It’s hard to believe this is the last Thursday episode of Big Brother. Despite the slow start to the season, things have certainly gotten memorable/enjoyable and it’ll be interesting to see who makes it to the final two. If everyone plays strategically, Janelle needs to win the HoH tonight if she has any hope of making it to the final two. But if Erika and/or Mike put revenge ahead of strategy then Janelle’s odds of making it to the final two (and almost certainly winning the game) improve dramatically.
We start things with the aftermath of Will’s eviction. Mike says he had a feeling Will was going to go once Janelle started her speech, up until then he hadn’t put much stock in Will’s fear he was going to be going out. Erika was very happy during Janelle’s speech evicting Will. Janelle felt bad for evicting Will but she felt it was necessary if she was going to win the game.
Erika rubs in Will’s eviction to Mike, saying “Checkmate” to him in the kitchen. In the DR Mike says it was the first time somebody fooled Chilltown. He gives Erika credit but for being “a backstabbing witch”.
Mike says he decided to reference the end of the first Survivor in the first part of the HoH competition as he’s hoping both of them will think they’ve a better shot at winning next to him in the final two. Erika says she was actually planning to give Janelle the win before Janelle’s flub which awarded Erika the win.
More of Mike being angry and/or upset about Will’s eviction while Erika and Janelle revel in their victory. Mike says that he’s never been in the house without Will and that he’s going to miss him. The segment with Mike trying to call Will in the DR (as they’ve done so many times this season) but being sad when he gets no answer.
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It’s time for product placement/round 2 of the HoH competition. The houseguests are surprised to see a car suspended over a platform in the backyard. There are some mirrors and a laser on the platfrom as well. The mirrors are labeled with the names of the first six Big Brother winners and they have to line the mirrors up so the laser hits all six in the order they won Big Brother. The houseguests are suspended on wires and have to use their arms to push themselves around the outside of the platform to get to the mirrors. The winner of the competition also wins the product placement car, provided they complete the competition in under five minutes. If neither finishes within five minutes, Erika gets the car.
Janelle is up first and says in the DR that it is very important that she win this competition because she doesn’t trust Boogie or Erika to take her to the final two. Janelle has some trouble with Jun’s mirror but eventually she fixes it and hits the button.
In the DR, Boogie says he feels like the underdog and really wants to win this competition as he doesn’t want to have to depend on the actions of Erika or Janelle. He starts off quickly but then, just before getting to Lisa’s mirror has to go back to Will’s mirror. He says he was worried about this mistake as he knew he was up against Janelle.
He doesn’t make any other mistakes after that though (or at least none we see) and hits the button.
When the times are revealed we see Mike took 1:57 and Janelle’s time was… 3:45 so Boogie is in the final round to go head to head with Erika. Erika says she’d feel better going up against Janelle, Janelle’s worried that there’s no reason for either of them to take her to the final two and Boogie says he’s going to give the car to his mom.
After the competition is over, Boogie approaches Erika. He tells her that if he wins the final competition he’ll take her to the final two and floats the idea of her throwing it. He says that neither of them have a shot at beating Janelle if Janelle’s in the final two. In the DR room Erika says she hates Boogie and she also hates the fact she’s still attracted to him.
The live portion of the evening begins as Julie talks with the houseguests. Janelle and Boogie both say they miss Will, with Julie teasing Boogie about their ‘bromance’. Erika is asked why she’s not sharing a bed with boogie anymore; she says she doesn’t know but that things are weird in the house with feelings all over the place. When Mike’s asked the same question he says they’re both focused right now; he wants both he and Erika to make the decision which is best for each of them individually.
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Things seem to have mellowed out somewhat in the Jury House. Danielle is pushing the idea that everyone should just relax and have fun. Howie says he doesn’t want to see Janelle in the jury house cause he wants her to win.
Will opens the gate and says “You reap what you sow” as everyone reacts to his arrival with some cheering and hugs. Marcellas thinks it is poetic justice that Will’s in the jury house now while Will’s excited to show everyone the DVD of his eviction.
After seeing Janelle’s speech dedicating the eviction of Will to Marcellas and Howie, James says that it was totally aimed at getting votes from the jury. Danielle agrees but Marcellas is happy to have Will’s eviction dedicated to him. Danielle says Chilltown should have known Erika and Janelle would compare notes. Will gives credit to Erika and Janelle, saying they “spanked [his] ass”.
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And it is time for the final part of the HoH competition. Erika and Boogie are asked a series of partial statements made by people in the jury house. They are then given two options to complete the statement and have to choose the correct one. The person with the most points after six questions is the final HoH.
Question 1: George said the most annoying thing about the house was A) Howie or B) the mess.
