The Amazing Race 33.9 “Rock Bottom”

Last night’s episode of The Amazing Race was the best of the season so far.  Considering that the finale is next week, I think it’s possible that this is the episode that season 33 will be remembered for.  It was also one of the most nerve-wracking episodes that I’ve ever seen.  It allowed us to get to know the remaining four teams as individuals.  We got to see everyone at their best and their worst.

Raquel and Cayla finally got their first place finish but, even more than that, they also showed the attitude that’s kept them in the race.  They’re supportive of each other.  They stay positive.  They don’t give up.  They don’t give into frustration and anger.  Raquel and Cayla have been kind of a low-key team but they’re now favorite team on the race and I hope they do well in the finale.

Kim and Penn struggled a little but, in struggling, they actually became more human.  In the past, Kim and Penn at times seemed nearly robotic.  But last night, we learned that Kim struggles with anxiety and we saw that Penn is as supportive when the team is struggling as when they’re winning.  They came in second and I think it was overall a good thing that they got humbled a little before starting the final leg of the race.

Arun and Natalia came in third, largely due to Ryan and Dusty’s struggles.  Arun and Natalia have got to learn how to read directions.  I like them personally but I still nearly have a panic attack whenever they start driving.

And finally, we’ve got Ryan and Dusty.  Throughout the race, many have complained that Ryan and Dusty have a tendency to get a bit cocky.  Last night, Ryan spent over three hours searching for a gold coin that was hidden under a rock.  He struggled with his anger issues but ultimately, he found the rock and he and Dusty made it to the pit stop.  They arrived long after everyone else and Phil revealed that this was a …. NON-ELIMINATION LEG!  Yay!

(To be honest, I wasn’t surprised that it was a non-elim leg.  Both the roadblock and the detour were so difficult that I couldn’t imagine the show actually eliminating anyone who struggled with them.)

And again, I think it was good that Ryan and Dusty struggled a bit.  It got their heads back in the game.  It humbled them a little.  You don’t want to go into the final leg feeling too cocky.  You don’t want to take anything for granted.

Last night’s episode was exciting and it had a good ending.  Next week, one of these four teams will win The Amazing Race!

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — The End

Well, Celebrity Big Brother came to an end tonight, not with a bang but with a very definite whimper.

It was all a bit anti-climatic, really. For the first time in a long time, this Big Brother finale was only an hour long. As a result, the jury didn’t even have time to ask questions or even discuss how they were feeling before they voted. Meisha winning the final HoH shouldn’t have come as a shock to anyone, as she’s pretty much dominated nearly every comp this season. That she picked Todrick over Cynthia was not surprising. She and Todrick have been a pair since the season started and I also imagine that Meisha was smart enough to know that Todrick wouldn’t have a lot of friends on the jury.

Probably the most interesting thing about the finale was how little enthusiasm the jury had for either Meisha or Todrick. They listened politely to Meisha’s speech. When Todrick spoke, Todd Bridges and Lamar were both seen to dramatically roll their eyes. Shanna had already announced that there was no way she would vote for Todrick and Carson more or less said the same thing when he apologized to Shanna for what happened in the House. It really wasn’t a shock that Meisha won. Todrick got one vote, from Cynthia. Cynthia, of course, was the only member of the jury who hadn’t gotten a chance to go back and review the live feeds after being evicted.

When Meisha and Todrick came out of the house, no one stood up to congratulate them. Julie literally had to tell them to do that. The celebrity jury seemed angrier than most of the regular Big Brother juries. Of course, I think most of the celebs thought that Celebrity Big Brother would just be a month-long vacation. Instead, they found themselves living with the ultracompetitive Todrick and Meisha.

As for America’s Favorite Player, it went to Carson. I think that the hardcore Big Brother watchers split their votes between Shanna and Lamar, which allowed Carson to sneak in. That’s the only sense I can make of it.

Anyway, that’s it for Celebrity Big Brother! Regular Big Brother will be back this summer.  As for now, Survivor is right around the corner!

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — Double Eviction Results

So, we had a double eviction tonight and it went the way that most people expected it to. Todrick and Meisha have pretty much dominated this season, both strategically and in comps. The main result of the double eviction is that one of them is going to win the season on Wednesday. My money is on Meisha because Todrick has no jury management skills.

To recap:

For the first eviction, Todd used the veto on himself. Todrick replaced him with Cynthia. When it came time to vote, Todd voted for Cynthia. Meisha voted for Lamar. Todrick broke the tie by voting for Lamar but, before he voted for Lamar, he gave a speech where he made it sound like he was going to vote for Cynthia. There was really no reason to do this, beyond Todrick’s determination to turn everything into a big viral moment. It’s the exact sort of thing that causes bitterness on the jury.

