Emotional Chops

"This is game is for certain kinds of people, and I thought I was one of those people, but I'm not emotionally cut out for it."

-Alec Beall, April 7, 2013

Alec, sensing his imminent departure, imparted the sum total of his game wisdom to Pete in the bedroom tonight, as the entire internet screamed in dismay.

Among Alec's many contentions tonight:

-Andrew and Talla will go after Emmett and Jillian
-Peter should throw the next Head of Household
-Andrew might still want to work with Peter
-Peter shouldn't work with Topaz
-Topaz doesn't have anything valuable to say about the game
-Peter will beat almost anyone in a jury scenario
-Peter and Alec have played a superior game
-Alec has carried Topaz the whole way
-The Shield should be spelled "S-H-E-Y-L-D"

Peter didn't disagree with anything he said. Oh lord, these two boys are the worst at this game.

You can pretty much sum up everything Alec said about the game tonight with this clip, which was our friend Ash's response to tonight's strategic madness:



In my own agony, I may have started a hashtag on Twitter, #AlecOnPastBBSeasons. My theory? Alec had to post on some BB board somewhere, because he is a true superfan, even if he never heard of Jokers Updates. Therefore, the way to find his anonymous screenname would be to find the poster who was the most completely off-base and wrong about the game, and that would surely be our Emperor of Doom.

I don't see how Peter stands a chance now, unless he realizes he needs to do exactly the opposite of everything Alec just told him to do. Unfortunately, I think he has a bit of a blind spot for Alec, and Topaz may go down with their ship as well, inadvertently.

Speaking of Topaz: Alec was particularly butthurt tonight that she didn't spend his final night glued to his side. He never voiced it as far as I heard, not even to Peter, but he made it clear to her last weekend just how insecure he's been about their showmance all along. He clearly didn't appreciate her lack of interest in him tonight, as she ran around bonding with the girls and setting up her game for the end run.

Don't expect a rosy parting for them tomorrow. But Topaz is now slightly better positioned than Peter going into the Double Eviction, which is not a surprise, because she's been much more correct about the game than Alec pretty much the whole time.

Ash: The Telephone Game

Ash is back with another overnight analysis. Take it away, Ash!

The new power alliance

"It's spring and things quite possibly might be heating up in the BB Canada house.  Jillian claimed victory over Thursday night's HOH comp after battling it out in the end with Topaz.  Deals were made, but until we see the episode (or possibly after dark) it's not clear what those deals actually were.  Jill and Topaz have both made the statement that Jill promised Topaz safety, but the rest is a little more foggy depending on which one you talk to.  Topaz claims and told Alec that Jill promised to put up Andrew and Talla and to keep their significant others/showmances safe.  Alec relayed this information to Emmett who went to Jill and asked if she made such a deal.  Jill says no.  She says she promised not to put Topaz up, but beyond that, Topaz said she was going to put up Andrew and Talla and Jill said she MIGHT do the same.  

Unshielded

Jill and Emmett still working as one unit are planning as of now to put up both members of The Shield alliance, with Alec to be the target to go.  Emmett says once they are nominated he still plans to play his alliance with Peter and Alec as long as he can and is going to feign shock at Jill putting them up.  What he doesn't know is that Alec via Topaz via Talla already knows that Emmett has a deal with Andrew and Talla and will likely not be all that shocked to be targeted.  While Talla is still in the house there will likely be no scheming that isn't tattled from one side to the other.  It's disappointing to say the least since half the fun of watching BB live feeds is watching the strategy that involved betraying one's alliances...sigh.

Uh oh.

Jillian has also spoken to Talla and Andrew and told them of her plan to put up Peter and Alec.  They both agree that worst case scenario would be Topaz winning and taking Alec off so that they would have to put up Andrew or Talla, but they still have the votes to get Peter out if that happened.

I will admit that I kind of hate to see the Shield broken up and a large part of me kind of hopes that somehow Topaz or Talla end up on the block and voted out (and yes I know this isn't likely).  Regardless of what happens I think this should be an interesting week.  It's a far cry from the boring drag weeks where everyone wants the same person out.  I'm hoping to see some hard gaming and maybe even some explosions this week.  That's why we watch, right? 

Smooth operator

In other news, the relatively perceptive Emmett doesn't only have his eyes on Peter and Alec at this point.  Talla seems to be on his last nerve with her flighty floating back and forth to power, or being a "jumper" as Topaz calls her.  He has also decided she is not as stupid as she seems and that she is most likely acting.  Talla should probably stop being "busy" when it comes to gaming at this point or her number is going to be up really soon too.  Not that seeing her walk would make me sad.  My eardrums would be so grateful.

