We pretty much join the episode right were we left off, with Nikki and Tim entering the house to meet the houseguests. Neither one can believe that they're in the house and about half of the house is elated to see them while the other half is not so pleased. Nikki tells everyone that this is her fourth time in a Big Brother house and she has never won, which opens the door for Tim to ask why she can never win. Tim's going one for one so he immediately ends up with a big target on his back but with both of them being safe this week he may be able to make a few key alignments to keep him in the house.
It's interesting to note that, in Australia, it's the audience that votes out the houseguests not the actual players so Tim will need to reconfigure his game play to win this one. Nikki says that the Australian version is similar to the English version. Tim continues to point out that the Canadian version is an entirely different beast and both he and Nikki have no reason to have a target on their backs since they're as green to this version as the rest of the houseguests, maybe even mores. He has no problem calling out Christine to wipe that little scowl off her face. Well, if nothing else, he should be entertaining to watch.
Time for the house tour and Nikki looks like a deer in the headlights as she wanders about but how much of that is just for show. Even her Diary Room chat is filled with tears but again . . . Cassandra, Loveita, Sharry, and Christine are all right there with her as she has her breakdown. They probably don't know how much of that breakdown is real and how much of it is for show either.
Time for the HoH competition, called Big Brother Wrote, and it doesn't include the outgoing HoH Loveita, or Nick, or the two new houseguests . . . but everyone else is in. In this competition production asked Canada to write in their opinions of the houseguests, specifically the negative impressions, and that's not likely to go well for a few of them. I'm looking at you Cassandra. Arisa will read the statement and then the houseguests need to decide who the comment is about and if they get it correct they get to eliminate the houseguest of their choice. Of course, if they're wrong they eliminate themselves.
Loveita is concerned, and rightly so, that if Kelsey or Jared wins she could be the next houseguest packing her bags. This is the risk you take by taking on the HoH mantle, especially at the beginning. Later on the house tends to divide into two or three camps that play off each other back and forth, but in the first week you do nothing but end up with a huge target on your back unless somebody else is an enormous . . .
Kelsey gets the first one and eliminates Maddy. Kelsey gets the second one by identifying herself in the cockpit joke and eliminates Sharry. I loved how she was more than happy to show Sharry where the exits are in her Diary Room chat, that was hilarious. Dallas gets the next one and eliminates Cassandra because she's too full of herself. Kelsey gets the next one and takes out Ramsey, but then she messes up and eliminates herself. Damn, so close.
Dallas gets the next one and takes out Raul. Dallas messed up the next one by choosing Christine instead of Maddy (who knew the answer) and there goes Dallas. Phil made a wildly incorrect guess and took himself out. Mitch gets the next one and eliminates Christine. Down to three. Mitch takes himself out next because he doesn't want to win the HoH. This is it. It's down to either Joel or Jared and Loveita is starting to sweat.
The final question and Joel has yet to ring in once. Jared rings in and wins the HoH competition and it may be time for Loveita and Sharry to start packing their bags. Even Maddy is upset that jared has won because she's part of the Loveita, Sharry, Dallas & Ramsey alliance, an alliance that she doesn't think anyone knows about . . . until Sharry points out how she picked off each one of them in the competition. So much for a secret alliance.
Dallas decides it's time to toast the new international houseguests with some good ol' Canadian beer and everyone joins in. Did anyone catch that label? Kelsey decides they should play a drinking game , "Never Have I Ever" and Tim starts it off. Nikki realizes that Joel is pretty unusual and figures that, since she's unusual they should hit it off fine. Obviously that game went a lot longer than we were shown but you can only watch that kind of game for so long without needing a drink yourself so . . .
It's time to check out Jared's HoH room with the usual photos and a private Shomi movie. He also gets a letter from his Mom and tears up a little while reading it. This is what happens when you fill the ig Brother house with children . . . tears, emotion, and more tears. Moving' on.
No surprise that when Loveita and Sharry see Kelsey wandering past later on they call her over for a chat. Loveita needs to repair that bridge and the only way to get to Jared is going top be through Kelsey so they cuddle up in the corner for a little chatfest. Kelsey listens quietly, even as Cassandra joins the them in the corner, but she's not buying Loveita's story about just playing an honest game because that's not what she's been doing and she lets her know it. Loveita is trying her best but Kelsey decides she's done talking gameplay with Loveita and moves on, leaving Loveita even more stressed than before.
Tim decides to find out what the rules are in the Canadian game in an attempt to reconfigure how he needs to play the house. It's nice of everyone to give him the basic details of how the Canadian version plays but if I were in the house I think I'd be giving him some different information, or at least holding back certain things and let him figure it out on his own. Come on, he's already won one Big Brother and he already knows the rules because he would have watched a few episodes, if not an entire season, while waiting to see if he was the one coming in. He's just playing the houseguests without having to tear up over it.
