Big Brother 3, July 25: History Repeats Itself Yet Again

After the previous night’s episode, I was beginning to think that history would indeed repeat itself yet again. Last year, Mike Boogie had put up Sheryl against Nicole so he could “make sure” Nicole left. Nicole stayed. This year began the same way when Lisa put up Lori against Marcellas to “make sure” he was evicted. Lori went instead.

But certainly Marcellas learned his lesson, right? Right? Wrong. He put up Josh, who he really wanted out, against Tonya, who he called a “pawn.” Now, we later learned that he didn’t mind so much if she went instead, but he really, really wanted Josh out. So why not put him against, say, Eric? Or Roddy?

Anyway, I know most of you are reading this and saying, “Hey, we’ve heard this all before, why are you recapping previous episodes?” Because I wanted to point out that as I was thinking about this, I figured out that Tonya would probably be going. The people I mentioned this to at work thought I was nuts. Tonya? No way. They want Josh out! Ah, but do they? Roddy has raised the point that if Josh stays, he’s a guaranteed position in the nominations if a non-alliance member gets Head of Household (HoH). It’s an insurance policy. Besides, I’m sure they were thinking that if Josh sticks around, he’s easy to beat at the end. Remember, this is what everybody thought about Will. Now he’s hosting his own reality show!.

So, would I be right or wrong? Well, let’s see. We begin with Josh saying he would do “anything I can” to stick around. Big surprise there. He goes through the litany of what he’d done - apologize to people he’d offended, be honest, lie, break out into tears (which he says were completely fake), make people feel guilty, etc. Was it working? We’ll have to wait to find out.

Eric says he doesn’t think there is a girl/guy split - he trusts Lisa and she tells him that the women don’t talk about the game. So then we see the women all talking about the game in a number of different situations. Will the women vote to keep Tonya around?

Roddy says that Josh is actually lucky to be up against Tonya. Isn’t that what I said? Anyway, he says that pivotal votes like Jason’s will determine if Josh stays. Speaking of Jason, he tells Roddy that he would like to get in on their alliance/partnership/whatever. However, privately he says his first allegiance is to Danielle. What a coincidence! Danielle’s first allegiance is to herself, too!

Anyway, there is a bit of a problem with Roddy’s support of Josh. Some of the women tell Roddy that Josh had, early on, told them that Roddy was just playing at being a nice guy. So Roddy confronts Josh with this and Josh says it’s a smear campaign. He immediately goes to confront Chiara about it, but she denies having been the one to say anything. Roddy says Josh is overplaying the game. No, ya think? He’s been overplaying it since the first minute he entered the house! Roddy says he is thinking of changing his vote. Meanwhile, Josh says he trusts Roddy more than anyone else in the house - and more than most people he knows outside the house.

I’m going to spare you the litany of complaints about the peanut butter & jelly diet for those who lost the food challenge earlier. We heard ‘em all last year. Let’s move on to something juicy: T & A!

No, not that kind of T&A. I’m talking about Tonya and Amy (hmmm, well, okay, I guess that does include that kind of T&A, but I digress…). Amy is opening a bottle of win and Tonya says something to her about drinking too much. Amy pretty much ignores her and heads out to the backyard with her wine. Tonya “knows” that she is going out there to complain about her, and follows her out to yell at the Southern Belle. She says Amy should tell her to her face whatever it is she’s complaining about. Everybody else looks a bit stunned, which makes me believe Amy when she says she wasn’t talking about Tonya. Marcellas brings the two of them (and others) into the house and lectures Tonya, saying that somebody on the chopping block shouldn’t behave like that. He starts yelling at her and she yells right back at him. It’s an ugly scene, but hey, that’s why we watch!

At this point, we are reminded that this is a live show as Julie Chen pops in to say hello to the players. She asks Chiara if the PB&J diet has had any affect on the mood (what is the fascination with PB&J? Get over it already!). Chiara sarcastically says the mood has been great; when pressed she says it really hasn’t been all that bad.

Julie asks Danielle what it was like to win the veto power. Danielle responds that it was nerve wracking but nice to win something.