So that's just a little update on where we are at.  There are a million other twists and turns in strategy going on right now.  What do you all think is going to happen?  What would you like to see happen?"

Talla's Folly

Big Brother's been pretty generous with the booze up north so far, which has resulted in some great drama (mostly off the feeds, unfortunately - I mean, how do you have a spin-the-bottle night and not turn the feeds on for that?)

The free-flowing booze may be drawing to a close.

Tonight the house was rewarded with girlie drinks by Canada's vote, and Talla reportedly snuck a few shots on her own. Talla, who is all of like ninety pounds soaking wet, apparently hadn't been eating.

So you know where this is going.

I got home right after she reportedly announced to a full hot tub that she had just peed in the water. For some reason, Peter decided he was going to step up and be the gentleman in this situation.

Peter does something, at last!

He lifted her out of the hot tub and started escorting her to the house.

It's easy to forget that Peter does have muscles...

Her gravity seemed to be a little more challenged as they entered the kitchen.

THAT'S why he was so eager to volunteer.

I kid, I kid. Peter was being a gentleman on this one. He couldn't help the accidental boob grab.

Up and over

Around the living room, Peter gave up and went for the full carry.

Anybody else remember this scene from The OC?

He hauled her into the bathroom...

Way Out sign pointing in the wrong direction

Towards the toilet...

Talla? Talla? Talla?

With the patience of someone who has been that sober friend more times than you'd like to admit (oh god, Peter, I can relate) Peter talked her through the process of disrobing and peeing, asking her for verbal confirmations, which she gave him for awhile before falling silent.

Whoa.

At a certain point, Peter failed to get a response and started to visibly worry. The camera panned down to reveal Talla slumped beneath the door.

And scene.

By this point, Production snapped into action and cut the feeds.

Ash got it all on video, too: 

In all seriousness, I hope Talla gets the proper treatment tonight and is okay. It's no laughing matter and anyone in a situation like this should be taken care of immediately.

So boob grab or not, good on Peter for rising to the occasion to help her out. Even after she peed on everyone in the hot tub.

#BBCAN Fight Night (Again)

Pretty much every fight in the Big Brother Canada house so far has come from Topaz - such a shame her time in the game seems to be winding down.

I have no idea where Topaz and Alec stand right now - are they in a relationship and faking it, or are they faking that they're faking a relationship? etc. etc.

As far as the house is concerned, they're broken up, which is why Talla has suddenly decided to flirt it up around Alec, which has not troubled him in the least. She crawled into bed with him last night feigning fear from their evening movie screening. After some consultation with Gary, Topaz decided to go awf.

Alec Pondering a Second Showmance

The full audio of the argument is here, thanks to Ash:



She also caught some of the video, here:



Aaaaaaaand, there was some making up later (no kissing - down, fools):



Gary and Topaz also stayed up late talking, with him urging her to try to reconnect with Alec. No one is sure what he's doing - is he trying to save himself at her expense? Is he really that much of a romantic?

Topaz and Gary are also going to try to work to get Emmett backdoored today, which is going to completely backfire on them, because Andrew is now solidly with Team Nova Scotia (Emmett/Jill/Andrew) and they're running the house.

Team Nova Scotia: Boring Their Way to Finals 

Topaz also crawled into Alec's bed late last night to talk, but it seems like she got rejected. There may be some Alec-Topaz talk today, and we might be able to get a clearer idea of where they actually stand. I'm extremely skeptical of them "faking" all of this at this point - it's o-vah, the only question is, can either one of them manage to salvage their game from the ashes.

Ugh. There's a lot of season left to play, but I'm not enjoying this post-blackout power dynamic. We're now poised to lose all of the season's major characters in the next few evictions, while some of the least interesting people in the house are gearing up to run the place to the end.

The only way I can see this season staying interesting is if Alec wakes up to the fact that his game is swirling around the toilet right now, and that he has to forge a genuine strategic alliance with Topaz if he wants to have a prayer of avoiding the Jury House. Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen.

Feeds Back...ish #BBCANT

The ever-intrepid Ash caught a couple minutes of tonight's dramatic and unexpected feed leak, viewable here:

(For a longer clip, check here.)

