Big Brother 4, August 20: The Two Stooges

OK, just because CBS makes me watch the recap of what has happened doesn’t mean I’m going to make you read through it too. If you missed anything, there are plenty of articles on this site for you to use in catching up. So let’s just skip to the new stuff. However, I should note that CBS apparently listened to me because at least they didn’t have Julie Chen re-recap exactly the same stuff mere seconds later!

Julie does say this week brought lots of firsts: Erika won her first major competition, Justin and Robert are both on the block for their first time, Jun won her first veto competition. She forgets that Erika is the first person to nominate her ex.

We see some clips about alliances. Jee says alliances are very important. You want to believe what the person says and know they have your back. Jun says the Three Stooges alliance is obviously strong. But she notes that secret alliances help you a lot more than making them blatantly obvious to everyone. Bingo. Think Danielle and Jason from last season as opposed to the various other alliances we saw. To emphasize this point, we see Jun and Alison – the newest secret alliance – chatting. Then we see Jun and Jee, another secret alliance. Then Jun and Jack. Then Jack and Jee. Okay, okay, we get it! Jun appears to be playing all sides. But meanwhile, Jack has been trying for a while to pry Jee away from the other two amigos.

Justin talks about Alison being a floater – she will do whatever she needs to benefit herself. To support this, we see her climb into bed with him and play around a bit. Alison says she can trust Justin and they never lie to each other; cut to Justin saying he knows she’s lied to him. Heh. Anyway, she wants him to stay because it’s easier for her.

In other alliance news, Erika says her alliance with Jack is still really strong and they will probably really be targeted because of it. That said, if Robert stays, she wants him to consider having an alliance with her. She recognizes that alliances are important to get to a certain point and then you have to break ‘em. Erika tells Robert that if he and Jee go up, she’ll work to get Jee out; if she and Jack go up, Robert should get Jack out. That way they both stick around and can team up. However, this has not gone unnoticed. Alison says that Robert and Erika are suddenly best friends. Alison and Jun talk about possibly voting out Robert now so they break up whatever Erika/Robert thing is going on. Oooh, evil.

Time to check in on the HouseGuests. First person to be targeted by Julie Chen’s razor-sharp wit is Jack. She notes that during his time in the FBI, one would assume he developed excellent powers of observation. So what happened at the last Veto competition?! He says he wanted to get a time the same as the year he was born, 1849. Heh. She pushes for a real answer, but he isn’t going to give her one. Instead, he continues with the “old” jokes and says he pulled out his hearing aid and had trouble seeing.

Moving on, Julie asks Robert how he managed to eat the fish eyeballs during the food challenge and if they tasted like chicken. No, he says, they were disgusting.

Alison is next. Given that her ex is on the chopping block, Julie says now would be good time to reflect. Is there anything Alison learned about him here that she didn’t know before coming into house? No. He is probably one of most wonderful people outside house and he has proven that he is inside too. Awww. I’m sure Alison’s (almost certainly now ex-) boyfriend is just thrilled to hear that.

What would Erika like to say to her ex in case she leaves tonight? Erika is really glad they mended fences. There was a lot of tension and it feels good to lighten the load. He nods and says him too.

Julie says that Jee was the last hope for the dream team (in the HOH challenge) and now his friends are on the chopping block. What does he want to say to them? Jee says it’s a very difficult moment for him, losing a teammate and a friend. He thanks them for loyalty and honesty and watching his back. If it wasn’t for them, he’d have had a really hard time and he enjoyed his time in the house because of them. All of them will remain friends outside the house and he’s looking forward to that.

Cutting away from the live discussions, it’s time for us to see Jack vote. Wait. What happened to the live vote? They did it once and now they decided that was enough? Weird.

Anyway, Jack says it was not a difficult decision for which of the three amigos should go. Justin is the most focused, competitive, determined player in house. As leader of the exes, he did a superb job in keeping them together. He votes to evict Justin.

Next up, we are taken outside the house and told about the other ex in Rob’s life and the young lady who has already claimed his heart. Of course, the latter is Elena, his seven-year-old daughter. We see her watching him on TV and she notes that he’s being much funnier there than he is at home. Heh.

The ex in question is Natasha, to whom he was briefly married. They remain close friends and take equal responsibility in raising Elena. She says they didn’t work out because he’s a frat boy. As far as his womanizing goes, he really knows how to talk to a woman. And his salsa dancing – well, that’s how he got her! She doesn’t foresee him settling down any time soon – he’ll be a womanizer til the day he dies. As she says this, we see Robert saying he doesn’t want to come home to the same woman night after night – he wants a different woman every night.

