Melissa (2:56)

I'm doing great. I can't believe the feeds just came back. Gives us more to talk about. So, yeah, actually a lot to say. I was gonna say, like, oh, there's not that much to talk about, but, you know, now there is a little bit more.

Aaron Armstrong (3:09)

At least we have some breaking news to talk about for sure. And it wouldn't be more fitting than to have on with us as well. Sharon Tharp. Hello, Sharon. How you doing? Hi.

Sharon Tharp (3:22)

I'm really excited to be here. This is my first time on the stock watch and it's been a day, so let's talk about it.

Aaron Armstrong (3:29)

Truly. Listen, when. When is it not a day in the world of big Brother. You know what I mean?

Sharon Tharp (3:36)

Yeah, I'm just.

Aaron Armstrong (3:37)

You know what?

Sharon Tharp (3:37)

I'm happy this is wrapping up, but it's been fun. I will say I've been enjoying the season, so. Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (3:44)

Yes. Well, of course. We are now officially at the final four. The feeds just came back from the final five eviction. We now also have a final four hoh winner. Very rare to have new information this fresh for a round table. But just to recap where we have gone from where we left off the last time we had a roundtable, there were seven people in the house.

Melissa (4:12)

That's crazy. Wow.

Aaron Armstrong (4:13)

And now, now we have four. I believe this is a record three people left within the span of the week that we have been off on the round table. So of course we saw Kelly leave on Thursday immediately followed by Lauren, which brought us to the final five where Vince won the HOH over Keanu. He targeted Keanu. We have since seen that Morgan won the tiny veto cementing Keanu's fate. Feeds just came back from Keanu's eviction. He is officially gone despite casual hopes that there'd be some kind of intervention. And we also have a new Final 4 HoH winner, which is Morgan, of course. And I say of course. But the most interesting thing to me about this win is that they came back exhausted. Morgan saying she her upper body was dead tired because she really didn't think that it would be something so physical after the physical hoh last week. But it was a physical hoh that Morgan won. Morgan is now safe, guaranteed final three. She is one competition away from what we assume to be a slam dunk victory for her this season. However, Vince, little bit left out to dry here at the final four. A bit vulnerable if Ashley or Ava were to win the final four veto, which has, I would say, a higher likelihood of being less physical now, considering that the hoh was physical. And so plenty of stuff to talk about there. But, Sharon, let me get your thoughts on recent events here on the season.

Sharon Tharp (6:11)

I mean, team Morgan, obviously, I think, you know, this is just another feather in her cap. I think she has a really good chance to win the veto as well. If it's like a day's comp or something. I know she's been studying a lot. Yeah. I think it's her game to lose, and I. That's a fitting end to me. Now, obviously, there are other scenarios that could play out, but I think, you know, we'll talk about it, but I think the likelihood is very high, so I'm excited about it.

Aaron Armstrong (6:37)

Very high indeed. Melissa, how have you been feeling this week?

Melissa (6:41)

Well, I will say it was interesting because when it was final five, we each had one remaining person in the draft. I know it's like, oh, no one talking about the draft, but that was an interesting thing because when do we have that? I don't think we ever have that. Usually someone gets at least all, like, at least one person gets all three of their players taken out.

Aaron Armstrong (7:04)

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Last season, I had three of the final five.

Melissa (7:07)

Right. And so look at this.

Aaron Armstrong (7:08)

And this is not three to the final seven. I lost them both.

Melissa (7:11)

I know. I know. So now Rob is out because he lost Keanu, and so I don't feel like I have a great shot because I just have Ava left. But you know what? That is my consolation prize for if Ava wins, because I don't want Ava to win. I don't think she should win, but if she does, at least I win and everybody wins. When I think that everyone should be rooting for Ava.

Aaron Armstrong (7:35)

Melissa, I love you, but no, truly dark side.

Melissa (7:40)

Yeah. That would be, like, the worst outcome. So, like, let's not. Let's not even put it out there. Yeah, no, I honestly, like, I would be satisfied with the Morgan win. I think that she has played really well at this point. Like, I don't. I feel like obviously there were a lot of, like, ups and downs, but I think, like, these comp wins, I think, like, the fact that she's still here with all these comp wins and that the people can't really take her out, I feel like that's huge. Yeah. I don't know. Like, she's. She's had some downs, but I Do feel like she's had a decent amount of ups. And I think that we could all kind of get behind a Morgan win. I think events win would be a little harder for people to get behind, I think. I think, like, I could. I. I could. I could see it as, like, oh, yeah, like, he weaseled his way to a win or whatever. And so maybe that's something to, like, you know, think about as, like, a future. Oh, he's. He's acting like Vince. He's trying to win, like Vince or whatever if Vince wins. But generally, I mean, Vince was just. His hohs were just so bad, and it just wasn't. It wasn't even like, Weasley for a reason. It was just kind of like. Just like a sniveling Weasley kind of gameplay where I was like, oh, please don't hurt me. Like, I'll do whatever it takes. So that, to me, is not as like. Like, it's. There's a win where it's like sort of that. Like a rat. A rat win. Like a rat floater win, like Andy or something, where it's like, oh, he's, like, going from side to side, and he is, you know, like, betraying people left and right, and everyone thinks they're working with him, but that's, like, actually intentional. Whereas I don't think that Vince was, like, really intentionally doing that way. It was more just like, who do I not want to upset right now? And so, to me, that's not really a win. I would like to see Ashley. I think she. A win from Ashley would be good because I do think that she has been, like, intelligently playing the game and doing the best that she can when not winning competitions. Like, I think that the fact that she's had to rely so much on her social game because she's not winning anything, I think that's very impressive, and it all seems very intentional. So I would like. I would like an Ashley win. Yeah, the only one that I just truly don't believe deserves a win is Ava, who assigned.

Sharon Tharp (10:05)

Go sign that.

Aaron Armstrong (10:07)

Yeah, I mean, I. I talked a couple weeks ago how I feel like a good portion of the players left in the game would be in consideration for perhaps worst winner of all time. And there were only a couple of exceptions. Two of those exceptions are still in the game. Ashley and Morgan. And, you know, while I don't think it's like there's a path for everyone to win, and that path is if Ava wins Final Four and Final three, she probably wins if Ashley wins. Final Four and Final three, she probably wins. If Vince wins final three and cuts Morgan, he might win. And. And Morgan just wins in, like, every other scenario. Right. And so there are still plenty of outcomes. We'll talk about them. All I had in the survey jury predictions, and they included who cut Morgan as well, because I do think that's pretty important.

Ad (11:16)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (11:19)

So plenty to talk about there. But. But right now in front of us again, Morgan now immune for the sixth round in a row, skipping over White Locust because that wasn't Big Brother. I believe this is a new record in terms of immunity runs. Famously. Ian Terry had quite a run back in the day, I think Ty in Big Brother Canada still has a pretty good one, but I don't remember exactly what it was because that was barely Big Brother because there weren't live feeds. So she now has. She now holds the record for most amount of weeks in a row with immunity. And if she wins the final three HOH as well, she will have been immune from the final nine or 10.

Sharon Tharp (12:16)

It's got to be around there.

Aaron Armstrong (12:17)

Yep, 10, I think final 10 on, which is wild.

Sharon Tharp (12:22)

Insane.

Aaron Armstrong (12:26)

I mean, I think it was around. Let me see. I think that on Lauren's hoh, which was the final, like, eight or whatever, I said there's very high likelihood that there are only three people in the game that will win the rest of the competitions. And from that point forward, it went Morgan, Keanu, Vince, Morgan, Lauren, Morgan, Keanu, Vince, Morgan, Morgan.

Melissa (12:53)

Yeah, that's wild.

Aaron Armstrong (12:56)

That's how it goes.

Melissa (12:56)

Too many.

Sharon Tharp (12:59)

She also. I mean, she also got out the people that could win. I mean, Keanu, Kelly, Lauren, Keanu. Right. Like, that was her doing it, wasn't Vince doing it. So just all the props to her. And, you know. You know, I don't always think comp wins are that important, but of course, at the end when you need to win and she turned it on. And I think the reason I enjoy watching her game is not because she just wins comps. I think the emotional manipulation there is there. The social game is there. You know, she had this conversation with Vince about, like, Vince saying he's always lying and stuff. And she, you know, has probably lied here and there, but she's never had to lie. And she. She's always been thinking about jury management. I just feel like her game is pretty well rounded. I obviously she's winning a lot of comps, and that's super important, but I still find other parts of her game very impressive.

Aaron Armstrong (13:50)

Yeah. Including the part where. And I made this Tweet as well, that she has basically run every one of Vince's hohs. And. And that's because people don't remember Vince's first hoh and how much influence she had on that hoh. Literally. He went to her specifically cozied up with her in the hammock, and she told him, jimmy's gonna be on about you, about Keanu. Don't do it. You should put up Kelly. And Zay should go because he's good at chess. And then the next morning, Keanu freaked out and went at Morgan and pissed everyone off. And he started to go, well, if he's going after Morgan, maybe I should put up Keanu after all. And then he talked to Morgan, and he said, morgan, I had the most vivid dream about you last night. It was wild. And she said, don't put up Keanu. Put up Kelly, and Zay should go. And he did what she wanted, and she got, say gone. And then. And of course, Rachel had influence on that as well. Rachel had also had influence on the week that she didn't go up on his second hoh as well. But. But so did Morgan. Morgan, arguably, at that point, had even more control over Vince's hoh. He. He really wanted to put up Rachel. She told him, no. Will also had some influence. Yes. She went to Will and told him what to say to Vince in order to make sure Vince would not put up Morgan or would not put up Rachel. Will said what? She said, I will put up Rachel later. It was enough he didn't put up Rachel, and we don't even need to start to talk about his last two hohs.

Sharon Tharp (15:40)

Listen, I don't want to quote Kelly, but more, Morgan gets what Morgan wants. Okay, so that's the moral of this.

Melissa (15:47)

It's honestly true. Very impressive. I just hope she's able to express that in the eight, like, final questioning. You know, I'd be interested to see if she tries to actually take ownership of his hohs, because, like, to him, she's like, I don't control your hoh. But I don't know if she'll, like, still try and say that or if she will, like, take ownership and say, I. I. Yeah, I controlled everyone's. I controlled all Vince's hohs and my own.

Aaron Armstrong (16:17)

I think it depends on what Vince says.

Sharon Tharp (16:21)

I think that if Vince sitting next to her.

Melissa (16:23)

Yeah, that's the thing, is if Vince is in the jury, like, being like, I controlled him, like, probably isn't gonna make him want to vote for her.

Aaron Armstrong (16:31)

Well, at that point, I think he'd be fine with it because he's not.

Sharon Tharp (16:34)

It's like, yeah, everyone else is telling him the same thing, too.

Aaron Armstrong (16:39)

And so I think that. I think that if he's next to her, she will be nice, she will go easy. Unless he starts doing his Vince thing and he's like, you know, I actually was playing her the whole time.

Sharon Tharp (16:55)

Oh, God.

Aaron Armstrong (16:55)

I lied to everyone on purpose. It was all part of my plan. All of the puzzle pieces fit together exactly the way that I wanted them to.

Melissa (17:03)

Oh, my God. Do we think that's, like, how he.

Sharon Tharp (17:06)

Would play his two girlfriends? No, it's not happening.

Aaron Armstrong (17:09)

No. He will 100 say the puzzle pieces thing. I guarantee you he talks about it all the time, but. But he. If he provokes the wrath of Morgan, he will get shut down so fast. It will not be good for him.

