Some house guests really excel at being HoH. Some crumble under the weight of paranoia while Vanessa sort of falls in the middle. She’s got a target or two, but at times, she’s definitely not quite as confident as she would like others to think. Her main goal is to get rid of either James or Jeff, but she also wants to get as little blood on her hands as possible (I know, I know. I hate myself for using that stupid term). So for her, her best bet is James, since he’s already on the block. She’s worried that both guys are onto her about her plans, so the fewer moves she has to make, the better for her. Austin, on the other hand, wants Jeff out. He keeps pushing about the twin thing, so Austin thinks he is the bigger threat. If he were king, Jeff would be going home first.

On top of this, everyone else is still gunning for Audrey, but Austin and Vanessa want to keep her in the game since she’s a big target, and therefore will shield them and the rest of their alliance as long as she remains in the house. Vanessa is afraid that if she doesn’t get rid of Audrey, the rest of the house will turn on her, and she’s probably right. After all, there are fourteen people in the house, and only 5 at the moment are in the alliance. Pissing off nine people isn’t a great idea. Vanessa needs an excuse to not put Audrey up this week, so she tells Audrey that she wants them to work together. She knows she can’t trust her, of course, but she’ll let Audrey keep thinking that they’re actually working together until she’s no longer needed.

So the plan is that Audrey will hopefully get to play-and win-the Veto competition so that she can’t be put up on the block. Then Vanessa won’t be able to put her up, and it won’t be her fault when Audrey doesn’t go home this week. But they’ve got to keep their working relationship a secret. Vanessa doesn’t want anyone to know that they’re even talking to each other, let alone working together. So she’s pissed off when Audrey goes up to the HoH room to talk to her. She flat out tells Audrey that they can’t be seen talking together.

Meanwhile, Jeff just seems to like painting bigger and bigger targets on his back. He tells Austin that he likes Clay, but that Clay is screwed as long as he’s got Shelli hanging onto him. I don’t know when Jeff started to think that he and Austin were working together, but this guy seems to tell Austin just about everything. Dude is clueless. He tells Austin they should get rid of Shelli. And then he pushes the twin thing. Again.

The Veto competition comes around, and the six players are Vanessa, John, James, Austin (house guest’s choice by John), Shelli, and, to James and Jason’s horror, Audrey.

This challenge, titled Gronk ‘n Roll, is a recycled game from last year (Tumblin’ Dice), in which contestants challenge each other and compete head to head. A number is spun on the spinning wheel, and the players, inside giant dice, have to maneuver said dice off their platform and around their side of the playing field and be the first to make it back to the platform with the correct number facing up.

Vanessa is up first, and she challenges Audrey, knowing that it’s what everyone expects her to do. If she was actually competing to win this challenge, she probably would’ve done well, but of course, she wants Audrey to win, so she throws it. Unfortunately, John also challenges Audrey and wins. James loses to Austin, and then Shelli makes what I think is a dumb move and challenges Austin instead of John. Austin wins and goes to the final battle with John. They’re pretty neck-and-neck, but then Austin decides maybe he shouldn’t be the winner, and I agree. If he wins the challenge and then doesn’t change the nominees, then he’ll be the bad guy in the eyes of the majority of the house. So he hesitates for a second, allowing John to win.

Vanessa is PISSED. She’s accuses Austin of throwing the challenge, and refuses to believe him when he tries to tell her that he legitimately didn’t win. He’s not a great actor, so it’s not shocking that she doesn’t believe him, though he’s more convincing in this argument than he has been the previous times he’s lied. Now Vanessa has to think of a new plan for this week, but what can she do? She can’t stay angry with her biggest ally in the house forever.

On a somewhat lighter side of things, Gronk tells everyone that when he calls them to a party, they’ve all got to do what he says. Anyone who doesn’t show up to a party will be have-nots for the rest of the week. At first, the house guests are excited, dancing up a storm at a toga party and a pool party and even a shower party. But before long, they all come to hate these parties, especially when they’re awakened in the middle of the night to dance – or in the middle of nap time.

And later on, he calls them back for another BBTakeover. At the beginning of his reign as takeover king, he’d told them that winning challenges would have extra benefits, and they’re about to pay off now for one person. The five people who have one this week-Austin and Vanessa (HoH), Jason and Meg (BoB), and John (Veto) all choose a cup to drink from. After chugging its contents, one cup will have a little something extra inside, and the person who chooses this cup will win a three day cruise with Gronk and his family and friends. And who should get the winning cup? Party girl Meg, of course! I don’t see her winning this game, so at least she’ll have this.

Back to strategy though. Jeff goes upstairs to talk to Vanessa and reminds her how much of a snake Audrey is. Vanessa (smartly) counters with the fact that she’s a champion of causes and how would it look if she nominated the first trans person on the show? Jeff (also smartly, for once) reminds her that it’d be one thing if Audrey didn’t deserve to be nominated, but she’s hurt a lot of people in the house, so she does deserve to go home. Vanessa (REALLY stupidly) tells him that she wants to get James out.

WHAT. Dude, Jeff is the worst person to tell anything to. He’s got the biggest mouth in the entire house, and on cue, he goes immediately to Jason and Clay and tells them what’s up. Clay, of course, plays dumb. James and Austin join the conversation, and Austin plays dumb too. But apparently Clay’s a better actor than the wrestler, because as soon as Austin tells them he’ll get to the bottom of it and heads off to the HoH room, Jason excitedly informs the rest of the guys that Austin was clearly lying. He’d seen it in his eyes. Told you he was a bad actor.

Jeff eats it all up. I’ve heard that he’s playing the game harder than anyone in the house, and it definitely shows here. He tells Clay that Austin’s been acting weird, and that he’s not trustworthy, and naturally, Clay brings this news straight to Austin, who brings it to Vanessa. This is perfect news for Vanessa. She needs a new reason to not put Audrey up on the block, and Jeff has just become her scapegoat.

Under Vanessa’s urging, Austin confronts Jeff about everything he’s said in front of Shelli and Clay, and when Jeff denies having said anything, Austin pulls out the big guns. He brings up their earlier conversation about wanting to get rid of Shelli to help Clay’s game. Amid Shelli and Clay’s total shock, Jeff once again denies saying anything, so Austin grabs Vanessa, who totally goes off on him about it. “You’re telling me to my face that you didn’t say that,” she challenges him. He denies it again, which really sets Vanessa off. Honestly, I can’t even remember any more if Vanessa had actually been in the room when Jeff had shared these feelings, but she throws down the gauntlet in front of everyone else in the house. You don’t lie straight to her face and try to discredit her integrity. And thus, when John takes himself off the block, Vanessa throws Jeff up, and no one can argue her decision. Brilliant.

Jeff doesn’t think so though. He thinks she’s being weak and decidedly not strategic. He thinks she’s fallen under Audrey’s spell and is being used as a puppet by the master manipulator. Little does he know that Vanessa has got plenty of skills herself.

So what do you guys think? Is Jeff getting what he deserves? Should he be the one to go out this week? I have to admit, I feel a little bad for him, even though he’s creepy and misogynistic, and he’s stirring up trouble everywhere he goes. Things don’t look good for him. We’ll see tomorrow if he can get himself out of this mess.

– Rebecca