I feel like we’re right back where we were last week. We’d just come out of an eviction where many of us felt that the house guests had made a huge mistake in who they’d evicted. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that those same people made another huge mistake tonight. Honestly, I don’t understand what is going through the minds of the non-Austwins. They kept Julia in the game when they should’ve voted her out, and now they’ve voted her out when they should’ve kept her in. It’s almost enough to make me want Liz to win the HoH competition, just so those three will see what a huge mistake they made when one of them is evicted.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here and I’m ranting and we can’t have that. So let’s rewind to the beginning of the episode. Both twins are crying because one of them will be leaving the house this week. Austin is upset because he’s sort of put them in that position. Even Steve is getting a little emotional. I have no idea how Vanessa actually feels about things. But John? John’s very happy with how things turned out! After all, both girls gleefully evicted him just a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s his turn to send one of them out the door.

But Vanessa has the real power here. Austin is obviously going to vote to keep Liz, and John wants to get rid of her. Why keep a showmance in the house when they can break them up and cut their power in half? Vanessa is the swing vote, and the Austwins realize that. They’re not sure if they can trust her since she’s lied to them and played them who knows how many times this summer. Austin mentions that Vanessa probably doesn’t want Liz around, because she can’t control Liz and because Liz is the only one who wouldn’t take Vanessa to the final two, because she’d take Austin. And that makes me wonder about that comment. Does that mean, in a final three with Liz, Vanessa and Austin, and Austin being the one to choose, that he’d take Vanessa to final two over Liz? Because they seemed to be talking about the everyone in the house, not just Liz and Julia. And if he is actually saying that, I wonder if Liz picked up on it. My guess is no.

Either way, Liz and Julia basically decide that Julia should be the one to go, and Liz should be the one to stay. As if they have any control over the matter. These girls are clearly used to getting their way, because the way they talk about it, it’s as if there’s no discussion on the topic. They want this to happen, so it’s going to happen. And it does, but we’ll get to that in a second. Liz is done crying (I’ll believe that when I see it). She’s ready to fight for herself and her sister.

So Austin goes to battle. He wants to do what the twins want, he says. I think he’d fight to keep Liz, even if they’d decided that Julia should be the one to stay. But anyway, he goes to Vanessa to tell her the news that the twins have decided that Liz should be the one to stay. He figures, if they’ve both agreed that Julia should go, why not give them both what they want? Uh, because this is a game for $500K and it’s not in everyone’s best interests to just give them what they want? Vanessa sort of gives him a non-committal answer, clearly seeing through his ploy, but when Liz joins them, she’s ready to make a deal. If she votes with them, she doesn’t want to be put up in the event that Austin or Liz wins HoH next week, and if she has to be put up as a replacement, she wants a guarantee that she’ll be safe. Okay, sounds reasonable. If John and Steve stay on the block together, she wants to be the one to decide who stays. Here’s where Liz starts to look a little incredulous. And, third in her list of demands, she wants a guarantee that she’ll go to final two if one of them is in the final three but not the other. Liz just nods her head with that flabbergasted look on her face, and I don’t blame her. Vanessa has balls. Of course, Liz has no intention of following through on those plans, but she’ll agree with Vanessa to get her to side with them.

Is that all it takes, Vanessa? A weak promise without even a handshake and you cave to them? When she talks to Steve, she tells him she’ll vote the way he wants, and then she goes into the pros and cons of voting out Liz. Liz is a stronger player. She’s got that pesky showmance. Vanessa might not be able to win in a final two with Liz. It’s a scary thought to leave Liz in the game. On the other hand, if they vote Liz out, Julia will basically become this year’s Victoria, and everyone will want to take her to the end instead of Vanessa. Dude, no one wants to go to the end with you anyway. They all know they can’t beat you, except maybe Austin. That dude has confidence to spare.

