Well here’s a facepalm moment for you. Just after the Big Brother 18 Veto Meeting Michelle turned on her campaign and just as fast as it started it may have hit a roadblock. Interestingly that may have been caused by Paul who has spent days trying to save her only to sink her hopes.
After the meeting was over Michelle quickly moved to the backyard for some sun and was joined by Paul. He congratulated her on a bold Veto speech though I suspect no beads were given this time around. Instead Michelle took the opportunity to mark a new target for the house.
Flashback to 11:45 AM BBT 8/8 on Cams 3/4 as Paul soon joins Michelle for a little talk. Paul gives her credit for not going quietly and Michelle says she wants to make sure everyone keeps in mind how much Paulie has been winning. Sounds like she called him out as a wide threat to the rest of their games.
Michelle asks who Paul thinks Victor wants out and he suggests it isn’t Michelle. We know this to be true as we also know Paul wants to keep Michelle while Paulie wants her gone and Zakiyah to remain in the game. Paul does continue to lie and say he didn’t even know Victor was going to put her up.
Paul asks for Michelle’s campaign pitch. She promises Paul she wouldn’t come after him in a Double Eviction (DE) nor would she even use him as a pawn in the process. She adds that Paul would be welcome to use her as a pawn. This was part of the advice James gave her last night in their talk that might have once been a sea change for the weak, but I now think is over.
So who are her targets, Paul asks after Michelle also says she wouldn’t put up Victor or Bridgette. We’re quickly running out of options there as we then have Paulie, Nicole, Corey, James, and Natalie. Now we know from last night’s talks that Michelle has said she would not put up James or Natalie and I think she meant it.
Michelle only reveals that she has an idea. “Let’s just say it’ll be a big move cause I got screwed over, but don’t tell anyone… I think it’s good for a lot of people.” Paul says he thinks he knows what she means. Now the quick reaction for me is that she means Paulie especially considering she just made that little speech at Veto about his danger in the game for so many of the HGs.
Paul encourages her to try that pitch to Victor and Bridgette as she tells Paul she only needs three votes. Now hold up. There are seven votes this week and four are needed to stay unless James uses his power to knock out one sides’ efforts making it only require three votes to stay out of the five active votes. Michelle saying she only needs three suggests she has James’s support with his ACP power and is reinforced when she says she thinks she has two already. If she’s banking on needing only three and thinks she has two already then that should tell Paul she has talked with James and he has possibly promised his ACP power along with James’s and Natalie’s votes too.
Michelle says she’ll go talk to Victor and hopes she can sway Vic by reminding him of Paulie’s repeat wins. Paul warns Michelle that Victor is close to Paulie. She says she knows Paul is too and hopes he won’t run this back to Paulie. Guess what. Yep. Paul tells Paulie so read on…
Jump to 11:59 AM BBT Cams 1/2 as Paul and Paulie settle down in the side bedroom. Paul lets Paulie know he was just out talking to Michelle who told him she had her DE plans but they weren’t him (Paul) or Bridgette. Paulie says that just leaves him and Victor. No, no, says Paul, she said not Victor either and he doesn’t think she meant Paulie. Paul instead suggests she meant James… “And??” asks Paulie with a sly smile. Paulie knows Michelle meant him! He was just at the meeting where she called him a huge threat with all his wins.
Paul keeps rolling and tells Paulie that Michelle said “it’s going to be a big move and benefits most people.” “She means me,” says Paulie. Paul disagrees. Paulie isn’t buying it. Good grief, Paul. Paul had just spent days fighting to keep Michelle and now he’s making it clear that she’s coming after Paulie. If he was trying to get Paulie to reach the conclusion of Michelle’s target being James then he should have said she said James instead of leaving it open to the obvious interpretation the rest of us reached.
Paul resumes his campaigning to keep Michelle saying he’s worried that if Zakiyah stays and Bridgette goes after Michelle then Victor and Paul are left without a female pairing/coupled and are then “easy targets.” Paulie promises Paul that they’ll send Zakiyah or Nicole home then during the DE as an offering to calm his worries.
The talk continues as Paul is once again losing this repeat argument. Paulie assures Paul that Zakiyah would put up whoever he told her to nominate. He’s certain of it. Even if it was Nicole and James. Paulie is not going to back down on this.
Paul tries again and says that if Michelle stays then she would put up James and Natalie. Paulie still doesn’t believe that’s what Michelle meant as Paul continues to push this angle. It isn’t working.
After several more minutes of the same discussion Paul again asks, “so you want Michelle gone this week??” Are you kidding me, Paul? How does he not get this? Paulie is not going to agree to let Zakiyah go and if he doesn’t do it this week then why would you believe he’d do it immediately after in the DE either?
So initially I thought Paul was just a doofus and thought Michelle really did mean James and Natalie for her big targets despite having clearly been suggesting Paulie as her target. Maybe instead it was just Paul trying to execute a terribly devised plan by revealing everything to Paulie in hopes he’d come to the conclusion that Michelle was after James. It just doesn’t make much sense and it definitely did not work. Paul blew it here and it could have big implications.
James had told Michelle and then Natalie that he could use his power to knock out votes enough to keep Michelle. Since Paulie had spent days trying to disguise his determination to keep Zakiyah by saying he didn’t really care either way then James could plead ignorance. James strongly suspects Paulie wants to keep Zakiyah to use as a tool against them and we just heard Paulie confirm that.
Now Paulie knows for near certainty that if Michelle stays she’s coming after him. Should James try to go through with the plan to cancel out Paulie’s vote and either Nicole or Corey’s in an effort to keep Michelle then he’s exposing his cards. This would be an indirect attack on Paulie through Michelle as a proxy.
I don’t think James can do this anymore unless he’s ready to stand his ground against Paulie and divide the house. With what army? Natalie, Bridgette, and Michelle? Against Paulie, Victor, Paul, Corey, and Nicole? No way. I’m calling this one dead in the water thanks to Paul not keeping his mouth shut. Of course later when Michelle likely talks to Victor he would probably run it back to Paulie too because that’s what all these HGs seem to do. Find something out? Go tell Paulie!
What do you think of this mess? What was Paul trying to do by running it back to Paulie? He’s still sitting here trying to convince Paulie so he must have thought this would help his argument but in what possible way? I really don’t get what Paul was thinking here. And can James continue on with his ACP vote flip plan or would it expose him and Natalie to too much danger? Share your thoughts below!