But First Fridays: Your Weekly Big Brother Power Rankings - Week 10

SPOILER ALERT: As has been the case for the last few weeks, this week’s HOH competition/juror buyback ran past the live show, so keep away if you want to wait until Sunday’s episode to find out the outcome.

Last Week’s HOH: Austin (gag)

Last Week’s Original Nominees: Steve and our boy Johnny

Veto Winner: Vanessa

Did she use the veto?: No, after giving a spectacularly petty speech meant to embarrass Steve

Votes for Eviction: 5-0 to evict John

New Head of Household: Vanessa.  God help us all.

Any new twists?: John won the buyback competition, meaning that he was able to reenter the house after being evicted for about twenty minutes.  And next week is another double eviction, so this could potentially be an incredibly interesting week or a painfully boring one.

OUR THOUGHTS:

JAIME: Oh, what a week.  Well, just like I predicted last week, Austin and Liz spending all their time in the HOH room meant we once again had to see some gross things on the feeds.  So, needless to say, I didn’t watch the feeds all that much this week.

GARRETT: Nor did I. The fact that those two think they’re loved by America would be mindboggling if it wasn’t so painfully obvious how pompous and conceited they are.

JAIME: Austin started off his week in a pretty terrible position.  He had made deals with just about everyone in the house, and now that the pool of potential nominees is so much smaller, he had no idea who to put up.  He was set on John, the only person he hadn’t made any kind of deal with, but he’d promised James and Meg that neither of them would go up, which meant his options were Steve or Vanessa.  Lots of back and forth ensued, lots of Austin feeling bad for himself for being in this position, lots of me not caring.  Ultimately, while he was fine with either John or Vanessa going home, he knew that Vanessa staying in the house would be better for his game - but he’d already promised Steve that he wouldn’t go up.  But once again Vanessa managed to sway Austin, and he wound up putting Steve and John on the block.

After an appearance by Zingbot (where Liz was zinged because Austin has a girlfriend, and Austin was just called smelly, because, you know, that’s fair), it was time for the veto competition, where one-by-one, players were shown a picture with three houseguests’ features mixed up, and the player had to correctly identify who was shown.  The fastest time won the veto.  Julia, in her first veto competition, was the time to beat for most of the game, until Vanessa came in and finished in two fewer minutes than Julia.  

With Vanessa winning the veto, Johnny decided to tell her about the five-person alliance they’d formed last week, in the hopes that it would help make Vanessa loyal to him and turn on Austwins, and eventually use the veto on him.  And it kind of almost worked: Vanessa confirmed the existence of the alliance with Liz, who wrote it off as just an idea of Steve’s that she, Austin, and Julia went along with.  With the blame for the alliance all on Steve, Vanessa flipped out, and had a few very mature conversations with him where she calmly listened to his explanation and ultimately understood that it was something he did to improve his standing in the house.  No, I’m totally messing with you, that didn’t happen at all.  It’s Vanessa, come on.  She cried and screamed at Steve and mocked him.

Despite her anger at Steve, and despite her incredibly petty and immature veto speech in which she yelled at Steve for hurting her feelings (by, you know, playing the game), Vanessa decided not to use the veto.  

GARRETT: The TV editing made it seem like Vanessa was either going to use the veto on John or flip on the Austwins and evict Steve, but, as with everybody else left in this game, she refused to vote against Liz and Julia.

JAIME: And on Thursday night, John was evicted by a unanimous vote - until, of course, the buyback competition, which brought Shelli, Jackie, and Becky back to compete alongside John for the right to reenter the house.  The competition, which was combined with the HOH competition, had all the players holding onto a rope that swung around in a circle, occasionally hitting obstacles along the way that would quickly spin them.  The last juror remaining would win the buyback, and potentially could win the HOH as well.

This was an incredibly quick competition, and by that I mean in the time it took me to come upstairs the moment the episode finished airing, open my computer, and turn on the feeds, it was pretty much over.  Apparently Jackie, Shelli, and Becky (possibly along with some of the houseguests) were disqualified for crouching too low on the rope, which seems like a fault on the producers for not explaining it well enough, but what do I know.  Ultimately Vanessa won the HOH, with John coming in second place and winning the buyback comp.

GARRETT: I was so mad during the episode (for those of you that follow me on Twitter, sorry for the outbursts, but such is the life) that I didn’t even watch the feeds for the rest of the night. John is back in, but only after telling Julie Chen that he wants Meg evicted over the twins. I’m more jaded with this show right than I’ve ever been, honestly. I really don’t like anybody.

JAIME: It was a really long week in the house, and unfortunately, I don’t think anyone really made any big moves.  But let’s get to this week’s power rankings:

8. Meg

GARRETT: We should really have a running tally of the poor decisions Meg has made so far. I feel like we detail it every week in these posts, but every go round, she always finds a way to make a decision that, from the outside of the house, looks just so clearly incorrect. This week, it happened on Wednesday night, as John was making his final push to stay in the house and flip the game on the Austwins. There was a prime chance to do it, but Meg, in classic fashion, ran to Austin and tattled on the idea, making him confirm his final five with the twins and James. Now, this week, Vanessa inexplicably is refusing to target the twins, and Meg is in the crosshairs. But I’m not happy, because a Meg nomination means an eviction of whoever is sitting next to her. It may just be James this week, which would add yet another of Meg’s “peeps” to the jury.

JAIME: Oh, Meg.  For some inexplicable reason, Meg thinks she has a lot of control in the house.  She doesn’t seem to realize that there are only eight people left, and when she’s only strong with one other person, that means she could very easily go at any time.  She’s still done absolutely nothing, and oh my god when is anyone going to realize that Austin, Liz, and Julia are three votes who absolutely are not going to turn on each other.  Every week that goes by, the worse Meg looks.  She hasn’t won a single competition, and adds no value to the house whatsoever other than adding a number.  And the worst part is I don’t think she’s going anywhere - John might be targeting her, but that’s it.  Everyone knows they can always beat her in a comp and that she can go whenever they want her to go, so they’re free to keep her as long as they want.  She’s done absolutely nothing to earn her place in the game and I am so, so tired of seeing her joking about how useless she is at comps.

