Big Brother - Season 11, Episode 6 Recap

It’s pretty tough to get excited about tonight’s episode after the live feed excitement of the past 24 hours. There’s nothing that can be shown tonight that rivals what occurred late last night, and into the early afternoon today.

Yet here I am as always,. Tonight we’ll be viewing the veto competition, some scheming, and the veto ceremony…and lots and lots of filler (including more on that stupid movie prize Casey and Chima won). The commercials seem to indicate that a lot of time will be spent examining Ronnie’s quirkiness. For once, I’m against rules requiring Truth in Advertising.

You know the drill. After the unnecessary recap and opening, we proceed with the reaction to the nominations of Jeff and Laura. “Ronnie is the rat”, complains Laura, “(and) I fell for it.” Jeff says he wasn’t happy with Ronnie’s speech, and that he’s “the rat now”. Ronnie still claims that he wants to backdoor Russell.

Jordan and Laura head off into their bedroom, and Laura complains that she thinks she’s the only one smart enough to know how to beat Ronnie. (She does add a “no offense” to Jordan.) She then breaks down, and goes on about how he’s such a “serious gamer”, and Jordan’s tears are now added to the mix. They hug, which excites quite a few guys (and some girls) across the country. Jordan adds that she’s sad that her two best friends are nominated.

Meanwhile, Jeff and Lydia (of all people) are having a similar conversation. “(Ronnie’s) fucking scary”, says Lydia. “He got me”, adds Jeff. Of course, Ronnie waddles in just at that moment, and hugs Jeff as he complains “you got me”. He adds in the diary room that the one person playing the game “100%” is Ronnie, who claims that he’s taking a calculated risk but he does have a plan. Jeff doesn’t buy the double pawn plan, and says he doesn’t want to hear any more plans because “none of them has come true”.

It’s now later that night, and Ronnie now comes out to get on Laura’s good side. She tells him that it’s ok, and again he says that he has a “master strategy. There’s a scenario where both of you stay, and I want nothing more than that.” Like Jeff, Laura doesn’t really buy it. “Every single thing Ronnie has told me has turned into a lie.” She claims that she’ll end up giving him a dose of his own medicine. After he walks away, Laura begins bitching to Casey and Jordan. “He’s trying to cover his ass in case I win the veto.”

Russell, is now shown pacing, and he says that he’s worried because his “alliance has become clique-ish”. His plan is to now be friendly to everybody, and he shows it by bringing drinks out to the “other side”. They all warn him that he shouldn’t be sitting with them. “This game is all about positioning yourself so other people to trust you”, he says in the diary room. He proceeds to complain how his side plays the game every minute of every day. “Can you take a two minute hiatus?”

At that exact moment, Ronnie is staring at the wall. Casey says that he thinks Russell is getting to that “breaking point” where he can’t think about the game anymore. Russell then walks into the house, and complains to those in the kitchen that they’re still talking game. Lydia, who was in the bedroom, starts bitching that they were talking about their life, and Russell suddenly starts screaming at her. Lydia and Chima both shake their heads in disgust. “Not everything is directed at yours ass”, he yells.

Russell heads back outside, and we see Lydia bawling about the situation. Oh, you’ve really turned into a silly diva. Casey adds that he’s going to just let these situations simmer, as any unwanted attention to others means he survives another week.

Natalie and Jessie are now sitting in the kitchen, and when Natalie says it’s time to evict Russell, Jessie disagrees. As usual, Natalie continues talking, and Jessie says nothing. “I still see him as an asset to my side, but he’s still going home before me…fingers crossed”.

After a commercial break, we see Lydia reporting to Ronnie about how she was “verbally attacked”. She starts bawling again, and Ronnie hugs her. She babbles about being with abusive people, and that it’s not “the Russell Show. I want to backdoor Russell.” At this very moment, Kevin buzzes to come in, and the conversation continues. “Can you imagine how different the house would be if Russell wasn’t here”, Lydia asks.

We move on to silly Jordan, and her supposed lack of knowledge about traditional clocks. Oh God, do we really need this? This is followed by the extended commercial for the stupid Katherine Heigl movie. Jordan and Natalie are both jealous of Chima and Casey, who are both clearly uncomfortable having to spend time together. They both claim to love the movie, although they said otherwise in the live feeds.

Finally, something important is happening. It’s time to choose player for the veto competition. Jeff says that it’s “me against the house” so it doesn’t matter what name he pulls. Ronnie chooses first, and gets Russell. Laura is next, and she pulls Natalie’s name. Jeff then pulls out Casey’s name, and Ronnie picks Lydia to host the contest. Ronnie is concerned by having Russell in the contest, as a win by him makes him ineligible for nomination.

