Big Brother 23- Weekend Recap for 9/19/21

Good morning. Sorry for being late today but Mondays are hectic sometimes. We’ve got a little over a week to go before this season comes to an end and with this particular F4, I’m ready for it.  Although these arn’t my faves from the season, I always expected either Derek or Azha to be there at the end so it only bugs me that they’re both there. (Who in the house wouldn’t want them there?)  I agree with Steve about not minding Kyland as much as alot of fans. I’ve said that I’m very up and down with Kyland and have been all season. I don’t feel sorry for him though because his arrogance is what put him in this position.  As for Xavier, he’ll make a respectable winner for BB23. He just didn’t play a very active game in my opinion. He played a really good game but I just prefer watching someone who’s in the middle of everything, even if it’s messy. Tiffany was messy and it’s probably part of why I liked watching her play. (I liked watching Tyler make all those F2’s and waiting to see if he’d get busted or not)

I thought of Tyler because I saw comparisons to BB20 Kaycee being made this weekend to Xavier and I completely agree. (I wasn’t comparing Tiffany to Tyler) Kaycee performed well in comps, had a great social game but wasn’t very involved in the strategizing within her alliance. I wrote a game recap that season as to why Kaycee would be a good winner and meant it, in spite of my personal opinion that Tyler would be a better one.

This is a week where the differences in Xavier and Kaycee showed, since Kaycee never had to sit Tyler down and explain how the end game worked the way Xavier’s had to do with Derek. At least I finally know why Derek’s been waiting for “strength comps” all season. (he doesn’t know shit about the the game) We knew he was a recruit but one who had watched the show before. Apparently, he’s never watched a full season and never seen one to the end.

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I didn’t know that until this weekend. He was shocked to learn he’ll stand in the living room and “evote Kyland” in front of everyone. (assuming he’s the one placing the vote) He told Xavier he thought he’d do this in the DR as usual and planned to come out of there crying so they wouldn’t know how he voted. (It’s still just 1 person voting so even if they did it that way, ????)

Derek also had no idea how the F3 comps worked. Xavier had to explain how the part 1 and part 2 winners go against each other in part 3. He thought they all competed in all of them. (This isn’t the same thing as thinking Ky will go to jury like X is assuming) Many people don’t know the 4th place finisher doesn’t go to the jury house so no biggee but the last hoh comp is basic stuff. It makes it even more ridiculous that this guys is probably going to come in 2nd.

Really dumb game play became the theme for me this weekend and it just put a spotlight on how bad the F4 actually are at the game. They’re ALL wanting to make bad decisions. They had a plan because of the CO and almost a map to follow up until now but without it, they don’t know what to do. Say what you will about Tiffany and Hannah, but there were 3 strategizers in the Cook Out and two have left the building. Xavier did some by wanting to take Derek and Azha to F3 and not allowing Tiffany to pit Kyland and himself against each other. I’d still say Ky was way more of a strategizer than X tho. Until Ky decided he needed a Batman vs Superman ending, he hasn’t done too badly.

Xavier has played a great social game but I mentioned last week that I couldn’t see where Xavier really understood HOW he got to the end. He wasn’t in much of the strategizing and I didn’t think he really knew who made what moves much of the time. This was confirmed to me when he had a conversation with Azha this weekend. (There have been others tho) They were discussing evictions and things during the season. Azha was asking him why certain decisions were made and asked him about Derek X. She wanted to know why they kept Derek X as long as they did. Azha obviously didn’t know and wasn’t trying to hide that fact. Xavier struggled to really answer her question. She was assuming he had the answer but he didn’t. It’s because he didn’t have anything to do with it so he didn’t know either. Xavier didn’t throw the wall comp to DX so they could take out Christian. He didn’t even know Christian would be the target that week and was pissed when it happened. Kyland made that happen.

As far as questionable decisions: Azha wants to keep Derek who would really like to evict her this week. Xavier wants to keep Azha, after she’s told him she’d evict him at F3 and in spite of Kyland wanting him as a F2. Derek wants to evict the 1 person he’d have a chance of winning against and Kyland wants to keep the 1 person he’ll lose against. This is insane! Funny but nutty.