Sharon Tharp (17:25)

I would love to see that, to be honest. Let's make it happen. Oh, God.

Aaron Armstrong (17:31)

All right. Well, we do have some survey questions to. To talk about, of course. One final. Rank the players based on your favorite to your least favorite. This is the existing chart. We are about to lose three players from this chart and. And get our final ranking. So it should be a quick and easy one. Who do you guys think is the number one favorite player on the board this week?

Melissa (18:04)

I think everything stays exactly the same. I think Ashley or I think it goes Ashley, then Morgan, the neighbor, the Vince.

Sharon Tharp (18:13)

I would agree. I'm just, like, not sure about the Ava. I feel like Ava had a really rough week or she was being a little ridiculous. So I don't know if people. That changed people's opinions, but yeah, around the same.

Aaron Armstrong (18:23)

What's the call, Sharon?

Sharon Tharp (18:25)

Oh, sorry. I have to make a call. Okay. You know, I'll switch it up. I'll say Vince over Ava.

Aaron Armstrong (18:30)

Ashley is number one.

Sharon Tharp (18:32)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (18:34)

Morgan is number two. Vince is number three.

Sharon Tharp (18:42)

Whoa.

Aaron Armstrong (18:43)

And Ava is number four. Wow. Yes. Sharon has it right. Exactly. Melissa couldn't get a perfect score.

Melissa (18:54)

Get it?

Sharon Tharp (18:54)

I had a good source today, Taryn, so. So I'm getting things right.

Aaron Armstrong (19:01)

Oh, boy. So let me. Let me just try and fill out the rest of this and eliminate all these other players real quick.

Sharon Tharp (19:10)

Three are gone. Four are gone. Wow.

Aaron Armstrong (19:12)

Keanu. And there it is. There are the final standings. So look at Ava's drop. Yeah. Let's look at the. Let's look at the trajectories here. Here's Ashley, who started in sixth place in week one, dropped all the way down to 12th in week two, and then steadily or pretty quickly, I At least actually shot back up to number three by week four. Kind of held into that top five position for a few weeks. And then from week seven on was number two below Rachel. And then after Rachel left, took the number one spot and never let go. That was Ashley's trajectory across the season. Pretty good one. And we have Morgan. Oh, boy.

Sharon Tharp (20:05)

So cute.

Aaron Armstrong (20:09)

Hold on. We also have the baby trajectory.

Melissa (20:15)

What do you think, Alan? You want to be a podcaster? Yeah. Yeah. You want the microphone?

Sharon Tharp (20:22)

What do you think?

Aaron Armstrong (20:22)

He's already getting more vocal.

Melissa (20:24)

Yeah. Look at. Oh, my God.

Aaron Armstrong (20:25)

On the podcast. Oh, boy.

Melissa (20:27)

She just climbed into my lap. This is like, a whole thing. Okay, Piper. Piper, you gotta get down.

Aaron Armstrong (20:33)

The whole family's here.

Melissa (20:34)

She's literally laying on top of us in Riley's life.

Sharon Tharp (20:38)

Very invested.

Melissa (20:39)

So sorry. Kellen, what do you think? She's trying to get the dog off.

Aaron Armstrong (20:46)

Okay.

Melissa (20:46)

Okay. This is our last roundtable, so Callan has to come and say hi.

Sharon Tharp (20:51)

Back. Back, of course.

Melissa (20:54)

I guess.

Sharon Tharp (20:59)

So cute.

Aaron Armstrong (21:00)

Oh, boy. All right, so back to the chart. Here's Morgan. What a journey Morgan's been on. Started at number two and ended at number two, but had a whole bunch of a wild dip in between. You can see at. At week five, she was in second to last place, just above Riley and no one else, and then shot back up within two weeks, week seven, up to number four, and has held into that top five until her final week at number two.

Sharon Tharp (21:38)

So can I say something? Because I know people might look at this and be like, okay, so, you know, she didn't carry the whole game. Right. But I actually think this makes for a better story for her to tell at the end, how she did sort of, like, have weak moments like that. I don't know. I think this is actually better for her story instead of saying she dominated the whole entire game.

Aaron Armstrong (21:57)

Yeah. And this is just in terms of popularity, in terms of, like, the way that the audience. But I think this is an example of, like, her flexibility in the game because the reason she dropped down so low is because she shot down with Mickey.

Sharon Tharp (22:14)

Yes.

Aaron Armstrong (22:15)

And she then abandoned ship and jumped on board a new ship, the SS Rachel Riley. And. And, you know, really just carried the rest of the season through quite the journey for Morgan. Here's Vince. Just kind of just kind of riding that. That bottom.

Melissa (22:43)

Riding that bottom.

Aaron Armstrong (22:44)

Just.

Sharon Tharp (22:45)

Just.

Aaron Armstrong (22:46)

Just teasing the halfway mark and not ever quite getting there.

Melissa (22:50)

Oh, man. Yeah. Did he ever, like, pass above halfway?

Aaron Armstrong (22:56)

I think his number six performance in week seven was his best. It was his best performance. And it was about half. It was about middle position. He peaked at week seven there.

Melissa (23:08)

Not great.

Aaron Armstrong (23:09)

Yeah. And then we have Ava.

Sharon Tharp (23:13)

Oh, wow.

Aaron Armstrong (23:13)

With quite the dramatic fall from grace, number one for three weeks straight in the first, in weeks two to four, and then falls to number two, then falls to number five, then all the way down and keeps going down and she ends the season in last place.

Melissa (23:34)

That's wild. I don't know if I've ever seen like someone go from first to last. Like, I usually you see like first and then they drop or whatever, but you don't really ever see like first, like top all the way to bottom.

Aaron Armstrong (23:47)

Somebody like introduced some tariffs on Ava imports, I think is what happened. Not good. Not good for Ava. I mean, I think the thing with Ava is that she comes into the game, she has this, you know, unique, seemingly very confident and like, sure of herself personality. And it felt nice, self assured and wasn't, you know, letting other people influence her a whole lot. And then as time went on, you started to see that actually maybe it was a little bit of a put on. Like, actually maybe there is a little bit of insecurity there leading to her really starting to like, crash out about people like Ashley, like Mickey, like Rachel. And it's like, where is this coming from? Why are you so aggro on these people? And then of course, after White Locust, she just never was able to recover.

Sharon Tharp (24:49)

The popularity, which is her own doing. But anyway, I also think this is representative of sort of how much Ava likes Big Brother. Like, I think she went in there, like, you're saying, like, I think she was riding a high. I think she's like, okay, I can fake this. And then slowly she just started to hate to be in there. And so I think her real personality came out and yeah, that's what we're seeing.

Melissa (25:12)

Yeah. I think what's most, like, I mean, obviously I don't like the. The hating on other people, etc. Like, I don't like the bashing of Rachel and all that. Sort of. Obviously. But what makes me really not want an Ava win is I just feel like she didn't want to play the game. And I feel like that was intentional. Like, she just didn't. And I get that. Like, some people are like, this is just not for me. But if that's the case, then like, I don't want you to win. Like, you know, I'm not saying she has to like be all about manipulation and lying and whatever and all that stuff. Like, that's not what I'M saying it's just that I don't want somebody who actively is like, this game sucks and I don't want to be part of it to win. Like, it's just as simple as that.

Aaron Armstrong (26:01)

Yeah. And you know, I think there's also something to be said about the fact that I it it feels as though based on sort of the things that she said that she almost intentionally worked with and complimented Rachel in order to win favor with her fan base. And then when she screwed Rachel over, she tried to like double down on the defensiveness. Like she like genuinely went in with a strategy to win over the audience and eventually they kind of caught on when she tripped up is sort of the story of Ava in the game, which is interesting because that's sort of the game that players play in international versions. And similarly, if they get caught trying to endear themselves to the audience, they often shoot down the rankings.

Sharon Tharp (26:53)

Yeah, no, it has the opposite effect. Don't ever pander to the audience so much. I mean, the live feeders for sure.

Aaron Armstrong (26:59)

At least.

Ad (27:03)

I had the pleasure of recently celebrating my birthday, and the older I get, the more I'm looking to find out about my health and how I can maintain this shambling specimen that I am. Luckily, I recently tried the Truage TruHealth test by Trudiagnostic, which can give you over 180 personalized insights into how to improve your health and just from a single finger prick. True Health looks at over 105 biomarkers tied to your nutritional, metabolic, immune and cognitive health, including your vitamin levels, inflammation, toxins and gut health. While True Age, on the other hand, measures 75 biomarkers to reveal your biological age as well as the age of key organ systems like your heart and brain and Liverpool. You get all of this valuable health information without needing to go to a doctor's office or even step foot outside your house. Tests are conducted through a painless finger prick that is sent through a prepaid envelope. Personally, I just submitted my test before recording this, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the detailed online report in a manner of weeks that breaks down everything to hopefully prevent me from breaking down. If you're serious about living healthier and longer, visit truediagnostic.com and and use the code BB for 20% off your entire order or subscription. That's truediagnostic.com code BB for 20% off your future self will thank you.

Aaron Armstrong (28:32)

Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless, and if you haven't made the switch yet here are 15 reasons why you should One, it's $15 a month.

Melissa (28:41)

Two.

Aaron Armstrong (28:42)

Seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom uses it. Are you, Are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try@mintmobile.com switch upfront.

Melissa (28:55)

Payment of 45 for 3 month plan.

Sharon Tharp (28:56)

15 per month equivalent required new customer.

Melissa (28:58)

Offer first 3 months only then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.

Aaron Armstrong (29:01)

Cmnobile.com Time to Break down this week's must watch episodes.

Melissa (29:06)

Honestly, Alex, I didn't binge anything. But I did switch to T Mobile with their new family freedom offer.

Aaron Armstrong (29:14)

That's not the plot we're following.

Melissa (29:17)

Well, I'm writing at&t out of the series and giving T Mobile the starring role. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house and scene.

Ad (29:32)

Introducing family freedom. Our lowest cost will switch our biggest family savings all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com FamilyFreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone 16128 gigabyte 8, 2999 eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due. If you pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile then we can look.

Aaron Armstrong (29:59)

At some of these other players. Lauren of course goes out here. She didn't go out in fifth place. That's a mistake. But it doesn't really matter. So let's instead look at Keanu here first. Oh boy. Keanu starts at the bottom, shoots up, back down, back up. Finishes the season in, in, you know, just outside the top quarter. Top 25% of the cast.

Melissa (30:29)

Rocky road directly aligned with the frenemies like alliance where it's like pretty much when he's like against Rachel and when they're like fighting and clashing, it's like down. And when they're working together it's up. And then when he's anti Rachel it's down. And then when he's sad that she leaves, it goes up again. It's just very, very up and down. I'm actually like, oh, go ahead.

Aaron Armstrong (30:53)

Well, I, I think, I think that like I remember people talking about this too. Like, oh, people fans are so, you know, they're all stands and like it's, it's who works With Rachel is the most likable person in any given moment. And I do think that's true to an extent. But I also think it's true that the most genuinely most likable version of like all of these players were always when they were working with Rachel because they weren't smack talking other people as much when they were working with Rachel. They weren't like, being as rude and obnoxious and. And they were playing the game a little more strategically and a little harder because her influence over them had like, her being in proximity to her. Like, like we've talked about with. With Vince, like, when he's talking with Ashley, he sounds smarter because he's talking to somebody who is smarter. And it's the same thing with Rachel. People just became more likable when they were around Rachel. And. And the casual fans will never really understand that. But. But I think that had. That was also a piece of this for. For Keanu and for any. For everyone else.

