More Thoughts On Last Night's Episode

As I'm sitting here waiting for the eviction show, I thought I'd write some more thoughts about last night's episode. This may be shocking to hear from this curmudgeon, but last night's episode may have been the best crafted show they've ever shown.

For the first time ever, the entire episode told a story. Even the silly recap at the beginning actually fit the plot arc. We saw (again) Chelsia being evicted, Natalie winning HOH, and James and Josh being nominated. This set the stage for a story that revolved around James, and the mental and physical demands of being the person who is always in danger of being evicted.

Sure, there are some quibbles with the editing. James' initial confrontation with Sheila didn't show at all just how Sheila's refusal to drop the subject brought on the ensuing battle, and the back-and-forth between Sheila/Sharon and Josh/Natalie drastically needed to be paired down a bit. Yet, it all fit together to show us how a depressed and defeated James was renergized after his clash with Sheila; how his game play in the POV blew away everybody else that competed; how Josh "suddenly" decided to fight to stay in the house; and climaxed with James somewhat self-serving speech at the POV meeting that not only declared his frustration with constantly being the target but also called out others who have yet to contribute anything but whining and plotting.

They did all of this without resorting to the cheesy garbage that mars the majority of episodes. There were no "beebies". Josh didn't do his silly morning dances. Natalie didn't pray to God and Matty, or babble her most recent theories about whatever number has come to her head this week. They stuck to this week's game story, and I pray that this continues in the future.