Previously on BB

..the Clique Twist ended and Russell won the HOH...Russell and Jeff talked alliance...Lydia talked trash about Jessie/Natalie while trying to stay off the block...Jessie/Natalie and Chima return the favor and talk trash about Lydia...Ronnie tried to make a deal with Russell but at the nomination ceremony Russell nominated Lydia and Ronnie..who will win the Power of Veto and will it be used to save Ronnie or Lydia? It all happens NOW on BigBrother

(cue the NeverEnding BB Theme Song that Never End - now with 20% more fuzztone guitar)

We begin tonight's proceedings with BB B&W FlashBack-O-Vison from the nomination ceremony. Russell called Ronnie the snake and coined a new nickname for himself - the Mongoose.

In Post-Eviction DRs, Russell says he put up Ronnie to test everyone's loyalty. Ronnie says Russell wants him out of the house this week but Ronnie has allies and has risen from worse scenarios before only to survive? I guess this refers to some WoW thing since he hasn't been up for eviction before. Jeff says he and Jordan will continue to lay low this week. Lydia says she used to be in an alliance with Russell but now she is on the block and has no idea where she stands with everyone. She makes no reference her normal response in these situations - rushing to Jessie, talking in a baby voice, and performing a ritualized handjob. This time, though, she just rushes back to the (Ron) Burgundy bedroom to pout to Who'sKevin.

"I really hope I stay," she sadly says to Who'sKevin. Who'sKevin says she will stay. He says that if he wins POV...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (sorry, I had to laught at the idea Who'sKevin was going to win a comp.)

... then he will use it to pull her off the block. Who'sKevin said she has to feel better than the first time she went up - this time she is on the block with the widely hated Rat. Lydia says it doesn't matter who you go up on the block against, you never feel good.

And so the sun set's on another day in the Big Brother house only to rise again and as surely as the sun rises Ronnie seeks out every opportunity to talk game so we see Ronnie ramble up to the HoH room in an effort to plead for his BB life with Russell.

"If I can convince Russell to keep me, I will be staying alive this week," Ronnie believes. Why he thinks Russell, who has no vote is the key I'm not sure but in any case it's to Russell he goes to campaign. Ronnie further states that if he has to cry to get some success with Russell, then he will cry because he has no shame when it comes to that. That wasn't an editorial comment either, that's exactly what Ronnie said. Sure enough, the Rat turns on the fake waterworks while begging to Russell. He cries he should never have gone talked to Lydia and understands why Russell took the conversation as a slap in Russell's face. Ronnie says he has never done anything intentionally against Russell and will never do anything to intentionally to hurt Russell. The bullshit gets so deep I begin to think Ronnie might promise his first born to Russell. The Rat would do anything in the house stay in the house. He will do anything and put up anyone Russell decrees. I wait to hear Ronnie offer to fly to San Francisco every week to wash Russell's car for perpetuity. Russell acts nice to Ronnie's face but in DR says he has no trust or confidence in anything Ronnie. He knows Ronnie was putting on an act, and not a very good act at that.

So night falls on the BB house and Chima saunters up to the HoH door. Chima thinks Russell is a tough guy - very masculine and hot. They lay on the bed together and chat. Well, by chat I mean that Russell says something, Chima responds, and extra-pleased with her response Chima cackles the Chima Cackle of Irritation +11. Russ wants to know what the house is thinking and Chima tells him she thinks Lydia should go. Russ says he wants Ronnie gone. Chima starts arguing with Russell and starts demanding to know why he wants Ronnie gone. Russell gets heated, a bit, and says that he wants Lydia gone too but he can't trust Ronnie and wants him gone this week. On top of that, he can count votes and he will know who doesn't vote in support of him this week. Chima, in the end, says it's his week and she'll vote how he wants.

So, down to the (not) the spa room which really should be renamed the "Incident Room" since it seems to be THE location of choice where ever deceitful story occurs. Natalie, talking to Jessie (like who else could it be?) is upset that Lydia feels safe - because it's not enough to nominate someone but whoever is on the block should be in constant fear and terror in Natalie's mind. I can't wait until she goes up. Anyway, Natalie also hates Lydia because she is trying to break up her relationship with Jessie but she realizes nothing can be done until after POV.

