by David McAlpine

Last time on Big Brother 11, Ronnie nominated Jeff and Laura for eviction, but then tried to weasel his way out of it by saying that he had a plan up his sleeve: backdooring Russell. Jeff won the veto, giving Ronnie the chance to put the plan into action, but balked and put up Jordan instead after Jessie and Natalie convinced him to do just that.

So, this week, one of the popular girls, Jordan or Laura, will be going home, and we see evil triumph over good for yet another week in the Big Brother house. After the Veto ceremony, Laura is well aware of the fact that she’s going home because she’s a lot smarter than Jordan. Even Jeff isn’t afraid to say it to Jordan’s face (and, after the whole telling time conversation, I would say it to her face, too). Jordan and Jeff continue to flirt and spiral into the strategic black hole known as a showmance.

Laura takes her chance with Ronnie and points out that Jordan and Jeff are a pair and, thus, inseparable, while simultaneously suggesting that she’ll be a possible ally in the weeks to come. When Laura wants to play, she is so on her game, so it’s a shame to see her with her back up against the wall.

Of course, Ronnie seeks approval from the rest of the house. When he doesn’t get it, he tries to shove the whole idea off on Russell, which creates one of the most epic nights of fighting in the Big Brother house. At this point, I don’t even know why Ronnie is trying to play both sides, because he’s just pissing everyone off. Anyway, Natalie tattles to Russell, who complains about it in the backyard. Enter Laura, who explains the situation to the rest of the house. They drag Ronnie out and put everything out in the open, and he responds with no response:

Russell: “You know this looks a little fishy on your part, right?”
Ronnie: “I’m fine with that.”

You’ve got to be kidding me—this guy is going to be the one responsible for Laura probably leaving this week? He doesn’t even try lying anymore, it’s just that bad of a situation.

The lies start to snowball and Ronnie runs back to his HoH room with his tail between his legs, knowing that it’s about to hit the fan. In a classic Big Brother moment, Ronnie faces the rest of the house from the HoH balcony and is reduced to going into hiding.

The next day, Ronnie has gone into hiding in his room. Russell is waiting like a cat to pounce on Ronnie every time he has to emerge from the HoH (namely, when Big Brother calls him to the Diary Room). Russell is merciless, but also incredibly immature, which could set up his departure in the near future. Ronnie is reduced to tears and you can see the regret of how he’s played the game in his eyes. And he deserves every minute of it.

Cut to the live show, where Natalie gives a really uncomfortable, vague answer about the whole house being against Ronnie, which makes me think something is up. Cue the HoH talk, where Ronnie goes back into confident, super-mastermind mode, claiming that five other houseguests are on his side. All I can do on my couch is hope that he’s not right, but I fear that, looking at how his allies have acted before, it may be true.

Jordan gives a super cute, “yay me” farewell speech, while Laura takes a slightly more poised, well-phrased approach. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Laura thinks she is leaving as the houseguests go in to cast their votes:

Jeff: LAURA
Jessie: LAURA
Natalie: JORDAN (“To stir things up.” I think it’s a pointless move, but after watching the entire house swing in a matter of hours, I might be underestimating it.)
Casey: LAURA
Russell: LAURA
Kevin: LAURA
Lydia: LAURA
Chima: LAURA
Michele: LAURA

So, it’s made official—my season favorite is booted out of the house way too early, 8-1. After the eviction, Laura says she knew she was the target this week, but she’s satisfied that she took Ronnie down, too, adding that everyone is stupid if they don’t evict Ronnie this week. Hm, wouldn’t count on that one considering who’s left in the house…

I feel even worse for Laura as the goodbye messages roll, because none of them seem particularly nice or warm. Was she really that disliked? Well, I think Laura was probably that smartest one in there, so I was sad to see her go.

For this week’s HoH competition, the houseguests had to use a seesaw like contraption to launch a ball into a bunch of target cups, each with a different point value. After each houseguest got a try, the one with the most points would win. The results were:

Michele: 4 points
Jessie: 6 points
Kevin: 5 points
Natalie: 2 points
Lydia: 1 point
Russell: 5 points
Chima: 3 points
Jordan: 3 points
Jeff: 6 points
Casey: 1 point

This week can’t seem to get any better, can it? Either way, Jessie, Natalie, Russell and Jeff are all safe this week, but the power shift could be massive depending on who wins. I think you all know who I want to win. The tiebreaker shot:

Jessie: 6 points
Jeff: The ball bounces between two 7 point cups…then lands in a 1 point.

…So Jessie is HoH again. Which means another week of watching something as exciting as brick wall as my favorites drop one by one. Then Julie rubs it in when she mentions that Casey’s son just turned one and he wasn’t there to see it, making Casey cry. Really, Julie? Necessary? I think not.

Tune in to Big Brother on CBS, Sunday at 8/7c to see if Jessie switches up the house…or just continues the garbage we’ve seen the past two weeks. If you haven’t checked it out yet, former Big Brother contestants Eric Stein and Nick Starcevic put up their impressions of the houseguests for this week. Also, keep an eye out for our exclusive interview tomorrow with the latest evictee, Laura Crosby!

(Image courtesy of CBS)

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