous moment where Nicole, an initial HOH is dethroned, but, uh, in, in quite dramatic fashion, Nicole is dethroned because once again, really without Hayden there, her threat level drops.

[02:06:42] And the idea that, uh, that Frankie might need to be taken down a peg still exists, uh, in the minds of Derek and Cody. And so, um, they, when they come up with a plan to potentially take down Frankie, uh, like that's actually the plan, right? Nicole nominates Caleb and Frankie and, uh, and, and all eyes are on Frankie when he drops a bomb.

[02:07:13] And I'm, I'm, I'm actually a social media mogul and Ariana Grande's brother. Woo. That was such a dramatic week. I, that was so dramatic because like leading up to that, it was like, they were all finding out that Frankie was lying. Like Zach found out that Frankie was turning against him and was going to vote him out. And Frankie was admitting to all of this stuff.

[02:07:43] And Frankie, like it was, I mean, we're, we're skipping over like some of the most dramatic stuff because it was like, like we are over two hours in. We're all turning on Frankie. No, I'm sorry, but this is important. We're all turning on. Look, I, you know me and I'm all about like, let's like efficiently get the podcast so that I can go make dinner or whatever. But like, this is important stuff. We are skipping over the fact that they were like, we are going to throw the competition so that. Well, not skipping that.

[02:08:13] Yeah. We're going to talk about that. So that Frankie is, but he did this before he admits he's the social media guy that before that happens. Right. Isn't it? Well, I mean the plan, the plan to throw it. Yeah. No, the idea that he throws it so that they can take Frankie out and he catches wind at the fact that they're, they're coming after. But before he, he doesn't reveal it until he doesn't reveal it until afterwards when he's safe from the battle of the block thing. That is true. So we're skipping that. Okay.

[02:08:41] Well, listen, we were not intentionally skipping that. Okay. Well, I'm just telling you that this is the most dramatic thing that happened was that they were like, we're going to go. We're getting Frankie out. Zach was like, I'm against him. We're doing this. It's like this big plan. They go to have Caleb go to throw the competition. And Frankie looks to Caleb and it's like, we're going to win this. We're going to get this. And Caleb is like, Caleb won't look at him. And he's like, Caleb, look at me. Caleb, look at me. And he's like, Frankie, I have to do this. Frankie, I have to do this.

[02:09:10] And he's just like looking like, you know, like this. And Frankie's like, no, you are not going to throw this competition. And he's like, Frankie, you lied to all of us. And he like, it's so dramatically like it's this dramatic confrontation at the, at the competition. And he, and he's literally just like, you're like, you can't please Caleb. You can't do this. He's like, you lied to all of this. It's your time to go. Blah, blah, blah. Caleb goes to and sit down. And then Frankie goes and is like, I'm just going to do this on my own, which coincidentally,

[02:09:40] like it's actually a competition that's easier to do on your own because you're not like fighting with the other person on the police. Yeah. Literally, he's like, he does the entire thing by himself, but it's so close. It gets down to the very, very end. And then Frankie wins it and he screams. And also he says out loud, like, this is for you, grandpa. And this is for you, Ariana. Go team grande, which like, you'd think like Ariana, grande, whatever. But at the time she wasn't that big. She wasn't that big of a star.

[02:10:10] She was like a Disney star at the time. So it wasn't that star. I mean, people knew. She's not who she is today. She is today. I'll be very clear on that. But it was crazy because it was just like, oh my God. So then Zach's mad. Frankie comes back in and he, and they get into a whole confrontation where he's like, you lied to me. You lied to me. You turned against me. Like, you know, it was this whole dramatic thing. And Frankie's like, it's big brother. Of course I'm going to lie. He's like, okay, fine. I'm the biggest liar.

[02:10:38] And then, and then he, and Zach goes, you liar. And he goes, yeah, well, I'm a safe liar. And it was so good. And then that's when Frankie is like, like, I'll reveal my whole thing. I'm a social media mogul, which I also could not remember for the life of me. Every time I saw that clip, why remember why Derek was in a suit. And it turns out it was because he was hosting the competition as like the, the NFL, like a commentator or something. But I was like, why is Derek in a suit?

[02:11:07] Anyway, they don't really know who Ariana Grande is. And most of them did not. Yes. Amanda Grande. He's like, Ariana. Famously, anecdotally, at least in the battle of the block competition, when Caleb sits down, they very quickly realize it's that thing where they're whole, you're both, both people were supposed to hold one side of the string to lift up a ball over a maze.

[02:11:37] And so Frankie had to do it by himself after Caleb sat out. Again, anecdotally, they very quickly realized it was an advantage for Frankie to be able to control both sides. And Caleb tried to do it by himself. And Caleb tried to then come back in so that he could screw Frankie up instead of sit out and was not allowed to. Yes. I remember that. That was so crazy where it was like, okay, but what? Like, that doesn't make any sense from the rules. It's like, oh, but if you sat down, you can't come back in. It's like, why?

[02:12:07] There's no reason for that to be able to. Because it was more dramatic for TV. I mean, that is, it is way more dramatic for TV. It was very dramatic. It was very interesting. Yeah, it was very well done. But like, at the time, I was so frustrated that like, he wasn't allowed to like, get back in. It doesn't make any sense. Yes. Like, almost every other battle block competition, you could not have done it by yourself. Full stop. So it's interesting that this was the one that Frankie got, was the one where he could be advantage of doing it by himself. But like, I think the aftermath of this battle, the battle, the battle, the battle,

[02:12:37] block competition was so insane. Frankie just trying to rat everything, trying to spill everything to the table, like his truth about his family, what he does for a living, S, Y, and Z. And like, I'm gonna be honest, like this was my favorite Zach moment was his confessional. Oh, it's so good. When he was like, oh, what am I even doing? He donated the kids in Africa. He's wasting my time here. He's one fan favorite. What am I doing here? Like, oh my. Just give him the money already. I'm wasting my time.

[02:13:07] I'm here. Oh, it's so good. This is the most like raw and real that Zach feels in the entire season. Like all season long, Zach's been like doing the hand motions in the diary room, talking about Fruit Loops, the Fruit Loop thing. We talked about like he had all the energy, but none of the words because it was like so much of this was just like, you know, all this bluster. And then when he finds out about Frankie, Frankie's true identity, he just, he just loses it.

