Taylor HoH

And so it begins. Brittany is telling Taylor how she knew this was coming, and she told Alyssa upfront that she was voting against her with the reason being jury management and how she's gald Monte pulled through. Taylor not buying any of it.

I was actually surprised it wasn't an endurance type comp tonight since they lost the yard so early this week, but since there isn't a Wednesday show, it stands to reason that they would definitely have to have the veto set up already so they can have it early (probably tomorrow instead of Saturday) so they can get all the editing done for Sunday's show. All I can say is it will be a very LONG week for them knowing who wins the veto that early and then having to wait for an official decision on Thursday night on the live show.

Turner talked with Monte about the vote and said he hopes that Taylor knows it wasn't him. Monte assured him that he would talk to Taylor and make sure, but he is pretty sure she knows. Turner then said he was actually glad that Taylor won HOH so she doesn't have to suck up to Brittany wall week and can confront her about the vote. But his hopes for that were dashed when Taylor came back from talking to Brittany and Turner mentioned it thinking Taylor would be upset, but all she said was that it is all about winning now and that is what she told Brittany too. Monte tried to tell her it was fucked up what happened, and Taylor just said she will never fault someone for playing the game referencing a jury vote or whatever. Turner has to be sitting there thinking WTF after he just saved her ass by sticking to the plan.

Taylor already said to the camera that she is putting up Monte and Turner and hopes that Turner goes this week. Well of course she wants Turner gone because then she is 100% in the final 2 without question, that is a good plan. But to keep Brittany off the block isn't going to sit well with those guys even though it really doesn't matter. Turner told Monte he knows it will be him and Brittany on the block and he is fine with it, but I don't think Monte is going to like the implications that she is keeping Brittany "safe" even though it is all about the veto. I'm guessing her "pitch" to them will be that she wants to keep Brittany calm so they can have a good week, but I think it speaks volumes.

Next will be whether or not Monte sleeps in the HOH room or not too. She said it last night, but things are getting real now.

Well it seems that Taylor has learned from the mistakes of her last HOH and actually thought about her decision prior to making any promises to anyone. She decided she will put up Turner and Brittany and her speech (which we all know is the most important thing to Taylor) will be one of you are lying to me about the vote so I had to put you both up.

Now she is blowing smoke up Brittany's ass that Monte will send Turner home instead of Brittany because Monte has a lot of questions about Turner lately. Brittany was skeptical of that but Taylor said her and Monte have already talked about it. I wonder if this little tidbit will ever come out? Or, is it to try to make sure that Brittany takes out Turner if she wins the veto?

Turner had a bit of a meltdown when he went to talk to Taylor and was crying because he had to vote out his best friend and for Brittany to leverage his friendship with her against him was really disgusting, etc. It turned into Taylor pumping Turner up and saying he has always "done the right thing" and things like that. I wonder just how genuine those tears were because he sure didn't shed any tears while lying to Alyssa all damn week long and didn't have the balls to step up and tell her himself. I think he is more upset that now Brittany would have Alyssa's jury vote more than anything else to be honest.

Taylor was feeling her power a little bit though calling Monte out about whether or not he was with the Dyerfest people when they came back in as Terrance had told her. He denied it and said that they all did pitch him to join them, etc., but nothing solid. She then said that Terrance told her he was saying to hell with Brochella and he was with them, etc., and he was in the middle of denying it and BB called him to the DR. She said she believed him and just wanted to hear it from HIS mouth that it didn't happen. So Mr. honest didn't pass that one now did he? But when he got up to leave, she kissed him like they were definitely all in for the showmance and said her door was open to HIM, but locked for everyone else this week.

No surprise that she put up Turner and Brittany. Why she has to have a reason that she is unsure about which one is lying is still lost on me. You are down to final 4 and these noms mean nothing, you don't need a reason to put anyone up at any point in the game and it makes even less sense to try and justify it now.