Melissa (32:00)

Yeah, definitely. I'm actually, I'm a little worried for Rachel for afp, because I do think the casuals are very into Keanu. And like, I asked my parents this weekend or whatever about what they were thinking of everybody, and my mom says she would vote for Rachel for afp, but my dad said he would vote for Keanu. Now take that with a grain of salt because they're not going to vote. So, like, that just like, doesn't really matter. But I just wanted to get like, I wanted to get into their heads about, like, what they were thinking of in terms of afp. My mom said she would vote for Rachel and then next, like, second place, she'd vote for Keanu. So the fact that he was up that high anyway also. Hi, Callan. Sorry. Is. Is definitely like, it's. It's a sign to me that I think it's going to be a race between the two of them. They do not like Ava and they do. They. They don't like Vince at all. I don't know. They didn't really indicate whether. I don't think they have very strong feelings on Morgan. So I guess, like, they'd be fine with a Morgan win. But yeah, they. They. My dad does not like Ashley and they both have the vibe that Ashley is dumb. And I had to explain to them, like, she's not dumb. She's actually like, playing and she's strategic and blah, blah, blah. But yeah, they're. Apparently the edit is portraying Ashley as like, dumb and not actually playing. So my dad. Go ahead.

Aaron Armstrong (33:36)

I feel like, at this point, it's not. But I think that people have a notion.

Melissa (33:40)

Right? Exactly.

Aaron Armstrong (33:42)

Like, yeah, yeah.

Melissa (33:43)

And my dad was upset that Ashley and Keanu got in a fight, so. So he was like, well, I don't. I was like. I was like, I don't even remember this, but apparently it was like, back when she, like, confronted him after the veto meeting or something, or the nominations. I don't remember. But, yeah, he was still thinking about that. So take that what you will. But, yeah, I'm just. I just don't know what's going to happen if. I don't even know how they'll feel if we get an Ashley win. If they get. If we get an Ashley win. Like, all the people, all the live theaters who know that she's strategic and you know that she's been playing the game will be excited or some of them will be excited. But the casuals, I have a feeling they're going to be like, she doesn't deserve the win. Like, what did she do?

Aaron Armstrong (34:23)

Yeah. Because big brother has done a terrible job. They're not showing her, editing her. So we do have an America's favorite player poll. So we'll talk more about that in just a bit. But let's just take a quick look at the rest of these players. Here's Lauren, who started very high in the very first week and then dropped down into the middle position. And just perfect, perfectly placed for Lauren. Just rode the middle the entire time.

Sharon Tharp (34:49)

This is like her monotone speaking. And I love Lauren. She's the sweetest girl. Like, honestly, she actually seems like a really sweet girl. And this is not personal, but, like, yeah, I think this is, like, perfect representation of Lauren.

Aaron Armstrong (35:02)

Then there's Kelly, who started at the bottom, had a brief spike in week five. I don't remember why. What happened to week five?

Sharon Tharp (35:12)

She went a blockbuster against someone we didn't like. I'm trying to remember what happened is.

Aaron Armstrong (35:16)

That maybe the week. I guess that was right before the week that Riley left.

Sharon Tharp (35:25)

No comment.

Aaron Armstrong (35:27)

I don't remember. But then she, after Riley left, was right down at the bottom for the rest of the game that she was in it. You got Will there, who started a little low and then stayed pretty high for the rest of his time in the house. Rachel, of course, who took number two only to Ava a few weeks, but then was number one more than anyone else this season. You had Mickey's deep fall from grace with us just starting to come back before she eventually was evicted. Catherine with a steady fall, a brief rise and Then another fall. Riley, who never once was not last place all season long.

Sharon Tharp (36:15)

Thanks.

Aaron Armstrong (36:16)

You have Zach, who, you know, struggled. You had Jimmy there who was in that sort of mid range. Mid upper range. Adrian, Amy, and. And Zay just never really went anywhere. Uh, and that those are the favorite player rankings for the entire season.

Melissa (36:37)

Makes sense.

Aaron Armstrong (36:38)

What a journey.

Melissa (36:39)

Yeah, it is interesting. Yeah. I'm very glad we have this graphic now because it is fun to kind of, like, see the journey and, like, see. Be able to look back and be like, oh, that was the week that this happened. And that's why we all were, like, on board with this person or that's why we were all mad at this person. So I think that, like, it's kind of fun to see that.

Sharon Tharp (36:56)

Okay.

Aaron Armstrong (36:58)

Oh, Kelly went up because that was Mickey's HOA train and a bunch of, like, Mickey and more. A bunch of people fell, and Kelly remained neutral.

Sharon Tharp (37:07)

So it really wasn't by her doing.

Aaron Armstrong (37:08)

Didn't have anything to do with Kelly. All right, well, Melissa was mentioning it before the America's Favorite player poll, of course. Now I think you can all expect what the results were for this particular survey, but it might be fun to try to guess. What. What percentage do you think of people? I listed every player. You could only choose one to vote for. Who are you voting to be America's favorite player? What percentage did Rachel get?

Melissa (37:44)

I would say, like, 50.

Sharon Tharp (37:46)

Oh, see, I was gonna go, like, 80%.

Melissa (37:51)

I don't know. I'm trying to think of, like, yeah, maybe 60. I don't know. Well, I mean, I guess it depends on, like, the audience that we're pulling here. I guess we're polling the RHP audience, so maybe that's like, yeah, maybe 70% or something with Rachel.

Aaron Armstrong (38:06)

Well, the tiebreaker goes to Sharon. It wasn't even a tiebreaker because 87%.

Sharon Tharp (38:14)

Damn.

Melissa (38:15)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (38:16)

Voted for Rachel. 5% voted for Keanu in second place.

Sharon Tharp (38:21)

Call up your casual friends, people.

Melissa (38:23)

I know. That's the thing is, like, yeah, this doesn't mean anything. It will need to be the casuals. I mean, the casuals. When it. Every time it turned, like, every single time, we're, like, shocked when it turns out that we're just a small little percentage of the audience.

Aaron Armstrong (38:39)

Yeah, I mean, I think live feeders, based on the roughest of estimates from, like, a few years ago, represent something like maybe a tenth at most of total viewers. So if every live feeder votes 10 of the amount of times they expect a casual viewer to vote, theoretically, they could carry the day.

Sharon Tharp (39:10)

I Think this will be a test. I think this. This will be very interesting because if someone could get the vote from. Because I feel like the live theaters are very in agreeance, and so if someone could do sway, it would be Rachel. But. Yeah, I just don't know if it's enough.

Melissa (39:26)

Yeah, I think it's tough because the edit of Rachel this season was very much like, oh, she's like the evil queen or whatever, which wasn't accurate. You know, it's fun in some of those segments, but I just feel like that the vibe was not like, oh, Rachel's the evil queen. And everybody else is, like, just trying to, like, survive or something like that. Rachel was trying to survive, and Rachel was trying to, like, game, and everybody else wasn't gaming or was. Didn't know how. And it was just like, Rachel trying to stay afloat in this crazy season and. And actually bringing the gameplay to the season. I mean, without Rachel, we would have had nothing. And so I'm just, like, super grateful for her. And so I do feel like. I mean, for me, it's like an obvious. Like, Rachel should win it. I did really like Keanu a lot, but not. I mean, I don't think he brought more entertainment than Rachel did. So I definitely think Rachel should win it. But I. I do think the fact that, like, she didn't have an ending and she's portrayed as this evil queen or whatever might turn off the casual viewers from voting for her. I don't know.

Sharon Tharp (40:36)

Yeah, I think you're right, because I think I talked to my dad and he's. He doesn't know the Rachel Lord, and I don't think they conveyed it very well in that. So. And he was just like, I don't get it. Like, she. She's, like, playing it up, and I'm like, yeah, but that's. That's why we love Rachel. Like, people don't get it.

Melissa (40:51)

My dad said the same thing. He was like, well, she's just kind of arrogant by saying she's the queen all the time. And it's like, no, but she does that because it's, like, fun and it's. For us. It's not because she actually thinks she's a queen. Like, it's not like that. But I just don't think he understood. And I like. So I do think it's, like, a casual dad's thing to be like, that's not. I don't like that.

Sharon Tharp (41:13)

And they do like Keanu. And I'll just say, I. I liked Keanu. There Were points. I really did like him. But if you look at the trajectory of him, like, the really. The times he's entertaining is when he's in an argument with one of the women. So Rachel, Ashley, Ava, or, you know, I mean, like, that's the fun Keanu where. So without that, I don't know.

Melissa (41:33)

Yeah. I feel like my parents do really love, like, Keanu's trajectory, and so they like the idea that he's this underdog and that he's gone so far, and they really didn't want him to go home. So they don't know he's gone home. They don't even know he's nominated, so they're going to be very upset. But they, like, were really rooting for him to win. They want him to win so bad because they just, like, love the story. Although my dad said that if not Keanu, then he would want Kelly to win. And we were like. And this is after saying he doesn't like her and that she's, like, bad. And he was like. I was like, why? And he was like, because she just doesn't win anything. And I was like, what do you mean she doesn't? Wait, like, yeah, so why should she win the game? And he's like, no, I mean, in life, like, she does. She's an underdog in life. So I do think that she should win. I was like, oh, my God, Dad.

Aaron Armstrong (42:19)

No, this is the thing. Big Brother is a show about rooting for the underdogs, about rooting for the outcasts, and that's what makes it so special in so many ways. But they've now, like, manufactured outcasts with the competition focus and created sort of this abomination of like. Like, oh, you. You are now rooting for the Kellys of the world because. Because nobody likes them in the house and they're not included in things. And then, you know, not showing why sometimes somebody has. Yeah, but this is where we are. We have some more survey questions, of course, the regular ones that we do. Let's rate the episodes this week. This week, the episodes now, historically, week 11 episodes have not been amazing, but Big Brother 21, apparently 6.9 for the episodes in week 11. I'm trying to remember. That must have. I mean, is that too early for the Tommy lie? Because I feel like that was a pretty good episode.

Sharon Tharp (43:38)

Oh, God, Taryn, I.

Aaron Armstrong (43:40)

My memory could possibly have carried this vote. It's. It's got to be close. It's got to be close. But this is the final. This is the final week of episodes for the season. So we will blank out the rest of these. But this week the episodes were given a 5.3, which is actually the same rating that the final week of episodes For Big Brother 24 got at the exact same time. And it is tied with Big Brother 24 for the highest rated set of episodes in the final stock watch. So there you go.

Sharon Tharp (44:23)

I guess that makes sense. I mean, I'm enjoying this end game more than I usually am and I did love like the double eviction that's obviously results oriented, I'm sure, but like, I think the audience probably agrees. But yeah, I guess that makes sense.

Aaron Armstrong (44:37)

Yes. We also have the feeds. Rate the feeds this week again. Historically, the last week of ratings for feeds have not been great. But this week on the feeds, a 5.3 as well. Same rating stands.

Sharon Tharp (44:58)

Guys are out.