Here’s my recap of the activity this weekend:

• Xavier won the F4 hoh and nominated Kyland and Azha.
• Derek, in panic mode, told Azha he probably wouldn’t take her to the F3, were he to win the veto. He went on and on…and on about it to Ky and X. X had to tell him to PLEASE stop talking! X reminded him they hadn’t even played the damn veto comp yet and wondered why he’d piss off either Ky or Azha when either of them could win and evote his ass.
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• Azha asked X to cuddle “just for 5 minutes.”
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• He said she could have a hug instead.
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• Derek, still in a panic, tried to “fix” things by telling Ky he didn’t know if he’d keep him either. (Lol) Kyland was also upset with Derek because Derek asked Ky if he’d take Derek to the F2. (He did this off feeds and we didn’t see the conversation) Ky was trying to Ky-splain that Derek asked him this just before Xavier was going to put 2 people on the block. He said it was at a time when he was vulnerable and shouldn’t have to answer that question. Ky felt he shouldn’t be asked that and give X incentive to take him out. Derek apologized to Ky but the tension remained.
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• Derek continued on with this mess until he agreed with Ky that X should take Ky off the block if X won the veto. This was purely a guilt reaction and one more example of how Derek only plays on emotion.  X wasn’t happy to hear this because it was just going to make things even more messy.  Now, X was going to have to have a convo with Ky about pulling him down if he won it. (I said I like messy but not crazy!)
• Xavier won the veto with Ky coming in last.
• Azha wasn’t very happy either but she wasn’t nearly as upset as Derek was claiming. Was it because she may be leaving 4th? Nah, don’t be silly, it’s because she wants Ky out BEFORE she leaves. She’ll happily go at 3 but not 4 and NOT before Kyland!
• Ky wanted some reassurance from X that he’d be going to F3 with X but all X would give him was “you’re fine and lets talk tomorrow.”
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• Derek went from talking too much game way too early in the week to spiraling over his NOT being otb and having to vote Ky out. He went over his options MANY times and alot of those times were to Azha. (talk about self centered and insensitive) Derek’s big dilemma is that he doesn’t want to be the one to vote out Kyland.  Azha had a simple solution, which was X could use the veto on her and she’d vote Ky out for him. That way, Derek wouldn’t have to betray Ky. Was it good enough that they’d found a solution? Of course not! Big Baby said he wants the move on his resume so that solution simply won’t work! He wants the move on his resume, he just doesn’t want to make it. (If I were X, I’d have strangled Big D by this point in the weekend)
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• Ky knows he’s in trouble but he’s in denial. He talked to himself after the veto and said this was the moment everyone kept warning him about.
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• They were given a deck of playing cards and the itty bitty table this weekend too.
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• Azha talked about Hannas pitch to keep her over Tiffany and said she was offended by the way Hannah put things to her. She said Hannah told her she’d want to stick with Azha because she could beat Azha. (this didn’t happen this way and Hannah didn’t say this)
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Xavier kept pumping up Derek about evicting Ky, gave him all the reasons they had to do it and FINALLY told Derek, if he couldn’t do it, he’d just pull Azha down and let her do it. (He’s nuts if he doesn’t let Azha do it at this point, regardless of what Derek says now) From Xaviers perspective, he knows Ky want to take him to the F2 but there’s always that chance he doesn’t. He also knows he’ll probably beat Ky in a F2 but there’s a chance he wouldn’t. It’s about minimizing risks in the game and Xavier gets it except….leaving Derek off the block to cast the vote to take out Kyland IS also a risk. If he doesn’t minimize that one too, it will knock him down a peg of where I’d rank him as a player.

Derek being so wishy washy is enough to justify doing it. Instead, he’s going the harder route of talking Derek into it. Watching him work Derek yesterday and pump him up was enough to earn him some kind of patience award, along with the 750k!  I’m only saying, if you’re trying to minimize risks, it’s dumb to leave this one out there.

Xavier told Derek if “you can’t do it, I’ll literally pull her down so she can.”  Derek said no and that he wants it on his “resume.” Xavier said “I’M TRYING TO GIVE THAT TO YOU!” (Lol)

The more I listen to Derek, the more I believe HE actually believes he has a shot to win the game. He’s talked about how many times he got Ky to make the moves he couldn’t make “because of comps.” When he brought up Tiffany, Xavier had to tell him Ky was already going after Tiffany. (If you actually need casting a vote at the F4 on your resume, you’re already screwed) Derek can’t see that tho and said he wanted it on his resume so he and X both would have an equal shot to win. Derek said he was just worried about Azha winning the last hoh because she beat Xavier in the F5 hoh comp. Xavier said she barely beat him and he thinks Derek has a better chance against Azha than Ky. (No shit! I was wrong about X throwing that one to Azha because if he threw it, wouldn’t he just tell Derek that?)

Derek became alot more testy with Kyland over the weekend too. (It’s the typical thing some people do in the game, where they need to villianize the person they’re getting rid of to make it easier to do) You can usually see which players have more emotional maturity in the game because they don’t need to do it this way.