Anyway, Lamar left. I was actually surprised at how much I liked Lamar this season. I was expecting him to be another clueless athlete but he turned out to be genuine guy. I hope things go well for him outside the House.

The next HoH comp was won by Meisha. Meisha nominated Todd and Cynthia for eviction. The veto was again won by Meisha. Meisha did not use the veto and, for the 2nd time that night, Todrick cast the only vote that mattered. After another long speech, he evicted Todd.

So, our final three are Cynthia, Todrick, and Meisha. Of the three, Meisha played the best game. She was strategic and, most importantly, she didn’t do much to potentially antagonize the jury to the point that they’ll refuse to vote for her. Todrick has done well in competitions and he’s also proven himself as a strategist but a lot of the jury members can’t stand him. Cynthia hasn’t really done anything to deserve to win but she is likable and that might serve her well if she makes it to the final two and the jury is angry with either Todrick or Meisha.

That said, I have a feeling Meisha will win the final HoH and that she’ll also win the season. We’ll see if I’m right on Wednesday!

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — Veto Results

Well, we’re nearly done.

I have to be honest with everyone. I really have not been able to get into Celebrity Big Brother this year. You can probably tell that just be reading what I’ve written about the show. The whole rushed format doesn’t do much for me and I don’t really care about the celebs who they selected for the show. I think Meisha and Todrick deserve a lot of credit for dominating the House but, at the same time, it’s not like they’re playing against the most brilliant competitors in the world.

So, I’m kind of happy that there’s only a few days left. I’m looking forward to a new season of Survivor in March and “real” Big Brother this summer.

As for what’s happening in the House….

Todrick is the HoH and, of course, he put Todd and Lamar on the block. I had to laugh during the HoH comp, when Todd realized that either Todrick or Meisha was going to win and he said that his alliance now had no choice but to watch as either Todd or Meisha put them on the block. Gee, Todd, why weren’t you concerned about this when you were HoH?

Todd, however, has won the golden power of veto! The assumption, of course, is that he’ll use it on himself and Cynthia will go up as the replacement nominee. However, Todrick and Meisha are trying to talk Todd into not using the veto. They’re swearing to him that they’ll all vote out Lamar whereas, if Todd comes down, there’s a chance that Cynthia could be voted out and Todd will use his only ally. If anyone would be dumb enough to fall for that, it would probably be Todd. But I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Tomorrow night — double eviction! And then, come Wednesday, the show ends and a new winner will be crowned!

See you then,

Lisa Marie

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — About Tonight

Tonight’s episode of Celebrity Big Brother was so boring that I nearly forgot about it but, for the record:

Meisha won the power of veto. Meisha did not use the power of veto. Carson was voted out by a vote of 2-1, with only Cynthia voting to keep him. That’s pretty much what everyone knew was going to happen. Monday’s episode of Big Brother will feature a double eviction, taking us down from 5 houseguests to only 3.

I think, at this point, it’s pretty obvious that this game is either Meisha or Todrick’s to lose. The only thing that could change that would be if they go during the double. Cynthia would probably put them both on the block and I imagine Lamar would as well. Todd is a bit harder to read. He can’t compete for this upcoming HoH but he should be able to compete for HoH during the double.

But I have my doubts as to whether or not anyone can get Meisha out of there. She’s a challenge beast and, to be honest, she’s really the only one left in the game. If she doesn’t win HoH, I could easily see her winning the veto. Meisha is the type who wins the comps that she needs to win.

With all that in mind, I’m predicting that Cynthia and Lamar will be gone by the end of the double eviction, leading to a final three of Todd, Todrick, and Meisha. Out of those three Meisha seems to be the most likely to win. She’s played a good game but she hasn’t personally upset people the way that Todrick has. As for Todd, it’s hard to think of anything that he’s really done that he could use to make a case for deserving the victory. Even when he won HoH, he pretty much allowed Meisha and Todrick to run it.

But who knows! It all depends on who wins this upcoming HoH comp. We’ll see what happens.

The Amazing Race 1.8 “Souvlaki”

And the there were four!

With only two episodes left, this strange season of The Amazing Race is nearly over.  I say strange because it’s hard to think of any other season where one team had such an easy time dominating the other teams.  It’s also hard to think of any other season where so many obviously weak teams made it into the latter half of the season.  Of course, the reason for that is that two of the strongest teams — Anthony &Spencer and Connie & Sam — did not return after the third pit stop.  With Ryan & Dusty struggling with some of the recent legs, that’s pretty much allowed Kim & Penn to claim first place as their own.

