Big Brother, Ep. 18.42: Finale

It's finale night, on day 99 in the house! Who will be the winner? I don't know, but I sure hope it's Paul!

Here's where we stand, based on live feeds:

• Paul and Nicole each made a final 2 deal with James, so he feels pretty set
• Later, Nicole appears to have changed her mind and decided to take James to final 2, should she win the final HOH comp
• Paul says that if Nicole goes back on their deal, he will not vote for her to win

I think if Paul is in the final 2, it doesn't matter who he goes up against, I think he wins. I don't think James played a good enough game to beat either Nicole or Paul. Paul vs. Nicole could be a close vote, but I think too many people don't like Nicole, so I think it's Paul's to lose if he can get there.

HOH Part 1

They are dressed as cats following a laser beam around the yard. When it stops, they hang onto the obstacle until the laser moves again. If they fall before that, they are out.

James thinks he has this one in the bag because endurance comps are his thing. 

They look so funny running around like little kitties! They have to hang on scratching posts, buttons on a couch, a tilting window sill. All while running through milk and kitty litter. Very interesting comp!

So far, they are all hanging in there. It's now been over an hour. 

Nicole saves herself on her window perch. She is swinging freely with no foothold. Now Paul swings loose. Finally, Nicole drops, and right after her, James falls, too! Paul wins round 1!

Nicole thinks it's odd that James fell right after she did. He was hoping to hang on longer..."it's so fuss-trating" - I hate how he says that word!

HOH Part 2

Nicole vs. James

They have to go through a line to a ride get photos of houseguests that answer the question, then send them down the ride and snap a photo. The first to take the correct picture of the 3 houseguests that match. If they don't get the photos and the yellow bar in the photo, they have to start over.

This is a major endurance comp because there is a lot of running through the zig-zagging line. 

Nicole did very well with getting the right people. She had to re-do her first photo because she snapped it too early. 

James is up. We know from previous comps that James had not studied the things that happened this season. Has he studied since the last baseball comp? I'm doubting that it will help him much. I don't see him doing well. His first photo didn't get any part of the car in the frame! He got it framed right, but he got one of the houseguests wrong. He's already cramping up from running. He says he is really out of shape. He finished strong.

James: 19:06

Nicole: 7:24

Wow, Nicole! That's incredible! Not even close!

Jury Discussion w/ Will

James: 

• He floated
• He followed Natalie around for the last 6 weeks
• He did nothing, but also got no blood on his hands
• Natalile says that him laying low was his strategy

Paul:

• Paul the player played strategically
• Paul the person can be not very nice
• He owns up to everything he has said and done
• He had Victor as a shield
• He was on the block 6 times and either saved himself with the Veto or didn't need to

Nicole:

• She made big moves
• Girls are bitter because she stuck with her guys' alliance
• She aligned herself with the people she knew could protect her
• Da'Vonne said she used the guys as her puppets
• Michelle thinks getting voted out was personal, Corey said it 100% was not - she bursts into tears and tells Corey to stop smiling at her with his ugly smile and to stop laughing at her

HOH Part 3

Nicole vs. Paul

It's the famous "scale" challenge. They answer questions about how well they know the jury by completing their quote. Most points after 8 questions will tip the scale in their favor and win.

Q1: both right

Q2: both wrong

Q3: both wrong

Q4: Paul is right, Nicole is wrong

Q5: both wrong

Q6: Paul is right, Nicole is wrong

Q7: Nicole is right, Paul is wrong

Q8: both right

Paul wins! Woohoo! Way to go Paul!

Eviction

Paul is the final HOH. He will choose who joins him in the final 2. James would probably be the smarter choice, but he made a deal with Nicole, and he doesn't think that James played a good enough game to deserve to be in the final 2.

Paul chooses to evict: James

He said that he worked hard to keep James safe, but when he needed him the most, he still went behind his back and made a deal with Nicole. He said he's worked too hard to get backstabbed again, so he had to evict him. Nicole was in shock by what Paul said. He said not to worry about it and that jury didn't hear what he said and it wasn't about the jury.

James said he wanted his social game to take him far and he didn't want to be a comp threat. I would say he accomplished that.

Jury Questions

These are just too hard to keep up with all the questions and the answers...sorry!

Most interesting question was from James. He asked Paul if he ever planned on honoring his final 2 deal with him. Paul said he talked to both of them and he wanted to see once and for all who was the most loyal. Nicole relayed everything back to him, while James did not. Wow!

Other than that, the main hilights for Paul were that he was always out front and center when making deals and moves, while Nicole was behind the scenes. This was his first time playing the game and he played his butt off. He fought hard to save himself when he needed to and made sure there was always a bigger target than himself. 

For Nicole, she said coming in as a vet was not an advantage like they might think. She said if they watched season 16, they would have known how she plays the game and how she reacts under pressure, what her strengths and weaknesses were. She did align with the guys and often was behind the scenes because what she wanted to happen was happening without her involvement, so she just let it play out. 

Final Statements

Paul: he was the last standing newbie with 2 vets. He won 7 comps and won his way to the end. He made it without any care package from America. He was the first in the Paris room and had the roundtrip ticket which prevented 5 people from coming back. There was more and it was awesome!

Nicole: she talked so fast! Teaming up with Corey after 2 hours and they made it to final 4. Day 1 she was called a snake. Day 2 she fought on an island and had to convince 2 strangers to "let" her be HOH. Day 3 convince Paulie to be a pawn. She convinced Natalie to put up 2 of her allies. She needed to start winning comps and did. She listed so many things that she did, there is no way to catch all of it!

They both made incredible final speeches. This could be very close! Come on, Paul!

Final Votes

James -- Paul

Corey -- Nicole

Victor -- Paul

Natalie -- Nicole

Michelle -- Paul

Paulie -- Nicole

Bridgette -- Paul

Zakiyah -- Nicole

Da'Vonne -- Nicole

Nicole is the winner by 1 vote! And it was Da'Vonne's vote! Da'Vonne who had so many negative things to say about her all season. She did start to come around as of late, though. Nicole's answers and her final statement was very strong. I knew it was going to be close, but I thought Paul could pull it off. I really wanted Paul to win, but I'm definitely OK with Nicole winning. I do think she deserved it. 

What a great season!

Fan Favorite

The fan favorite this season gets $25,000. 

Victor, Natalie, and James were the top 3 vote-getters. The winner is Victor!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay for him! That's awesome!

Final Thoughts

So, that's it! The season is done. I can't believe they didn't have the rest of the cast get to be on stage to talk about the season...at all! That's a first. That's even more of a ripoff than Survivor not letting people who were pre-jury sit on the stage. No one got to talk or relive any parts of the season. I wonder if they thought it would get too volatile so they just scrapped the whole thing. 

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.41

Strategizing
Paul made a final 2 deal with James before the last eviction. Paul also made a deal with Nicole. He said he owes her for saving hiim in the game and she shook on it.

James says in the DR that he plans on honoring this deal with Paul. Interesting. I would have guessed he would be going with Nicole all the way. Meanwhile, Nicole isn't sure she will honor the deal with Paul because she's not sure that's what's best for her game.

HOH Comp
Round 1 of 3 - they are dressed up like cats! Winner advances to Round 3. They have to follow a laser to various things that they have to climb on until the laser moves again. All are cat things like a scratching post. This looks like it's going to be fun!

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.40

Seeing Paul win that HOH was just so awesome. He broke down in sheer joy. That was so nice to see and I'm so happy for him. He needed that win so badly. He said he did it for Victor. I just wonder what his plan is going to be.

Strategizing
James tells Paul that what happened to him and Victor is exactly what happened to him and Natalie. Paul said that he and James would be stupid to not work together. If they don't, they aren't winning this game. They need to work together to split up the couple. His goal is to get one of them out. If I was him, I would go for Nicole. I think she's a bigger threat to win. Corey is getting pretty good at comps, but I don't know if anyone would give him the money over any of the others left.

Nominations
Paul nominates Corey and Nicole. Wow, it's weird seeing their faces on the wall. Paul said that strategically this is what makes the most sense for him. He said it's great for them to have gotten this far as the power couple of the season.

