Big Brother 21 – Tuesday Recap for 9/17/19

Good morning, I’d like to be able to say we had campaigning in the house yesterday so it was an exciting day. The campaign plan started but the hg’s getting to have some cilantro for Taco Tuesday was the peak of the excitement. Cliff and Nicole began their terrible strategy of trying to guilt Jackson into keeping his deal with Cliff and Nicole for the F3. They know he’s worried about how America views him and they’re trying to use that combined with the threat of their jury votes. The jury vote threat hasn’t started yet, Cliff’s only hinted at it and plans to lay that on him later.

I’m glad to see Cliff isn’t laying down but as I’ve said, this is terrible game play.  If you try to guilt someone in this game, you’re only going to alienate them.  I understand their thought process, based on Jackson’s personality and his unusual obsession over the way he’s viewed. That’s something we don’t usually see very often but they’ve focused on it too much. They’re also discounting how Jackson could worry about being viewed if he used Beth and cut her at the end.  Personally, I’d love it and I’m not picking on her because I’d love it if she did it to him too. If Beth won the last hoh and cut Jackson, I’d be saying “give her the damn check” but that’s the kind of game I like to see and it’s not for everyone. Neither are these pants:

Now that I know you’re awake, let’s recap the day:

Beth=Holly (If anyone’s still saying it’s confusing that I call her Beth, you’re not reading the recaps very often since she’s  been called Beth way longer. How confusing can it really be? When I used to occasionally say jackass instead of Jackson, people managed to get thru the recap just fine without any confusion. I’m also a little cranky at 5:00 am and that’s when I start the recap so cut me some slack please)

