Big Brother - Season 11, Episode 15 Recap

Welcome to Filler Tuesday! I don’t expect a lot from tonight’s episode, as we’re bound to primarily see footage of movie night, Chima’s dream of a “Girl Alliance”, and lots of speculation as to who has the “mystery power”.

Oh yeah, we’ll also see the ramifications of Chima’s nominations of Russell and Lydia, along with a veto competition supposedly involving chicken costumes, and a veto ceremony. Seriously, though, this will all be pretty anticlimactic material.

So here we go with the reactions to Chima’s nominations. Lydia says that she does believe Chima’s real target is Russell, but “Russell could really lay on the schmoozing to the other house guests and I could be going home.” Russell makes a crack to everybody about how his own team nominated him, and he explains in the diary room how this nomination means his alliance with Chima, Natalie, and Jessie is over.

Chima is in one of the bedrooms, and Natalie and Jessie come in to congratulate her on her nomination speech. “It was so short (but) so good, you know”, says Natalie. “It was classy.’ Like Natalie knows class.

Russell is now out in the kitchen with a clearly depressed Lydia, and he gives her a little pep talk. She says it must really suck for his alliance to turn on him. “I didn’t put any of them up last week”, he says. “I didn’t even consider it. You want to talk about backstabbing.”

Natalie and Jessie are now playing chess when Jeff is called to the diary room. Jessie is convinced Jeff has the “mystery power”, and heads into the HOH to inform Chima his belief. Natalie doesn’t think he’d even use it if he has it, and Chima also thinks he’s overreacting. In the diary room, Jessie is more coherent than usual as he describes how the only safe people are the HOH and POV winner. “That is why I want to play in the POV…you can’t play to win if you don’t get to play at all.” Natalie proclaims that she will be playing if Chima gets to choose, which doesn’t sit well with Jessie. Chima asks her who would be best to play against Russell, and Natalie points to herself. Hmmmm.

Russell is now in the “Have Not” room complaining to Jeff about how he feels betrayed, and that he wants to now be on Jeff’s team. “Give me a chance and I’ll come on your team, and it will be a big fuck you to them. We‘ll pick off every single one of them. I was never, ever at any point going to take out you or Jordan.” Jeff responds that if one of them wins next week, they have to go after them. He agrees to work with Russell, but he has to work with them. In the diary room, Jeff adds that by using the mystery power, he could take out a “big dog” (cut to Jessie and Natalie) and that would change the game.

In the diary room, Russell says that he’s going to “try to mend some fences”, and we see him playing pool with Michelle. She giggles a bit before asking him what he wants from her. He says that Ronnie’s remarks didn’t represent him, and were wrong. It backfires, though, as he brings up the situation with her and Chima. “I can’t stand people who won’t admit when they’re wrong.” She claims that she doesn’t remember things well, despite her PhD. Finally, she storms off in a huff right up to the HOH to report the conversation to Chima and Natalie. “Because I can’t repeat a conversation verbatim, I’m the liar.”

Chima uses the opportunity to bring up her “girl’s alliance” idea, but they’re not to bring in Lydia until Russell is gone. (Funny how that conversation is cut much, much shorter than how it happened.) When Michelle comes back out of the HOH, Russell yells up to her, “what’s up, nutcase?” They go back and forth again, and Russell says in the diary room that she’s a “complete idiot”.

“Ronnie was right on everything. You need medicine.” Again, they go back and forth about lying and needing medication. “You need to start respecting women”, Michelle yells before waling away. “Russell is an expletive”, says Chima in the diary room. “Fill in the blank, America.” (You probably won’t guess what word she actually used the past few days.)

After commercials, it’s time to pick players for the POV competition. Chima pulls out Natalie’s name, which makes her happy. Russell gets “house guest choice”, and upsets Jessie by choosing Jeff. “By picking Jeff, I definitely exposed an alliance with him…and let everybody know that I closed the door on my old alliance.” Lydia also grabs “house guest choice”, and instead of Jessie she chooses Kevin. “I picked Kevin to play because Kevin will use the veto on me if he wins it.” Oh yeah? Chima chooses Michelle to host the competition. Jessie adds in the diary room that Russell’s choice of Jeff means the “end of the road” for their relationship.

They head outside to a backyard full of chickens, hay, eggs, bacon and other farm materials. Yes, they’re all dressed in chicken costumes. They have to pick up eggs and pull them up through a fence, and then carry the egg across a plank. The first player to get 12 eggs into their egg stand wins the veto.

As usual, there’s no reason for a play-by-play of the activities, especially as it’s a pretty tedious game. Kevin does well, Natalie doesn’t. Jeff’s taking his time to figure out the best method. It really comes down between Kevin, Lydia, and Russell, and finally the game ends with Kevin as the victor despite Russell‘s best effort to rattle him! “It is so about time that Kevin finally wins something in Big Brother“ he says. “Go Kevin! Go Kevin!” He says he’d like to use the veto on Lydia, but he really has to think about himself first. Russell is obviously disappointed, and says he has to come up with a new strategy.