Nicole was so bummed that she almost made it all season without being nominated. Corey joked that all she had to do was get one more question right. He said he was sorry, "too soon?" lol

Jury
I have no words to describe what took place in the Jury House! That is some CRAZY STUFF!!!! Holy crap! I've never seen anything that volatile! Going at it were Paulie and Da'Vonne. It started when they were watching Natalie's recap tape. Natalie said she would have used the Veto on James. Da'Vonne said that's more than what Paulie did for Zakiyah. They started shouting about gameplay (I think). It really got escalated when Paulie said that he has Zakiyah's back in the Jury House. He said that ever since she started talking to him again, Da'Vonne and Bridget have been treating Zakiyah horribly. He said they can hate him, but they have no right to take it out on her because she never did anything to them. They said they haven't been doing anything to her. Bridget got out of the middle and Paulie and Da'Vonne got right in each other's faces screaming. Paulie said she wasn't being a very good example for her daughter, and Da'Vonne lost it! She said not to bring her daughter into it. She stood right over him and was screaming. He made sure to keep his hands off her. Next thing you know, security had to step in. Cameras were panning all over and it was chaos. Paulie is just a misogynistic jerk! I don't see how he is related to Cody. They seem nothing alike.

Veto
It's the comp where they have to answer questions about the season with what day it happened. The theme is baseball, so they have to run a mini baseball diamond, with each base worth that number of points to get them to the number they need. If they get it wrong, they have to start over. Last one to get it right, gets an out. 3 outs and you're out. Corey is right at home (if he can do the numbers).

Round 1: James gets an out
Round 2: James gets out number 2
Round 3: James gets his 3rd out, and he's out! He admitted he knew nothing and wished he would have studied.
Round 4: Nicole gets an out
Round 5: Corey gets an out
Round 6: Nicole gets out number 2
Round 7: Nicole gets her 3rd out, and she's out
Round 8: Corey gets out number 2 - he only has one more left and Paul has 0 outs!
Round 9: Paul gets out
Round 10: Paul gets out number 2 - we are tied! Wow! I'm kind of rooting for Corey because he can save himself and he is the deciding vote, so that would mean that James is out!
Round 11: Corey is out! :( Paul wins the Veto

Veto/Eviction
Paul decides not to use the Veto. Big surprise (not!). I loved Corey's speech. He referenced Paul's speech in saying that he hadn't reached first base. So, he said he wasn't going to leave without doing that, so he grabbed Nicole and kissed her! She said she was so thankful that she chose him to be her ride or die from the beginning. She said he is so good-looking that she was forgetting her speech and she didn't know that guys like him existed. Awe!

James is the sole voter. I think it's bye-bye Corey. James and Nicole, as returnees, have always had each other's backs.

James votes to evict Corey :( He said that he had to do it if he and Paul wanted a chance. He has a point from a comps perspective, but I still think Nicole is the bigger threat to win.

Corey was actually pretty surprised to be evicted. He thought that he and James had each other's backs.

I can't believe that 2 vets made it to the final 3! That's just crazy! There's always talk of getting returnees out right away, but somewhere along the way, they work their magic, and lo and behold, half of them have made it to the end.

I think Paul deserves to be there, as the final newbie left standing. I think he played the best game of all the newbies. I would love to see him win it. Nicole has also played a great game, so she is deserving as well. Not really sure about James. He flipped so many times and it wasn't always the smartest move. When Nicole flipped, it was the best thing for her game and it worked out.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.39

Nomination Fallout
Paul and Victor have lost all respect for Corey and Nicole. They really thought they had a true alliance for once. But again, they were lied to and stabbed in the back.

Paul talked to Corey and Nicole to see if anything was salvageable if one of them wins the Veto. Victor was so hurt and he said he will be coming after them now if he stays. He said he doesn't see them as friends anymore.

Paul is going to use Victor's anger to his advantage, because if he continues to be mad and throw a fit, he will for sure go home.

Veto Comp
It's the one with the BB Comics where they have to swing down the zip line and then match up the comics with the studio wall. The one who matches all of them the quickest, wins.

Pau has a good strategy. He decides to get the order first, and then go back and find the correct version of each comic.

James got all distracted by Natalie's comic. Ha!

Corey got off to a great start, as he couldn't find the ladder. Ha!

Corey: 20:37
James: 35:00
Nicole: 13:55
Victor: 29:35
Paul: 18:04

Nicole wins the Veto. Shockingly, Victor did pretty bad at this comp.

Veto Meeting
Of course, Nicole is not going to use the Veto. Paul and Victor remain on the block.

Paul says he won't do what others have said they wouldn't do, and then did anyway, which is to campaign against their best friend. That would NOT be #friendship.

The Votes
Reasons to get rid of Victor: he's a challenge beast and competes best when his back is against the wall, in tough situations. Reasons to get rid of Paul: he talks an amazing game and he will have a lot of votes on the Jury.

Paul said that after 6 times on the block he was running out of material...so he chose to do parodies of former houseguests. He started with doing Natalie, and then did Michelle. Absolutely hilarious!!!!

Victor talked about Nicole looking like an animal but didn't know which one...he would let it "rattle" around for awhile. He also mentioned the knife in his back and said it wasn't like she's ever backstabbed anyone. Ha!

Nicole -- Victor
James -- Victor

Poor Victor, third time is the last time and this time the eviction will stand. It was an incredible run, though.

HOH Comp
They will watch videos of former houseguests. A blank will be filled in by Julie and they will guess if it's true or false.

#1: all correct
#2: James is wrong -- and it was Natalie talking directly to James and he missed it! lol
#3: James and Paul are wrong; Nicole is in the lead with 3
#4: all correct
#5: James is wrong; Nicole in the lead with 5
#6: Nicole and James are wrong; Nicole and Paul are tied
#7: all correct; Paul and Nicole are tied with 6

Tie breaker: Paul wins!!! Wow! I think he's just a little bit excited! Too bad Victor isn't there to share in his excitement. Honestly, I like all of them, this is so tough now! I wonder what in the world he will do. Most likely target Corey and Nicole?

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.38

HOH Comp
Victor is having a blast laughing at everyone sliding around and falling down.

Nicole is still going for the smaller jar. She thinks she will get tired quickly and will need the bigger scooper. Corey continues to go for the big jug so that they have both strategies covered.

Paul goes for the small jug because he thinks the others will tire quickly and having the bigger scooper will come in handy.

Paul seems to be falling the most. He had some really big wipeouts! I love Victor's laugh as he goes down time and time again. He is just throwing his body around. He is going to be so banged up and bruised.

James is doing the running man, as he is running and going absolutely nowhere! Hey Victor, I said it first! He gives up, and he decides to crawl just to make some forward progress. Paul decides to do the same, only he's using the "butt slide" strategy. It actually starts to work quite well for him.

Nicole gets the big scooper before Paul. At this point, Corey has about 2/3 full, while James has about 1/2. Nicole gets to about 1/2 full on the big jug when Paul finally gets the big scooper...or does he? He can't get the ball out. James tells him not to worry because not all heroes wear capes. Haha! He decides to quit because there was no way he was catching any of the others.

At 52 minutes, Corey has about 3/4 full. He's doing awesome! And...he wins!

Strategizing
James looks like he is going to side with Nicole and Corey over Paul and Victor. He feels like they have kind of had an understanding the entire game that they all have each other's backs.

Nicole and Corey are ready to start making some big moves, so Paul and Victor should be worried. The Final Four is kaput :(

Corey watches James on the TV in the HOH room. He hopes that he will come up to HOH on his own and not go off to talk to Paul and Victor. They shout for joy when he makes his way up there and they think this is a sign that he is with them.

Nicole and Corey want Victor out. He is the strongest person left when it comes to comps. They know that Paul and Victor are going to be super pissed that they are going against their Final Four alliance.

Victor thinks that Nicole and Corey will still work with them and won't want to work with sneaky James. Paul isn't so sure. He thinks they have to win Veto. Paul goes to talk to Nicole and Corey to find out what the plan is. Corey agrees that James is the target. Paul wants to know if he or Victor will go up as the pawn. He said he literally doesn't care if he goes up or Victor.

Nicole wonders if maybe they should put up James, even though they don't want him to go home. She is worried that he could secretly be working with Paul and Victor. They are all going to be in the same room together this week, and they will be in James's ear.