It's funny the way the vote went last night with both Brittany and Turner both voting out the person that would be best for their individual games. Taylors ticket to Final 2 isn't punched quite yet. She needs Turner out because he will 100% take Monte to final 2 should he win final HoH. She needs Turner gone this week to punch her ticket. She is certainly in the best position in what's left of the game and will beat anyone left sitting in the 2 chairs. She went from being the week 1 target to the final 3, which is a pretty big accomplishment. You know production wants her to win this game so they can have the narrative of first black woman to win the game. But I can see them messing this narrative up and try to sell it as the first female POC to win the game. I really hope to see that happens and watch Jun Song blow twitter the fuck up like she doesn't exist

Monte won veto. Comp involved day numbers for various events. The rest of the week will be boring. But at least we'll get to see the veto play out on Sunday. I'm expecting Brittany to be the one that goes, but we'll see how much Taylor pushes to get rid of Turner, which would be a mistake. If he evicts Turner, say goodbyr to a chance of final 2

Monte told Turner 100% he is taking him to final 3, but told him not to act too comfortable during the week because he doesn't want Taylor and Brittany running to him every 5 minutes with shit.
of course Brittany is playing the woe is me game and talking about how she never should have tried to protect Michael and bullshit like that. Let's face it, if she didn't have Michael, she may not even make jury

Taylor already told Monte right after the veto that Turner would beat either of them in final 3, so she has already started her campaign against him. I find it interesting that the comp was about house event days and Monte took that one home because Brittany knows that shit well. I wonder if there was also a physical element to it judging from the costumes they were wearing.

I think Taylor will keep pushing Monte hard and having the HOH room will help her with that, but I don't think it will work with Monte. He has a very bad taste in his mouth for Brittany and I think that along with her mental comp prowess are the biggest factors. He just doesn't want to condone what her and Michael did and reward that behavior. Plus after Turner just stuck with them hard core and voted out Alyssa which wasn't easy for him, I don't think he could bring himself to pull that particular trigger.

I was hoping there would be a bit more heat felt by Turner and Monte, but Brittany is finally getting what she deserves with the way she treated people but had this holier than thou attitude if they TRIED to play the game by bringing people together or heaven forbid lying to her about it. Plus what her and Michael did to Kyle shouldn't be rewarded. And I agree with you Ctown, if she had not had Michael she would never have seen jury for sure. He is the only reason she was dragged into that alliance for sure. And as bad as I hate doing it, I will give her credit for seeing some potentiation problems and heading them off, but most of that came from paranoia for HERSELF not just Michael.

On another note, they all guessed at over half the questions in the HOH comp last night. I find myself wondering how Alyssa might have done with it? Maybe she could have got lucky too!

Well, Monte has told Taylor he is taking her 100%. She asked him why he wants to take her over Turner and this was his answer:

Monte says he would rather lose to a Black woman than anybody. He explains that Taylor helped him to see the Black woman's perspective, "I would prefer for me to sit next to you because that would be a great chance for you to win against me (a Black male). If I win next to you, that would be great, but if I lose to you, I lose to an honorable cause. That's just how I think about things."

This is what he has been working for since the leftovers formed and he won his first HOH. He pretty much said it then about 2 strong African Americans navigating the game. Now he also explains that it was important to him to show that they could do things differently than the cookout. He thought what they did was great, but that was not working with people "for who the are" and instead for what they look like. I would have to agree with that. But ultimately he is STILL making his choice for the final part of the game based on EXACTLY that premise. Now if Turner and Alyssa were in the final 3 with Taylor and Alyssa asked Turner the same question with his response being he would rather lose to a white girl than anything, social media would explode.

And yes, I understand that in society as a whole POC's have a much tougher road and I can't begin to understand what that feels like, but that is not what they have in this game. Not even what Kyle did or said rises to that of racism. He didn't target POC's from the start of the game. His first alliance was with Monte, Joseph and Turner. He can't get much more diverse than that with the exception of not having a female in there somewhere. But obviously, race or sexual orientation didn't enter into the equation at all for him UNTIL he saw evidence of those things happening around him. Taylor, Monte and Joseph were absolutely becoming closer and closer all the time. Taylor DID make those comments about not putting up women, then it went to no black women, etc. Joseph was basically taking over what had been Kyle's role in the alliance (mole/spy) and suddenly he was feeling like he was a the bottom of the group without a lot of say in what was going to happen. This is the EXACT reason he wanted out of the Po's Pack alliance, because Ameerah was basically dictating what they did and how they voted.

If there was racism here like with Aaryn and GinaMarie, then by all means you have a case. But to complain that POC's have to PROVE that they are not together or people being afraid to see POC's succeed is just ridiculous. It is the evidence, just like thinking the girls were working together or the guys or whatever other reason it may be. I am just sick of this being the narrative. Just play the damn game and make decisions based on targets or potential risks or even someone you just like having around for whatever reason, but just leave the rest of it outside where it belongs.

