what a week

Usually the first week of BB is a lot of trying to get names and faces straight, and figuring out who they really are, rather than just what the CBS promotional people wanted us to see. There was still that this year, but there was also a whole lot more. We had an immediate plan from James to backdoor Jace. As far as I can figure it was all because James saw Jace as direct competition, not some personal affront the way the first eviction often goes. They also managed to get a true backdoor, with Jace having no chance to compete in POV. He also had no clue it was coming and his joyous BB experience came crashing down the minute he was nom'ed.

Jace initially seemed to give up, but I suspect production lit a fire under him (as is their wont) and he started campaigning hardcore. Unfortunately, part of Jace's idea of campaigning was to go and berate people. He had a particularly low point when he started attacking Steve, who had done nothing other than win the POV to save himself. Jace went on and on about how disappointed he was in Steve for being a part of the backdoor plan. He then started in on how the rest of them make fun of Steve, calling him names and such, and Jace was his only true friend. It was truly nauseating to watch.

Meanwhile, in other news, Audrey was running around making an alliance with everyone from the HOH to the pool duck. She also kept adding people to alliances until pretty soon there were about 5 eight person "alliances" with varying degrees of overlap. Also, most of them were told that at least some part of the group was "fake." Naturally, this all blew up on her, and before long it was The House vs. Audrey. She responded to this by taking to her bed, but still managed to have just about everyone stopping by to give her information, bring her food, and for all I know, change her bedpan. They're still pretty much all saying she's the next to go. With BB being what it is, this probably means the BOB twist will either be ended or suspended and Audrey will win HOH.

Jace did make a valiant effort to stay, and at one point it even looked like it might happen. But in the end, he's almost sure to go. But production will be happy because they have lots of misdirection footage to make an exciting show for the TVOVs. Jackie's been laying so low you almost forget she's on the block. Jeff's been the focus of a lot of drama, but their plan to stay separated seems to be working. Even though it gets mentioned that they have a prior relationship and could be part of a further twist, no one really thinks that booting Jackie will weaken Jeff.

As for the rest of them, they're all doing their part. Each has their quirks, but no one seems to be a total dud. They put on a prom/talent show last night, which went better than a lot of the HG staged events. It gave them a chance to get all dressed up and showcase some rather odd and amusing talents.

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We head into the first liveshow, and sure enough BB has lots of misdirection fodder, but Jace ruins it all for the TVOVs by making clear in his speech that he knows he's going. Everyone votes out Jace, except Audrey, who surely threw out a Jackie vote to try to stir up drama. As of this moment it doesn't seem to have mattered. When Jace was out chatting with Julie, he guessed it was her and said he felt bad if Austin or Liz got blamed.

Speaking of JuLizia, the Twin Twist was confirmed and they even swapped live in the DR after co-voting. Julie also let Jace know he'd been in a three-way showmance which he was appropriately shocked by.

Kathy Griffin showed up to deliver the Twist of the Week, which is that a phone will appear in the house, she'll be calling in and whoever answers the 7th time she calls will get to nullify 3 votes in the eviction. This seems so obviously open to production manipulation that it's ridiculous.

They trot out to play HOH in 2 heats. Becky wins the first round, and Shelli the second. This should be interesting as neither of them was a huge factor in week one. I'm just hoping they each play their own game and don't let the others push them around. Audrey is still prime target #1, but you never know what can happen in a week.

But all in all, it was a great first week.