7. John

JAIME: As sad that I was that John was evicted, I don’t know if him winning the buyback comp was the best possible outcome.  I’m glad there’s still someone in the house that I actually care about, but there’s a huge chance that this week will just be a repeat of last week.  I don’t know if I see John surviving the double eviction, and I think that another juror (especially Jackie or Becky) would have had a greater chance of actually shaking things up in the house.  I don’t know.  I’m torn, because Johnny is hands down my favorite houseguest, but game-wise, he’s got to step it up and realize that all the people he’s chosen to work with are absolutely out to get him.

GARRETT: John had chance after chance to play this game, and as funny as he is, it really pissed me off to see him say that he wanted Meg evicted over Austwins. I want to root for him, but part of me knows there’s no chance of him winning the big prize anyway after having been evicted already. I just think bringing back a houseguest that was fairly eliminated from the competition is cheap and tacky, and interrupts the flow of the game. I loved when Kaysar came back into the game way back in Season 6, but looking back on it, just because I loved him doesn’t mean it was right, and I’m glad he got a second comeuppance that same week. So now, rooting for John to win anything other than America’s Favorite Player just feels dirty. As for his game, it looks like he may be aligning with his once-enemy Vanessa, and should be alright for the first eviction. But if power flips back to the twins, he’s a goner. And if it happens, I won’t be that upset.

6. Steve

JAIME: Considering that Vanessa blew up at him last week, I think it’s safe to say that he’s probably going to be her biggest target.  He’s in a slightly better spot than John because I think Vanessa is really the only one with a huge vendetta against him; still, I don’t know how likely it is that he’ll survive the double eviction.  We’ve been saying for weeks that these players need to break up the Austwins block, but if James and Meg still insist on playing nice with them, Steve and John are the first to go.  So hopefully they step it up so I can continue supporting them.

GARRETT: I would probably like Steve, but he lets people get in his head so much that he physically can’t speak when he’s confronted about something (like Vanessa yelling at him in Wednesday’s episode). You can be a huge fan and know exactly what the right move to make is, but when you get so intimidated to the point of hyperventilation, your presence is pointless. Steve lost this game when he evicted Jackie in the first double eviction. He had the big move in front of him and didn’t take it.

5. James

GARRETT: As has been the case throughout the entire game, James is putting his fate in serious jeopardy through his alliance with Meg. Meg refuses to use any logic, and gets James questioning himself whenever it seems like he might be about to make the right decision. This week, both of them tried to volunteer to go up as a pawn. It’s baffling. $500,000 on the line and the man wants to risk himself for eviction. As with John, another truly likable guy, but he’s got a hollow head when it comes to playing big Brother. Unless the course of action is so obvious it’s punching him in the face (like putting Clay and Shelli on the block), you just can’t count on him to actually make a big move - something he incorrectly says he’s capable of.

JAIME: This is why I was hoping Jackie would win the buyback comp.  With Jackie by his side, James had a chance of actually getting some control back, and more importantly, gaining some perspective.  He absolutely does not have the numbers to win this game, or really control anything.  Whatever game moves he makes, even if they’re smart, are absolutely pointless as long as he doesn’t see the dangers of keeping Austwins.

4. Julia

JAIME: Julia is kind of pointless.  She’s sort of the Meg of Austwins: she hasn’t won anything, and she’s not really more than just a number.  But unlike Meg, Julia has strong people behind her, and given her connections to Liz and Austin, she’s not going anywhere.  As long as everyone keeps falling all over themselves to work with Austwins, they’re going to stay in control of the house, and Julia is going to walk right to the final three.  How thrilling.

GARRETT: She also just made a final two with Vanessa (in the event that Liz gets evicted), so that’s another eye roll from me. Julia is a huge disappointment that we should have seen coming. I like her better than Liz, but if you’re in a competition over who’s hated less, nobody is a winner. It means something that we write less on Julia every week than anybody else.

3. Liz

GARRETT: I just really don’t like Liz. I think she’s annoying and petty and a truly mean human being. She sits back and talks more trash than anybody this side of Maggie from Season 6. She takes everything personally while accusing everybody else of taking things personally. She’s rude and has a horrible attitude and only got on the show because her and Julia met Porsche from S13 on a yacht. I usually love to hate people in Big Brother. Austin, I hate, but I love to hate him because he’s so ridiculous and I know that the long wait will be worth it when he’s finally evicted. But Liz just makes me irrationally angry. There’s nothing about her I enjoy and she makes the show worse. I have nothing to say about her gameplay, other than the fact that again, after two months of this, I still don’t understand how people won’t target her.

JAIME: I cannot for the life of me figure out why no one has ever targeted her.  She’s the center of a three-person alliance, and we’re at the point in the game where three votes are the majority in an eviction.  How does nobody see that?  How is no one threatened by that?  Like Julia, she gets to just sit back and watch as she advances further and further in the game.  I could understand if they were actively working to protect their alliance and make themselves be seen as helpful rather than harmful, but seriously?  They’re not doing anything to make themselves seem like less of a threat, and yet nobody is threatened by them.  It’s not even fun anymore to watch these houseguests misread this situation.  It started getting sad a long time ago.  Austwins don’t deserve to win the game, but right now, none of the other houseguests do either if they can’t even acknowledge the largest threat in the game, and won’t lift a finger to do something about the huge obstacle between them and $500,000.  Austwins are going to be the final three and everyone else is going to be evicted and be surprised at how they managed to get fooled so badly, and they won’t have anyone to blame but themselves.