Pranks on Nicole
For some reason, Corey decided to do to Nicole what James did to Paul. He put salt in her water bottle. He laughed at himself as he was pouring it and stirring it in. Nicole takes a swig and immediately spits it out - directly in Corey's face! Nice shot, Nicole! That was hilarious!

Later, Victor starts picking on her, too. He started spitting spit wads at her, jumping out and scaring her. He literally started hanging all over her, and picking her up everywhere. Can anyone say "third wheel"?

Nominations
Corey nominates Paul and Victor :(

Corey said it was not in his best interest in this game to put James on the block this week. He said "mama didn't raise no bitch" and it was time for him to make a big move.

At this point, I love all of the ones left, so I don't want to see any of them go.

Poor Victor, he looked so hurt. On one hand, Victor has been evicted twice, so technically, he maybe doesn't deserve to still be there. On the other hand, he FOUGHT his way back TWICE and was victorious BOTH times, so that alone is enough to deserve to be there.

James is literally in the best spot possible. Like he said, he is in the middle of two alliances of two that are mad at each other, and it's like he isn't even there. He will most likely go all the way now.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.37

The Demise of Jatalie
Natalie continues to belittle James and blame him for their situation. James continues to apologize for making a bad call.

Every conversation that they have ends up in a fight. Natalie knows she's going home and doesn't want to talk about it anymore. James tries to tell her that anything can happen. He said that she could go home and decide she never wants to talk to him again. He wonders why he let himself get in a showmance in the first place.

Natalie said she can't wait for Thursday for her live eviction and to meet Julie. James told her she was acting like an asshole. He said her true colors were coming out. He called her out for throwing him under the bus. She couldn't believe that someone would say that. She said she didn't do it. He said he's done with her cattiness. He thinks that she was just using him because he was her 4th pick. She started out flirting with Victor, then with Corey, then with Paulie. She couldn't believe he would say that to her. He had tried to snuggle with her in bed on their last night in the house together and she did everything to avoid it and move to another bed. Major problems in the Jatalie world right now. He said he is done with her. He couldn't believe that he was ready to give up his game to let Natalie stay.

Strategizing
The Final Four discuss the plan for eviction. Paul, Corey, and Nicole are all for voting out Natalie. Paul said that he and Victor had a conversation with James. Nicole worries that there was more to the conversation and that maybe he is hoping to work with James if he stays...which he was.

Victor buddies up with James in an attempt to secure him and Paul if James stays. Corey does the same because he feels bad that he's on the block and that Natalie keeps blaming him for everything. He thinks she only has herself to blame. Nicole said his head is just not in the game anymore.

The Votes
Paul -- Natalie
Nicole -- Natalie
Corey -- Natalie

Just as predicted, Natalie gets the boot. This furthers the suspicions/rumors that Nicole and James had a deal before the season even started. Word from the feeds is that Nicole and Corey are ready to work with James and ditch the Final Four alliance :(

I've never seen someone so happy to be evicted. That girl just exudes giddiness.

She tells Julie that her showmance was real and she does have real feelings for James. She says she would never throw James under the bus and that was not her intention.

HOH Comp
It's the slip-n-slide comp where they have to slide up and down a lane and transfer (this time) 8 gallons of butter. There is a small container that they can fill first to retrieve a bigger scooper to transfer more butter at a time.

Core and Paul go for the big container, Nicole and James go for the smaller container. Interesting. Wonder which one will pay off.

I seem to remember Nicole having some pretty good wipeouts the last time she did this comp. I love hearing her scream as she almost falls every time.

Gotta say, I think I'm rooting for Paul in this one! Not sure what any of the other 3 are thinking. I really like everyone who is left,

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.36

Nomination Fallout
Nicole is feeling guilty about James being on the block. She thinks he's a nice person and doesn't deserve to be up there. Corey told her she should not feel guilty.

Natalie: "It's kind of fun being on the block together." Really?!

Natalie says that she and James should have stuck with Paul and Victor, and now it's coming back to haunt them. She said Nicole and Corey would have been easy targets. She is mad at herself for listening to James and she wishes she would have put her foot down.

Strategizing
Natalie apologizes to Paul and Victor for betraying and backstabbing them. She said she put her trust in James and that was wrong. She said she betrayed them and they had her back. She admitted her mistake. Paul and Victor were appreciative, but they were suspicious of her throwing James under the bus. They said she has been playing like she doesn't know how to play the game. Yet...she has made it to the final 6 and now she is putting the blame on James. They couldn't believe that she was jumping ship already, even before the Veto. They immediately told Nicole and Corey, who also couldn't believe what she said.

Natalie told James that she went and talked to Paul and Victor. She told him exactly what she said! I can't believe she told him that! He is not going to be too happy about that. She asked if that was OK. James is sure that he is going home and that he's the target. He doesn't think she has anything to worry about.

Veto Comp
There are only 6 left, so all will be competing. The comp is a MacGyver themed game. They will compete individually to try to escape the quickest from 3 rooms. Cool! I know who wins this, and let's just say I'm shocked!

Natalie is doing a lot better at this than I expected! She has some really great ideas! Natalie: 9:06

Nicole now knows what time she has to beat. Natalie gets to watch as she competes. She isn't moving as fast as Natalie did. Unfortunately, she got blown up in the 2nd room as her time ran out.

Victor is up next. He is moving quickly and is past the 1st room. Nicole and Natalie are cracking up as it took him awhile to find the key and figure out he needed water. He unlocked the 2nd room door with only 45 seconds left. Not looking good. And time ran out...he was blown up, too. I can't believe that Natalie still has the best time!

James's turn. I would think with his military experience that he should do pretty well with this. He is struggling finding the key and he empties out the water container thinking it's in there, and cablooey! He is blown up!

Corey is up! Nicole doesn't have very high hopes for him...she doesn't think he is very resourceful. He quickly got out of the 1st room. He quickly found the key and figured out the water. Wow, that didn't take him long at all! He has a whole 4 minutes to figure out the 3rd room. Wow. And he's got it! He got it in 6:14! Nice job, Corey! I really think that he has been holding back this entire season. He is a lot smarter than we know, and he's really good at playing dumb.

Paul is the last to compete. He go out of the 1st room quickly. He didn't figure out the water for a long time...after he rigged a chain and wire to try to fish out the key, and then the wire fell in. And...he's blown up!

I knew Corey won, but didn't expect it to be such a mental comp. I love the #FinalFour celebrating in the HOH room.

Strategizing
Paul says he wants to send Natalie home because she is super smart. She has been doing so well in comps lately. Paul wants them both gone. They don't think James is that smart. Victor wants James to go because he was voted out because of James before and he doesn't want to let that happen to him again. But, he agrees that Natalie is proving to be more of a threat than James at this point. He also doesn't really like her attitude right now. Nicole said she can respect people who stay loyal to their #1 ally, and she turned on James.

Natalie is sure that she will be voted out because they know she's good at comps. James doesn't think so. He said he will tell them to vote him out before her. Natalie said that Nicole and Corey don't trust her, so she said they won't keep her. She asked him if he had a final 2 or final 3 deal with Nicole and/or Corey. He said no, and wondered why she was interrogating her. She said if he stays and he works with them, she won't ever talk to him again. He said that was a really mean thing to say. She again blamed him for listening to him and ending up where she is. He has no idea how she could say that to him. He now has some serious doubts about her intentions and feelings for him.

Corey feels bad that James is on the block and actually wants to still work with him. So, he decides to clue him in that he might not be going home. James said he was going to ask them to vote him out. He said she is on the block because of him. Corey told him not to do that.

Paul and Victor talk about what happens if James stays. He will be a free agent, and they want him to get on their side instead of Nicole and Corey. Paul decided to tell James that Natalie threw him under the bus. He was shocked to hear what she had said about her apologizing and that it was all James's idea that she didn't want to go along with. Basically, Natalie told him that she told them, so I'm not sure why he was so surprised. He said this cuts deep, and he was ready to fall on his sword for her and give up his own game for her. Now, he's not so sure he wants to do that. He goes to talk to Natalie and he was pretty much ready to cry. He is incredibly hurt by what she has said and done.

Veto Meeting
Corey decides not to use the Veto, which is not a surprise, as Nicole would be the replacement if he had (because Victor would not put up Paul).

