HamsterwatchWe fell behind on Big Brother Canada 11 while Andy was enjoying some well-earned time off, so let’s do like the BB recap narrator and say “previously on Big Brother Canada…”
Episode 10 on Wednesday cleared up some of the questions we had after they paused the Digital Dailies, but it raised more. Recall Kuzie had put Santina and Vanessa on the block, and the episode made it clear that Zach had been her real target all along.
Early in the episode, they were all called to the living room for another announcement from Executive Producer Erin Brock, who told them Vanessa had left the show.
As with Amal’s exit, Erin didn’t disclose the reason and asked that Vanessa’s privacy be respected. (Vanessa’s family since tweeted she’d left due to a medical emergency, but was doing fine.)
Kuzie then told Hope she had a plan and wanted to put him up so he could play for veto, and he agreed. So that explained our confusion about the nominations.
Anika, Zach, Ty were picked to play veto with nominees Santina and Hope.
The vet competition was sponsored by Brita and themed accordingly: they had to toss balls into overgrown water filters, push their filters around to catch water streaming from rotating taps, collect water from under their filters, then fill a jug until it was full enough to retrieve a ball.
Hope won the veto and $5,000 cash, as we knew, and he was overjoyed. And there was a segment about his moping, followed by him admitting in Diary that all that talk about wanting to quit had been fake, but it had made it easy for others to open up to him. Well played, sir.
Then came the glorious moment we saw on Monday’s Digital Daily with Ty telling Zach that Kuzie was thinking of putting him on the block in Hope’s place. That was followed by Ty confirming to Zach the morning of the veto meeting that he was indeed going up. Then things got dicey again, when Ty said he had something on Hope that could get him disqualified? Something about a letter? I don’t know.
Hope did take himself off the block with his veto, and Kuzie did put Zach up next to Santina, who looked equally shocked and delighted. But instead of the end-of-show announcer’s usual tease that one of them will be evicted tomorrow, he said “who will be left standing after a scandal rocks the house?” Huh.
Lettergate and ‘the dirtiest rat I’ve ever seen’
Episode 11 on Thursday had a lot of promotion teasing drama and chaos, and Arisa opened the show dramatically by saying “tonight is a very different show.. [with] a window into one of the most intense days in Big Brother Canada history.” Okay then, popcorn at the ready!
We learned that Hope had found a note from his girlfriend tucked into a sock, way back in Week 1.
First off, that’s on the BB staff who didn’t find it, since they search all belongings. Let’s keep that in mind as Lettergate unfolds.
It turned out Zach and Ty had known about this note for a while. After the veto meeting when Zach went on the block, he met with Ty and Dan and said “why don’t we make the move?” Dan said “what’s the move?” Zach said Hope cheated, and said if he gets away with it, all three of them will walk.
Zach was called to Diary to be questioned about this letter—and we heard the staffer’s questions! Rare!
Then EP Erin Brock’s voice made an unprecedented third appearance this season when she questioned Hope about it in Diary. She asked him to fetch the note to turn it in, which he did.
Zach told Ty he’d heard reports that Ty was intimidating Hope, so they approached Hope, and Ty asked him why that was going around. (Rather than say, oh I don’t know, maybe apologizing if he was coming across that way? Nope, not these bros.)
Hope then reported to Anika, Daniel, Jonathan that he might get kicked off the show, and said Ty and Zach had ratted him out. Zach entered the room asking “what’s happening?” though he clearly already knew.
Hope also reported the situation to Renee who scored a direct hit by responding “this is what [Zach and Ty] do when they don’t get their way.”
Discussions and convos continued flying about The Letter, with Zach continually saying Hope had cheated.
Finally Kuzie had it out with Ty, and then Zach, in front of most or all of them, calling Zach “the dirtiest rat I’ve ever seen” among other things.
Voices were raised, Anika got in on it as well, and Daniel tried to break it up. But Kuzie shut Zach down completely when she asked why hadn’t he said anything about the letter earlier if he thought it was such a big deal, why did he wait til now? Boom.
Zach told Ty they have to walk, spewing nonsense about cheating and the integrity of the game. As if a note that was probably something like “Do great, I’ll miss you, I love you” was equivalent to actual cheating in a comp or whatever.
And I’ll pause here for another reminder that finding and confiscating that note was BB’s responsibility, and they failed to do so.
Everyone was then called to the living room again where Arisa recapped Lettergate for everyone, and said the letter had no game info but was still against the rules so there would be consequences. She said Hope would not cast an eviction vote, and he wouldn’t play in the HOH comp.
And because he’d had that little bit of comfort from home, everyone got a letter from home. Cue happy sounds and tears. But not for Zach or Ty. They took their letters into the pantry where Zach said the show had allowed Hope to cheat, and “we said we’d walk, we got to walk, I’m done.”
But first: a little campaigning. Daniel told Kuzie he still wanted to vote to keep Zach, despite all this mess, and Kuzie said if he does and Zach stays, “I’m done with you.” And Zach asked around about votes, but didn’t get much encouragement.
When Claudia told him it would be too scary to allow three powerful guys to stay in the house together, Zach knew he was done for, and said “we’re gonna leave.” Claudia said in Diary that seemed controlling, and she didn’t like that.
Then, late Wednesday night per Arisa, Zach and Ty entered the Diary Room together and asked what the steps were to self-evict. Ty paused to question himself about taking everything too seriously, “it’s just a game” etc, and he returned to the house to re-read his letter from home.
Zach disappeared through the inner Diary door and he was gone. He quit the show rather than get evicted like anyone else. The CEO Bro is no mo’.
Arisa told them and us there’d be no eviction, and she told us the HOH comp will be The Inheritance and “unlike anything we’ve ever done,” where they could choose more power or more money. And she said next week will be Whodunit Week, and everything would be anonymous.
So we’re down two hamsters in two episodes, with no eviction vote. I always say I’m just here for the cheap entertainment and this week’s shows delivered! Obviously this week would have been better with feeds—epic even—or even Digital Dailies. But that’s another story.
For Digital Dailies spoilers from this week and last weekend, see: BBCAN11 spoilers: the invisible HOH, the veto, and more.
You can get the links and information for how and where to watch Digital Dailies as well as the episodes that post the morning after they air at Hamsterwatch.com. I’m also keeping my usual Power Status section up to date there, along with tracking comp wins, nominations, advantages/punishments, and prize winnings.