Moving on to the “stars” of the evening, she asks Josh and Tonya if they have anything to say. Tonya says she’s had a great time with all of them and if she’s voted out, she’ll see them in Vegas. Yes, but Tonya, when are you coming back home to Springfield, Illinois? Drop me a line if you do!

Josh says if he is voted out he hopes they all have fire insurance. More seriously, he says, “Whatever.” Then goes back to “humor” by saying if they kick him out, they suck. The viewing audience might beg to differ.

We’ll put all the votes at the end of this article, rather than spreading them out like the show does. Which means it’s time to talk to Josh’s girlfriend and Tonya’s boyfriend. Merritt has been together with Josh for a little over a year, and she hopes to marry him someday. Yes, she says there could be little Joshes running around, although that’s a scary thought for some people. She says Josh has integrity and is sweet. We’ll just have to take her word for that, ‘cus we sure haven’t seen it. In fact, that’s the next thing she says - that she is worried because people are not seeing that side of him. He’s not the evil jerk that people think. She’s so proud of him and loves him.

Tonya’s boyfriend, David, has been going with her for about four months. Marriage is a possibility, but not for a while (especially since she’s still going through a divorce!). He says she’s a great mom who works hard and contradicts her look (and also contradicts the court filings listed in that link, above). She is the sweetest and most respectful girl. He misses her.

Rather than going back to the current houseguests, we take another trip into memory lane with some from last year - Monica, Bunky, Sheryl, and Will.

Monica says she is doing wonderful, great, and fantastic. She has many goals and is trying to touch people’s lives while still helping out part-time at the candy store. As readers may remember, Monica had a cousin who was missing in the September 11 attacks (which took place while Monica was still in the house). That cousin was never found. Monica says that in her family, cousins are like sisters, so she lost a sister. Still, the family is doing better.

Bunky has been doing the Bunky show for charity. He and Greg are still together and are “fantabulous.” They plan to move to L.A. and he is still working out (Hunky Bunky). He says people are shocked that he still keeps in touch a lot with Kent. Big Brother 3 is like a soap opera, he says, and Marcellas is a different type of gay man - Bunky doesn’t wear cashmere or clutch his pearls.

Sheryl, as you may recall, found out shortly after she left the BB2 house that she had breast cancer. She has been undergoing treatment and has had surgery and chemotherapy. Her hair is still very short after the chemo, but she looks great! In fact, she says she likes the shorter hair. She tries to find the positive in everything and didn’t get lost in the forest. Instead, she will reach her goals. She is currently cancer free.

Will says he has been hanging out in L.A., traveling, and being a doctor. He passed his boards in California and his status is “pending” in Florida. Buttercup the tortoise is doing great and his favorite people from the show are still the old Chill Town gang. He says his relationship with Shannon is private, however he says something along the lines of: Women - can’t live with ‘em, can’t get ‘em to dress up as Princess Leia and beat you with a cucumber. He says the favorite to win would be a male with dark hair, charisma, and good looks - oh wait, “that’s me!” Notably absent from his segment is any mention of his new job hosting Love Shack on NBC.

OK, well, we finally get back to the folks who are actually in the Big Brother house. Julie Chen talks to Marcellas privately, asking how it felt to go from the chopping block to HoH. He says the whole thing has been amazing. Amazing. Amazing!

So, any regrets on the nomination? No. Those two people were the biggest problems and either of them could go for the sake of the house.

What’s his relationship with Amy? Amy is his girl - funny, witty, sweet, etc. Does she get on his nerves? Ah, sometimes.

Who would he least like to see get HoH? Gerry, because he’s found out a lot about how Gerry has played the game (from whom? What are the details?); he doesn’t think he’d be in danger with Gerry as HoH, but he doesn’t trust him as much as he previously had.

It’s finally time to reveal the vote! We begin with Eric, who says he’s not really sure what level of trust he has with Josh and that Josh rubbed people the wrong way early (no, really?). Tonya is not a major threat, but she said earlier this week that she hadn’t had any confrontations and then really blew that one. He votes for Tonya.

Amy says Josh can act like a child while Tonya is just being herself. However, being herself doesn’t really stand out - except for those items she had surgically altered to, well, stand out. She votes for Tonya.

