(S09E35) Since Big Brother 9 is so into recaps at the beginning of each show -- and they briefly recapped the whole season at the start of tonight's finale -- I think a recap of what it's been like for an observer is in order, don't you? Let's see how quickly I can do it:
Oh, no! Writers on strike! Quick, get together a Big Brother winter season, make it couples, make it all about sex, get those ratings! Oh, no! The couples are flopping, go to singles, lose the "Til Death Do You Part" titling, sex isn't working, horrible hamsters! Make Sheila cry some more! Phew, it's D-U-N.
Read on past the jump for the full review of tonight's finale.
Now, I really shouldn't be the one to critique Julie Chen's wardrobe. After all, I'm a jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers kind of person. But someone has to do the dirty work. What the heck was that she was wearing tonight? It was a white shell with designs on it topped by an odd little dark jacket-sweater trimmed and ruffled with the same design as the shell. Did it really need the ruffles? Wasn't the trim enough? I guess it's better than the biker mama boots she wore during the winter months of the season.
As I mentioned, they started the show with a brief recrap of the entire season. You would think that they'd realize that most folks watching the season finale are aware of what's happened throughout the season. Since it's only an hour long finale in a world where many shows have huge extravaganzas, I personally would have preferred them showing something new in the seven minutes or so they spent on it. Heck, let Parker, Amanda or Alex say something. They ended up being very neglected tonight.
When Julie announced to the viewers that we had a chance to vote for our favorite juror to win $25,000, I immediately thought ... "Well, anyone not in this time zone won't get a chance to vote." Sure enough, the voting on the CBS website was very fluky and short-lived. Since they made the winner announcement at the end of the show here, I guess they forgot half the country exists. Obviously it didn't affect me. I didn't vote and I'm in the Eastern Time Zone, but I think it was a bad move on the part of CBS. They should have had the voting open over the weekend and promoted it.
They already had the jury gathered for questioning when Sheila walked in and, from my understanding, the jurors were separated after they asked their questions. They had it edited so that the jury was talking about who would make the final two. Natalie was liking Ryan's chances of making it. Joshuah said that Ryan had a backbone and he didn't think Sheila would win anything because "she can't fight her way out of a wet paper bag." Oops, there's Sheila! Thankfully someone drove her there and they didn't just set her down in a wet paper bag at the sequester house, eh?
To a degree I can sympathize about Sheila. But the common sense in me quickly takes over. Perhaps being a single mother wasn't her personal choice, but she and only Big She is responsible for the decisions she's made during her life. Having made decisions to quit high school, pose for Penthouse, bad choices in men ... they were all her decisions. As I watch her, I can't help but think that she seems to think she has some sense of entitlement. I may be reading too much into things, but it's like she thinks she deserved to win the game based on how she's screwed up her life. Say what? Instead of going on a reality show, perhaps she should have just worked at developing a real career, one which will support herself and her son.
Dang, she's bitter about Adam being in the final two and not her! She told the other jurors that Adam threw the final part of the HOH comp. He later vehemently denied throwing it although he did throw the first part to Ryan. I think they both did horribly on the final part. Maybe they both were trying to throw it! It's sour grapes on Sheila's part. She told them that Adam deliberately threw it so that Ryan would do Adam's dirty work and vote her out. As I watch the feeds, I'll admit it was talked about. But since they couldn't see what the other was answering and they both were horrible, I don't think it mattered. Had Adam won, I think he would have brought Ryan to the final two with him thinking he'd fare against him better. Sheila would get sympathy votes.
As Natalie sat with her typical glazed, dazed, and confused look, Sheila said she had a moral dilemma with either of the boys winning. Matt, once Ryan's best bro-friend, thinks that Ryan won more comps, but that Adam played a smart game. Natalie finally came out of her frozen face mode and said that no one figured out that Ryan had deals with everybody. That garnered an eye roll from James, big time. Sharon, now burned on Ryan turning on her but nowhere near as bitter as Sheila, thinks that Ryan is only where he is because of Adam.
Then it was time for the jury questioning of the final two.
- Matt asked them what they would do with the winnings. Adam told him he'd give $100,000 to after school programs for autistic kids, start a business, get a car, help children and save lives. (I hope he realizes that the winnings are only about $250,000 after taxes!) Ryan said he'd help his Mom out (Sheila smiled), do something nice for Jen (Chelsia gasps), probably give something to some charity. Joshuah said that Ryan's answer was the worst.
- Sharon called Ryan out for betraying her and getting her evicted. Ryan lied to her, telling her first it wasn't his plan, then changing his story to it was something which happened last second. He all but pointed his finger at Adam and said it was all Adam's doing. (Although that should make Sheila feel a bit better.)
