Big Brother 4, September 3: Alliance of Mistrust

We’ll skip right past the recap and directly to Julie Chen, who tells us that it’s a battle of the sexes as the remaining three women take on the last two men. She tells us that the fate of the Big Brother house lies in Alison’s hands – will she use the Veto on herself, or is she so confident (stupid) that she will let the house vote? C’mon, Julie, this isn’t Marcellas we’re talking about. Nobody else is that stupid! Big Brother 4 will hold its first live Veto meeting and Julie tells us that anything can happen. Sure it can. We already know the outcome, Julie. Tonight is just a chance to make it official.

Jun talks about how she took the power away from Alison by nominating her and therefore controlling both nominations and Veto. We finally get to see the clip of Jun telling Alison ahead of time that she was going to do it (I guess the editors wanted it to be a surprise yesterday), immediately followed by Rob telling Jee that he doesn’t think Alison saw it coming. He says if it was planned, that means they’re still together. Brilliant deduction, Watson! Jee assures Rob that it’s not like they’re even a tight alliance. Meanwhile, that not-a-tight-alliance makes fun of the men and Erika even does a little happy dance. Heh.

Jee and Rob talk about how much they don’t like Alison. Jee doesn’t respect the type of game she’s playing (respect it or not, she’ll still be here after tonight, and I’m betting you won’t). The guys both say there is lots of luck involved in her being there. OK, guys, whatever lets you sleep at night.

Privately, Rob tells us that he is sure he can manipulate the three women if Jee leaves tonight, leaving Rob as the last guy with three women. As an example of his brilliant abilities to manipulate, we see him follow Erika into the bedroom and ask if, when this is all over, they can go out. She says, “On a date?!” He backs down a bit and says hanging out, but then asks well, what if it was a date? The face she makes in the Diary Room is priceless. But to him, she says she’ll have to think about it. As she later tells us privately, she doesn’t want to upset him for strategic reasons. But, come on!

Moving on to the other ex-couple, Jun talks about how she has Jee’s fate in her hands. He pleads with her and says that he won’t come after her if he stays. Privately, he says they still have a secret alliance. Privately, she says the alliance is gone. Heh.

Switching duos again, Erika says that aligning with Alison is the smartest move at the moment. Alison says that she wants Erika out! Heh again. Erika hasn’t annoyed the jury members, so Alison realizes that Erika would probably win a final two vote.

Hey, look – more of Jee and Rob bitching to each other about Alison! You just can’t get enough of that. Rob says he hates her and wants her out, but he also recognizes that he needs to be up against her in the end to win. Life’s rough, Rob. Rob once again assures Jee and himself that the women don’t have an alliance, they’re just a bunch of @$$#oles hanging out together. Nice.

Alison talks to us about how last year at this time, Marcellas had the power to veto himself and was on the block, but didn’t use it. He was voted out. (And immediately inducted into the Reality TV Hall of Shame, though for some reason Alison doesn’t mention that part.) If she uses the Veto on herself, one option for Jun would be to put up Rob. Alison says she wants to be in the final two against Rob, so she obviously doesn’t want to see him voted out. So she’s thinking she might surprise everybody. Oh my.

Time to go live! Julie tells Jun that she looked great at the MTV awards last week. What was the most memorable moment? Having privacy in her own bedroom and bathroom to do as she wished when she wished. Alison, if the limo was waiting for you and you could have gone anywhere you wanted, where would you have chosen? She says she probably would have gone home to see her “boyfriend”’s first football game of the season. Oh please.

Robert, how will you deal with being the last man in the house if Jee leaves? Rob lies through his teeth and says he’ll be a lucky guy to be with the three women. Julie asks if it’s because of the company he’ll have or because he’s made it that far in the game. He says the game. Julie presses on and asks what that says about the company. He hesitates and says he’s just looking forward to ending the game soon.

Is Erika surprised that the tables have turned and the women now outnumber the men? No, because it was a strong and smart group of women. Jee, this week was not only your birthday, but also your anniversary with Carmen – do you have anything to say to her? He says he can’t wait to see her, blah blah blah.

The next segment is introduced by Julie, saying that almost everyone plays fast and loose with the facts in this game. Could Robert be one of them? Is the Pope Catholic? We see a number of clips of Rob saying he knows actors and other famous and well-connected people. Erika thinks he’s a great liar, but he gets called out – he’s a “lying, cheating, son of a bitch. He’s a conman.” For example, we see him talking about how he’s a restaurant manager with great connections, but Erika points out that he got fired and doesn’t work there anymore. She doesn’t know if anything that comes out of his mouth is true, but Jee seems to be falling for it hook, line, and sinker. In the Diary Room, he talks about some of the people he knows, like Cameron Diaz and Barry Drewmore. Um. Who?

