By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, August 13, 2015
Atlantan Shelli Poole is no longer in control and she is on the block for eviction for the second week in a row.
Last week, her boy toy Clay Honeycutt took the fall despite the fact many players saw Shelli as more of a threat and a better game player. But good news for Shelli this time around: she is not the primary target.
Instead, it's the other person on the block: Vanessa Rousso, the professional poker player who has never revealed her profession to the others.
Vanessa may know poker but in the petri dish that is "Big Brother," her emotions and paranoia have taken over her psyche after eight weeks in the house.
And Becky Burgess, the Head of Household this past week, wants her out.
Becky to date has been a floater for much of the first two months in the house, not committing a firm alliance with anybody, awaiting to see how things play. But now she is favoring Meg Maley, James Huling and Jackie Ibarra, who seem tight. (Johnny Mac McGuire and Steve Moses appear to remain floating to a degree while Austin Matelson, Liz and Julia Nolan, Shelli and Vanessa are what's left of the Sixth Sense Alliance.)
The problem for Becky: she may not have the numbers to guarantee Vanessa's eviction. And if she can't get rid of her, she might end up being a target for the second eviction Thursday night.
To provide selective context, CBS on Sunday re-played Vanessa's outburst before Clay's eviction last week.
A few hours earlier, she heard about something Johnny Mac said about her that came out of his own mind, that Shelli was in her head. "She's a loose cannon," he said.
Somehow, this theory got to Clay and he thought James got involved. When James heard about this, he became angry. The two get into a heated argument before cooler heads prevailed. Vanessa, suspicions on full blast, didn't believe Clay when he said he wasn't lying. She also didn't believe that Johnny Mac came up with that on her own.
Her nutty outbursts ironically were making her a target. Becky decided to backdoor Vanessa after placing Steve (a pawn) and Shelli on the block.
Vanessa, before she was put on the block, wondered what was going on and tried to make a deal with Becky. But Becky said she was done with alliances and refused to deal. She did say Shelli was her target. That didn't make Vanessa feel any more comfortable.
Shelli, right after she lost Clay, was upset.
"For the first time, I feel completely alone," said Shelli, sobbing without her Clay."this game sucks for me now."
Fortunately, Shelli recovered enough to keep playing the game. After Becky informed her of her plans to backdoor Vanessa, Shelli hid the fact she knew about Becky's plan to backdoor Vanessa from Vanessa to save her own hide. But Vanessa knew she was vulnerable.
Shelli did try to help Vanessa by choosing her to take part in the Power of Veto when she had "houseguest choice."
Vanessa had to win to guarantee her own survival and also take Shelli off the block.
But alas, super fan/super dork Steve - the invisible man up to this point - came out of nowhere to win a combination memorization and physical challenge. Surprise! He took home the Power of Veto. "Best case scenario!" Becky said.
Vanessa in the end had the second-worst time, only behind Shelli, who admitted to having no strategy going in.
Becky and James had to fend a desperate Vanessa, who is (correctly) aware she might be backdoored. Meg comforted her in thinking she was safe.
Steve, on board with Becky's plan despite his dislike for her - decided to take himself off the block. This gave Becky a chance to place Vanessa in danger for eviction. Backdoor!
But as noted, Vanessa is wily. She needs five out of eight votes to survive. James, Meg and Becky are solidly behind getting rid of Vanessa. Vanessa might be able to keep the twins and Austin on her side. She has to win over Steve (who may side with her to get rid of Becky) and Johnny Mac. Becky only needs only four votes because she would be the tie-breaker vote.
We'll find out tonight.
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