- Chelsia only questioned Ryan. She claimed that Jen was a "hatred person." Ryan defended his Jen and that was the wrong answer according to Chelsia. That was just a very odd exchange. I really can't grasp what it really had to do with winning anything.
- Joshuah got Adam all hot, bothered, and screaming as Adam is wont to do. He questioned him about throwing comps. Adam gets loud when he goes on defensive, truly an excitable boy. Joshuah didn't like his screaming at him that he didn't throw the last comp and only threw comps in the beginning of the game. (Josh is one to talk about that. When he thought he was safe, he threw comps all the time!)
- James said that Adam is a better competitor and questioned why he was in the final two instead of Sheila. Adam told him he played as a straight-shooter, turned negativity into positivity, and minimized his risks. (Sheila made faces of disgust during this.)
- Natalie introduced herself as Chatty just in case Ryan and Adam forgot who she is. She asked Adam why he didn't take her into the final three which makes no sense as she didn't make it to the final four, but that's Natalie! She liked Adam's response which basically sucked up to her skills, then turned to Ryan. She wanted to know why he didn't keep his word to her and voted her out. He told her it was one of the hardest decisions he ever had to make. She smiled her vacant smile.
- Sheila lit into Adam, not unexpected. She claimed he lied to her face and said he would take her to the end of the game. Adam told her he did certain things to get her to the final three (he did). He said it was up to her to win comps (it was). She is such a miserable sore loser!
Then it was time for the jury to cast their votes on the live stage. They used their house keys with their names and inserted them into the round box used for nominations all season. Each juror was allowed to say a brief statement as they voted.
- Matt - Misses them both, great job, one of them is taking him to Vegas.
- Natalie - Misses them, loves them even if they sucker-voted her out, going with her gut instinct.
- Joshuah - Will vote for the person who played best at every comp and has a backbone.
- Sharon - Will vote for the one most loyal in the game.
- Sheila - Said she knows it's just a game but hopes loyalty, trust, and honesty had something to do with it.
- James - Hopes "you" party away the money.
- Chelsia - Hopes "you" hold the deal, what you promised at the round table is what you're going to do. (Hey, don't ask me. I wasn't a Knight at that round table at that particular night.)
Is it time to reveal the vote? Nope! Jule shows a clip showing Adam telling Natalie he voted to keep her. Adam wasn't too upset -- he said Ryan already knew about it even though he tried to lie and say he didn't say it. Then they showed a clip of Joshuah's fake crying and Adam falling for it. Now, that surprised Adam!
Is it time to reveal the vote? Nope, Julie tells them that the audience is voting for their favorite juror to win $25,000 and that it will be announced at the end of the show. Sheila looks excited. After all, she's the most deserving, right?
Is it time to reveal the vote? YES, finally! Keep in mind that this is the vote for the win.
- Matt voted for Adam
- Natalie voted for Adam
- Joshuah voted for Ryan
- Sheila voted for Adam
- Sharon voted for Adam
At that point, Adam was declared the winner of Big Brother 9. Julie later revealed that both Chelsia and James had also voted for Adam, so all Ryan had was Joshuah's sole vote for him to win. It's a landslide. Adam once again promised money to autistic children. He doesn't realize he has lots of damage control to do for calling them retards, does he?
Then Julie announced that Sheila came in second place for the favorite juror win and James was the winner. He was ecstatic while she just deflated, again like the Wicked Witch of the West -- "I'm melting, I'm MELTING!"
And there we go, it's D-U-N. I found one of the most appropriate images of Adam from the live feeds to accompany this review so we can all think of him in his true glory. As Natalie prepares dinner, he picks his nose. Hey, it could be worse. I could have used one with his hand down his pants!
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on 'Faces of America' and the Beer Summit
Six Reasons Why '24' Has Jumped the You-Know-What
The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-28-2008 @ 1:21AM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
What, no picture with Adam scratching his balls and picking his nose at the same time? This show needs a 2 hr finale badly. There is just too much good stuff over a 3 month period to get to. The only thing I can think about the vote is that the jury really hates Jen. If I was Ryan I would have told them I was gonna dump her sorry ass the next time I saw her - on the finale. Well Jackie, great job as always! I'm gonna have to find something else to do for a few months until BB-10 starts. Maybe I'll take up crack smoking to get my mind right for next BB. See you then.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 1:52AM
lucyfan62 said...