[02:13:36] I mean, it's, it's, and it's the, the most like real moment that he has on the show. Um, and it was, it was, it's a very good moment. Uh, I've got, uh, well, nevermind. It's not working. Uh, I almost had the clip ready to go. Oh man. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Uh, that's, uh, I'm not going to, you're not going to show you the audio, but you can just see Zach in the diary room. Just like, uh, just, he's just, he's, he's, he's losing it.

[02:14:06] And it's so, okay. We're, we're just apparently not working. Um, come on. Don't look up the clip y'all. Oh, come on. Yeah. You've got to look it up. He's screaming. He's crying. He's like tears are coming out of his eyes. It's so, so good. And you know, something else I do want to point out that I thought was very interesting was that like, uh, Derek says when Frankie reveals it and everyone like Caleb's pissed or whatever. And Frankie's like, why are you so mad?

[02:14:35] And Derek's like, well, you know, most of us are who we say we are. And he says most of us are who we say we are. And he doesn't like, he specifically doesn't say like, we are who we say we are. He's like, well, most of us are who we say, who we say we are. And it's like, well, yeah, conveniently you're not, you're, you'd have been revealed that you're a cop, but oh man. But yeah, no, Zach's, Zach's DR. It's one of the best DRs of all time. It's such a good one. Yeah.

[02:15:02] Uh, so, um, so ultimately Nicole takes the hit here. Uh, Zach, um, you know, Zach ends up, uh, um, you know, being very, very frustrated, but winning the, uh, the veto, um, and, uh, because him and Donnie ended up losing. Cause this again, it was like, oh, well, not only the, not only is this whole thing happening, Frankie's revealing his true identity, but I'm now still on the block. He ends up winning the veto, uh, and Nicole replaces him. So it's Donnie and Nicole on the block.

[02:15:31] Um, and, uh, and Nicole is sent home for the first time. Oh. Right after it, which also we, we never, we never talked about Zach's like whole like fruit loop dingus, uh, speech, which is like very famous. And, you know, we have to give it to him. Um, like, I don't like it because I just feel like, I don't like any of Zach's like big speeches

[02:15:58] like that because I feel like it was always like the bomb squad or a team America, like, like egging him on to do it because they knew it would be bad for him. And so to me, I don't like that sort of stuff because I was just like, oh, come on. Like, this is just like to benefit them and not you. But yeah, it is famous that he said that. And so obviously it's going to be like a quote for like ever. Like Zach is a camera. Like he's one of these people that would like think of what's a good TV moment and let

[02:16:28] me do it. And that's why when he's like, what am I doing here? It was like the, this guy, like I, like this is supposed to be my show, right? Like, yeah, yeah. Like, like he really, he also specifically pointed out, like he already won fan favorite. You know what I mean? Like, it's like the fact that he specifically called that out, like obviously like Zach wanted, that's what he wanted, which like, I understand, but like to specifically say that.

[02:16:59] Yeah.

[02:17:28] Yeah. Who is the person Frankie reaches out to? Derek is co-HOH at the time. They also bond over the fact that, uh, that, um, they have recently lost family members. Um, and they've been in team America this whole time. So, uh, Derek was the obvious choice here. Um, and, uh, Frankie decides to take a shot at, uh, Caleb and, uh, and Cody, uh, are the

[02:17:54] initial noms there, uh, while, uh, well, Derek puts up Christine and, uh, and Donnie, uh, Donnie not pleased about this. Um, not pleased. Uh, of course this eventually comes back on to Zach, uh, Frankie wins the veto. He takes down, uh, Caleb to put up, uh, Zach. They kind of, they kind of basically like turn all of the, um, the like Frankie bad stuff

[02:18:21] into Zach bad, uh, because Frankie was winning so much power. And, uh, and so they got the group back together by being like, let's, let's just all blame Zach for this. Zach will take the hit and, uh, and Zach will go home. Um, and we can all be a big happy family again. Yeah. I mean, so wait, is this when Christine throws the competition, the battle of the block? No. She wins with Donnie. Right. Yeah. She wins it.

[02:18:52] Or yeah, no, but she was trying to throw it. She tried to throw it. Yeah. That was so frustrating. And I feel like that was another nail in Christine's coffin right there where it was like, she's like laughing in the DR about it. She's people were so mad and she's like handing them the thing and Donnie has to win it on his own. And it's so sad to watch because Donnie realizes it's going on. She makes it so obvious and he sees this happening and it's just, it was so sad, you

[02:19:19] know, cause people loved Donnie and she's just like laughing and trying to throw it, throw it. Like it, it was just not, it was not a good look. And it was, it made me so frustrated to watch. There was also like a, just like a brief thing with Victoria where Zach spilled his guts to Victoria, which like at the time I was like, Oh, this is good. Like he notices that like he's on the outs. He knows that like, he needs to like look elsewhere.

[02:19:44] And then he like immediately like comes clean to like Derek about it or whatever. And like set eyes and says, Nicole was the one to say it to her or something. And like, and Victoria is like, I didn't say anything, Zach. I wasn't going to tell anyone anything. You were the one who made this stuff up. And he's like, he like comes clean. And he's like, okay, yeah, I actually did lie about this and I made it up. And I said to that, Nicole told, like told me or whatever.

[02:20:13] It's just like, okay. Derek, Derek handled it so well. And didn't need to actually reveal anything about that, whether it was true or not what Zach said, because it all came down to Zach, just like admitting that he like made up this story about it, even though all the information he gave to Victoria was true about Derek. Classic, classic sort of like manipulation tactic. So basically with Zach kind of like, you know, in a, in a tricky spot now, he reveals too much to Victoria. Victoria's like, what the hell, Derek?

[02:20:43] Derek calls a meeting and has them hash it out and then finds the areas that he can use to discredit Zach that he's willing to admit. And then just, just, just trashes Zach's entire credibility and, and pulls Victoria even closer to him. And, and it's just more reason for Zach to leave here. This is also, as Melissa mentioned, the famous like black box battle block, despite Christine trying to throw it.

[02:21:13] Donnie manages to win anyway. And you know, further cement his fan favorite status there. And, and yeah, again, it is ultimately Zach that takes the fall here this week. You have Zingbot this week, by the way, which is Kathy Griffin. She was like the best, this was like the best Zingbot has ever been. And she did that. Her, her Zing on Zach was so good. It wasn't the best Zingbot ever has been. The best Kathy Griffin has been. Okay.