2. Austin

JAIME: First of all, it anyone hasn’t read Austin’s HOH blog, please do yourself a favor and read it.  A true intellectual, Austin is clearly leaps and bounds above the other players, and it’s no wonder that he’s playing a vastly superior game.  No, that’s not true at all.  Austin sucks.  He spent his week as HOH making deals with both sides of the house, and burying himself in deals and promises that he refused to even think about breaking.  But he’s absolutely untouchable right now: he’s got Liz and Julia behind him, and usually Vanessa.  I think it’s incredibly likely that he and/or Liz will win another HOH this season, and at this point, if someone from their alliance doesn’t go home during the double eviction, then they won’t be going home at all.  Austin, Liz, and Julia are in total control of the votes now, and for everyone’s eagerness to join up with them, no one realizes that they have no chance of beating them.  Once we get down to five or six people, there is absolutely no way to evict one of Austwins, unless the HOH isn’t one of them and puts up two of them against each other.  The worst thing about Austin, really, is how obvious his power in the house is, and how everybody refuses to act on it.  Austin’s continued presence is making me hate everyone else and hate this season.  Please do better, houseguests.

GARRETT: I want the professor that accepted Austin’s graduate thesis fired. The HOH blog and that absurd nominations speech only further show just how far Austin’s head is up his own ass. He’s a petulant child who whines when he doesn’t get his way - but he gets his way a lot more than not. I’ll give him credit for his only good game move (and maybe this season’s best, which is so unbelievably sad) in avoiding the block all the way back in week 4. And as I said above, I still love to hate Austin, just because he’s so cartoonishly ridiculous. But that will change when it really becomes apparent that he’s in no danger of going home.

1.Vanessa

JAIME: It’s been ten weeks, and I am officially annoyed by absolutely everything about Vanessa’s gameplay.  She lies to everyone but cries and gets personally offended when anyone lies to her; she controls everything but then can’t understand why anyone might ever potentially consider the possibility of evicting her.  She thinks she’s the only person who understands how to play this game, and yet she jumps down everyone’s throats the second they do anything even remotely connected to playing out a strategy.  So no, I’m not a Vanessa fan.  But unfortunately, she’s playing the best game in the house.  How sad is that?  With Austwins by her side, right now, she’s pretty much untouchable.  They’re going to continue to dominate and picking everyone else off, and there’s nothing we can do about it.  Joy.  I’m sure she’s going to cry a lot more, too, so everyone get pumped.

GARRETT: They had her chance to get rid of her and blew it. You don’t get many chances to take out a player like Vanessa - who, as insane as she can be, is incredibly intimidating and smart with her words. I don’t think there’s a player in history quite like Vanessa, who acts so volatile and won’t admit to her own lies in the diary room. I just don’t get how she doesn’t see how off her rocker she is. I just want one quote from her admitting to it. Just one. And all will be forgiven. But she’ll get no respect from me until she does that, even if she does walk away with the grand prize. She’s number one this week because of her HOH and puppeteering of the people she intimidates, but in a season filled with so many bad players, it’s really not that much of an accomplishment.

But First Fridays: Your Weekly Big Brother Power Rankings - Week 7

SPOILER ALERT: Like last week, the HOH competition didn’t end with Thursday’s episode. But we know who won, and are including this knowledge in this week’s rankings.

Last Week’s HOH: James

Last Week’s Nominees: Shelli and Clay (BLESS)

Last Week’s Veto Winner: James

Did he use the veto?: No, thankfully, and Clelli remained on the block together.

Votes for Eviction: 8-0 to evict Clay.  Thank GOD.

New Head of Household: In the world’s biggest plot twist, Becky

Any new twists?: Absolutely none.  Does anyone but us remember that we were promised a takeover a week?  Come on, Julie Chen, don’t lie to us. There’s a double eviction on Thursday, but it’s been expected for a while, so we aren’t counting it as a twist.

Our thoughts:

JAIME: This was one of the most exciting weeks we’ve had so far this season.  Finally someone who wasn’t Vanessa or controlled by Vanessa was running the house.  James’ HOH win gave us the potential for drama in the house, and he absolutely delivered.  Sunday’s episode showed us the end of last week’s HOH endurance competition - it got down to James, Shelli, and Johnny Mac, and after two hours of enduring a perpetually tilting wall, bird attacks, and artificial rain, Shelli’d had enough.  She made a deal with James to keep herself and Clay safe, and then she jumped, giving him the power for the week.

Once the competition was over, James met up with his alliance to figure out their plan for the week.  His target?  Clelli.  He didn’t care about the promise he’d made her because, after all, she and Vanessa had made him a promise the week before that they didn’t keep.  Unable to figure out who to put up as a pawn, he decided to bypass the idea of backdooring one of them entirely and just put them both up on the block right away.  It was a bold move, and I’m so glad he did it.  Having Battle of the Block sort of requires the HOH to backdoor their target, and once Julie announced that particular part of the game was over, I was excited to see how the houseguests would adjust their games.  And, thankfully, James adjusted quickly.

Of course, not everyone in the house was as excited to see Clay and Shelli up on the block as I was.  The Sixth Sense sort of...fell apart as soon as James took control of the house.  Shelli whined to anyone who would listen about how she and Clay were targets.  Vanessa was scrambling to try and figure out what James was thinking.  And Austin was busy kissing Liz again (I don’t want to talk about it).  After a fantasy-themed veto competition, complete with a Game of Thrones pun, James won the power of veto, and chose to keep his nominations the same.  That meant a member of the Sixth Sense was definitely going home - and naturally, Clay petitioned the house to vote to evict him rather than Shelli.  Because, like, true love or something.  The house went back and forth for a bit, and at one point there was almost a unanimous decision to evict Shelli instead.  But they swayed back and ultimately, Clay was evicted.