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.35

HOH Comp
Corey decides to go for the Have container first and lands it. He will be a Have for the week.

Victor rolls and gets an O. Natalie also rolls and gets an O. Corey also gets an O.

Victor takes the lead with an H! Natalie and Corey each get their 2nd letter. Meanwhile, James has 0...after over an hour! Wow!

Corey has tried several times to get his H and misses every time. Victor is rolling and missing as well. Natalie can't get her last one either. Corey: "Cheese and crackers!" Lol

Paul now has 2! It's a 4-way tie and whoever gets one more will win. James might as well give up...he has no letters knocked over! What is his problem?! Oh wait, he now got 1. "Jamesy, I'm so proud of you!", says Natalie.

And it's Victor for the win! To say that he and Paul were excited would be a HUGE understatement! They were screaming and jumping all over each other. It was so cute. Good for you, Victor!

Strategizing
Paul and Victor officially give themselves an alliance name. In honor of the duck floatie that Michelle took from Paul, they are calling themselves: The Sitting Ducks.

James pleads his case to Victor about why he didn't give him his vote, and it was because of his final 4 deal with Corey and Nicole. Victor said he was loyal to him and Paulie when it was convenient. James said he shouldn't take anything out on Natalie because she did want to keep him. Victor asked Nicole and she denied that she, Corey, James, and Natalie had a final 4...even though they kind of did. Victor doesn't really care because that's over and done with and he and Paul do have a final 4 deal that he wants to honor, so he will be keeping Nicole and Corey safe.

James tells Natlie that he sealed his fate so that she can stay.

The Funnies
Lots of funny stuff on this episode:

• Corey sleep-talks about Harry Potter!
• Victor, Paul, and Corey make fun of Nicole for coming from a very small town with only a few people in her class at school

Nominations
Victor nominates: James and Natalie

Victor tells Natalie that she wins Veto and can save herself, and he hopes James goes home this week.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.34

If there was ever a lock for an eviction, this might just be it. Corey is 100% voting to evict Michelle for Nicole. Victor is not about to vote out his homeboy. That's 2 solid votes for Michelle. If we needed any more assurance, there's the $5,000 bribe that Corey gave to Victor for his vote. So yeah, that's absolutely the 2 votes they need to force the tie. While James and Natalie are voting to get rid of Paul, there 2 votes don't matter, because Nicole is the deciding vote. Nicole has been targeting Michelle for weeks. So, that's it. Michelle is finished. Poor James is sticking with his gut and is almost positive that Paul is going home. Boy, is he going to be surprised (unless Nicole decides to fill him in at the last minute right before the votes).

Veto Fallout
Paul is pretty happy to still be on the block. Nicole's decision spoke volumes to him because if she really wanted him or Victor out, she would have pulled down Michelle and put Victor up there next to him so that one of them would have to go. I love their devotion to this alliance. They are all playing so smartly right now. I hope they can follow it through to actually BE the final 4.

Paul lies to Michelle saying that he doesn't know which of them will go. Natalie laughed and said she didn't know either. They said that only Nicole and Corey probably know how things are going to go.

The Bribe
Victor and James are making fun of Corey for getting $5,000...that he has to give to someone else. James said he should probably give it to one of his friends so it doesn't go to waste. James told him to seriously consider giving it to him to throw the next HOH comp. He said he was totally serious. He says he feels good about throwing the next comp because he has 2 "secret" weapons -- Natalie and Michelle. One, they aren't secret. Two, they aren't really weapons.

Corey told Nicole about James pressuring him to give him the money. He thinks it's pretty sketchy. She worries that something else is going on that they don't know about.

Nicole worries that Victor could potentially vote out Paul because he's a threat. They think that maybe offering Victor the bribe to secure his vote would be a smart move. Nicole supports Corey's decision, so they call Victor and Paul to the HOH Room. He makes the offer to Victor, and was so shocked! He said Corey was going to make him cry. The whole thing was soooo cute! Paul called it a "mucho friendship move". Paul thinks this Final 4 is a super alliance. So much friendship going on right now! Victor said they are all going to take a trip together. Paul said that that trip is to the Final 4. They can't believe how lucky they all are to have such a great group of people working together. Too bad they haven't been working together since the very beginning - they could have been having so much fun together!

The Votes
Meech made another epic speech. First Paul gave her a kiss, and she said it was better than the last Paul. Ouch! Burn! She said she is threatening them with the fact that she will cry uncontrollably if they evict her and then she will have to go out and see Julie like that. They shouldn't do that to poor Julie. And secondly, she will be going after Victor because he's been evicted twice and doesn't deserve to be there. She said if they aren't careful either Victor or Paul are going to win because they are good at competitions and they are smart.

Victor -- Michelle
Natalie -- Paul
Corey -- Michelle
James -- Paul

And just like we thought, it's a tie. Just like we thought, Nicole evicts Michelle. On her way out, she tells whoever wins the next HOH to get ready for some but-kissing because that's what Victor will do. She said that's exactly why they need to get Nicole out. Her last act of anger on the way out was to grab Paul's inflatable duck floatie that he likes to wear around the house.

Julie called Michelle out for not campaigning. Michelle said that Nicole is the "most boringest HOH ever" because all she does is sit up in the HOH Room and not talk to anyone but Corey. She said no one knew what was going on because she wouldn't talk to anyone. Well, I think that just shows what a good game Nicole is playing and how her game was flawed.

We saw in James's goodbye message that he was in fact blindsided, and that's what was said was going on in the live feeds. James was so sure she was safe and told her it would be best to keep quiet and let Paul be the bigger target. She really thought she was safe, but did start to campaign...but only within the last couple of hours. Either way, it didn't matter, her fate was sealed days ago. The thing is, James was going on his gut. He never actually talked to Nicole or Corey. Michelle never talked to them either. This result really shouldn't have come as such a surprise since they didn't actually talk to them about what was going to happen...they just assumed. Oops.

HOH Comp
It's the chicken wire comp to maneuver eggs. After getting the eggs through the obstacle, they have to roll their eggs to knock over the letters HOH. First one to knock down all 3 wins. There is also a Have/Have Not challenge to get an egg in the Have slot.

Well, we know these comps favor the girls with little fingers. Natalie is the most likely winner in that case. I can see James having tiny hands, so he might do well also. I see Corey as probably having the biggest, most clumsy fingers, so count him out. Paul and Victor are wildcards. This does NOT bode well for the Final 4. They have the numbers, so they should be able to pull off something...hopefully...even if James or Natalie wins HOH.

Oh snap! Added challenge! There are eagles up over head that can try to poach their eggs as they roll them on the top. Yikes!

Go Paul! Go Victor! Go Corey!

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.33

Nomination Fallout
Michelle feels secure up against Paul. She thinks he is the bigger threat and that she is the pawn this week.

Michelle asked James if Paul is actually the pawn. James is very confident that Michelle is safe and Paul is the real target.

At the Veto draw, Paul picks Corey. Michelle now thinks she is the target because why would he pick someone from that side of the house. James doesn't seem as bothered by it as Michelle is.

Strategizing
Paul asks Nicole if she or Corey win Veto if they will pull him down. She isn't sure. Paul said he's OK if she doesn't. He asked if he or Victor win the Veto, if it's OK if he gets taken down and they said "absolutely". Nicole thinks that's fine. She just doesn't want to have to show her cards yet, hoping to keep James and Natalie as an option. Victor winning Veto is the best option because she would be forced to put up either James or Natalie, and they can't blame her for it.

Paul wants to throw the comp to Victor in order to ensure both of their safety.

Veto
Players: Nicole, Paul, Michelle, Victor, Corey (Paul's Houseguest's Choice), James

It's Christmas! Corey must be in Heaven! These elf costumes on Paul and Victor are cracking me up!

The comp is the counting comp where they have to count lots of objects and they will guess the number. After hearing all guesses, they will choose to stay or fold. If they fold they keep playing but don't earn a candy cane. If they stay and are farthest away, they are eliminated.

Corey is so distracted by the Christmas decorations that he can't focus! Ha! We always knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He is cracking me up!

Round 1: Corey guesses way high, he and Paul both fold - James and Nicole get 1 candy cane and Victor was the farthest, so he is out...womp womp. Paul was sure he would be safe.