[02:21:42] Well, she does great. But I, I honestly thought that this was like the Zing for Zach was so good where it was like, what do you call someone who's not afraid to cry? Where's pink and cuddles with men? You call them Zach. That was so good. Anyway, this was Zingbot. So that was exciting. And then they use the team America twist, which obviously America does not want to be used against Zach, but they use it as a way to target Zach, which is like, everyone was so up in arms.

[02:22:10] We were like, this is not what we want for a team America. What are you doing? Because they, this is the mission where they have to hide all the clothes. Then they all blame Zach and say, he's the saboteur. It's, it was Zach. It was Zach. And everybody in the house is like pissed at him. And they use that to be like, Zach, you're a saboteur. We have to target you. It's like every time team America gets a mission, they do it to do something we don't want them to do. It was so frustrating.

[02:22:36] It's frustrating, uh, comma, but like Zach did a lot of this to himself. Like, I don't, I don't know how he made it this far. I'm going to be honest with you. Like he should have gone home a couple of times before now because he was just such a chaotic mess of a person. He's not a good player. Rubbing people back. Actively bad player. Yeah. He was bad. He was bad. Yes. But he was entertaining. Entertainment. Yes. Yes. At this time, that was my number one criteria. Like, are you entertaining me?

[02:23:04] And you know, like also this was such a bad move for Frankie. I really feel that Frankie should have been, he, he should have like seen Zach for what he is, which is like Frankie just like, didn't, he just wanted to like be in with the other guys or something. I don't know, but like Zach would have done anything for Frankie. Zach was like a puppy dog to Frankie and Frankie could have used him. Like none of the other guys were as loyal to Frankie as Zach was.

[02:23:33] And yes, he was chaotic and yes, he did wild things. But if Frankie just kept him in, like he would have been totally loyal to him the entire time. And I think this was a huge mistake on Frankie's part, especially the fact that this was on Frankie's HOH, which is a total mistake. He should not have taken out his closest ally. It's just like, this is where Frankie's game. I mean, Zach was hardly his closest ally at this point, but he was barely had been for most of the season. No, he was, he was absolutely loyal to him.

[02:24:01] But Frankie kept doing stuff like that was anti Zach that would then make Zach turn on Frankie. But that if Frankie had just been like, yes, you're my closest ally and played with him like Derek plays with Victoria. I absolutely think he would have been totally loyal to Frankie the entire time until the end. I do. I do agree. I think that Frankie makes a mistake from, from very early on and never really relents this mistake of like not using Zach as much as he could have tried to.

[02:24:27] But, but yeah, I mean, I would say ultimately like Derek and Cody had more control over Zach than Frankie kind of ever did, I would say. But that's mostly because Frankie never tried that hard with, with Zach. He didn't. Who knows what would have happened if he had tried harder. He didn't. And he had it right in the palm of his hands with this Zanky thing, which we like have not even mentioned, which I will have to say was like so exciting. Like I, at the time, like it was like, it was such a fun, like show man.

[02:24:57] So I don't know. Like it was just like every week it was like, what is happening with them? What is going on? It was so fun to see them like flirting. Like, I'm sorry. I was a Zanky stan. So that like, I was like constantly trying to figure out what was happening. My friends and I were all like talking like, what is this? Oh my God. It was so, it was just like such a unique thing to see on big brother. You don't see that very much. And even Julie Chen in Zach's interview, she said at its best, Zanky was the greatest show man the show has ever seen.

[02:25:24] That's what she said, which like, I mean, maybe. I mean, if they really believe that maybe they should try putting, you know, a few more gay people into the house. I don't know. I would love that. You know. I would honestly love that. It would be so much fun. But yeah, like I do. I thought it was so much fun. I loved them together and I was so angry when Frankie betrayed Zach. Cause I felt like it was just, it was such just a, like a dumb move.

[02:25:54] Like, I feel like it was like, not only do, am I upset because I feel like they like Zach trusted him and Zach was like, like a puppy dog to him and he just totally betrayed him. But I felt like it was a bad move on Frankie's part. Sorry. I'll let this, I'll let this one go because I know we're going too long, but that's like very important that I get that out there. Well, I mean, I guess luckily for us, the season really just like gets pretty straightforward. Yeah. True.

[02:26:20] Also the cheers for Zach, you hear the cheers, like the biggest cheers I've ever heard. And when he comes out and goes to Julie Chen, like you just, and the people like listening in, like the other house guests were like, Whoa, they loved him. They heard it. And it's true. But like, but like, again, like, like Tara said, like after Zach left, like who was there? Like who was there to like shake stuff up and do crazy stuff? Like Zach wasn't changing the status quo, but at least he was like doing stuff that made

[02:26:50] people stay on their heels. Like at the time, like it was like, okay. Interesting stuff. It was a slow, slow ride to the finish here. From there. Cody wins. The next HOH. The jury buyback. Yes. Following the jury buyback. That was very important to the season. And that had a huge lasting impact. Yeah, right. I thought Zach would come right back in and he did not. And then Jocasin, Nicole kiss. Yep.

[02:27:19] Very romantic. Uh, Nicole comes back into the game, gets nominated by Cody. The next HOH alongside Donnie. Uh, Cody also wins the veto. Donnie feels very betrayed by Cody. It's a very sad thing. Um, this is, uh, a sort of emblematic of, uh, the audience's frustration with Derek throughout the season, which is that like all season long, uh, a narrative that you'll hear often is that Derek lied in his diary rooms.

[02:27:46] Um, and that's because from very early on, uh, Derek was saying things like, well, I need to make sure Zach stays, even though that's not what, uh, Donnie wants, because I think that with Zach, I'll be able to protect Donnie better. Uh, like he'd be, he'd be, he'd be doing things in Donnie's interest because of team America. Like, Hey, we're, we're working, we're a secret Alliance America and I'm doing this for Donnie.

[02:28:16] Um, in the meantime, like on the feeds, like whispering poison into people's ears to make sure they didn't listen to Donnie. And then ultimately, uh, stealing Cody to the task of taking Donnie out for him all the while being like, ah, sucks that this has to happen. You have to do this, Cody. Oh man. I can't believe this is happening America. Oh my God. Yeah. Um, I think this week is actually very emblem, um, very much shows like why Cody lost the season.

[02:28:42] Like, because Cody like had power, like, and Donnie felt good with Cody and Cody was affirming Donnie. And then he just goes in blindsides Donnie, uh, for, because Derek said this was the better thing to blindside him instead of actually doing what Cody wanted and like standing on his own two feet. Like truly why he lost was because he was seen as nothing more than a proxy for Derek to make moves because Cody can win stuff. And if Cody like did a couple of things where it was like, okay, I rock with Derek, but like I also have my own mind. What Derek have took him to the final.

