But First Fridays Week 5: Your Weekly Big Brother Power Rankings

Last Week’s HOH: Shelli, with Liz being dethroned after a 90s-themed Battle of the Block

Last Week’s Original Nominees: John (naturally) and Jason

Last Week’s Veto Winner: Vanessa

Did they use the veto?: Of course she did, and took Jason off the block

Replacement Nominee: Audrey, FINALLY

Votes for Eviction: 10-1 to evict Audrey (with a penalty vote for eating regular food as a have-not; Austin/Judas was the only vote to evict John)

New Heads of Household: Jackie and Vanessa

Any new twists?: For the second week in a row, there’s no announced takeover.  The producers might have forgotten about the whole Big Brother Takeover thing.  Something might come up during the week, but don’t hold your breath.

Our thoughts:

JAIME: It took four weeks, but Audrey is finally out of the house.  But of course Audrey’s nomination and subsequent eviction couldn’t go normally.  This was one of the most dramatic weeks they’ve had in the house: first our two HOHs, Liz and Shelli, had absolutely no idea who to nominate.  So Audrey suggested Jason’s name as an option, saying that she’d heard him say that he was gunning for Clay and Shelli.  It gave Shelli a clear reason to put him on the block, but then Jason came to her and explained he never actually said that.  It was, once again, Audrey lying for the sake of lying and trying to create a bigger target than herself.  Frustrated with Audrey’s inability to lay low and trust her alliance not to turn on her, Shelli finally had enough.  She threw a (untelevised, for some reason) house meeting, save for Audrey, to ensure that everyone in the house felt the same way.  It was all to minimize her own guilt, really - if she felt like it was a house decision, then it wasn’t as personal for her to turn on her friend.

And then that’s when things got weird.  After a 90s-themed Battle of the Block, where the players had to find four keys in various grunge band-themed challenges, Jackie and James saved themselves from the chopping block (and Johnny wasn’t even trying to throw it this time!).  Jason, Johnny Mac, and Liz, as dethroned HOH, received a punishment: they were now part of a boy band called the Wackstreet Boys, and whenever they were called, they had to run and perform a choreographed dance.  And you know what, I’ll just say it: Johnny Mac doesn’t look so terrible with a chinstrap.

Once the veto competition became the only step between the houseguests and eviction night, it became clear to Audrey that she was the target.  After a huge fight with Clay, Shelli, and Vanessa about her inability to trust them, and how many lies she’s been telling, the group completely turned on Audrey.  Ultimately, Vanessa won veto, where the players were quickly shown a list of colors, then had to add one of the colors shown to a beaker.  Add the wrong color, the whole thing (rather literally) blows up in your face.  

And then, with Vanessa intending to use the veto, Audrey just kind of...broke down.  Most days, she spent 3+ hours in the diary room, and whenever she was out, she stayed in the have-not room under a blanket, in total darkness.  The few times she got up, the other houseguests acted like they’d seen a ghost.  On Wednesday night, she finally told Shelli she’d had a panic attack, but no one had any idea what was going on.  After she spent five hours in the diary room one day, they were sure she’d self-evicted.  They assumed she was doing it all for attention or sympathy (and honestly, panic attack or not, she probably could have found a way to communicate to everyone that she was genuinely not well), and while they all worried about how she was feeling and making sure she was eating, it didn’t detract from their plans to evict her.  If anything, her not showing up to the veto ceremony (ostensibly because she was too sick - again, true or not, nobody in the house had any idea that she was sick at that point) strengthened a lot of people’s resolve to get her out.

And ultimately, that’s exactly what happened.  The other houseguests (and Julie Chen) weren’t even sure if Audrey would show up to the live eviction, but she was present, and, of course, was evicted.  Ten votes, including one penalty for breaking her have-not diet, to one, which was planned to throw a little chaos into the house (which is an incredibly stupid idea, but what do I know).

It was a huge week in the house, and a lot of players really stepped up and came together to get rid of the house’s biggest target.  It was less about the Sixth Sense controlling everything this time, and ultimately, some of the power finally made it to some people on the other side of the house.  So let’s get to this week’s power rankings.

Bottom 5:

5. John

JAIME: Needless to say, John is the best person in this house.  He’s been nominated every single week, and it was such a bad move to put him up again this week.  He doesn’t really work as the go-to pawn once it starts becoming obvious that he’s a pawn, and part of the HOH’s larger plan.  I’m still waiting for him to win an HOH and take control of his own game, but the longer it takes him to do that, the longer it takes for him to become a real threat.  Still, like we’ve been saying, I think he’s got a few more weeks before anyone starts targeting him, so he’s got some time to turn things around.

GARRETT: I’m #teamdentist until the end, but he just needs to start winning. He’s held two vetos, but has only used them to take himself off the block as part of someone else’s larger plan. He’s absolutely beloved by everybody in the house, which is still an advantage for him at the moment. But soon, the lines will be drawn, and that likability will no longer trump alliances. I want nothing more than a John HOH, so here’s hoping he slides right through this week and can gain some power next week.