GARRETT: The decision to evict Clay was up in the air for quite some time, and it looked like the house was headed for a 5-4 decision until about three hours before the live eviction. At that point, a (low volume) fight erupted, the result of which was the house deciding on Clay unanimously as the one to evict. I won’t give too much information, because the fight is sure to be shown on Sunday’s episode, but the fight’s consequences will be reflected in the rankings.

Before we get to it, though, I’d like to talk a little about Clay. Clay was an attractive guy who got asked to appear on the show because he met the casting director at a Lakers game. I get that recruits are a part of the casting process, but it was clear from very early on that Clay was not in the house to win Big Brother. He was there to enjoy himself and to enjoy his showmance, and once he was out of power, he gave up entirely. It made a mockery of the game and I’m glad to see him gone. I would tell him not to let the door hit him on the way out of the Big Brother house, but thankfully, he’s gone and we can move on from his stupidity once and for all.

All in all, it was a pretty great week in the Big Brother house.  And Clelli has finally been separated!  So let’s get to this week’s power rankings:

11. Vanessa

JAIME: Vanessa’s been controlling the house since week 2, and while she’s definitely capable of coming up with big plans to keep her alliance’s hold on the house, she’s also paranoid and prone to overthinking every move she makes.  And of course, the second she lost power, she spiraled.  She tried to get eight people to band together and give their word that they wouldn’t put each other up in the double eviction, and, most importantly, she picked a huge fight that got the entire house’s attention.  People have finally started to see where Vanessa stands in the house, and she’s losing people’s trust.  Right now she’s the main target for the week, and even if she somehow manages to escape the first eviction this week, I can’t see her surviving the second.

GARRETT: People who talk too much always get figured out sooner or later, and it’s usually by the people who stay relatively silent, waiting for their opportunity to strike. This fight was one too many for Vanessa, whose paranoid antics seem to be sealing her fate. She’s smart enough to possibly steal a Veto this week and maybe an HOH during double eviction, but as Jaime said, I wouldn’t count on her slithering her way through the game much longer.

10. Shelli

GARRETT: Shelli has gotten an absolutely brutal edit on CBS, and is not looked upon favorably by many people watching the show. I think a lot of that had to do with her relationship with Clay. When a power couple holds dominion over the house for as long as they did, they’re bound to become targets at some point. CBS’s edit showed her kicking and screaming all the way to Clay’s eviction, and made it look like she was a selfish person unable to see that she had simply gotten outdueled by James in the HOH competition. But I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt now that she’s in a really rough spot. Hopefully, without Mr. Prissypants by her side, she can restructure her game moving forward.

JAIME: I had a lot of problems with how Shelli handled herself this week.  She kind of acted like no one had ever been put on the block before.  Actually, maybe more like eviction wasn’t even a usual part of the game.  Compare her to Vanessa, who can at least acknowledge when something is a game move and thus doesn’t take things personally.  Shelli took her and Clay’s nominations incredibly personally, and acted as if James was the first person in the history of the show to ever go back on his word (which just proved how little she understands the show, but I digress).  This week revealed to her that she’s a huge target in the house, and in return she revealed to the house that she cannot handle losing control.  That’s something every Big Brother player has to go through.  The thing about being the game, and being a strong player, is how you climb back up.  Shelli could not handle losing her spot and her precious Clay, and the way she handled herself this week really gave the houseguests zero incentive to want to keep her around.

9. Steve

JAIME: I still want to love Steve.  I think in real life I’d be friends with him, and probably baking him his favorite cookies every week.  At face value, Steve’s at a pretty okay spot in the game: he’s got alliances with Vanessa and John, so two people with a lot of sway on both sides of the house have got his back.  And even though we know he’s not Becky’s target this week, he’s not exactly in a good position, since the HOH hates him and he hates her right back (also, can we talk about how Steve and Becky randomly loathe each other and how hilarious it is?).  He’s also still afraid to really step up and find out for himself what’s going on in the house.  I think he spent a lot of time being pushed aside and being told to trust other people to make plans, and now he’s accepted that as his role in the house.  He needs to get his head in the game because right now, he’s still the easiest target in the house.  He’d be the first one to go if an HOH didn’t want to get blood on their hands.  If he can prove himself to be valuable to more people in the house, he’d be in a much better spot.

GARRETT: Steve is also extremely slow on the comeup, and doesn’t understand a lot of the reasons why certain people should and should not be trusted. He talks to the camera a lot trying to figure things out for himself, but even with worlds of information, often comes up short way too often. Steve needs a competition win, and badly, as we said last week. His situation won’t change until he wins one and sees who starts running to him for deals and alliances. Being on the offering end of those deals hasn’t put him in a fantastic spot. And with Vanessa sitting squarely in the bullseye, his main confidant won’t be able to drag him much farther.

8. Meg

GARRETT: Meg is fortunate that James won HOH last week and Becky took it this week, because she gets to have a say in the nominations. I think she’s a lot better socially than she’s given credit for, and seems to have a solid relationship with a lot of people in the house. And sometimes people advance really far in the game because others know they can’t win competitions. But that’s not the honorable way of getting to the end in my mind. I know Meg will be in the final four, but of everybody left in the house, she’s the one with the smallest chance of getting jury votes based on her own individual efforts.

JAIME: Oh, Meg.  I think I have said every single week that I’m waiting for her to do something.  Anything.  And no, getting drunk and grinding on Clay doesn’t count, though that is the kind of content I like to see.  I can acknowledge that she needs to stay in the game for now - her side of the house needs her as a number, so while she doesn’t really take up much of a role in the house, she’s not going to be a target any time soon.  And because she’s not a target, she wouldn’t be the first person the other side of the house targets, meaning she could stick around for quite a while.  Please, Meg, for me, use your position in the house and actually do something.  Win a veto comp, I don’t care.  Just do something because right now, she’s the only person in the house who hasn’t done anything.

