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Big Brother Season 17 Episode 31 Recap: Vanessa's Options Are Limited

By Mark Drum
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If either Meg or James won the POV, Vanessa would have to decide on which ally she would need to put up as the replacement nominee. But first, Meg and James were fighting to both survive even though both have been nominated. The rest of the house seemed to be on board with Vanessa ensuring that if neither Meg nor James wins the POV that nobody would use it to save them. Last night's episode featured more of Vanessa's paranoia and some how control of this game. Here's my recap of last night's episode.

Meg & James Having Regrets

One could say karma came to bite both Meg and James in the butt for not evicting Vanessa when they had the chance. I was laughing at the fact that Meg and James referred to the action Vanessa did to them as "Shelly and Clay" because it's surprising that the houseguests haven't caught on how well Vanessa has been controlling this game. Meanwhile Vanessa and Steve tried to figure out who they should put up in the event Meg or James wins the POV. Vanessa was not wanting to have that option happen and was determined that either herself or anyone else playing he POV along with Meg and James would not use the POV on either of them. The best part of the segment was when Vanessa tries to assure James and Meg that there is not a clear target. But it was clear she wanted to break up the best friends duo.

Hide & Seek for POV

I thoroughly enjoyed the POV competition last night because it's a classic game of Hide and Seek. However with this hide and seek the houseguests had to hide their POV sign somewhere in the Big Brother house. The players selected to play the POV competition along with Vanessa, Meg and James were Austin, Liz and Julia. This was a perfect scenario for Vanessa as the numbers were in her favor to ensure the POV could possibly not be won by either Meg or James. Johnny Mac hosted the POV competition. As each houseguest hid their POV sign, they really tired to be the most stealthy in hiding it. I thought it was interesting that both Julia and Vanessa had the same idea hiding their POV sign in a cushion. While Meg hid her's in a nook underneath a bed. Austin had a similar hiding area near Meg as he hid his POV sign in the duvet cover lining. James hid his underneath the large rug in the living room with the couch near Julia's POV sign and lastly Liz hid her's in a pizza box in the freezer.

One by one each houseguest had two minutes to go through the Big Brother house to find a POV sign. They would not know which POV sign they grabbed until the end of the competition. This competition was not for anyone who may have an OCD complex and Liz was not happy with the mess that was being made with the house. Meanwhile James took the opportunity to make a mess while searching for other's POV signs. As POV signs were getting found, the houseguests checked for their own POV signs if they were still not found and tried to make it less obvious where they were. Which was a smart move by both Austin and James. Vanessa really tried to get into the mind of James and think of where he would hide his POV sign because she wanted to make sure he did not win the POV. It wasn't enough for Vanessa to find the last POV sign and when it was finally revealed James' sign was still hidden in the house. The end result of the competition was the house looking like a tornado had gone through and trashed the place. Who would clean it up? The houseguests themselves.

Selecting a Replacement

Vanessa's worst case scenario has happened, James won the POV and she had to decide who would go up as a replacement nominee. The obvious choice to not cause any waves would have been John, but she and John have now an alliance that they are working together and would not be an option. Steve didn't want to be nominated, nor did Austin or the twins. However Vanessa's reasonings to select Julia is because she's not a huge threat and would ensure Meg would be evicted from the house. Julia did bring up that someone either John or Steve could flip their vote to evict her, which did not sit well with her. Also Julia mentioned anytime Meg had been nominated for eviction the houseguest that sat next to her would get evicted. James even tried to make amends with Vanessa to try and get a bigger target nominated. Vanessa being the biggest crier in the game used her paranoia to her advantage when James started acting like he was threatening her. But also used her emotions when speaking with Austin and the twins. Her final decision however was to put Julia up as the replacement nominee to hopefully ensure Meg getting evicted.

My Prediction for Eviction & Double Eviction

I am looking forward to tonight's live double eviction episode. I predict the house will get flipped as Julia gets evicted by a vote of 3 to 2. For the double eviction I really hope James win's the HOH to nominate Vanessa and Austin. Which then would cause a bit of a dilemma for Liz if she were to win POV on who to save. Then seeing Vanessa get evicted with Julia. My prediction is some way or another Vanessa is evicted in this double eviction. Or could we even see the twin twist ending as possibly both Liz and Julia being evicted on the same night. We'll have to just tune in tonight at 9pm on CBS Detroit 62 to find out whether Meg or Julia is evicted and who the second houseguest is evicted!

Mark Drum is a Farmington Hills, MI native and Big Brother fan since 2000. Mark is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Theatre Arts.

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