Nominations are set to arrive later today in the Big Brother 17 house but for those of us watching the Live Feeds there is little doubt over who will be heading to the Block and some of these Houseguests are about to get a big surprise.
Soon after the HoH competition ended and a returning Juror had been decided, and those were nearly the same outcome, we had fast discussions over who would be heading to the Block and which nominee would be the real target this week.
Yes, Vanessa is back in charge for her third HoH of the season. She narrowly outlasted the four returning Jurors who all remained after the rest of the active HGs fell out of the competition. Johnny Mac emerged triumphant in the Juror Revival and that sent him back in the house where the Austwins immediately freaked out over their bad luck.
Feeling better though that they had Vanessa in charge we saw Austin and Liz sit down and begin telling Vanessa how JMac needed to be the one to go up and out this week. Not so fast, said Vanessa, and it seems like she means it. Let’s back up and start there.
As we saw in the HoH competition Vanessa made an offer to John that he’d be safe if he dropped, but he said he wanted to keep trying before he dropped. Vanessa wanted to know why he’d decline her deal and went to him to find out. Flashback to 8:23 PM BBT 8/27.
John quickly explained to Vanessa that he didn’t want to publicly accept her deal but that after their talk the other day he now fully trusts her and really does want to work together. Vanessa promises him safety this week. They hug and she left. I actually believe her, as long as it doesn’t force her to betray a higher level priority.
Liz and Austin arrived to immediately start pressing for JMac as nominee but Vanessa says she needs to do what’s best for her game and that might not be putting up John. She’s sure to promise Austin and the twins that they won’t see the Block under her watch, but she isn’t taking their directions on how to do her nominations.
So if the Austwins are safe and John is safe, that only leaves three options.
Gathered in the back room with the Austwins Vanessa starts to lay out her “reason!” Flashback to 8:44 PM BBT. Vanessa tells her allies that only two people didn’t congratulate her on the HoH win: James and Meg. Uh oh, Goblins. As readers pointed out to us on Twitter, Meg gave Vanessa a hug, but we shouldn’t be surprised that Vanessa is making things up to justify her actions. Though it’d really be okay for her to just say these are her nominations and her decision.
Now to back up her plans even farther Vanessa tells Austin that the Goblins were trying to get her to flip the vote that morning. Keep in mind that Vanessa went to them, asked if Brass Tacks actually excluded her (it did), and that she’d flip her vote to do what they wanted if they confirmed that. But in this retelling she just says they were working her over to change the vote.
Vanessa says she’ll put James and Meg up on the Block as this week’s nominees, but James is their target. Then next week, Vanessa suggests, they can go after JMac but if he wins Veto they can get out Meg. I suspect Vanessa will want to keep John for another big task.
But wait, there’s a stumbling point here. Vanessa realizes she promised James weeks ago that if she won HoH again that he and another HG of his choosing would be safe. Now I don’t know if James will remember that, but she’s concerned.
Problem solved. Vanessa says she’ll lie and tell James that she created a new deal with Steve just before the comp out of fear that it was the Days #’s comp. Hmm, even though they were told to wear athletic gear? Not sure that lie will fly, but that’s her plan if it comes up.
Later today we’ll see James and Meg up on the Block and that is going to be a surprise for them. Late overnight the Goblins discussed who Vanessa would put up but they don’t think it’ll be them. They hope Vanessa will use Austin as a pawn so they can flip the vote and get him out of the game. That’s not likely, but let’s not ruin the surprise.
What do you think of Vanessa’s plan? If she’s painting herself in to a corner with promises of safety for all but a few then we’ll have to see what happens next at Saturday’s Veto competition. Who would you be putting on the Block this week if you were HoH?