Taylor continues to try to talk Monte into keeping Brittany with the same old shit, Turner will beat either of us in final 2, Turner could win the right to choose who goes to final 2, Brittany will be easier to beat in the final HOH comps than Turner, etc. But Monte always goes back to the "actions of the person" in the game leading up to now and he just "can't reward that type of behavior" and take her any further. He keeps telling Taylor is 100% positive Turner was the vote to keep Taylor, but Taylor says she just can't believe that Brittany would ever vote her out (even though I am pretty sure deep down she knows it, especially the body language she had on the episode tonight talking to Brittany about the noms).

Brittany has come up with the elaborate "presentation" for Monte using M&M's to make graphs and such showing that Turner has performed much better against Monte personally than Brittany has and jury votes and all the "data" for the entire season. She showed it to Taylor tonight and they talked about how to get Monte to hear it and come to the same conclusions that it is best for HIS game to do this as well. Taylor warned Brittany not to make any threats to Monte and some other tips, but then told her they would do the presentation tomorrow, which Brittany wasn't happy about.

Now the thing that continues to bug the shit out of me is that these people just don't really understand this final process at all. Monte and Taylor keep wondering out loud when the veto ceremony is going to happen? Monte says he wants it to happen so he can just say he is not using it and everyone can leave him alone. Well duh, he can't USE the veto because there is no replacement nominee. I can't believe they don't realize that this veto will be done at the same time as the vote and eviction. It just drives me insane that these people seem so stupid about everything when it gets to this point. Just like who the noms are, Taylor really thought she was wielding her power and saying Monte "won't touch the block if he agrees to vote correctly" and she said this before veto was even played.

Monte did apparently tell Turner that his relationship with Taylor is now a sexual one. I haven't watched that conversation, but I have to think the first thing that comes into Turner's mind at that point is "why the hell didn't I just vote Taylor out of the game" because Monte would never keep Brittany or Alyssa over him regardless, but Taylor makes it so his only path is to win his way there.

Thye are pretty stupid about the knowledge of how this plays out. Monte won veto and is safe. How about if he were to tell them that he's using it on Turner and since he won the veto he cannot be nominated, Brittany this leaves you on the block all by yourself. That's basically what it comes down to.

I think Taylors part about telling Monte he won't touch the block if he votes correctly (which as you noted was before veto was played) was in the event that she won the veto. It would have been interesting if Taylor had won the veto to see what she would do and if she actually played that card. It actually would have been hysterical if she did and Monte voted out Brittany anyhow.

Him telling Turner about him and Taylor is actually a good move at this point in the game heading into final 3, this gives him an out to not take Turner should he win final HoH and puts more pressure on Turner knowing the only way he is in final 2 is to win his way there.

ctown28 wrote:

Thye are pretty stupid about the knowledge of how this plays out.  Monte won veto and is safe.  How about if he were to tell them that he's using it on Turner and since he won the veto he cannot be nominated, Brittany this leaves you on the block all by yourself.  That's basically what it comes down to.

I think Taylors part about telling Monte he won't touch the block if he votes correctly (which as you noted was before veto was played) was in the event that she won the veto.  It would have been interesting if Taylor had won the veto to see what she would do and if she actually played that card.  It actually would have been hysterical if she did and Monte voted out Brittany anyhow.

Him telling Turner about him and Taylor is actually a good move at this point in the game heading into final 3, this gives him an out to not take Turner should he win final HoH and puts more pressure on Turner knowing the only way he is in final 2 is to win his way there.

I'm not sure that Taylor really had enough of an understanding of how this part of the game works when she was talking about her possible deal with Monte and it would only work if she were the veto winner to be honest. I just wonder if she HAD won the veto if she would have went ahead and taken Brittany off the block over Monte's objections. Obviously it would be the smart move for HER game which is what the veto winner SHOULD do in these cases, but she is basically asking HIM to make his chances worse with his vote just the same as he would be asking her to make her chances worse by not saving Brittany if she had won.

I think people who go through the entire game playing with a larger group and having that insulation and such get to the end of the game and expect it to always be "honoring the HOH's wishes" mentality. And of course Taylor thinks she is so far above all others that people should adhere to what SHE wants all the time.