Loveita tries a new angle and starts working Nikki. They compliment each others accents and seem to be getting along fine but Nikki doesn't strike me as that easy to manipulate. Up in the HoH room, Jared and Kelsey get a little private time to chat and she's glad to have someone to talk to that she can trust but Jared points out that she's trouble . . . for him. That should keep her trust level from getting too high.
I think my eyes are bleeding. No, seriously. When the male houseguests came out in those gold lamé outfits that looked like they were rejected from a Sasha Baron Cohen movie I could feel them getting blurry. It's time for the Wheel of Meals competition where the houseguests have been divided into three teams. One member from each team will be strapped to those wheels and then the remaining members will throw paint filled balloons at the food items on the wheels while they spin. The team with the least targets taken out will be the HaveNots for the week. However, before they can throw any of the balloons they need to earn them by spinning the wheel with their teammate strapped in and each complete turn will earn them a balloon. Things are about to get messy.
Mitch, Loveita and Maddy are the spinning guinea pigs as the game begins. Gold Team, with Mitch, earns 45 balloons, Silver Team with Loveita earns 41 balloons, and the Red Team with Maddy also earned 45 balloons. Raul gets the first throw and nails the Pizza and from there it's game on. Joel's first throw for his team nailed Loveita right in the groin. I hope the team isn't relying on his aim. Tim flukes a perfect hit, while Nikki messed up her throw for her team. Every time Kelsey throws a balloon, Tim's not sure if she's aiming for food or Maddy's head. I vote for Maddy's head. Nikki finally gets one.
Cassandra pulls the Silver Team up to 9 with some great shots as they head into the final round with Gold still in the lead with 13. Phil nails the beer item and they're guaranteed not to be HaveNots for the week. Then Joel gets the final throw for the Silver Team and hits it. Down to the Red Team who finishes with 10 to tie the Silver Team. Eventually it works out so that Tim, the least coordinated guy on the planet (his words) gets the last throw . . . and he did it. Gold gets 15, Red gets 11, and sadly Silver loses with 10 and they're off to the HaveNot room for the week.
Not sure what was up with the room filled with snow, but both Tim and Nikki thought it was awesome and begin throwing snow at the other houseguests in the room. When Tim chases Cassandra across the room she manages to stay upright as he goes down and then it's her turn. Sorry Tim
After everyone gets out of those atrocious outfits it's time for Cassandra to call the HaveNots to their HaveNot room, the Little Chapel of HaveNots. The room is set up like a little wedding chapel and there are no beds, just narrow wooden benches. This should be an entertaining couple of nights.
Joel & Phil seem to be mesmerized by Nikki's voice as she tells them stories and starts talking about haunted houses. While Nikki is chatting up the guys, Sharry heads up for a little one on one with Jared to point out that she's playing her own game and not to just throw her under the bus with Loveita. He listens nicely but tells her there's no way he can guarantee anything in the house, which she understands.
It's almost like a revolving door in the HoH room because when Sharry leaves, Loveita shows up to plead her case. She knows that she's going to be going on the block because she targeted Kelsey last week so she has to do whatever she can to sway his decision. Jared comes straight out and says that the expectation in the house is for him to put up her and Sharry, but it's his HoH and he's not necessarily going to do that if it's not good for his game. With that, Loveita decides to throw him a sweet deal to keep him safe for the next five weeks and to vote the way he wants. It's a good deal as long as she sticks to it but deals in the Big Brother house have a tendency to get broken way too often. Decisions, decisions.
Time for Jared to head down to make his nominations. He shortlists Ramsey because he's sure that Ramsey had a hand in trying to get rid of Kelsey last week, which he did; Loveita because despite giving her the HoH last week and trying to work with her she ended up working against him; Sharry for being Loveita's right hand man; and Maddy to avoid her ever being in power and putting him up on the block. From the shortlist Jared slides over his nominations, locks them in, and heads back to join the houseguests in the living room.
As Head of Household Jared has nominated Loveita, and the second houseguest is Sharry. He tells Loveita that her nomination is for targeting someone he trusts, and he tells Sharry that her nomination is because she's guilty by association. Jared is hoping that the mood in the house will be nice and relaxed with the two people up on the block who should be there, but he probably hasn't taken into account any alliances that those two have. Sharry is hoping to rise up and regain control, but then again so is Loveita.
If anyone is watching the afterhours footage you've probably seen a lot more going on behind the scenes than we get to see during the edited episodes. I've been avoiding that this season because I like to see how production edits things together at the beginning rather than wondering why they eliminated certain key scenes. For the most part, if something comes up in the after-hours footage that might hint one way or another in a competition they tend to turn the cameras off anyway, but it still gives you more background on why certain houseguests just don't ge along and for now I'd rather see the way it gets edited rather than second guessing. Maybe that's just me.
If you're following this blog feel free to reply back with comments and let me know. You can also check out my Survivor reviews, which tend to be a lot shorter, while waiting for my next Amazing Race review. All this just to get back up to speed for season four of The Amazing Race Canada,the main event here at Gord & Wayne HQ. See you real soon.