Spoiler Alert: This article contains major spoilers from the Big Brother Tuesday night episode, including who was evicted and who won Head of Household.
It's become a rare thing when live feed watchers don't have a fairly clear idea of what's going to happen in an eviction episode. Sure, there's been a blindside here and there in the series, and we've seen some unpredictable votes this season, but it's been a while since we've seen a blindside quite this big. In the case of this week, it was really difficult to know how tonight's eviction was going to go, and since the feeds have been down since Monday morning, we were left to wait for the taped episode.
It's maddening, but as a feed watcher who's unashamed to call Big Brother a favorite summer pastime, I admit, I kind of like it. A little surprise and suspense is a good thing after months of Feeds obsession.
Vanessa actually told Johnny Mac she wanted to evict Austin if it came to a tie. We saw that on the feeds at some point after the Veto was won and (I think) after the re-nomination took place. But it was impossible to know if she was really planning to follow through with that plan, or if her secret plan was to bait Johnny Mac into voting against Austin, and then send Steve out anyway. Would've been a decent way to expose Johnny Mac, who gave Austin the impression he was voting to keep him.
Alas, it seems Vanessa was being straight up with Johnny Mac when she told him she was ready to make a big move. The vote came down to a tie, with Liz predictably voting to evict Steve, and Johnny Mac voting to evict Austin. Vanessa ripped the bandaid off quick when it came down to breaking the tie, announcing that it was a game move and sending a stunned Austin out the door. Barefoot. That's just pure blindside right there.
Any other Big Brother fans flash back to...
And...
Austin was evicted so swiftly, he didn't even have time to put shoes on.
He did have time to tell Vanessa that she has no chance of winning this game. If he were thinking clearly, he might've considered that announcing that fact would only help Vanessa's chances of being taken to the end. If everyone thinks she's playing for second place, why wouldn't they keep her around?
Austin thought he would win the game, and had it not been for Vanessa's game move, perhaps he would have. At this point, it's all down to competitions, and with the obvious showmance finally separated, it really is anyone's game.
The Head of Household competition had Liz, Steve and Johnny Mac filling in the blanks of things houseguests have said during the show this season. It was a clever set-up, in a similar vein to Jimmy Kimmel's "Unnecessary Censorship" segment.
It came down to a tie between Johnny Mac and Steve. Steve ended up coming closest to the number of seconds from something to something in some competition, and from what he said after the competition, it looks like he may have forgotten a zero in his answer, which allowed him to come in well under the number. Or maybe his math was just wrong. Either way, since Johnny Mac went over, Steve won.
That means Steve is safe and guaranteed a spot in the final three. That's about the extent of his power, for now. The Veto is most important with only four houseguests in the game, as the Veto winner determines who's on the block, and -- assuming the Veto winner isn't Steve -- the Veto winner is the sole vote to evict one of the two nominees.
When the feeds come back up, we may know who the Veto holder is, assuming the Veto competition took place today when the feeds were down.
Other random thoughts:
Vanessa cries a lot, which is such a stark contrast from how focused she is on Big Brother as a game. I think this whole experience has really worn her down emotionally. But at this point, I really hope she makes the final two, even if she doesn't have the votes to win.
Is Liz going to get over this? I kind of feel like Vanessa might be able to convince her it was for the best, for Liz's game, as it would've been much harder for her to get to the end with Austin than she might with anyone else. Of course, Liz is on her own now, and that's completely new to her in this game. So she'll either push Vanessa away, or look to her for support for however long either of them are left in this game. Hard to guess which.
Steve may very well "target" Vanessa. As mentioned, he doesn't have much power unless he wins the Veto, but he's been talking to himself on the feeds about getting her out and using that as a "big move" card to play to the jury if he makes Final 2. If he wins the Veto, he may very well try to get her out.