Here's what I can piece together from this testy strategy chat between Alec and Gary:

1) Topaz nominated AJ and Andrew.
2) (There are unconfirmed rumors that Alec won POV, and probably didn't use it, knowing he controlled the vote).
3) Topaz instructed her closest friends to vote out Andrew.
4) Alec, wanting to stoke his semi-secret alliance with Andrew, decided to vote out AJ instead without telling Topaz. AJ is now the first juror.
5) Andrew then won Head of Household.
6) Andrew nominated Gary and Topaz (with Topaz probably being the target).
7) Gary is a Have-Not.
8) Alec is now groveling to Gary pretending like he had NO IDEA when he saved Andrew that Topaz would be Andrew's next target.
9) Topaz, having a functional number of brain cells, has realized that Alec is full of shit and no longer wants anything to do with him socially or romantically.
10) Gary is, in this clip, trying to convince Alec that Topaz still will work with him in the game (it's a desperate shot, but Gary's a gamer), despite the fact that he's now, clearly, her "ex".

So, the first-ever North American showmance breakup in the house... and we missed it all because the feeds were down. Thanks, BB!

Now that we're all spoiled, might as well turn them back on, no?

When Feeds Get Boring I Blog: By Ash

I have a special treat for you all during tonight's feed outage. 

Video contributor Ash, who was also one of my fellow cohosts on the Big Brother Gossip Show last season, has stepped up to contribute her blogging skills to Play By Play!

Welcome, and take it away, Ash:

"When Feeds Get Boring I Blog:

So what exactly IS going on in the BBCan house? Well, not a whole lot this week.  Although I am really liking this season in general so far, this week has been an easy, we all love each other (except for Suzette of course) so let's have family dinners and play in the pool together kind of week.  Not the kind of week us live feeders usually thrive on.  There HAVE been some strange whisperings going on in corners from time to time though, and these are the things I'm excited to see play out.  We already know that barring any strange new twists, Suzette will walk out the door tonight, but I want to know what it is that's going to happen in the coming week.

For those of us who have already realized that Alec has to be some distant, or not so distant relative of Grumpy Cat,  it comes as no surprise that he is discontent with his current "showmance" situation.  Alec has been talking all week to almost anyone who will listen about how he is..well  "just not that into her".  It all started with the ipod debacle when apparently the often sleepy Topaz fell asleep wearing Alec's ipod and so the powers that be (in this case Big Brother) took the ipod away and left Alec with no HOH music to listen to for the week.  This began the rift and at first Alec just complained of Topaz's distance from him after said incident. But, slowly but surely more details started to leak out until he was pretty much out and out saying "she isn't my cup of tea, but if I tell her that, I'm afraid I will lose her as a card to play in the game.".  Topaz of course isn't a dumb girl and is somewhat on to the fact that Alec may not be on her side as much as he would like her to think.  She is also likely aware that he will have no trouble sending her off to jury house when it comes down to her or one of his alliance members.  Her true allegiance seems to lie with Gary for the most part. As a die hard feed watcher and commentator, I am of course dying for the shit to hit the fan between the two because it will make for interesting viewing.

Speaking of Gary...Someone has a new power in the house and as of yet we don't actually know what it is.  Earlier in the week there was a task given by BB in which AJ and Suzette had to go on a double date and were not allowed to pick people currently in showmances... they chose Peter and Talla (mostly by default).  The feeds were shut down for the actual dinner, but when they came back, we were given hints to the idea that there had been some kind of pinata for the HGs not currently on a date to bust and apparently candy and some sort of prize came out of it. Gary won the prize...but here is where it gets interesting.  Several people have called it a veto and several have called it a veto ticket.  Gary himself has told several people that it just allows him to play in the coming weeks veto comp even if he is not picked, but he told Suzette that it allows him to replace one of the nominees if he so chooses.  I don't know what the truth is, but obviously there is a huge difference between a veto ticket and a diamond power of veto. I suspect that the task will be broadcasted as some of the filler on tonight's eviction show and we will learn what it actually is, but it's fun to speculate in between.  If Gary actually holds a DPOV then he is completely safe this coming week..which is good for his game since more than a few people have been whispering about wanting him out.  But, if it's only a veto ticket, it just means he is assured that he won't be truly back doored as he will have a chance to play in the POV comp.

There is also supposedly another "big twist" to the game about to be revealed tonight.  I am hoping that some people's speculations are right and that maybe it will be that this week is a double HOH.  That would liven things up..especially given the way this house has broken off.  Provided the two HOHs were not already a unit like Emmett and Jillian or Alec and Peter, picking nominees could get very very hairy.  The double HOH is all pure speculation though, and we won't actually know the twist until we watch the show (or someone who was at the live show leaks it).  