But Rob only has one woman who has his heart, Elena. Awww. She says a bunch of cute things about him. She misses him most when she watches the show. Natasha notes that Erika is, aside from herself, the only real relationship Nathan has ever had. She’s sure he still has feelings for Erika because of that, and it’s certainly been hurtful for him to have her there. Natasha is not happy Erika nominated him, but she knows she didn’t have a choice.

Speaking of Erika, we cut to her in the HOH room with Julie ready to interrogate her. Julie notes that Erika had said in the past that being HOH could put a big target on your back. Did she purposely throw earlier competitions and wait ‘til now? Well, Erika hems and haws, she knew coming in that she would have to win a competition when she felt targeted. That was the case last week, so there was no way anybody could get her out of that cage. She didn’t purposely lose other competitions, but she says she had people’s backs so if they didn’t win, she was right there behind with second or third. Uh huh. Sure sounds like she threw them on purpose to me.

Moving on, Julie wonders if there is any circumstance that would cause her to betray Jack? Erika says she’s been toying with that for a few weeks. She doesn’t think she can betray him.

Now that she has made up with Robert, is it safe to say that the two of them will be friends outside the house? Erika doesn’t know if she’d go that far, but it’s never good to have an enemy or carry anger. It felt good to make up. So, inside the house, at least, can she trust him? It’s war, Erika says. Neither of their strategy will change, so no.

Time for the next vote. Jee has to choose between his pals. It’s an extremely tough day, he says, because he has to cast a vote against one of his teammates and friends. He notes that Justin can be used as a shield for himself, as others would aim for Justin. So he votes to evict Robert. Hmmm.

Speaking of Jee and the other two, it’s time for a look back at the Three Stooges, now about to become Two. We see numerous clips of them and hear from them as well. Robert says they truly became like brothers. Jee says the best thing was meeting them. Justin is surprised he became such good friends with them – he never thought something like this would happen. He says it’s good to see people who have the same fire inside that he has. Jee is very sad that the dream team will be separated this week. They have an awesome connection. Rob, always good for a hyperbolic statement, says their alliance is like nobody else has ever had in the history of the game (oh please). Rob feels like a better person because he met Jee and Justin. They are going to be friends for life. Jee feels terrible that he’s safe this week while other two are on the block. Justin says friendship with those two is more important than half a million dollars. Rob says it’s destiny that they met, they are friends for life, etc. OK, enough already!

Time for Julie to get final words from Justin and Robert. Justin says it’s been great playing this crazy game with all of them. He will remember each of them for a long time and feels very fortunate to have played with such amazing alliances and against such worthy opponents. Robert thanks Erika for making up and also thanks the two HouseGuests with whom he will have a friendship for the rest of his life.

The final two voters are Jun and Alison. Jun says it’s definitely time to break up their alliance (as if she has a choice at this point, since both nominees are in that alliance!). They are playing well and basically survived until now because other people were bigger targets (wait, isn’t that her strategy?). She says Rob might just sneak into finals and that has to be stopped! No official vote shown from her, though.

Alison doesn’t trust Robert. He’s a manipulator. And what’s worse – he’s fidgety! Having Justin around is like a security blanket and she thinks he wouldn’t go deliberately after me. Again, no vote shown.

Before we find out who is evicted, we check in on the two who have already lost the vote and are sitting around the sequester house. We are told that the jury will still keep some tabs on former HouseGuests – but they won’t see anything that betrays confidences or any Diary Room entries. First we see Dana playing around in a nice little paradise. There’s a pool, drinks, sunning, beach, etc. But she’s waiting for people to join her and hopes it gets better as others start arriving. She doesn’t know who is coming ‘til he walks in the door. It’s… Nathan! She laughs! She is happy to see Nathan, though she didn’t think she would be. Nathan had mixed feelings, but he says they will get along fine. She is not surprised to see him, as she knew he wouldn’t be too far behind her. They watch the HOH competition that Justin won (before Nathan was booted). Dana says she misses Justin a lot more than she thought she would, but at the same time she’s glad he’s still in the game. Yeah, hold that thought. As Alison is shown on TV, Nathan makes a face. He says he felt betrayed by her and hopes see her next (don’t count on it). Dana tells Nathan he should have listened to her about Alison!

OK, it’s finally time to find out who is evicted. It seemed obvious for pretty much the entire week that it would be Justin, but would Alison and Jun change their minds?

Nope.

By a vote of three to one, Justin is evicted. Hugs and kisses all around. After Justin leaves, Erika and Alison are hugging, while Alison is all tears. Oh please.