[02:29:11] Well, Cody took Derek to the final too. So it doesn't matter, but still, I think he would have a stronger showing a better chance of winning the season. If he more stood on business and like done stuff in his self-interest than doing what many people viewed as what Derek wanted. Also, this was the week when team America was given the mission to like create their own mission that will impress America. And Donnie was like, I think the mission should be save Donnie and keep team America together. And America would have loved it.

[02:29:40] And they, Frankie and Derek are, Derek's like, Oh, maybe, you know, like he's like saying that, but obviously it doesn't want to do that. Frankie is like, we're not doing that. And in the DR, he's literally like, it's a great DR because I'm sure that he like wasn't intending for this to be used as a DR, but he's like doing his makeup, not even looking at the camera. And he's just like, he's doing his makeup and he's like, America would never come up with a mission, save Donnie. Like, come on. That is not something that they would do. And he's like talking like, as if he doesn't know that he's going to be like, he's not doing

[02:30:10] his like Frankie persona. He's doing like, just like America would never want to save Donnie. And then he comes up with the idea of like, America wants us to put on a play. We're going to put on a play. And everyone was like, we do not want a stupid play. We want something that affects the game. What are you doing? And then when Julie goes to reveal, like she has, they have to ask like Julie, like, like she says, what would you want for your have not food? And they have to say apple pie.

[02:30:39] And if she says, yes, you get apple pie. That means they, they succeeded at the mission. And if they say, no, she says, no, you don't get apple pie. That means they fail. Then America has said, you don't get your money. And she was like, that would be a resounding no. And we were all like, yeah, totally like, of course. And you could see Donnie smiling because he knew that their stupid play wasn't what we wanted. And obviously we wanted him to be saved.

[02:31:08] Also, then afterwards, there was the kiss. Oh, it's so romantic. That's so funny. And then Donnie leaves and Frankie and Derek, like Frankie turns to the camera and is like, well, we're team America now. You're just going to learn to love us. Team America was nothing without Donnie. Like, let's get that straight forward. Literally, we would have seen Frankie out of Team America, like right away. And like, I look, I have to give Frankie credit.

[02:31:36] Like he is such a great, like watching it now. He's such a great personality, like for the, for the show. Like you need him. He is, you start off loving him and he's so much fun. And he's like a great, happy narrator. And like, as the season goes on, he turns into such a villain, which is so fun to watch. It like adds such a cool dynamic to the season. And he like, he, you can see his DRs get more and more like villainous.

[02:32:03] Like, especially with that one with him putting on the makeup and everything. It's like, you see this like change in him. I don't know. It's like very interesting. It's like, it's such a great, I just, I absolutely think that it's, he was a great add to the season as frustrating. And as much as I hated him at the time, like, I'm so glad he was there. It was, it was great. Like, I don't know what the season would have been without Frankie, but like, like Zach was performative. Zach, Frankie was also very performative as a person.

[02:32:31] Like he tried to play for the America. And I think what made it good is like, he really truly believed like America still loved him and him with his social media followers. But then he didn't. But then he was like, America, you're just, even if you, I don't care if you hate me, like you're going to have to, you're going to learn to love me. It's like what he said. And it was interesting because he was like, he would tell like Christine not to be nice to Nicole when she was on her way out and doing all this, like this stuff that was just so, I don't know. And then like, like Derek, on the other hand,

[02:33:01] he's talking to every single person that's going to leave. He's acting like a friend to them and being like, look, I'm here for you. Like, you know, all this other stuff. Like he, he constantly was thinking of the game. And I feel like Frankie was like doing everything that was making people like not want to vote for him in the end. But anyway. Well, Donnie leaves, followed the next week by Caleb winning the HOH, nominating Nicole and Christine. Christine wins the veto. Victoria goes up in her place.

[02:33:30] Nicole is voted out here very famously. Nicole has that moment with Derek where she's like, you're the Dan of the season. He's like, what are you going to say that to me for? Or, but like the reality is they're always taking out Nicole here. Like, yeah, it's not like, Oh, if Nicole just had kept her mouth shut, they would have kept her. Like, no, Nicole was always going. I mean, maybe they take a shot early at Christine or Frankie, but like this was, this was probably always going to be Nicole regardless.

[02:34:00] And that's it for Nicole for now. She really just had no life in the game after she was evicted, but she really was probably the biggest threat to Derek's game in the entire season. Apart from Frankie, you know, somebody on the outside of the bomb squad, I should say. And, you know, we do see her come back and have a lot of success on the show. Derek wins the following HOH and nominates Christine and Victoria.

[02:34:30] Frankie wins this veto. Frankie turns out to be harder to take out than you would have liked. That's not the right one. Um, and, uh, and so Christine ends up taking this hit because they're not going to take out Victoria around this time. They are talking a lot about, uh, and they've been talking about this before too, but a lot about like, Hey, we're not going to vote out Victoria, but she better not be final two. She better not be final two. If you take somebody like Victoria, uh, then let me tell you,

[02:35:00] Victoria is going to win. That's what we're, that's what we're trying to say. Uh, that was kind of like Derek's way of, of like justifying the reason of justifying keeping her around is that like, Hey, she's good to keep around for now. Obviously we're not going to take it to the end. Nobody would, nobody would do that. Um, and, and to also try to insulate himself against the idea that somebody else would take Victoria over him. Um, but this is the end of, uh, of Christine here, uh, that they couldn't get Frankie. They got,

[02:35:30] uh, Christine, um, and, uh, going out. Like that was, that was, um, very dramatic. Overhearing the, uh, audience. Yeah. They all said like, we must've made the right choice. They literally said that because it was like so many booze. She got booed so, so intensely. Um, so there's been a running storyline for a little while that, uh,

[02:35:57] she has been cuddling a lot with Cody. Uh, a lot of the women got in trouble for doing this. Um, and, uh, she was one of them, uh, primarily because she had a husband at home. They did a, they really did her. They had like a, a husband segment, uh, they like showed him and her whole family. Yeah. And her mom was like, I don't like this. Her husband's like, I wish she wasn't doing this. Yeah. Like,

[02:36:26] like literally threw her under the bus. Yeah. It was, it did not, it was bad. And then like, so online at the time, like everybody was, it, everybody was like, we're really, really mad at Christine and Frankie. That was like, people were pissed. Like people were really mad. It was not just like, Oh, Christine's like, like being rude to her husband or whatever, by doing this. So we're mad at Christine.

