All Big Brother fans!  Sorry I missed the last week but I had eye surgery.  My eye surgeon gave me the go ahead to start so here I am.  Little did I know that the last two weeks of Big Brother would be so eventful. So here we go.

I’m sure you remember Rachel Reilly who met her true love, Brendan, on the show.  The powers that be at CBS and Big Brother decided to bring her back so she could have another shot at the floaters.  Remember!  She always said that floaters needed a life preserver when she came to power.

Well, the game has changed, and Rachel was aware.  Instead of strategy gamers, we get the video gamers.  Don’t worry!  Rachel is familiar with that also. She has children, remember?    She’s also familiar with the “Mean Girl” club.  She’s seen many incarnatiosn of this with the show.  The only problem is that Mickey takes the original concept and uses threats of violence.

So, Rachel spent the first weeks getting to know people.  Mickey spent the first weeks saying that she was only keeping Rachel up to jury and sending her to the jury house on week one of jury.  Why so vicious? First, she thought Rachel was too old to play the game.   (By the way, Rachel isn’t much older than Mickey.)  Mickey wanted Rachel to be alone and make her regret leaving her family to play.  Mickey also intended to annihilate Rachel in front of her children and husband on national television.  See why I say Mickey took the Mean Girls up a level.  Instead of looking just to embarrass one person, Mickey thought it would be fun to do it in front of Rachel’s family and the nation.  I’m surprised Mickey didn’t ask they to bring back the Bad Girls Club.  She’s a perfect fit!  But on with the Rachel story.

Mickey forgot one thing in this endeavor.  Big Brother is a small community.  They live in a closed environment during the game.  The likelihood of anything being said getting back to the victim is very strong.  So, it was only a matter of time before Rachel heard of Mickey’s statement and who was involved.  (And I think Mickey forgot about the live feeders.  They’ve given us a blow-by-blow, haven’t you hamsterwatch!)

Anyone who has watched Rachel play knows that Rachel doesn’t take a threat lightly.  Anything that is intentionally aimed at her family will draw her wrath.  Suddenly, Rachel had “unfriended” (as I call it) those making the threat.  In fact, the last week had the Mickey’s “Mean Girls’ Club” saying that “Rachel only cares for Rachel.”  Sweethearts!  This is Big Brother.  You only care about the cash at the end.  Anyone who says they are your friend will stick a proverbial knife in your back if you get in their way. 

Case in point is Vince.  He was really part of the scheme to get rid of Rachel at jury’s first week.  He played a game of conning everyone that he was their best friend. Time and time again he proved he wasn’t.  Rachel saw him send Amy out who had a final two with Vince.  Zae went when his buddy Vince decided to cut ties.  The straw that proved to Rachel how “two-faced” Vince was came the week Jimmy was sent home.  Rachel didn’t say a word but let Vince know she didn’t believe him.  What did he do?  Vince cried to everyone that Rachel was acting  “cold” to him.  No Vince!  She has your number.

Mickey had ordained that Rachel would go on Thursday, July 24, 2025.  Why not!  In Mickey’s mind, she has run all HoHs.  Mickey would “tear Rachel to pieces” in front of her husband and children.  To me this was a threat.  In the old days, Mickey would have been called out.  Apparently, she wasn’t because she kept it up. Rachel knew it.  She decided the time to get serious in the game play area had started.  She would win HoH and let Mickey stew.  So far, the only thing Mickey thinks will happen is her allies will go up on the block again.  Mickey thinks she’s safe (more on that in a later article). 

Vince, on the other hand, realizes that Rachel has found him out.  He went to her last night after her HoH win and told her that he would “actually” keep his word.  Oh, how sweet!  Does you “word” actually mean anything now!

So, Rachel has won a HoH putting herself in the record books.  Rachel is’ old school.’  Mickey may think she can run Rachel’s HoH like she did others and tried to do with Ava. Rachel has seen more than Mickey.  She’s seen Chima’s play this card before.  She’s not going to stand still and let Mickey run her HoH. I’m so hoping she backdoors Mickey.  It’s only fair after all.  That’s what Mickey planned.

As they always say – “Welcome to Big Brother! Season 27 kicked off promising many surprises.  If CBS had been on Blue Sky (similar to X), they would have found long time viewers calling it “Boring Brother”.  By the way, most ot the in-the-know people are there on the Blu Sky board this season. The theme of a “Clue” type set had had promise but not with this group.  Instead of realizing that clues could be everywhere, they just socialized.  No big alliances until late in the week of viewing.