4. Becky

JAIME: As Garrett so eloquently put it, “Becky cleans a lot.”  That’s...about all she’s got going on lately.  She was one of the strongest supporters of Shelli’s plan to evict Audrey, and had actually been pushing the idea for a while.  But she could have stepped up and become a key part of the eviction, and she just didn’t.  She sat back and once again, everything happened as a result of Vanessa, Shelli, and Clay’s gameplay.  Becky is pretty close with Jackie, though, and apparently they talk game a lot together, so maybe this week she’ll step up and become a real presence in the house?  Maybe?  Please?

GARRETT: Becky has had zero diary room appearances in the last three episodes of the show. That’s honestly impressive. CBS views her as a non-factor, and even Jason cracks jokes about how invisible she is. A lot of times, this invisibility can work in your favor and you can find an attachment down the line. But what I’m fearing for Becky is a double eviction. If the suspicions of the houseguests and the online community hold true, it’s coming next week. Becky needs to be careful and really start working hard in the game to avoid that fate.

3. Steve

JAIME: I still love Steve, and very much want to adopt him and bake him cookies while he serenades me on the trombone.  But he just has nothing going on.  He made deals with Vanessa and John this week to watch each other’s backs, but nothing’s come of those.  He’s lost memory competitions that the other houseguests assumed he would have had in the bag.  Maybe part of that is because they find his intelligence more intimidating than it actually is, but if he can’t win the competitions that have to do with his strengths, what is he going to do?  I’m still hoping for a turnaround, and even a joint Steve/John HOH, but come on, Stevie, you’ve got to do a little better.

GARRETT: It doesn’t help Steve’s cause that everybody believes he’s throwing all of the competitions. I don’t think he is, but he’s clearly overwhelmed by the social pressure cooker of the competition. He’s trying too hard to fit in, and people are getting sick of him. I’m still rooting for him, but it’s starting to come from a place of pity rather actually wanting him to win.

Oh, and apparently he doesn’t flush the toilet. The drought in California is bad, Steve, but I don’t think it’s THAT bad.

2. James

GARRETT: James is someone that I greatly enjoy in this game. He’s funny, lively, and pulls some pretty hilarious pranks for us to enjoy on the live feeds. But he can’t keep a secret. Anything that gets told to him will be transferred along to somebody in power - Shelli and Clay, or Vanessa - and they’ll give him the runaround. His allies, Jason and Meg, have recently begun to detach themselves from him because of it. I hope he fixes the issue, but for now, he’s got jury written all over him.

JAIME: It worked in his favor this week, because he was part of the reason that Shelli turned on Audrey, but moves like that don’t work when they’re not being pulled against the biggest threat in the house.  He can play smart when he wants to, but when he doesn’t want to, his game can be sloppy.  If he wants to play double agent, okay, but you need to pick your sides clearly if you’re going to do that.  James will share info with anyone, and that’s just not going to fly.  He was close to winning HOH this week, which would have been okay (and Vanessa probably would have just pulled his strings the whole time), so I’m glad it ultimately went to Jackie.  He’s at least solidified himself as a pawn, so I think he’s got a few more weeks left, but he’s definitely a clear jury member.  

1.Austin

GARRETT: So I’m a wrestling fan. I enjoy it. The pomp and circumstance mixed with the athletics, combined with the over-exaggerated fakeness of it all, really makes for a great bit of enjoyment. I bring up wrestling because, as you know, Austin is a wrestler. But outside of his general size as a human being, I can’t possibly see how he’d be any good at it. The guy doesn’t know how to lie and get away with it. His over-the-top antics with the Judas thing is terribly annoying. And outside of being a professional (in the Big Brother sense) and trying to win the game, he’s completely lost sight of the end goal. All the guy does is try to get in Liz’s pants. It’s honestly ridiculous. He’s torpedoed his game and any likability he ever had. On top of it all, he’s mean to Steve for no reason. I can’t wait until he’s gone.

JAIME: I don’t even know what’s happened to Austin over the last two weeks.  He was loyal to Vanessa until he got close to Liz, and now suddenly he’s willing to overturn his whole game for Liz?  Liz is great (and Julia is better), but come on, bro, you’re not even trying anymore.  On the feeds, whenever the two of them are in the same room, he’s always got a hand on her back or shoulders, and then there’s the occasional kiss on the top of her head...It’s gross.  And on top of all that, he’s giving out information without consulting his alliance first, and they already had doubts about how much they could trust him.  Their doubts from last week were further cemented this week, and let’s be real, they could get him out in a second if they told him either he or Liz had to go.  I think maybe he thinks he’s being charming and romantic by being so willing to throw his game for her, but there’s a time and place for chivalry (well, okay, there isn’t really, but work with me) and the Big Brother house is not it.

Top 5:

5. Jason

GARRETT: Jason had a great turnaround this week, and with his back against the wall, got Vanessa to use the veto on him. He went into the week the number one target and emerged with loyalties on both sides of the house. People like having him around, and he’s just sublime on the feeds, making all of us laugh with a devil-may-care NC-17 sense of humor.