Answer: B. Both get it right
Question 2: Danielle says the moment in the house I’m afraid to have my friends and family see is A) when I was drunk or B) when I cried for two days straight.
Answer: A. Both get it right again.
Question 3: Will said the most shocking moment in the house was A) the fast forward eviction or B) my own eviction.
Answer: A. Boogie got this one but Erika did not so Boogie takes the lead.
Question 4: Marcellas said the most annoying thing about the house was A) absolutely everything B) Mike and Will’s love affair.
Answer: B. Both Erika and Mike picked A so neither get a point.
Question 5: James said the hottest girl in the house was A) Diane or B) Marcellas.
Answer: B. Both got it right so heading into the final question Mike has a one point lead.
Question 6: Howie said the most shocking moment in the house was A) when Chilltown threw me under the bus B) George winning HoH.
Answer: B. Both get it right but Mike’s still got the one point lead (5 to 4) so he’s the final HoH of Big Brother Allstars! He dedicates his win to Will/Chilltown.
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Before Mike makes his decision, both Erika and Janelle are given a chance to plead their case. Erika brings up the length of their alliance and claims she’s always had Boogie’s back. She also says that Boogie would have a better shot of winning against Erika. Janelle seems to know her chances aren’t too great and just mentions that Erika might use the fact she was the first to see through Chilltown’s playing people against Boogie when trying to get votes from the jury.
Mike says he adores both of them and that they’re incredible players. He tells Erika that he holds her responsible for Will’s eviction but that he’s not here for vengeance. He tells Janelle she wins everything, she’s just too good and has too many friends in the jury for Boogie to have a shot at beating her so he votes to evict Janelle. Janelle takes her eviction well and even gets a final spin from Boogie on her way out the door.
As Janelle leaves, Erika and Boogie share a quick kiss. They’re both excited to be in the final two and they stare at the photos on the wall while Boogie mentions that Janelle was an awesome player.
When talking to Julie Janelle says that Mike’s vote to evict her was purely strategy as he knew it’d be tough to beat her in the final two. Julie mentions that Janelle’s had more wins than anyone in Big Brother history with 4 HoHs and 5 PoVs to her name. Janelle says the biggest flaw in her strategy was that she was too trusting of too many people in the house. She posits putting Marcellas up on the block as one of her biggest mistakes in the house as she had thought he would be safe when he obviously wasn’t. Julie also asks Janelle about her feelings for Will now that she’s out of the house but she plays coy, saying she’s too embarrassed to answer that question.
Goodbye messages from Boogie and Erika are shown. Boogie says that they had a good thing going on (Janelle and Chilltown) and it was too bad that ‘Scrubika’ ruined things. He says Janelle is one of the few people he’s looking forward to having a friendship with outside of the Big Brother house. Erika says it was a blast to relive Janelle’s eviction of Will over and over for the past week; she adores Janelle and wants to renew their friendship on the outside. Janelle says that both of them are sweet and that she loves them both.
Before heading to our final commercial break, we learn that there’s a $25,000 prize for the jury member with the most fans willing to text message in their vote (presumably Will or Janelle gets this).
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Julie congratulates Erika and Boogie on making it to the final two and asks them if there’s a vote they feel they definitely have secured amongst the jury. Mike jokes that maybe he’ll get Will’s support while Erika jokes about getting Howie’s vote (given Howie’s feeling towards Mike). When asked about the votes they’re most worried about Mike says he thinks James and Danielle’s votes will be critical and that they could go either way. Erika also is worried about Danielle’s vote and hopes she’s no longer so pissed off at Erika.
Julie closes out the show reminding us to tune in on September 12th for the Big Brother All Stars finale (there’s no episode airing this Sunday).
As much as I’d rather not see Erika win this season, Mike definitely made the right call by evicting Janelle. If either Mike or Erika went up against Janelle, they wouldn’t stand a chance. From the final four, Erika and Mike’s only real shot at winning was to be up against each other (Janelle or Will would have won handily against either of them).
I’m not really sure who will win now. I think Chilltown played a better game than Erika (what with the way Chilltown dominated much of the game despite only having two members) but they did that as a partnership and the jury may decide Will deserves most of the credit for Chilltown’s success. Chilltown also made a lot of enemies along the way so if people vote on a personal level rather than a strategic one, Mike could be in trouble. Erika, for her part, hasn’t really pissed too many people off (other than Danielle) but she’s played a more passive game so it’s hard to say which way the votes will go.
And as tonight’s the last Thursday episode of the season, this is also the last Big Brother recap from me for 2006. I’m not really sure what I’ll be covering next but if, for some odd reason, you’re worried about such things, I’m sure I’ll be showing up covering another series soon enough.