Alison says she doesn’t believe a word he says either. She would even go so far as to doubt that his name is “Robert.” If that had come from anybody but Alison, that would have earned a “Heh.” Erika discusses that she hopes Rob is lying for a strategic reason and doesn’t have some sort of problem. Alison notes that he lies about dumb things, so of course he would lie about the game.

We now go back live so Julie can talk to Jun. Julie says she has been a master of balancing several secret alliances, including one with Jee. But she’s declared that one now over. Jun nods in agreement. She says that alliance was to get her far enough along in the game so she didn’t need his help any further and she wouldn’t have to help him anymore because he has his own alliances. She doesn’t need him in the house now – he’s a threat. Julie asks if Jun has clued in Jee to the fact that it’s over, and Jun says Jee thinks she’s still on his side and will somehow keep him in the house – but that’s not happening. Julie laughs and says that even though Jun nominated him, Jee thinks it’s all part of some master plan. Jun says that Jee is still naïve and thinks that she still has some nurturing feelings toward him. But she wants him out. Still, he’s a potential vote if Jun is in the finals, so she needs to be nice. Julie says, “Oh, it is a fine balancing act.” Thank you, Ms. Strategy.

How concerned was Jun that Jee or Robert might win Veto? Jun says that Jee isn’t really interested in mainstream pop culture, so he would have no idea and she wasn’t worried. Rob can’t sit down and watch anything for more than five minutes, so she wasn’t worried about him either. Ouch.

So who does Jun trust more right now, Alison or Erika? Jun wisely says she doesn’t trust either of them, but she thinks Alison wants to go with her to the finals rather than with Erika, so it’s kind of an “alliance of mistrust.” She does think her alliance with Alison will take her to the end – she would love to go up against Alison in the end, because she knows that Alison has many enemies both inside and outside the house.

Before we can find out what’s going on with Alison and the veto, it’s time to check in with the Jury House. Justin says that being sequestered has been a treat – we see him and Dana making out in the pool. He says the relationship has progressed well. She says they’ve been in the pool quite a bit, but she feels bad that Nathan is a third wheel. It’s cool that he’s given them some space, though. Nathan shares that he asked Justin to go run and Justin said that he already got in his cardio for the day. Gosh, I wonder what he might mean!

Time for the three to find out who is next to join them. Nathan was hoping it would be Alison so he could have his own snugglebunny. Nope, it’s Jack – I don’t think that will work out well as far as snuggling. Nathan says he was very surprised to see Jack. But not as surprised as Jack is as he’s reading by the pool and the other three sneak up on him to bombard him with water balloons. Justin nails him once in the head, but Jack says only two of the balloons hit him, which is typical of how they competed in the BB house.

Finally, time for the live Veto meeting. So, Alison, what are you going to do, and why? Alison stands up and says she is part of a team of two – er, three – very strong women (she actually makes that slip, I’m not just inserting an opinion of my own here). She wants to prove how much they trust each other, so she has decided not to use the power of veto… on Jee. But she’ll use it on herself. It was a valiant attempt to fool us, and it apparently worked on Julie Chen, as she says that Alison made people’s hearts leap both in the house and on the staff. On the staff? Why?

Anyway, Jun now has to put somebody up in Alison’s place. She says everybody knew why she put Alison up, so they won’t be surprised to know that Robert takes Alison’s place on the block.

Julie asks how he feels, and he says he expected it so he’s okay.

Must be time for them to make their final pleas! Jee first: It’s been a long uphill battle for all of them. He says he’s honored to have made it this far against worthy opponents like them. (Damn! He just blew out my BS detector. Now I’ll have to get another one – one with a higher tolerance.) He only requests that they not give him a sad goodbye when he is voted out because his true grand prize waits at home. Awww. He quickly adds that he’d still like to stay, but if not, that’s cool. Robert says that he trusts the others will make the right decision. Whatever that may be, he’s fine with it. He also says they are all strong players. That’s about it.

Time to vote. Alison heads to the Diary Room and says, “I vote to evict Jee.” No surprise there. Erika next. “I vote to evict Jee.” No surprise there either.

So, by a score of two to nothing, Jee is gone. They escort him to the door as the women kiss up to him and tell him he was a strong player. Hugs all around and he’s gone!