JAIME: And Jason knew he was in a really vulnerable position at the start of the week.  He knew he would go home against Johnny Mac, and even once he became aware of the plan to evict Audrey, he knew he wasn’t even totally safe against her.  He had to come off the block, so he started working with Vanessa and her side of the house.  I can definitely see that relationship continuing this week, and with Jackie and Vanessa in power, something big could definitely happen with Jason on their side.

4. Jackie

GARRETT: We had Jackie at the very bottom of our list heading into the week. But after watching the feeds, she’s shown herself as a very perceptive, strategic player. Simply put, Jackie does not buy anybody’s bullshit. She’s good at playing dumb and appearing to let people walk over her, but has a clear goal in mind and is setting herself up as a quiet, ruthless player as we move forward. Good riddance for Jeff being gone, because now that he is, Jackie is quickly rising up the list of houseguests. I’m hoping she stays Head of Household and causes some major damage this week.

JAIME: The feeds have made me love Jackie.  I don’t know if she was actually standoffish before Jeff’s eviction or if it just seemed that way, but she seems to be interacting a lot with everyone, to the point where she was one the only attendee of a Wackstreet Boys performance (much to their delight).  I’m so thrilled that she won HOH, because the Sixth Sense alliance is already crumbling and they know it.  Now that she’s in a position to make some moves and work alongside Vanessa, they might be in a better position to get out some of the weak links in the Sixth Sense (aka Austin).

3. Clay

JAIME: Clay is a weird fixture in the house.  Obviously his loyalty lies with Shelli foremost, and then Vanessa and Liz, but he’s still got ties to the other side of the house that he uses to their advantage.  I think everyone expected him to be running things between him and Shelli, that she’d just go along with whatever plans he came up with.  And yeah, he is coming up with a lot of plans, but Shelli’s not following him blindly.  If anything, he’s kind of her lap dog - finding out where Audrey’s head is at, asking John to be a pawn because Shelli doesn’t want to have that conversation.  If Shelli was more ruthless, then I’d say Clay was in a position to be evicted at the drop of a hat, because he’d go along with anything she said.  Still, he’s on the powerful side of the house, and he’s been instrumental in just about every eviction so far.  He’s definitely going to stick around for a while.

GARRETT: Clay plays a fantastic social game, which is actually very difficult to do if you’re in a showmance with somebody. He and Shelli are actually the first showmance that focuses on the game before their own relationship, which is truly a breath of fresh air. A lot of people find Clay to be boring, but I think he’s very intriguing, and clearly possesses the power to charm people into doing work for him and Shelli. He fits in with everybody, and everybody trusts him. He’s also smart enough to deflect blame and doesn’t open his mouth when he’s given a piece of information.

2. Shelli

GARRETT: Shelli gets a lot of crap from the online community for being so open about her showmance in the house and for setting herself up as a target with her attachment to Clay. But she’s maybe the best social player in the house - she’s friends with absolutely everybody, and she’s adored by everybody. We’re only four evictions in, but Shelli held Head of Household for two of them. She’s in on nearly every alliance and knows exactly when to shut her mouth. Right now, she’s my pick to win - if, of course, she can avoid the showmance target. For now, it seems like she and Clay are safe until well into jury because everybody wants to work with her.

JAIME: But for as powerful as Shelli is for winning two HOHs, she’s also smart enough to know how dangerous that is.  She didn’t want any blood on her hands, and pretty much begged Jason to win the Battle of the Block so that she wouldn’t have to make any more decisions.  And once again, she’s done the impossible: she managed to get out one of her closest friends in the house, after turning on them in the span of a few days, and absolutely nobody is judging her for it.  She’s not going to be seen as ruthless or uncaring for turning on Audrey because everyone wanted Audrey out.  Shelli is absolutely golden right now, and maybe it’s too premature to say this, but I absolutely can see her in the final three, if not final two.  She’s playing such a great game - she makes some mistakes, definitely, but most of the time, she’s brilliant.

1.Vanessa

GARRETT: Vanessa is a talker. She talks and talks and talks. She uses the terms “straight shooter” and “ride or die” a lot. From outside the house, we can see how she’s manipulating and it seems like people would be able to perceive it from the inside. But they can’t. She’s deflected all of the blame away from her. She’s won three competitions. She’s clearly an intelligent, formidable player. And people constantly run to her with any information they have. It’s surprising she isn’t anybody’s target yet, but she’s just so intimidating with all that talking that it seems like she may just run roughshod over all of her opponents.

JAIME: Vanessa also doesn’t like lying, which she’ll tell you right before she lies to you.  It’s beautiful to watch, honestly.  As predicted, she once again controlled the house this week: she gave Liz and Shelli ideas for who to nominate when they were completely clueless, and her veto win meant that, essentially, she controlled who was going home.  Saving Jason guaranteed that his replacement would leave; saving John would pretty much cement Jason’s eviction.  Audrey could not have been evicted without Vanessa, just like most decisions in the house could not have been made without Vanessa.  And now she’s in power again, but this time, she’s got more friends on the other side of the house.  She really could pull anything and she’d probably walk away clean, especially with Jackie next to her.  She’s definitely going to make it far in this game because for the last month, no one has ever had more power than her.