[02:36:52] Like the narrative now is that like people booed Christine because only because of the husband thing. And that was not the case at the time. That was just sort of like the, like the like moralizing version of justifying why they hated Christine. Right. Like, like, like, because they hated what she did in the game. And so finally, like, this was a reason to hate her more than that. Yes. Exactly. Like if she was cuddling with Cody, but she was working with Nicole and Hady and Donnie, they would not have cared.

[02:37:22] They would have, they would have not cared that she was cuddling with this man. But yeah. She's like, we already don't like her. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's insane to make this type of, uh, of moral judgment on Christine. And I don't, I don't know. They might have, I didn't watch the feeds at this point in time. If Christine crossed the line, like her husband said, I wish he didn't, um, hold his hand and stuff like that. But it's like, I don't, I don't know if we have the standing to be like, Christine,

[02:37:51] you charlatan, how dare you be cuddling with this other guy? You need to wear the scarlet letter at this point. There was no kissing. There was nothing like further than just like cuddling. And like, I, like, obviously like, I wouldn't do it. But like, I, I, it wouldn't be enough for me to like, boo you. Like, I don't know. It's just like, they do, you do. we have had, we have had a ton of examples. Yeah. We've not only that, but like,

[02:38:20] it's sticking to the same lane. Even there's a ton of people on this show who have outright cheated on their significant others. Um, and been completely unapologetic about it. And, uh, uh, and those people, uh, have not had any blowback almost whatsoever. Uh, you know, like there was something specific about this. They're really irked people. And it was the fact that it was attached to the strategy. Uh, uh,

[02:38:44] the idea that she was like throwing away other people's games because she had a crush on Cody was just very frustrating to people. And so, uh, they really needed to take it out. The way that she was like, she betrayed her friend, Nicole, which was a fan favorite. She, she, uh, intended to throw the challenge for Donnie, which was a fan favorite. Like she, she was gave a very rude goodbye message to Zach, which was a fan favorite. So like she was doing all of this stuff.

[02:39:15] Meanwhile, being at the bottom of the Alliance where people were like, it's not like, Oh, well we can justify all this stuff because she's going to win and she's doing really well. She was at the bottom of the Alliance. We knew they were going to take her out first. So it was all for nothing. And so everybody was very frustrated with her online. And the, the, at the time the people were saying like, we want to boo Christine and we want to boo Frankie when he gets out. And there was intent quote unquote,

[02:39:44] like people online were saying like, I'm going to, I'm going to be at the family. I'm going to boo blah, blah, blah. And then this is what I heard was that the finale for Frankie was then a closed finale where they did not allow, uh, people to come. And it was just like production or whatever. And like after Christine, they, they stopped allowing booze and they did what they, you know, theoretically needed to do to prevent booze from happening. Uh, which means that, yeah, in terms of big brother us, uh, the people who have now received booze, uh,

[02:40:14] Aaron Grease and Christine. Like, which not comparable, but also like even then Christine was not playing a, Christine was not playing a winning game. Like that's, that's the worst part about this entire thing. Like, when Christine got to that jury house, she got a negative perception. Like those people were not voting for her to win. Like she was playing, like they viewed this woman as ruining their game. We trusted you and you betrayed all of us just to do what? Be at the bottom of this other Alliance. Like, how can we respect that type of gameplay for someone like you? So it's like,

[02:40:45] so it's like, Christine got the worst of every single world. Yeah. It sucks because I feel bad for Christine because the, like she got booed. Nobody else got booed after this because she was the first one. And then they didn't allow booze after that. And so it was like, it makes it look like, Oh, well, Christine's the bad one. And the rest of us are all fine. Like, you know, whatever. I, I would, I would actually like,

[02:41:15] I think it's the correct decision to not allow booze. Uh, it shouldn't have happened with Christine, but I'm not going to say that they shouldn't have stopped it. I agree. No, I totally agree. I'm not saying we should boo them. Like, I mean, honestly, it's like stupid, but I, I feel bad for her because it's like, it makes it look like she's the only one. And like, we wanted to boo Christine, you know, it's like, I, that just seems wrong. Like, you know, I don't know. I don't think that was the case that only Christine deserve booze. Like,

[02:41:44] I understand that people were upset that like, like even moving forward, like they changed it. So it's like, you can't have a reaction. They're like, no, we need to have our genuine real reaction to the people we feel. But like, it really shouldn't. Cause I don't like the psychological told. I remember Christine was on a podcast later on about how, what that did to her mentally. And I was like, this woman did not deserve like the, no, that's the word pain and suffering that she had to go through and work through because of, of what we, we didn't like her game decisions. You know how many people play big bird?

[02:42:13] I hated their game decisions. Like, yeah. I know. I totally agree. People point to like international versions because it's a very common occurrence on international versions for people to be voted out of the house by the audience and then receive booze, uh, on their way out of the house. But, uh, first of all, I don't like that either, but like more importantly, bigger, the U S is not an international version. These people are being voted out of a house by their peers. Um,

[02:42:39] and then getting locked up into sequester into a jury house for the next month or so with no more contact or support system. Like, uh, this is not the same thing. Um, and I do not think it is, uh, I, I, I, these shows do enough to the contestants mental health that we do not need to be like doing that. Antoinette. Uh, so I think this was, um, yeah. Yeah. Uh, so, and then it makes everybody in the house feel like, Oh, well, she's bad. Like, well,

[02:43:09] afterward, Cody was like, was that, is that me? Cody was like crying when they were like, Oh yeah, well, this had something to do with you, Cody. And he's like, what? They're like, well, it was a little much. He was like, really? Um, so, uh, this is the famous rewind. Oh boy. Um, where Frankie wins the HOH and the veto. Uh,

[02:43:38] but there's a twist. There's a big button. Should you press the button? Caleb says, yeah, let's Judy chop it. Um, this is, uh, we'll talk a little bit more about Caleb in just a second, but, uh, he has had a redemption arc on the show. Um, and is a fan favorite. Uh, and we'll later be asked, to play survivor as well. Multiple times. Twice. like, what are we doing here? In the meantime, the first half of the season do not exist.