After commercials, Kevin and Lydia are celebrating with a silly little dance. “So you’re so good. You’re staying, it’s no question.” Lydia is not real happy to hear that he may not use it on her. “If you were me, what would you do.” He tells her that they need to think long-term, and that Chima does not want her to go home. Kevin says he’s caught because for the first time he may make some enemies.

In the bedroom, Russell is again thinking about working up a new plan. He pulls Jessie into the storage room, and tells him that his only chance to win is if he’s in the final two with him. “Chima’s got control of all the women. Jeff‘s gunning for you.” Wow, selling out his own team. Jessie is non-committal, and complains about how he didn’t choose him for the veto. “I’m still worried about this mystery power.” Too bad they didn’t show Jessie’s reaction after Russell left the storage room (they cut away just a second before he muttered about twice screwing him over).

Now Jessie is in the bathroom with Jeff, telling him that he needs to know that he has people behind him. Jessie asks why Russell would choose him if the he was supposed to be Jessie’s best friend. “Maybe he felt betrayed or something.” Jessie then informs Jeff of the discussion about still banding together to go after Jeff. We hear Jessie talk in the diary room, but I really don’t know what he’s saying except that he doesn’t want to go this week.

Jessie is now in the HOH with Jordan, and informs her of the storage room conversation with Russell. “Jordan and Jeff are a pair”, exclaims Jessie. “If you tell one of them one thing, you have to tell the other the same damned story.” That’s actually pretty smart for Jessie, but the same can be said of him and Natalie. Jordan is sort of buying the story, although she says in the diary room that she doesn’t trust Jessie. “I don’t think he has my best interests. I think he’d throw me under the bus in a heart beat.” Talk moves to the mystery power, and Jordan thinks that Michelle has it (but hopes it’s Jeff).

Of course, she heads right back outside to inform Jeff that “they’re freaking out over the wizard thing”. Jeff points out that Jessie is being nice to her to ensure that Russell leaves. She asks who should be put up next week, and Jeff says that he’d “love to see Natalie against Jessie”. Oh boy!

It’s close to movie time, and Jordan and Chima are complaining about how long Jessie is spending in the shower. Russell complains that she’s a “brave little soldier who thinks she’s braver than they really are.” Uh oh. In the diary room, he complains that she’s a “complete bitch. She’s the most arrogant, self-centered person I’ve ever met.” Chima walks out of the bathroom complaining, and finally after a crack about her applying for America’s Top Model, she yells that he should “have been on America’s Top Terrorist!”

Yeah, you know what happens here. They yell back and forth - Russell yelling about her using racial slurs and her complaining that he “terrorizes everybody in the house”. Michelle sticks up for her, while the rest of the house just looks on. “You’re so mad that a woman is sending you home”, yells Chima, and continues on with the terrorist comments. “Grow a pair, and go home!”

It’s finally product placement time, as the winners (Jessie, Natalie, Russell, Jordan, and Chima) get to see the Jeremy Piven movie. Chima and Russell throw a few barbs at each other before the movie starts, but once it begins they’re all happy and just love it! (Of course they do!)

Afterwards, Russell sits outside with Lydia. She informs him that Kevin isn’t going to use the veto on her. “I guess Kevin thinks Chima is a better friend than I am.” Russell fans it a bit, saying that he’d use the veto on her. Lydia admits in the diary room that Russell has made some good points, and then we see Kevin come out to ask if she indeed informed Russell of that decision. He‘s not happy. “If I wanted Russell and the whole house to know, I would have told them.”

They move into one of the bedroom, and he again complains of her talking about his potential plans. “I’m actually looking out for you in the long run.” He then angrily says that he’ll use it on her, but she’ll end up being fucked. Again, we hear about how Kevin doesn’t want to anger anybody in the house.

It’s finally veto ceremony time. After staring at the wall of pictures, along with babbling from the nominees (and others), Kevin calls everybody into the house. Russell goes first, and just says that he doesn’t expect him to use it on him since Lydia is his friend. Lydia tells him how much she loves him, and that “it would be nice if you used it”. Kevin shatters her dream, though, by saying he’s not going to use it.

Lydia complains that she didn’t like what he said about not being a strain on their relationship. “How couldn’t it? I would have used it on Kevin. It really makes me rethink how I feel about him.” Russell knows his only hope is the mystery power. Jessie complains about the mystery power (again). “Thanks a lot, America.” Jeff ends the show by talking about how he has “free reign” over the house this week. “I’ll choose who I want out of here on Thursday.”

See you on Thursday for what could be the show of the season!