Big Brother recap: Cliff follows up his bold move with a dumb one
“It’s about time that someone made a big move,” says Cliff at the top of this episode, and he’s damn right. This season of Big Brother has been a slog of mediocre gameplay from the Gr8ful alliance and everyone else in the house, so Cliff’s potentially game-changing nomination ceremony on Sunday was more than welcome.
With Michie and Jack on the block, Gr8ful is trying to figure out what comes next. Tommy is an emotional mess, crying on Jack’s shoulder, and Christie is going around the house once again thinking out loud about her Diamond Veto power. She knows Michie will want her to use it, but she also knows that one of Gr8ful isn’t guaranteed to win the veto competition. That means she might hold on to the power until it can really benefit her game. The main takeaway is this though: Christie loves talking about this power.
I also love that at the top of this episode Michie is so mad. He does that petulant child thing where he gets all macho and tough when he doesn’t get what he wants. “If he wants the smoke, we’ll bring the smoke,” he says to Jack in regards to Cliff. He’s so serious and angry, and all because Cliff isn’t allowing himself to be manipulated anymore…at least for now.
Cliff has some new buddies anyways. Nick and Bella are both fully on his side now that he’s positioned himself against Gr8ful. The thing is, they really need to win the veto competition in order to get something done and get Jack or Michie out of the house. The looming Diamond Veto could be used, and Cliff isn’t sure they’d have the votes to get rid of whoever was left out of Jack and Michie.
That brings us to the competition. After Cliff picks some “have nots” for the week — Tommy, Kathryn, Christie, and Michie have to spend the week taking cold showers, eating slop, and sleeping in Camp Comeback — everyone assembles for the veto draw. Gr8ful wants as many players in the competition as possible. So, when Jack, Michie, Cliff, Sam, Holly, and Jessica all enter, Jack decides it’s time to use his Chaos Power and ask for a redraw. That leads to Sam, Kathryn, and Analyse getting chosen. In other words, nothing much changes. It’s not a terribly useful power, to be honest.
Sure enough, it’s Michie who gets it done. Jack and Sam are terrible at the competition, and Kathryn comes the closest to winning, but it’s Michie who manages to save himself, and potentially Gr8ful. But, because Christie told everyone about her power, suddenly the entire house is looking at her and wondering what she’ll do. Part of me really loves Christie because she’s quick to realize that Michie is being his usual domineering self and essentially bullying her into using her power. Another part of me thinks she’s a dummy for telling everyone about her power in the first place, and so she deserves whatever comes her way.
As it turns out, Christie has another play. She goes to Cliff and says that if he puts up Bella in Michie’s place after he uses the veto, she’ll be sure never to put him up for eviction. And guess what? Cliff agrees! The man who finally made a bold move simply goes back on it all. He abandons the trust he earned with Nick and Bella, allows Christie to keep her power, and gives Michie and Jack a free pass (presumably; things can still change, but I don’t think it’s likely) for the next week. My God, what a truly stupid move. Cliff had just shifted the game in his favor for the first time, and now he’s back to being a Gr8ful bootlicker, just happy to be here until he’s voted out. What an immensely frustrating way to end the episode.
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