So it’s the Jee and Julie show. Jee says that he can’t believe he’s out. Julie points out that he’s a big threat and Jee says that he does take it as a compliment. He adds that he cares for everybody there but he’s happy to be out. Julie asks, “All of them?” He very maturely says that it’s a game and he is not going to hold any grudges. But it was hard to live with them. Julie says she asked that specifically because he had the alliance with Jun and didn’t put her up for nomination either of the two times he could have. But first chance she gets, he’s up and out. Does he feel betrayed? No, he knew it was coming – she had said that business is business. She was brutally honest with him and had said that if it came to the time that she needed to put him up, she would.

Julie reminds him that Jun is his ex (really?) and asks what the future holds. He says they hadn’t spoken for three years before the game and so he doesn’t know if the future holds anything. He just hopes for the best for her and Bob. Julie says that’s very kind of him.

So, he left Robert there with the women – how will he handle it? Jun says probably not well. Julie points out that Rob had referred to the three remaining women as “bitches, sluts, and whores.” Julie! This is the family hour of TV! Jee laughs and says that Rob does have some issues against the “opposite gender” and hopes he won’t call the women that to their faces.

Time for special goodbye messages. Jun: I guess it was time for you to go. The alliance we had helped us equally but it’s gotten down to just a few of us and there was no way I could really protect you because you were such a strong player. Alison: I’m going to miss your jokes, your smiles, your stories, etc. I want you to know that the outside world has no limits for you. Erika: You will be missed. You’ve touched all our lives. Good luck in the future. Rob: I can’t believe you’re leaving me with these three girls. It’s going to be really tough without you. I’m going to do it for the Dream Team. I’ll miss you but I’m looking forward to our friendship outside the house. See you very soon. (Yeah, especially if you don’t win HOH!)

Speaking of winning HOH, it’s time for the competition! The three who can win are sitting with small walls between them. Looks like a competition about the evictees. They will be told an incomplete statement made by one of the four current jury members (not including Jee). If they choose the right ending, they get a point. At the end of eight, the one with the most right wins.

1. Dana said, “I was never more pissed off than the time…” A) she learned of Alison’s plot to evict her, or B) Nathan vetoed Alison. All guess B. Correct.
2. Justin said, “The most shocking surprise in the season for me was when…” A) he walked into the living room and saw Alison, or B) Michelle was evicted instead of Erika. Alison guesses A, the other two guess B. B is correct.
3. Jack said, “I think the most attractive person in the house was…” A) Erika, or B) Nathan. All guess A as Alison laughs. It’s B – Nathan. Nobody gets it. They all laugh.
4. Nathan said, “Julie Chen surprised me most when…” A) she announced that Michelle was leaving, or B) she called Alison my bed buddy. All guess B. Yup. All laugh again.
5. Jack said, “My biggest regret on the show is…” A) losing the HOH competition to Jee, or B) not taking Julie’s offer for the Veto. Oooh, tough one. Erika goes with B while the other two guess A. I’d have gone with B. I’d have been wrong, as was Alison, who is now two points down.
6. Dana said, “Of the exes, the two people who are hardest to picture together are…” A) Rob & Erika, or B) Justin & Alison. Erika goes with B while the other two pick A. B is correct, so Erika leads by a point.
7. Nathan said, “The sexiest person in the house has been…” A) Michelle, or B) Erika. All go with Michelle. Nope, Nathan said Erika. Ooh.
8. Justin said, “The most difficult competition for me was…” A) The clambake from hell, or B) the steel cage match. Now it should be A since he wasn’t even involved in the cage competition. Yup. But Erika went with the cage while Rob had the right answer.

So Erika and Rob tie at five each. Time for a tie-breaker. One question with the answer being a number. The person closest without going over wins. From the moment the exes walked into the house until right now, how many hours have they been in the BB house? Erika says 1440. Rob says 800. The right answer is 1434 hours. So by the stupid rules, even though Erika is only six hours off and actually made an attempt to calculate it, Rob wins. He jumps for joy!!

As we head to the credits, the HouseGuests are discussing how difficult some of the questions were.

So Rob pulled it out – though you might say it was almost by default (if Alison had won that way, he’d have bitched that it was “luck”). So who will be going home? Well, my guess is that he will nominate Jun and Erika. He seems to understand that his best bet to win is against Alison in the final two. Presuming there is no Veto, Alison will likely then vote off Erika because she knows Erika can beat her in the finals. If there is a Veto, who knows how it will end up!

Want to keep up with important events in the house? Check out our Big Brother 4 Spoiler Page for news on who wins contests and other ongoing info.

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

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