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July 26, 2004
Time To Farewell Paul…
So where to start about tonight?
Well, the show had it’s usual beginning (ie: Gretel banter, followed by her repeatedly requesting the audience to shut up) and then they launched into asking the housemates some questions from the audience. Could Paul dance for us? How much are Bree’s chicken fillets? How does Trevor get his hair to look so lovely? While an incredible insight into the housemate’s psyches, I was beginning to suspect Big Brother producers were resorting to “filler” - little did I know what was ahead.
Gretel called Ryan on stage and began to casually chat to him about the last few days. Once again, MLS-scandal related conversation was off limits which personally I think was a shame. She should have asked him “Have you heard about the MLS t-shirt fiasco, and how do you feel about it? Did you know about your mates plans before you went into the house? Are you surly at them?” but no - we had to sit through inane “How much sleep have you had?” banter as per usual.
And then Big Brother sank to a new low. Gretel began asking Ryan about Monica, because you know, we just haven’t discussed this topic with him at all. Yawn. Gretel began to ask if he’d like to see her tonight - I began to pray that she was simply teasing him, and surely they weren’t going to bother with parading Monica onstage. How wrong I was.
Monica arrived and could be heard saying to Ryan as she greeted him something along the lines of “I had no idea they were going to do this” - what did you think they were bringing you to Dreamworld for? An onstage cat-fight with Bree if she was evicted?
Ryan and Monica sat down together and it was painful to watch the two of them acting like awkward teenagers on a first date. “How are you?” “Alright.” “What have you… ummm… been up to?” “Nothing much…” Urgh!
Once again, Gretel begins grilling them about their “relationship” - the one that they’ve repeatedly denied will happen. She asks “Do you want to pash?” Christ, Gretel - you might be shagging a teenager but there’s no need to revert into behaving like one! Then we have to sit down and watch footage we’ve all seen a million times before - Ryan & Monica’s blossoming infatuation. Ryan, visible in the bottom right hand corner, looks slightly livid and slightly mortified to have to sit through this embarrassment - I know how he feels. Monica giggles uncomfortably and even Gretel appears to realise just what a farcical segment Kris Noble has roped her into participating in.
All in all, it was about as insightful as an episode of Echo Point and thrice as horrible to sit through. Even the audience seemed disinterested, and I have a strong suspicion Ryan will beat someone to a bloodied pulp backstage later tonight. A pointless cheap stunt, a complete waste of time, and one must wonder whether it was really worth adding a half hour onto the eviction episode simply so Big Brother fans could bear witness to such rubbish.
Enough of that - onto Paul’s eviction! While I was sad that Paul had to leave (don’t worry, I’m constantly reminding myself it’s just a reality television show, and an increasingly crap one at that) I was quite happy with the remaining three housemates and couldn’t pick one I wanted booted from the house. As a result, I decided to abstain from voting (Merlin stylez!) and chose to watch on as an observer. I did expect Bree to go, but it would seem I’m underestimating young Bree a fair bit these days!
In any case, I don’t think Paul was too heartbroken about leaving. I think any normal person would be slightly disappointed to miss out on a chance at a million dollars after coming so close, but I never really thought of Paul as the type who cared much about the money. Sure, he did become less argumentative during the last few weeks, but I think that had less to do with “playing the game” and more to do (as he explained) with simply getting on better with the housemates remaining in the house later on in the series.
Gretel did the normal Big Brother questions with Paul, and I was rather amused at his analysis of Aphrodite - she talked too much, had a foul mouth, and wasn’t able to work out when it was appropriate and when it wasn’t. And think - Paul doesn’t even know about her Terri-related sniping post-eviction!
Finally, Paul was reunited with his family and proved that despite his huffing and puffing at times in the house, at heart he’s just a big softie - bless. Gretel decided to try a new approach when giving Paul his Mitsubishi Lancer, and directed the conversation towards Paul’s son Corey.
“Do you know what’s in this envelope?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you think it is?”
“Money.”
“No, it’s not money. Would you like to guess again?”
“Clocks.”
“No, it’s not a clock. Why don’t you put your hand in the envelope and find out?”
(Corey fumbles around in the envelope and eventually emerges clutching the keys to a Mitsubishi Lancer in his little fist)
“Keys.”
“That’s right, they’re keys. What do you think the keys are for?
“A house.”
Ha! Gotta love a six year old’s thought processes. Top possible prizes (in order) - Money, clocks, houses… By the time poor old Corey discovered Dad had won himself a car, he looked kinda bored of the whole thing.
So that’s it then. We farewell Paul, and tomorrow night is the big one! Who will win Big Brother 2004 - Trevor or Bree? Feel free to comment below and tell me who you think will win, and more importantly, who should win. Personally, I can’t help but feel that tomorrow night will be a little bit of an anti-climax but maybe I’ll perk up tomorrow. In any case, it’s nearly time for ausculture.com to end it’s Big Brother Blogfest! We’ve followed through with something - bloody hell!
Gretel Clothing Summary! A fetching, sparkly pink corset (has she hired Ashalea as a stylist?) with a dollop of bling bling-ish jewellery on the ears and fingers. I was rather concerned by her hair extensions though, which looked more like the floppy ears of a King Charles Spaniel than a fashion statement.
— Filed under Big Brother Bonanza 2004
Comments
My favourite bits were 'Your favourite gum tree died' and,
'When was the first time you knew you wouldn't be able to hold back?' 'The first time I saw something I didn't like' 'And do you remember what that was' 'Yeah. Aphrodite'
I can't get enough of the Aphrodite bashing! I want more!