[02:44:06] Like just because this man stayed in here for like longer than he actively should have. Don't mean like, Oh, he can do a back flip. He does a kick every now and then. Like, that's not like our redemption. This is, this is, this is why big brother is a reflection of our reality. Like, uh, cause this is exactly what happens in real life too. Like people will be all up in arms about a thing. And then you wait a month or so and they don't care anymore. And you can do whatever you want. Uh, and that's, I mean, exactly what happened here,

[02:44:36] but this week it's Frankie that falls victim. Um, and to the rewind twist, despite winning the HOH and the veto, uh, after the resets, um, um, he loses both the HOH and the veto and is voted out. It would have been Victoria up next to Cody after Frankie's HOH. But, uh, instead Frankie goes out here. Probably the biggest knock to Derek's entire game is that, uh, it would have had a much harder time at it. If, uh, Frankie had been allowed to,

[02:45:06] uh, actually survive the final five here. Yeah. And you know, it was interesting because his argument to them when they said that they were going to be evicting him was he said like, you're evicting the person who will single-handedly determine the winner of this game. And everyone was so mad at him for saying that they're like, Frankie, you are not going to determine the winner of this game. He's like, I am. So you are really, if you let me go, you are releasing me to my 1.5 million followers, which like, no, we're not because like you're going to the jury house. And he's like,

[02:45:34] and also I am very influential and I will feel like able to be released to the jury and I will be able to convince them. And it's like, Oh my God. Like, like this. No. Oh, the arrogance this kid had talking to these people like that, like, Oh, you don't want to betray me. Cause I'm so big and bad. I'm so powerful. Like, boy, go home and get out of here. They didn't want you gone. And I do feel for him because it was like, he,

[02:46:02] he like had such a great week. And then the twist just flattened it. Totally. I don't feel, I don't feel bad for him. Cause first off, you shouldn't have pressed the button. I'm being 50. It wouldn't have even mattered. It would have like, they would have had to do it anyway. Like there's no way that production would have been like, Oh, they didn't press it. Oh, well. Like, like, no, they made it. So that way it's a big button. Anyone can press it. Anything will happen. They wanted the button to be pressed because they needed an extra week of, I don't know. I don't know what it is.

[02:46:31] But like Frankie did a lot of this to himself. Like he has been causing messes, starting fires. Like, I think Frankie is naturally has a talent for big brother, but he also has a talent of doing stupid stuff, making bad decisions, choosing bad allies to work with. Like, cause again, had they done down the block, right? He would have gone home the week. What Frank, now Zach went home or one of those weeks. Like Frankie should be out of his house. Yeah. When Nicole went home,

[02:47:01] like Frankie should have been gone. So the fact that he has this arrogance that he has so much power, it was disgusting. I was already out on Frankie, but I was like, yeah, I understand why they want to go home. I'm glad he did. But it's like, get out of here with that. Like, it's not cool. Also, I thought it was interesting that in his interview with Julie Chen, he said, well, as you all saw, I did not want Donnie to go home. I tried to keep him around, which like is not at all. He wanted Donnie to go. He was like,

[02:47:31] get him out. And so it was interesting how he thought, he thought that he was like playing America and was able to like, convince us of certain things that weren't necessarily the case. Like he didn't know that he had the DR being like America would never want us to save Donnie. I mean, his biggest weakness ultimately is his trust for Derek and his lack of being able to acknowledge that all of the people he thought he had as allies, like Zach, like Caleb,

[02:48:00] Derek was consistently able to undermine him on. And he thought once again, that he had Caleb with him, but it's Caleb that wins that the repeat HOH week on the rewind and helps send him home only to then be immediately betrayed by Derek and Cody the following week when they win HOH and veto respectively. Uh, and decide to betray him to send him out, uh, instead of Victoria. Yeah. Frankie, like,

[02:48:29] I think Frankie's biggest flaw in my humble opinion is that he does not do good maintenance. He doesn't do good maintenance work with his allies. Like, yeah, I'm not surprised Caleb was the person that took him out. Cause he was the one who sat on the sideline trying to throw a competition to get Frankie out. Like, and that's what there is good with like, don't matter who you are, whether you're in his alliance or outside alliance, he's putting the time, putting the energy, making sure that you feel good with him. And once you're don't feel good with him, he's like, you can go. Meanwhile, Frankie's like, I'm good with everyone. So you can go if I don't want you here anymore.

[02:48:59] Yeah. Um, and this was the end of Caleb again, beast mode cowboy, um, really, really became a, uh, a popular figure, uh, by the end of the season, he's invited back to play survivor twice. Um, you know, uh, I don't know if he has any life left, uh, in the CBS world, but, um, really had a whole moment, which is pretty wild.

[02:49:26] I think that if you aired the first half of the season, uh, today, um, you know, I say today, actually, uh, five years ago, um, uh, uh, if you aired it today, uh, he would be praised by half the population of the U S. Um, and, uh, if you aired it a couple of years ago, he would never have made it, anywhere. Um, but, uh, but that, yeah, that was the end of, uh, of Caleb this week.

[02:49:56] Yeah. Like, Caleb was like, honestly, actively nothing of a player. Like, he, he would think he was like the king of this house, house, king of the castle and stuff like that. When he like, will literally do next to not much of anything. He will want a competition every now and then, but like, people didn't think Caleb was the, he was easy to manipulate because of his, because of his ego. And, and just like, all you can do is feed into his ego. Yeah. Like, well, I watched, um, all the fights with maybe 16.

[02:50:26] And Frankie was like, no, not Frank. Caleb was like, I may be stupid, but at least I'm gonna still be here. And I'm like, Caleb, no, like, I'm trying to get to that. Oh man. Uh, that leads us to the final three where of course, Cody wins the final HOH and very controversially decides to cut Victoria in favor of bringing Derek to the final two. Uh, we haven't talked a lot about Victoria throughout this, uh, podcast primarily because, um, she is not a major player in the season. However,

[02:50:56] I do want to make sure to note that throughout this season, she is a pretty vital player to Derek's success. Um, he is going to make, uh, a kind of final two with her. Um, and she very, uh, intentionally, um, plays within that, taking direction from Derek and doing a lot of subtle things to help maintain Derek's control over the game. Um, she, uh, uh,

[02:51:25] she was like genuinely very effective at that. The problem is obviously that wasn't good for her game. It was only good for Derek's. It's a lot easier to be effective for somebody else's game than your own. Uh, but, uh, but Derek being able to sort of take control of Victoria in the game was a huge piece of his success. Um, and, uh, and, and really, you know, as the chat is pointing out, we have to be very sensitive about the fact that, uh, she has a history with crows. Um,

[02:51:55] and, uh, yeah, that's really, you know, you don't want to, we don't want to speak too ill of that. Yes, of course not. That was such a crazy moment. Um, but no, I do feel like it's very interesting also that like Derek was able to keep his like final two with Victoria, like completely under wraps the entire time. Everybody thought that they were just like dragging Victoria along, but they didn't realize that Derek had her, that Derek actually was like working with her. And Derek did a good thing. What was it? Um,

[02:52:24] he was pretended that he was told Victoria that he was voting her out. And she was like, since then she has this vendetta against Derek. But the whole time they was like, nah, that's my brother. We're cool. We, we rock together. So yeah, they made up this story that because they thought she was leaving. So he was like in order, I don't want anyone thinking that I have a locked jury vote. So Victoria is like, if I can't win, I want Derek to win.

