JuryDuty

If someone watching the live feeds can post who wins HoH after this endurance comp, it'd be much appreciated. I hate it when they end the show without us knowing! :P

dolphinboy

James won HOH.

Shelli was still in it and she made a deal to jump if James promised to not target her or Clay. James agreed.

I know Shelli is hugely unpopular and that no promises mean much, but when deals like this are struck on this show or even Survivor, it's sort of the only time I really expect that people should keep their word.

SkullOrchard

If James doesn't put up Vanessa and Shelli he's a complete idiot.

James going back on his word to keep Shelli/Clay safe this week would just be icing on the cake.

I'm so glad there will be no more BOTB this season.

leeta

I really hope he puts up Shelley and Vanessa together. That way, he'd at least get one of them out. Promises aside, his group has been lied to repeatedly and this is James' chance to take out a major power player and demoralize the other side.

I was hoping Jason would win this year, but would be ok with JMac or anyone on the "nice" side except for Steve.

AaronHernandez

To me he would be better off putting up 1 of Clelli and 1 of Liz/Austin .

It would force Vanessa to take a side and it would seriously get the sixth sense to turn on each other. Vanessa is probably the 1 sixth senser safe this week no matter what.

mwbmis

After James talked to Steve late last night he pretty much decided to put up Clay/Shelli on the block to start. That way at least one of them is guaranteed to be on the block at the end of the week.

Julia did a lot of damage control for her sister last night so that has helped Liz and Austin's place in the house as of now. Meg was telling James in HOH how she thinks that they might be able to work with Liz/Austin and especially Julia.

JuryDuty

Thx! Glad to hear it was someone on the "other side," as now we're guaranteed a bit of an interesting week.

Though I do hope Vanessa doesn't go home. She's the most interesting player there, strategy-wise.

AaronHernandez

Production must be loving this. Twinnes and Johnny Mac are kind of golden right now and probably all will make it late in the season. Looks like we actually may get a rig free season

leeta

Clay is pulling a Colby. He says if he wins veto, he will take Shelli off the block. Crazy.....

DWilson

I was a little concerned when I heard James made a deal to keep Clay and Shelli safe that hje wouldn't do "the right thing". However, both Clay and Shelli are nominated and now there's a lot of scrambling to push "replacement nominees, -in particular Becky . Hopefully, no one will win that will change the noms. I also hope with the twins together in the house, they'll successfully cock-block Austin and drive him crazy.

mwbmis

Well, last night Julia "made" Liz sleep in the same bed as Austin. She slept with Becky.

Strapped4Cash

Not liking this at all. I don't like Clay, Shelli, Vanessa, but they're the only ones for sure playing the game and who know wtf is going on. Probably John too, and maybe to a lesser extent Becky & Steve. James, Meg and Jackie, while seemingly nice people, are idiots. Austin is a piece of trash who continues to sink lower in my opinion every day.

It was to save Austin that Vanessa went insane last week and took Jason out, so James should be going after her & Austin, but instead Shelli & Clay are taking the hit. Austin could be at least be trying to find some way to help them, but in private convos with Liz says that they don't need them. Really? WTH has Austin ever done?

So James could have kept his word and gone after the people who actually had a hand in getting Jason out (Vanessa & Austin), or tried to form a new alliance that'll keep him safe past this week, instead his side is buddying up to Austin and the twins, which just shows how clueless he is in both game play and revenge.

But I'm expecting production to rig things to try to get at least one of Clay/Shellie the veto and/or work whoever does get it hard to take one of them off. By then the people who know wtf they're doing may come up with a pawn to keep the other half of that duo safe.

AaronHernandez

Ummmm what Becky runs all info she gets back to Clelli as she pretty much rated out James,Meg,Jackie alliance to them. Steve pretty much is Vanessa's pocket ally and Johnny Mac trust Clelli a lot and outside of Steve always has the least idea of what is going on in the house.

Strapped4Cash

I agree that's what they're doing, but not that they have little or no idea what's going on. Some players are like that, but others know everything, but still keep their heads down and float. It's hard for viewers to tell, especially as Steve, Becky and John hardly ever have real game convos.

Clay & Shelli were loyal to Becky last week, and have been before, and they might get out of this still and she and John could make a strong alliance with them. One of them will be staying for sure, and she might still want the alliance with the 1 remaining. Steve's been in Vanessa's pocket, but it's helped to keep him safe, especially with his strategy of not winning ever. And even with people suspicious of him, he's still heard a lot of stuff to pass on to her, and Clay & Shelli too sometimes.

Those aren't the games that a lot of viewers admire, but they're valid, and those players sometimes know a lot more than we can tell.

mwbmis

Clay and Shelli were trying to be in every alliance in the house. They got caught. When Vanessa put up Jason last week she made sure that it was known that it wasn't just her doing it. Clay and Shelli tried to play it off like they didn't know anything about it, and, again, they got caught. They've earned this nomination.

Also, Julia's entry into the game has changed how others view Austin and Liz. You would think it would put a bigger target on them, but in reality she's made it much more social and diffused their target. That won't last forever, of course, especially since Julia hates Austin, but that is where they are now.

SkullOrchard

James won POV.

Vanessa has to be shackled to Jackie for 24 hrs.

Clay won trip to Ireland.

Becky won 5k.