Last night’s leg of the race found the top five in Greece.  I started this episode convinced that this would be Arun and Natalia’s swan song but they managed to hold on for a fourth place finish.  Meanwhile, coming in fifth, were Lulu and Lala.  Lula and Lala just did not have a good day, getting lost a few times and unfortunately letting their frustrations get the better of them. Still, they accepted getting eliminated with class and they ran a good race.  It just wasn’t their day.

I enjoyed last night’s episode, mostly because Greece is a pretty country and the roadblock with the saints was something that my sister and I would have been able to breeze through if we had been on this season.  Of course, I doubt we would have ever reached the roadblock because we probably would have thrown away that wrapper without even noticing the clue.  You have to pay attention to everything when you’re on the race!

Finishing first for this leg of the race were Kim & Penn.  This was their third first place finish in a row.

Coming in second, for the third time in a row, were Raquel and Cayla.

Coming in third, for the third time in a row, were Ryan and Dusty.

Coming in fourth were Arun and Natalia.

Coming in fifth and eliminated, were Lula and Lala.

You look at the finishes and you can pretty much tell what’s going to happen during the finale.  Kim & Penn, Raquel & Cayla, and Ryan & Dusty seem to be guaranteed to make it to the top three.  Arun and Natalia are going to have to get a lot better when it comes to following directions if they’re going to have a chance to make it to the final leg.

But stranger things have happened.  Ryan & Dusty occasionally get frustrated and their determination to do everything on their own has slowed them down previously.  Raquel and Cayla occasionally miss the small details,  Kim & Penn are so used to finishing in first that they might get overconfident.  Someone could slip up.  It would be one of the greatest upsets in Amazing Race history if Arun and Natalia made it to the final three.

We’ll see what happens!

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — Veto Results

Hi, everyone!

So, as we all saw tonight, Todd Bridges has somewhat implausibly become the new head of household. He has nominated Carson and Lamar for eviction. Carson in the target, though Todd seems to be okay with the idea of Lamar getting voted out as well. Todd has spent the past two days patting himself on the back but, as we all know, he’s just doing the bidding of Todrick and Meisha, even if he doesn’t quite realize it.

Well, the veto competition was earlier today. Let’s give Carson and Cynthia a little credit. They both realized that this was a comp they had to win if they were going to have any hope of Carson staying in the House. Carson now understands that he’s the target and that no one was ever really serious about taking him to the final four. Carson finally understands the situation.

That said, that understanding did not translate into a veto win. Instead, the veto was won by Meisha and Meisha has already told Todd that she is not planning on using it. On Friday, the only people eligible to vote will be Todrick, Meisha, and Cynthia. Cynthia will vote to keep Carson but Meisha and Todrick are planning on voting Carson out of the House.

There’s less than a week to go until the finale! Right now, Todrick and Meisha are pretty much in control of the House and, unless Cynthia pulls off an HoH win, they seem to be the two most likely players to make it to the final two.

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — About Tonight’s Eviction

(SPOILER WARNING FOR ANY OF YOU WHO HAVEN’T SEEN THE EPISODE YET)

So, after having to DVR the previous few episodes and watch them hours after they originally aired, I finally got to watch tonight’s eviction episode live. And all I can really say about it is that it totally sucked.

Meisha and Toddrick’s plan worked. They totally turned Carson and Cynthia against Shanna, basically by telling a bunch of lies and feeding Carson and Cynthia a bunch of empty promises about taking them to the final four. On the live feeds, before the start of tonight’s show, Carson told Meisha that he just couldn’t understand why Shanna kept denying everything that Meisha and Toddrick were saying about her. MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE MEISHA AND TODDRICK WERE LYING, YOU DINGBAT! Carson has no idea that Meisha and Toddrick have been laughing at him, behind his back, ever since he became HoH. They’re not taking him to the final four. Instead, they’re planning on targeting him next.

Anyway, the backdoor went just as expected. Because of the stupid random draw, Shanna didn’t even get to compete for the veto. Toddrick won the veto and used it to save Todd. Todd was apparently under the impression that he would be picking the replacement nominee because he stood at the front of the living room like an idiot until Julie finally told him to sit down. Once Todd was seated, Carson nominated Shanna as a replacement. “I’m so sorry,” Carson lied.

The vote to evict Shanna was unanimous. When it was Lamar’s turn to vote, he sat in the diary room and chewed on his fingernails until Julie had to literally order him to cast his vote. Lamar finally voted for Shanna. As Shanna left the house, she said, “Don’t worry, Toddrick, I’ll tell the jury to vote against you.”

Toddrick, who had been so cocky through the entire episode, actually had the nerve to get upset about that. Toddrick reminds me a lot of Paul from Big Brothers 18 and 19. He can dish it out but he can’t take it. The minute anyone talks back to him, he runs off to Meisha and starts crying. The other thing that Toddrick has in common with Paul is that he sucks at jury management. Shanna was right. Who, out of the jury, is actually going to want to vote for Toddrick? Carson, of course, felt that he had to comfort Toddrick and do the whole, “That wasn’t a classy thing to do,” spiel. Carson really seems to think that he’s some sort of father figure in the House.