[02:52:49] So I'm going to lie and say that I would Derek and I hate each other and that I'm against him because I want the house to not hold it against him that I'm going to vote for him in the jury. And they did a great job with that. Although then they had to, you know, maintain that for an additional week because the rewind week, but still. Uh, and that of course brings us to our final two, Cody and Derek. Honestly, what is there to say about them that hasn't already been said either in this podcast or outside of it? Uh,

[02:53:19] they're both pretty prevalent in the world of reality television. Now, Cody goes on to win a big brother, all stars too. Um, and, uh, they both go on to, uh, to play the traders where they do not find as much success, which is not surprising because other players are going to have a harder time on the traders. Generally. Traders. Damn. Um, yep. I was like, wait, what? Yeah. He was a player with three. Oh yeah. Yeah. Wow. I don't remember that. We really cooked him, uh,

[02:53:49] pretty hard. Um, so, uh, this, this jury vote is, is interesting. This is the classic example I will use often when people talk about like the jury votes for who they like more. Cody very clearly was liked more than Derek. Cody is the one throughout the entire game that had, all of the great social relationships. Um, he is a large part of why Derek was able to operate in the way that he did. Um, and, uh, a lot of people felt closer to, uh,

[02:54:19] to Cody throughout the game. Um, but they respected Derek more, uh, and they just didn't respect Cody's game as much, uh, because as AJ has pointed out already, uh, Derek called a lot of these shots. It was very clear that, um, that Derek was the, the, the brains behind the operation. And, uh, and so nearly everyone voted for him, uh, because of that, just Johnny and, uh, Jocasta deciding they did not want to contribute.

[02:54:49] Um, but, uh, this was really no question. Everybody knew that Derek was going to win. Um, and, you know, Cody had some reason to believe he'd have a chance, but he also of course knew that he was going to have a tough time. I'm beating Derek. We talk a lot about the, the pact to vote for Victoria as a potential reason why Cody might not want to risk something like that. Uh, but at the end of the day, I think everybody recognized that, uh, you know, if you want the better chance to win, that was definitely the path to take. Uh,

[02:55:18] both of them say they would have taken the other and that neither of them would have regretted the decision, uh, to this day. Well, of course Derek can say that like, cause he can be like, of course I would have taken you. Yeah, totally. I don't know if that's true, but you know, I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. Cause I, I think Derek had it locked up. Like the moment Frankie left, I was like, no one's touching Derek at this point in time. I feel like Derek, I mean, this was,

[02:55:47] while it was boring at the time to see Derek constantly get his way. Like I, I always throughout the season was like, I just want somebody to rise up and do something against Derek. Like at the end, I was like, Derek better win. Like I would have been really upset if Derek didn't win the game because he was so good and he controlled the entire season. And it was just such a masterful game, just such an impressive game. I mean, we, we now we talk about him as one of the greats.

[02:56:16] So I, I mean, this was so impressive. And I feel like, yeah, like while it maybe wasn't the most entertaining game, it was certainly very well played. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think another special thing with Derek is even going through this season at the time. Like, I don't know, maybe the Frankie at the end, but I don't know if there was a single HOH who realistically thought like,

[02:56:46] if I took out Derek right now, I will be in a better position. And like, that's how good Derek is in putting himself in people's plans, making people feel good with Derek. Be like, if Derek leaves, that's going to be a detriment to our game. Was Derek nominated before the final finale? I don't think so. Like, like Derek did such a great job of implanting himself in other people's game that it was like, when would we have had opportunity to take Derek out? That's what makes this game so freaking impressive. Like,

[02:57:14] I don't see a time you could have took the shot and landed. No, I don't think it would have landed ever. No, I think you're totally right. I think like, even if someone was like, I got to get him out and they got him on the block. I don't think anyone would have been like, yeah, let's take Derek out. I think everyone like wanted to work with Derek and felt like they were close with Derek. So like, they'd be like, that's not right for my game. I don't want to do that. And I do want to like mention. So one of my favorite moments of the season was when just little moments was when Derek, you know,

[02:57:42] he had that punishment where he had to listen to 5,000 hollas and the one where his daughter does the holla. And it was just the sweetest thing. I like tear up every time. I like always have to rewind it. It's just so cute. Again, it's so well done the editing because they have all this like silly music playing while he's listening. All these hollas. And all of a sudden they hear his daughter and he hears it and the music cuts out and it's just silent. And he like, he's just like, did you hear that? And he hears his daughter and it's like the sweetest thing.

[02:58:10] And I absolutely love it. And one other thing I want to mention before, I know we're like trying to wrap up. One other thing I want to mention is that something interesting that I find interesting in like all Big Brother seasons is like the way that there is a vocabulary that develops in the house. Um, where there's like certain words or phrases that people say and that just like catches on. Like this season, it was like jamokes and smoke show and feel a certain way. Like it made me feel a certain way.

[02:58:39] And I will say I use now feel a certain way. Um, in my everyday life when I like don't want to say exactly like that, it's made me angry or it's made me upset. I'm like, well, it just made me feel a certain way. And even though it like means nothing, but it, but it takes the common phrase, but no, it is a common phrase, but like it's, it was never used as, as free. I feel like the way it's used in the house was very interesting. Anyway, I think that it's always fun to try and like, remember like what the, what the vocabulary of the house was at the time.