7. Liz

GARRETT: We have Liz ranked below Austin and Julia because she’s the glue that ties the three of them together. The other houseguests know this, so she’ll always be option number one to put on the block from anybody trying to break up the three-headed monster. But she’s been off the radar for a couple weeks now. I’d watch out if I were her during double eviction, however. That’s usually the opportune time to take out a power couple. With Clay gone, her and Julia are the last one left.

JAIME: Liz still has the disadvantage of being so closely associated with Austin and Vanessa.  She was never quite as social as Julia, and spends a lot of her time either with Austin or with Julia.  Like Garrett said, she’d be the first person to target from her group with Austin and Julia, and she hasn’t really given anyone a reason not to target her.  So far she’s kind of content with coasting, but I just can’t see that working for her for too much longer.

6. Austin

GARRETT: Austin is still solidly in the middle of the pack after his miracle save a couple weeks ago. He’s calmed down quite a bit and seems to be thinking a lot more with his brain than he used to be. His ally Vanessa is still the major target, but he’ll readily sacrifice her for the sake of the twins. Surely, the target will land on his back soon, but for now, he’s doing just fine.

JAIME: I swear to god if I have to see him kiss Liz one more time, or talk about kissing Liz, I might shoot myself.  He’s still a definite target because of his role in Jason’s eviction, but with Vanessa and Shelli being more vocal about their feelings on everyone else’s gameplay, Austin’s managed to shrink his target with no real effort.  He and the twins will always be a threat to everyone, but I think they can manage to get by for a few more weeks pretty easily.

5. Julia

GARRETT: Julia is just about as middle-of-the-road as I think you can get as of now. She’s not the target, but isn’t totally safe because of her association with Liz and Austin. This week she’s fine, but, as we said for Liz, she could be a target for double eviction night. I feel bad writing pretty much exactly the same thing for her as I did for Liz, and while there’s humor in that, I really can’t come up with much else to say about her this week.

JAIME: Julia’s been pretty mellow since she officially entered the house.  I think maybe it might have been smart for her to come in and continue with the connections she’d been building with people whenever she was pretending to be Liz, but instead she’s mostly just spending time with Liz and Austin.  Still, she’s probably the smallest target out of the three of them for now, which is why she’s above them in our rankings, but by staying so loyal to them, she’s not really giving the other houseguests a reason to want her to stay.  Hopefully she steps it up soon, because right now she’s not a real threat to anyone, and I’d hate to see her be evicted just because of her ties to Liz and Austin.

4. Jackie

GARRETT: Jackie definitely wins the Most Improved Player award, rising from our least favorite week 1 to one of our most cherished houseguests at the halfway mark. Jackie is quick to call out bullshit and won’t hesitate to make a big move. She hasn’t had power at any point in the game (besides holding co-HOH for eight hours), but has sat close to it in recent goings. She seems to be in every new deal and alliance, but isn’t a big target either. She’s definitely the dark horse to win the whole thing, and if people don’t start paying attention to her strong gameplay, she just might do so.

JAIME: I just love Jackie’s complete willingness to openly call people out.  It was something we didn’t get much early this season, with Vanessa controlling the house for four straight weeks and subtly creating situations in which someone gave her a valid reason to publicly react.  But Jackie is pretty open about her concerns, and isn’t afraid to shake things up.  She and James are the best chances their side of the house has to get rid of the remaining members of the Sixth Sense, and with their brazenness, it’s going to be so fun to watch.

3. Becky

GARRETT: Becky has played so many different roles this summer that it’s hard to predict where she’ll fall in the rankings each week. She’s up to third this week because of her HOH win, and seems to be rolling with the momentum and targeting the Sixth Sense. But it was just last week that Becky was ratting out James, Jackie and Meg to Clay and Shelli. John has protected her loyally, but she’s still attempting to play both sides of the house. Perhaps with this HOH she’ll be picking a side for good, but I wouldn’t count on it.

JAIME: First of all, can we just talk about how Becky got kale and a One Republic CD in her HOH basket?  Like, I’m glad she’s going after the biggest targets in the house, but oh my god Becky, could you be more basic?  Anyway.  I was worried when she won HOH this week because last week, she was telling Jackie that she was unwilling to make any big moves before the double eviction.  She definitely could have played it safe, but thankfully she decided to really play the game, and I like anyone who’s willing to play the game.  I think after last week, she’s officially on the good side - especially with Clay gone, that’s one less person willing to protect her (I mean, not that she was ever high on Clelli’s list of people to protect), but after working with the other side to get out their targets, I think she’ll be solid with James and all them from now on.  Also, please keep up the random hatred of Steve.  It might be my favorite thing about this season besides Johnny Mac’s diary room soundbites.

2. John

GARRETT: Johnny’s been our favorite since just about the start of the game. And while I give Jaime credit for turning me into a fan of his, I still had doubts about his gameplaying abilities. Jason called him out multiple times for never doing anything, and he was right about that. John basically let others play his game for him and avoided conflict. But finally, on Thursday, Johnny woke up and started playing. Vanessa confronted him in the way that she does, with the fast-talking, scream-crying thing that she’s perfected over 50 days, and he sat stone cold and let her put the target on her back. And then he brazenly began to pick apart her game to the other houseguests. John became aware that he’s Vanessa’s number one target, but with his close ally Becky in power, he might have gotten ahead of her, as so many players failed to do before they were sent out the door.

JAIME: I am just so happy about the week Johnny has had.  I’ve been waiting for him to step up as a gameplayer so that I can be justified in calling him my favorite, and finally he’s becoming the rock star dentist of our dreams.  With Clay gone and Vanessa finally revealing the cracks in her game, John’s free to stick with the people he genuinely trusts.  With Becky in control this week, he’s totally safe, and I could not be more thrilled.