Back to the HOH room we go, Jessie/Natalie and Chima have gone to talk to Russell. Before we see the discussion in the room, we are shown Jessie in DR, saying he likes Ronnie and thinks Ronnie is a stand up guy with Jessie's best interests in mind. I wonder if Pinhead really thinks this or if he really is so deluded he believes other people actually have his best interest in mind with their own game play? In any case, Jessie goes on to say what's closer to the truth - Ronnie can win things so he is an asset while Lydia can't win things so she isn't. On top of that, Jessie thinks Ronnie will feel indebted to him for not putting him last week while Lydia doesn't feel indebted to Jessie.

After the DR interlude, we get back to the HOH room. Chima, Natalie, and Jessie put the hard sell on Russell to focus on Lydia this week instead of Ronnie. Russell wants nothing to do with it. They keep pushing and pushing while Russell becomes more and more heated. Natalie, in a DR, says they want Ronnie to stay but given Russell's hard line they have to be on the downlow about trying to save Ronnie. Russell, in his DR, says Natalie and Jessie are scared and and under pressure without Ronnie they fall down to the bottom of the pecking order.

[commercial]

Back from the commercial, we are at the pool table where Natalie is campaigning to keep Ronnie to Michele. Natalie says Lydia has weekly alliances and throws everyone under the bus. She pushes on what Michele's position is and Michele, haltingly, says she doesn't want Ronnie in the house.

Cut to DR with Michele, who says she has been laying low in the house up until now but this week the house is split down the middle and she is on the line - and she needs to figure out where her safety lies.

We go back to the pool table where Jessie has joined the discussion and says if they are going to do anything to save Ronnie it comes down to Michele. Jessie, in a DR session, says Michele is a floater and no one knows where her head is at so it comes down to whether Ronnie has a friend in Michele. If not, then it "doesn't look good for the old Chap"
Jessie must be a 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' fan - it's about the right intellectual speed for him.

A new day dawns on the BB house and out from the DR comes Russell announcing it's time to pick players for the veto comp. Lydia hopes that Who'sKevin gets selected - since Who'sKevin is her Sugar Bear. Sugar Bear? Ronnie doesn't want to see Kevin, Jordan, or Jeff get selected. I guess Ronnie's Sugar Bear is Jessie. Michele is selected first. Followed by Jessie and then Who'sKevin aka Sugar Bear. Russell chooses Chima for the host of the competition.

It's Veto time and today's Power of Veto contest is called 'Vini Vidi Veto'. There ought to be a joke in there with "I came, I saw, I won/got Veto" involving Lydia and Jessie but I just can't seem to put it together.

In any case, the Veto comp involved counting/estimating the number of items that were displayed on statues and other set pieces, including live models. There were "jewels" on a chariot, arrows in a shield, grapes in a bunch, rivets/marks in a belt, feathers in a helmet, and rat's in the "Roman Underground". Each participant had five minutes to look over all the items.
Once the five minutes were up, they game began. Chima would ask each player to write down the number of how many of the items in question were displayed. Each player has to show their number. Then each player had to decide to stay in the round or pass. If they choose to pass, the were out of the round but not out of the game. If they choose to stay, they were eligible to win if their number was the nearest to the actual number. If they choose stay and were the furthest away from the actual number, they were eliminated from the game entirely. The person who won three rounds would win the contest. God, that seems convoluted to write out but it wasn't actually that complicated.

Before we get to see the contests, we get to see DRs from Who'sKevin and Ronnie. Who'sKevin says it's really important for him to do well to save himself and Lydia. Ronnie wants to win or have Jessie win because he thinks Jessie would use it on him. Ronnie's worst case scenario was Who'sKevin winning which would result in someone else from his alliance going up beside Ronnie.

