Nicole’s Return

BB16 Episode 26 – August 21, 2014

With this episode, the only real stakes that happened to occur was the swap between Zach and Nicole:  Zach takes Nicole’s place in the jury house while Nicole takes Zach’s spot inside the BB house.  It was exciting to see that Juror Competition occur but everything else, in hindsight, just wasn’t all that important.  BUT!  That doesn’t mean I won’t have something to say, right?

A Long Time Coming

I would have loved to have seen Zach pull off a miracle upset here.  Really, I would have.  Just to keep the dynamics of the game interesting and in flux.  Unfortunately, people just weren’t ready to upend the house yet.  I think I see why.

So we saw Zach take stock of his votes.  He confirms he has Donny’s vote, but he still needs 2 more.  He desperately tries to sway Caleb but that’s a lost cause, as Caleb doesn’t do strategy.  He does what “The Bomb Squad” tells him to do.  Victoria is next on the list and that’s a non-starter too.  We even learn something surprising:  that pink hat Zach’s been wearing was Victoria’s!  I would never have guessed.  Anyway, she’s pissed he’s claimed it as hers and when it’s left unprotected, she quickly grabs it and destroys it.   Zach certainly has an uphill climb ahead of him.

Donny also does his best to make something happen (finally), by pointing out the obvious to Christine:  she’s on the bottom of her alliance and is likely the first to go when it gets time to eat their own.  It’s not a wrong assessment and she even claims to agree, but as we see later on, nothing’s changing.

So what is happening with these folks and not wanting to rock the boat?  I think everyone thinks there’s still 2 or 3 people to get rid of before making the final “big” move.  For Christine, I think she’s angling to play the swing vote role when it gets down to the final 5.  As it is now, Caleb and Frankie are probably a new duo while Derrick and Cody are the other.  She can advertise herself as a way to break up the other.  Of course, Derrick is planning to use Victoria as that swing vote, so I think Christine is going to get a harsh reality lesson.  Donny has no allies and will be kicked out as soon as possible – no one wants him anywhere near the Final 2 as he’d destroy anyone….except for Derrick.

Anyway, with the Live Voting, Zach is unanimously voted out, even by Donny.  He’s remarkably mature about the whole experience and owns the fact that he’s the cause of his fate, as he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.  A wise assessment, Zach.  When he chats with Julie afterwards, he indicates that the only person he “hates” in the house is Victoria, with her repo-ing of the pink hat just one in a long list of reasons.  Zach also considers that his strategy of being the most hated in the house definitely didn’t work, as he’s out here now.  Playing the Dr. Will strategy is a very hard one to do – you have to also be likable while also being loathed, and not everyone can do that.  Anyway, the best part of this segment is Victoria’s goodbye speech, which includes the following image:

So Zach is out, and it was a long time coming.  He’s certainly earned this eviction, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.  I just hope that the remaining time we spend in the house continues to be interesting without him, as he was a main catalyst for the shenanigans within.

Jury House!

Yay, it’s time to see the jurors in a relaxed state!  Hayden and Jacosta are enjoying their time, both hoping that the next person to come through the door isn’t Nicole or Donny…..

But of course, we know Nicole is the next juror, which bums them out but obviously isn’t a huge surprise.  She lets them know about her tumultuous week and why she’s here, namely because of Christine.

I hope Hayden had a chance to focus Nicole on who the real targets should be though:  Derrick and Cody.  I don’t know if Nicole has the skillz to make things happen but I do believe that Christine is really the only person she has a chance of swaying that could do some true damage.  Guess we’ll see!  And oh yeah, they at least had a week or so to do some smooching!

Return of the Jurors!

Last season during the Juror Returns challenge, it was a combined HoH and Juror Competition.  This time, it was all focused on which juror would return, saving the HoH competition for Sunday’s show.  In this competition, it was like a 4-way shuffleboard but the center circle was rotating.  There were 7 rounds, with each juror able to send one puck down during each round, hoping to get as many pucks on the circle as possible while also being closest to the center.  In the event of a tie, whichever houseguest’s puck was closest to the center would determine the winner.

In the beginning, it started off fairly evenly, but soon enough Jacosta of all people was in the lead! Honestly, I was dreading that outcome as she brings absolutely NOTHING to the game.  Well, she does bring cray-cray face when she’s under stress….

But by the end, Nicole had managed to fight her way back up and after Round 7, Jacosta and Nicole were tied with the most pucks on the board.  Per the rules though, the closest puck to the center would determine the winner, and sure enough, Nicole was just a smidge closer, getting her back into the house!

So we’ve got Nicole IN while Zach is OUT – what will happen next?  I truly hope Nicole had some good strategy sessions with Hayden as I’d love to see this last month of Big Brother be truly exciting.  As it is she’s going to be a huge easy target to get out again.

Status and Standings

Outgoing Head of Household:  Frankie
Nominated for Eviction:  Cody & Zach
Evicted:  Zach (5-0)
Returning Juror:  Nicole

We know from Julie that the Battle of the Block is finally over and there’s only going to be one HoH from this point on, like normal.  It’ll almost be strange to have a regular season again!