We’re in the final stretch of Big Brother 17, but there’s no rest for the weary or Vanessa’s deal makings. When the Houseguests returned to the house after last night’s comp it didn’t take long for Vanessa to hit full speed mode to build more Final 2 deals to eclipse her other F2 deals while looking forward to what other F2 deals she could make later. It’s a F2-palooza and everyone is invited!
As we’re used to seeing, when Vanessa is in a position of strength or control, this time with Round 1 secured, she tends to work even harder. Her latest mission was to lock things down with Liz, as if there was much danger of her trying to strike a deal with Steve. Speaking of Steve, Vanessa has some thoughts on that topic too.
Flashback to 1:31 AM BBT 9/17 as Steve heads in to the Diary Room leaving Vanessa and Liz alone to scheme and plot. Vanessa immediately tells Liz that Steve can’t know about their F2 deal. Well of course not. That could mess up Vanessa’s F2 deal with Steve. But which one will Vanessa honor?
“I give you my word. I am going to take you,” says Vanessa to Liz. “He can not know,” states Vanessa. Liz questions whether or not Steve thinks he has a deal with Vanessa. “No!” Vanessa completely denies having a deal with Steve. We know otherwise, of course.
Vanessa warns Liz that if Steve wins this next round then “I might have to make a deal with him,” but Vanessa continues to promise Liz that it’ll only be a surface deal and she won’t honor it. “Obviously, my word is good and you know my word is good,” claims Vanessa. Obviously.
Liz assures Vanessa that she herself won’t try to make any F2 deals with Steve. That’d just be crazy, right? “I’m not going to go around and pretend to him. It’s just not happening,” promises Liz. Goodness. It’s disappointing but not surprising that Liz wouldn’t explore her limited options, but this should make it even easier for Vanessa to work both sides since Liz is unlikely to approach or openly discuss things with Steve. Maybe we’ll get a surprise in the coming days, but I doubt it.
Liz is worried about round two, but Vanessa again asserts the next part is physical, not mental. This was the same argument Vanessa made during the endurance HoH competition to convince Liz to drop. Vanessa told Liz in the comp that it wasn’t mental but rather physical and she (Vanessa) couldn’t win at that but Liz could. Vanessa was working hard at the time to persuade Liz to drop and it should shock no one that Liz complied and dropped after nearly four hours in the battle.
Vanessa explains that if Steve accepts a deal with her (this ignores the existing deal that Vanessa is hiding from Liz) then Vanessa won’t have to keep her side of the agreement because “he has broken things to me before.” Vanessa says since Steve screwed her before her promises to Steve are no good, but her ones to Liz are. “You get what you give,” explains Vanessa.
As an aside, Liz says Steve is a “nerd” and will “make so much money” when he grows up so they don’t have to worry about him getting cut now. Boy is Liz going to be surprised when she learns more about Vanessa. Well, these HGs are probably going to be surprised by a lot of what they learn.
Vanessa says F2 with Liz is her promise as long as she keeps her mouth shut, but if Steve wins R2 over Liz then Vanessa will be forced to start making deals with Steve. Oh, but those won’t be sincere deals like these super serious deals. “I will not keep my end of it if I win [R3],” promises Vanessa about any deals she’ll make with Steve.
So what’s the truth? Pfft. I’m not certain, but Vanessa might be expecting Steve of having a real shot at beating her in R3 if they’re there together. Otherwise Vanessa will have to break a deal with one of them. I would have guessed it’d be Liz to go to Jury, but Vanessa is going so over the top with this that it goes back to her core game trait, unnecessary, and she may be planning to keep Liz.
One thing I do believe with certainty is that Vanessa will not throw R3 to avoid having to pick a side. No way. She’ll win her way to the end if she can and cut any of her deals as necessary once she gets there. Vanessa already cut Austin and there’s a chance she’ll have to do it again with either Liz or Steve.
Steve fully believes he’s F2 with Vanessa and that she’ll take him if she wins R3. He believes this because she’s promised him as well. It’s worth noting though that Steve has also said out loud that he’ll take Liz to F2, not Vanessa, but didn’t we hear this before from Steve only to see him not follow through?
Things could get messy here and it’ll be interesting to see how everyone handles these deals. It’d be even more interesting to see Liz and Steve have a talk, but I’m not going to hold my breath on that.
What do you think of Vanessa’s deals? Which one is she planning to honor at the end?