The contest starts. Ronnie's strategy is to just keep folding. Michele starts out throwing out really wacky numbers so people don't think she knows what she is doing. The rest are just going straight at it. Round one, Jewels in the chariot, everyone folds except for Jessie who does a muscle man pose in celebration. In round two, arrows in a shield, Russell wins while Kevin is eliminated. In round three, grapes on a platter, Russell wins, and tosses out a taunt to Ronnie to pack his bags, while Lydia is eliminated. In round four, rivets on a belt, Michele wins when everyone else folds. In round five, rats in the underworld, Michele decides to guess a goofy number since everyone knows that she works with Rats so she lowballs the number. Russell taunts Ronnie again, after Ronnie reveals his guess, by asking Ronnie if he included himself in the count of rats in the underworld. In the end, everyone except Michele folds so Michele wins the round with a bluff. The score is 2 for Michele and Russell, 1 for Jessie, and 0 for Ronnie.

We get some more DR session at this point in which Ronnie admits Michele bluffed him and he ended up second guessing himself on the rat question when he should have known better. Michele says Ronnie goes around the house talking about how smart he is but she's the one with a PhD so she thinks she's smarter.

Back to the contest, we got to round six, feathers in a helmet. Russell folds to protect his two points and Ronnie folds because that's his strategy. Jessie stayed because he was sick of seeing Michele pick up empty points. Michele stays as well. Michele's pick was nearest the total number of feathers so she wins the POV. Celebration ensues and Michele proclaims she's won POV for two weeks in a row and she is the deciding vote in the house this week so she has all the power this week. Lydia just hopes everyone keeps with the plan to vote out Ronnie. Ronnie says that even though he didn't win the POV, he still has a chance because everyone has a price and he is going to find out Michele's price to use the veto on Ronnie.

Michele is the Power of Veto winner for Week 4.

[commercial]

Everyone is coming back inside from the Veto comp. People are congratulating Michele, including Ronnie back in the SplishSplash. Michele thinks it's awesome she has the power to save or send Ronnie home. Ronnie let's Michele know he isn't above begging for her to use the veto on him. He swears he's been honest since "all this." Which is pretty ambiguous but, in any case, he continues if Michele wants to be one of the five she will use the POV on Ronnie and she is in. Michele answers, "OK" and walks out of the room.

Later that night, Russell and Michele go to hang out in the HOH room while Chima, Natalie, and Jessie watch in sort of a befuddlement. Natalie, showcasing the psychological term "transference", says Michele is very shady in this game and is playing all sides so she's scared. And, as we go upstairs to the HOH, it seems Natalie has reason to be concerned as Russell and Michele bond and discuss how neither has a partner or team right now. They seem to agree to team up - which is suspiciously similar to Russell's previously stated desire to team up with Jeff. Jessie and Natalie saunter up to "play chess", i.e. keep tabs on what's going on with Michele and Russell. Jessie tries to barge into the conversation but is dismissed as Michele and Russell continue to bond and express mutual admiration. Jessie and Natalie go downstairs to the bathroom and collectively shit bricks about Michele and Russell talking. Russell, in a DR, says that he thinks Michele is smart but he needs to keep an eye on her to make sure that she doesn't use the veto. In the Bathroom again, Jessie continues to freak out wondering what Michele and Russell could be talking about since neither one is that interesting. Wow, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. Oh wait, in Jessie-eese that would be isn't that the kettle calling the kettles cast iron.

Later that night, Natlie talks to Ronnie out by the GoatFuckerJerry Memorial Washer/Dryer. She tells Ronnie that things aren't looking good and Ronnie has to convince Michele to vote for him. Offer her anything you have to, Natalie admonishes Ronnie. Ronnie, in a DR, says he tried to convince Michele honestly and compassionately (honestly and compassionately? Ronnie really believes his own bullshit, doesn't he?) but now it was time to use something more forceful. We then see Ronnie threaten Michele with the wrath of his alliance. Jessie, Natalie, and Chima will come after Michele and Michele has no one watching her back. Ronnie then pronounces that Michele WILL be evicted and won't make final two if Ronnie is evicted this week.