But First Fridays Week 4: Your Weekly Big Brother Power Rankings

LAST WEEK’S HOH: Vanessa (Austin relinquished after Jason and Meg won Battle of the Block)

LAST WEEK’S ORIGINAL NOMINEES: James and Johnny Mac

LAST WEEK’S VETO WINNER: Johnny

DID THEY USE THE VETO?: It’s becoming a narrative trope at this point, but yes, he did

REPLACEMENT NOMINEE: Jeff

VOTES FOR EVICTION: 7-4 to evict Jeff (with Liz, Steve, John, and Jackie voting to evict James)

NEW HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD: Liz and Shelli

ANY NEW TWISTS?: Not that we know of yet, but apparently it’s 90s Week, and there was lots of twisting in the 1990s! Especially in the classic Bill Paxton disaster film Twister, which everyone should purchase in their local 50 cent VHS bin

Our thoughts:

GARRETT: Faithful readers, Jaime and I have a slight confession to make.

Jaime bought the feeds.

And gave me the password.

And now I can’t stop watching them. It’s insane. I can’t believe I haven’t watched them in 16 seasons of this show. It changes everything. But, that said, we’re going to try our damndest to keep any extra information we’ve got from the feeds from seeping into our objectivity in ranking the houseguests. We’re still writing from the TV perspective, but we’ll make sure to include any non-spoiling details to provide context if need be.

JAIME: Though it goes without saying that watching James get a haircut and John wash the dishes is going to have a huge effect on how we write these posts.

GARRETT: It’s been another pretty interesting week, and the houseguests are starting to dig into their trenches. The factions have formed, with the major “Sixth Sense” alliance (which, in my opinion, is a lame name) of Shelli, Clay, Austin, Vanessa, and both twins (Liz and Julia). Last week, Vanessa brought the twins’ real identity in to her alliance with Austin, Clay and Shelli, and they formed a final six pact.

Meanwhile, the rest of the house was reeling from Da’Vonne being evicted instead of Audrey, and assumed that evicting her would be the plan. But Vanessa and Austin, who won HoH, had other plans. The two put up pawns again, and Vanessa told John to throw the competition again in order to keep her in power. John, happy to do as the HoH asked for the second week in a row, didn’t even need to try as James was completely baffled by the competition that required him to match women’s clothes together.

And so Vanessa stayed as HoH with her sights on evicting James rather than Audrey. She planned on keeping the nominations the same, but the plan was dismantled by yet another Johnny Mac veto win - this time, aided by a last-second throwing of the competition by Austin.

Vanessa was not too happy about having to pick a replacement nominee, especially because she saw right through Austin’s throwing of the competition. But Austin had grown displeased with Jeff - who, he believed - was trying to win away the object of his affection: Liz.

Vanessa, backed into having to make another power move, concocted a plan to catch Jeff in a lie about splitting up Clay and Shelli. The plan worked, and Jeff, with no credibility left, went up on the block and was evicted in a vote that seemed closer than expected.

I, for one, won’t be missing Jeff, as his macho attitude and douchey, mopey attitude towards everyone around him was not my favorite thing to watch. Good riddance to him I say.

And so we stand heading into the week with Shelli (for the second time) and Liz in the HoH room. Liz has two more evictions to survive before her twin sister Julia can come in to play as her own self.

5. Meg

GARRETT: I actually don’t have too much of a problem with Meg as a person or as a gameplayer. She isn’t outright annoying and actually seems pretty well-liked. But as the weeks go on, the alliances you form are what you live and die by. She picked Jason, James, and Da’Vonne early on, and they just haven’t been able to win any competitions. Slowly but surely her entire foundation is crumbling.

JAIME: And she voted to evict Jeff, so clearly there is some communication going on between her and the side of the house in power this week.  She just hasn’t totally committed to that side of the house yet; for now, though, she seems to make her moves based on what best serves her own individual interests, and that strategy seems to be working for her.  She’d definitely have a stronger hold in the house if she officially joined forces with Shelli/Austin/the rest of the Sixth Sense, but I can see her skating by a little longer.

4. Steve

GARRETT: So Jaime and I both agree that we do really like Steve. He’s actually, no lie, our second favorite houseguest out of all of them. But regretfully, neither of us are playing the game this year. And the people that are just don’t seem to like him all that much. He can’t get any semblance of a social game going. He has no alliance, and seems a much weaker mental player than Ian Terry, a player who he’s constantly compared to. Steve needs to win a Head of Household or Veto to gain some bargaining chips. Otherwise, his time is going to come soon, as much as we don’t want it to.

JAIME: Some people are really mean to Steve in the house and it breaks my heart every time, okay.  He’s in such a difficult position socially, because he does find it hard to connect with people, and it seems like whenever he really tries, the other houseguests aren’t willing to cut him any slack.  Part of that, I think, is because he hasn’t really proved himself as a competitor yet - once he does, I’m sure more people will be willing to work with him and solidify his place in the house, but until then, I think most of the other houseguests are content to write him off as the smart guy they can occasionally convince to vote their way.

