Big Brother - Season 11, Episode 12 Recap

Here we go with another Tuesday episode of Big Brother. Tuesday’s are always very predictable, as we know we’re going to see reactions to the nominations, the veto competition, and the veto ceremony. Oh yeah, and lots and lots of filler. I expect one segment to concern the “mystery power”, and everybody’s theories as to what it means and who has or will win (voting actually ends tonight).

It’s really too bad that the TV deadline for this episode can’t be pushed back a few hours, as once again there was plenty of excitement in the hours after the veto ceremony. Just like the Ronnie fiasco a couple of weeks ago, all of this action will have to be squeezed into one short segment that will open Thursday’s eviction show.

So here we go with the reactions to Russell nominating Ronnie and Lydia. Russell says he put Ronnie up because he “wanted to see where everybody’s loyalties lie, and who they’re going to side with”. Ronnie knows that Russell wants him evicted, but “I do have allies. I’ve risen from a worse scenario than this before, so who knows what the future holds.”

Jeff is happy that Russell held up his end of the bargain, and says that he and Jordan are just going to lay low this week. Lydia, though, is upset because “I used to be in an alliance with Russell. Now Russell has nominated…and I have no idea where I stand at the moment.” She’s seen in her bedroom acting sad, and Kevin comes in to give her a pep talk. (Cue the acoustic guitar.) It doesn’t really work because “no matter who you are up against it doesn’t feel good”.

Ronnie is now seen walking up to the HOH to convince Ronnie to save him. “If I have to cry in order to get some success right now, I have no shame in doing that.” And cry is exactly what he does as he admits to the conversation with Lydia. “I have never gone against you. I have never done anything to even try and damage your game in this house…I want us to keep the team together to get Lydia and Kevin, those stupid floaters, out of this house.” Russell tells him that he made some good point, but in the diary room admits that he knows it’s all fake tears.

Chima now enters the HOH to flirt. She does her usual laughing at her own jokes, but eventually tells him that she thinks Lydia should go home. Russell says that while he does want her gone, he wants Ronnie to leave first. She asks him why she hates him so much, and he gets a bit heated as he complains about all of his lies. “This is your week, and I’ll do what you want”, she finally concedes.

Now we see Natalie whispering to Jessie about how Lydia thinks she’s safe, and how she wants to break them up. In the diary room, Jessie says that he thinks Ronnie is a “stand up guy”, and we cut to him talking about this to Jessie. For some reason, Chima exclaims that the plan she discussed with Russell is to vote Lydia out. “The hell we did!”, he responds. The two of them argue about this for a bit, as Jessie looks bored (and concerned). Natalie explains that while they want Ronnie to stay, they have to work on this “on the DL”. Um, no. Everybody knows that you want him to stay, Natalie…even Jordan.

After a commercial break, we see Michelle and Natalie chatting while playing pool. Natalie thinks that she’s the key to keeping Ronnie, and talks to her about how Lydia has “weekly alliances”. She’s not buying it, and tells her that she doesn’t trust Ronnie. “So far I’ve been laying low,” she says in the diary room, “but this week I have to calculate where my safety is.”

Jessie enters the pool table area, and Michelle asks him about the situation. Jessie confirms that she’s the deciding vote, and Michelle complains that it’s too hard to be in the middle.

We move on to the choosing of the players for the veto competition. Ronnie says his worst case scenario would be Kevin, Jordan, or Jeff, as none of them would use the veto to save him. Lydia says that she’d like to see Kevin’s name because he’s her “sugar bear”. Ugh. Russell picks Michelle’s name, which doesn’t please Natalie. Ronnie pulls out Jessie, while Lydia does indeed get Kevin. Russell picks Chima to be the host.

Immediately, we cut to the competition, and there’s a bunch of Roman statues, including a live male model who Kevin wants to “touchicus”. The players get five minutes to study everything in the backyard, and Kevin says he immediately knows that it’s a counting contest. It is funny, though, when Ronnie sticks his head into a box of rats.

After they all talk about the best case scenarios, the contest begins. They have to guess a number value for each question, and then after seeing everybody’s guess they can decide to stay or fold (there’s a variation of this game every year). The first question is how many jewels are on the emperor’s chariot, and everybody but Jessie folds. Funny thing is that Kevin was only a point off from the correct answer. Ronnie’s obviously happy with this result.

For the second round, they have to guess the number of arrows in a shield. Russell, Jessie, and Kevin stay in this round (after we hear Ronnie’s strategy of folding in every round), and the winner this time is Russell. Kevin is out because he was farthest from the correct answer - Lydia is bummed.

In the next round, they have to guess the number of grapes. Russell, Lydia, and Jessie stay, and Russell again wins a point. “Get ready to pack your bags, boy”, he snarls at Ronnie. Lydia is now eliminated, and she hopes that she can trust Russell.