Round 2: Corey, Paul, and Michelle fold - Nicole gets candy cane #2 and James is out!

Round 3: Corey decides to throw it so Nicole can win and wrote down "1 billion names"! Corey chooses to stay just to make sure Nicole doesn't get knocked out because he is pretty sure she is going to stay with her answer. Paul folds again so he can keep sticking around to get Michelle out. - Michelle wins a candy cane and Corey is out. His plan worked and Nicole stayed safe.

Nicole thought his answer was originally really dumb, but he saved her and she was pretty grateful.

Round 4: Paul folds, it's down to Michelle and Nicole - Nicole is closest! She wins the POV!

Strategizing
Victor is so psyched how things worked out. They are loving their final 4 deal. Nicole is freaking out a little bit because she doesn't want Victor and Paul to screw them over next week. Victor leaves to go get Paul and Nicole looks at Corey, smiles, and says "we could get one of them out this week". Noooooooo! She said they are keeping 2 of the strongest people in the house. Corey looks at her like, 'are you serious right now'. She makes good points, but come on, ride it out. Go to final 4 and then see what happens.

Natalie thinks Victor is hiding something from them and she thinks something is up. James is a little paranoid as well. James hopes Nicole didn't forget about their final 4 deal. Natalie thinks that Nicole will stick to her word. James doesn't know what Victor might have offered to her and Corey. Natalie said that if Paul goes home this week, Nicole and Corey have Victor and they have Michelle.

Paul tells Nicole that he trusts her. He decides to give her some ideas about why she should maybe pull him off the block just in case she might go for it. This convo is making Nicole wonder if he's true to their alliance or not.

Bromance
Paul and Victor are wishing they had a showmance because they are stuck in the house with 2 showmances. They miss girls. #BBDatingTape #Friendship

Meech Loses It
Michelle lays in bed and is scolded by Big Brother for covering her microphone. She whines and whines and huffs and puffs. She cries to Natalie that she is the ugliest person and she can't even look at herself. She thinks she's going home and she can't handle these fake people! Classic Meech.

Veto Meeting
Paul: "Keeping me on the block, not friendship. Taking me off the block, friendship." lol

Nicole decides not to use the Veto. Paul or Michelle will be going home. It better be Michelle.

James says he can trust Nicole and Corey 85% which he feels pretty comfortable with in this house. He is going to do his best to keep Paul as the target. Little does he know, that's not the plan.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.32

HOH Comp
Da'Vonne is NOT happy! She's afraid of heights and hates water. The constant spraying of cold water in her face is really getting her down. She looks at Zakiyah and Bridgette and says she's struggling and she's not going to make it. She saw how solid Victor looked. She asks Zakiyah if she wants to jump together...and they do. Wow! I think Da'Vonne gave up pretty easily for as bad as she said she wanted back in.

At 19 minutes, Corey is struggling to hold up his big frame up, and he goes down.

At 33 minutes, Bridgette is losing her grip and she's out.

Paulie starts to shake violently and he's slipping. He saved himself by his fingernails, but it's not looking good. He's all over the place. He thinks Victor will fall before him because he's shaking too, and he's a bigger guy. But, Victor has absolutely no intention of letting Paulie beat him.

At 48 minutes, Paulie is down!!!! Woohoo! Victor is coming back! He says he is "unevictable"! No one has ever come back from 2 evictions before! That is incredible! So happy for him! He was the ONLY one I wanted to come back!

Victor said he's hurting and he's ready to start making some deals. Paul tried to get him to stick it out to try to win HOH. He was hurting pretty badly, and he let go at 50 minutes.

Final 3: Paul, Nicole, James

Paul doesn't trust anyone, especially Nicole and James.

At 1 hour and 35 minutes, Paul slips.

James tells Nicole that he has won 3 wall comps. Nicole sees that he is shaking. She tells him that she would never put up him or Natalie. He said the same about her and Corey. He said he's gung-ho at wall comps - he just wants to win another one. Nicole said she doesn't know if she can go another week without seeing her mom. Natalie doesn't trust this and she doesn't want him to drop. He asks again if he and Natalie are safe. He said he will drop just so she can get a letter from her mom.

At 2 hours and 4 minutes, James slides off. He hopes his decision doesn't come back to bite him. Nicole isn't sure if she is going to honor her deal with James and Natalie since they have been acting sketchy.

Games are Blown Up!
Paul says he blew up his own game a couple hours before the eviction in an attempt to save Victor. He and Michelle got into it again. He called her a bully and said she's a terrible person who puts people down all the time. Paul tells James that he was never against him until he went on the block. James said Natalie actually fought for Victor to stay (meaning that she would be sending Corey home). Everyone overheard this and Nicole was pissed! They are/were in an alliance together and now Nicole is very scared.

Strategizing
Corey asks what deal Nicole made with Corey. Nicole said James was going to fall and that's why he made the deal. She said she definitely wants Michelle to go up. James said they kept Corey and he gave her the HOH, so they have to be safe. Natalie hopes Nicole keeps her word because that was James's comp and she doesn't want that to be what sends her home.

Natalie asks what deal he made with Nicole. He said it was for both of them. Michelle realized he's only loyal to Natalie, even though they had gotten closer. Well, duh!

Paul told Nicole that Victor is pissed that James voted him out. He said that James, Natalie, and Michelle have burned the bridge. He is basically saying that Nicole and Corey should work with them as a foursome to take out the other three. The 4 of them talk in the HOH room. Paul said that the care package can only go to him, Victor, or Corey, so they have that going for them. Paul said they have challenge beasts in this foursome and they could be unstoppable. Nicole wants to trust them, but she doesn't want them to jump ship next week after she saves them.

Corey said that James lied to people's faces and sent Zakiyah home, sent Paulie home. He said James has put them in some really hard situations. Corey said he would he would like to be with people who are good competitors and are all in. James and Natalie are sketchy. Nicole said if they make Michelle the target, their final 4 with Paul and Victor, and their final 4 with James and Natalie would still be intact. Very true! That's a great place to be. She then wouldn't have to break her deal with James and Natalie. I like this option very much! It's so smart!

Care Package
The final care package goes to...Corey. Really?! I've read that he's not that popular with fans. Why not Paul or Victor?! I don't quite understand that one.

He got some Christmas stuff, jockstraps, and "BB Bribe". He can offer any houseguest a bribe of $5,000 and expires at the end of the next HOH. He can make the offer in secret or in public. Very interesting.

Nicole is excited and she thinks with all the power this week, she and Corey can make a very big move this week. Paul is nervous that they won't need him and Victor.

Corey wonders what America is telling him by giving it to him. Nicole said apparently America doesn't want Paul or Victor to have it.

Nicole told him not to make any deals until after noms and the Veto because it has to make an impact and it has to work.

Strategizing
Nicole tells Paul and Victor that she thinks Michelle is the biggest threat and she wants her to go this week. Victor said they support whatever she wants to do. She wants to act like she is still mad at Paul and put him up as a pawn. She wants to keep James and Natalie happy as well, so they don't suspect they are working together. He said he would do it. He hopes this will prove his loyalness to the group. They are the "Final Golden Four" that he has been looking...for. They try to think of a name. Why not simply the "Final Four".

Nominations
Nicole nominates Michelle and Paul.

She said she nominated them for the same reason: they are both threats and they are both coming after her.

Michelle feels OK with being on the block because Paul is the bigger threat.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.31

Strategizing
It's all up to James tonight. James and Natalie talk with Corey and they want to rattle Paul so he won't do well in the HOH. They talk about letting Victor think that he will be safe. Paul sees them all talking and he doesn't like it.

Paul acts like he is working with Nicole and Corey to try to get James to vote out Corey by spending all of his time with them. He tried to be very visible with his new BFFs.

James tells Victor that he's tied to a bad egg. Victor said he would put Paul on the block for them if they keep him. He said that Paul being close to Nicole and Corey is bad for their game. He acts like he's mad at Paul for buddying up with them. It seems to be maybe working a little, but I don't see it happening.

Jury
Oh boy, what's the reaction going to be when Paulie walks in that door? Zakiyah is ready to give him a piece of her mind. Bridgette and Da'Vonne screamed in delight when he walked in, and Zakiyah looked annoyed. She's happy he's out of the game, but she doesn't really want him to be anywhere near her.

