Big Brother 11, Week 9
By Eric Hughes
September 13, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
These distinguishing traits hardly justify Ronnie dubbing her the worst human being he has ever met before the house voted to evict him in week 4, or Natalie this past week saying during the nominations ceremony that making a deal with Michele would be like making a deal with the devil. Burn.
Whatever the case, Michele met her end on Tuesday when Kevin's deciding vote got her kicked out of contention for the $500,000 prize.
And then there were three.
Week 9 at a glance
Head of Household: Natalie
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (pre-veto): Kevin and Michele
Power of Veto winner: Kevin
PoV used on: Kevin
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (post-veto): Jordan and Michele
HouseGuest evicted live on Tuesday: Michele
Who should have been evicted: Michele
HouseGuests remaining: 3 (Jordan, Kevin, Natalie)
I'd choose raining money over awkward boyfriends any day
Pandora's Box returned for the second time in as many weeks. This time it was Natalie who took the bait. Instead of getting locked into a room while money rained on the HouseGuests outside (like in Kevin's case), Natalie was given the opportunity to see her boyfriend in the house – a Big Brother first, by the way.
In their five minutes together, Natalie's boyfriend managed to quickly say hi and then, you know, propose to her. Asking if she would take his hand in marriage, Natalie said, "hell yeah!" – as if rooting for the Steelers on a typical Sunday afternoon. It was uncomfortable.
For 15 extra minutes with her new hubby-to-be, all Natalie had to do was press a button, which she was told would wreak some sort of havoc on the rest of the house. She of course accepted.
Cue the copy cat (a dwarf in feline attire who annoyingly repeated everything anyone said; a fat, adult baby and a woman dressed up as a roach who would spray the HouseGuests with a substance not unlike bug spray. Kevin, Michele and Jordan at first enjoyed the new company, but their spirits quickly deflated after the behavior of their new friends grew stale.
Evil Dick returns to Big Brother
Former Big Brother favorites Mike Boogie (season 2), Danielle (season 3), Janelle (season 6) and Evil Dick (season 8) joined host Julie on stage Thursday to talk about the current season.
Even though it was good to see their faces again – I'm actually only familiar with the latter two – the discussion wasn't as entertaining as BB reps probably would have liked. Julie would ask the typical "who's playing the best game" or "what action in the house proved to the game changer"-type questions, and the former HouseGuests would simply reply.
And that was that.
One interesting thing that can be taken out of the four-person interview, however, is that three out of the four former BB players (save for Danielle, who declined to answer) said they expected Kevin to win. Coming from people who have previously played the game (and who know it so well it's scary), the basically unanimous vote was a shocker to me, considering I've found the final three to be a (mostly) even playing field. More on that in a little later on in the column.
I do give props to Julie, though, for asking the one question I never would have expected to hear come from her mouth. That of Chima's forced eviction in week 6, and whether it was right for the show's producers to give her the ax following Chima's – how best to put it – difficult behavior. (Even the Jackson family would have been like, "ehhhh... she's a little much for us.")
Of the four, Mike Boogie gave Chima the most respect, saying that nobody but those who have played the game know what it's like to live inside the Big Brother house. He said he understands what can cause a HouseGuest to crack and thinks she deserves just a bit more credit than fans and the media have warranted her.
Evil Dick, of course, disagreed.
Meanwhile, back at The Jury House...
Like it does every week, Big Brother gave us just a taste of what's going on inside The Jury House – the spot recently evicted HouseGuests are shipped off to before reuniting with the final two players left in the game for the season finale on Tuesday, September 15th.
The BB producers are such teases. I feel like Will Ferrell in Old School when he reverts back to his glory days as Frank the Tank: "Once it hits the lips... it's so good!" Maybe next season The Jury House will be a separate show. But that's neither here nor there.
Anyhoo... Jessie surprisingly didn't show off any muscle this week. I don't know what's gotten into him. Practically everyone in the house – Jessie, Russell and Lydia – expected Jeff to be joining them. And sure enough, Jeff walked through the door when the moment finally arrived. As if they had just been blasted with those special memory eraser guns in Men in Black, the HouseGuests already in the house failed to remember that Jeff played a huge part in all of their evictions. So instead of poking him with blunt objects, they hugged it out like family catching up at a reunion.
One thing I was not expecting was to find that Jessie and Russell no longer think the best of Natalie. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they vote for the HouseGuest standing next to her on finale night, if in fact, she makes it that far. All this week the HouseGuests who aren't named Natalie have been in fear of taking her to the final two because they figure all her friends in the house will want her to win the $500,000. As it turns out, those in The Jury House may have their allegiances aligned with other players.
Final thoughts
For the first time in Big Brother history, the three-part battle for the final HoH will conclude on finale night. At that time, the HouseGuest deemed as the new HoH will swiftly evict the season's final player and join their final two partner on stage with Julie, The Jury of Six (a decrease from the usual Seven because of Chima's expulsion) and the live audience.
As it stands, Kevin won the first part and Jordan the second. So those two will face off on Tuesday for the HoH, while Natalie sits on the sidelines – with nothing to do but await her fate.
Honestly, Jordan's victory against Natalie for the opportunity to go up against Kevin could not have come at a better time. She, of course, was HoH once before, but only because Jeff threw the competition so that she could win. Her victory on Thursday's competition – in which she and Natalie had to recall who was HoH every week this summer in the Big Brother house – proved that she can play with the big boys and may have a legit shot after all at defeating Kevin on Tuesday.
If that happens, I'm fairly certain America can expel a collective sigh of relief. The at-home audience is so in bed with Jordan it's disgusting. (Myself included). Were Kevin or Natalie to win this thing outright, I imagine audience reaction would be less than stellar.