1. James

GARRETT: James may just be the most brazen houseguest since Evel Dick. He’s worlds different from Season 8’s winner, but unlike anybody in recent history, has just been so unafraid of conflict when it comes to game moves. He was a bit slow to the step in figuring out the power alliance of the Sixth Sense, but grabbed his opportunity to make a major statement and ran with it. Shelli was his target last week, but he seemed content with breaking up the couple, and exited the week with more friends than foes. When you make such a big move in Big Brother, it’s difficult not to put the target on your own back. And when he was drawn into Thursday’s fight, he stirred up the animosity just enough before backing out and letting Vanessa take the target away from him. Major applause from us, and a well deserved spot at number one on the power rankings.

JAIME: I’m so thrilled with how James handled himself this week.  He was so unapologetic about breaking his word to Clay and Shelli, and so willing to stand up and make it clear that he was intent on tearing down the main alliance in the house.  And he got in two major fights this week, something that often can ruin a player’s game and make them an immediate target.  But he knew exactly how to handle himself, so after fighting with Clay and Vanessa, they were the ones who looked bad, not James.  He refused to back down, and stayed consistent to his plan, something that we haven’t seen much of this season.  He wasn’t on my radar much until a few weeks ago, but after what he accomplished this week, he’s absolutely one of my favorite houseguests, and definitely deserving of his spot in our rankings this week.

But First Fridays: Your Weekly Big Brother Power Rankings - Week 6

SPOILER ALERT: For this week, we’re including our knowledge of the HOH winner, even though the competition had yet to complete in Thursday’s live episode. The winner will be revealed on Sunday, but, to keep consistent with our previous posts, are including the HOH status for the rankings.

Last Week’s HOH: Vanessa and Jackie

Last Week’s Original Nominees: Clay and Becky

Last Week’s Veto Winner: Clay, in his first comp win of the season

Did they use the veto?: Of course he did.

Replacement Nominee: Jason

Votes for Eviction: 7-2, with only James and Meg voting to keep Jason

New Head of Household: SPOILER ALERT - James won this week’s endurance comp, making him the first solo HOH of the season

Any new twists?: Let’s see.  For, what, the third week in a row, there’s no takeover, so that’s probably over.  Maybe.  Battle of the Block is also officially over, which means we’re back to only one head of household for the rest of the season.  Oh, and after surviving five evictions, Julia has officially joined the house.

Our Thoughts:

GARRETT: Paranoia and Nomination Roulette was the main theme of last week, as the houseguests spun themselves into a frenzy thinking about what to do. We left off last week with Austin squarely on the chopping block with his poor thinking skills leaving him vulnerable, after he spilled the twins’ secret to Jason and left himself as an untrustworthy member of the dominant Sixth Sense alliance. At the beginning of the week, Vanessa and Jackie won Head of Household, and Vanessa made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with keeping it. So she persuaded her close ally Clay and willing participant Becky into going on the block as volunteers, hoping they would win the Battle of the Block Competition. The two Heads of Household, along with Clay, Shelli, Becky, Meg, Jason, and James, made an eight person alliance they called “Dark Moon”, enlisting James to throw the competition with Liz as his fellow nominee, which would ensure that Jackie could stay in power and Austin would be put up as the replacement.

Unfortunately, the Dark Moon never rose (I’ve wanted to use that pun all week) and through sheer determination and an inability to spell on Clay and Becky’s side, Liz dragged James to victory in the Battle of the Block, keeping Vanessa in power as the Head of Household. Vanessa was distraught, and quickly exploded into a fit of raging paranoia. First, she told Liz what her plan was in order to keep her from being surprised, and Liz began persuading her not to make the move. Austin then caught wind of the plan and began his own pleading for safety. Eventually, Clay won the Veto competition, and Austin was able to convince Clelli and Vanessa that he was a loyal ally who simply made a poor, emotional decision in telling Jason about Julia.

So began the next rounds of Nomination Roulette. Clelli and Vanessa went through every single houseguest, and for fifteen minutes at a time, seemed sure that they had made up their minds. But they kept changing what they wanted to do, and unfortunately for one of our fan favorites, landed on Jason as the backdoor choice.

Jason was completely blindsided by the move, as were his allies Meg, Jackie and James. He made a few last-gasp efforts to save himself, and while he was unsuccessful in doing so, he managed to expose Shelli and Clay in playing both sides of the house. They took the brunt of the blame when Jason was evicted, even though it was Vanessa who put the knife into his back.

After the eviction, Julia came into the house as expected, and Julie Chen let them know that the Battle of the Block would be coming to an end. The subsequent HOH competition was an endurance challenge, and after over two hours standing on a tilted ledge, James emerged victorious. Shelli made a deal with him to save herself and Clay, but it seems as though James may be willing to break that deal to split up the power couple. Nominations will be set later today (Friday the 31st), but we’re going to rank the houseguests before knowing who will be on the block for sure.

As more houseguests leave the game, it became necessary for us to change how we do our power rankings every week.  So rather than having a top and bottom 5, starting this week, we’re going to rank all of the houseguests.  So here’s how we think everyone stacked up this week:

12. Meg

JAIME: Oh, Meg.  Once Jason was put on the block, it started looking like maybe this could be a big week for Meg: her friend’s nomination finally gave her the fire to start playing the game and putting pieces together, and she realized that there’s a powerful group in the house who’s been controlling everything the last few weeks.  She even called Clay out for lying to her about where his and Shelli’s loyalties truly lie.  And then….nothing.  Actually, she forgave Clelli, and now she’s tight with them again.  She spent a few days realizing that she, James, Jackie, and Jason were just extra numbers alongside the Sixth Sense and then promptly forgot all about it and eagerly signed up to become a number again.  Good job, Meg.

GARRETT: She’s safe for the week with James in power, but really hasn’t been a figure of any importance in the game. She discarded Audrey’s warning of a six-person alliance by saying she didn’t care, because she and Jason would be better off regardless. She’s just as much to blame for Jason leaving as Jason is, having done nothing but sit on the patio talking crap for the majority of the time she’s been in the game. She’s lucky her minority alliance is in control this week, and may just be brought to the end on virtue of her inability to pose any kind of a threat. But she brings very little to the table.