Aaron Armstrong (45:00)

And this is the highest rated final week of feeds since we've been doing this since Big Brother 21. And I don't think that's a coincidence. I think it's because since we've been doing this, we haven't really had sped up final weeks. This is how it used to be before. I don't even know when they changed it. Probably well before, like BB16, but. But I. I really don't think this is a coincidence. I think that having a final week where we had the final five into final four, now into final three into the finale, it's a lot more exciting than the final week being. So when are they evicting the person at 4?

Sharon Tharp (45:45)

Is this season over yet or. Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (45:51)

And then of course we have the season as a whole. The final rating for the season as a whole, what a journey. It's been. Started pretty high. Dropped, dropped, started going back up, then massive drop, then started going back up again, and it finishes on a 5.8, which is. It's not great. It's okay. Yeah, it's better than the final rating of BB25. Not as good as BB26 at a 7.4. BB24 ended at a 7. BB23 at a 4, at a 6.3, it only beats BB25, 22 and 21. It is beaten by 23, 24 and 26 right in the middle of the road there.

Sharon Tharp (46:48)

I don't know if I agree with that, but sure.

Aaron Armstrong (46:53)

We can look at the. I think like the average rating across the season here so far. So the average rating across the season actually, wow. Is exactly a 5.8. Oh, that's wild.

Melissa (47:05)

That makes sense.

Aaron Armstrong (47:08)

Let me just make sure I'm doing this correctly. Yeah. That's. Wow, that's interesting. So the. The average rating of BB26 was also a 3, a 7.4. And then the average rating for BB25 was a 6.9.

Sharon Tharp (47:27)

Oh.

Aaron Armstrong (47:29)

For 24, it was a 6.3. For 23, it was a 7.4. Or 22, it was a 5.1. And for BB21, it was a 4.9.

Sharon Tharp (47:44)

Okay. So that. That White Locust twist obviously really heavily affected this.

Melissa (47:49)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (47:51)

Really, really hurt the average. If we were to, let's say.

Melissa (47:55)

Yeah, just take out week nine, see what.

Sharon Tharp (47:57)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (47:57)

Removed week nine. All of a sudden it's a 6.1. Wow.

Melissa (48:04)

In the sixes.

Aaron Armstrong (48:07)

So, you know, it's not that much of a difference, but definitely spiked it down below the six.

Melissa (48:16)

Well, and also, I think week 10 was like a recovery week too. So it wasn't even, like, true. You know, Like, I feel like it. It could have potentially stayed up high. Yeah. Like.

Aaron Armstrong (48:26)

Yep. It's also. It's a 6.3.

Melissa (48:30)

Well, that makes it. That ties it with BB23.

Aaron Armstrong (48:34)

Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa (48:37)

For third place.

Aaron Armstrong (48:38)

I mean, I think. I think it kind of goes to show also, like, I think this also may have been hurt by the blockbuster, you know, in a strange way, because I think that at the time of raiding every week on Mondays, people were not feeling as high on the season as they were, let's say, if this rating had. Had taken place on a Thursday or, sorry, a Friday, even right after the excitement of the blockbuster, where many good things happened. And then by the time Monday came around again, people were, like, exhausted again. They weren't sure what was going to happen. It didn't seem like people like Riley were going to leave. And then the blockbuster, I'm like, whoa. And then by the time Monday comes around again. And so I think the timing of these ratings also has a bit of an impact here as well.

Melissa (49:25)

True. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I feel like this season, to me, like, I. It's such a strange thing because I feel like it was. It took so long for it to, like, get started, quote, unquote. Like, it felt like it's. We still weren't. We still weren't like, in the season yet. Like, nothing had really happened yet. Like, there weren't really alliances yet. Like, nothing's really happening. And then all of a sudden, it started to pick up and I was like, okay, this season is starting. Like, we're starting to have a season right now. This is kind of exciting. I'm Kind of very into watching the feeds right now. This is happy. And then all of a sudden, the white locust came, and I feel like it just cut all momentum to the point where it was like, I. I feel like we still aren't, like, into the season yet. I don't know. It just feels like I haven't watched a full season of, like, exciting Big Brother. I don't know. It just feels different from other seasons in, like, not a good way. And, yeah, I don't know. It's. It's shocking that it's coming to an end. It feels like. It feels like normally in Big Brother, I'm like, okay, this should have ended, like, weeks ago, and, like, we have had nothing going on for weeks. And now I feel like I'm surprised that it's ending, and I feel like we need, like, another month. Not that we need another month. I don't want another month. But I'm just saying I do not like the long seasons. To be fair, I do not like those. But it just felt like it was just starting to get started, and then it kind of got stifled, and now. And then even just like last week, it felt like maybe it was starting to get started again, and now everybody's out. So, like, where do we go from here? Just competitions, I guess.

Sharon Tharp (51:02)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (51:02)

Yeah.

Melissa (51:02)

I.

Sharon Tharp (51:03)

Actually, I'm on the other side because I. This is my favorite season since 23. Probably. Probably number two on this list. I. I've been invested pretty much the whole time. It's shorter. It's. Yes. I didn't love everything that happened, but at least it was keeping my. My, you know, my attention, and I really did not like. Again, I like Chelsea, but, like, the end game of last season killed me. I don't know why.

Aaron Armstrong (51:26)

So, yeah, I think that's very true. I think that this season has held the attention of viewers more than many of the previous seasons. And for the producers, that's probably, like, their primary, like, stat that they're going for. Right? For me, level of investment doesn't always equal enjoyment as much. It's certainly a component of it. It's definitely been a fun season in many ways. There have been many things I did not like about it, and, like, if every season was like this, I would struggle with the show. I don't. I liked it as, like, this was a wild season of awful strategists, some really bad twists, and. And. And, like, a whole lot of mess that was, like, a train wreck that you couldn't look away from. But, like, if this was Every single season, I would really. I'd be like, I don't know.

Sharon Tharp (52:31)

Yeah, I think you're. You had to deal with the Vince of it all. You had to be up at, you know, five in the morning listening to these crazy conversations. So I think your perspective is totally fair, but is also different. And I think about this, too. Sometimes I'm like, as a fan, did I enjoy the show or covering it? Did I enjoy it? Because I also think those are two different things. And I did not enjoy covering Big Brother 24 when all that nonsense was going on. But as a fan, like, it was nice to see Taylor win and her trajectory. So, like, yeah, I think sometimes those are two different things. I don't know how you guys feel covering the show.

Aaron Armstrong (53:00)

I mean, I honestly, I think you're right. Like, there are parts of the. Parts of a season like this that are harder for me than some people, because I can't look away.

Sharon Tharp (53:11)

Yep.

Aaron Armstrong (53:11)

Even if I want to. However, the level of investment I have now is so much greater than, like, if I. If this were season, you know, 12, or, let's say, 13, I would have probably just stopped watching entire. I probably would have just bounced out, like, on a. On White Locust, because that's kind of what I did on 13. I was kind of like, this sucks. Like, I'm really bored of this. I don't want to pay attention at all because it's not what I'm looking for. But now that I'm. I'm super deep in these streets, you know, it's like, yeah, I have fun with the audience.

Melissa (53:53)

No, I totally agree. I think that, like, for me, I get excitement out of watching really good, like, strategy and really good gameplay and, like, people come together who maybe, like, weren't working together, like, because they realize it's in their best interest to actually work together. Like, things like that. Or, like, when two people start talking and then they start. The pieces start coming together and it starts clicking and they start, like, seeing, like, oh, my God, this is the dynamic of the house. Like, it's like that Tiffany and Claire conversation with the chess pieces or whatever it was, like, that was such a fun thing to watch is, like, the two of them, like, convening and being like, okay, this is what's going on in the house. And, like, seeing that sort of thing is, like, it makes me really excited. I mean, like, the leftovers forming, you know, things like that is, like, so fun and exciting because it's like, you don't expect it, and then it comes together. And it's just great to watch. And I just feel like a season where everybody is really, really bad, like can be messy and can you be like, you know, sometimes there's entertaining things happening like oh my God, so and so got put on the block by their closest ally or whatever. But generally it's not as fun for me to watch that and be like just messy gameplay than it is for me to see people really, really having great, excellent like strategy and gameplay. So yeah, this season, not as good for me.

Aaron Armstrong (55:15)

Yeah, this season was like popcorn, really great once. But it can't be every meal for me.

Melissa (55:22)

Totally, totally.

Aaron Armstrong (55:25)

But also like people have different tastes, you know what I mean? Big Brother 9 nearly made me drop the show. Some people love big brother Mike Bloom 9. And so, you know, people have just different tastes.

Melissa (55:40)

But I mean, to be fair, like we are talking like the round table is all about the strategy. So like that's why, I mean if people who are complaining like, oh well, you guys just like this sort of. You don't like this sort of version, but a lot of us do. It's like, okay, yeah, but like that's great. We're on the round table to talk strategies. So if we don't have that, then like we don't really have much of anything. So obviously like we like to talk strategy, we like to think about the strategy and see good strategy and that we're not watching for like the drama of it all or like the, you know, the messiness of it all.

Aaron Armstrong (56:13)

I H h. Bomberguy likes to say subjectivity is implied. And, and I, I like that saying because we're here to give our opinions, not to dictate what it actually is.

Melissa (56:30)

This episode is brought to you by Greenlight. Get this. Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many things to.

Aaron Armstrong (56:41)

Enrich our kids lives.

Melissa (56:42)

But are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight, you can teach your kids.

Sharon Tharp (56:46)

Financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing.

Melissa (56:49)

And this investment costs less than that. After school treat start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free trial at greenlight.com Spotify greenlight.com Spotify.

Aaron Armstrong (56:59)

Disney's Lilo and Stitch has finally landed on Disney. Now you can watch the global phenomenon at home with your ohana.

Melissa (57:08)

Be good for one second. You're the devil.

Aaron Armstrong (57:12)

Lilo and Stitch is verified hot on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 93%.

Melissa (57:17)

Wow.

Aaron Armstrong (57:18)

Stitch also cute and fluffy. Disney's Lilo and Stitch. Rated PG now streaming on Disney. And right now you can get Disney, Hulu and all of ESPN with an incredible limited time offer. Terms apply tonight.

Melissa (57:31)

Turn down the noise of the day and focus on the rest with agz, the nightly drink for winding down and resting up. New from AG1. AGZ supports your body's natural sleep cycle with clinically studied key herbs, adaptogens and minerals in amounts supported by research. And no melatonin helping you wake feeling rested, wind down, rest up with Agz. Learn more@drinkagz.com let's map out this week's.

Aaron Armstrong (58:01)

Amazing destinations and travel tips.

Sharon Tharp (58:04)

Honestly, Will, I didn't plan any trips, but I did switch to T Mobile with their new Family Freedom offer.

Aaron Armstrong (58:12)

That's not the itinerary we're following.

Sharon Tharp (58:14)

Well, I'm departing from ATT and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house.

Aaron Armstrong (58:28)

Bon voyage.

Ad (58:29)

Introducing Family Freedom, our lowest cost. To switch our biggest family savings all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com FamilyFreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone16128 gigabyte $8,029.99 Eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits. End and balance due if you pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile.

Aaron Armstrong (58:57)

Talk about the HOA trains. Last week Vince's Lauren nominating HOA train was given a 2.0. I did ask the audience to re rate it now that it is over and they stepped him up. They gave him a 3.0.

Melissa (59:15)

I think it's like worse. I would have said like this is much worse for him.

Sharon Tharp (59:20)

Same.

Aaron Armstrong (59:22)

I mean listen, I agree. It's just that it's such a classic Vince thing though because he got like he got lucky and Lauren didn't leave. His HOH looks slightly less stupid.