When we return from commercials, it’s time for the veto competition. They all head outside to see a giant pile of coins. To win “Big Brother Mint”, they have to gather a certain dollar amount for each stage, with the person furthest from the target is eliminated. The winner also gets an option to choose a prize from three bags - $5000, a slop pass, or nothing.

Laura’s not happy about this, as she says she’s not good at counting. Ronnie says if he doesn’t win, he hopes that Russell isn’t the person who wins. The first round is for everybody to gather $100 in quarters, and Jeff says his strategy was to count a loose handful. If one handful is $10, he needs ten handfuls. Laura’s strategy makes nonsensical, wheras Ronnie second guesses his own strategy and throws in a bunch of extra coins.

Natalie was over $400 over the target (lol), but Ronnie was ever further away and is eliminated. Michelle is convinced that Ronnie threw it, and didn’t hide it very well. Jeff wins the first round. Ronnie is also seen claiming that he didn’t throw it, and is disappointed in himself.

Jeff chooses to stay in the game (obviously), and in the second round they have to go for $75 in dimes. Jeff carries on with his plan, and Laura says she was just grabbing as much as she could. This time, Natalie was much close ($16.90). Laura, though, was $269 over the target, and is eliminated. Jeff was only $5 off, though, and once again wins.

Again, Jeff stays in the game (duh), and in the third round they have to grab $40 in nickels. Natalie is even close to the target in this round, and Casey is eliminated. Natalie wins, though, but decides to nab a prize. Her bag of choice contains the slop pass.

It’s now Russell versus Jeff for the final round, and they have to grab $10 in pennies. Jeff calls it the “two bulls together again”, and they both babble how they HAVE to win. Russell’s bucket comes to $8.59, but Jeff nabbed $10.97 for the win! Jeff is obviously happy, especially since he proved to Russell that he can’t win every competition. Russell, meanwhile, says that if he is put up it will be Ronnie’s dumbest move ever.

Before we get to the veto ceremony, we have to have a segment that gives us a little doubt as to what Ronnie will do when Jeff pulls himself off the block. Kevin heads up to the HOH, where Lydia and Chima are scheming with Ronnie. After promising not to spill the beans, they all agree they’re on board to put up Russell. Ronnie says that no matter what, if he’s put up then he has to go. “This is the chance to do what’s right.”

We now see Laura entering the HOH, and she says she’s “willing to give Ronnie any song and dance to stay in this game”. Ronnie is vague, but claims that this “will be the turning point in the game”. He then says his plan is to put Russell up. Lydia continues to complain about drama and bullying, and Ronnie has Laura swear to God to not pull up himself, Lydia, or Kevin. Laura is still not convince, so she has no problem with promising anything to him. Ronnie adds that he has to make sure he has enough votes to get rid of Russell if he’s put up.
Chima and Natalie are now up in the HOH with Ronnie, and Natalie immediately agrees to vote to evict Russell, but complains that Jessie is not going to be happy with this plan. Natalie immediately runs to grab Jessie, and Natalie is indeed correct. He claims that he’ll support Ronnie if that’s how everybody feels, but he’s not in favor of the plan. “I don’t like missed opportunities”, adds Chima. Jessie points out that even as an enemy Russell is still on their side, while Laura can’t yet be trusted. Chima disagrees, and Ronnie now says he’s “afraid” that he’ll be putting up the wrong person. No, Ronnie, you just refuse to do anything Jessie doesn’t like despite all your babbling about doing the “right strategic thing“.

(Note: It’s interesting how we’re not shown the conversation with Jordan that actually made Ronnie’s decision much easier.)

It’s finally time for the veto ceremony, and Jeff does an admirable job at acting out the “staring at the wall” scene they need as we listen to Russell and him talk about nominations.

Jeff indeed pulls himself down, and Ronnie then gets up to replace him with…Jordan!

Everybody looks shocked, but anybody with live feeds had an idea this was going down. Jordan still goes through with the “I was shocked” diary room speech, and complains about how he’s not to be trusted. Laura is livid because Ronnie always does the exact opposite of what he promises her. “I’m tired of the lies.” Ronnie says Jordan’s on the block only because everybody likes her, and he wants Laura evicted because she’s “smarter than a lot of people give her credit…Jessie was correct. It’s not really time for Russell to leave.” We get it, Ronnie. You love Jessie, who ends the show by saying “it’s time to go home, Laura. Pack your bags”.

Wait, one last line from Ronnie about how quarters were stuck in his butt cheeks. Ewww! Did we really need to hear that?

See you Thursday!