Next up is the number of belt marks of the gladiator, and Michelle is the only one to stay in this round. “Let’s see how many marks were on the hot guy’s belt”, Chima says, and it turns out that Jessie would have won that round.

The rat cage is up next, and Michelle says she went with a “way lowball number to throw everybody off”. When Ronnie guesses 125 rats, Russell asks if he included himself. Zing!!! Michelle is the only one to stay in, and this time Ronnie would have won. Michelle and Russell are now tied with two votes, and she brags that she’s much smarter than Ronnie.

Now they have to guess the number of feathers on a helmet, and Michelle and Jessie are the only two to stay. Jessie says the only reason he stayed was because he was tired of Michelle getting “free points”, but Michelle is closest and wins the POV! She claims that she now has more power than the HOH, and I guess she’s right. Lydia is still worried that Ronnie will get into people’s heads, and he says that “everybody has a price” and will find out what Michelle’s price is to use the veto on him. Good luck with that.

Sure enough, after a commercial break Ronnie begins working on a clearly disinterested Michelle. “I’m not above begging”, he says. “I don’t know what I can do, but I swear I’ve been nothing but honest with you”. Oh Lord.

Later that night, Michelle comes out and asks Russell to go inside to talk. Chima shakes her head as they walk away, and Natalie says that she thinks Michelle is “shady”. Inside the HOH, Russell talks about how he doesn’t have “anyone as a team, and I think you’re in the same boat”. She says she wants to be on his team. “If you’re down, I don’t think anybody would know.” Meanwhile, Jessie and Natalie make their way to the HOH, and invites them to play chess. Russell complains that the two of them are always keeping tabs on him. “(Natalie) can’t win anything. She’s skated around on the back of me and Jessie”. While this is going on, Natalie is trying to get Jessie to go back into the HOH, and Jessie says he’s worried that they may use the veto to put him up.

Now Natalie is outside with Ronnie, telling him that Michelle won’t be using the veto on him. “Your only hope is to possibly convince her.” He says he has tried “compassionately and very politely”, but now is the time for him to be more forceful. Ronnie says that Kevin and Lydia have no allegience to anybody, and that if he leaves the house Jessie and Natalie blame her for his eviction. “You will be evicted if I leave that door, and you will not make it to the final two.”

After commercials, Ronnie, Chima, Natalie and Kevin are laughing in the kitchen as Russell walks in. “Schemers”, says Russell, and Chima’s smile immediately disappears. They sarcastically banter back and forth for a bit, and Chima says that Lydia is his “girlfriend…actually, no, it’s Michelle that’s your girlfriend”. Kevin says he had a good conversation with Michelle the previous night, and Chima adds “so did Russell”. It’s a bit uncomfortable for the others, and Russell says in the diary room that she’s “become the possessive girlfriend that I’ve always dreaded”.

Russell heads outside, and immediately tells Jeff the entire conversation, including a line about how Chima should become a comedian. “I should have put her ass up instead of (Ronnie).”

Natalie is then seen heading upstairs to talk to Jessie in the HOH, and is followed by Chima. Jessie then relays the story as he heard it, and Chima says Russell just doesn’t like hearing the truth. Now, we jump to Chima talking to Ronnie, and he explains that it would not be surprising if the veto is used on Lydia to get Jessie or Natalie on the block. “She’s book smart, but she has no common sense”, he complains. Russell again overheard Ronnie talk about him - this time it’s that he’s “not as smart as he thinks he is”. This time, Russell walks in to let them know he heard everything. Oh Ronnie, your big mouth is really the end of you.

Natalie comes in to inform them what they already know, but Chima plays innocent and claims that Russell is just paranoid. Jessie also comes in and apologizes for Ronnie for failing at saving him, but Chima is throwing a big target on herself by carrying on. She continues to babble, though, as Russell heads upstairs, and he says in the diary room there’s no reason for him to keep her. (Nice edit to give us some doubt as to what will happen in the final segment.)

It’s finally time for the veto ceremony, and as usual we all hear the usual blabber on what Michelle should do. Michelle finally calls everybody in, and Ronnie is given the first opportunity to “lie…I mean speak”. Good one, Michelle. His speech is very underwhelming, as is Lydia’s. Of course, Michelle doesn’t use the veto, although she words it in a way to make it sound like she is going to use it.

Michelle babbles that she hopes she’s now on the winning team, and Russell says he considers he a “new ally”. Lydia doesn’t feel confident, and hopes that Ronnie doesn’t have the “mystery power”. Ronnie claims that he’s meaner when times get tough, and that he has some moves that nobody has seen yet. Yeah, right.

See you Thursday!!!