[commercial]

Back from the commercial, Russell comes into the kitchen where Chima is busy cackling it up with Ronnie. Russell calls Chima and Ronnie schemers. Chima throws it back in Russell's face saying "schemers" is his catch phrase and she is going to have a shirt made with "schemers" on it. Russell says he is going to have a shirt made with "tecnotronics" on it. Chima again agitates Russell by saying Russell and "tecnotronics" are now best friends. Russell throws back at Chima that Lydia is her best friend. Chima counters, no, Lydia is Russell's girlfriend. Then she says, actually, no Michele is Russell's new girlfriend. Who'sKevin (who I didn't realize was even in the kitchen until this moment) then says he had a good convo with Michele the previous evening in which he got to know her better. Chima chimes in that Russell had a good conversation with Michele last night, too. Russell, ever more agitated, asks her what she said and Chima answers he heard, she said Russell had a good conversation with Michele last night. Russell says she ought to quit her day job and become a comedian and she's just jealous.

Russell heads outside to bitch about Chima to Jessie and Jeff. Russell rehashes the story and says that Chima is wearing on his last nerve and he should have put her up instead of Ronnie. Jessie freaks out a little at this. Jessie and Chima later catch-up with Chima wanting to know what's going on? Jessie plays it off he doesn't understand what's going on with Russell while Chima is saying Russell is the one acting funny. Jessie warns this can end up leading to something.

We get the SplishSplash room next where Ronnie and Chima are talking alone. Chima says Russell is acting funny. Ronnie says that he wouldn't be surprised if Russell has convinced Michele to use the veto on Lydia to put up Chima. Ronnie states Michele is "touched" and stupid. Ronnie says Michele has a bunch of book smarts but nothing else. As opposed to Ronnie who has the truly valuable expert knowledge of TV reality shows, I suppose. In any case, Ronnie says that Russell and Michele are teamed up together as a one-two punch - a TKO (hey, that would make a good alliance name). Ronnie further pontificates that Russell isn't as smart as he thinks is his while Chima agrees. Of course, what the two self-anointed Einsteins don't realize, despite all their superior intellect, is Russell has been listening outside the door. Which, by the way, is the second time Ronnie the Genius has been caught talking in the SplishSplash by someone listening outside the door - not exactly mastermind behavior. Anyway, Russell, in full creepy rage enters the door, stares at them like a maniac for a few seconds, and then leaves.

Natalie and Jessie begin to freak out. Natalie tells them Russell heard all they have been saying. Ronnie, in this case amazingly right for a change, says he doesn't care since Russell doesn't have any more power. Natalie says she knows Ronnie doesn't care because he is going home (ouch!) but, pointing at Chima, she's not. Chima protests that Russell always thinks he's heard something (again, true) and she isn't leaving the room because she can talk to Ronnie if she wants to talk to Ronnie and that Russell is a paranoid (fuck) who always thinks everyone is scheming while he is the one who is scheming and lying. Jessie barges in and says Chima needs to leave so she won't go down with the sinking ship that is Ronnie.

[commercial]

It's POV Ceremony time and we get the standard POV boilerplate. Michele talks about how she's caught in the middle this week and it's tricky to try and stay on everyone's good side. Ronnie says he knows Michele heard his arguments this week but there is no way of knowing what alliances she may have made this week. Jessie is worried because he can't read Michele. Chima is worried because she hasn't been getting along with Russell and Russell is "puppeting" Michele so she could end up going up.

Michele makes the standard POV speech to begin and then calls on Ronnie so he can have his opportunity to lie to her. Yeah, she went there and it was kinda funny. Neither nominee is into the the act very much and don't really make speeches since they don't expect Michele to use the Veto. Michele then says she has decided to use the Power of Veto on........................ no one.

In the post-veto DRs, Michele says that the line in the sand has been drawn and she is standing on one side with her alliance, hoping she's picked the winning team. Russell agrees the battle lines have been drawn and thinks he has a new ally in Michele. Lydia doesn't feel like she has a guarantee of safety and is worried Ronnie might have the mystery power. Ronnie says he isn't beaten and he isn't giving up. He has a few more moves that the house hasn't seen yet and hopes to have a chance to play them.

And that's it....