• Nicole told Cliff about her talk with Jackson from the night before. She said she pulled on his heart strings and was getting to him (she wasn’t) but he came inside and by the time he came back out, he’d managed to shake it. She said that’s when he started asking her why she wanted to flip the vote last week. They talked about maybe both promising Jackson a F2. Nicole said she would do it and she would break it. (I love her) and Cliff insinuated he would but didn’t say it.
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• Nicole (alone) apologized to America if we didn’t like her and if we think she’s a villian. She said it’s a game and she’ll promise Jackson whatever she has to if it keeps Cliff in the game. She said she’s trying to play on Jacksons emotions and values. She wants to remind him he said he wanted to go to the end with competitors but said he’s probably just saying that. She’s irritated Jackson keeps saying she has bad feelings about Beth. (He told her the night before he knew she didn’t like her) She doesn’t know where it’s coming from and thinks maybe he’s  saying it to get Nicole to take him to the F2. (Maybe but it’s also coming from Beth trashing Nicole all damn day)
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• Beth and Jackson made their daily requests to BB for dinner. Beth was concerned over needing cilantro for taco Tuesday. (I’ve never seen a season where they order things like they’re at a drive thru)  She needed cilantro and sure enough, she got it. She got super excited and started saying Nicole’s version of wow when she found it in the storage room, which is waaaaaaaw. She told us all about her love of cilantro.  (None of her camera talking is about game. Remember when she wanted the viewers to post on her social media whether they preferred thousand island dressing or something else? I don’t remember the ‘something else’ but that’s not the point anyway. The point is, she’s dull as dirt)
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• Beth decided to wash her hair. She tried to shower but Jackson hovered around the door the entire time. (Let the girl wash her hair! It’s only the 3rd time this season it’s  happened!)
• Nicole showed Beth all the little things she’s stashed away that belong to or have something to do with an evicted houseguest. She’s planning on making everyone some kind of gift bags. Nicole coule rattle off so much information about everyone. I wonder if Beth even realized, she couldn’t.
• Cliff walked around the house all sad but told the cameras he was just acting and hoping Jackson would feel bad for him. He isn’t but he knows how bad Cliff wanted his family there on finale night. (Jackson talked to Beth about it earlier)  It’s  annoying Beth and she started telling Jackson how much a plane ticket cost to Wyoming, how she never sees her parents, etc. ( I’m confused. She’s said before that she hadn’t talked to her parents in a long time, they didn’t know she was going on the show and they may not even see it since it’s their busy season. Zhe also said they dont have TV. Will they know to be there?) She told Jackson she hopes he doesn’t fall for any of it. (She’s worried because he has such a big heart, after all) She told him the guilt trip was coming and said “when I did that” but corrects herself and said “I never used a guilt trip but when I tried to pull on heart strings, it got me nowhere.” She said she wants her family at the finale too and they were going to send her out last week and not feel bad about it. (That’s true)
• Jackson was about to pray and was irritated with the camera person. He asked for some privacy and said he couldn’t believe he couldn’t even be alone while he prayed. Naturally, the camera moved to another area of the room to give him his way. (All I hear in my head right now is “where’s mama?”) If you’re keeping score:  Praying=needs privacy.  Stooling=doesn’t need privacy.
• Jackson told Nicole he’d never heard the word “mansplaining” before he met her.  She is able to get by with a lot more insults than anyone else. She often tells him “he’s mansplaining” or she “doesn’t need him to mansplain” to her. She’s called him the grinch, pompous and arrogant recently too. Except for the other day when he stormed off, he takes it from her fairly well. (That day was a little different tho. That’s when she got fed up and said he and Beth were acting like martyrs and everyone should throw them a parade when they got out of the house. Have I mentioned I love her?)
•  Beth got called to the DR but it took 2 hours for her to show up. She said America couldn’t see her the way she looked. Jackson told her she looked perfect. (She didn’t have her make up on yet) Once she finally went to the DR, Cliff asked to tak to Jackson. He gave phase 1 of his campaign which is the guilt trip/heart strings stuff. (He and Nicole have it all worked out) He told Jackson how bad he wanted to go to the final 3, said his family would get to be there if he’s F3 but said he knows Jackson’s in a tight position. Jackson said he is and said he knows how bad Cliff wants to be there. He said he’d take Jackson to the F2 and that Nicole had released him from their F2 deal. He wrapped up with saying he was 54, cashed in his 401k to cover expenses so he could come to BB and this is his only chance to do something like this. (Before you puke and get mad at Cliff, he said all this on purpose. He isn’t really this pathetic. Now, you CAN get upset with him for such a lousy strategy because the guilt trip simply doesn’t work. It never works. It doesn’t even work on nice people)  Jackson made it sound like he’d give it some thought but he mostly wanted Cliff to know, it never would’ve happened if they hadn’t tried to flip the vote on them last week. (True, probably, as long as Beth won the hoh and I think she would’ve won it) Jackson said he hated it had to go this way, he did want Cliff in the F3 and he knew Cliff deserved it. He said if Nicole hadn’t tried to flip things, Beth wouldn’t have had to make the deal to give Nicole the hoh and Nicole would be going home this week instead of Cliff. (That’s actually all true and if Jackson would’ve told them that the first time, I’d respect his game more. I also wouldn’t be typing any of this and wouldn’t have much to recap so….thank you Jackson for trying to gaslight everyone….I guess?) The hoh room is so dark and gloomy this year. Was it always this way or has all Beth and Jacksons hoh weeks done something to the atmosphere in there?
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• Beth and Jackson snuggled up and he filled her in on Cliffs pitch. When he mentioned the 401k, Beth asked if she should go tell Cliff she was 20k in debt. Jackson told her no and said “we’re not going tit for tat with him.” She said “I wouldn’t really say it like that but…” and he cut her off and said not to mention it. Jackson said he needed the money too and was there for his family.  Jackson began talking about having confetti on his shoulders when he walked out. (He has a real obsession with confetti. Did he have a traumatic experience as a kid? Maybe…mama didn’t get the watermelon she promised and the store was also out of confetti for…maybe a birthday party?  Instead, mama gave him a bird foe his Bday….then he lost it in a bush somewhere and couldn’t find his way back to it….so now,  he had no bird, no bush, no watermelon and no confetti? Where’s mama?
• Anyway, Beth started complaining again about the hoh comp. She said she wanted to be able to tell the jury she’d won 3 hoh comps. Jackson told her to win the next one and she could.  Beth said it also bothered her that she had to go on the block at all this season because she wanted that to be part of her thing too.  (Somehow, I lived through Raven without becoming a heavy drinker but I’m not sure I’m going to survive Beth)
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• Cliff filled in Nicole from his talk with Jackson. He said it probably didn’t go well since he’s downstairs making out with Beth. He told her Jackson basically blamed Nicole.  They went over jury votes and planned phase 2 of the campaign. Cliff will make the second part more about threatening his jury vote if he doesn’t keep his word. He said he’ll wait until Wednesday evening or maybe Thursday morning to go that route. Nicole told Cliff what Jackson said about her having an issue with Beth. She said she hopes Jackson isn’t telling her that Nicole doesn’t like her and she doesn’t understand where it’s coming from. Nicole asked Cliff his opinion on taking Beth or Jackson if she won the final hoh. Cliff thinks Beth is the best option because he said she could make a good case against her. He said Nicole could say Beth won 1 endurance and rode Jacksons coattails the rest of the game. (Well, she rode something alright)
• Cliff talked to the camera and mostly vented. He said Jackson would be giving 500k to his girlfriend and he couldn’t stop him. He also said he didn’t think Jackson would have the votes if Nicole and Cliff voted for Beth to win and that was the next weapon he would use. (That should be THE weapon, not the last resort one)
• Jackson needed steak to go along with Taco Tuesday. Yes, he smashes the juice out of steak the same way he cooks burgers. For someone who loves food so much, I’m really surprised.
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• Cliff and Nicole made a game out of trying to get his attention because he was so focused on cutting it. Cliff kept walking by with Orwell on his head which didn’t phase Jackson. (I like this image because it has the photos of the people who bested him in the background. Its nothing against Cliff, I just always like those kind of pics)
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• It took Cliff putting on Nicoles tutu to do the trick and finally get noticed.
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• All four of them joked about Nicole having  popularity with guys when the show ended. (The thought of it terrifies her) They suggested a new reality dating show for her with a BB twist. Cliff said it would be 16 guys in the house and every week they’d compete to be worthy of Nicole with only one vote to evict each week. Nicole suggested one of her cast comes in each week to host the comp and they’d have the vote to evict instead of her. They made jokes about what each houseguests comp would be to see if they were worthy. They said Jess would come in and want to get rid of all of them because they’re all men.  Nicole said Jackson would come and have them carve a watermelon and if the guys asked what that had to do with anything, Jackson would just tell them to shut up and do it. It was pretty funny and one of those rare moments when I didn’t despise half of them. Watching them talk about this kind of stuff reminds me, they all have good qualities. Yes, even Jackson.
• The four of them shared the last Taco Tuesday together and gave themselves applause for never missing one. Cliff thought dinner was a good time to tell them he hoped there would be no hard feeling when he cast a vote for one of them to win. He made it sound very ominous too. (talk about a mood killer)
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• Nicole and Cliff talked more about the next steps to get to Jackson. Nicole planned on talking to him too and trying to guilt him some more. It’s the same stuff we’ve gone over and how they want to use the way America will view Jackson breaking his word. Cliff brought up (again) that Jackson waited until he was safe before he broke the deal. They plan to tell him since Beth kept her word, (throwing the hoh) they’d have to vote for her to win. (Nicole is such a hand talker. I can relate, I’ve had relatives tell me if I sat on my hands, I probably wouldn’t be able to speak)
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• When Jackson was done showering, (in the hoh room, naturally) Nicole gave it another try. It didn’t really go anywhere and she looked miserable listening to him “mansplain” why it had to be this way and how it was her fault. He told her he hoped nothing changed between them and told her how much he cared about her. She said he needs to make the choice he can live with forever. He said he feels like the judge, jury and executioner. (they’re so dramatic)
• Cliff (alone) said he may lose a friend by the time it’s over but he can’t give up. He said he had to try. He brought up throwing out the vote comment at dinner and said he just wanted to give Jackson something to think about.
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• Jackson talked to Beth again and went over the way he’ll explain it to Cliff and Nicole. He said all Cliff had to do was play his own game and not Nicoles, give him the vote he needed for Beth without having to include Nicole in a deal that gave her safety. He also said it was like Nicole loaded a gun, gave it to Jackson and told him he had to be the one to pull the trigger. (Like I said, dramatic)
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• Nicole (alone) told us she did like Beth and didn’t want Jackson giving the impression she didn’t. She said anything against her was strictly game. She talked about what a strong, smart and independent woman she thinks Beth is and doesn’t want it to seem otherwise.
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Like I said yesterday, Cliffs plan isn’t going to work. Sometimes it’s good to plant seeds and see what happens. This isn’t one of those times. If he was going to use votes against Jackson, he needed to do it early and all at once. Trying some guilt, sprinkled with some word breaking only to follow it up later with threats just feels like nagging and whining. The longer it goes on, the more resistance a person will build up against it. (Not that he’s considering it anyway)

