Old Yeller is gone (hey, McCrae called Amanda that, not me), and so is Elissa. We’re left with McCrae and the Exterminators, which could be a great doo-wop group name, but suggests this could be a potentially dull week. If McCrae doesn’t win the veto, the rest of the house is perfectly aligned in sending him packing. I mean, this is “Big Brother” and anything is possible, but for once, it seems like everyone (except McCrae) can relax for a few days knowing the target is on someone else’s back.
But who wants to see hamsters getting along? We have to rewind to Amanda’s eviction from the house, which basically becomes all about the Exterminators tossing a teary Elissa under the bus and McCrae, the next HoH, trying to suss out who lied to him about sending his lady packing.
Whenever Elissa tries to tell anyone the truth — that she didn’t vote to send Amanda home, for example — the Exterminators jump all over her like she peed in their cornflakes. I had thought that McCrae was snowed by the Exterminators, but no — he knew Andy was lying, but he didn’t see how Elissa was any use to him. Seriously? Apparently McCrae never considered that maybe, just maybe, an alliance with the biggest outcast in the house (someone Amanda was smart enough to consider as a last-ditch save) would be useful to him. No, he puts up Gina Marie and Elissa, and soon Elissa is following Amanda out the door — and McCrae, seemingly without realizing it, is on his own against a four-person alliance. “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” McCrae says of Elissa, proving that Amanda was truly the brains in McCranda.
Alas, after Gina Marie celebrates Elissa’s departure by busing a move (pretty badly), it’s time for a fake alliance to be formed between McCrae, Andy and Spencer. McCrae thinks no one will see all the game he has coming! Yeah, actually, they’ll see it. They won’t care, but they’ll see it.
Time for the HoH competition that makes (almost) no difference! The winner gets to give each houseguest a special “gift,” which sounds like a euphemism for misery-making crap no one wants.
Anyway, each hamster must assemble a bunch of blocks to recreate the face of another hamster who won a previous challenge whose identity they must guess from an image from which slowly pixilates on the screen. So, it’s a memory challenge and a puzzle-building challenge. Who will win? McCrae can’t play, of course, as he was just HoH. While this potentially isn’t an important HoH to win, it becomes very important if McCrae wins the veto — because that means the end of the Exterminators a week earlier than any of them intended.
Andy is out first, which shouldn’t be surprising at this point. Even when he’s not throwing a challenge, his win rate is not wonderful. But Gina Marie is a beast! She’s finishing a lot faster than anyone else and she’s getting the puzzles correct. Judd is out next. It’s down to Gina Marie and Spencer, and Gina Marie clearly has a knack for this. But wait, Spencer gets an early lead and wins HoH! Amazing. After seven times on the block, he finally gets his chance to put two other hamsters on it.
Spencer is so happy, but McCrae isn’t sure this is a good thing, so he “has to start playing the game.” Yeah, McCrae? Focus on winning the veto. That’s the game you have to play, really.
Time to receive “gifts”! Spencer wants Gina Marie and McCrae to receive the gift of friendship. For the next 24 hours, they will be tied together with a friendship bracelet. “How are we gonna pee? I’m a girl!” Gina Marie bleats. Yeah, that was not kind, Spencer.
Anyway, Andy receives the gift of wealth, which means he will get the chance to win up to $5,000. The final gift is the gift of health, and Judd has to do whatever the “Big Brother” drill sergeant orders over the intercom, like push-ups or sit-ups.
Spencer tells Gina Marie he needed her tied to McCrae so McCrae didn’t make any deals with Judd, as Judd is shady. Gina Marie seems to accept this, but if I were Gina Marie, I’d be thinking the target, once McCrae is gone, is moving to my back. Otherwise, why not stick Andy with McCrae? It’s an awkward “gift,” but somewhat less so for two guys. And, as Gina Marie points out, McCrae is dirty, which may or may not be true, but still. Despite this less-than-loving situation, Andy thinks they’re really cute together, possibly because he isn’t tied to anyone for a full damn day.
Time to see Spencer’s HoH room! There are photos of Spencer without his beard, and Spencer’s girlfriend, Marilyn. I an shocked to see that Spencer once did not look like a cast member on “Duck Dynasty,” and while the beard is on trend, I think the clean-shaven look worked for him. Spencer tries to read his letter from Marilyn, then Sergeant Big Brother orders Judd to do jumping jacks. Poor Judd. Poor Spencer. Poor hamsters.
Then, we have McCrae and Gina Marie trying to make the best of a bad situation. McCrae attempts to milk Gina Marie for information while she puts on her eyebrows and suggests a final two alliance. But, he says, he feels there’s a final four. Gina Marie thinks the pizza boy is smarter than she thought, and though she assures him everyone’s playing for themselves, she becomes even more determined to send him packing. I’m not sure if Gina Marie might be better off taking McCrae’s offer, though, because I’m thinking the real alliance might be a final three that’s all guys.
Time for Andy’s gift of wealth! He has to crack open piggy banks and gets the “winnings” inside. The first piggybank has a whopping… $85! Next, he gets $9. His final pig yields… eighty-three cents. Andy would have been better off working at Burger King for an hour.
While it’s not possible to really negotiate, Gina Marie finds a way to talk to Spencer without McCrae hearing and vice versa. Andy just happens to sit next to McCrae, acting as if he wants to take a shower but probably making sure McCrae can’t hear more than he’s admitting. Gina Marie tells Spencer about McCrae’s final two bid, then Spencer assures McCrae he wants Gina Marie out, then Judd.
Of course, Spencer wants McCrae to feel safe. You’re in the final four! Don’t worry! Yeah, McCrae isn’t stupid. While the goal is for McCrae to be so relaxed he won’t try too hard to win the veto, I don’t think anyone won’t be trying like hell for that win anyway. At this point in the competition, it’s just too easy to be sent packing when no one’s even trying that hard to target you.
Nomination ceremony — and time for Judd to do 17 squats. I’m wondering if this wouldn’t be a great workout app. “Big Brother” drill sergeant bullies you into shape when you least expect it!
Judd is safe.
Andy is safe.
That means Gina Marie and McCrae are on the block. Spencer tells McCrae he’s betrayed his trust too many times, and Gina Marie is too tough to beat. While this week may not have been rife with tension (as we know what’s probably going to happen), I think this week’s veto will be a nail biter, even if the hamsters are just counting jellybeans or skipping rope.
Who do you think will win? How do you think Amanda and Elissa are getting along in the jury house? Do you think McCrae will win the veto?