by David McAlpine

Last night on Big Brother 12, the HoH competition continued on into the night as the remaining houseguests hung 10 on their mock surfboards and weathered Big Brother's storm. Everyone wants to win--Brendon knows he's an outsider, the entire Brigade wants to win control of the house, Andrew just doesn't want to be a "Have Not," and Britney feels vulnerable because Monet just left.

As the boards start to bounce, you can already see Kathy getting a little wobbly-footed. In her confessional, she's complaining because she thinks her vote for Matt is going to put her in jeopardy with him, but at the same time, she wants to keep up the image that she sucks at all the challenges. Hm, not exactly what I would call strategic, but whatever floats her boat. Either way, she's the first one off, followed quickly by Lane.

Kristen is off next, then Hayden, who said he felt safe this week so he threw the competition to become a "Have" for the week. Britney follows Hayden's lead because she also does not want to be on slop, claiming the last "Have" spot for the week.

Everyone left is holding strong as the surfboards start to shift more, knowing that falling off eliminates them from HoH and makes them a "Have Not" for the week. Enzo slips off next, followed by Brendon, leaving Andrew, Matt and Ragan in the competition.

Andrew and Ragan strike a deal while they're up on the surfboards, but Matt refuses to be a part of it, because he still thinks he's going to win. The surfboards start retracting to the point where their feet don't even fit on it anymore, and Andrew falls off, making it Ragan vs. Matt. Ragan asks for some privacy and talks it out with Matt, because he trusts Matt and doesn't mind giving him HoH (remember, everyone thinks his wife has this horrible disease). Matt basically makes him a deal and, after a total of 2 hours and 16 minutes, Ragan falls off, giving Matt power for the week.

Rachel is upset, because she thinks her and Brendon are the targets for the week. Matt is upfront with Rachel and says that he's angry because he upheld his end of the bargain (volunteering to go up), but she completely broke her end (by confronting him in front of the entire house).

Matt must have done a lot of his own strategizing this time around, because there certainly was a lot of filler this episode. First, Britney tries to teach Enzo how to speak "normally," a.k.a. as if he's not from Jersey. Several "saw"s, "coffee"s, "walk"s and "dog"s later and it's a fail.

Matt gets his HoH room and everyone feels sympathetic about his wife and child (and her fake disease). After everyone else leaves, the Brigade gets their "broment" in the HoH room with their whatever handshake and start throwing out names. Hayden is adamant about Brendon and Rachel, but Matt is thinking that Kathy needs to get something for voting him out last week.

Meanwhile, Andrew is ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time all week. He walks in on Brendon and Rachel making smooch faces all the time, so much, in fact, that they end up getting used to him being around and are able to ignore him. Lucky for Andrew, America voted to give the "Have Not"s bok choy and baby food, which turns out to be kosher (unlike the slop).

Matt knows Brendon and Rachel are desperate and have their backs up against the wall, so he uses the opportunity to get to them. He promises them that he won't put them up this week if neither of them puts him up next week and they jump at it. All the while, he's acting so smug, I just want to leap through the TV and slap him in the face.

Poor Andrew comes up to talk to Matt, who is now even more smug, who breaks the news in a very sharp way: he's getting put up, but he's definitely the pawn this week to get Kathy out. Andrew is upset and doesn't understand why, but Matt throws it out there that it's a backdoor plot to get Brendon or Rachel out, when really he wants Kathy out. At the nomination ceremony, he does just that, saving this season's biggest showmance from another week of being on the block.

Tune in to Big Brother 12 next Wednesday at 9/8c to see which houseguest wins the Power of Veto and if they use it to save Matt or Kathy--only on CBS!

(Photo courtesy of CBS)

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