Big Brother 23- Thursday Recap for 9/2/21

Good morning, I hope your Friday is starting off great!  Last nights episode was also great!  Sometimes the editing for the show has me scratching my head but last night was such a good one. The beatle, the fire, the game talk, the insight into  some of the CO’s end game plans, all of it.  For an episode that couldn’t have been produced much better, we even got the ‘oops, now what do we do for a cliff hanger at the end?’  There was something so hilarious about Julie preparing to leave the audience with ‘it’s Alyssa vs Cookout, who’s gonna win’ moment, only to have Alyssa fall  before the show ended. So much for a cliffhanger.  Even the tv only audience ended the episode knowing Alyssa is going home. Production had to be so pissed. Lol We also got the news Zing Bots coming and we’ll have 2 doubles instead of a Triple.

I felt bad for Alyssa but let’s be real, Alyssa wasn’t winning this game. Since that’s the reality, I’d rather just get it over with and move on.  Who sees Claire and Alyssa alternating wins every week, back-to-back to get to the final 2?  That’s what they’d have to do and people who are actually good at comps couldn’t do that from the final 8. Sure, Alyssa is a fan of the show, which I always appreciate being cast but what’s she really given us?  Even with being a fan of BB, it still seems like she’s there for a little tv exposure to promote her swimsuit line. Mission accomplished. Next.

In the hoh comp, Derek dropped, Alyssa dropped and Claire did NOT want to be that 3rd have not but she couldn’t hang in there.

Hannah dropped and after seeing her hit her head, I was a little worried about her.  I know her wrist was injured but it looked like she hit the back of her head in the clip we saw. My son landed on the back of his head in high school. He went in HIGH for a lay up, forgot he couldn’t fly like Michael Jordan, cracked the back of his head open and boom, laid in bed for a week and a 1/2 with a concussion. (He’ll get mad if I don’t point out what he says is the most important part of this story. He made the shot) Even Derek said he was surprised they let Hannah do that comp.

Xavier threw the comp as was discussed prior with the CO because the group had agreed either Derek or Azha should take this one.  Obviously, it was easier for either of them to put Alyssa and/or Claire on the block this week. Kyland didn’t have a conflict either but his behavior this week made him a bad option for this one, from the CO’s point of view. They simply didn’t trust him with the win. Yeah, I know everyone has opinions on throwing comps and who should’ve thrown it, if at all.

I still say, throwing a comp for a strategic reason is SMART gameplay. (I’m not referring to Derek sitting around wanting one thrown to him just for the hell of it) Sometimes it’s better not to do something you want to have done, especially with an alliance operating the way this one is with side people.  Knowing which comps to throw so you’re available to play in crucial weeks is also strategic.

We were left with Azha, Ky and Tiffany….with Azha struggling.

Ky and Tiffany had a battle of wills over who was going to give in first with the clock ticking because Azha didn’t have that kind of time left. Ky fans will say he was waiting for Tiffany to fall. Tiffany fans will say she was waiting for Ky to drop. They also needed to lose it convincingly and with Azha struggling, that made it harder.

Tiffany spent the week saying she didn’t want to win it and Ky spent the week telling everyone he should win it. It wasn’t until Wednesday, he reluctantly he told Azha and Derek he would throw it to one of them. Ky’s also already told the CO he was going to throw one before and didn’t. Tiffany didn’t trust him to do it and neither did Azha so she won it. Who’s right? You decide but if I were Tiffany, I would’ve felt it was worth winning to keep Claire 1 more week.

Whether you’re a fan of Tiffany or not, we don’t get many houseguests over 40. Watching her be the only one who hit the mat on her feet was impressive.  I know that’s easy for me to say because I AM a Tiffany fan but I’m also an Xavier fan, a Hannah fan and on certain days, even a Kyland fan. I’ll also probably vote DX for AFP. (Have I mentioned, I really like this cast?)

The CO women want to keep Claire this week and the CO men want to keep Alyssa.  For everyone wanting this alliance to look out for their own best interests and play their own games, here ya go.

I think that’s what most of them have been doing ALL season anyway. It’s why this season is so good to me because there’s so much strategy and more difficult strategy. It’s hard enough to play this game and look out for yourself. They’ve looked out for a group, made individual sacrifices to better the odds for the group, while simultaneously trying to position themselves within this group to give them an edge over the others.  I’m more interested in seeing Tiffany and Xavier try to position themselves for the end than caring if Alyssa leaves this week but that’s just the way I enjoy the game.  For those needing the suspense, my thoughts are with you and you have my condolences this week. Hey, maybe Alyssa will win the veto and Tiffany will have to put up Claire. That could be good, right?

