Glad to hear that you are loving this season! I feel like I've been pretty chill when it comes to this season. I don't particularly have as strong of feelings this season than I did for the last one. I'm just loving it and continuing on that vibe.
I think the players that I really like are definitely Michael, Omar, Drea, and Jonathan. I don't particularly think anyone has an overly loud gameplay so its hard to pin point who is doing better. I just love that Michael always has the most positive of intentions and that he's always taking an opportunity to learn. I think his social game is very strong. Everyone likes him and they tend to look at him as more of a fatherly figure than they do with Rocksroy. Omar also has a strong social game down. He's just an overall joy to watch.
Can we just talk about Jonathan for a minute. You literally hit the nail on the head with that point. HOW?! There is absolutely no way in any previous season that Jonathan wouldn't have been the first one targeted because everyone does truly like him and he's a physical threat. I am amazed at every single challenge he partakes in. However, he's so great at the team challenges and yet has been unable to win an immunity. I wonder if that's the trend we'll continue to see. He's a great shield in idea, but he's not really shielding anyone. Maryanne is really fun to watch because she's so animated. She always finds the grace in every situation. I don't think she'll win, but I do root for her. I would like to see her go farther in the game because she does love it so much.
As far as Hai goes, I like him, but there is also something about him that rubs me the wrong way. I can't put a finger on it yet, but hopefully i'll be able to put it into words one day. I am also not really a fan of tori or rocksroy. I keep actively rooting against tori and somehow she keeps winning those immunity challenges lol. I do love watching tori vs. rocksroy though. It gives the amount of drama that's been necessary. What has been going on outside the game? i have not been paying attention to any of their social media. As far as Lindsay and Romeo go, they are just existing for me. I don't have a particular feeling for them either way. It'd be interesting to see if Lindsay will be able to break free the bigger alliance and actually make moves at all. Sadly, Romeo will be gone soon in my opinion.
The twists that we've seen last season we're so much more powerful and had a greater impact. The twists have sadly not done much to turn the game on its heel this time around. I just wonder what it's going to take for one person to break and move away from it.
No, I totally get you. I like all the players you listed, too and I really feel like Mike's social game is so on point. It seems like he gets along with everyone pretty effortlessly and I loved the moment when he sat with Omar (who's also really killing it) while he prayed. Drea is doing well so far, but I feel like how the jury perceives her game will be heavily based on what she does with her stockpile of advantages. After what happened with Xander last year, I don't think anyone is going to give credit at the end for just finding advantages — they're going to need to be played in a game-changing way.
I agree, I liked Hai a lot at the beginning too, but it felt like last episode he was a little catty, for lack of a better word. I felt so bad for that Romeo was correctly identifying that his name was getting thrown out there, but Hai was accusing him of being paranoid and trying to make it seem like he was in the wrong? Didn't love that. It kind of annoys me when a big alliance ostracizes people, and then get mad when the ostracized people dare to play the game. Another thing I hate about Big Brother 😂
So the outside-the-game stuff re: Tori is that her dad is a vocally anti-vax (not just covid, all vaccines) eye doctor who used to take to Facebook and spread a lot of conspiracy theories about covid and discouraged the wearing of masks, and Tori shared a lot of his posts and condemned Facebook for deleting his account for what I assume was misinformation. This all happened last year, so I'm not sure if she still believes this stuff, but yeah... not a great look. Social media drama has actually been pretty non-existent this season.
I kind of agree that the advantages haven't really done a whole lot to change the game, other than when Chanelle and Omar got their wires crossed and both risked their votes. I'll be kind of annoyed if Drea winds up stealing Maryanne's idol with Knowledge is Power — it's the kind of thing that can be really fun if someone in the minority gets the advantage, but could also be catastrophic if someone in the majority gets it and steals a likeable underdog's only means of protection. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'm still interested in seeing how the Amulet advantage from the premiere plays out, and if it incentivizes someone like Lindsey to turn on Hai and Drea and vote them out.