Strapped4Cash

Respectfully, I hugely disagree with you. I feel like Vanessa was the one trying "to be in every alliance in the house".

Clay & Shelli were close to many people, like Meg, James, Jason, but didn't go so far as making an alliance with them until Vanessa decided that Austin needed to go because he'd lied to her. I feel like she brought them along into Dark Moon, but then she flipped again, but didn't bother to confer with Clay & Shelli so that they could all get their stories straight. Vanessa then said it was a "house" decision, but didn't want to get most of her other allies in trouble, like Julia or Steve and didn't bother to try to blame John or Becky, but just instead vaguely shrugged while making it clear that Shelli & Clay were in on it. I don't think they were ready for that, and so did handle it poorly.

They definitely were part of it, but imo not the only ones, or the ones who actually made the call. They didn't just get "caught", they're seemingly taking the entire blame, while only having like 20-30% of the responsibility.

mwbmis

Jason, James, and Meg trusted Clay and Shelli so they felt more betrayed by them. It was pretty clear that Clay and Shelli were up to their eyeballs in the decision to save Austin and put Jason on the block, which is true. And then they denied it.

The "other side" didn't blame Austin or Liz b/c Austin is just trying to save himself. Becky, Steve, and John are basically strategic non-entities at this moment, and Julia had nothing to do with it b/c she wasn't even in the house for six days. That leaves Clay, Shelli, and Vanessa, and while Vanessa pulled the trigger on the move, it was clearly a group decision. Only two of those three people are a pair.

James and Steve had a conversation early Friday morning touching on pairs in the game and how to nominate them. Ironically, I think if James truly does want Shelli to go home, which has been his stated intent, then his best bet is to save Clay with the veto and nominate Vanessa. That will secure the votes for Shelli to leave.

SkullOrchard

James should have put both Shelli and Vanessa on the block.

Vanessa has blown so much smoke up James' ass that he actually believes that he and Vanessa are some sort of straight-shooting kindred spirits/soul mates.

mwbmis

Maybe so, but James wanted Shelli or Clay to go home, and the best to ensure that was to nominate both of them. That way they couldn't both be saved by veto.

Strapped4Cash

I'd say they had some part of it, but 100% awareness isn't the same as their being the ones pushing for it. Generally though, I agree with what you're saying here. Clay & Shelli were aware of it, and supported Vanessa enough to agree with her her to go after Jason, and then denied it poorly. Jason and his people were pissed, and they're now coming from a very emotional place.

What Austin was doing was understandable, but that doesn't make him any less responsible. They can understand it sure, but if not for him swaying Vanessa then he'd be gone and Jason would have still been there. Becky, Steve, and John may be non-entities as far as they know, but that doesn't mean that's the case, or that Vanessa should have omitted them if she was really trying to claim it was a house decision. She should have known she, Clay & Shelli would get all the blame, and at least tried to spin it so there were other targets too. James doesn't talk game with most of the rest, if he was told that Steve or John was a mastermind then how would he know any differently?

Probably, though I'd prefer it if nominated Vanessa and went the other way, switching the target to her. Tell Shelli & Clay it was their last chance and that they would need to be loyal from then on. Very likely it won't happen, but Vanessa's the glue helping hold 6th Sense and Steve together, and taking her out and picking up Clay & Shelli would be the best thing for his game going forward. Probably too late, but that's something I would have liked to see tried before the nominations.

I agree. Vanessa helps hold a lot of people together. If he played it right I think James might have even gotten Clay & Shelli to flip to him, and vote out Vanessa and then Austin, twins, floaters, etc. Almost impossible to do it now, and I can't see his game surviving going forward (unless he turns into a competition beast).

mwbmis

I don't think there was a good move for James this week. No matter what he does if any number of people win HOH next week he is target number one. If he had put up Steve and Basic Becky, he or Jackie would probably still be target number one. He only has two true allies, and Shelli and Clay were never going to want to work with either him or Jackie (Meg might slide a while). They chose a side last week when they evicted Jason.

The best he could do was pull the trigger on a big player against him, and that was Clay, Shelli, or Vanessa. Right or wrong, he targeted Shelli.

Strapped4Cash

I really can't disagree with you here. He might have tried to shore up some support with John, Becky, Steve, though I don't think that it would have really worked past this week, or maybe next.

I think that the best move he might have tried was to make a case to Clay & Shelli, try to win them over one last time, and then put up Vanessa & Austin (who was never going to align with him). Blame them for Jason, and tell Shelli & Clay that he doesn't know why they were any part of Jason going, but here was a last chance to try to trust them, and he was dealing from a position of strength. It might have had some effect, but more importantly, he was only ever going to get one strong player out this week. If choosing between one that'll never be on your side (Austin) and two that there's a chance with, then I'd say try to make the most of that chance, even if it's a long shot and sucks personally.

SkullOrchard

Drunk Meg dry humping Clay while Shelli was in DR was pretty awesome.

mwbmis

I think targeting Vanessa probably would have been the best move for James, but he doesn't have the benefit of the live feeds so he doesn't get to see what's going on in the rest of the house. He probably viewed her as more trustworthy. Also, even if he did put her up, actually getting her voted out is a whole other thing. I think the only possible way you could do it would be to have her on the block against Liz, and even that only guarantees you four votes.

I think putting Austin on the block would have been doing them a favor. No one would care if he left.