Wait a second… Did Natalie really say she didn’t respect Michele for playing the game dirty? Hey Kettle, the pot just called. Honestly, I know its wishful thinking to hope that Natalie is the last evicted houseguest but that would probably be the only thing that could redeem the season for me at this point.
The episode started up with some pre-Veto strategizing. Jordan stated in the DR that Jeff wanted her to stick with Michele, so that was her plan. With Kevin on the block next to Michele and Natalie unable to play for Veto, it was up to Jordan and Michele to win it in order to secure themselves in the final three. A night-time conversation showed Michele and Jordan confirming their alliance. And maybe I’ve been watching too much True Blood but I thought the night-vision camera gave Jordan a possessed sort of look.
The Veto competition had Jordan, Michele and Kevin separated as each of them attempted to stack blocks with names on them to match up with events that took place in the house. It was obvious from the start that Michele and Kevin were the only ones that stood a chance on this competition. That fact was emphasized by the intense music that played whenever we saw either of them trying to figure out which names went with the clues given. Meanwhile, the ditzy-sounding music played in the background whenever Jordan was shown.
Michele’s strategy of spreading out the blocks and then stacking them up seemingly randomly reminded me of the over-thought-out strategy from the pipes competition earlier in the season when the Brains ended up taking much longer to route their pipes than anyone else. Kevin’s slow and steady approach won the race and he won the Veto. When he announced this news to Natalie, who was waiting up in the HoH room, the two openly celebrating their victory over some bottles of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, while Michele and Jordan sulked in defeat nearby. Then, I’m assuming they think that Michele and Jordan are complete idiots because they snuck off to the HoH room to jump up and down in private… so the two girls wouldn’t know that this had been the plan all along.
Michele admitted in the DR that she realized Natalie must have been lying about wanting Kevin out. Here’s the thing I really don’t get… It seems to happen every year that the houseguests think the original nominations during final-four week are relevant. It always comes down to whoever wins the Veto. Even if Kevin wasn’t nominated, the outcome of tonight’s eviction would’ve been exactly the same. And if he hadn’t won the Veto, he would’ve ended up on the block anyway even if he weren’t nominated originally. It’s all about the Veto and this week, Kevin had it.
Michele didn’t give up. While she knew that she was staying on the block and that Jordan would be joining her, she also deduced that she would be the primary target, given that she’s won more competitions than Jordan (who, if memory serves, only won the HoH competition that Jeff threw to her). Still, she had a solid argument in telling Kevin that if he goes up next to Natalie in the final two, he’s probably playing for second place. She went on to say that she didn’t have much (if any) support from the people on the jury, which would make her an ideal final-two candidate. We were teased by lots of DR footage of Kevin weighing his options but I’m not sure he ever really considered evicting Jordan. After all, there’s no guarantee that Michele would take him to the end if she stayed (though I think she probably would have) and he stands a better chance of beating Jordan in the final HoH competition than he does Michele. Michele’s final pitch to Kevin was that if he evicted her this week, he wouldn’t have her vote if he goes to the final two and she ends up on the jury after the last HoH competition.
Before we got to the Veto ceremony and eviction, Julie talked to Natalie in the diary room. Natalie declared that her lying about her age has helped her tremendously in the game. She thinks people underestimated her because they thought she was younger. I’m not 100% sure of that. While we have heard comments about “being beaten by an 18-year-old,” I don’t know that anyone underestimated Natalie based on her age. I’m thinking it was more her inability to win anything up until last week that kept her safe as stronger competitors were given the boot.
After Kevin took himself off the block with the Veto, Jordan was nominated and she and Michele gave their pre-vote speeches. Jordan’s nervous speech was basically her telling Kevin she didn’t think he’d stab her in the back and she hopes he sticks to his word to keep her. Michele put on devil-horns and used her time to remind Kevin that she has no friends on the jury. Then Kevin stood up and after claiming he really wasn’t sure until just then, he evicted Michele. I don’t know about anyone else but I wasn’t surprised and while I’m disappointed that Michele’s out of the running, I can’t entirely blame Kevin for doing this. Even if Michele doesn’t have a lot of friends on the jury, she’s played a respectable game and could present a strong argument to win if she were to make it to the final two. Jordan, I’m not so sure about. Sure, she’ll have Jeff’s vote and maybe Michele’s but I can’t see her presenting a strong enough case to win, especially when it’s inevitable that the jury members will call her out for hiding behind Jeff for most of the game (say what you want but it’s true. Jordan’s adorable but she hasn’t exactly been a strategic mastermind and her poor showing in competitions won’t help her either). Kevin’s only shot at winning is if Jordan wins this last HoH and takes him to the end. If he’s up against Natalie, I have a good feeling she’s going to win.
The episode ended with the start of part one of the final HoH competition. Jordan, Kevin and Natalie were all standing on a big log, holding onto their keys, which hung overhead. When Julie started the competition, the log under their feet began to turn. Whoever hangs onto their key the longest wins. Before the episode ended, we saw that the fall season had started and rain and leaves began falling down on the three contestants, who tried to keep pace with the turning log.
HoH Update
10:27 p.m. ET: Based on the live feeds, all three contestants are still up there. They're chatting about stuff. I'm pretty sure Jordan just said she only likes sushi when it's that vegetable stuff and doesn't taste like fish.
11:03 p.m. ET: All three contestants still up. The log has stopped on occasion and run backwards. It seems the rain is getting to them as both Natalie and Kevin have begun sneezing.
11:37 p.m. ET: All contestants still up. The log has been playing tricks on them, moving fast in reverse then slowing, stopping and jerking forward. It's been raining on and off and they saw a little snow before. There've been sneezes all around. Photos below.
12:07 a.m. ET: This is my last update of the night since it's passed midnight. All three houseguests are still on the log, though they look sufficiently miserable. Natalie almost fell off once and it seems like having shorter legs might be a problem for her (she seems to be scrambling a little bit more than the rest). Results to come.
WINNER UPDATE: JokersUpdates.com is reporting that Kevin won.
