Big Brother 17: Steve Calls Out The “Very Strong Fortress”

Steve Moses has found himself holding the short stick this week with his Austwins alliance and it might be just a few weeks too late to do anything about it but his wheels are turning.

Steve Moses versus the Fortress of Big Brother 17
Steve Moses vs. the Fortress of Big Brother 17 – Source: CBS All Access

Speaking with James and Meg last night Steve made an off the cuff remark that may have just shifted the target to his back thanks to the Goblins’ desire to gossip instead of advance their own game.

After a long day of Vanessa truth-hunting everyone might have been just on the edge so when Steve stopped by to chat with James he might not have been thinking with what he was about to say. Flashback to 1:58AM BBT to hear Steve share his revelation that the other side of the house may be a bigger threat than he originally imagined.

Steve comments to James and Meg that he had just gone upstairs to talk to Austin and Vanessa. “It’s a very strong fortress,” says Steve. “What do you mean?” asks James. “Vanessa, Austin, and the twins,” replies Steve.

There’s a long pause before James asks back, “you think so?” “You think not?” replies Steve. Another long pause from James before Steve tells them not to worry about it and “I don’t want to start going there.”

There’s more general chatter about playing chess later and Steve leaves. James turns to Meg and asks if she heard that comment. He wonders if they should tell the Austwins. “Duh!” says Meg.

The Goblins then spend a few minutes debating whether or not and when to share this information with Austin. Remember the Goblins are part of the “Brass Tacks” alliance with the Austwins. Vanessa believes she’s part of it too though the Goblins don’t think she really is.

So here they’ve got a Houseguest who clearly feels isolated and instead of forming a potential working arrangement with him, even a fake one, they immediately start plotting how to make him the next target while in turn strengthening the “very strong fortress” he was just warning them about.

Even if the Goblins do feel good about their 5-HG deal, there aren’t that many other players left and do they really think the two of them can split up a die-hard 3-HG alliance? They could join with the returning HG plus Steve and have 4 vs 4. These two must not be able to wait to get to the Jury House.

(Side note: Yes, James & Meg could make this arrangement with JMac staying too, but this would hedge their bets for either outcome.)

Fast forward a half hour to 2:28 as the Austwins are passing through the bedroom when James and Meg grab them and turn on the lights. They immediately spill to them what Steve just said but they forgot something.

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72 Comments

  1. Headline: “Cornell Mechanical Engineering Student Builds Elevator To His Own Eviction!”

  2. Maybe James and Meg wants to shift the target from John to Steve because they are still upset with Steve for targeting and evicting Jackie…I dunno.

    On a side note: Every time the twins talk in that whining voice I have to cringe. I can’t stand it. Please talk like an adult and not a child. :)

    Anyway, they should of got Vanessa out when they had the chance.

    • Yes they should have. And aligning themselves with the people they have to beat in order to win makes no sense. They might last a little longer, but their chances of winning are basically zero. Of course, Meg can’t actually win anything, so James has to do everything by himself

      • Yeah, I want James to win, but his chances of doing so are slim to none. I think even he realizes at this point. It’s almost a guarantee that either the twins or vanessa will win at this point.

      • I would love it if Liz won & told Austin to get lost.If that classless creep ever gave my daughter a hickey, I would be in prison the rest of my life for committing murder. Him for doing it & her for allowing it.

    • They want to make sure that if Vanessa uses they POV that they don’t go up, this was just insurance for them to tell Austin about what Steve said.

    • I wish they would have gotten rid of her when they had the chance, but it just shows how dumb they all are. Just seeing her every few days makes me want to puke.

    • That could be a revenge thing like you said but for sure they don’t want a replacement nom… lol.

      Just be patient… Vanessa’s day is coming.

      You said “…like an adult and not a child. :)” don’t you mean “…like an

      adult-uh and not a child-uh. :)”?

  3. I think james and meg just want to insure that Austwins target jmac and steve instead of them. They know that they need to split them up.

    • Yes, but what about Vanessa? By not mentioning Steve was talking about Vanessa the missed an opportunity to get Vanessa angry with him too. Vanessa is the bigger threat to James and Meg than Austwins right now.

      • well I don’t really see how vanessa (one person) is a bigger threat than Austwins (a tight trio)

      • I am pretty sure the 3 of them only share one brain. Vanessa is really intelligent and obviously outsmarting everyone. Go read her Wikipedia, she is no dummy.

    • You are giving them FAR too much credit, assuming they even try to look beyond the next 5 minutes.

      • I agree…when Steve told them of the “fortress” idea…they responded you think…he said you think not…you mean you can’t figure out even if Vanessa wasn’t mentioned…the that the trio don’t have an alliance…or are these two just acting stupid!