The CO was mad last night over the results too.  Xavier’s expression during the comp was pretty funny because it was hard to tell who he was more pissed off at, Tiffany or Ky.

He absolutely did NOT want Ky winning that comp but he didn’t want Tiffany to win it either. He’d done his part by throwing it but if he was that damn worried about the plan to give it to Azha, why did he throw it before Ky or Tiffany were down?

Once they all came back inside, everyone was putting their own spin on what happened:

•  Derek was mad because he said he didn’t have a once he saw the comp. He graciously offered to sacrifice himself and have them throw the next HOH to him.  (He’s such a dear)
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• He said the comps weren’t fair this year to larger people and he wondered why they hadn’t had strength or food eating comps. Azha told him the comps have never been fair but Derek said he thought it was going to be different this year. (?) (We didn’t get that memo plus this isn’t a carnival or a stare fair. Why does he think there’s going to be pure strength comps and hot dog eating contests?) There’s also been plenty of question comps so why doesn’t he win those?
• Azha told Derek she was annoyed with Ky for not dropping. Derek pretended to be annoyed too. (Before we get too annoyed ourselves with Derek and Azha, there’s a difference in just wanting someone to give you a win and an alliance planning in advance who they want to take it.  This is a plan the CO had in advance so when Ky doesn’t follow through, he’s breaking his word to his alliance. This isn’t just about the HOH win itself)
• Derek tried to get Tiffany and Ky to make a deal during the comp because he wanted to go back inside.  Ky had asked the others if he and Tiffany could speak privately but I think Derek was the only one on board with that plan.
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•  When Alyssa came inside, she was trying to eat chips and bake a pizza to get a jump on being a have not.  Production got on to her because have nots had already begun and she was upset over. She was really just upset over having to be a have not for the 3rd time and probably her performance in the hoh. She cried, said she was going to get too skinny again, said she couldn’t do it and so on.
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• She told X she was tired of being fake and couldn’t deal with it anymore. I’m sure she was just frustrated but there’s a silver lining: The jury house has plenty of food! (Yeah I know, I’m an asshole but this isn’t exactly news)
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•  I half expected Ky to act like he threw it because of his ego but he didn’t. He just claimed the obvious, which was he was waiting for Tiffany to fall before he gave it to Azha.
•  Azha was still feeling a little sick but was  happy with Tiffanys decision. She doesn’t like Ky, doesn’t trust Ky and damn sure didn’t want him to be HOH.  (Sorry for anyone who assumed she was going to be pissed off at Tiffany)
•  Claire was obviously happy with the results for the week. (Yeah Claire! You get to leave in a double now!)
•  Tiffany also explained the obvious to Xavier which was she was waiting for Ky to fall before giving it to Azha.  (My autocorrect keeps typing “Ozone” instead of “Azha,” in case I miss a correction) Tiffany told X, she’d said to Ky when they were the only 3 left, she would throw after Ky did but he wouldn’t.  She said she didn’t want him to have a 3rd HOH and it was only after he wouldn’t drop that she decided to go for it. (Truth, Lie? Don’t know) X said he was worried because she couldn’t put up Claire and she’d made a deal with Alyssa. She said the deal was not to put Alyssa up last week only. She said she’d put Claire up if she had to do it. (Later, X questioned Alyssa about the arrangement she made with Tiffany last week. I think he was hoping to catch Tiffany in a lie but he didn’t)
• Tiffany told Ky she was annoyed with him for not dropping. He claimed to not hear her during the comp. (Did he not hear himself say he was going to do it? Lol)
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• Tiffany confirmed to Hannah she didn’t want the hoh but she couldn’t let Ky win it. She also told Hannah they’d be safe if Claire wins F7 hoh along with Azha.  She said the guys are looking out for themselves and that’s all they’re doing.
• X vented to Azha about Ky and Tiffany. Azha took up for Tiffany and said she would’ve thrown it if Ky had dropped.  X said they were both playing selfishly. Later, to herself, Azha said Tiffany pulled a Kyland but said she didn’t care because Tiffany would keep her safe.
• X was recreating history last night. He claimed (to Ky and Derek) he went otb to do Tiffany a favor. (No, it was a random roulette wheel and then it was a punishment he accepted to win a veto he didn’t need to win)  Coincidentally, (not) last night was when X announced he thought everyone in the CO needed to go on the block because that was fair. (A part of X’s strategy this season was wanting to say he’d never gone otb. Once he took that punishment, he still planned to say he’d never been “nominated”)  I don’t think he cares as much about Azha but he can’t stand that Tiffany still hasn’t been otb (Don’t worry X, she probably will be soon) He also said he should’ve stayed up there and not given Tiffany an hoh she wasn’t supposed to win. (Who says he would’ve won it?)  I think X was just in a bad mood with everything. He called out Ky for taking a bite out of a pizza, realizing it wasn’t fully cooked and putting it back with the other slices to bake more. Ky denied doing it but he denied it in a really guilty way. Lol
