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'Big Brother' recap: The game resets and a new HOH steps up

It's a whole new game with the coaches joining in

"Big Brother"

"Big Brother"

Credit: CBS

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Well, here we are back at the "Big Brother" house, and the game has reset. This couldn't have been a major surprise to anyone, as America was presented with the choice of mixing things up by adding a twist to the game, or watching the show limp along with nary a bump in the road. Plus, given that only one of the four coaches had to hit the reset button to activate the change (and there was no time for any discussion), there was no way that wasn't going to happen. But hey, twists are always a good thing, unless you're one of the hamsters who didn't dodge eviction last week.

When he learns about the coach twist, Ian feels sick. He went from a 1 in 7 shot at a half million to a 1 in 12! Actually, I think his odds are much, much worse than that. Of course, I'm surprised he's still in the game at all, given that he was such a solid target in week one. I guess all that kicking himself in the head stuff is still amusing to someone.

In the interview room, three of the coaches defend their decision to hit the reset button. Britney knew her odds blew with only Shane on her team, so she has a better shot by playing. Dan loves to play! Preferably for money! Janelle just wants to win. You don't come back to the "Big Brother" house three times in a row unless you really, really want that, after all! Boogie, who did not hit the reset button, is just ticked. He thinks he had a really good shot at taking home the $100,000. Of course, Boogie thought Frank was going to cruise to certain victory. I wonder if he would have eschewed the reset button so easily.

Dan stupidly tells Boogie that Frank was on his way home. He wants to play with Boogie. I would suggest that Dan pause for a moment before deliriously trying to form alliance two minutes after getting back into the game. As you might expect, this does come back to haunt him fairly quickly.

Janelle lies about pressing the reset button. She just wanted to coach, she tells anyone who will listen. I doubt anyone believes her, but saying this over and over again seems to make Janelle happy, so no one argues with her.

Back to the HOH challenge. Ashley says that getting doused with cold water is the worst. But wait, Ashley! There's more! The hamsters get splattered with seagull poop equivalent. I'm not sure what "Big Brother" uses for seagull poop, but it seems to be stain clothing, at least until the next dousing of cold water comes along. Ashley should be relieved -- it's like a rinse cycle. They may suffer, but their clothes will be very clean.

Boogie, believing that physical weakness will assure the hamsters he isn't a threat, hops at 1 hour and 10 minutes. I think this only confirms to the hamsters that Boogie is a crotchety old man, which may not be to his advantage, really. Jenn is next to jump at 1 hour and 12 minutes. Joe follows suit at 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Frank informs Shane that he plans to put up two coaches if he gets HOH, but that doesn't seem to make Shane feel any more eager to jump off the wall. Ashley drops at 1 hour and 51 minutes, Dan at 1 hour and 55 minutes. Like Boogie, he wants to come across as weak. I love how these guys want to assure us they're choosing to jump, not that their middle-aged musculature is failing them. Wil notices Dan is doing exactly what he did in season 10 -- playing weak. Yeah, Dan, you may want to try a little harder, as it turns out your teammates have actually watched the show.

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Frank falls off the wall at 2 hours and 13 minutes. Boogie wants to tell him there are some people he shouldn't trust, and pulls him aside to do just that. Frank is shocked! There's only one person he can trust, and that's Boogie. Boogie? Seriously? I have to hand it to Frank. Each week he's targeted and betrayed, and each week he just puts on a smiley face and tries harder. He's like the little curly-haired train that could.

Wil notices that Danielle isn't showing any signs of giving up, so he asks her to keep him safe before he takes the leap. Wil and Shane jump together at 2 hours and 43 minutes. It's down to Britney and Danielle and Janelle. Janelle feels good about Britney, so she jumps at 2 hours and 49 minutes. Oh, and Ian's still there. It seems everyone except Boogie has forgotten about Ian. Which is exactly how he's stayed in the house so long.

Ian wants to strike a deal with Danielle. Dan interrupts -- she doesn't take deals now, she makes them! He wants her to win! He's not her coach anymore, but he's going to coach her! Danielle nods. She knows Dan is on her side. Oh, Danielle. He's NOT your coach anymore. He's playing AGAINST you.