3. Austin

JAIME: Austin was in an incredibly powerful position for most of the week - he and Vanessa were totally on the same page when they started the week as joint HOHs, and they almost immediately came up with a plan that benefited both of their gameplay.  He spearheaded the movement to get Jeff on the block and eventually evicted, but as the week went on, Austin lost sight of why they were working so hard to get Jeff out.  Maybe it was just due to the editing of Thursday’s episode, but all of a sudden, apparently Austin viewed Jeff as a threat solely because they both had a connection with Liz.  It underscored everything the Sixth Sense built this week - suddenly Austin’s main focus isn’t his friendship with Vanessa, but his feelings for Liz?  He’s willing to risk his time in the house in order to protect Liz?  Um, no, that’s stupid, don’t do that.  Clearly Austin needs Judas to smack some sense into him.

GARRETT: He’s been a major liability for his alliance ever since he threw the veto. He’s also the most paranoid person on the feeds by far, and sooner or later, that amount of paranoia (especially before jury) will put you in jeopardy. And on the long list of Big Brother Don’ts that have been added up over so many seasons of this game, one of the ones near the top is to never take your eyes off the prize. You’re here to win, Austin. Not to find love. Especially when that love doesn’t actually have feelings for you.

2. Jason

GARRETT: I really value having Jason in the house, especially on the feeds. He’s very, very intelligent about the game, and very, very perceptive about what’s going on around him. He’s entertaining and funny and makes the show interesting. But he can’t catch a break in competitions. As we said about Meg, his core group is dwindling. I think he’s smart enough to get himself onto the powerful side of the house eventually, but time is running out, and he may just be the biggest target of the Shelli/Liz HOH reign.

JAIME: I totally agree - he could definitely reposition himself, but it seems like his side of the house has dwindled enough that now everyone remaining is standing out.  The more time that goes by without Jason aligning with Austin or Vanessa or any of those people, the more obvious it is that he’s purposely staying away from them.  I guess it’s good that he’s so loyal to James and Meg, but he just doesn’t have the numbers.  Come on, Jason.  Be smart so you can stick around to liven up the feeds.

1. Jackie

JAIME: No, seriously, what does Jackie do in the house?  She spends most of her time with Jeff, Jason, and James, though she considered Jeff her only real friend in the house.  With him gone, her only allies are people who have next to no power in the house.  She has almost no relationship with the powerful side of the house, and seems like she has no desire to develop relationships with them.  She has two, maybe three, people on her side, and refuses to expand her connections in the house - I think it’s safe to say things aren’t going to go well for her.

GARRETT: I think she’s going to make jury, just because the people in this house seem to constantly want to make big moves and take out the big personalities. But she in no way is setting up herself to win the game. She doesn’t seem to have much of a personality and has really not done much in competitions. For all the crap we’ve given Audrey in these posts, at least she keeps grinding along, trying to get herself into good graces again, and, above all else, makes the game interesting. Jackie just does none of that.

5. John

JAIME: First of all, let’s all take a moment to applaud Garrett for finally seeing reason and coming around to accept that John is the best person in the house.

GARRETT: What did it for me was this hilarious compilation of Johnny Mac quotes. And we’re only three weeks in!

JAIME:  He’s been put up as a pawn every week, and so far he’s competed in every single competition.  He’s still a floater, but he’s put himself in a position where the HOHs know they can rely on him, even if they’re not necessarily counting on him to come up with big moves of his own.  Obviously that’s going to have to change if he wants to make it past a certain point in the game, but I think he’s going to be completely safe for the foreseeable future as houseguests set their sights on more visible threats.

GARRETT: John is definitely making a beeline for the jury house. He’s not a threat at all in the foreseeable future, and just seems happy enough floating along in his happy-go-lucky way. Hopefully some luck swings his way because I’d love to see him finally be the one telling someone else to act as a pawn instead of the other way around.

4. Clay

GARRETT: Clay, man. I wish I was as attractive as him so that I could just waltz into the Big Brother house, align myself with the prettiest woman in the house, and let her win Head of Household twice. He’s honestly caught so much luck every week, and has emerged with no blood on his hands.

JAIME: He’s so, so pretty.  And he’s actually kind of smart, too, which was an unexpected bonus.  He’s definitely gotten lucky pretty much every week, but he’s certainly not skating by.  He was instrumental in getting Da’Vonne and Jeff evicted, and even though he hasn’t won any competitions yet, he’s capable of handling power when someone in his alliance has it.  Whatever plan Liz and Shelli have this week, Clay is definitely going to have a big week.

3. Liz/Julia

JAIME: For as much as I wanted a Steve/Johnny Mac HOH this week, I was really excited that Liz won.  Obviously this means the power hasn’t shifted in the house, but this is going to give Liz a great opportunity to prove herself.  Is she going to come up with a plan that benefits her alliance as a whole, or is her own self-interest going to come first?  Considering that she went against the plan and voted to evict James over Jeff, I can see her putting herself first this week.  I’m so excited to see where this goes, because it could just be a complete continuation of the last week, or Liz could make some huge moves and blow up the Sixth Sense just as it got going.

