Big Brother 9, March 13 Live Feeds: The Reset Button

Before I get started, indulge me a small pat on the back. As I said in my Tuesday wrap, I thought James’ only chance at survival was the word “chance” in the America’s Choice poll. Lo and behold, I was right. The audience voted Alex back in, but just so he could go against James head-on (apply directly to the forehead) in a live vote to go back in. James is in, and he’s Head of Household (HOH) – if you want to know what happened, check out the HOH competition recap. I’ll admit I cheered, not because I’m trying to show favoritism, but because, as I mentioned, good players deserve at least the jury. He’ll get that, now.

Okay, bragging over, on with the show.

After all the excitement of Wednesday night’s grueling HOH competition of standing on a disc and holding a chain (can someone call the Survivor dream team so these people can really get punished), the houseguests are afforded a little extra sleep time today. Sheila’s the first up, as usual, and begins the day shortly before 10:00 am, making coffee in her Jensational unitard.

Josh gets up briefly, heads outside, and sees that the back yard has been cleaned up, and no challenge apparatus is there. He surmises that there will be no food competition today, and says as much to Sharon and Chelsia.

Ryan emerges shortly afterward, and he and Sheila each say they had an interesting dream last night. Dr. King had a dream, too. I’m going to go out on a limb and say his was better.

Josh spies on their conversation as Sheila says her dream made her come to the realization that she’s been “piggy backing” off of other people her entire life, especially in this game. Sorry, Dr. King, she’s topped you… NOT! She also intimates that she voted for the mystery houseguest, thinking it was Alex and hoping that his pleasant personality would return to the house. I guess that while Julie was willing to reveal to James the return vote, she never actually told them who was in the box.

James, the new HOH, comes down about a half hour later, ignores Sheila’s morning greeting, and heads into Chelsia’s bedroom to give her a wake-up hug. How sweet.

Out back, Sheila discusses her epiphany with Josh, which means all that time he spent spying was absolutely wasted. She later expounds on her “light bulb moment” with James, saying she realizes now that she can’t expect anyone to save her. She now knows (35 days into the game) that she needs to play for herself. Maybe by Day 70 she’ll figure out that no one gives a crap about her book.

James utters the first bit of conscious strategy, telling Sheila that his target is Ryan. He also guarantees that he will win the Power of Veto (POV) to ensure his target leaves the house. As he puts it, for Ryan to win would be an act of God, and if Sheila wins, then best of luck to her.

Adam and Matt huddle up briefly as the “Nominations Today” screen pops up in the living room. Adam believes he’s going to be put on the block for voting James out (even though he also voted him back in). Matt says not to worry, as no matter who is nominated, he’s sure he’ll be backdoored.

Natalie comes out to the back yard after getting ready for the day. Everyone expresses some concern for her health, as she got sick during the HOH competition. She says she’s fine now, just a little sore, like everyone else.

She sits down next to Sheila, and after some random chit chat, Sheila tries to work Natalie a little bit to get back into her graces (to say “good” graces would be to give Natalie WAY too much credit). Sheila compliments Natalie on her performance in the HOH challenge and agrees with her that CBS can’t show Josh commenting on her mother and her abortions, for fear of lawsuits. Er…

James, Sharon, and Matt talk about the nominations, and James assures Matt that he doesn’t plan on there being a backdoor. He says that in his nomination speech, he will make it clear that he wants the POV to be merely a formality, for there to be no backdoor, and for either Sheila or Ryan to go home, period.

As we hit the early afternoon hours, the house seems pretty mellow. Most talk is on general subjects: their families back home, the current state of the house, their real lives, etc. Sheila enjoys some food, as her slop week has ended. Most everyone just lounges around for a while.

In fact, game talk really doesn’t resume until just after 3:00 pm. Ryan is lamenting James’ return with Adam and Matt, saying they had him out of the house, and now Ryan is basically screwed. He hopes he goes up with Sheila, rather than Adam, as he thinks he has a chance against her. Frankly, I agree.

Ryan then turns to Adam and asks “A-Baller” if he’d use the POV on him if he won. Adam says he probably would, and if he didn’t, he’d at least give Ryan his vote.

While Chelsia deals with a few, ahem, feminine problems, Ryan and Sheila talk about the imminent nominations. Both know they are in all likelihood going up. Sheila says she’s learned a valuable lesson: that she latched on to too many people in the beginning, and now she just needs to play the game for herself.