I am torn about what I would like to see happen in the coming week.  Anyone who follows my twitter knows that I am not a fan of Talla, but I think she has a good chance at HOH if it's an endurance comp, and I think a Talla HOH would be highly entertaining.  She is the epitome of a wild card.  Not only do I not know where her head is, I can barely understand the sentences she makes..when she finishes them.  So, having her in power would be something to behold. The only person I am pretty sure would be safe in that instance would be AJ..and I'm not even 100% sure of that. 

I am a fan of The Shield alliance, and I would like to see them make it far in the game, but I must admit, because they are not playing an anywhere near perfect game, I would like to see a few things happen that they did not plan out or some things that might make them poop their pants just a little worrying if things will work out in their favor or not.  Nervous house guests make for interesting feeds.  

I am also pretty okay with Emmett, Jillian, Topaz, and Gary at this point, and I enjoy watching Andrew and AJ as well.  I wasn't sad to see Tom or Liza go at all.  I was excited that Tommy the tool and his lizard tongued succubeast were evicted, but the problem now is that I don't really strongly dislike anyone outside of a few people who mildly get on my nerves. So I honestly don't have many people I am rooting for harder than the others.  I am just hoping the HOH win will be whoever can shake up the house the most this week.  

So that's it, that's where I'm at and that's pretty much what happened this week.  Now I just get to sit and wave bye bye to Suzette and all her tears and self pity and hope for a big week this week.  What do you all think?  Any speculations? Who are your favorites?"

I Am Not a Muppet: The Shield Conquers the DR

From our good friend Ash comes footage of tonight's joint Diary Room debut of The Shield, which is rapidly emerging as Big Brother Canada's answer to Chilltown.

Not bad, not bad. The "mocking each other" shtick plays well, and Alec does have superior impersonation skills.

"Well, we know the soundproofing works."

Hey, if this Big Brother strategy thing doesn't work out for them, maybe they have a future together in comedy. 

(Does everyone know Pete and Alec are planning to move in together in Vancouver after the show? I look forward to the inevitable Youtube channel.) 

Like Sands Through the Hourglass, or, the Houseguests Get Drunk

The Alec and Topaz drama continued into the wee hours of the night last night, as the booze continued to flow. I had to miss it due to the need to sleep, but luckily for you and me, intrepid Late Night Crew member Ash was there to document it all. (Are you following her on Twitter yet?)

But, Topaz... my feelings.

I'll just leave her descriptions here.

"First Alec and Topaz tiff about the ipod situation:"



"Then Alec talks to Gary about Topaz and about having his ipod taken away because of her. "



"Then after Topaz got drunk they decided to make up..which is basically a bunch of humping and kissing."



Over at Survivor Sucks, methuselah has an interesting observation about this whole soap opera:

In other news, apparently Andrew got very drunk and very creepy late last night, perving up not only on Topaz and Talla, but on Gary. Yes, Gary. The Jokers Updates discussion board erupted:

Stay tuned: none of these people are being evicted this week and we might have an incredibly awkward Double Head of Household twist next week, so the fun is just getting started.

Mount Gary Erupts (Video & Audio!)

As predicted, there was indeed a task tonight. When feeds returned, the houseguests were enjoying a backyard barbecue along with some much-needed booze. Apparently, AJ successfully got a certain number of houseguests to play a game at the request of Marsha the Moose. These kids are starting to get smarter about dutifully cooperating with the obvious tasks in order to earn rewards for the house.

Gary has been complaining of malaise for a couple of days. At first it seemed like something he ate, and then later like a cold. Could have also been the loss of power, quite honestly. Whatever the cause, he's been withdrawn and unhappy for days.

It didn't take long for Gary to wander back inside from the party tonight, where he and Topaz engaged in an epic bitchfest that started in the Head of Household room and moved downstairs.

Thanks to intrepid Big Brother blogger/podcaster Ash, we have video and audio of everything that you could possibly think of that's bothering Gary. Pretty much every houseguest gets a cameo.

Follow Ash on Twitter at @Ashes2Ashes13!

Video:



Audio:


Once the venting was complete, Gary and Topaz returned to the pool party... where she noticeably blew off Alec.

Big Brother then decided that now would be an excellent time to bring out more booze.

Stay tuned... Mount Gary may have more steam to blow.