Ian feels physically ill. He almost falls, then rallies. He wants to know he's safe, and Britney and Danielle both assure him he is. He jumps at 3 hours and 15 minutes, which is really pretty impressive. Finally, cold and wet and covered with pseudo bird poop, Britney lets Danielle win it. Dan jumps Danielle in a way that may not make his wife overly happy if she's watching at home. Danielle doesn't care! She's so happy that she is the first girl of the season to win! Shane gives her a big, "From Here to Eternity" kiss in the water, which would probably be sexier if I didn't think she just lacked the upper body strength at this point to stand up. Finally, she does get up, which may be the only thing keeping her from drowning in two inches of water.

Boogie hates that Danielle is HOH. Boogie isn't sucking up to this girl whose name he just learned three days ago. I'm getting the feeling that Boogie would like to go home. Since when did he just not want to play the game anymore?  

Frank and Boogie tell Britney they know about the plan to eliminate She flails her arms and, big-eyed and panicked, denies all. Britney tells Shane to deny all, keep his head down and shut up.

Dan admits to Britney and Danielle he screwed up. Danielle can't be mad at Dan, of course. He's her coach! I think Danielle needs to write on her hand that she NO LONGER HAS A COACH, so she can refer to this frequently.

Time to see Danielle's HOH room! Boogie is super annoyed to see it. He doesn't care if she doles out candy bars. Shane loves seeing her so happy. And he loves having pictures to go with her stories. Time for her to read a letter from her mom. She cried for almost a week, but she's one with that now. She didn't know she went into the house. Well, that's awkward. But, her mom said she was proud. Jenn was glad her mother wrote something encouraging.

Dan, Danielle, Shane and Britney camp out in the HOH room to review who their biggest threats are, which is Dan and Britney's way of telling Danielle who to put on the block without telling her who to put on the block. Danielle thinks Janelle and Frank are the biggest threats, as she thinks Janelle hates her a little bit. Dan suggests Frank. Britney thinks Wil, Danielle, Frank and Janelle are threats. Shane thinks Frank and Boogie. Danielle is targeting Frank. Dan is relieved, because once a coach gets picked off, that just makes the target on his back bigger. I think Dan needs to write on his hand that he doesn't really have an alliance with Boogie or Janelle at this point, but I don't think anyone has a pen, anyway.

Later in the pantry, Wil gently reminds Danielle she offered him safety before he jumped. Ugh! Danielle was going to put him on the block with Frank! Danielle forgot about that promise thing! She was cold and wet, it's way too hard to think when you're cold and wet.

It's almost time for Danielle to make nominations, so Dan begs Danielle not to nominate a coach. Danielle does not seem convinced that this is the best move for her. But she trusts Dan! Please, someone get these people a pen.

In other news, Boogie will be thoroughly offended if he's not nominated. Seriously, this guy wants to go home.

Danielle heads up the nomination ceremony and makes the usual speech.

Britney is safe
Ian is safe.
Dan is safe.
Janelle is safe.
Jenn is safe.
Shane is safe.
Ashley is safe.
Joe is safe.
Boogie is safe.

Wil and Frank are on the block. So, Danielle is a lying liar who lies.

Boogie is thoroughly insulted to get a key! He's a THREAT, dammit! Frank is now used to dodging bullets, so he doesn't seem overly upset about being betrayed and targeted again. Frank is clearly a target, because he's just too darn nice for anyone to really hate. It's like all the other hamsters want to hold him down and pluck his angel wings and pull his hair, just because.

As the credits roll, we see Danielle sobbing to Wil, probably apologizing. He hugs her, even though she's a lying liar who lies. I wish she'd put up one of the coaches with Frank, but clearly, she's playing Dan's game. Too bad she probably shouldn't.

What did you think of Danielle's nominations? Who do you think will win the POV? Do you think the coaches were smart to get into the game?

Liane-bonin-starr-sm
Liane Bonin Starr is an author, screenwriter and former writer for EW.com. Her byline has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety and a lot of other places. Her last book was called "a scandalously catty, guilty pleasure" by Jane magazine. Expect the same from Starr Raving.
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  • Default-avatar

    Mike

    I actually don't mind her nominations, because even if Dan isn't playing in her best interest, his logic in this case is still sound for her. If Danielle, Shane, and Frank had teamed up like they should have done in the first place to prepare for the Coaches coming into the game, then these noms are bad, but Frank isn't on her side, and is the biggest threat, so making sure he goes is good for her. I just don't see another set of nominations where Frank goes home.
    Now if you want to say she should have tried to cut a coach first, I don't mind that since you have to think eventually the four of them will be smart enough (since they're all either really good players or at least concerned with self-preservation like Britney) to circle the wagons and get back together to crush the new hamsters, but if that doesn't happen, then I don't mind Danielle's noms.
    The thing is, Dan will take her to the end, Shane will take her to the end, and Britney will take her to the end, since she's drawing dead against all 3 of them, but who isn't she drawing dead against? Joe? Ashley? If she could make it to the end whilst carrying Joe or Ashley all the way there against this level of competition, then she's one of the greatest BB players of all time. Since I don't think that's the case, she might as well work with Dan, Brit and Shane and take her 50k for 2nd place.