Sharon Tharp (59:34)

And so yeah, Morgan wins and sends her home. Like yeah.

Melissa (59:39)

Then immediately she does leave. Like I don't know. I guess it doesn't change the fact that like she would have left anyway, I guess.

Aaron Armstrong (59:46)

But still he remembers results not intentions.

Sharon Tharp (59:50)

The Morgan stands I think. No, I'm just kidding.

Aaron Armstrong (59:52)

I don't know.

Sharon Tharp (59:53)

Guys are doing well.

Aaron Armstrong (59:56)

I had the audience rate Morgan's double eviction HOA train and they gave it the Highest score of the entire season. In fact, the highest score ever, a 7.8 above Rachel's 7.6 when she took out Riley.

Melissa (60:15)

Wow. I mean, it was good.

Sharon Tharp (60:18)

Yeah, it was clutch.

Aaron Armstrong (60:21)

It was good. I don't know if it was better than Rachel taking out Riley. Good because it was kind of just like a no brainer.

Melissa (60:27)

But was Rachel's. Is. Is this Rachel after the fact or is this.

Aaron Armstrong (60:31)

Was. This was before it actually went through?

Melissa (60:35)

Yeah, because I remember when we were talking about it, we were like, this is like. I mean, we like it because we want Riley out, but, like, this is a not a great way to go about this. Like the p. She didn't tell people. She just, like, nominated him. Like, after the fact. Yes, of course. That was great.

Aaron Armstrong (60:51)

I will, in the off season, come up with a better way to average out the during and after Rachel's afterward rating. When we asked last week, how did it go? She got a 9.0.

Melissa (61:03)

Yeah. Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (61:05)

Bit more accurate.

Melissa (61:06)

So, yeah, I feel like after the fact, when it actually happened, we were all like, whoa, that's great.

Aaron Armstrong (61:12)

Is not a fair rating to compare to these others because Morgan's is also after the fact right now, and I'm comparing him to all of the during.

Melissa (61:19)

Oh, yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (61:21)

Eviction veto. So you got to see the end result ahead of time. And then, of course, I asked to rate Vince's current HOA train, his final five HOA train, and the audience gave him a 4.4, which, if I'm not mistaken, no, it's not his highest rate. He had a 4.9 during his HOA train when he did not put up Rachel.

Melissa (61:50)

Yeah, I mean, okay, I guess technically he, like, put up another ally, but Keanu was not a great ally for him, and he probably should not bring Keanu to the end. So I don't think that that's so bad that he got out Keanu. Like, it's not as bad as him putting up Lauren or some other ally of his.

Aaron Armstrong (62:08)

It's. I. I think he's being graded on a curve here that he didn't do something really, like, terrible with his nominations themselves. But we should not forget that he still burned Keanu so unnecessarily by continuing to promise that he wouldn't put him on the block, continuing to blame Morgan for his nominations. And, man, according to Keanu, burning his jury vote forever no matter what he.

Sharon Tharp (62:32)

Does, which I believe.

Aaron Armstrong (62:34)

Yeah, not great. Not great. And that's it. Those are the HOA trains that we have. Obviously, Morgan won one, but there's nothing to rate her on yet. So that will be the final HOH rating of the season as well. Okay, there's a couple more things here to talk about. I asked the audience to rate production on how well they're running the show.

Sharon Tharp (63:00)

Oh, my God.

Aaron Armstrong (63:01)

Don't ask me that. So we specifically pulled Sharon, and she gave production. The first week I asked this question is right after White Locust, they gave production a 1.2. Then last week a 1.7. This week a 2.4. They're climbing. Wow.

Melissa (63:28)

Much improved.

Aaron Armstrong (63:31)

I asked the audience, was Lauren the right target for Morgan in the double eviction? 96 said yes. I asked the audience, is Keanu the right target, or was Keanu the right target for Vince? And I was a little surprised about this. 58 of the audience said yes, 42% said no. I assume those 42 are thinking he should have targeted Morgan here.

Sharon Tharp (63:55)

They have otherwise. But that was never gonna. Yeah, that must be what it is.

Melissa (64:01)

Yeah. I mean, unless it's thinking that maybe Ava or Ashley won't bring Vince to the end if they win, so that, like, this maybe is a bad move for him when Keanu would potentially bring him. I don't know.

Aaron Armstrong (64:15)

I think the hope would be he targets Morgan, Keanu brings him to final two, he wins. But I don't know. I don't even know if that was a great option at that point. I don't know that he beats Keanu there, and I don't even know that he gets there or that Keanu does actually bring him.

Sharon Tharp (64:37)

Yeah. Kiano changes his mind all the time.

Melissa (64:40)

I don't know. Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (64:43)

Can we rate Morgan on Vincent?

Sharon Tharp (64:48)

That'd be more fitting.

Aaron Armstrong (64:50)

Who do you want to be evicted at the final four? 49 said Ava. 39 say Vince. 11 said Morgan. I assume that was before the feeds came back. Only 2% want Ashley to go. I think the most exciting thing would be Vince leaving at Final Four personally. Interesting, because now, all of a sudden, we have a really active end game, and it's not just, will Vince cut Morgan? Yes. No.

Sharon Tharp (65:21)

No.

Aaron Armstrong (65:21)

Send back the note.

Melissa (65:23)

I mean, I don't think. I mean, do we think either of them will cut each other? Like, I feel like they both will bring each other to the end.

Aaron Armstrong (65:31)

I think that's the plan for the both of them at the moment. But you never know with Vince.

Melissa (65:37)

I just feel like he wouldn't want to, like, ruin whatever they have or whatever. And so I think that's, like, important to.

Aaron Armstrong (65:43)

I agree.

Melissa (65:43)

And so I don't think he would actually cut her. And I think Morgan thinks that she can win against Ben, so why bother, like, cutting him? Like, you know, especially because I think Ashley would have. Would potentially have votes, and I would be scared if I was Morgan to bring Ashley.

Aaron Armstrong (66:01)

The thing about Vince, though, is that, like, you're completely right. Of course he would and should be worried, like, oh, I might lose Morgan if I do this. But the thing about Vince is that I'm sure he had a similar thought about his seven year relationship when he talked about how he had permission to flirt on the live feeds and he thought he could get away with that. So you just never know what's in that man's mind.

Melissa (66:28)

That is true. Yikes. I don't know. I just feel like I do think Vince takes Morgan. I think Morgan takes Vince. I think Ashley and Ava take each other.

Aaron Armstrong (66:41)

I think probably that is likely.

Melissa (66:43)

Yeah.

Sharon Tharp (66:44)

I just. Vince can't go out. I need to interview him face to face. I don't need an email interview with Vince.

Aaron Armstrong (66:53)

I asked the audience, who do you want to win the game? You want to win the game? 54% say Ashley. 41 say Morgan. Vince is at 3%. Ava at 2%.

Melissa (67:12)

Oh, boy.

Sharon Tharp (67:13)

Vince was 3%.

Aaron Armstrong (67:15)

Yeah.

Sharon Tharp (67:16)

Okay.

Aaron Armstrong (67:19)

So pretty much either Ashley or Morgan split them. 50. 50.

Sharon Tharp (67:25)

Okay.

Aaron Armstrong (67:25)

I think it's fair.

Melissa (67:27)

Yeah. Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (67:28)

But who do you think will win the game? I asked the audience.

Melissa (67:31)

It'd be like 99. Morgan.

Aaron Armstrong (67:33)

96.

Sharon Tharp (67:35)

Yeah.

Melissa (67:36)

Yep.

Aaron Armstrong (67:37)

2% Ashley. 2% Vince. 0% Ava. I think that's. I mean, listen, I only allowed you to pick one person. I don't think Ava's drawing dead, but Morgan should be far and away the favorite here, so it makes sense.

Melissa (67:54)

Yeah, I mean, I don't think. I feel like. I don't necessarily see Ashley or Ava, like, winning any of these competitions down the stretch. So they would have to be taken to the final two by Morgan or Vince. And I just feel like I see Morgan and Vince being like, we did this together. Like, we need to get to the end together. You know, I could just see them thinking that that's like a beautiful story and, like, not that it's. It's not as exciting for me. On the other hand, because it'd be a lot more exciting to have one of them cut each other, because that'd be interesting. But, you know, I get it.

Aaron Armstrong (68:32)

All right, well, finally, jury predictions. So we'll go over some of the easy ones. First. I asked. I pulled the audience. So how I did this is I listed out various final two Options. And then for each juror, you choose which person they think they would vote for based on those final two options. And I did separate some of them out into which person cuts Morgan to bring the other person there. So In a Morgan vs Vince final two, the audience thinks that Morgan wins with a 6 to 1 vote. Lauren voting for Vince, I don't think. And everyone else voting for Morgan.

Sharon Tharp (69:18)

People watch our exit interviews.

Aaron Armstrong (69:21)

Yeah, I feel like Lauren's not going to be a holdout there. Personally.

Sharon Tharp (69:24)

No, I think she. Again, that's why I like Lauren. I think she actually isn't sort of petty now. Again, exit interviews are always, you know, you never want to trust them completely because Will obviously was saying he was going to vote for Ava. But no, I think, I think Lauren if, especially if people were. Were leaning toward Morgan and made some comments. I don't, I don't see her voting for Vince.

Aaron Armstrong (69:45)

But the only other person they thought was a toss up was Keanu. The vote was a little close there, but they did say that they thought he would go for. For Morgan.

Melissa (69:55)

I think, I think everyone would go for Morgan in that situation because I also think, like, the fact that they would talk to each other in the jury house and like have the jury roundtable and stuff, I think people would be saying like, Morgan controlled Vince's hohs. Like, Morgan was in charge. Vince made a bunch of bad moves. He didn't know what he was doing. He betrayed all his allies. Like, he put his allies on the block. Like, I think people will. I think if it was like, oh, one person was betrayed by Vince and everybody else thought Vince was really good, then maybe Lauren could be convinced that, like, oh, well, you know, he had to do it because I, you know, whatever. But I don't think that's the situation here. I think everyone going to be like repeating the line that Morgan controlled Vince. So really she's the one who was in charge.

Sharon Tharp (70:39)

Yeah. And Rachel's in there, so.

Melissa (70:41)

Yeah, totally.

Aaron Armstrong (70:43)

All right, well, in the event that it's Morgan versus Ashley, I polled the audience and the audience thinks that Morgan wins also by a 6 to 1 vote. They think that Will votes for Ashley over Morgan. This one is closer though, because there are a couple of other close votes. They think ava is almost 50. 50 could vote for Ashley over Morgan. I actually don't know if I agree with that. They also think Rachel has a chance to vote for Ashley over Morgan, but Will is the only person they felt confident would.

Melissa (71:20)

Yeah, I feel like I could see. I feel like I could see Rachel voting for Ashley because I think they were closer than Morgan and Rachel. But at the same time, I could also see Rachel being like, look, this is game. And like, Morgan played a better game. I don't mean. I don't know.

Sharon Tharp (71:39)

Yeah, I think Rachel's vote, like you said, I think that's more up in the air because I could see her. I think she wants a good representative the season. But also I'm sure she thinks Ashley also played a good game.

Melissa (71:49)

Right.

Sharon Tharp (71:49)

So I could see that. Whereas Will, I mean, again, take for what you will. But in the ex interviews said that Ashley would need to prove something. So I think it depends on how Ashley does in sort of the jury questioning too. And in the finale.