•  X was irritated enough to say he was tempted to throw the veto to Alyssa. (that could be entertaining)
• Derek started in on his “Tiffany is the type of person” bullshit.  He said she was the type of person to take a shot at one of them this week and that’s what had him upset over losing. (I thought it was because he wanted a pie eating contest or pulling a truck with a rope comp?)  Ky told him he didn’t worry about that at all. He said Tiffany was all in for getting to the 6. (The reality is that Tiffany made the game harder on herself than it needed to be in order to stay with the CO. She was better positioned than any of them before this group became an actual alliance. Remember the night she stayed up all night weighing the pros and cons and the next morning she told Ky she was all in?  It took her all night to decide because she KNEW it was a harder path to win)  I get it, they all have their own perspective. I just think Derek is a whiner. Azha wants to win too but she doesn’t whine all the damn time.
• Derek said he’d like to throw the veto to Alyssa and said they should take Tiffany out at 7.  X and Ky tried to laugh it off but Derek said he was serious.
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•  The guys continued to have a pity party downstairs while all the women celebrated upstairs. It was kind of beautiful and some karma in my opinion. Maybe they shouldn’t have been complaining about how they do everything and they’re dragging the women to the end. Could this be a ‘be careful what you wish for’ kind of thing?
• X said Tiffany was only looking out for herself and it was selfish. (He said this to Ky because he was also saying it TO ky.  He’s been pissed off because he sees Ky doing the same thing. Make no mistake, X is doing it too and it’s exactly why he wanted Alyssa to stay this week.  He’s just mad he got outmaneuvered, as he should be)
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•  The guys also talked about the need to throw the next HOH. They were referring to what I recently brought up on a recap. No one wants to win the HOH at F7 because they all know the HOH at F6 is extremely important. Watch Claire win it because everyone is throwing it. (Hahaha)  Ky, who is suddenly diplomatic now the SB is gone, said it may be for the best this week. He said he believes Alyssa would be harder for Derek or Azha to beat than Claire so maybe it’s better this way.
• X talked to Tiffany again about the hoh.  He said he thought they’d agreed Claire was supposed to go next. Tiffany told him she was always on the fence over it and felt they had a better chance at beating Claire.  He asked her ‘what if Claire wins the next HOH’ and Tiffany told him ‘what’s the difference in that and Alyssa winning the next HOH?’ She said all of them believed they had a better shot against Claire anyway.
•  Tiffany told X she’d rather put up Alyssa and Ky but knows that would look suspicious to Alyssa. She also said Alyssa would expect X to use the veto on her if he weren’t up with her. He told Tiffany he’d just throw the veto. She said she’d like him to win it, pull himself off and either Ky or Derek could sit otb with Alyssa. X said he was ok with it if she wanted to take out Ky this week. Tiffany said no and said the 6 needed to get to the F6. He said he didn’t like being otb 3 times if people were going to play selfishly and she said she understood. She said she didn’t want him otb on Thursday.
• Claire told Hannah people started dropping during the comp after she did. Hannah went to work trying to convince Claire that Alyssa is a big target this week. Lol
• Derek doesn’t think it’s fair that Tiffany doesn’t have to go up with Claire this week.
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•  Tiffany told Hannah about her recent F2 she made with Ky but told Hannah, she was her real F2.

Since the twist ended, noms may happen later today than in recent weeks. Tiffany will put Xavier and Alyssa otb unless something crazy happens this morning.  Ky, Tiffany and Xavier are all trying to play selfishly and it’s what they should be doing. Hannah is trying to do it too, she just doesn’t have power in the game so she isn’t as successful. Xaviers reason for DX leaving over Claire was that he was the better competitor. Alyssa has been a better one than Claire too so by his logic, shouldn’t it be an easy choice this week? No, because it doesn’t benefit Xavier. X is a good player but he waits for the game to come to him. Ky and Tiffany go out and try to take it. X said he’d done alot more than anyone in the CO so far but he hasn’t imo. He’s benefited from being the peacemaker and also from alot of Kys mistakes. He’s also the one who suggested last night they take Ky out this week, which is the most active move he’s made but Tiffany shut it down. X won the week over DX and Tiffany looks to be winning this week.

I’m sorry this one was sooooo long.  I didn’t intend it to be, it just kind of happened.  Have a great Friday and enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Mel