Big Brother Season 18 Episode 36 Recap: Food For Thought

By Mark Drum
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It looks like the pairing of "Jatalie," James and Natalie was hitting a road bump. Meanwhile, "Nicorey" Nicole and Corey were safe from nominations this week thanks to their "final four" alliance with Paul and Victor who don't have a moniker for their duo. But first, the POV was up for grabs and it was crucial for Natalie or James to win to get either one of them off the block and the possibility of both being safe. With four against two for the POV their numbers were against them. Here's my recap of last night's episode.

Throwing James Under

Our Michigander Nicole was upset with herself that James was on the block, but was relieved neither Corey or her were nominated. Though Victor's target for this week is James, he's fully aware that the votes will be the deciding factor in who goes home and Natalie is aware of this. James and Natalie told each other they wouldn't campaign against the other. Rather they'd focus on the POV to make sure one of them wins. Before the POV competition, Natalie goes up to the HOH room to have a conversation with Victor and Paul. She pretty much says she regrets trusting James during her HOH when she put up Victor for eviction. This shocked Paul and Victor to which they soon realized Natalie may be smarter than she's letting on. The information then gets brought to Nicole and Corey which surprises them as well. While that was going on, Natalie then goes down to James and tells him what she said to them and James says it's his fault for getting her on the block, so he'll do whatever it takes to make sure the POV is used on her rather than himself.

MacGyver For The POV

Coming this fall to CBS, a new series of MacGyver premieres Friday, September 23 at 9pm which is a few days after the finale. What better way to promote the show by having a Big Brother competition revolve around the series. The POV competition was new and not the usual face morph competition that usually happens near this time of the season. To win the POV the houseguests had to beat the previous houseguest time in escaping from three different rooms. Each room had its own problem in which they had to solve to escape. The first person randomly selected to go was Natalie. She finished with a time of 9:06. Next to go up was Nicole, then James and Victor. None of the three could beat Natalie's time and all three were also surprised at how quickly she solved each challenge. Finally, Corey and Paul were the last two to go. One of them did not finish in time and the other beat Natalie's time by almost three minutes. The winner of the POV was Corey and this would be his third POV victory and winning a mental competition. Seems like Corey is finally understanding the game. Even Nicole was surprised at how quickly Corey solved each challenge and with his win solidified the nominations because he knows if he does use it, it would mean Nicole would likely go up as a replacement nominee and her first time on the block this season.

Corey's Game Move

Now with the POV in his hands, Corey has some decisions to make. Even though James is on the block, Corey knows that once Natalie is evicted, he believes he can get James to work with Nicole and himself again. Corey has a conversation with James that even though he's not going to use the veto, James has the votes to stay. James catches on that he may be safe and wants to tell Natalie. However, Natalie is aware of Nicole and Corey being more loyal to James and that it will be their votes which will send her packing. This causes some trouble between the two because Natalie says she will not talk to James if both Nicole and Corey vote to evict her. James is shocked by this admission and starts to question what Natalie's intentions were.

My Prediction For Eviction & HOH

So as the episode was ending, James admits he didn't come to this season looking for love, he came to win the half million dollars. Jatalie may be over before it even started. I predict the vote to be 3-0 to evict Natalie from the Big Brother house. Even though Paul is Victor's "ride or die," Paul knows that Natalie is a much bigger threat than James for his game. Even though Victor, the current HOH has made it clear Natalie was the pawn and the target was James. For any super fan of the show knows, "Pawns go home," and in this situation Natalie started off as the pawn but became the target. I predict whoever is not evicted, in my prediction James, will win HOH or if Natalie says I also think she'll win HOH. Tune in tonight at 9pm on CBS Detroit to see James or Natalie evicted from the Big Brother house and with only 15 days until the finale the HOH competition will be more important than even.

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.