Melissa (72:01)

Yeah, Yeah. I think if Ashley, like, revealed that she's actually an attorney and that she. This whole time she's been playing up being dumb, blah, blah, blah, and able to give, like, a good, convincing final speech. Like, I could see them being like, whoa, we were snowed. We thought that you were this, like, you know, person who's flying under the radio. Whatever. I. I think she could potentially sway some boats or maybe if, like, see, the thing is, she should have been doing something in her, like, goodbye messages, you know, like, maybe revealing something in the goodbye messages. I don't know, just because, like, she's not going to have that much time to tell people.

Aaron Armstrong (72:38)

We've only really seen, like, I hate.

Sharon Tharp (72:40)

That bring back the goodbye.

Melissa (72:42)

But they would. But they would show. They would show Ashley's if she was revealing anything.

Aaron Armstrong (72:48)

Well, yeah, maybe. But, like, we didn't see Lawrence at all. We haven't seen Keanu's yet. You know, like, theoretically there's still more she could be doing there in the future, but I agree she should be doing more. But she is. She did do a good job with. With Keanu before he left, at least.

Melissa (73:05)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (73:05)

And he definitely. She definitely implied to him that he would be learning things. So Morgan versus Ava in a final two. The audience thinks Morgan wins a four to three vote. They think Will, Kelly and Lauren all vote Ava, but it's not particularly close because they are sure about all four of the other votes. They are sure that Rachel, Keanu, Ashley and Vince are all locked in for Morgan, which I think is probably pretty fair. I think that it does. I think that the 4 to 3 will is the person they think might vote Morgan over Ava. Kelly and Lauren they think are locked in. I agree. I think Kelly and Lauren are fairly locked in for Ava there. Will, I could see voting for Ava there, but I do think the other four are locked in.

Melissa (74:04)

Yeah.

Sharon Tharp (74:05)

Oh, God. I think you're right.

Aaron Armstrong (74:08)

This is what I'm talking about.

Sharon Tharp (74:10)

But in that scenario, did you say Morgan cut Vince or not?

Aaron Armstrong (74:14)

I mean, the scenario where this happens is either Morgan cuts Vince or let's say instead, let's say somebody like Ashley or even Ava cuts Vincent. Final four, Morgan takes Ava. Let's. Well, the realistic scenario is Ashley cuts Vince at final four, Morgan wins final three. Hoh is pissed at Ashley, takes Ava. Still.

Sharon Tharp (74:39)

Still tricky. I don't know.

Aaron Armstrong (74:40)

It's a little closer than you like.

Sharon Tharp (74:42)

Yeah. I don't love it.

Aaron Armstrong (74:44)

Yeah. All right, then we have Ashley versus Vince. This is the scenario where Ashley wins the final three hoh and cuts Morgan. Now there is now also the scenario where Ashley potentially is able to. Well, either way, yeah, Ashley would have to win the final hoh and cut Morgan. And so she cuts Morgan and takes Vince to the final to. The audience thinks that this is a game winning move for Ashley, that she wins five to two, Morgan and Lauren voting for Vince. Everyone else voting for Ashley.

Sharon Tharp (75:31)

Lauren voting fervent. I feel like she might just go for it. I don't know.

Melissa (75:34)

Yeah, yeah, it's hard.

Aaron Armstrong (75:36)

I mean, I do think. I think Ava. I think Ava, Rachel will are locks. I. I don't. I. Honestly, the audience is confident about Kelly. I would not be Lauren. Bit of a toss up, obviously. And then it comes down to Keanu. I do think that if. If Ashley's the one to cut Morgan. I think Keanu's lock for Ashley. I think she at least has four votes here.

Sharon Tharp (76:04)

Ashley is a. Ashley has a good shot, especially if she conveys her. Yeah, Yeah, I could see it.

Aaron Armstrong (76:11)

Then we have the scenario where more Vince cuts Morgan and brings Ashley to the final two. And this is incredibly close. This. This vote is all over the place from the audience.

Sharon Tharp (76:26)

The audience loves Ashley. That's clear. So. Right. So it's a little skewed.

Aaron Armstrong (76:30)

Well, so the audience thinks for sure Keanu and Lauren are now locks for Vince over Ashley.

Sharon Tharp (76:36)

Okay.

Aaron Armstrong (76:37)

Over Ashley if Vince is the one to cut Morgan. But they have Rachel, Kelly and Morgan all at 5050. They don't know what Morgan would do if she was freshly cut by Vince. They don't know if Rachel would vote for Ashley or Vince having made the move. And they don't know what Kelly would do in that spot either. I think Kelly's honestly the one most likely to not vote for Vince still. But again, it's Kelly. So who really knows what she would Do. Yeah. Right. So ultimately, they have Vince winning by a very small margin. They have Morgan just edging out into the Vince territory and Kelly just edging out into the Vince. Vince territory. They think it's a 4 to 3 vote. Vince barely eats it out.

Melissa (77:27)

That's tough. I could see that one going either way. You said that Rachel was voting for Vince.

Aaron Armstrong (77:34)

They say that Rachel will still vote Ashley.

Melissa (77:36)

Okay.

Aaron Armstrong (77:36)

I think Will and Ava is locked in votes for Ashley still.

Sharon Tharp (77:41)

I think, yeah, you're right. Because, like, the whole narrative has been Morgan's controlling Vince, and I think that's. And then carry through. So even if. Yeah, I don't know.

Melissa (77:52)

I think it could go either way because I think if it could be like, oh, Morgan's been controlling Vince the whole time and then he cuts her. It's like, yeah, right. I was controlling my stuff. Like, if he argues that, I mean, obviously it's like, well, you know, now who knows?

Aaron Armstrong (78:04)

That's why it's so important that Ashley really gets in there. It would be great if she got in there early by saying, I'm gonna do my best to convince Vince to take me over Morgan and really try to take as much ownership over it as possible. And being like, I'm the one that got him to bring me here by convincing him that he couldn't beat Morgan and. And so on and so forth. And maybe there's a shot she can still pick up some of those votes, but it's definitely looking real, real interesting. All right, then we have a few more Ashley vs. Ava, where Ava is the one to cut Morgan. The audience actually still has Ashley winning there. They think that Vince votes Ashley, Morgan votes Ashley, Keanu votes Ashley, and Rachel votes Ashley. I don't think this is true, though. I think if Ava cuts Morgan, Keanu votes Ava. I think Vince votes Ava, not Ashley. I think that Ava wins.

Sharon Tharp (79:06)

Yeah, I don't know about that one.

Melissa (79:08)

Oh, boy.

Aaron Armstrong (79:10)

Yeah, Then we have Ashley versus Ava, where Ashley's the one to cut Morgan. The audience obviously thinks that Ashley wins that one, but again, I'm actually not that sure. I'm. I still don't know that Vince would. Would vote for. I don't think Vince will. Might ever vote for Ashley.

Sharon Tharp (79:29)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (79:29)

If Ashley cuts Morgan, I don't know if Morgan would vote for Ashley. And without those two, she can't win because Kelly and Lauren are still locked in votes for Ava.

Sharon Tharp (79:40)

Yep. Agreed. I don't know. I. Vince really just never liked Ashley. For whatever reason. I don't think he respects her. Ridiculous.

Aaron Armstrong (79:48)

But So, I mean, in with that in mind, if that's true analysis, she actually can't cut Vince at final Four because then she can't win the game if that's true. But who knows? Who knows? Again, she might have a better shot if Ava is the one to cut Morgan at that point. But she would need to hold on to Keanu's vote and I'm just not sure that she could. Her biggest problem is that Vince is such a hater. Like, yeah, she has to be sitting next to him because he's such a locked in vote against her because he's talked trash about her so much throughout the season. He's talked better about Ava than he has about Ashley. All right, then we have Vince versus Ava. If Vince cuts Morgan, the audience thinks Vince wins pretty handily. Then we have Vince versus Ava where Ava cuts Morgan. They think Ava wins pretty handily. They think whoever cuts Morgan between Vince and Ava just wins.

Melissa (80:46)

I don't know. I don't know.

Sharon Tharp (80:48)

I don't know about that.

Melissa (80:50)

Yeah, it's so tricky and I feel like we do this all the time. Where then it ends up being like, oh, yeah, none that of these predictions were right. Like it's always that. They always end up surprising us and I.

Aaron Armstrong (80:58)

We haven't seen these people properly in over a month.

Melissa (81:02)

I think a lot of it changes based on what people learn about in the jury house and what they discuss. And we don't know what's being said and we don't know what the general vibe is in there. Like if people are pissed off at certain people or if they're, you know, rooting for other people. We don't know.

Aaron Armstrong (81:19)

Every one of the Big Brother 25 cast leaving saying, Matt's playing, playing the best game. Matt for sure, if he gets there, is going to win. And then nobody voted for mat that.

Melissa (81:27)

Yeah, I think it. It really just depends on, you know, what the vibes are, like how, how people are feeling when they get to the jury house and whether people are. Because once they get to the house, you know, they can start. I mean, they're not playing anymore. So they can really open up about what all has been going on and people can realize, oh, this person was working with this person or this person didn't have any idea what's going on or whatever and really, truly understand. Like, I mean, they could come back with a totally different. You can't rely on exit interviews. You can't rely on any of that stuff.

Aaron Armstrong (82:00)

You know, Kelly's gonna be in that jury house. Just making stuff up.

Melissa (82:04)

Why do I instigate so much?

Sharon Tharp (82:07)

You can't predict her vote like that. Stupid to even try, because I think she's one of those people that will go against the grain just to go against the grain.

Aaron Armstrong (82:16)

She'll put a dead bug in the bag, shake it up, and then pull out the one it landed on. You know what I mean?

Melissa (82:22)

Like, she's. She's someone who I would not have wanted in the jury house because I just feel like she's so unpredictable, and it's like you don't even know how to win over her vote because you don't know where she's gonna go with any of it.

Aaron Armstrong (82:38)

Let's get to the player ratings, then. The final portion of this podcast, of course, where we rate the players from 1 to 10 based on how well we think they're doing in the game. There's only four players left again. I'm pretty sure this is the first time ever three players are evicted in the same week. Three players gone that we will not be talking about. And look at this board, though. Look how bad all of them were rated.

Melissa (83:04)

Wow.

Aaron Armstrong (83:04)

Pretty good.

Melissa (83:06)

Makes sense.

