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Oh how the waters have calmed now that Jessie, Chima and Lydia have exited the premises.

Save for a pissed off Russell screaming at Jeff and Jordan at one point, this week's crop of episodes very much felt like Big Brother: The Brady Bunch Edition. The baddies, the loudmouths, the attention whores... they've all been wiped out.

Oh how that peeves a Big Brother loyalist. Let me explain.

There's an interesting case of Catch-22 that operates within the Big Brother game – or, really, most trashy reality TV programs. You develop your favorites over the course of a few weeks and hope to god they'll band together to take down the side of the house that aligns itself with evil. For seemingly the first time, it actually happened this year. All those players you can hardly stand – the intimidators, the backstabbers, the fightaholics – have been evicted. What we are left with are contestants who are more deserving of guest starring on Teletubbies than they are on a show that feeds on verbal bitch slaps and nothing fights.

(Perhaps there's a touch of exaggeration in that last sentence. But you get the idea).

The problem, of course, in leaving behind only the Jeffs, Jordans and Micheles of the house is a noticeable lack of drama among the remaining HouseGuests. Having for so long yearned for Chima's eviction or Lydia's eviction, I find myself wanting them back in the house!

Oh what a Catch-22 indeed.

And now for the recap...

Week 7 at a glance

Head of Household: Jeff
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (pre-veto): Kevin and Natalie
Power of Veto winner: Jeff
PoV used on: Kevin
HouseGuests nominated for eviction (post-veto): Russell and Natalie
HouseGuest evicted live on Thursday: Russell
Who should have been evicted: Russell
New HoH: Kevin
HouseGuests remaining: 5 (Jeff, Jordan, Kevin, Michele, Natalie)

Maybe taking Russell out of the game wasn't such a hot move

Russell and Jeff had a deal to take each other to the end. Yet as this week in Big Brother wore on, Jeff was made aware that Russell had cut a similar deal with Michele from two HouseGuests – Natalie and Kevin – who believed a white lie about Russell would not only throw the 24-year-old martial arts fighter under the bus, but keep both Natalie and Kevin in the game as well. Their story: Why trust a mysterious figure like Russell when you've got two hardworking players who've also got your back?

(Not that Russell didn't already have it coming. Over a pickup game of poker, Russell threw a ridiculous fit with Natalie when she told him how he should be playing. And I mean ridiculous. Jeff's Diary Room reaction? "Holy macaronis... we were playing for Now and Laters").

Anyway... The plan worked beautifully. As we witnessed on Tuesday, Jeff rearranged his Chopping Block from Kevin and Natalie to Russell and Natalie. Two days later, Russell was gone.

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