Big Brother Season 18 Episode 16 Recap: Making Tough Decisions

By Mark Drum
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Victor is back in the game and the Big Brother house! The houseguests were surprised with his return and planned to send him packing just as he returned. But first, with this upcoming HOH power up for grabs the houseguests had to endure an all night battle to find out the winner. Now that the teams were no more it was every houseguest for themselves. Here's my recap of last night's episode.

Victor Is Back

So hours prior to Victor's return, the houseguests speculated that an evicted houseguest was returning. They all agreed that if it were to be Victor he would be the target for the upcoming week. Even though the majority of the house wanted to target Frank and Bridgette. It was mixed reactions with Victor's return into the house and the game. For Paul his ally was back but when Victor was gone he had formed "friendships," with the other houseguests to secure his safety. Especially with Paulie who was nervous for Victor's return because he evicted him the first week he was HOH. Frank saw this as an opportunity to draw him to his side to be a number for him.

Victor had said coming back he wouldn't play too honest of a game, since it was what got him evicted. With the information he received from Bronte and Tiffany he wasn't going completely out of the loop with the houseguests. His main goal for this week is to win HOH to guarantee his safety. Victor winning HOH could also be seen as another reason to evict him again sooner rather than later with his victory in the Battle Back and if he were to win this week. His ally Paul was going to make sure to advise him and help him out but would be caution as to not possibly be seen as a threat again.

After Partying For HOH

For this week's HOH they used the final Battle Back competition as the backdrop continuing with the BB Electric Festival. The competition this week was endurance. Each houseguest stood on a platform, while they held one had in the air to make sure their box wouldn't unlock. The competition lasted for a very long time a total of six hours! The first to drop was Paul and it was a while until the next few started to fall afterwards. Then it was down to Da'Vonne, James and Bridgette. Natalie sweetened the deal and told James that if he won she would give him a kiss. Meanwhile Frank decided to try and make a deal with Da'Vonne to get her to drop. She wasn't buying into anything Frank was saying, however one piece of information really struck a cord with Da'Vonne that pushed her to continue going and not let Bridgette win the competition. The other houseguests saw both Da'Vonne and Frank trying to talk that Paul stepped in to figure out what's going on. It was mentioned that Nicole had gone to Frank to tell him that Da'Vonne should be the target for the following week. Which really hurt Da'Vonne and upset our Michigander. Nicole tried to deny but it continued to cause a scene during the HOH competition. Finally after the other houseguests continued to plead with all three for a winner, Da'Vonne and Bridgette decided to give the HOH this week to James. We then saw Natalie run up to James for their "first kiss," and she knew she'd be safe for the week. However for the rest of the house it was anyone's guess as to who would be the target.

Breaking or Keeping A Promise

Before falling off during the HOH competition, James promised both Da'Vonne and Bridgette they'd be safe for the week. However Bridgette also asked for Frank to be safe for the week as well. This is a bit of a dilemma for James as he's been getting pressured by most of the house to put of both Bridgette and Frank for eviction. By leaving one of them not on the block, gives one of them the opportunity to get selected for POV and if they were to win both be safe and to take down the other from the block. The other route James was debating on was nominating Victor for eviction, since that's what the house decided prior to his arrival back into the game. Consulting with Natalie, James would either have to break his word to Bridgette by putting her and Frank up on the block or doing what he thinks would be best for his game. In the end, James decided to try and get the least amount of "blood on his hands," and went with the house. He nominated Bridgette and Frank for eviction. This surprised Bridgette and she felt truly alone in this game, while Frank does not want history to repeat itself. Back in season 14 when there was a reset, Frank was up for eviction and was then evicted. So he's hoping he'll be able to get himself off the block and possibly get Da'Vonne out.

Prediction for POV

It's looking like it's the house against Frank. While Bridgette is a possible pawn, she does have an ally with her Spy Girls team member Natalie. But whatever the POV competition may be, Frank has the best odds with his track record. I predict that Frank will fight through this and get himself off the block and convincing James to put up Da'Vonne in his place. Tune in on Wednesday at 8pm on CBS Detroit, to see whether or not the POV will be used to save either nominee and if there will be a possible backdoor or a new target emerges.

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.