11. Becky

JAIME: Becky’s still a weird presence in the house.  She gets along with everyone, so the only reason she’s a target in any way is because of her gameplay.  They’re all threatened by her success at competitions, except, as she points out, she’s been losing comps pretty consistently.  Losing the veto this week shook up her confidence and made her question what gives her a leg up in the game.  And then, like Meg, she spent part of the week railing against the Sixth Sense and then wound up joining them.  Without hearing her in the diary room (which, when was the last time we saw Becky in the diary room?), it’s hard to say if she’s truly changed her loyalties or if this is just a plan to win them over and then break up the alliance, but for now, it looks like she’s pretty loyal to Clelli.

GARRETT: Earlier this morning, Becky supposedly ratted on James’s plans to take out a Sixth Sense member to Clelli. So her loyalties to them have been confirmed. She’s trying to play the role of the rat that Andy Herren rode to victory in Season 15, and seems to have a decent perception of what’s going on gamewise. But she doesn’t seem to know that she’s firmly on the outside looking in on the Sixth Sense, and isn’t fully trusted by Shelli and Clay. She’s a sitting duck for them, and should be pretty shocked when her turn comes for eviction.

10. Steve

JAIME: Okay, can we talk about Steve’s weird ass comments about Becky during the veto comp?  Apparently Steve hates Becky.  Who knew.  He’s still not in a great place: he’s working with the Sixth Sense but none of them really have his back, or at least have him as a priority.  He’s still a pretty big target for a lot of the houseguests, even though I don’t think his gameplay is really anywhere close to being a threat.  Still, he’s made deals with Vanessa and John that hopefully will let him stick around for a few more weeks, and hopefully in that time he’ll finally get it in gear and find a way to actually gain some control of the house.

GARRETT: Steve and James had an interesting discussion last night around four in the morning. Steve wanted to know if he was a potential nominee, and James told him no, because he wanted to get “a big player” out first. That’s good news for Steve in the short term, but looking down the road, his inability to win competitions will come back to haunt him. He’s put a world of pressure on himself to perform, and just can’t do it. His final two with Vanessa is dependent upon him picking up some of the slack, and if he can’t, she’ll probably dump him as the game moves forward.

9. Shelli

GARRETT: Shelli was unable to do what Vanessa did this week, and took almost all the blame for Jason’s eviction, even though she wasn’t the one who actually blindsided him. She’d played a phenomenal social game up to this point, but when the evidence was finally presented to James, Meg and Jackie that she was the leader of the Sixth Sense, she wasn’t able to take the blame off herself. Her attempts to assuage Jason were laughable, and now, with James in power, Shelli is seen as the number one target. For someone who’s won two HOHs, that’s a tough situation, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles in Big Brother.

JAIME: Shelli had been playing a pretty great game so far.  If she wasn’t directly in control, she was at least a huge part of the decision making process, but her social game has been strong enough that no one put any of the pieces together.  And even if they did, no one figured out just how much power Shelli has had this entire game.  Clelli may have won Becky and Meg over again, but the house is finally aware just how strong Clelli’s hold over the other houseguests has become.  Thankfully James won HOH this week, because of that side of the house, he might be the only one in a position to do something about breaking up the Sixth Sense.

8. Clay

GARRETT: Clay is ranked above Shelli because he’s done a slightly better job of lying than she has. He’s not seen as the number one threat in the game, and while James wants to split up the showmance, his target is Shelli because she’s seen as the brains. Clay may be able to skate through the week, but not before taking some serious damage. He was able to win over Meg, though, so we’ll see where he stands after (presumably) losing an ally this week.

JAIME: His charm is definitely what’s carrying him through this game, and probably a big part of the reason that it took so long for anyone to figure out his and Shelli’s game.  He’s carrying out Shelli and Vanessa’s plans but isn’t really creating any moves himself, so if James is successful in getting Shelli evicted this week, that’s going to be a huge blow for Clay.  He’s got enough friends left that he’d still be in a comfortable spot, but without Shelli, his long-term chances definitely shrink.  Also, he’s won exactly one competition the entire season.  He’s a physical threat, sure, but so far he hasn’t been very threatening.

7. Julia

JAIME: I’m so excited that Julia has finally joined the game, because while she comes in with a natural partner, she and Liz are at odds about one pretty huge thing: Austin.  Julia doesn’t trust him at all, no matter how much Liz does, so is she going to want to work with him at all?  She’s also closer with people on the other side of the house than Liz is, which creates the chance that she might choose to work with them instead.  She’ll probably stay loyal to her sister, but if she’s wavering on the Sixth Sense, then we might start to see the end of the alliance that’s ruled the game so far.

GARRETT: She’s ranked below Liz for me simply because she doesn’t have the first-hand information as to what went down this week. She wears her emotions on her sleeve a bit more than her sister as well. A blowup with Austin would be worlds of fun for us at home, but could come back to haunt her as well. It’s clear that Austin doesn’t value her as strongly as Liz, so later in the game, her fate may be decided by the large man’s heart.

6. Liz

JAIME: Overall, Liz is pretty comfortable in the game.  Her alliance is in control, and even now that they’ve more or less been exposed to the entire house, Vanessa and Clelli are the real targets.  She got to avoid the blowup after Jason’s nomination, and with Vanessa and Clelli as bigger targets, she might go unnoticed for a little while longer.  Of course, now that she’s spending all her time with Austin, she’s gotten back on people’s radars.  People were angry that Austin wasn’t put on the block when that was the plan; their anger at him might carry over to Liz, so while she’s still probably protected behind the bigger threats of Vanessa, Clelli, and Austin, she’s probably not too far behind in people’s minds.

