Vanessa Rousso looks to be one competition away from winning Big Brother 17 but that doesn’t mean she is going to rest on her game play.
Shortly after the Final 3 formed Vanessa was already in action mode with both Steve Moses and Liz Nolan to shore up her deals and secure her position of playing the middle of both her F3 opponents.
Kick things off on Wednesday night at 6:24 PM BBT 9/16 as Vanessa sits with Steve in the open bedroom. Steve asks if Vanessa made a F2 deal with Liz. Vanessa wags her finger “I never had one with her. I give you my word. Nope. I did not.” She raises her hand and repeats, “I did not. Those words did not come out of my mouth.” We’ve got a semantics game here again with Vanessa as she continues to insist there is no F2 deal between the ladies.
Steve continues to question and asks if she and Liz are taking each other. “No,” responds Vanessa as she shakes her head. Steve is surprised that Vanessa didn’t try to make a deal with Liz in exchange for keeping her over John in the eviction completed just minutes before this. Vanessa says if she did that then it’s between her and Liz.
He reminds Vanessa that he’d be easier to beat than Liz in front of the Jury. She agrees and says “that’s why I made the promise that I did.” That promise was Vanessa would take Steve to the end.
Jump forward seven hours later to 1:31 AM BBT 9/17. Steve has just gone inside the DR which means it’s go time for Vanessa and Liz to talk alone in the bathroom.
“Listen. He can not know we have a deal, okay?” says Vanessa. “If I get to finals with [Steve], whatever I tell him is not the truth. Okay? Listen to me, I give you my word. I am going to take you. He can not know,” continues Vanessa.
Liz then questions Vanessa the same as Steve did. “He thinks… don’t you have a deal with him?” asks Liz. “No!” exclaims Vanessa. She tells Liz that if Liz doesn’t pull through on Round 2 then she may have to make false deals with Steve. “If I win I will take you though no matter what I tell him… I just need you to keep your mouth shut.” Then my favorite Vanessa line. “My word is good and you know my word is good.”
Making things even easier on Vanessa is Liz’s explanation that she won’t try to make a deal with Steve. “I literally only have you,” explains Liz who goes on about how she won’t be going to Steve to work around her.
Right now Vanessa has promised both Steve and Liz that she’ll take them from F3 to F2 while knowing they each fear the other opponent. This helps keep them from talking to the other out of concern that it’d be run back to Vanessa and she’d take the other instead.
Gridlock. Just as we’ve seen all season, the Houseguests fear upsetting Vanessa. They are paralyzed from taking action against her out of fear that she’ll take revenge and exclude them. Each believes they have a reliable route to the F2 if Vanessa at the wheel. I really doubt either Liz or Steve will risk that by talking to the other to make a Round 3 deal.
So what is Vanessa really planning to do? At this point I think she may want to take Liz. Vanessa has explicitly promised both, but the deals with Steve are older and she’s more recently getting in to the details with Liz.
It’s really about who gets second if Vanessa is involved and makes it to F2. She won’t lose to either of them even with Liz starting out with two votes in her corner. I don’t even see Steve voting against her if she cuts him. He’ll respect her game move more than being bitter enough to vote for Liz.
What do you think Vanessa is up to here? Her “word” can’t be good with both players if she wins Round 3 and I don’t think she’ll possibly throw that comp to avoid breaking a deal. So what’s the game plan? Honor her F2 deal with Steve or Liz? Share your thoughts.