Anyway, this eviction sucked and I’m glad there’s only a week left of this. As of now, I’m waiting to see who the new HoH will be! Hopefully, it’ll be Lamar because I think he’s the only one who might nominate Meisha and Toddrick for eviction. At this point, though, I’d almost rather see Meisha win again just so I can see the look on Carson’s face when he ends up on on the block.

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — A Weird Season Continues

So, let’s get this straight.

Carson was on the block due to Meisha and basically, he would have been evicted if not for the fact that Shanna won the POV and then, at great potential risk to her own game, she used the veto to save him. Make no mistake about it. If Shanna hadn’t used the veto, Carson would have been the one who was voted out on Friday and Chris Kirkpatrick would still be in the house.

So, of course, when Carson won the HoH contest, it seemed obvious that he would go after Meisha. It seemed like the obvious move would be to nominate Meisha and Toddrick but Carson previously promised that he wouldn’t nominate Toddrick and he decided to keep his word. He decided that he would instead nominate Meisha and Todd Bridges.

And, make no mistake about it — that’s what Carson eventually did. At the nomination ceremony, Caron nomianted Meisha and Todd for eviction. BUT — it’s all juts a part of a grand scheme to backdoor Shanna!

What a weird season! As we saw on tonight’s episode, all it took for Carson and Cynthia to suddenly distrust Shanna was for Toddrick to tell them that Shanna was actually working against them. Toddrick, for the most part, was flat-out lying but Carson and Cynthia both took him at his word, for some reason. When they confronted Shanna, Shanna lost her temper and I don’t think anyone can blame her for that. But now Carson and Cynthia disturst her even more than they did before and, as a result, Shanna is Carson’s actual target.

It’s a weird, weird season. Meisha and Toddrick are both very good at this game. In fact, they’re the only two who are really playing, which is one reason why they’ve managed to totally dominate the House. If any of the celebs are serious about winning this season, they’re going to have to do something about Meisha and Toddrick. Instead, they’re plotting to backdoor Shanna.

Meanwhile, Toddrick and Meisha have already agreed that, should either one of them win the next HoH comp, their first target will be Carson.

The veto is tomorrow. Hopefully, Shanna will win it or else this season is as good as over as far as anyone other than Meisha or Toddrick winning.

Celebrity Big Brother 3 — Remember When We All Liked Todd?

Hi, everyone!

So, tonight, the latest houseguest will be evicted. Shanna used the veto yesterday on Carson and Meisha put up Chris Kirkpatrick as a replacement. Of the two nominees, I think Chris will probably be voted out, if just because he’s a bigger threat than Cynthia.

However, the really big news in the house is not the veto ceremony what happened afterwards. Cynthia apparently asked Todd Bridges to vote to keep her. Todd, it turns out, is still angry over how the first vote went down. Because Cynthia voted to evict him over Teddi, Todd took it personally that Cynthia asked him for his vote. Though the feeds were down for most of this, it’s appears that Todd started to yell at Cynthia. Todd claims that Cynthia is the one who started yelling first but the rest of the house seems to feel that Todd was the one who was doing most of the yelling. When the feeds were coming back, Carson was telling Todd to “never raise your hand to a woman,” which led to Todd then yelling at Carson about how he hadn’t done anything wrong. This went on for a while, with Cynthia crying and Todd ranting to anyone who would listen that Cynthia shouldn’t have asked him for his vote. At one point, Todd even made a comment about how things would have gone differently in Cynthia had approached him “on the street” as opposed to “in the House.”

WHAT A JERK!

When this season started, I thought Todd was just going to be one of those celebs who comes into the house, sleeps all day, and then leaves without complaining. And, for the first few days, that’s what happened. But now, I’ve seen Todd’s temper and, if I was in the House, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him. When Todd Bridges was younger, he had anger issues that he has always claimed were the results of 1) being an actor and 2) getting hooked on drugs. He even stood trial for shooting a man. (He was found to have acted in self-defense.) Todd has since reinvented himself as an anti-drug counselor but, judging from yesterday, it would appear that Todd’s anger issues did not go away just because he got off drugs. From what I’ve heard the other houseguests say about the fight and Todd’s own inability to move on from the argument, I honestly have to wonder why he hasn’t been pulled from the game. If this was regular Big Brother, he would have been removed.

So, that’s where we stand. Tonight, we’ll see when and why Chris Kattan left the show and I assume we’ll also see the fight between Todd and Cynthia. And then either Cynthia or Chris Kirkpatrick will be sent out the front door.