[02:59:09] Yeah. Uh, especially when you watch the feeds, like it can definitely like incept into your brain. Um, but, uh, yes, ultimately like untouchable. Um, yeah. Um, 23 or 24 Turner and his Turner is game information. Awkward. And like, like that. Like there's so many little like phrases that come from big brother, but yeah. I mean, it doesn't, it wasn't like generated in big brother. It wasn't like invented, but like it starts.

[02:59:39] Well, big brother 16 very much like changes the landscape of big brother. Uh, it is the first truly dominant season, uh, of, of, uh, truly dominant and sort of like, um, twist, uh, of, uh, a season where the twist just completely dominates. The, the gameplay one player, of course, being able to take advantage of that more than any other, uh, Derek, uh, who I think undeniably has the most dominant single, uh, single season performance of, uh, any player.

[03:00:09] Um, uh, of course, very common thing is that he's never come back to play again. And people would love to see how he deals with actual adversity, meaning not just one week out of the entire season where somebody not in his lines was in HOH. Uh, and let's be real. He was in an alliance with that person. Um, so, um, certainly that is to his credit. Uh, and I don't think anybody, uh, can or should, uh, try to, uh, to diminish that credit. Um, but it would still be very fun to see him, uh, handle a little bit more pressure.

[03:00:39] We saw a little bit of that in the traders, but it's just not the same. I think it was a similar to when, um, Kim came back on winners at war and it was like a rough start, but it was still like, that was such a good one world game like that she played, even though she struggled more there. And her second time out, like that first time out was so impressive. We can't deny how good she is. I would love to see him. Kim found her footing and like was dominant for a little bit. And I think most of the audience, he has played big brother two more times. Um, but, uh,

[03:01:09] you know, that's only if you sort of like, uh, believe in the amount of, uh, coordinating and pre-gaming that he's done. Um, no, but I really do think that like, it would be great to see him play again. Like, I don't think he ever will because I think he'll just be like, I don't want to like taint my legacy, but like, I, I would love to see him play again. Watching him on the traders just made it very clear that like, it wasn't, it wasn't a fluke. Like, I think he really is good. And I think he's really, I would love to see him, him play again.

[03:01:39] Uh, well, that is it then for season, uh, 16. Wow. Is this the longest one? Uh, I think so. three hours. Oh my God. I've never podcasted this long in my life. I'm so passionate about it. I'm telling you. Well, well, Melissa, we have to choose three people to be on the poster. Who do you think should be on the poster? I think Derek. I think Zach. And then this is the controversial one because I think,

[03:02:08] I think people will say Donnie, but I, I kind of feel like it should be Frankie. I think it should be, I mean, as much as I love Donnie and like, I absolutely do. I, I feel like Frankie, like if I'm imagining the season, like I'm seeing Frankie. And cause you have just such as hands and everything. And he was just such a big, big character. And he, you know, he made everyone feel such strong emotions. They made people so angry and so like frustrated. And I,

[03:02:38] he was such a, he's such like a good villain. And so I, I do feel like Frankie makes the poster and of course, Derek. And then Zach, I mean, I can't say no to that. So. That's my thought. I, I, I personally, like, I don't see how you can't put Derek on it. Like this is one season. Like he plays such a dominant game. Derek has to be on the poster. Um, I can see a world where this audience puts, um, Cody and Nicole on there, um, from this season. But if, if, if it was up to me, like,

[03:03:07] I think you have to have like Zach on there. I think Zach is such a fun presence. And I think if there's ever a pre-jury that should be on the poster, it should be Kaser, but there's another one. It should be Devin. Like, I think Devin has done enough to earn his spot on the poster of BB 16. Cause what is the first half of the season? Well, that's true. That's true. I think there's arguments for Cody, for Derek, for Frankie, for Nicole, for Donnie,

[03:03:37] for Zach. And for Devin, I think there's a ton of options. Um, you know, there, this is the only season where this is even possible, uh, for there to be three winners of the game on a single poster. Uh, so there's a pretty strong argument for Derek, Cody, and Nicole. Although I do feel like they're going to be, they're going to be included on future posters. So to me, I'm like, don't waste it. Like put them over there. Like give them their, we don't see Devin, Zach or Derek ever. Yeah.

[03:04:06] Like we don't see them ever again. We don't see Frankie ever again either. So. Well, we don't see Donnie ever again. Oh my God. Listen, Donnie. Don't say we're not doing the reindeer poster. Uh, well, you can go and vote. Donnie wasn't asked back. Like, I, I felt like that was like one of the bigger locks. I believe he's, he's been in the running before, but yeah, it never came back, which is wild. Um, that's really wild. Uh, well,

[03:04:36] you can vote for who should be on the poster at Rob's website.com slash BB retrospective. I'll try and have that up, uh, shortly after this podcast ends. Um, but in the meantime, that is what we have for you. I'll be back next week to talk about big brother 17. And if it goes three hours or longer, uh, I'm going to cancel this podcast. So, uh, it's going to be shorter. We're sorry. I'm sorry. Uh, I just like,

[03:05:04] I told you I had a lot to say, obviously. I was like, Melissa, we appreciate the passion, you know? Uh, I don't think anybody in this world could have, uh, brought the big brother 16 podcast to three hours. So, uh, we truly chose correctly. I'm sorry. When Sam asked me what season do you want to do? I was like big brother 16 or nothing. That's it. I want that. Oh, I got it.

[03:05:33] I literally didn't even fill out the survey. I just said, I want big brothers. I needed it. Well, uh, we'll be back next week to talk about bigger, there 17, which of course means Vanessa, Steve, Johnny Mac, all of that goodness. Uh, the first season I podcasted about, so I need to talk about there. Um, so stay tuned for that. Uh, in the meantime, make sure you find me over on Twitch or YouTube, hanging out, watching shows like survivor live when it happens plan,

[03:06:01] talking about other shows and stuff like that. AJ, where can people find you? You can't have a good night. There you go. And Melissa, you can find me on, uh, blue sky and Instagram. It's Melissa with three A's. And you can scroll down my Instagram and find the, um, picture of me with Hayden. There you go. All right. Well, thank you all so much for joining us here today.

[03:06:28] I hope you enjoyed the long podcast and we will see all of you next time. We are Teresa and Nemo. And so, we are going to Shopify. The platform, the we before Shopify used, has used to have regularly updates, which have often been used to have to do, that the shop didn't work. Endlich makes our Nemo Boards Shop dadurch auch auf den Mobilgeräten eine gute Figur. Und die Illustrationen auf den Boards kommen jetzt viel, viel klarer rüber, was uns ja auch wichtig ist

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