Since this was such an awful season, I only watched the first two weeks of shows and the final four so the recap was good to help get caught up on the goings-on in the house. I believe that when Ryan said he would use part of the money to do something nice for Jen, Chelsia actually stuck her finger down her throat, not gasped! The best part was Chatty saying she should be there with the boys and Joshuah telling her there were only two people at the end! That was hilarious! They really do need to expand the finale so we can catch up with the earlier evicted houseguests so they can reveal some things the jurors don't know (after the vote, of course). I'm sure they've done that in the past, but they never have time for all that stuff now for some reason. As for the winner, I guess it was the lesser of two evils but Ryan was probably still handicapped by The Jen Factor. She's so disliked and knowing he'd spend some of his winnings on her just disgusted everyone. As for Adam, I'd love to see his face when he finds out he's umemployed! At least he's got some money to tide himself over, so I doubt he'll be making a big donation to his former employer now. Glad it's over, and hopefully the summer edition will be more fun!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 6:59AM
tv junkie said...
why didn't they tell Adam live on the show that he was fired from his job during the game? what a waste of opportunity for reality tv moment.... this has been a pretty lame season, they really need to revamp the show.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 7:58AM
GL said...
I love the jury. When Matt said that everyone lied to someone, you could just tell most of them were thinking "everyone but me".
At least it's all over.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 10:36AM
Wintermute said...
I'm glad Adam won. He really did play a smart game, but I was worried that the jury hamsters might have been too stupid to notice. (As an aside, Josh isn't only too stupid, he's also too much of an ass.) I'm still not convinced that's not the case and the hatred of Jen gave Adam the landslide, but a win's a win regardless of reason.
As for taxes, that $100,000 charitable donation is $100,000 less that Adam will have to pay taxes on. So instead of taking home about $250,000 after taxes, he'll probably still take home $200,000. Not bad for 3 months in the house with a bunch of psychos.
'mute
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 10:42AM
Kemaby said...
I could not believe sheila's comments to Adam. She was basically bitching at him for not winning the final HOH and allowing her to win the game! She is truly pathetic.She can't seem to understand that in BB the dream is to be able to keep dragging weak players along. As far as Joshua is concerned I liked him for a while but last night he was truly a big time cad. As was Chelsia. I have never been able to understand why BB doesn't have a two hour finale. Probably to keep Julie from making a fool of herself. Also this was without a doubt the worst produced and directed season of BB ever. Hands down. Of course having a house full of immature idiot high schoolers didn't help. I guess I should be gratfull the last show wasn't two hours because they Probably would have had a music montage of Natalie eating! eew!!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 10:53AM
Ryan said...
I really thought Adam was the lesser of two evils from the perspective of the HGs. He made friends or were at least friendly to everyone. Plus Josh's accusation that he has won LESS competitions than Ryan? Uh, Adam won HOH twice. The same amount as Ryan. Plus Ryan was actually evicted that one time if people forgot about that too.
Face it. Adam did pretty damn good. He was attached to a partner who hated him, did AWFUL in competitions, and was probably the most annoying person in the house (and that's saying A LOT). He probably realized that Sheila was a liability which is why he made friends with everyone early and laid low. It helped also that the other couples consequently saw them as non-threatening (ha! last couple to survive bitches!).
When he got rid of Sheila as his partner, he started winning big and getting rid of the other alliance without hurting their feelings. By final 5, he was pretty much set since I think Sheila, Natalie, Sharon, and Ryan would've taken him to final 2. So Adam, congratulations. You definitely needed the money more and you played a very nice game.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 11:11AM
jayr2345 said...
The finale was definintly lacking in several departments. I think usually the jury gets to ask each final two member one question. A couple of people only asked one person one question. Maybe the other questions werent interesting enough to put on tv. Why bring out the first six evicted houseguests if they are not even gonna really say anything. The Jen and Allison fight was stupid, I would have much rather had Julie call Jen on the fact that she did indeed call Ryan a racist which Allson briefly touched upon. Or maybe called Jacob out on the fact that he called Parker a snake, or re-examine the Josh and Amanda fight. And they didnt even tell the final four HG's that the pre - existing relationship in the house was the damn guinea pigs. Well I could go on forever listing the things that I wanted them to get to but the bottom line is they should have made it a 2 hour finale. I am really glad that Adam won and would also be interested to know what he thought about his firing. Thank you Jackie for your wonderfoul recapping of this season. It was a joy.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 11:59AM
Danielle said...
I hated Adam in the beginning and grew to like him as the show went on. I'm glad he won. Ryan played a better game, but seeing Jen stand in front of Ryan was uncalled for. They had both winners standing next to Julie, but Ryan was blocked b/c of Jen. And then hearing her give a "Woohoo" when he won $50,000. Ugh, after seeing her do that, I see why none of the HG liked her.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 1:11PM
LC said...