      • I still feel James/Meg are being careful not to put a target on themselves. They even said they’d target the person who comes back (even though we all know they wouldn’t)

  4. Can’t agree/disagree with what Steve said nor the context, as I do not have Live Feed .. But, you would think that the HG’s, let alone Austwins would take anything and everything with a “grain of salt” when another faction of the House tells you something this Season … Especially, from James and Meg … Ha !!!
    As a Fan Superstar, you would think that Steve would have realized/remembered that there is a reason why Austin refused to have nominated either James and/or Meg this week …. Such the case, another example of his Game having gone South the more he started to socialize this Season … In hindsight, he probably should have just kept to himself and his Camera, etc ….

    • I think so…yes this gives them a reason to go after him…the Vanessa tactic…find a reason…sorry Steve..you gave them one!

  5. I am pretty sure this was part of James/Meg trying to play the game. James is a backdoor option. He needs to make sure the target stays on someone other than him.

  6. Why was Vanessa allowed to have her hand in every HOH this season? She started right from the beginning, and should have been told to stay out of every HOH that wasn’t her own. I can almost excuse the recruits for not knowing any better, but those who applied should have stopped it in its tracks. Now she’s been controlling so long nobody left in the house has any confidence in their thoughts or decisions – and that’s exactly the way control freaks like Vanessa like it. Vanessa will make it to F2 – no longer any doubt in my mind – because she plays the best mind games in the house. For her, it’s like taking candy from a baby. Not even fun to watch anymore.

  7. I think passing this info on is the right move. It puts a target on Steve’s back which leaves two targets in the house not named Meg and James. But Meg is an idiot. Why pass on this information if you do not include Vanessa in the story? It makes no sense to leave her out. By including Vanessa in the story it winds up Vanessa to go after Steve too. While Meg and James can trust Austin they cannot seriously think they can trust Vanessa, especially knowing she is in tight with Austwins. Vanessa talked about targeting James and Meg this week!

    Also, Meg has to know that Austin talks to everyone whenever someone tells him anything – unlike James and Meg who just believe everything they are told. If Austin checks with Steve and Steve admits he said it ABOUT VANESSA, then Austin will be wondering why Meg did not include Vanessa when she told the story. Austin will doubt Meg’s intentions and create suspicion about the bond Austwins have with Meg and James.

    This is why everyone Meg was close too was evicted from the game. Meg is a very bad ally to have because as bad as she is at comps, she is worse when it comes to strategy.

    • I also think it’s a good move as well to tell Austwins about Steve’s “fortress” comment. However my problem with James & Meg is that they aren’t really strategic. They feel a little too comfortable with the Austwins instead of targeting them. They should rally up some HGs to go after Austwins+Vanessa, however them making Steve a target is a good thing because Steve won’t be loyal to them. For the goblins sake they better hope that Jackie comes back, because atleast she had a better grasp of the game than James & Meg combine.

      • There are no HGs to rally. Both Steve and JMac will go to Austwins in a heartbeat to tell them that Meg and James are targeting them. Better to play loyal to those in power for the week. Thursday is coming and the BB house could be turned upside down if Jackie gets back in and James or Jackie win HOH.

      • I think that John could be easily swayed to target the Austwins if Becky comes back. But for James & Meg getting rid of Steve would be better for them since they may be able to get John on their side.

      • They should not be doing that BEFORE the POV meeting where either one of them could easily get nominated.

  8. Steve has never and will never work with James and Meg. If they actually thought he would, they wouldn’t have told on him.

    We know production is not going to let John get evicted right now. If Van uses that veto and steve comes off the block, James is going home. So I think they made the right move this time.

    • If Steve knows he’s on the outside of a 4-person alliance and has zero other options then he’d work with them. This is far enough at the end that your alignments may come from necessity, not desire.

    • Why do we know production is not going to let John get evicted? And how would they do that?

      • With their gentle nudging in the DR. Kind of like how they wanted to keep Vanessa during double elimination week. James went into the DR, found out about Shelli stealing a shirt and then all of a sudden the target shifted to Shelli.

      • We also know that production told Austin in the DR that someone was lying to him. They can’t tell them what to do, but since production is privy to all of the conversations, they can feed on everyone’s paranoia and try to put some drama into the game.

    • I believe production would prefer to keep Meg and james together as long as possible.JMac act has run it’s course

  9. Meg and James were smart for not even hinting to Steve about going against Austin. It would have been the ammo Steve needed to get Austin to ok Vanessa using the veto and either Meg or James would be evicted.

  10. I feel sorry for Jackie or Becky if they come back….short of beating James and Meg over the head with a stick, how will they convince them that the Austwins have to be broken up?…..I just have no hope anymore about the Goblins….they truly do not understand that at this point it is a numbers game….

  11. oh, lets just get steve out this week. then shelli can come back thursday. johnny mac wins hoh and we get out vanessa week 10. then take out austin, the twins, then james and meg and shelli and johnny mac go to final two. that would be the perfect bb move!

  12. “I don’t knooooowwww-uhhh,” replies-uh Liz-uh. Bwahahahahaha.

