BB17 Episode 15 – July 26, 2015
<–Previously, Audrey’s Eviction Ends the First Phase of the Summer
Who would’ve thought that really-bad player (but not terrible person) Christine would impact the game of Big Brother yet again? But she managed to, even if it was majorly indirectly. Detonators strike again! But I’ll get to that in a little bit, as there’s a good chunk of good stuff from this episode! Interesting developments occurred and the targeting of Austin began! Love it!
Austin Sees No One Overplaying; Overplays
It required a flashback to before Audrey’s elimination, but it was definitely necessary as you had to really see that Austin is just kind of dumb. Maybe it’s that hole in his soul that he was talking about that’s causing chaos, but sure enough, dumb game moves are getting caused.
First, Austin decides to enact an “Operation Jason,” a misinformation campaign he’s decided will throw Jason off on the Twin Twist. The steps:
- Tell Jason about the Twins
- ….
- Profit!
It’s honestly not much better than that. Austin tells Jason real facts about the Twins and what their names are, says that he’s afraid of Liz & Julia teaming up against him and them, and says that Julia should probably be targeted as he likes Liz more. He sees a happy time in the Jury House with her. Of course, Jason runs with this and tells Meg, and then they tell Shelli….
…and Shelli is very believable in her excitement and shock at this “crazy news” and Jason and Meg seem to buy her surprise. Internally, she’s getting pissed that Austin told Jason everything and revealed way more than necessary. Then Vanessa strolls in…
…and while Shelli did a much better job of playing the excited newbie, Vanessa still managed to sell being surprised. You could tell that in Vanessa’s case, she was also trying to hide her massive amounts of rage at Austin effectively selling out a member of their alliance (Julia) already.
So the cracks in the Sixth Sense only get bigger after the terrible Operation Jason completely blows up in Austin’s face. Well, it does, but technically Austin has no idea it did. Vanessa tells Julia about Austin’s plan and in an awesome moment, Julia vents out: “I loathe him“. I guess she & Liz aren’t identical in everything! Then Vanessa strategizes with Clay & Shelli and pledges her loyalty to them over Austin & Liz. They also formulate a nomination strategy taking into account Jackie’s insistence of nominating Liz as payback. They come up with a “foolproof” plan to have Vanessa nominate a powerhouse-duo of Clay (who volunteers) and Becky. They’ll have to convince a pawn to be nominated with Liz and throw the comp, effectively guaranteeing Liz & the Pawn stay nominated, while Austin can still be a backdoor target.
To select a pawn, Vanessa and Jackie call up some of our favorite floaters, Jason, Meg, and James, to eenie-meenie-mieny-mo who of them will get chosen. In the course of this conversation, Vanessa reveals that she’s no longer trusting Austin or the Twins (which now seems to be common knowledge as fact) and wants to work with them (and Shelli, Clay & Becky) to get Austin out. A new “alliance” is born and it’s called Dark Moon – and I think it includes: Vanessa, Jackie, Shelli, Clay, Becky, James, Meg and Jason. I have no doubt this is a pure fabrication just for the week, but I’m putting it on my status board as I love alliances! Can’t wait to remove it all in the next update….
WHEW! That was a lot, right? It was kind of awesome to see something dramatic and backstabby happen as it could have been very easy for the Sixth Sense to have stuck it out, gotten a new # in both twins playing, and take the house out one-by-one. But Austin is a fool and came up with a wacky plan which Julia & Liz were both like, “uh, don’t do that” but that didn’t stop him. So here we are.
Nominations – Spoiler: John’s Streak is Over!
What’s John going to do now? Are we even going to hear from him this week? I’m going to miss that crazy-voiced mofo’s confessionals. 
Anyway, Jackie’s nominations are really easy to sell as both Liz and James nominated her before. Vanessa nominates Clay because he’s neither won HoH or been nominated before (good enough of a reason) and Becky for some random reason. Obviously we know why for reals, but Vanessa’s stated reason here was kind of vague. 
And now time for a tangent, based on 20/20 hindsight: why did people think Clay was a challenge beast? He hasn’t won ANYTHING yet. He’s huge and hot, but that doesn’t mean shit. Becky? Sure, she’s proven herself multiple times and probably would have been good to go…but they should have thought of someone else instead of Clay. Hell, put John up again! He’s also a proven challenge beast. Anyway, 20/20 hindsight and all that….
Vanessa Gives Austin a Chance
And he promptly blows it.
She leads Austin into a conversation about the Twins and how the house is getting upset about them, and Austin, un-prompted, tries to sell out Jason and how Jason doesn’t like Julia, likes Liz more, etc. Vanessa is good and maintains her cool with Austin, but tells us that she knows he’s lying to her and right to her face. That’s all it took for the poker player to decide backdooring Austin was a fine strategy after all.
So yeah, my call that Vanessa will win this season? Still my prediction. She’s got amazing people-reading skills and is quick to take action on them. I don’t think she has a strong partner yet, and may not need one at the moment as it’s still early in the game, but eventually she’ll need to select someone to pledge ultimate loyalty to and demand that in return, much like Derrick with Cody. Watch her get nominated next week, now that I’ve said that.
Christine’s Revenge
I liked the arena and challenge – the gleaming white walls that would only reveal their secrets with massive amounts of paint thrown up on them was fun to watch. It probably was a bit challenging to try to keep track of all the letters, but I love letter puzzles.
And here’s what happens when you lose your mind and have paint handy.
The challenge required figuring out the letters you had and then using those letters to spell 3 names of contestants from last season. I don’t think anybody had Christine up on their boards at all for the longest time. But finally, everyone realized their mistake AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. And Liz (mostly despite James, who really was trying to slow things down, it seems) was able to get things moving and get Christine up on the board before Clay & Becky…and even if Clay & Becky had moved faster, Clay spelled it CHRSTINE. UGH.
Shelli immediately commences a freakout as she realizes her hunky showmance is now in actual danger of getting voted out. And she rightly should think that. If they can’t win Veto, Clay is a mighty fine target.
In the meantime, Liz and Austin are thrilled!!! And have no idea how close this was for Liz to be in real jeopardy.
Status & Standings:
Heads of Household: Jackie & Vanessa
Nominated for Eviction: Liz & James, Clay & Becky
Battle of the Block Winners: Liz & James
Deposed Head of Household: Jackie
Remaining Head of Household: Vanessa
Tonight’s Veto competition should certainly be interesting, and could determine the way the next phase of this season shakes out. Liz/Julia could take their rightful place in Sixth Sense, or an Austin backdoor could shake their confidence and have them scurrying off. One thing that’s for sure: Dark Moon won’t last.