GARRETT: I’m very interested to see what happens with the next switch, to be honest. Liz and Julia are showing more and more to be different people, and both of them clearly want to be able to play their own game. For now, it’s Liz in the house, who’s been flirty and the subject of a macho male love triangle. She seems to relish her situation. But what happens when Julia comes in? Is she going to be pissed that Liz voted to evict James over Jeff? What happens if people find out? It’s exciting, if nothing else, and I’m glad the twin twist has brought a fair amount of narrative to this game.

2. Vanessa

GARRETT: Vanessa stays near the top of the power rankings this week because of her alliance sweeping HOH, and for concocting a great way of putting Jeff and his game on blast. As much as she was worried about getting too much blood on her hands, the Jeff vs. Clay/Austin/Shelli argument cleared her from any potential bad graces. She’s a lot to handle on the feeds, and seems to be drawn into paranoia quite easily. But with her alliance in charge this week, I think she’ll calm down quite a bit and play the great game we’ve seen her build up over the first few weeks.

JAIME: The way she prevented herself from getting any blood on her hands was such a smart and calculated move, too.  Her alliance wanted her to put up Jeff, but she didn’t have a reason to put him up.  So she draws him into a very public fight, where he questions her integrity and lies to her face.  Just like that, it would be stupid NOT to put him up.  She made sure to cover her tracks, which is something most HOHs forget and then leave themselves open to retaliation as soon as they lose power.  Vanessa is playing a really interesting game, and luckily her reign as HOH seems to have solidified her near the top of the alliance, meaning she’s probably going to call a lot of the shots over the next few weeks.

1. Shelli

JAIME: Shelli kind of dominated this week, and I don’t think anyone was really aware just how much power she had.  She was part of the initial group who petitioned Vanessa to put up Jeff, and while their group had strategic decisions for wanting him out, she also developed a personal vendetta against him as the week went on.  He tried to throw her and Clay under the bus, and since she and Jeff had been close at the beginning of the game, she felt betrayed.  But she managed to keep calm and, though that personal reason became her main reason for wanting him out, she still played totally logically and strategically.  And now she’s HOH again, making her the first repeat of the season, and only in the third week.  Last week solidified the Sixth Sense’s power in the house, and now Shelli and Liz are going to keep that going.  I feel like another big move is coming up.

GARRETT: Shelli has been outright dominating socially and in competitions. She’s got a big alliance and just keeps winning competitions. She’s also seemed to remain calmer than most of the people in the house. That might be because of the fact that she’s been in power from the absolute start of the game, but the fact remains the same. Her only worry should be coming off as too much of a threat, with two HOH’s before jury. I’m thinking she throws the HOH to Liz this week if she can find some pawns to do so - and with her persuasion skills, it seems likely.

BUT FIRST Fridays - Your Weekly Big Brother Power Rankings: Week 2

Last Week’s HoH: James (Jason relinquished after John and Becky won the Battle of the Block competition)

Last Week’s original nominees: Jackie and Steve

Last Week’s Veto Winner: Steve

Did they use the Veto?: Damn straight he did

Replacement Nominee: Jace

Votes For Eviction: 12-1 to evict Jace (Audrey with the sole vote to evict Jackie)

New Heads of Household: Becky and Shelli

Any new twists?: Oh indeed. Liz is playing the game with her twin Julia, and the two are inconspicuously switching out for one another at random. If they survive eviction for five weeks, both players will enter the game and play separately.

Kathy Griffin also made an appearance this week. She placed a telephone in the house, and informed the viewers (but not the houseguests) that the seventh person to answer the phone’s random calls throughout the week will choose three houseguests to exclude from casting a vote for eviction next Thursday.

Our Thoughts:

GARRETT: So the first Big Brother 17 week is in the bag. With it, some early drama and some rises and falls in this week’s power rankings. As this was the first week of regular play (instead of simple introductions and HoH competitions, like last week), this week’s BUT FIRST post will be focusing a bit more on the gameplay over the week, rather than our simple impressions of the houseguests that we had off the bat. We’ll also have a new section of the posts, written exclusively from our friend Craig, that will give some non-spoiler insight from the daily feeds that will give some context to the actions and emotions of the houseguests. But the Power Rankings will remain from our perspective as people who solely watch the show without any news from the feeds.

Going into the week, we had a solid idea of who our favorites would be coming out of our opening impressions. There was the gameplay maestro Audrey and her partner in crime Da’Vonne, who orchestrated a solid alliance with Heads of Household James and Jason. The foursome created a plan to evict Jace through a backdoor, and brought in Clay and Meg to solidify the plan. So it was said, and so it shall be. Or so we thought. But soon, the paranoia set in and the cracks began to show.

Now, we’ve been watching Big Brother for a long time. But even without being superfans of the show, there are some clear tropes that players of the game consistently fall into that, from the outside looking in, seem easily avoidable. Audrey and Da’Vonne, though, failed to maintain their composure and set themselves up as monster targets for the coming weeks.

And then there’s Jace. I actually didn’t mind the guy, and he put up a hell of a fight to keep himself in the game. I always respect people who want to be there and understand just how special it is to play Big Brother. Jace, no matter how much he annoyed the other houseguests, seemed to relish his spot. And for that I’ll miss him.