They watched the video and Da'Vonne said he was salty and somebody needed to give him some pepper! They all screamed watching what happened to him this past week. They couldn't believe he went out with Victor as HOH. He continued to talk about the guys running the game and them being catty girls with a lot of drama. He was definitely was not winning any friends. He and Bridgette really went at it. He is so defensive and just such a sore loser in a group of girls. He is so uncomfortable and that just leads him to say so many hurtful things to make himself feel better. Bridgette said she doesn't respect him or his game because of him making personal comments to the girls. She said he lost the game a long time ago and with them on the jury they would have never let anyone vote for him. Zakiyah got in on the game and confronted him for everything that happened. He pretty much denied everything, but she said she was on to him. It got so bad that Da'Vonne and Bridgette got up and left, and Zakiyah did as well.

The Votes
Nicole -- Victor
Paul -- Corey
James -- Victor

All I have to say is: I sure hope Victor is the one who gets to come back! I don't want anyone else, especially Paulie!

Jury Battle Back/HOH
Victor cannot believe that he has a 2nd 2nd chance of winning the game. He is pumped and ready to take them down in the live competition. Go Victor! Let's break history with a 3rd chance at the game!

All of the jurors want to battle anyone but Victor...except Paulie. He thinks you should have to beat the best. I think the girls should all try to help Victor get back in the game by sabotaging Paulie. Victor has the best chance of winning the game over any of them. Help a brother out!

The jurors will be competing against the current houseguests. The last juror standing will be back in the game. If that person is also the last person standing out of everyone, he or she will be the HOH.

The comp is an endurance one on a wall, like so many before. The goal: not to fall into the murky waters with the Loch Ness monster.

...to be continued...

GO VICTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be really upset if it's anyone but him going back in. Hoping that either he or Paul win HOH!

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.30

Nomination Fallout
Paul realizes that he is now public enemy #1.

Victor tells Paul that he was told that he was a pawn and Paul is the target.

Paul calls Natalie out in the group to find out what they think he has lied about. Natalie said she never called him a liar. Michelle is the one who said he lied to her about Da'Vonne being the one to go home, and apparently other things too. Natalie didn't want to respond to him because she felt attacked. She decided to leave the conversation. Michelle came in and told him about the Da'Vonne thing. He told her Bridgette was his target and that's what people told him she was going. So he didn't lie to her because he was lied to. She asked why Paulie would tell her these things. Paul said Paulie said they should go after James, so why should they listen to him.

Natalie later apologized to Paul because she believed what he said about Paulie targeting James. Natalie started to cry and Michelle realized just how persuasive Paul is and he really needs to go. Natalie regrets winning the HOH. She can't believe she made a hasty decision to protect James. She was told lies because they knew James was her weakness.

Paul calls out Nicole for her lies putting him on the block. He wanted her to tell him to tell him to his face what lies he's told. She said she's never lied about him and she is not the reason he's on the block. Corey comes in and rains on the parade and does a striptease out of his patriot-tard putting a halt on Paul yelling at Nicole. The whole thing was awkward. Corey had no idea what was going on. Literally everyone else was eavesdropping on the whole fight from all different areas of the house.

Strategizing
Paul and Victor strategize about winning Veto and getting Corey nominated and voted out. Paul tells Natalie they should backdoor Corey. Michelle is going along with it, but she still wants Paul out.

James thinks that he and Natalie should stick with their final 4 deal with Nicole and Corey.

Later, Natalie didn't like that Paul was sleeping in her HOH bed without asking. She saw what he did to run the room in the BB Storm Watch. She is back to wanting to get Paul out because he's the biggest threat to win.

BB Storm Watch Alert
A message comes on the TV and tells them to be ready at all times for important information. You know what that means - no sleep! Paul knows this has to do with the Veto. He tells Natalie, James, and Michelle that they should repeat what they hear over and over and over to each other to remember. Natalie and Corey weren't taking it too seriously - he would rather cuddle. "Dude, who cares!"

James Prank
James stealthily army crawls in the yard next to where Paul was working out. He had gone into the kitchen with a handful of salt. He snuck Paul's water bottle and put it in and then rolled away. Paul took a big swig and spit it out. Hilarious! How does he think of these things?!

Veto
Players: Natalie, Michelle, Paul, Victor, James (chosen by Paul), Corey (chosen by Michelle)

Game: one by one they will answer questions about the weather alerts. They will read a teleprompter and must fill in the blanks with the correct storm name before it leaves the teleprompter. What an interesting challenge! To make it even harder, they have to stand in a hurricane with wind and rain.

These were absolutely hilarious! They each had funny last names for their newscaster names:

• Natalie Rainbow
• Victor Caliente
• James Showers
• Michelle Drizzle
• Corey Breeze
• Paul Storm

Victor struggling over "cumulous" clouds was hysterical. The umbrella they had really didn't do anything to help them out. Paul reading "blank" instead of filling in his own name - ha!

Corey - 15 pts
James - 13 pts
Michelle - 20 pts
Natalie - 10 pts
Paul - 21 pts
Victor - 19 pts

Paul wins Veto! Woohoo! The most points possible was 22. He only missed 1! Wow!

Strategizing
Paul wants he and Victor to push to get Corey up. If they are successful, they should target James next week. Michelle can't decide between Corey and Nicole. Nicole is scary to Michelle because can see her winning the game.

Veto Ceremony
Paul takes himself off the block. Michelle chooses to replace him with Corey.

Unfortunately for Victor, it still looks like he will be the new target and not Corey. I like Corey and all, but he hasn't really done a lot in the game. I really do like him and Victor, so this is a tough one! There are only 3 votes: Paul will vote to save Victor, Nicole will vote to save Corey, and that means that James is literally the swing vote.

But, what neither one of them is aware of is that whoever is voted out will have a chance to come back in tomorrow in the Jury Battle Back.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.29

HOH Comp
Michelle's advantage was to look for a disc with no one else being allowed to. She found one that was close...but it was a decoy that didn't fit! Haha! Advantage nullified!

Nicole only seems to be finding decoys.

James barely made it back to his button before the horn went off. Paul lost his shoe in the slime! Corey tries to mess with James by freaking out that something is in there. Michelle was swatting something and her hand came off the button - she's out!

Everyone keeps yelling out how many discs they have, but most are lying. No one trusts anyone.

James had 4 discs, but he fell trying to hit his button and he is out.

Paul - 5 discs
Nicole - 5 discs
Corey - 10 discs
Natalie - 10 discs

Tie breaker - Natalie brought back her last disc 4 seconds faster than Corey, so she is the winner

Strategizing
Nicole tells James and Natalie that Paul is targeting them and he's been throwing them under the bus. This upsets them and so now they want to work with Nicole and Corey.

Victor and Paul are worried because the others stop talking when they enter the room.

Paul overhears Michelle and Natalie talking, so he inserts himself into the conversation, but when he left, they talked about Paul on road to winning the game. Paulie told Michelle some shady things that Paul has done.

Paul's Talk Show
Paul cracks me up. He started his own talk show: Friendship Talk. He has guests, he talks about life in the house. It's hilarious. Reminds me of Talla's talk show on Big Brother Canada Season 1. I love seeing stuff like this. THIS is what the show needs more of!

Care Package
Michelle gets the next Care Package (grrr). She wins the "Co-HOH". She gets to nominate 1 person and share all the perks.

Nomination Ceremony
Natalie nominated Victor
Michelle nominated Paul

I hate both of these nominations! But, we're getting down to the end and I wouldn't really like any of the nominations (except for Michelle).

Michelle nominated Paul because she can see him winning the game and she knows some things he's done in the house like lying to her face. She hopes Victor wins the Veto, and if she wins, she is taking him off the block.

Natalie didn't give a reason for nominating Victor. She just said that he battled his way back in the house and deserves his spot. She said she likes him as a person and wished him luck in the Veto.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.28

Special Friday episode, actually airing here at 1:47 AM (Saturday). WTH?!

#BBCountyFair - lots of games and prizes and a concert by Ziggy Marley

As goofy as the whole episode is, it is SOOOO nice to see them doing fun things in the house instead only showing us the non-stop strategizing. This is how it's done in Australia and the UK and I wish we could see more of this.