Trevor will win for sure. But I want Bree. But I REALLY wanted Paul. So unfair.
Posted by: Crystal | July 26, 2004 10:20 AM
yep, the Ryan/Monica meeting was tacky beyond belief. Unbelievable too that they went through all the flirting footage again. This is such old stale news by now and I was praying Ryan would make a comment about it along the lines "frankly, this is tedious." Unfortunately, he's not outspoken when it really counts and he just put up with it. I felt bad for the two of them even though I don't particularly like them. This was a pathetic and lame stunt.
Posted by: barb | July 26, 2004 10:27 AM
Ha, you know what I'm looking forward to doing? A Big Brother wrap up... remember when you hated Paul and loved Krystal? Remember when Aphrodite seemed remotely like she could be great value? Bree was under Krystal's spell, and Merlin hadn't cried yet?
I had hoped Paul would win too, but I don't mind either Bree or Trevor winning. Now, if RYAN had won I'd be ropable, and imagine if the rest of Australia had adopted Aphrodite into their hearts?! And she won?! Shudder. I'm grateful for the way things have turned out I think!
Posted by: Jess | July 26, 2004 12:57 PM
Im kinda glad Bree stayed after the the shock settled, How much fun would her eviction show of been had she gone last or this week, we would have really herd some crap oozing out of gretals mouth. As for paul Im almost 100% sure Our Town (Geelong and the surf coast) will keep Paul busy for a long time to come, So all you paul lovers out there dont stress his ride has far from finished keep your eye on the Geelong Advertiser Web site ...................
Posted by: kay | July 26, 2004 2:17 PM
Sadly Paul, who I had finally begun to warm to after he stopped that manipulative 'stirring the pot' thingy, reminded me just why I loathed him in the first place.
Such is his confidence that not only did he remind us all of his ugly behviour with Merlin, he actually boasted about helping get certain housemates evicted - sorry, but the guy's ego is phenomenal.
Still, so luverly to see him with his family ....
Posted by: Tee | July 26, 2004 5:03 PM
To be honest, I don't think his behaviour towards Merlin was all that ugly in the context. What we originally saw on our screens was a VERY edited version in order to give a simplified plot line - "Paul makes Merlin cry!"
Last night I saw footage of the incident that I'd never seen before. From what I can tell, both of them had some drinks in them and got into an argument. Merlin likes to act like a political dynamo but is unable to back it up when questioned. You've got to be able to preach your cause with more than just lefty posturing.
Paul pulled him up on the hypocrisy of preaching one thing and conducting yourself in a manner which does nothing to help your cause. Merlin, rather than admit he was wrong, kept walking away to avoid the debate (as is his right, I suppose) and Paul was infuriated by this and followed him to prove a point. We all know Paul's character a little by now and the fact he doesn't shy away from confrontation. I personally see his point and although he was harsh with Merlin, I also think we didn't see a lot of the footage in a straight forward context which makes it impossible to decide whether or not Paul was being a bully, or merely passionately defending his views.
God, I just wrote a lot of shite then, didn't I? Basic summary: I don't think we saw all the footage we needed to in order to allow us to judge either Merlin or Paul's behaviour that night.
Posted by: Jess | July 26, 2004 5:14 PM
Geez it was a boring show wasn't it?
I was particularly angry and suspicious when Pauly was evicted, seeing as the poll on BB official site had Bree as being the favourite by far to leave. I was also disappointed at the handling of Bree's prize.. it was like "piss of with the keys to your car: slightly better than the other housemates' cars but still nothing compared to the million"
She didn't look that overwhelmed now , as maybe she , like many other viewers were expecting a little more than that. After all in the other BB shows, second prize was a car, first prize was 250 g... so now with a mill as first prize the second prize is STILL a car? C'mon!
I was disappointed at this eviction show... I prefer the older format..
Kris NOble if you are reading these.... hire some new blood and find something exciting for BB5 (if there is one)
anny
Posted by: Anny | July 27, 2004 7:42 PM
I actually did see live streaming of that incident, so my opinion is not only formed by what we saw on the daily show. In general I thought it was an ugly argument that didn't benefit either of them.
I also think they are both lousy arguers. I agree about Merlin- even if his heart is in the right place, he needs to be far more precise or it does indeed come off as 'lefty posturing'. However, I don't feel that just because he isn't a citizen, that makes every opinion he offers invalid. Some issues are complex, not black and white, something Paul seems to have difficulty comphrehending.
Debates are one thing, but IMO Paul sees arguments not in terms of discussion, but in terms of winning and losing. If someone was following me, shouting me down, getting in my face and pointing the finger, I'd walk away too.
However, although he clearly didn't like Merlin, I noticed Paul arguing in a similar way with other HMS: black/ white and interesting leaps of logic that allowed him to 'win'. As I recall one incident, he asked the others whether they agreed with the option of being able to choose the sex of unborn babies. Terri's spontaneous reaction was 'Eek, no' or some such thing. Paul fixed his beadies on her and said 'So Tezza, you don't approve of Stem Cell Research then??' Terri looked taken aback and had to defend herself.
Sorry, but isn't that a little simplistic? Some of us (ie me) are pro-choice, pro- stem cell, but still wary of the implications of being able to 'program' sex of unborns.
Anyway,I digress, but perhaps Paul and Merlin could learn from each other's styles here. Although they are both very different models of masculinity, politically and ethically they seem to come from very similar places.
Posted by: Tee | July 28, 2004 10:51 AM