Without further ado, here’s our rankings for the week:

BOTTOM FIVE:

5. Austin

GARRETT: Austin seems to be a bit more level-headed than we expected in our first impression of him. And he seems to have friends in the house through a solid social game so far. But he’s included in the bottom this week because of a clear disadvantage with his loss of main ally Jace. The two were a clear bromance-in-the-making, and Austin is now adrift without an air guitar buddy for the time being. But I see him working back towards the top and making himself a main competitor as we move forward.

JAIME: I don’t know what I’m going to do now that we won’t get to hear Austin and Jace call each other “bro” twenty times each episode.  I think Austin is in a really interesting place now - he’s definitely at a loss with his main ally gone, but he was smart enough to vote for Jace and distance himself when he knew saving Jace was a longshot.  I’m curious to see who he’s going to get close with in the house now that Jace is gone, and hopefully whoever he picks will reflect better on his gameplay.

4. Jackie

GARRETT: I don’t really have an issue with Jackie so far, but she seems like a perennial pawn in the making. She doesn’t seem to have too many close friends, and her one confidant, Jeff, seems more than satisfied allowing himself to drift apart from her to save his own game. She’s not a bad person or a bad player, but seems like the most vulnerable floater in a house that’s quickly starting to form multiple little power structures.

JAIME: She stands out a lot too because most of the other players have jumped in already with the gameplay.  She’s not part of any of the big moves, or at least not instrumental enough in anything that her contributions make it to the show.  She needs to figure out who to align herself with, because the more the house keeps pulling itself in two directions, anyone left on their own is going to stand out massively.

3. John

GARRETT: I just really can’t stand his voice. As far as I’m concerned, dude is in the bottom until he’s walking out the door. He too seems like a floater. If he can’t get people to believe he’s even a dentist, how can he get people to believe him in the game?

JAIME: I like him fine enough in the house, but then he goes in the diary room and then he becomes the worst person in the world.  I don’t even want him to gain more power in the game because then he might have more to say in the diary room.

2. Da’Vonne

GARRETT: A quick fall from grace from one of our favorites from the opening week. Her overreaction to the curiosity of the other houseguests, who were just wondering what she was doing in a bedroom, quickly turned into a catastrophe and labelled Da’Vonne as a loose cannon. There’s just no reason for her to have lost her head like that. It came off as arrogant, and clearly Da’Vonne thought she was in a position of power where she could act as such. But it just showed her paranoia and inability to maintain her cool in a situation that had no reason to get out of hand.

JAIME: It was such a huge overreaction, and somehow it ended in her deciding not to trust Audrey, who from the first day had been her closest friend in the house.  She went from 0-100 really quickly, and I can’t imagine any of the houseguests who witnessed her blowing up would see her as someone to trust.  She was so immensely paranoid, and for a situation that didn’t actually involve the game itself.  What’s going to happen when it actually involves someone’s gameplay?  

1. Audrey

GARRETT: From number 1 champ to number 1 chump is a heavy toll to exact, but it’s one we had to make this week. Audrey committed not one, but two cardinal sins of early-week Big Brother this week, first through a massive overplaying of the game and not consulting her alliance before trying to add on new members, and then through revealing herself as the mastermind of Jace’s eviction to Jace himself (through a poorly-acted lie). You just can’t overstep your bounds this early on when there are so many people. It sets you up as a monster target and puts a completely unnecessary target on your back. I’m sad to have seen Audrey make these mistakes, because I do like her personality a lot. Hopefully Audrey avoids the blowback from this situation and can reclaim a spot in the Top Five moving forward.

JAIME: Also, when trying to add new members to your alliance, maybe don’t pull them from their beds at 5 AM, bring them up to the HOH room, and then ask, “So why can we trust you?”  I literally didn’t understand any of the moves she made this week.  She played Jace so well at first - she made him think he was going to be safe, and that they, Austin, and James were going to work together to get out Jason.  And then she just completely blew up everything, for absolutely no reason.  It’s like she’s making moves just for the sake of making moves, and forming alliances for the sake of forming alliances.  She’s not letting any part of the game happen naturally, and if she keeps forcing everything, people are going to get really tired of her.

TOP FIVE:

5. Jason

GARRETT: Jason lost his spot as Head of Household last week, but managed to form an alliance and kept most of the blood off his hands. One of his nominees, Becky, will probably put him up this week, but he seems to have made enough inroads socially to avoid any worrying about his safety moving forward.

JAIME: Jason seems like he’s in a really good spot socially in the game.  He proved himself as a strong player by winning the first HOH competition, but I can’t see him being a huge target for at least a couple weeks.  Everyone seems to like him, and it seems like he’s very willing to use that to his advantage.

4. Liz/Julia

GARRETT: Liz wasn’t a favorite of mine in the opening week because she just didn’t seem to have much to her personality. Sagittarius from Miami is a bit drab, but I can see that the producers likely simplified her in order to ease the twist of her twin, Julia, joining the fun. I’m excited to see them move forward, and I’m happy that the producers are still finding new ways to shake the game up even in its seventeenth season.