I'm not sure what to think about the Monte/Turner dynamic. Obviously Turner is taking Monte 100% if he wins, he has said as much (of course he has been known to change his mind, but I don't see it happening in this situation). I thought they were locked into a final 2 and the showmance stuff with Taylor was pulling Monte away from it instead of just good game plan. Plus he sees it as an "honorable loss" if he were to lose to a black woman, which irks me, but I've commented on this enough. Turner asked Monte if the sexual nature of his relationship with Taylor changed anything between the two of them and he said it didn't. I don't know if that is just this week or what. But like you said, Turner has to know this puts him in a win or go home situation. But I wonder if Monte was so forthright with Turner all of the sudden because of the turbulence he saw coming between him and Taylor and is coming back to wanting to take Turner after all.

Well Taylor asked Monte to pinky promise that he would take her to the final 2 and he obliged her. He said he has told her he is taking her 100% and he has "never mouthed those words" to Turner. He mentioned something about being on moral ground with it or something to that effect. She then moved on to advocating for Brittany to stay and saying it is not her pleading Brittany's case, but making the path for the 2 of them easier to navigate to make sure they are there. He did ask her if he were to take out Turner if she would choose him over Brittany and she said she would. She wants the 2 of them in the final 2 chairs in a "fair fight" and to stand up for their story given "all they had to overcome to get there " as opposed to others (whatever that means). Now I can't wait to see what her DR session is when they show this clip (because you KNOW they will show it).

They talked more about her "cold-hearted bitch" persona and he mentioned that she seems proud of it and such, but she explains it that she puts up a front, etc. He said she should just be herself instead of this way for these people and that way for others. She said others don't deserve her softer side, she saves that for people like him. So they went in that circle for a period of time.

I don't know if he is actually beginning to waiver about keeping Turner or just wanted to make a point expecting her to admit she would take Brittany over him (that's not happening even if true) or what, but he did point out that Brittany could win that final part and send him out and then they aren't in the final 2 chairs either.

Monte did listen to Brittany's pitch (minus the M&M's because she had given them to Taylor for her to make the pitch before Monte pulled her aside to do it herself), and he admitted to Taylor that he agreed with part of the pitch, but part of it he didn't. He also said that was Brittany's perspective not his own.

Taylor and Brittany also talked and Brittany said she thinks Turner and Monte are locked in and there is no changing his mind about this. She said if Michael had listened to her and taken one of them out his last HOH, they wouldn't be in the mess. She also said she doesn't think Monte understands what he is "taking away from Brittany" because she made a promise to Stephen and they need the money much more than Monte or Turner either one. Not sure why this would be Monte's responsibility, but she thinks it is an important point to make to Taylor at least.

But the thing I find most interesting is that it appears that Brittany and Taylor both think that Turner is somehow going to sweep the jury with votes. I thought it was just part of the pitch to Monte, but Brittany seems to have convinced Taylor that this is the ACTUAL case. I just don't get how the hell they come up with this especially with Jasmine, Indy and Joseph in the mix. Those are votes that almost 100% will NEVER go to Turner at this point, but I guess their perspective is somehow different.

I’m not so certain they truly feel that way, the fact is that they each think they can beat each other. Talking about potential votes Turner may get is so they can justify cutting him. There’s no way you can sell it that anybody beats Turner because that just gives more reason to keep him

ctown28 wrote:

I’m not so certain they truly feel that way, the fact is that they each think they can beat each other. Talking about potential votes Turner may get is so they can justify cutting him. There’s no way you can sell it that anybody beats Turner because that just gives more reason to keep him

I think that may be true of Brittany, but I actually think Taylor believes Brittany's pitch and doesn't see it just as a pitch, but the honest truth of the situation. When Taylor was alone in the HOH room with the M&M's after meeting with Brittany she kept going over votes of possible final 2 combinations and she always came up with Turner beating both her and Monte. She also thinks she COULD win against Monte, but it would be 5-4 and that is ONLY if Brittany can convince "the girls" and Monte to vote for Taylor. Taylor is also seething that she won't get a vote from Terrance unless she is sitting next to Brittany (that is something Terrance told her before he left). So, I think she bought every single piece of Brittany's pitch and thinks it is 100% true.

Now with Brittany I have no idea what her true thoughts are, but now she plans to push Monte about his game being completely boring with "no big moves" at all and people don't vote for that, no matter how "clean" he thinks his game is. She plans to tell him being "risk averse" is not something that will be respected by the jury. She also told Taylor that Monte is taking away Brittany's dream and she will not forget that and it will determine her vote as well.