I was pulling for Ryan to win. It was bad enough that his gf was making herself such a target that it was making him a target, but he was also stuck paired with Allison who made him an even bigger target. He had to pull his fat out of the fire so many times and made it to the final two. That was how I would have based my vote and it appears Josh did the same.
Saying that, I am not pissed Adam won. The guy seems nice enough and getting fired for one boneheaded statement that appeared to be made more out of ignorance than malice, he really needs the money.
I was disappointed in the finale. Last season and in BB All-Stars, evicted houseguests got to confront the jury and pull them off their moral high ground by having video of them doing things that they are chastising the final two for. It wasn't done here.
I was also wondering why no mention was made of the other gay guy Neil. The one who left and was not voted out, making room for Sharon's return. They never explained why he had to leave. There were rumors about a family member being in a shooting or something to that effect, but nothing official. Does anyone here have information on this?
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 1:25PM
j said...
This whole season was terrible ......... the guests were a bunch of foul mouthed juveniles ........ None of them deserved to win ........... Adam is piggish ..... always picking his nose, calling the girls the b word or c word or having his hands in his pants. And to think he's almost 30 years old ........ UGH !
Glad this show is over !
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 2:35PM
Harvey said...
Even though I hated Jen as much as the next guy, how can you criticize Jen! I was glad to see her stand in front of Ryan. Her constant adjustment of her dress was the highlight of the finale. At one point she actually had to push up her boobs and then adjust the dress.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 1:42PM
Dave said...
I was surprised that it was such a lopsided win. The way Sheila was talking about Adam, I was sure she was going to vote for Ryan. But maybe that is what they wanted us to see.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 4:06PM
Ryan said...
I actually wouldn't be surprised if I found out Sheila just misunderstood Julie and she put Adam's key in to be "evicted." I mean seriously there's editing and then there Sheila just absolutely not knowing what the hell is going on. I buy the latter case much more.
4-28-2008 @ 2:18PM
jayr2345 said...
Yeah I was really surprised how not one person mentioned Neil. CBS did a good job of basically erasing him from the whole show, including the opening and recaps. I think probably what happened is that once you leave the house volinarily that's probably like breaching your contract with CBS and therefore can make it seem like you were never there. Kind of like writing a character off a show for breach of contract. But I still would have liked to hear from him.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 2:42PM
Jeanne said...
I usually LOVE B.B. but this season was DISGUSTING! The house guests acted like drunk or drugged adolescents with their REVOLTING 'strip night' and NASTY NATTIE was purely DISGUSTING.THE semi-orgies in the hot tub & pool were pathetic. It's hard to pick the biggest LOSER:Adam, with the booger picking & crotch rubbing, Natalie with her VACANT expession & EMPTY head or Sharon'e screechy voice and goody 2 shoes personna-- but, I guess I have to pick SHE-BOT as she acted like she deserved to win just for being there while the rest did TRY to win comps. What a BUNCH of LOSERS!! I think James deserved to win as he played HARD and everyone treated him Sooo crappy.I'm happy he got that $25,000.
I HOPE B.B. 10 has a better group of house guests with some 'class' & some brains.Bring back EVEL DICK!! That was a TRUE game player!!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 4:03PM
JanW said...
I hope the houseguests read therse messages and it gets through to them how much we hated all of them. They never had any intelligent conv ersations....all about partying, sex and tearing one another apart behind their backs. I would love to see all their reactions when they see Josh and Sharon in the HOH room picking them apart and laughing over it. Sharon is such a moron..she needs to go to a speech therapist. These were the most bunch of unlikeable, uninteresting people, that noone had one person to cheer for. Sheila's son must have been covering his face watching his mom make a fool of herself. Adam had every right to not take her to the end after she insulted him beyond any reason...she was so hurtful...that it almost felt good to have it bite her in the butt. Joshua is the epitome of the b........gay. Chelsia to me was the worst...James better get away before she murders him in his sleep. PleaseBB do better next time.....BORING!!!!!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 4:39PM
SLO said...
FIRST, THANKS JACKIE FOR ALL YOUR GREAT WORK - WE RELY ON YOU & YOU REALLY PULL(ED) THROUGH! "SEE" YOU AGAIN IN JULY =)
I'M VERY SURPRISED AT THE LANDSLIDE VOTE ... I WONDER IF NATALIE WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR ADAM IF SHE KNEW ADAM GAVE HER THE BOOT & LIED ON HER WAY OUT THE DOOR. I EXPECTED NAT & MATT & JOSH TO VOTE RYAN. OH WELL - AT LEAST RYAN MADE SOME $ IN THE HOUSE PLUS THE 50 IN THE END ... NOT BAD FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS OF WORK.