When Justin gets to Julie, she notes that Rob was the first to leave the cage in the HOH competition and then Jee made a deal for his own safety. Does he feel betrayed? No. They guaranteed Jee his safety ten minutes into it and he stayed six hours. Rob had a migraine and knew he wasn’t going to beat Erika anyway.

Julie notes that Justin entered house a fierce competitor, but this past week he didn’t campaign to stick around – why not? He notes that the situation was awkward against Robert. His loyalty goes to the end of game, so there was no way he would campaign. Julie wonders if he came into the house to make friends or to win? A little of both. He came in not knowing who would be here and formed his strategy around what he had after he saw everybody.

How does he feel about being beaten by his ex? It doesn’t bother him at all. Alison is also a fierce competitor; she’s very intelligent and can be very convincing. The way she plays can get her a long way. So how does he like her chances? He doesn’t know – the way she is playing will get her far, but he doesn’t think it will win game. (I tend to agree – unless she pairs up against Jun in the finals, as I noted in my article on How Alison Can Win, which I wrote before I ever knew Alison and Jun had done exactly what I recommended!)

Does he see his relationship with Dana picking up where it left off? Sure. Whether it goes anywhere, he doesn’t know. They can almost start over again now that they’re out of the official house.

Next, we see the usual taped messages. Jack says Justin is the kind of person that the FBI recruits – intelligent, focused, etc. When the game is over, Jack says he wants to talk to him about entering federal law enforcement. Jee says he will always have his back inside and outside the house (um, like he did in the cage?); they will be lifelong friends. Alison says she is proud to consider him her ex. I’m not sure that’s a compliment. She says he deserves better than to be cooped up with her for another month. Well, that’s definitely true! Rob says he will always be there for Justin, a friend for life.

Time for Justin to leave and a new HOH to be crowned. Previously, the HouseGuests had a chance to practice the game (amusingly, Julie says they’ve had time in the last couple hours, but then they later show a clip of Robert saying something about the competition “tomorrow”). Jack says he needs to protect Erika ‘cus she can’t compete. Alison will make people think she’s trying, but she’s not really – all of them think she’s on their side, so if she wins HOH, she has to go against one side or the other. If she’s not HOH, she can side with the winner. (I love the fact that she really thinks she has them all fooled, as if they don’t know she jumps to whichever side is in control.) Jee says it’s do or die. Rob says they have to win.

For the competition, each is given a single bocce-type ball. They have to roll the ball down a course with bumps and swerves and the like, with a hole near the end. The one closest to the hole without going in wins. If the ball goes in the hole or off the course, they are out. If there is a tie, both players roll again.

Alison is first. She rolls the ball pretty close to the hole and she doesn’t look too happy about that, though she hides the face she makes from the other HouseGuests. Jee is next, and lucky for Alison, he gets closer. So Alison is out. Robert’s shot is not as good as Jee’s. Jun is next – nope, a couple inches further than Jee’s ball. Jack has to get this. Can he come through? NO! TERRIBLE shot! He chokes again on a challenge. Jee is the new HOH. Robert is ecstatic! So much for the Jack & Erika alliance, which is doomed as soon as Jee makes his nominations. Bye, Jack.

After we leave the HouseGuests, Julie says they have gotten pretty comfortable with the game, so we’ll tell them we’re about to stir things up. Oooh. But of course, we won’t actually find out what the newest twist is now. Instead, we have to wait until Saturday (instead of Friday), when we’ll find out about the twist that will put each HouseGuest’s character to the test. Huh? Then, Tuesday we’ll see how it all plays out. I wonder if it’s another test like last year, where they bribed one HouseGuest to turn on the others.

So now that Julie has told us that there will be a twist, it’s time to tell the HouseGuests. First she notes that Jee is the first person this season to get HOH twice. How important was it for him to get it? He says it was life or death for his team. He focused and asked his dad for help. Does he know who he wants to nominate? He says that’s not his style. He has a lot of talking to do, and it will be revealed later, at the official ceremony.

With that chit-chat over, Julie tells them that they always told the HouseGuests not to get too comfortable and to expect the unexpected. Well, the unexpected begins tomorrow! That’s all she says. As her image fades from their TV set, Alison and Jee are yelling, “WAIT! Wait! What was that?!” A twist. Alison is fanning herself like some Southern lady in an old movie. Jee says he’s not going to worry about it – when it comes, it comes. Robert thinks maybe it’s just that they are closing a room off. But Jack says that really wouldn’t be a big twist.

And so we leave them as they mull over what might be happening to them…

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David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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