The Theme

So what about the set.  I actually had high hopes for it.  A mystery house with non-readable books.  Pictures that could hide something like a safe.  Hidden doors possibly going anywhere like a treasure room or torture den.  Typical mystery (old world) items everywhere with hidden potential. Even the addition of a mystery player, Rachel Reilly, didn’t disturb them.  Rachel has a clue. After all, she HAD played Traitors. Yet, no one else seemed to clue in on the “mystery” theme.  They just appreciated the exercise area, the outdoor area, and found it cute.  Honestly, I would have been moving things looking for clues.

Then there is the twist!  A master mind with an accomplice who entered as a guest.  Hey!  More potential but alas, the guests had to discover and name the accomplice.  Did they study what had happened?  Were they observant enough to see the accomplice hiding in plain sight?  Many just tried to get rid of cowboy, Rylie.  Honestly, I’m not sure the reason except no one could believe he was a cowboy and thought he was the ‘plant.’  This was stupid as Rachel had already made her grand entrance.  Amy did her part as the accomplice and opened the door for Rachel Reilly to join. Funny thing.  If they had watched Amy, the houseguests would have seen her pull out a clicker.  Did Amy get anything for doing this?  Not that I have heard!

The Significant Change

Instead of ending the AI Arena, they have changed the name to the “Big Brother Block Buster.”  Each week, the HoH must name three houseguests to compete to come off the block bringing the nominees to two.

The Houseguests

So, let’s move on to the houseguests, shall we?  I was going to break it down as a typical cast:  the nerds, the jocks, the “mean” girls, the big alliance.  Well, the big alliance went out the window quickly.  The “mean girls” couldn’t meet the standards set by Rachel.  The nerds and a few others all claimed to be gamers, but I only think Kelley is really a gamer.  So, let’s look at who is actually playing.  Not all are getting mentioned as most haven’t done anything noteworthy.

HOH:  Vince.  If I hadn’t known Rachel was coming, I would have thought they dressed up one of the forme men houseguest with a fake moustache.  He won the first HoH which means he has to make decisions.  Well, he thought he could keep blood off his hands but that didn’t work.  So Jimmy suggested that they start a men’s alliance named the “Burger Boys”.  This guy alliance was only five or six members.  Usually, by now, the jocks and mean girls have combined and have shields in place (9 or more).

Jimmy:  Jimmy won round two of the Big Brother first competition.  As a reward, he got to chose who would play in the HoH competition which Vince won.   Jimmy though has decided that he’s a mix of Dan, Derek and Frankie.  Like Frankie, he’s in Vince’s ear and is trying to be clown prince of the show.   He actually interrupted the Power of Veto (POV) meeting with accusations against other houseguest Kenau (I believe).  Jimmy is annoying and according to reports is the new HoH.  In many ways, his antics remind me to Zack.

Rachel:  Rachel has always been one of my favorite people.  We’ve talked online and she can be sweet and funny.  The problem with Rachel on the show is over-exposure.  She’s done The Traitors (US) and been evil on Worst Cooks in America.  To be honest, I would have held off using her for at least a year.  The good thing about Rachel is that she’s honest and calls things as she sees them.

Zae:  Okay, anyone who uses man cosmetics is problematic to me. The only one who ever pulled it off was Colin Donohue on Once Upon a Time and that was because he was Captain Hook.  Zae is the idiot who started a fight with Rachel.  He’s so dumb that he thought that that would help him stay in the house after going on the block.  This was a dumb move because everyone else wanted Rachel for cover.  So – bye-bye Zae.

Amy:  Amy was smart.  She didn’t get caught as the conspirator and she’s now aligned with Rachel (Moms Alliance).  There was no way Rachel was going to let her leave.  She really didn’t flinch that much at her nomination for eviction and showed class.

Zach:  Zach won the first part of the entrance challenge.  His prize was $10,000 which he can give to the HoH prior to jury to buy his safety.  Nice prize, but I believe the secret is out already as it was mentioned by a floater.  I’ve never seen anyone outside of a showmance cry as much as he did when Zae left.

Ashley:  Put on the block by the HoH, Ashley started making moves which is what Big Brother is about.  As the first winner of a PoV contest, she secured her safety for the week and now is determined to be a player.  She seems to like Rachel.  Teamed with Rachel and Amy, she could be an asset as the weeks go by. 

Notable mentions for potential are:  Morgan, Kelley, Keanu, and Will. 

The Coming Week:

Well, “clown prince” Jimmy supposedly won the HoH out of my feeds source.  “Have Nots” have not been mentioned but three received  a mystery power after being told that they must search for clues.  And no, we’re still trying to figure those out and their significance.  As the Master Mind made an appearance while all slept, we know he will be appearing soon.  Could it be Dan?  Somehow, I wonder if he’s already in the game as his appearance was leaked with an empty bed.

Next Week’s Update

Next week’s update will be determined on how dull the house is.  If they wake up and start playing, I may do one Wednesday in preparation for eviction on Thursday.