THANKS AGAIN JACKIE!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:35PM
LCR said...
I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST ADAM, BUT I WISH RYAN WON, I FELT HE PLAYED A BETTER GAME. FOR A LONG TIME ADAM DID'NT PLAY THE GAME, HE WAS JUST THERE. THEN FINALLY HE GOT INTO THE GAME. RYAN WAS CHEATED OUT OF THE MONEY BECAUSE NOBODY LIKES JEN. I FEEL THAT ALL THEY LOOKED AT WAS THAT JEN WOULD BENEFIT FROM THE MONEY. I LIKE THE WAY RYAN CARRIED HIMSELF IN THE HOUSE. SO WHAT HE TOLD SHARON AND THE OTHERS THEY WOULD BE FINAL TWO, WHEN BOOGIE DID IT IN AN EARLIER SEASON THEY VOTED FOR HIM TO WIN. RYAN LOST OUT BECAUSE THE JURY WERE A BUNCH OF COCKY IMMATURE INSECURE JEALOUS FOOLS, IF THEY CANT DECIDE WHAT SEX THEY ARE, WHETER THEY SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR ABOUT LEAKING BOOBS, WHAT SHADE OF PINK THERE HAIR SHOULD BE, IF THEY GOING TO TAKE BACK A CHEATING BOYFRIEND AND WHETER OR NOT THEY SHOULD PLAY OR MAKE ADAM PLAY FOR THEM, THEN I GUESS I SHOULD NOT EXPECT THEM TO DECIDE WHO THE RIGHTFUL WINNER SHOULD BE! SO RYAN I'M SORRY I GUESS CHEMICALS FROM HAIR DYE AND BOOB JOBS LEAKING INTO THEIR SYSTEM HAS EFFECTED THEIR THINKING. RYAN IS A WINNER IN MY EYES, HE WON MONEY IN THE HOUSE DURING THE GAME AND AS WELL AS THE 50 THOUSAND AND HE GOES HOME TO A JOB AND TO THE WOMAN HE LOVES AND THAT THE JURY LOVES TO HATE. JAMES IS GETTING BACK ON HIS BIKE TO NOWHERE ( WELL MAYBE TO THE BEAUTY SUPPLY STORE) NASTY NATTY IS BACK AT THE COFFEE SHOP(DON'T DRINK BEHIND HER) AND SHELIA WILL CRY AND WHINE FOREVER ABOUT THIS(I FEEL SORRY FOR HER SON). BB PICKED A BUNCH OF LOSERS TO BE IN THE HOUSE THIS SEASON AND PROOF OF THAT WAS LAST NIGHT (THE FINALE) AND MY LAST THOUGHT IS FOR ICTHY BALLS OR A- BALLER ( SAME THING). ARE YOU PLANNING ON HAVING KIDS????? THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK ITCHY BALLS, YOU DONT KNOW WHAT PROBLEMS YOUR CHILDREN MAY HAVE, OR IF YOU COULD EVEN HAVE KIDS, KEEP SOME OF THOSE BOGGERS, THEY MY BE THE ONLY BOOGERS YOU HAVE. TAKE SOME OF THE MONEY AND GET THOSE BALLS CHECKED OUT.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 7:06PM
MARCIA H. RIBERA said...
i HAVE NEVER SEEN AN UGLIER BUNCH OF PEOPLE IN ONE PLACE. RYAN IS SOOO FAT, HE
IS DISGUSTING TO LOOK AT. I THINK ADAM IS A RETARDED VIRGIN, CUZ WHO WOULD EVEN GET CLOSE TO HIM? I DO LOVE JOSHUAH WHO IS SO SAMN FUNNY, THOUGH. SHEILA IS SUCH A LOSER AT LIFE, SHE EVEN CAME IN SECOND IN THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE TO A PERVERT. I WILL SAY THEY WERE ALL PRETTY EQUAL IN LOOKS AND BRAINS, THOUGH. LAST SEASON, HAVING AN INTIMIDATOR LIKE DICK WAS TOO EASY TO FIGURE OUT THE WHOLE SHOW FROM DAY ONE. KEEP FINDING THESE LOSERS, JULIE, YOU DO A GREAT JOB. I THOUGHT BEING MARRIED TO THE BOSS HE WOULD HAVE RELIEVED YOU OF YOUR JOB BY NOW. EITHER WAY, I CAN'T LIVE W/O BB. THANKS TO THE WRITERS FIR STRIKING. OF THE JOB BY NOW, BUT I REALLY W/O BY BB, EITHER WAY.
Reply