    One of the reasons I can’t watch anymore….Between Vanessa chattering like a mental patient and the twins voices that sound like fingernails on a chalk board…Megs Cheshire Cat smile…Steve’s “serial killer” attire….John’s Cat hat in the middle of summer, John’s “Gomer Pyle” laugh and Austin…well just look…no explanation necessary….I’m tired of my eyes and ears burning…

  13. I wonder why steve and john are so determined to only work with people who find them disposable?

    • because they are in power at the moment and Steve thought Vanessa was his mommy for the majority of the season.
      James and Meg are idiots doing the same thing with Austin.

      • Steve and John have never even tried to work with anyone outside of the rock solid alliances. First it was Shelli and Clay, then austin and twins, even before they came into power the last two weeks.

        I wonder if they just don’t realize they are last on the totem pole. Or are they just desperate to be included by the “cool kids”
        They should have at least tried to get in with James and company on the side.

      • When Becky was there, I believe John was with James and Meg for a bit. He changed his mind because Liz and Austin have been in power for two weeks now.

      • Becky needs to get back into the game then. She and Vanessa are the only two that seem realize that you have to get in with every side of the house. Not just one.

  14. What did Ygrette say to John Snow when he asked her to quit being a Wilding Warrior Princess and buy a farm with him?

    “I don’t knooooowwww-uhhh,”

  15. This is all so completely ridiculous. Of course the Austwins are a fortress (with or without Vanessa). Everyone knows it (or should). They know it (or should). So who flippin cares if Steve acknowledges it. I just don’t get the level of threat there? WTF? These people are all so stupid. And (I know a little late, but …) Ewwwwstin and his nomination speech. That sealed my complete lack of interest in watching the broadcast. He’s just so painfully “deep” and makes no f’in sense! This guy is ready to leave the house and start a lame ass, 60s style cult.

    • Austin tries to be more intelligent than he actually is because he hangs out with the ditsy twins all day. His speech was supposed to show his intellect which backfired because he is an idiot.

    • I agree a total moron…he tried to be deep and made not sense in what he was saying…just rambling with no point…trying to be someone he isn’t…just play the game yourself and don’t be lead by the Witch….if those monkeys haven’t realized that the four of them are together…they deserve to see the door.

    • That the problem these people are stupid or clueless. THey should know that the twins and Austin are a threat and that Liz holds them together. THey should have gotten rid of Liz along time ago but they haven’t. They are either idiots and don’t see the threat or they are scared which is ridicous because once they evict Liz they will crumble and if they don’t act soon they won’t have the numbers.

    • That had to be worst nominations speech ever. Austin would have done better if just said ‘nominations ceremony is over’ and walked away without any explanations. But Austin really likes to hear himself talk. Ugh!

  16. Well Austin did not disappoint me. I only had low expectations of him anyway. But if/when Vanessa wins HOH she will target Liz and Austin to break up that showmance. They are keeping her around because she is a bigger target and she is loyal. However, Vanessa’s loyalty is only to herself and will not hesitate to do what is best for her game. I don’t like her; but she is playing one helluva game.

    • I hope that happens soon because I will love for Vanessa to get evicted. Since James and Meg are blindly attached to Austin, I think someone else will need to get rid of them.

    • Totally agree…she knows that they have to be split…and those monkeys don’t realize that it’s inevitable…so keep her in your target or she’ll get you first.

  17. If Meg had flirted with Steve a little, especially in my favorite top, they could have brought JMac in and then they would be the fortress. Opportunities lost

  18. Do the twincompoops actually think that first place goes to 3 people, do they not understand that only one person can win, even Vanessa will split them up at some point. And who ever comes back in the game would be smart to win HOH and take out Liz or Austin. I personally would put up Austin and Vanessa, get Austin to win POV and pull himself down and put up Liz, vote out Vanessa, if Vanessa wins POV she comes down and Liz goes up and one of the twincompoops go home. Its a win win, who cares what everybody else thinks especially at this point in the game.

    • It might be that Julia wins hoh . I wonder what she would do? She’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I do think she’s the smartest one of the twins. I’m at the point I don’t care but please get rid of Austin. If he goes watch how quiet they get they hide behind him and he hides behind Vanessa.

    • The scenario you describe is exactly what most of us (the viewers) would hope for. However, the rest of the houseguests aren’t privy to the same personalities we see.

  19. Seriously if someone else gets into power they need to target the twins….that is the only alliance that is truly solid. Why no one has put them up yet is baffling.

  20. I can’t believe in the beginning I wanted the twins to get in the game. I thought they’d be fun to watch play the game. Wow was I ever wrong. They are annoying as hell and also a couple of snotty, spoiled brats. I hope they both go up against each other real soon!

  21. I don’t get why everyone in the house, including Austin, doesn’t realize the twins consider themselves #1 and #2. If Austin believes he would be chosen to sit next to one of them as final two, he is so delusional. The house was foolish to allow them in together. Bad decision.

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