SPOILERS ahead from the 2019 Big Brother 21 live feeds.
The Veto Ceremony results are in for Big Brother 21, Week 11 nominees Tommy Bracco and Cliff Hogg III, and one of them is now free from the threat of eviction this Thursday, September 12, 2019. The BB Comics Veto was held on Saturday, with the Veto Ceremony on Monday. After Nicole Anthony's double eviction HOH win, it looked like four against one -- Nicole, Cliff, Jackson Michie, and Holly Allen against Tommy.
But things have changed. Now Holly is on the block for the first time in the Big Brother 2019 season ... and it's on her showmance Jackson's HOH.
Did I just give an evil chuckle? Damn right I did. Here's how the Veto Ceremony played out:
Who Won Veto? Nicole won the BB Comics Veto.Did She Use The Veto? Yes, she used the Veto on Cliff during the Monday, September 9 Veto Ceremony. Cliff is Nicole's #1, so she wanted to save him. However, is that it or will they keep going?Who Are The Final Nominees? Because there were no other options, Holly had to sit on the block in place of Cliff. So Tommy and Holly are the final nominees for eviction. Tommy just sat on the block for the first time in the double, and Holly is now sitting for the first time here. Both times are due to Nicole. Now no one will get through BB21 without first touching the block.Who Will Be Evicted? This is the big question. This is what Nicole and Cliff are now deciding. They may go back and forth on the choice right up until Thursday. I hope they choose to evict Holly. They can only do it together, though. They are the only two people who can vote. Jackson could break any tie as HOH, but there won't be a tie. Whatever Nicole and Cliff decide, they will do together. TAKE THE SHOT.
Who should be evicted next, Holly or Tommy? Vote in the poll at the bottom of this post to share your choice. Fans are debating right along with Cliff and Nicole. I would evict Holly, but there are also fair arguments being made to evict Tommy.
Right after Nicole won Veto, it looked like she might keep the noms the same and just vote to evict Tommy along with Holly. However, she later told the cameras she planned to take Cliff off the block. That was followed by both Nicole and Cliff telling Jackson and Holly it was OK, they still planned to stay loyal to the final four.
However, THAT was followed by Nicole deciding the best move for her game would be to actually use this opportunity to separate Jackson and Holly, the way she just separated Christie and Tommy. She made her pitch to Cliff, and as of the time before the Veto Ceremony, Cliff was still chewing it over. They are weighing the pros and cons.
Cliff keeps saying IF -- IF we do this, we have to get guarantees from Tommy, but also warn Jackson so Jackson doesn't go into the next Veto blindsided and furious. Jackson can't win the next HOH, but he could win the all-important Final 4 Veto. (Jackson and Holly already discussed the possibility of Nicole and Cliff turning on them. Jackson knows it would be the smart game move for them right now. I don't think he'd be bitter on a game level.)
Nicole talked to Tommy about it. She said she wanted to save him, take out Holly, and work with Tommy until Final 3. But they need to get Cliff 100% locked on board. Tommy planned to talk to both of them, and then Cliff alone. Cliff is a deals guy. He's also a loyal guy. He does not seem keen on breaking his final 4, unless he thinks Tommy can give him a much better chance to win. Can he? Cliff seems worried that Tommy would be tougher to beat for Final HOH than Holly. That may be true, although it's not safe to assume. But it would be harder for Cliff and Nicole to even get to Final 3 with both Jackson and Holly still in the game.
I do see working with Tommy as great for Nicole and potentially also good for Cliff. Cliff is probably in the tougher spot either way. I don't know that Tommy would swear to Cliff that Tommy would keep Cliff over Nicole, if it came down to a Tommy vote or if they got to Final 3 and it was Tommy's choice. But maybe Tommy could try for that angle. Otherwise, maybe they'd all take Nicole to the end, if she wasn't the one to get to decide herself.
If they evict Holly this week, they own the next HOH as a trio because Jackson can't compete in the next HOH. However, if Jackson wins the Veto ... what would he do with it? Would he still evict Tommy? I kinda think he might. I feel like he might give Tommy credit for swaying Cliff and Nicole to keep him. Otherwise, who would he blame? Nicole? Nicole couldn't go against the four without Cliff. It would be a team effort. So I don't know that I would automatically assume Jackson would target Nicole in the event he won Veto. Tommy could try to convince Jackson to stick with him in a Final 2 deal, but Jackson might also see that as a power move that only benefits Tommy.
Jackson winning the next Veto is a nightmare scenario no matter what, but it's even worse if Holly is left off the block as the one to decide who joins them in Final 3. She'd probably pick Nicole, and then Nicole would have to somehow win the Final HOH to be able to pick who sits next to her in the end. Picking between Jackson and Holly for F2 would be a bad scenario either way. I would not assume Nicole to beat either of them, especially if she had the chance to split them up sooner.
If Jackson wins the next Veto and Tommy is still in the house, it's hard to know who might be the deciding vote to evict. If Tommy gets to decide, I bet he'd evict Cliff -- unless Cliff could get a deal out of him not to do so. Tommy did just say Cliff was the biggest threat to win, though. I don't know... Could Tommy sharing his Christie secret to Cliff and Nicole, after already telling Jolly, help him in some way? He'd be less of a threat to win, since that pre-season connection might be held against him by the jury.
Scenarios! I do think whatever Cliff and Nicole decide to do will be seen as either brilliant or stupid depending on the endgame Final 2 scenario, even though that will be decided through factors that are partly out of their control.
You can't assume Holly will be a weaker player to beat when she did manage to win two previous comps. You can't assume, as they had done up until this HOH, that Jackson won't be good at mental comps. You can't assume that Nicole won't win her way to the end when she just won two major comps. You can't assume Cliff won't win his way to the end when he won his way back into the game and won the double eviction Veto.
I suspect Cliff and Nicole will go back and forth on this Tommy/Holly vote before Thursday. I hope at the very least that Nicole stays strong and I really hope Cliff can find it in himself to make this move. He might be a tough sell, but Nicole can't do anything without him. If Cliff votes one way and Nicole the other, HOH Jackson can just break a tie to save Holly. Then Nicole would be screwed. Cliff wouldn't do that, and Nicole wouldn't let it happen. If Cliff puts his foot down, this just won't happen.
But everyone in that jury is going to be wanting Nicole and Cliff to take the shot and split up Jackson and Holly. If Tommy walks into that jury with Nicole and Cliff having the power to split up the showmance, the jury members will probably facepalm.
So who should be evicted this Thursday -- Holly or Tommy? Vote in the poll below. Big Brother 2019 airs Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays on CBS. Keep up with all the action on the live feeds.
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