This last one is the one that makes me sick. Everyone in that house have a dream of winning the game, not just her. Yes, I get she wants money to start a family and I feel for her medical situation, but that is not on anyone else in the house to fulfill. She actually sees this as a situation where Turner doesn't need the money for anything as justified as her reasons and it doesn't sound like he needs the money anyway, so game reasons should be thrown out the window. This lacks just as much logic as Jasmine saying she didn't want to be evicted during her birthday week.

And Brittany gets Taylor all fired up by saying Monte has no right to talk to Taylor about disrespect because of "his actions" this season (whatever that means). Getting Taylor all fired up is stupid because then she pushes too hard and it is counterproductive for sure and Brittany should know that already.

Oh, one other thing Brittany plans to bring up to Monte is that HE would have been evicted the week Kyle left if her and Michael had not brought the Kyle information to light. First of all, it would have been Taylor leaving. Secondly, this is going to PISS Monte off even more because it pretty much proves what Monte has said all along, that was a game move and nothing about morals or ethics or anything of the kind. That one, if she uses it, will blow up in her face.

It pisses me off every season when they talk about shit like who needs the money and such. It has nothing to do with the game. Just once I'd like to see a season where they cast 16 homeless/jobless people from around the country. Then they all have a legitimate claim to needing the money. And if anything, those 16 people will get 3 months of having the comfort of not wondering where their next meal is coming from.

The whole thing with Monte playing a boring and low risk game, that doesn't fly either. Ask Derrick from season 16 how many big moves he made when he won in a landslide (only because Cody made the stupidest move in history by taking him)

I hope Brittany does try to use the Kyle bullshit with Monte. I'd love to see the blowup. Just the fact that she still brings it up and is thinking about doing it once again she's using racism as a strategy. Of course, this doesn't bother Taylor, just like it didn't bother her then because it works to Taylors advantage

ctown28 wrote:

It pisses me off every season when they talk about shit like who needs the money and such.  It has nothing to do with the game.  Just once I'd like to see a season where they cast 16 homeless/jobless people from around the country.  Then they all have a legitimate claim to needing the money.  And if anything, those 16 people will get 3 months of having the comfort of not wondering where their next meal is coming from.

The whole thing with Monte playing a boring and low risk game, that doesn't fly either.  Ask Derrick from season 16 how many big moves he made when he won in a landslide (only because Cody made the stupidest move in history by taking him)

I hope Brittany does try to use the Kyle bullshit with Monte.  I'd love to see the blowup.  Just the fact that she still brings it up and is thinking about doing it once again she's using racism as a strategy.  Of course, this doesn't bother Taylor, just like it didn't bother her then because it works to Taylors advantage

I could not agree with you more about people who "need it more" or "deserve it more" coming up every single season. And the irony is that the ones who bitch about it the most are usually the ones who come off as the most entitled in the house. Like in this case, just because Brittany has a medical condition and may have difficulty conceiving doesn't mean her winning the game or getting to the finale is more important that Monte wanting to provide for his family or Turner wanting to expand his business or anything else anyone wants to do should they win the game. Nobody should be coming into the house thinking they hope to help someone in the house win the game because they deserve it more, they all should be there to win it for themselves period.

I haven't seen any evidence of Brittany pushing that narrative about the Kyle stuff, so not sure if she is saving that as her last ditch pitch or maybe DR got to her to drop that like a hot potato, but like you point out, Taylor had no problem with that discussion at all, even after the talks she has had with Monte about the timing of what they did. I would think that would bring it to the forefront and she would say "well we don't want to make it seem like that was a game move" or something along those lines.

Something else I just don't get is Taylor and Monte studying the game facts together today. Monte said he never thought in terms of player A played in so many vetoes or player B was nominated a certain number of times but only on eviction night a certain number of times and things like that. So Taylor revealed those types of questions to him. Not sure if she wanted to pick his brain or make it more likely he would beat Turner or what, but I would think she would want to make her OWN chances of winning stronger since her resume stacks up a bit short against his in terms of comps. I just don't know why you would bolster someone else's chances of winning against you.

And yesterday Monte was looking at the memory wall and Turner asked if something was on his mind. Monte said he was just thinking about the house facts and things like that. Turner said once that veto comp was done, he purged his brain of those facts. Now that could be Turner just making it look good to Monte or not, but Monte bringing that up that he is studying that stuff could trigger Turner to now study them when he may not have before.