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Buh-bye (Wednesday 9/24)

Finale finally

Co-Stars of the Season

Ratings - It's a Wrap, Obits editions

Ups for the packed finale and yes, cumulative ups for the season. Early on I praised the cast as being fresh and less stereotypical than most seasons, and I'll stand by that. It's not TPTB's fault that their hamsters didn't perform as we might have liked, although I do blame them for the booze drought and the stuntcast guy, which were my main problems, as well as the way too long season and the lack of twists plus ridiculous overexaggeration of same. However, they did feed our summer crack habit once again, feeds were extremely functional and blocks were minimal, and while the schedule was predictable, there were some new comps and even the repeats looked better than usual, by a lot. Bottom line, hats off to them, and to each and every one of the hamsters for putting themselves out there for our amusement.
Won: $575,000, 5,000 hollas TEAM AMERICA Won Part 2 WON THE SEASON 7-2 I don't think we've ever seen a truly flawless game before, and while it wasn't necessarily the most exciting to watch, it was fascinating how easily he gathered them into his hands week after week. I said he was driving the game early on, but I thought he might have been gaming too soon and too hard to sustain it - but he did, and in a big way. He's the first Hamsterwatcher to win and that's sweet, but mostly he's an extremely worthy winner - we aren't always so lucky. Super big ups, congrats, and holla!	Won: $50,000, 24 hrs kicking self, 1 week dinosaur Won Parts 1 & 3 Final Head of Household Sure he's a nice guy and nice looking, and he played the cocker spaniel role pretty much perfectly. He was forever being petted by whoever was handy - Christine, Frankie, Nicole, Victoria - and that was downright weird. He'll be remembered for his slurpy farewell to his dad, random & annoying shouting in the final weeks, and for whacking himself in the face in his sleep. He made a $450,000 mistake but loyalty counts for something - maybe if he'd seen the show before...
Won: $5,000, 48 hr Adam & Eve with Caleb Evicted by Cody VTW Derrick She took a LOT of flak in there and out here, including too many cheap shots by the writers, but at its core, this game is about sticking and she did that. She easily won the Detachable Hair division of #Deathrace2014 but she really doesn't need all that fakery, and I hope she learns that. She delighted them and us with her occasional stories about escape artist hamsters and sidewalk lawsuits but without a doubt, her crowning moment was that crow.	Won: $5,000, shaved head, 48 hr Adam & Eve with Victoria, football trip VTW Derrick His Amber obsession was creepy and sad, and their trainwreck breakup convo (which CBS shamefully overlooked) and pickle date were the kind of thing that make feedsters' jaws hang open. He boasted and swaggered like he was the best person alive, then he wore an angry onesie to have a bunny slippers tantrum. He repeated himself way too much, but at the end of the day, he brought a lot of humor to the feeds - most of it unintentional.
Won: $20,000, football trip TEAM AMERICA VTW Derrick I was prepared to overlook the stuntcasting problem and give him a fair shot, but it wasn't long before he blew it. His constant humping of everyone was bizarre and distasteful, and his nasty talk was over the top even for fans of raunchy. This guy made narcissists seem humble, and he promoted every negative gay stereotype on a daily basis. Yes he won a lot of comps, but I don't give a damn.	Won: Football trip VTW Derrick She was the non-actormodel and longtime fan we always hope for, but many hated her anyway. I didn't mind her at all, despite her constantly saying this or that was 'the most disgusting thing/person on the planet' - many of us do the same. She laughed a lot, always a good thing, and she petted Cody too much. Her hubby Tim was one of the best relatives we've ever had, taking on haters like a superhero swatting away mosquitoes.
Won: 1 week frog, 1 week Germitard, revival VTW Derrick She was ingenuous without being cliche, refreshing and adorable, and she wore both costumes equally well. She was flattered & surprised to be a flirting target, and her game and/or guts were praised by Ian Terry, Dick Donato, Andy Herren, and Dan Gheesling, which is pretty high praise. Despite some very stiff competition, Nicole is easily the winner of Deathrace 2014, and she'll be missed.	Won: $40,000 TEAM AMERICA WON VIEWER FAVORITE VTW Cody One of the most likable hamsters ever, complete with ongoing Lines of the Day contributions, a rare combo. He had a nasty side but didn't often let it show, so he got an angelic edit once they stopped painting him as a backwoods buffoon. He went to bed early and missed nearly all of the gaming, and he complained about nobody ever coming to talk to him. I missed most of his morning shows and he lost me when he refused a TAFY task, but he was still the one to watch, at least when Zach was asleep, and he'd be fun to hang out with.
Won: Germany trip VTW Derrick A kooky combo of erratic, volatile, and endearing, he was unique in every way. He slept much of the time but when he was awake he was as unpredictable as they get, a rare and valuable hamster quality. He'll be remembered for his Victoria's ever-present pink hat, cuddling with Frankie, for being the TAFY 'escape goat', and most of all for playing a pretty crappy game yet ending up a huge fan favorite anyway.	Won: $5,000 VTW Derrick He was the nice guy they all liked, and it's always rough to lose that guy early. Slightly immature with no shame, he was extremely good-natured and responsible for most of the just-for-fun activities and spontaneous silliness. He was cute with Nicole and a perfect combo of Jackass and hamster. He brought a lightness to the feeds that was missed when he left.
Won: Nothing VTW Cody She didn't bring the holy wars I feared but she did speak in tongues. She cried a lot but she also laughed a lot, and she did great Diaries. She'll be remembered for her bow ties, her choir robe/portable changing room, and most of all her judgemental, IDGAF, side-eye, and the hell you say expressions.	Won: Nothing A stunningly gorgeous model, she lasted longer than the hamster in that slot usually does, but she exited on another unanimous vote, and before jury. She wanted to play a clean game and that usually doesn't work out so well on this show. She was a good sport about pranks, including the antiquing shown here, but she'll mostly be remembered as the object of Caleb's dreams, and I do mean dreams.
Won: 2400 goals She was the rawest recruit we've had in awhile and she didn't do much homework, which worked against her in a big way. She seemed to have pretty good game instincts and may have done some real damage if she'd been better prepared. She'll be remembered for her high bun as well as the few times her hair escaped it and landed her in Deathrace 2014 hall of fame, and for sticking with and completing that brutal soccer task when she didn't have to.	Won: Nothing He has a daughter. PS He easily wins the Best Evictee Award with this. (Sadly, Devin has deactivated his Twitter. The linked pic was of him with the veto, and a hilarious self-deprecating caption about losing his better judgment in there because of 'the Precious')
Won: Nothing I kept hoping for the spitfire she plays on Twitter & Instagram to show up but it didn't until the veto meeting blowup. She was well on her way to being a perma-pawn but she stressed about not being able to win comps, and then Devin happened and out she went. She had a lot of entertainment potential and while we were robbed of most of it by her early exit, we'll always have CALTORU.	TEAM AMERICA FAIL Won: Nothing She blew up her game prematurely and spectacularly, and then her alter ego Alex and his 'big ass balls' sealed the deal. Supposedly she beat someone with 500k Twitter followers (plus 15 million backup) in a public vote, but that went splat just like BB12's saboteur Annie. Joey was lively and personable, a worthy member of the first out club, and she easily leads the pack of hamsters with unnatural hair colors.