Hi-lights:

• The guys doing a striptease for Zakiyah's birthday
• James waxing Natalie's armpits, and them just having a lot of fun together
• Discussion about boob wrinkles
• James's and Michelle's pranks

Games:

• Darts for Dollars: Paul gets $500, James gets $.25, Nicole gets $7.50, Natalie gets $.25, Michelle gets $.25, Victor gets $500 (after missing every dart)
• Kissing Booth for Natalie and James <3, and Corey and Nicole
• Dunk a Hunk w/ Mr. Pectacular (gag): Corey (1), Natalie (0), James (0), Michelle (0), James (0), Paul (0), Victor (2); Victor wins a tv and smartphone
• Pie Eating Contest  for Have-Nots and an Advantage in HOH Comp: Have-Nots - Victor, Michelle, James; Haves - Paul, Corey, Nicole, Natalie

HOH Comp

It's the dark room challenge in the "black box". They have to press a button and not let go or they are eliminated. Then they have to search for discs and the whole thing will last 2 hours!

The winner of the advantage is Michelle.

This was an awesome episode! I really wish we could see more stuff like this. Unfortunately, it will probably never happen because the viewer ratings are going to be horrible. Not only was this episode put up against the Olympics, but in most cities, it was pre-empted by NFL games, or in my case, for a stupid old movie that could literally have been shown at any time. There is no way anyone stayed up until 2:00 in the morning to watch. Somebody screwed the pooch on that one.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.27

Paulie Meltdown
Paulie is kind of laying down on his sword. He doesn't want to campaign against Corey, who has been his biggest ally. He realizes that he is not what is best for everyone's game. He sacrificed a lot to be there, and then he broke down when he saw a butterfly. He said it's a sign and it's like a spirit. James was there to console him. Paulie is not right mentally right now...not sure what's going on with him.

Paulie refuses to do his apple pie punishment. He said he was going to work out again. The song keeps starting over as his cue, and he just ignores it. Michelle realizes that she is no longer the baby in the house. Corey hates seeing him act this way. He sat him down and told him that he can't see him act this way all week. He gave him a "man-up" speech and told him to be the best guy he can be. Paulie said he didn't want to break his heart. Corey said it's OK to be sad and break down a little bit, but he shouldn't be soft. He said his parents and Cody are watching. It looks like the pep talk worked.

Paulie wants to start to repair relationships in the house to try to stay. First up was Natalie. He apologized for taking out his anger and sadness over Zakiyah leaving on Natalie. She accepted his apology, but she isn't forgetting what he did and said.

Paulie's Strategy
Paulie thinks that if he can get people feeling sorry for him, he might get a sympathy vote or 2. He thinks that he can convince Paul that having him around is good for him to help go against Victor. Paul seems like he is willing to give him a sympathy vote because he doesn't break the rule of friendship. James can't take him seriously in his chef's hat as he tries to get him to swing his way. He said he can be used as a weapon to take out Paul and Victor. James said it sounded good and he would think about it. It's a big decision and he's not sure he wants to trust Paulie because he's burned him before. He's now sure he's got Paul and he thinks he has James. Naturally, the #3 vote would be Natalie. James said whatever Natalie wants he will do because she is calling the shots. Paulie wanted to know what they wanted from him in order to vote to keep him. He was willing to do pretty much anything they wanted, including laying down, and getting himself nominated if they asked him to.

The Votes
OK, Paulie just made a reference from one of my all-time favorite movies - "A Knight's Tale"! He addressed Julie, the houseguests and "all of the audience out there NOT sitting on a cushion!" That was just awesome. He went around the room and said really nice things about each of them. He even gave Meech the one thing she has missed this summer - a showmance! He dipped her and gave her a huge smooch!

Michelle -- Paulie
Paul -- Paulie
James -- Paulie
Natalie -- Paulie
Nicole -- Paulie

Bye-bye Paulie. You had more potential than I gave you credit for at the beginning, but you self-imploded in a very not-so-flattering way. Cody remains the better Big Brother player, and seemingly, just an overall better guy.

The ticket reveal...and he is going home with a one-way ticket. That also means that whoever is in possession of that ticket will not get to use it, as the tickets are now expired. Oh, they're going to all open their tickets now! And the Round-Trip Ticket belonged to...PAUL! Nice! He solved the puzzle and he picked the first ticket! Wow, that's crazy!

Don't forget...tomorrow is a special episode! And guess what...looks like Jury members are competing to get back in the house. You know what that means...Paulie is a shoo-in against all those girls.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.26

Nomination Fallout
I can't believe how emotional Paulie is! He was such a tough guy, and now he's crying because he's on the block. I get it...you were in control and now you're not. Take it like a man! That's how this game is played! You know what you signed up for, especially since your brother played!

Paulie confronts the guys. He doesn't get the logic of going after the alliance. Victor says it's payback for what Paulie did in backdooring him earlier in the game.

Paul continues to lie to Paulie and say that he didn't know that he was going to be nominated. When asked if Paul would take him off if he won the Veto, Paul was very vague.

Paulie tells Corey if he wins the Veto, he will use it on him. Corey tells him not to do that. Paulie starts crying and calls Corey his "homey". Corey said he would be mad at him if he didn't save himself. Paulie just can't believe they went after his boy. He never wanted him to be in harm's way.

Paulie is Called Out
Paul wants them all to call Paulie out and get him all rattled before the Veto, because he doesn't function well when he's rattled.

Paul says that Paulie clearly doesn't have his back. He said by him continually asking him if he knew about him going on the block proves he never trusted him and it offends him. Paulie apologized, but said things would be different if it was Paul on the block. Michelle said he wouldn't be up there because he isn't a liar and a manipulator. He called her the same thing. Paul said she's been honest. He said she manipulated his alliance to turn on him. She said, "LOL you did that yourself." He said his biggest mistake was thinking that this group of guys was going to be like the Detonators of his brother Cody's and Derrick's alliance. James said he would never make a comment like Paulie did to any of his boys' girls. Paulie said he jokes with everyone. Natalie didn't appreciate the comments about her boobs and said James likes her for who she is and not her boobs. Paulie said Michelle was saying things too, and said more than he did. Paulie thinks they are all attacking him because they are afraid of him.

Zingbot!
Hoping for some good zings! Michelle was so excited! She attacked Zingbot!

Corey: "What do you call the man who sweeps Nicole off her feet, sends her heart aflutter and makes her hear wedding bells?" They all laughed their heads off, but I have no idea what Zingbot said as the answer! I replayed it several times, and I could not make it out. It sounded like "Nathan?" I have no clue, wish I know what was so funny! UPDATE: Googled it, and duh! It was "Hayden!" (Her showmance and bf for about a year).

Victor: "I was trying to think of the perfect word to describe you and I realized it is best said in Spanish. Tu el douchebag."

James: "You love to scare people in the house, however, this summer the people you have scared the most are Natalie's parents. Something they never wanted."

Paulie: "Anyone who says that you are a less attractive, less charming, and all around lesser person than Cody...is correct! Poor mna's Cody zing!"

Michelle: "I have a BB baby announcement. It sleeps all day, cries all night, and can't stop throwing up. Please welcome, big Meech!" lol

Natalie: "We all know you're not the brightest bulb, but luckily what you lack in smarts you make up for in armpit hair!"

Nicole: "Watching you on BB16 was a little tough, you threw your game away for a shomance, you were terrible in comps, and literally had no chance of winning it all. Oh wait, that's this season!"

Paul: "You have a lot of catchphrases: pissed, friendship, your boy...well, I've got a catchphrase everyone will get behind: 'shut the f*** up!'" Whoa! I don't think Zingbot has ever been bleeped before! That was hilarious!


Veto
Players: Victor, Paulie, Corey, Paul (pulled by Victor), Nicole (Paulie's Houseguest's Choice), James (pulled by Corey)

Comp: Zingbot is running for President - they will help him collect electoral votes; launch bags at point values, and lowest value in the round picks a prize; last person holding the Veto wins Veto

Round 1: Paul is last, he chooses the Veto
Round 2: Nicole is last, she chooses "Secret Service" - she'll wear a secret service suit and pat people down when prompted; she chooses to steal the Veto
Round 3: Corey is last, he chooses a 1 week trip to any US destination; he trades it for the Veto
Round 4: Paulie is last, he chooses "Patriot tard"; he trades it for the Veto
Round 5: James is last, he chooses $5,000
Round 6: Victor wins, his prize is "Apple Pie" - he will bake apple pies for the rest of the summer; he chooses the Veto, duh!