Ky gave Azha a compliment on her cooking in front of Derek and it started a whole thing. Derek said he cooked just as much as Azha.

Kyland said Derek made things he could also make. He said he appreciated Derek’s cooking too but said he was thanking Azha for making things that he didn’t know how to cook himself.

Ky said Derek made “simple things like eggs and pasta and they’re great” and said he didn’t know why Derek was offended by his comment. He said if Derek’s really Azhas friend, he’d just let her have the compliment instead of making it about himself.

(They were both right. Derek made it about himself because he can’t stand for anyone else to have a nice moment AND this was absolutely said in front of Derek to annoy him) Azha accepted the compliment but she looked like she knew Ky was being shady.

Speaking of food, Kyland not only smelled a tortilla before using it, he also rubbed it all over his face.

Kyland smells everything. He smells the dishes after he washes them and all kinds of other stuff. It’s weird. My daughter did that when she was young, when she was around 4.  I don’t know if it was like a nervous tick or what caused it. I mean, she smelled everything and oftentimes, she would smell her hands after she’d touched something. She eventually outgrew it and I never knew why she did it.

All in all, Derek didn’t have a relaxing weekend and he’s at a BB crossroads because he has to actually do something. He doesn’t want to go back on his F3 with Ky because he’s worried it will look bad to the jury plus he just doesn’t want to do it. Xavier reminded him they have a F3 with Azha too and he’d be going back on that one. Xavier told Derek, the jury would respect the move but Derek said he doesn’t want Kyland to be mad at him. Xavier told him he could take Kyland out to dinner after the season is over to fix it. Derek talked about everything he did for Sarah Beth too and even thought he’d get her vote. X looked at him like he was nuts and asked what he did for her. He said he played Coin of Destiny because she wanted him to play in it. (Haha, if X had hair, he’d have been pulling it out this weekend)

Derek tried to tell Xavier that he convinced Ky to work with Xavier but Xavier said no, nuh uh, nada, didn’t happen that way. (Ok, he only said no but he thought all the other ones too) Xavier asked Derek if he’d planned to go the entire season without getting any blood on his hands. Derek said no but he’d wanted to get blood on his hands early or midseason. (facepalm!) For now, Xavier has won the battle because Derek is making comparisons to himself and Xavier with Derrick and Cody. For now, he plans to evote Kyland.

If it wasn’t enough work to get himself to the end, Xavier’s having to drag Derek there kicking, screaming, pouting and whining. I’ve been hard on Xavier and Kyland for some of the comments they’ve made this season about the women in the CO. (I don’t include Derek because I’ve come to accept this is probably who he is anyway) Those were comments that rubbed me the wrong way but they were isolated moments and either of them would make a good winner this season. (at least I think so)  They’ve both put in work in different ways to get to the end.

Tiffany had her moment of decision when she chose the CO over her personal game. Kyland had his when he chose to keep Xavier (twice) and it will cost him the game too. Xavier has taken a smarter path because he hasn’t had to have “the moment.” (not the smartest path imo but smart) Not only will he make a good winner for the season, the jury seems to think that way too. As we’ve heard a 1000 times, perception is reality in the BB house. The perception from the jury is that Xavier has played a remarkable game, he’s well like and more importantly, respected.  He’ll take credit for some things other people in the CO did and he should if he can get away with it. (This is tricky territory) Derek will try to do this too but unlike Derek, I think Xavier has the skill for it in a way that won’t offend the people who are in the jury.

Something strange could still happen and this season isn’t a lock. Derek could panic and keep Kyland this week. (I don’t think so but it COULD happen) Ky or X would win the last hoh and X would beat Ky anyway.

Derek could (and probably will) evict Kyland, Azha could win part 3 of the final hoh and take Derek to F2, leaving Xavier with a 3rd place finish. (I don’t think this will happen either but stranger things have happened) This scenario is why I said I don’t think Xavier is making the smartest move.

I personally think the risk of Kyland changing his mind and getting rid of Xavier at F3 is a bit lower than the risk of Azha winning the final hoh. (part 3 can be anyone’s game sometimes) She’s already told Xavier, she’d take Derek over him to F2. If he’s minimizing risks, I think he should keep Ky this week.  In fairness, I do understand why X isn’t sure Ky will take him because it’s stupid. I don’t thinks it’s huge either way, but it’s the final week in the game. Speculating over the tiny mistakes and details are all we have left to do. This is more just something to debate, rather than a strong opinion for me. It’s either this or go over more of Derek’s many game moves. I chose the route of at least having something to discuss.

Have a great Monday!

Mel