Gerry has gotten to know, respect, and like Tonya. If Tonya were evicted, it would probably be good for her. He’s traveled a rough road with Josh, who Gerry describes as “angry” at him for saving Marcellas. Unsurprisingly, he votes for Josh to leave.

Chiara says she’s very close with Tonya, and also close to Josh. Josh definitely has made enemies as well as friends. She votes against Josh.

Lisa likes having Tonya in the house - it provides some girly environment for the masculine house. But sometimes she’s too “surface.” Josh is a good person even though he is too flirty and piggy. She votes against Josh.

Jason says Josh brings so much life to the house (is that what you call it?). Tonya, though, is a great asset who cooks, cleans, does laundry, and is comforting and nurturing. So naturally he votes against Tonya.

We don’t get to see what Danielle and Roddy have to say, but the announcement is made: By a five to three vote, Tonya is evicted. Josh about faints. Tonya obviously had no idea it was coming. But she takes it well. Josh doesn’t know what to do with himself. He walks past everyone, says, “Thanks guys” and just wanders around the house in a daze for a while. If they didn’t have the next HoH competition right after it, he’d probably still be wandering around. Then again, given his performance (which we’ll get to in a minute), maybe he was still in a daze.

Tonya makes it out to Julie Chen and says that she was, indeed, pretty surprised. She says Josh must have changed a lot of minds with his politicking and she didn’t do anything in the way of lobbying - now she wishes she had. Regarding her little fight with Amy, she says she lost her cool when there was behavior in the house that she didn’t agree with. She describes Amy as selfish and says Marcellas was just sticking up for her. Even knowing it might have changed the vote, she wouldn’t have acted any differently. Still, she wasn’t disappointed with anybody in the house, and she came out with some good friends like Chiara and Lisa, and she is rooting for Chiara to win.

We see the standard goodbye messages from Chiara, Lisa, Jason, Roddy, and Eric. Then Tonya says she missed her kids the most during her stay in the house and asks if they are there. Julie Chen makes a cryptic remark about how Tonya will see them soon but she can’t say any more than that. Huh? It should be noted that Big Brother 2 houseguest Kent Blackwelder speculated last week on a Tucson, Arizona, radio station that something might be up whereby the first few evictees are being secluded to return to compete with the existing houseguests to even be able to replace one and re-enter the house. We don't know for sure, of course, but Julie's strange remark sure has me wondering.

Anyway, it’s time to launch into the next HoH competition. It consists of eight true/false questions. The blindfolded players have to raise a paddle if they think the answer is “true.” If they are right, they step forward one square. First to the finish line wins - or closest if nobody makes it in the eight questions.

1. Lori is from Wisconsin. True. All but Josh and Eric get it right. Josh’s head is hanging down and he looks very strange.
2. There is one vegetarian currently in the BB house. False There are none. Josh and Eric again are the only two to get it wrong.
3. Tonya has a daughter named Brooke. True. All but Josh get it right.
4. The first HoH competition ended with Lisa beating Lori by a score of 7-3. False, it was 8-2. Everybody gets it right - even Josh!
5. Marcellas’ favorite movie is Showgirls. False. They all get it right and Marcellas about falls out of his chair with laughter. It is his least favorite movie.
6. In the egg toss, all houseguests combined caught over 80 eggs. True. All get it right.
7. Three of the remaining houseguests have children. False. All get it right.

This puts everybody but Josh and Eric at the finish line, so it’s time for a tie-breaker. They each get a chalkboard and have to answer a single question. The one who provides the value closest to the answer without going over (Price Is Right rules again) wins.

What was the total weight of all houseguests prior to pigging out on the brownie house? The answer is 1605 pounds and eight ounces. Roddy guesses 1580 pounds and is easily the closest. Roddy wins HoH!

Well, I guess Chiara is safe. Gerry, however, is not. I think it’s about time for him to start packing his bags. Then again, we thought that about Marcellas the first week and Josh (for a while) the second, so you just never know.

All I do know is that Josh’s induction into the Reality TV Hall of Shame will have to wait.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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