Final prizes:
Paul: Secret Service
Nicole: 1 Week Trip
Corey: Patriot Tard
Paulie: Apple Pie
James: $5,000
Victor: Veto

Paulie announces that he will NOT be making apple pies. Details from the live feeds said that he adamantly refused to do his punishment, despite being warned many times. He said he would gladly take a penalty vote because he wasn't going to do it. What a sore loser! What a wuss! So he made 1 pie - which the houseguests said on the feeds that he only did so he could be filmed doing it. He had to wave a flag for the entire 40 minutes the pie was being baked. He broke down in the DR again and while waving the flag about how the game has gotten to him and he doesn't like what it has done to him. He said he just wants to go home at this point, who cares about the money.

Paul as the Secret Service was hilarious! He was perfect for that one!

Veto Ceremony
Victor chooses not to use the Veto.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---

Big Brother, Ep. 18.25

Eviction Fallout
Michelle is still crying because she was blindsided again. Even though this blindside meant that she stayed in the house (still a complete shock to me).

Michelle apologized for what she said about Nicole trying to make a deal. Nicole said she just asked who she would put up if she won in the double so she would know who she wanted to put up. Nicole said "wanting" to make a deal was different than making one, and she didn't make a deal with her. Michelle said she kind of hinted at a deal. So now Michelle has survived the double eviction and is staying in the game.

Paulie vs. Natalie and James
Natalie told Zakiyah some things because she knew she was going home. Natalie told Zakiyah that Paulie is just playing her and she wanted her to know that. She said that Paulie has said some things to her that have crossed the line. She said there was a time that she was hiding under the bed with him to scare the others and she told him that he could make out with Zakiyah under there, and he responded by saying he could make out with her in there. He said they were hiding in there so James and Zakiyah wouldn't kill them. He also made a comment to her about putting her "big Latin booty away". Natalie told her that Paulie was part of the reason she was on the block. She said if she was important to him and to his game he would have used the Veto on her. Zakiyah was appreciative for the information, and was visibly upset.

Zakiyah pulled Paulie aside and told him what Natalie said. She said she was "attacked". Paulie looked like he had been caught lying. His response was that Natalie always made comments to him like she was going to marry him and come over for family dinners. Paulie told her that if he was the reason she was on the block, she would be going home. He said he wouldn't take any chances. She looked very surprised by that comment, understandably.

Natalie told James what Paulie has been saying to her. James wondered where he's been for all of this. She said he only does it when James isn't around. This really upset James because he thought Paulie was his friend. He cares about Natalie, so it's a big deal and he wants to find out what's going on. Natalie said she didn't want to tell anyone about it to get Paulie in trouble, and she kind of wished she hadn't told James about it.

James then confronted Paulie about what has been going on. Paulie said he compliments all of the girls about their looks and wanting to date them. He said he would never actually go after Natalie. He said that Jersey girls like her do and say stuff like that all the time.

Paulie is furious that Natalie is spreading lies about him. Paulie sarcastically told Natalie to have a good night and have fun with Michelle in their room. She asked why he would say that, and he said because she is going home and that Natalie would surely be next. She asked why he was threatening her, and he said it was a promise. She said she's only been honest with the things that she's said. Paulie said that she is as fake as the things on her chest. Ouch! Not liking this side of you at all, Paulie! That was uncomfortable to watch. Part of me feels like Paulie was just upset for being caught and that he didn't really like saying the things that he said, but felt like he was being backed into a corner.

Natalie then told Paul, James, and Bridgette what Paulie said to her. James knew he had to nip this in the bud before things got more out of hand. He doesn't think the way Paulie has been treating the girls, and especially Natalie is OK. They all went up to talk to Paulie and he offered up exactly what he told Natalie, word for word. James said they should all realize that this is just a game. Paulie said she should not be hitting on all the guys in the house and then try to flip it around. Bridgette was disgusted by his behavior, and so was Zakiyah, so she got up and left to talk to Natalie. Natalie decided to join everyone upstairs. She asked him why he spoke to her the way he did. He responded by asking her why she's said the things she's said. She continued to say it was the truth. I just don't get the feeling that Natalie would be doing and saying the things that Paulie is saying she has. We've seen no evidence that she is caniving and flirty like that. She's had eyes for James, and James alone. However, we have seen video proof of Paulie flirting and saying things to Natalie. So, I would be inclined to believe Natalie in this situation.

Natalie said that she does have a flirtatious nature and that if it made him uncomfortable, he should have said something. She said under the bed, she didn't know what to do, so she laughed it off because she doesn't like confrontation. When he told her to put her butt away, she rolled over. He said she needed to get over herself if she thinks she made him uncomfortable. She said none of the guys make her feel the way that he does. He told her not to play the victim because everyone knows her game. She said that he was being very disrespectful. Paulie said if Zakiyah should be offended by his flirtation, then James should be with hers. She told him not to bring James into it. She said she genuinely loves him and he has taught her how to trust a man. She said she loves him more than anyone except her family. She said she was doing Zakiyah a favor as a woman by telling her what was going on. Natalie finally had enough, so her and James left the room...as Paulie slow clapped their exit like a jerk. OK, really, REALLY not liking him anymore. He is in no way like his brother. What a disappointment. I was really rooting for him, but his cockiness, and now arrogance, bullying, sexism, etc. has just shown the type of person he is. His game is now going down the crapper. No one is going to want to play with him anymore.

The awkwardness in the room after they left was just to the Nth degree. Paul has had enough, and he's ready to fully distance himself from Paulie for his treatment of Natalie and just how he is playing the game in general.

90 minutes before the first eviction, Nicole was in the room with James, Corey, and Paulie and she said the girls are all acting like Michelle is staying and she asked how James was voting. He said he was a straight shooter and he said he was voting out Paulie's girl. He didn't want them to be blindsided with his decision. James said he was sticking with his girl because that is Texas code. Paulie was upset that he was letting the girls influence his actions. James also informed them that he would be canceling Paul's and Corey's votes.

James and Paulie continued back and forth and Paulie told him he better win HOH. Later Paulie did apologize to James. Too bad we didn't see him apologize to Natalie or anyone else.

PP Fallout
After finding out that James was going to cancel Paul's vote, Paulie asked Paul when he was going to tell him what James was going to do. Paul continued to say he had no idea what he was talking about. Paulie wasn't buying it. Paulie doesn't trust Paul, he thinks Corey is the only person he can truly trust. Paul wants to win HOH so he can send Paulie home. Right now, I want that, too. RIP PP

HOH Comp
Apparently, the squirrel now has a name? Benny? Who knew...

They will face off, head-to-head to answer questions about a group of Benny pics.

Michelle vs. James -- James wins
Paul vs. Nicole -- Paul wins
Natalie vs. Victor -- Victor wins
Paulie vs. Paul -- Paul wins
James vs. Victor -- Victor wins
Paul vs. Victor -- Victor wins

Paul decides that it would be better for Victor to win so he can take the shots. Paul acts like he's upset for not winning.

Paulie thinks this is the best situation for him because he thinks Victor is loyal to the 5 guy alliance - The Executives. He thinks he can sit back and relax this week.

Strategizing
Victor thinks Michelle needs to go and they just need someone to sit up there as a pawn next to her.

Paul tells Victor to put up Paulie and Corey to ensure that one of them goes home. Victor said that then the blood is on his hands. Victor did say that Paulie backdoored him and he isn't forgetting about that. Paul said if they don't swing now, they won't have the opportunity again. Paul said he would do all the social work to get it done.

Care Package
The next Care Package goes to: Nicole

Nicole wins some scrunchies, mosquito spray, and "Super Safety". She is safe from eviction and everything this week. She has to wear a safety costume all week long.

Nominations
Victor nominates: Paulie and Corey

He nominated Paulie because he's the strongest competitor in the house and Corey because he's guilty by association with Paulie.

---

Don't forget to follow on Twitter for updates and live show tweets! https://twitter.com/LSRealityBites
And follow this blog with Bloglovin

---