GARRETT: Liz is in a fine spot if she can avoid the block this week. She could definitely become a target later on as the center of two solid alliances (Liz/Austin and Liz/Julia), but seems in the clear for now. Her best bet is to lay low while the bloodbath ensues this week and hope for a shift in power moving forward. The numbers are still on her side, and she’s smart enough to play them correctly.

5. John

JAIME: John’s in a pretty good spot.  Much to his joy, he wasn’t put on the block this week, finally breaking his streak that started the first week.  And he got close to winning the HOH competition, something that’s probably not going to escape the other houseguests’ attention.  They’re starting to realize how good he is at comps, and now that he’s finally broken his nominations streak, I don’t think he has any desire to go back on the block.  He’s definitely not going to agree to be a pawn again, and he’ll be safe this week.  Our favorite rock star dentist has got some life left in him, and personally, I could not be more thrilled.

GARRETT: I’m not worried about him this week, but he may crop up in people’s minds come double eviction night. Hopefully, there’s some larger twosomes to split up by the time that rolls around and Johnny will continue to slide right along. He’s the most widely liked person in the house by a large margin and knows exactly when and when not to open his mouth. I still don’t think he’s going to win, but he’s got a great chance of putting himself in prime position as the numbers start to dwindle down.

4. James

GARRETT: James needed to pull out an HOH victory, and did so this week, coming up clutch for his minority alliance. James has always been unafraid to break his deals and take out major players in the game, so I’m excited to see the bloodbath when he takes his swing at Clelli. He has the tendency to be won over by Clay’s charm, but with Jackie in his ear this week, should move forward and make the right decision. He’s still not in the best spot moving forward, as next week should include a Double Eviction. But if he can work some deals this week and perhaps swing the balance of power back to his side, he should greatly improve his standing in the house. He’s also the first guaranteed jury member!

JAIME: James definitely can be swayed but he’s ultimately loyal to the people he knows have his back.  I loved how during the HOH competition, when Shelli tried to make a deal with him, he immediately ensured that Johnny Mac, the only other person left in the game, would be included.  He’s looking out for his people and doing what he can to keep them safe.  A huge move this week definitely would make his chances of surviving the double eviction smaller, but hopefully this week he’s able to set things up for his people so they’re in a much better position moving forward.

3. Austin

GARRETT: Austin is definitely my least favorite character still left in the game. He’s a bumbling fool that thinks with the wrong part of his body, making decisions that hinder both him and his majority alliance. But dammit if I won’t commend him for the efforts he made last week to save himself from what was once a certain backdoor. Austin pulled a Dr. Will Veto Speech, practically bowing down to Vanessa, Clay and Shelli, and guaranteeing his loyalty and his willingness to be used as a pawn moving forward. He saved himself, and scooted right by the blame for Jason’s eviction in the process. He’s still despised by Julia, as well as James, Jackie and Meg, but has set himself up to stay in the house as the de facto “big target”.

JAIME: First of all, they did not need to show the clip of Austin kissing Liz so much.  Seriously, they showed it like three times in two minutes.  We get it, it was gross enough the first time, please make it stop.  It was a pretty smart move to appeal to Vanessa by promising to essentially become nothing more than a pawn or a number for their alliance - in his full speech, as shown on the feeds, he also said he knows he’s not going to win now, but he just wants to make jury.  Of course, he probably only wants to make jury so that he can be in sequester with Liz which, ew, but if he’s willing to throw his chance at half a million dollars just to get a girl who doesn’t even like him to sleep with him, that’s his decision.  If the other side of the house plays it right, I can see a few different ways they could play the rest of the Sixth Sense to get them to turn on Austin, but for now, he’s pretty solid.  Which is annoying.

2. Jackie

JAIME: Jackie was absolutely out for blood this week.  She had zero problem directly questioning Shelli’s loyalties, and unlike some other people, she didn’t let go of her anger after Jason was nominated.  She’s playing Vanessa hard, and if anyone’s in a good position to blow up the Sixth Sense, it’s her.  Jackie winning HOH again this week probably would have resulted in a more cutthroat game, but she might have the most influence over James than anyone.  She’s become ruthless and I love it.  After spending the first few weeks more or less in the background, she’s emerged as one of my favorite players to watch because she’s so unapologetic about her moves.

GARRETT: She was the first to see through the Sixth Sense last week, and, as Jaime said, has really come on strong as a formidable player. We had her ranked at or near the bottom for a large portion of the rankings, but once Jeff left, she came on strong and started to figure the game out. She’s in no trouble this week with a James HOH, so I’m looking forward to how she maneuvers the bloodbath that should ensue this week.

1.Vanessa

GARRETT: Vanessa was able to make a big move last week, evicting Jason, while also shielding most of the blame away from her and onto Shelli and Clay. I’m not a fan of her inability to make a decision, and her paranoia is something that may be her undoing in the future. But I think she makes a much better player with the ball out of her hands. I don’t think HOH is something she’s going to want or hold in the upcoming weeks, but she’s still extremely skilled at deflecting blame away from her while keeping a core of allies. I think Shelli and Clay may blow up at her this week if they become the targets (and it’s likely that’s what happens), but Vanessa has played a solid social game outside of their alliance and remains a decently trusted person. With the amount of blood she has on her hands, that’s not a small achievement.

JAIME: Considering that she and Clelli have been in control of the house since week three, it’s a huge testament to Vanessa’s game that it took this long to have her decisions questioned.  She made the decision to draw a line in the sand by putting up Jason, and she’s a very rational player.  She gets that putting up Jason will probably result in her being nominated.  But when someone does something that’s not directly rational or causal, she gets frazzled.  Vanessa could understand being put up this week, but if Shelli or Clay is put up instead?  That’d be a much bigger blow to her game.  She’s still got numbers on her side but she needs to be more careful from now on now that the rest of the house is on to her.