    August 5, 2012 at 11:32PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Jobin I think it's too early to start thinking about end game, there are still wayy too many people left to be voted off, and then get pissed off/bitter because they where sent home to start saying who will/won't have a chance against who in a final vote.

      I have no issue with Danielle working with Shane, Brit, and Dan.

      The problem is she wasn't a target of anyone in the game before now (other than for being Dan's last player), so she doesn't have any immediate targets who would go after her.

      The most likely event of her being nominated is if someone comes after Shane, and puts her on the block, because of their showmance. So the smartest play for her would have been going after whoever is Shane's biggest threats which is Frank/Boogie.

      I have no idea why everyone is so threatened by Wil and wants to get him out. The general feeling on him is that he's a complete wild card, nutjob. But no one is really pointing to that as a reason why he must go, because its not clear he's playing "both sides" of some house alliances.

      August 6, 2012 at 9:54AM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Mike I'd have to disagree. The idea of bitter juries has been so overstated through the years, particularly in Big Brother. One person has ever lost to a bitter jury in 13 seasons (Danielle Reyes), and they got to see all of her DR sessions, which they changed after S3 to avoid exactly that problem. Since S3, not one person has lost to a 'bitter jury,' so I don't see why that should heavily factor into winner handicapping, and I feel confident in saying that she's drawing dead against Shane, Brit, and Dan given how the houseguests perceive them.

      As for the noms, I was under the impression that she didn't want Wil out, and only nominated him because she wants Frank out, and if she nominated Frank/Boogie, Boogie goes, whereas with Wil, Frank goes. If she didn't care either way, then I can see your point, but Frank is a much bigger threat than sulky Boogie at this point.

      August 6, 2012 at 12:56PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Jobin Mike,
      I'm not saying so much that bitter jury members going to sway the final vote, more that there is no way to know who's going to be seen as dominanting the game strategically and physically of the final 3 at this point.

      For one thing, I think it's pretty clear most of the players in the game are seeing right through the coaches "game/BS," so I'm not sure how impressive the players are perceiving the coaches.

      If she didn't want Wil out, why didn't she she just put up Joe as the pawn again? Then she could keep her promise with Wil.

      Understand that Boogie is barely a threat at this point, but Boogie is clearly Frank's biggest ally, and would be a vote for Frank to stay in the game.

      I'm really not buying Dan's BS about Boogie will go home in a vote against Frank. There is no way that anyone in the game would decide to keep Frank whos the stronger more likely to win HOH/POVs around, just to get out Boogie, who everyone knows is fully of BS and seems completely broken now that his belief that he was running the game was shattered when Dan said Frank was going to go home had they voted.

      August 6, 2012 at 1:23PM EST
    • It's true that Danielle's nominations aren't terrible -- but I do think establishing that she breaks promises (as she does with Wil) so early in the season isn't a great thing. While Dan's suggestions aren't truly bad, I worry that she's still too caught up in their coach/player relationship.

      August 6, 2012 at 8:19PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Darian

    Boogie is a Baby, he's just pissed, and isn't really willing to play at this point. Why wasn't he nominated? Shane kept saying his HOH was a waste of time, he probably should have stayed on, kept his nominations the way they were and got Frank out like he wanted (as if the twist never really happened). That's just me.

    August 6, 2012 at 2:39PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Jeff_avatar_2_talkback_profile

      Mulderism I'd be curious to see what the coaches were told when they agreed to come on the show. Was there something in their clause that said they could be converted to players for the big prize?

      It sure sounds to me like Boogie would have declined if he thought he was going to be a regular player. He sure sounds pissed and like he wants to go home.

      August 6, 2012 at 4:20PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Darian I agree, he doesn't want to be there, he even told Frank the morning after the twist, he wasn't feeling any better about this. GET HIM OUT!!! He'll just pull a Dan, and throw the game to get himself voted off. That if if he doesn't pull a Willie first!

      August 6, 2012 at 4:36PM EST

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