Aaron Armstrong (83:10)

All right, so only four people to talk about. Let's start with Ashley. And as we just sort of laid out, she's definitely in a dire position. Her best chance to win is to win the final three hoh, cut Morgan and take Vince, probably. And that's still not a guaranteed win. So not great. Not amazing, especially considering that her chances of. Because here's the thing, too. Her chances of winning the final three HOH are much higher if she's competing against Ava and Morgan, but she may have a harder time beating Ava in a final two vote. So she'd rather be able to take Vince, but if Vince is there, he's much more likely to be able to beat her in parts one and two. And then she won't even be competing in part three of the final three hoh, potentially. And she'll show. She won't even have a chance to cut Morgan. And so where does she go? You know? Like, it's a tough spot. She's been playing well, though. She's been playing as well. Not as well as she can be playing necessarily, but, like, she's been doing her best in a really difficult situation where she continues to run into competitions that she just can't win. And obviously, tiny veto. Anybody can win tiny veto. But this is. This is. I talk about this all the time with equity and competitions, when Ashley has a. A relative, basically a 0% chance to win the final five HOH competition, but then has a, you know, 20 chance to win the final five veto, and then another 0% chance to win the final four HOH competition, and then maybe a 25 chance to win the final four veto. Compare that to somebody like Morgan, who, if she had been playing in the final five HOH, would have had a, you know, like, 50 chance of winning that final four final five HOH competition, who had then a 20 chance of winning the veto and then a 100 chance of winning the final four HOH and then a 25 chance at winning. It's a dramatic difference when you have these physical competitions that other people will just not win or at least have extremely low odds of winning. And so when you are a player like Ashley and you. And it's like every other competition, at best is, you know, at best, 20 chance. And you need to strike that 20 chance or you won't be able to win the next competition. You have to wait for another few competitions to even have that 20 chance. It's so much more difficult. And. And that's where Ashley is. And she keeps missing those. Those, you know, 10, 15, 20%. And. And now she's in a spot that is almost unwinnable. She's been playing well, but it's. It's a tough, tough spot. So all of that said, oh, I don't even know what to give her. I think I have to give her, like, a five. I just think. I think it's a tough spot. I think that Morgan is just so far, far and away the front runner here that it would take a little bit of a miracle for Ashley to pull. Pull through. Here's the thing. I've seen miracles happen on big brother. I've seen them happen plenty of times, Especially when the best player left needs to do them. So I'm not gonna take her. I'm not gonna count her out. That's why she's getting a five. But this is definitely Morgan's game to lose.

Melissa (87:17)

Yeah, five for me as well. Honestly, I. I feel like the tricky thing here, too, is that I would feel different about it if Ashley was, like, guaranteed a win if she made it to the end, because then it's just a question of, like, oh, well, she just has to make it there, and, you know, she could win a comp, and then this can happen for her, but at this point, it's not a guaranteed win even if she gets there. So that's why, to me, it's. It's lower than it would be otherwise, because I just. It's hard for me to see her getting there, and then it's hard for me to see her pulling out a win if she does. So it's unfortunate because I do think that she was really making some good progress and I think she was doing really well strategically. But, yeah, she's just not winning anything. And then also, like, you know, we had Keanu, Lauren, and Kelly all get out all at once. Well, not at once, but you know what I mean. Whereas those could have been the people to break up Morgan and Vince. Now you're left with the two comp beasts and two people who don't really win comps very often. And I just feel like that's not good odds for her. Whereas if. If Lauren, Kelly, or Keanu were still in the house, they could presumably win and take that shot, but now there's not really anyone there who can do that. So it's not. It's not great for her. So, yeah, unfortunately, a five.

Sharon Tharp (88:42)

Oh, the chat is not gonna like me. I'm just gonna warn you right now.

Aaron Armstrong (88:46)

Oh, boy.

Sharon Tharp (88:48)

I'm not gonna go crazy. I love Ashley. I'm Ashley. Stan. I want this for her, but I think she's just in a terrible sort of position. And she's. She's been doing work right. Like, she's playing against her win conditions, which are admittedly pretty small at this point. But I just. It's so stacked in Morgan's favor, especially she just won hoh. But even so, I hate to do it, but I just don't see her getting there. And like Melissa said, even when she's there, I don't know, it's not a guarantee. And so I'm going to give her a four. Sorry.

Aaron Armstrong (89:21)

I think that's fair. And the thing too, is that, like, I think part of my headspace is still. I wasn't even thinking about the fact that Morgan just won Final four veto. As much like I'm still wrapping my head around Final Four hoh, I'm still, like, wrapping my head around that new reality because, like, her inability to take Morgan out here, which we already assumed does make it even worse for her now moving forward to potentially win this game. The audience, and to be fair to the audience as well, some of them were voting before the feeds came back. They did give her a six. And so we're maybe living in a world that was a little bit more optimistic at the time, but that all ultimately averages out. Wow. A five. Five. So let's move on to Ava. Melissa, what Are your thoughts on Ava?

Melissa (90:12)

Yeah, I feel similarly about Ava in regards to her ability to, number one, get there and number two, win in the end. So I think. I think she has less of a shot than Ashley does at this point. I mean, obviously there. Anything can happen, but I just feel like. And I mean, okay, do we think that if Ava was given the opportunity, like, let's say Ava wins and she has the option to take out Morgan or Vince, like, do you think that she. She does it, or do you think that Morgan and Vince are like, yeah, get out, Ashley, and she'll do it? Like, what?

Aaron Armstrong (90:55)

I mean, I think. I mean, she. She did tell him when the feeds came back that she would consider not evicting him, but I'm assuming she's lying.

Melissa (91:05)

Yeah. Okay. I. I think.

Aaron Armstrong (91:10)

She'S also straight up told Ashley, obviously, we're victim Vince.

Melissa (91:13)

Okay. Yeah. I mean, thank goodness. But I, Yeah, I think it's just a tough road for Ava, same as Ashley, I guess my thought is that to me, it seems like Ashley has a better shot if she gets to the end than Ava does, just because Ashley, I think, could do a better speech. Like, I think she has a better story. I think Ava just doesn't really have it in her to fight win and doesn't really care about it and would just kind of do like a. Like, vote for me if you want. Like, it's been a fun ride, whatever. So I. I don't. I just don't see that win for Ava. So for me, oh, I think it's. It's a three or four for me. I mean, just because Ava could potentially win, I think because Ava just doesn't care about it, I think I'm gonna give her a three.

Aaron Armstrong (92:06)

Sharon.

Sharon Tharp (92:07)

Yeah, same. Same thoughts. I think even if she got to the end, and I do think, you know, she has some friends in the jury that I think would be willing to vote for her. I just don't have as much confidence in her than, you know, Ashley is a lawyer. She knows she has good reads. She, I think, can articulate her game if she gets there. I don't know if I feel the same way about Ava. I don't know if she's going to be playing to the cameras or pandering to the audience. Like, I don't know what to back there, and I just don't have as much confidence. And I do think people were sort of getting annoyed with her attitude a little bit towards the end. So I'm gonna give her a two.

Aaron Armstrong (92:44)

Sorry, two. The audience Gave her a three. And yeah, I. I'll give her. I'll give her a three. I. You know, she is talking to Vinnie. She's going through the motions. If she wasn't, I would have given her A2 here because she's doing nothing. She's doing way less than Ashley. But she hasn't, like, given up, despite her complaints about being there. And. And so I'll give her a little bit of credit for that, but not much because that really should just be, you know, the entry fee. But. But the fact that she is actually a lot closer to winning than you might imagine. And if this veto is something like what the bleep. And she really does have an equal chance of winning it, and she does manage to win it. All of a sudden, she's in the final three and in a position where Ashley has to take her over Morgan, and she's obviously taking herself. She's taking Ashley over Morgan, which means it's coming down to one of her or Ashley in part three of the final three. Hoh she has a. A. A decent shot of winning. Like, people really should not be discounting Ava's chances of winning this game. They are not zero by any means. They are greater than Morgan's. Not zero to Vince. So watch out for it. But I wouldn't say it was her own doing that makes it happen here. So a three it is. Let's talk about Morgan. Sharon.

Sharon Tharp (94:20)

Oh, gosh.

Aaron Armstrong (94:20)

What are you gonna give Morgan?

Sharon Tharp (94:23)

I wrestled with this one, but I'm taking into consideration she just wanted to h. Right. I'm allowed to do that.

Aaron Armstrong (94:31)

Yes.

Sharon Tharp (94:33)

Okay. I. Obviously, this is Morgan's game to win. I think she put in the work to get there. I think she obviously ran Vince's hohs was basically immune for many, many weeks. Like I said, there's just so many things about her game that I. That I am impressed with. And, guys, I don't know what would ever constitute a 10 here. And I could give her a nine. Right. Because that's what I was thinking. But I'm like, what would make it a 10? I mean, at this point, I'm giving her a 10. That's all. Thank you.

Aaron Armstrong (95:06)

A 10.

Sharon Tharp (95:11)

What would make her position worse? I don't know.

Aaron Armstrong (95:16)

Listen, that's the only 10. There's only been one 9 given out this season so far, and it was last week from Morgan. And how this is the only 10 given out. The audience gave her an 8. Little bit lower. And what I would say is what would make her position stronger is obviously like locked in allies that would for sure take her to the final two as opposed to needing to win to get there. But we.

Sharon Tharp (95:50)

If she's still a threat, I still feel like that accounts for something. Because people want you. I don't know. I. I think. I guess think about a little bit like.

Aaron Armstrong (95:58)

Like, we've seen players in this position who have guaranteed themselves a win and are being taken by both of the other players. Right. Like, that to me, is a 10 in this spot. But people have different criteria. And I do think that she's probably at least halfway there where if Vince is there, I do think he's taking her. But I'm not 100%.

Sharon Tharp (96:20)

Yes, you were. You were 100%. I thought.

Aaron Armstrong (96:23)

No, I've been saying with this guy can do anything.

Sharon Tharp (96:27)

No, he's in love.

Aaron Armstrong (96:28)

I think he will take her, but I'm not. I'm not laying my life on it. I. I would never bet my life on anything Regarding Vince. Not Vinnie the Lip.

Sharon Tharp (96:36)

No, no, no.

Aaron Armstrong (96:36)

Never. So I. So if. And for reference, I believe Chelsea in this spot also got a 9 for similar reasons. It was very likely that Mackenzie would take her, but Cam wouldn't. Was implying that he wouldn't. And. And so there was a little bit of vulnerability, just a little bit of uncertainty there. So I will give her the nine that she probably should have gotten last week when it seemed like she wasn't pushing for Lauren to leave yet she ultimately did exactly what she needed to do last week. So this is a little bit of a makeup rating as well as her very, very front runner status here in the end. Just super locked in winning this final four. Hoh. She is one hoh win away. She just needs to win this quiz comp. I'm just. I'm also just one small thing. I'm not super confident in her tiebreaker abilities.

Sharon Tharp (97:35)

Oh.

Aaron Armstrong (97:36)

After seeing her in that veto.

Sharon Tharp (97:37)

Good call.

Aaron Armstrong (97:38)

And that's a little scary, but I do think that she is over 90% the winner of this season at this point. Melissa, what do you think?

Melissa (97:51)

Well, I'm gonna go with Sharon and go with it.

Aaron Armstrong (97:54)

Yes.

Sharon Tharp (97:55)

Melissa.

Melissa (97:55)

Boy, I'm giving her a 10 because last week was such a good week for Morgan. I mean, the fact that she got Vince to put Lauren up on the block and then, I mean, that was already like, she makes him look like a total weenie. Like, she just makes him look so bad. And then so it's like, that's your big competition. Boom, he's out. And then you've got the double eviction. Where she gets Morgan or gets Lauren out. Her target. She gets her. Her number one allies. Number one Ally out of the house and doesn't even look that bad, quote unquote, doing it. Like, I feel like it seemed very fair the way Morgan was, like, talking with Lauren. It didn't seem like, oh, finally I can get you out. It was more just like, look, like, this is. These are my options of putting you and putting count. Oh, no. Like, Keanu won the veto. Guess you have to stay up there. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, like she. She has plausible deniability to say that. Oh, well, I was trying to get Keanu out. Oh, no. This is just a casualty of this week. Then Vince still sticks around with her then. Still. I mean, where else is Vince gonna go? So Vince with Morgan as his number one ally, even though she just took out his number one ally, you know, number two ally, whatever. And then she's. She wins hoa. Well, first of all, Keanu gets taken out, so that would have been a huge comp trip for her. She wins this hoh. I mean, it's just. It's all good for her right now. Like, this has been just such a good week for her. And I feel like if we're. I get that we're like, okay, well, what about the end game? Blah, blah, blah. But, like, this week, I just feel like I have to reward it. It was like one success after another, and I was just so impressed. And I think that I think Morgan deserves to win the game. I mean, these are really impressive things that she's been doing, and I just feel like she cares so much about it. When she's in it, she's in it and she is locked in. And I just feel like I like that in a player. So, yeah, it's a 10 for me this week, for sure.

