What a comeback it’s been for Victor Arroyo on Big Brother 18 as his Battle Back domination has lead to three HoHs between him and ally Paul Abrahamian in the past three weeks with only Corey snagging the DE HoH in between their hand offs. Now the “Sitting Ducks” duo (yes, that’s their name) has picked a side to continue to their quest to win Big Brother.
On Thursday night after the Double Eviction was over we saw Paul and Victor meet up in the Storage room to celebrate their success in navigation the night’s dangers. Both agreed they were sitting pretty in the middle and needed to wait and see who would win HoH that night for the next week to decide which side to take. Well that debate is over.
I was surprised when I saw Victor snagged the HoH win after it sounded like they wanted to play the middle of the road but having safety for the week isn’t a bad thing on its own. With the power to control the next round of nominations and set the target they guaranteed themselves the chance to shape the rest of the season with the right “big move.”
As they stood in the middle of two groups they had a choice to make. Paulie, Corey, & Nicole on one side then James, Natalie, & Michelle on the other offered two very different paths ahead. Clearly they’ve decided to join the latter.
Victor put Corey and Paulie up on the Block to make their choice clear and there is likely no going back, but they’re okay with that. Last night (Flashback to 7:15 PM BBT 8/12) Victor and Paul discussed they would much rather go in to a F5 competing against HGs like Michelle, Natalie, and James than against Paulie, Corey, and Nicole. It’s a sound argument. The comp wins are definitely in Paulie’s trio though most are with Paulie and he could be gone at the end of this week.
Jump forward to this morning (Flashback to 11:48 PM BBT 8/13) as Paul checks in with Victor letting him know that after the big house blow-up Paulie was trying to work James over to be the pivot vote and flip the plan on them if either Paulie or Corey comes down. Nicole, Corey, and Paulie would need a third vote at that point but don’t have it right now and likely won’t.
Victor reiterates that they’re in the perfect spot this week. He says they’ve got James, “who now knows he’s been lied to,” and Nicole who would only save Corey so they know only Paulie will save Paulie. But if Paulie comes down then they agree Corey must go. So what about moving forward?
Victor has a plan. He definitely wants Paulie out first then they need to make sure Corey is gone but at that point he wants to “turn the guns” on James instead of Nicole. Paul doesn’t like that idea. He says if they get Paulie and Corey out then Nicole will “come for vengeance.” Victor thinks that’s another big move they need to make.
Paul counters that they focus on Corey next then let someone else in the group win HoH and take out Nicole. Then it’s time for James to go and either Paul or Victor could try to win HoH to make that happen. Victor agrees with Paul’s proposal.
Their master plan? Get to the Final 3 with Michelle, perhaps as their own personal Victoria. If they get to the end against her then their chances would be pretty good should they really want to reach the end with each other, but do you think either would risk that? Hmm.
Paul and Victor are playing a very strong game right now, but how many strong games have we seen toppled already this summer on Big Brother 18? Plenty. They could do it, but things are never as easy in practice as they are in theory.