Kathy pleads for her safety to Ragan, saying something about having had cancer and saying the chemo she took causes leukemia. In the DR, she says she’s doing the show to earn money to put her son through college, and seemingly also to support her mascara habit. Later, she pleads her case to Kristen. Andrew DRs that he feels like a leper, and he has no one to talk to, even crying in the DR. Suddenly, he shows up in the bathroom to tell Kathy and Kristen that he doesn’t appreciate being played like a fiddle. This very quickly escalates into a shouting match that makes no sense, seeing as we’ve never once seen Andrew and Kristen interact, and now they are fighting like close friends with lots of history. Wait…is that a hint, show? Kristen says Andrew’s threatening her, which is sort of hilarious. Britney, Lane and Rachel hear everything through the door.
The stupid brigade debates keeping Kathy, who is useless, versus keeping Andrew, who is now a bigger target after the fight they just heard and they reason will keep the target off their collective backs. You know, the most annoying thing about this group of blowhards is that they all think they are master manipulators and making all these genius moves, when it really all comes down to dumb luck that they haven’t been nominated yet.
Julie starts her chat with the houseguests by talking to Rachel about how surprised she is not to be on the block this week. She is “super thankful” . What does Lane miss most about home? He says spotlighting and everyone laughs. Apparently, this is a charming pastime wherin you shoot when you see the whites of a creature’s eyes in a tree. That’s adorable! There is then an awkward exchange between Enzo (“I think I speak great”) and Julie, where she asks him to pronounce “dog”, “coffee”, and “I reckon I won’t be on slop next week”, at which point she announces a one week break from slop for the whole house.
In a filler segment, we find out that Matt’s wife Stacey doesn’t agree with his big lie about her supposed illness and talks about the “repercautions” it might have on him in and out of the house. She says he’s very smart but lacks common sense. We get scenes of Brendon telling Matt he’ll help him find the top researcher on the disease when they get out (and the panic behind Matt’ eyes) and a scene of Andrew, Kathy and Matt discussing people telling lies about sick or dying family members, which they pronounce “disgusting”. Matt, for his part, says “TOTALLY.” Wow, he’s sort of screwed now, isn’t he?
In his HOH interview with Julie, Matt is proud of his lie and says he’s already got three jury votes all sewn up. Julie asks an actual follow up question (I KNOW!) about how it might bite him in the butt. He acknowledges that it might really suck. She’s on a roll and asks about not nominating Brendon and Rachel. He says he has to look out for #1 by not put putting up B&R even though that’s what the alliance wanted; he feels he’s secured his safety for a few more weeks, at least. He also thinks the only weak link in the Brigade is Hayden, because of Kristen. His stupid hair and fidgeting annoy me to no end.
Kathy gives a nice “last plea” speech about staying herself. It’s a nice palate cleanser for Andrew, who proceeds to GO OFF , saying he wasn’t out to get Rachel & Brendan because the real threat to everyone is secret couple Hayden and Kristen. He outs their late night hookups and then lets loose with tidbits he’s heard them uttering about Britney, Ragan, Lane & Enzo. He says Kristen is a “tin man” and cares about no one. She’s sitting there with her mouth wide open while Hayden does a slow burn across the couch.
Probably thanks to the fact that his speech sounded mildly insane, whether or not it was all true (it probably was), the houseguests are unswayed and Andrew gets whacked with an 8-0 vote. He hugs or shakes hands with everyone except Kristen. He wishes everyone “Mazel Tov” (which translates to “good luck”) and several of the others shoot it back at him. Poor, oddball Andrew. I wanted to root for you, but you were so frustrating.
When Julie sits him down, she asks him why he didn’t blackmail Hayden & Kristen instead of dropping the bombshell on live TV? Andrew says that’s a great idea. Oh, Andrew. She asks if he regrets trying to hide his friendship with Brendon. He says he does, a little, but if I were him, I’d regret my speeches that made no sense and the weird noises I made on TV that made it sound like I was being tortured. Julie asks about Andrew being suspicious of Matt’s wife’s made up illness, and she tells him the real deal.
In the goodbye videos, Matt is sorry; Kristen says his lack of communication was his downfall. Brendon thanks him for being his friend, Kathy is sweet, and Hayden is impressed with how he handled his faith in the house. Rachel sticks to her theme of nobody getting between her and her man, adding the line “especially not another man (ew)!” Nails on a chalkboard, people.
This week’s HOH competition consists of questions about previous competitions with the answer being either HOH, Veto or Have/Have Not. The fastest to answer wins the point with a right answer; answer wrong and you’re out.
Hayden beats Britney in the first round, Rachel beats Brendon in the second; Kristen then beats Hayden; Next, Kathy buzzes in with the wrong answer, so Rachel wins the round by default. Kristen next beats Enzo, and Rachel wins over Ragan. Lane beats Kristen in his first try and is up against Rachel for the deciding question. Rachel wins HOH AGAIN. While she still annoys the living shit out of me, this is better than a freaking brigade member winning again. It’s all about small victories with this group, friends. Rachel is sobbing with her head buried in Brendon’s chest.
Julie announces that there will be another Pandora’s Box in the house (like back when Natalie saw her fiancé and acted like she was having a root canal!) The prize is that someone could become the new saboteur; The House Guest with the most votes will get the chance to “wreak havoc”, survive the next two weeks and win $20K. Though it will be revealed to us next Thursday, the reveal to the selected houseguest is on Sunday 8/8. I’m rooting for the “winner” to say no, personally. I love it when the producers’ plans are spoiled!
See you Sunday for all the fallout from Andrew’s big speech and the argument we get to see brewing in the backyard post-HOH. Could things finally be getting interesting? Well, we won’t hold our breath.