For a welcome change of pace, we get to go to the jury house once again to see how things are going there. I love seeing these guys. I wish they’d make little webisodes of life in the jury house the way they do with Life at Ponderosa for the Survivor jury. Something a little more in depth than what we get on tv from week to week. Shelli is the only one who really talks about the competition back in the game. For the record, she’s rooting for John and Steve. Me too, Shelli. Me too. Or well, maybe. After this vote, maybe I’m not so sure. Anyway, James looks like he couldn’t be happier, the only guy in a house surrounded by four hot women. I don’t blame him. Dude may have lost out on a lot of money, but if he was going to lose anyway, this was a good week to do it.

Which now brings us to tonight. They each get a little message from their loved ones, and though the living room is usually full of tears when this happens, this year, only Steve seems to be choked up. Everyone is excited to be able to see their loved ones, of course, but the only one who really seems touched by it is Steve. I think it’s actually kind of cute. He loves his mommy.

But now it’s time for the vote, and the moment arrives when I blow my lid again. I don’t understand why, but in a unanimous vote, Julia is the one sent home, even after both twins emphasize the fact that Liz will fight tooth and nail for herself and Julia. WHY? Why keep Liz? Because Vanessa is so afraid that everyone will want to take Julia to the end instead of her? How about you get rid of the bigger threats first, and then worry about the girl you could take out at any time? It’s Meg all over again. I don’t get this woman. I can’t even really fault John this time, because Vanessa is the one solely in control this week. She’s a great player, but sometimes I think she thinks too far ahead and focuses solely on the end game while ignoring the present, assuming that she’ll just make it to the end no matter what. Not if Austin or Liz wins HoH and realizes you’re the biggest threat. Then you’ll be going home on Tuesday. I mean, I don’t see it happening, but it would be in their best interests to get rid of Vanessa, so it could happen. And I’m not gonna lie, part of me wants one of them to win and put her up. It would serve her right for making the wrong decision at vote time.

Funny thing in Julia’s interview with Julie: when asked whether she supports Liz and Austin’s relationship, she clearly lied and said that he loves Austin and that she’s happy for him and Liz, but when asked if they’ll make it to Christmas, she calls it a long shot. Amazing. You let yourself slip there a little bit, Julia! So funny.

HoH time comes around, and it’s called Under the Rainbow. It’s the chicken wire/egg challenge again, only this time, they have to work by themselves instead of in pairs. There’s a big rainbow set up, and the house guests are underneath it, trying to pass eggs from one side to the other by sticking their fingers through the chicken wire and guiding the egg along. The first person to get ten eggs in their slots on the other side wins. There’s also a luxury prize for a trip outside the house, so the game isn’t over until one person wins that too. Liz immediately sucks at this competition, but the other three are pretty even – that is, until we come back from commercial, anyway. By then Austin’s already got one egg in a slot and is working on a second while everyone else has basically just crested the top of the rainbow with their first eggs. Not impressed. If he goes all Judas for everything he does, he’ll end up winning every competition, even the ones he can’t compete in. And that doesn’t work for the person who wants a Steve/John final two!

My guess is that if Austin wins, John and Steve will go up. If John wins, Liz and Austin will go up. If Vanessa wins…I have no idea. I think she’ll end up wanting to go to final two with either Austin or John, but most likely Austin, since everyone likes John. Steve and Liz both played decent games, so Vanessa wouldn’t be able to guarantee a win beside them. With Austin and John though, she could pull it off. It would make sense for John to target Liztin first and then go after Vanessa, for both his and Steve’s game, since together they’re a slightly bigger threat than Vanessa. Austin and Liz would be best to target Vanessa first since she’s a MUCH bigger threat than Steve or John. But then, these guys have proven they’re not extremely smart when it comes to targets lately.

Everything is up in the air right now, so I guess we’ll see on Sunday. And then eviction on Tuesday! Holy crap! If the house guests knew this was going down, they’d probably all be best getting rid of Vanessa, because at least she wouldn’t be able to whine and complain and cry for five or six days afterward. The same goes for Liz. Unfortunately, they don’t know this plan, so anything could happen. We’ll find out soon! For now, I head to the forums to try to find out from feedsters why the hell these house guests are such morons. I’ll update you with my findings! So I’ll see you all on Sunday!

– Rebecca