Cliff and Nicole played average level games this season, especially considering they had very little power and not very often. The first half, Cliff kept Nicole safe because he had closer connections with people and the last part of it, Nicole saved Cliff. It’s pretty even in my opinion and before people start claiming Cliff wasn’t loyal, let’s remember Nicole almost kept Kat and evicted Cliff.  Cliff didn’t ruin Nicole’s game but her loyalty to him at the end may do it. She needs to stop trying to save Cliff and worry about herself. His loyalty to her is also the reason he’s going home this week so if anyone is upset he convinced her to keep Beth, he’s paying the price for it, not Nicole.

Jackson has played circles around them lately and he’s most definitely the best player in the house. It doesn’t mean he’s a great player, just the best one left. Now that Jackson’s less focused on the stupid fake deals they all made for F3 and F2, the points he makes are stronger and more reasonable. It’s simpler to tell Cliff  “look, you wanted to protect Nicole last week. You did, and since I won the veto, it cost you your game.” He needs to take it one step further and I don’t know if he will. When Cliff threatens his vote over not keeping his word, Jackson should be honest and tell Cliff, they all said things that weren’t 100% true to get to the end. Tell him it’s  a game and he hopes Cliff won’t hold it against him and move on. (I don’t see Cliff doing it anyway. The threat is a strategy and he’s allowed to be bitter for a little while. I’m guessing, he’ll get over it)

Tommy said on Thursday that Jackson didn’t deserve to win the money. By the time of his eviction, he was already telling Julie he respected the move. People get mad and say things and they’re allowed to change their minds. We can’t base a whole lot on what they say when they’re still in game mode and trying to stay. Regardless of Cliff staying or going, (he’s going) we still have no idea who will win the season and that’s not a bad thing. We may not like all of them but suspense is good. (I’m still rooting for Nicole)

Have a great Wednesday.

Mel