JAIME: I’m still not totally sold on the twins twist, just because I think it’ll only really have a good payoff if Liz and Julia wind up being instrumental to some aspect of the gameplay, like an eviction campaign.  For now she seems really content to sit around and ask the guys to tell her she’s pretty, so, as long as she’s enjoying herself.

3. Becky/Shelli

GARRETT: Both Becky and Shelli get the third spot as co-Heads of Household this week, because they find themselves in a very similar situation. Both are slightly on the outside looking in on the main action in the house, and both have maintained a couple solid relationships. They’re both likable people. I’m looking at them as using this week to solidify themselves within the main social circle in the house moving forward.

JAIME: This week will also hopefully give Becky and Shelli the chance to cement themselves in the house.  We haven’t seen much of them so far, and don’t really have a sense of where they’re fitting in.  But now that they’re both HOH, they’re in a position where other people are going to need them, which hopefully they’ll parlay into relationships that affect the rest of their game.

2. Clay

GARRETT: While Clay didn’t have any power last week, or earn any power this week, he managed to set himself up as arguably the most likable person in the house on top of finding himself as a go-to for power moves from James and Audrey. He exposed Da’Vonne’s paranoia without getting any blood on his hands from the rest of the houseguests. He’s a confidant, has no enemies, and is just so damn good looking that I don’t think he’ll be in any trouble moving forward. His closest ally, Shelli, is in power this week, so I think he’ll have a major say in any big decision that she makes.

JAIME: Clay is also in a really unique position because his physical game is probably just as imposing as Jace’s, if not moreso.  But no one’s really brought him up as a threat, probably because he seems to get along with everyone.  He seems smart enough to avoid getting into fights with people - even when Da’Vonne flipped out on him, he went and apologized, just to keep the peace.  Also, he’s so, so pretty.  He needs to stay in the house for a while so I can keep looking at him.  

1. James

GARRETT: It was about as strong of an opening Head of Household term as one could have for James this week, as he was able to take out a threatening physical presence, form an alliance, and keep the blood off his hands all in one go. Audrey took almost all of the fault for Jace’s eviction and cast herself as a villain, allowing James to skate by. He’s the main player in the social circle, and a quality person who understands how the game is supposed to be played. He’s lied without being malicious, yet shown his ability to be trusted. Plus, as an added bonus, he seems to have lost the need to constantly talk about being an Asian guy with a Southern accent.

JAIME: Yeah, now that he’s seemingly given up on constantly reminding us that he’s an Asian man from the south, I can fully like James.  I was so impressed by what he said after putting Jace up for eviction - that it was a decision he made completely on his own, to benefit his own gameplay.  He really left no room for Jace to start thinking that there was some movement in the house working against him.  Really, the only reason Jace figured it out was because Audrey pretty much told him.  Otherwise, James’ game was totally clean, and he perfectly carried out every single part of the plan that he formed almost immediately after being named HOH.

CRAIG:

Alright, now for what’s been going on behind the scenes, we’ve definitely got to talk about Audrey this week. Show viewers might be a little confused as to why she voted to evict Jackie, despite her original campaign to get Jace out of the house, and the subsequent blow-up the two of them had after Audrey essentially outed herself, but those of us watching the live feeds know exactly what was behind the seemingly sketchy vote.

As we all know, things can change on a dime in the Big Brother house, and with so many houseguests ready to become real players this year, it’s been a whirlwind keeping up with the house politics. There’s been more game talk and maneuvers in the first fifteen days of BB17 than in all of BB15 and BB16 combined. The energy in the house reminds me of the first day of BB7, All-Stars. These guys are here to play.

But Big Brother is a marathon, not a sprint, and every year we see houseguests who forget this mantra. Audrey is chief among them this year. If you think she’s been over-reaching with game talk and strategy on the show, you should see her on the feeds. It just. Doesn’t. Stop. At breakfast, it’s game talk. In the bathroom, game talk. Five in the morning, game talk. Playing volleyball in the back yard? Nope, just another opportunity for game talk. It’s overboard. ESPECIALLY for the first week. This is when houseguests should try ingratiating themselves into the group as a whole, but Audrey’s barely revealed anything personal or specific about herself or her life other than the fact that she’s transgender. People don’t know her. They don’t have personal connections with her. And when you don’t have connections with someone in the BB house, then you don’t have qualms about getting rid of them.

Which may be in the cards for Audrey this week. Though she managed to corral an alliance to support James’s decision to backdoor Jace, her constant strategizing and refusal to stop talking game turned them all (James, Jason, Shelli, Clay, Meg, Da’Vonne, and Jeff) against her in a matter of days. But Audrey’s good at the game, even she can’t seem to stop playing it, and caught on pretty much right away. So she teamed up with Austin, who saw an opportunity to save his bro, and they agreed to work together and rally the “outcasts” of the house (Vanessa, John, Steve, and Liz) into keeping Jace.

But again, Audrey took the machinations too far, and exposed her former alliance in front of the entire house, which earned like, everyone’s ire, and made the “outcasts” wary of voting against the house. And so they didn’t, but Audrey never checked in with anyone before the live show, so she voted for Jackie. And is going to have quite the week of scrambling ahead of her if she doesn’t want to follow in Jace’s footsteps next Thursday.