Aaron Armstrong (100:04)

I think it's fair. I think it's fair for me. I just. I worry about, like, a couple days from now, let's say it is something like what the bleep for final four veto and it's a coin flip whether or not she loses. Vinnie. And now I'll just. She's competing against Ava and. And Andor Ashley in part three of the final three hoh. And it's like, this is a lot. Like, let's hold on to our seats a little bit more than we were just a moment ago. You know what I mean? But that requires it to be something that allows them to win. It requires them to win. It requires her to then Lose it requires a few different things to happen. It's just, you know, we've seen plenty of things happen before. All right, finally, let's talk about Vince one last time. The audience gave him a four this week, and honestly, I kind of agree. I think I'd give him a four this week.

Sharon Tharp (101:00)

No.

Aaron Armstrong (101:02)

Even three. I'm gonna give him a three because he's still playing this week terribly. Because he's promising Keanu things that he shouldn't be promising. Burning Keanu's vote when he absolutely doesn't need to. He's now promising Ava things he doesn't need to be promising. He continues to push, even just minutes before this podcast started, he continues to push narratives that are bad for his game. Saying things like, you know, I do think. I think that Morgan might take Ashley over me. I don't even know. And I. Not because, like, I know that I can't beat her and that I need to not be against her at the. At the end. And. And. And. And, yeah, obviously, I would. I would want to. You to be in the final three with me. And it's like, Vince, you know, you're gonna. If you stay, you are going to be this vote, and if you are this vote, are you really evicting Ava? Because Morgan's gonna have something to say about that. And if you're not evicting Ava, why are you telling Ava these things? So wild to me, the decisions that he makes. And on top of that, as I said, he very well could be just like Ava evicted this very week in. In the next couple of days, he could be gone. He might not even make the final three, let alone the fact that he seems to plan to take Morgan to the final two while telling everyone that it's an awful mistake if he does. It's. It's. It's bad.

Melissa (102:39)

So, okay, I have a question. Is because, like, I mean, okay, this is. My thought process on this, is that I don't think he should have taken out Keanu. I think that he should have played up with Keanu. Like, we're bros. It's you and me. I want to make sure that you and I go to the end together, blah, blah, blah. And I think Keanu would have, like, lapped it up. I think he would have been really in on that idea. And so I think, like, having somebody else there who would be a guaranteed person to take Vince to the end, like, I. I guess, like, maybe if they ended up getting to the end, maybe Keanu would have the votes. But, like, I don't know, requiring him.

Aaron Armstrong (103:15)

To do something against what Morgan wants.

Melissa (103:17)

Right, Right. Well, that's the thing is, like, I think he should have kept Keanu. I think this is a bad week for him. I think you're absolutely right. I think that if he had kept, like, Keanu wanted to work with Vince desperately, and he should have played that up. And I get that Morgan doesn't want that or whatever, but, like, he should have kept Keanu. He should have. He should have done that. And now it's like, people who would potentially work with Morgan. I mean, Ashley would potentially work with Morgan. Ava would potentially work. And, like, nobody wants to work with Vince, and this is just bad for Vince. But at the same time, Vince is winning a lot, so maybe it doesn't even matter that it's bad for him. Maybe he does get to the end and he's able to argue his way to a win. I don't know. I don't. I don't. I don't feel like his speech will be that great. And I feel like right now the jury is being tainted against him, like, for good reason, because he's just coming across so weak. I mean, the Lauren thing looks bad. The Keanu thing. I mean, you know, Keanu is going to be like, yeah, he. He's just following what Morgan wants. He would never want to put me up. It was just him. Like, I just don't think he's going to look good to the jury at this point. So I think he would need a really, really convincing final two speech. And I don't know if he can give that. Maybe if it's against Ava, he could, like. But I do think Ashley or Morgan would give better speeches than Vince. So I guess because he keeps winning, I'll give him a little credit for that. I think he has a better shot to win than Ava, I think, at this point. So I'm gonna give him a four, but it's just. It was not a good week for him, and I don't think he's making any of the right moves. I don't think he's making any of the right, like, strategic calls in any of his conversations. So it's just really not great.

Aaron Armstrong (105:04)

Yeah, I mean, he. The. The thing about Vince and the reason I. I initially went with a four, is that he has a more solid win condition than Ava does, which is all he needs to do is cut Morgan at final three. Yep. If he does that, he wins. And also probably undeservedly gets a reputation as, like, oh, he did what he needed to do at the end. You know what I mean? So that's why I nearly. But. But I need to document how terribly he is playing moment to moment, and. And he needs to be punished for that.

Sharon Tharp (105:43)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (105:43)

Sharon, what do you think?

Sharon Tharp (105:45)

Yeah, I struggle with this because now, you know, I start comparing, okay, I gave you ever 2. Do I give it it Vince? Because I was considering giving Vincent two. I'm gonna give him a three again. I don't think he's playing well. And I could drop him down for getting rid of Keanu, too. I do agree that if he cuts. Morgan claims that move can articulate his game. Like there's a. There's a way. I don't think it's likely, but I think it's a little better than Ava's chances. So I'm gonna give him a three.

Aaron Armstrong (106:17)

All right, there it is. Then. Four for Vince, nine for Morgan, three for Ava, five for Ashley. And I think this is relatively fair. I think, again, Ashley's getting a bit of a boost because she's actively playing well. Vince is getting a little bit punished because he's actively playing terribly, and. And Morgan is far and away the front runner right now, the most likely person to win whole thing. And that's it for the stock watch this season. It's done. It's over. We only have a winner to crown.

Melissa (106:56)

I'm very shocked. I did not think this was the last stopwatch going into tonight, but I remember them saying that Sharon was the last guest on our stock watch. Like, our last stock watch is Sharon. And then I saw Sharon, I was like, oh, wait, this is the last one. Oh, my God.

Sharon Tharp (107:10)

So it does feel weird that it's like the last week because it. Things are still happening, and usually we're bored out of our minds, and maybe that's why we're confused. But this has been really fun, and I'm glad. Glad you guys had me on.

Melissa (107:21)

It's fun, and it's also exciting to have somebody leave and we get a new hoh before the stock watch because we don't. Don't normally get new information for tonight's podcast. So this is. This was exciting.

Aaron Armstrong (107:33)

Yeah, exciting indeed. Well, any final. Any final thoughts, I guess on the season? We've. We've talked plenty. But any. Any final words.

Sharon Tharp (107:45)

For me? I just. I've been having a. I've been having a good time watching this season. I. I'm glad it's wrapping up. I think it was the perfect amount of time. I would. It kept me interested. I actually was watching the live feeds still, I'm still watching them, which I never do. I usually fall off by now. I've enjoyed. I've enjoyed covering it for the most part there of that White Locust week was horrific. And I think that will definitely play into how I look at the season as well. But. But, yeah, no, I think, I think it's been a. Overall, I'm happy with the season. Well, let's, you know, I reserve that. Let's wait for a second.

Melissa (108:17)

I feel like, yeah, I think that first of all, the way that they're doing this end game has been much better than usual. I mean, you have like the exciting double eviction and then you have this like midweek eviction and like everything seems to be happening and it's not as slow as the end game normally goes. So I do appreciate that. I will say that next season I really hope we have some more strategy to talk about and not just like complaining about how everyone has no strategy like, or how they're playing actively, poorly. So I do hope next season is better for that. But yeah, I mean, there have been some good moments and some very entertaining moments this season and some very exciting moments as well as, you know, some really bad moments. So I, I feel like we've had some ups and downs, but, yeah, we'll see if it goes out on a high note or not.

Aaron Armstrong (109:09)

We will see, indeed. Well, at least the round table will go out on a high note as this is the final one, of course. Make sure you tune in for the updates. There's a few left in the season. We've got some recaps coming your way as well. Perhaps some deep dives in the off season. I will be recording my audiobook book shortly into the off season as well. Behind the mirror. Sharon has one.

Sharon Tharp (109:37)

It's good. Go get it.

Aaron Armstrong (109:38)

Pre order it. Thank you. Melissa doesn't have one. I actually, I just, I just learned this that right now the audiobook pre order is number three in coming soon in popular uh, for Audible.

Sharon Tharp (109:54)

Wow, that's amazing.

Aaron Armstrong (109:55)

Beat only by King's Dark Tidings book, which is a fun series, and Under Siege by Eric Trump. So I don't know, maybe we want to beat that. Pretty cool nonetheless though. So thank you for the pre orders for the audiobook as well as the physical one. Make sure you head over to Taron Armstrong.com if you want to pre order now. And that's check out the YouTube, Twitch and Patreon for streams during the episodes. I'll be continuing to cover Survivor The Amazing Race Traders, all kinds of stuff into the off season. So come and find me there if you want my coverage for that. Sharon, you of course have tons going on all the time. What are you up to?

Sharon Tharp (110:47)

Yeah, go check out my podcast called the Exclusive. Obviously going to finish up Big Brother, hopefully cover a little bit of the Amazing Race. I will be be probably covering Survivor 49 as well. Since I was there for 50. I felt like it's only fitting that I also cover 49 and I'm really excited about it. And I just dropped an interview with Jeff today, so you can check that out. I'm also doing all these old school interviews with Big Brother players. I just had a Porsche. I've had God Carol from BB8. I've had Donnie. I've had just all the random people. I love that. Pulling these people out of obscurity. What have you been up to? And so, so, yeah, just having fun.

Aaron Armstrong (111:24)

All right. And you can of course find Melissa at It's Melissa three Days. Anything else you'll be up to in the off season, Melissa?

Melissa (111:34)

Well, I am podcasting about the finale, so for the people in the chat being like, oh, this is the last time we see Melissa. Not quite. You can't get rid of me yet, but then you will get rid of me. But yeah, nothing, nothing at this point. But I would be interested in maybe covering a little bit of the Amazing Race. Maybe just like an episode or something. Just because there's Big Brother people on it. It.

Sharon Tharp (111:52)

Yeah, do it.

Melissa (111:54)

Yeah.

Aaron Armstrong (111:54)

All right, well, thank you all so much for joining us all season long. I hope you liked the data, the ratings, the discussion, and we will see all of you on the round table next season.

Melissa (112:12)

A better Help ad Lewis Capaldi partnered.

Aaron Armstrong (112:16)

With Better Help to get word out.

Melissa (112:18)

About how important therapy can be.

Aaron Armstrong (112:20)

I struggle most weeks to, like, get up, get myself up and ready and go to therapy or whatever. Like even like to open the laptop to talk to my therapist Sometimes can be really difficult, but I do it.

Melissa (112:30)

Because I realize how important it is for me to continue to feel good.

Aaron Armstrong (112:34)

I felt the best I felt in.

Melissa (112:36)

A long time through therapy. Learn more about online therapy@betterhelp.com.