Big Brother 17 Episode 16 Recap and Live Blog

A new episode of Big Brother 17 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.

Jackie and Vanessa won the HoH competition, and together they formed an eight-person alliance with Clay, Shelli, Becky, James, Meg, and Jason. They then came up with an elaborate plan for Jackie to stay in power and for Austin to be backdoored. Vanessa nominated Clay and Becky since they are two strong competitors and would likely win the Battle of the Block. Jackie nominated Liz and James, and James was instructed to throw the Battle of the Block. If all went according to plan, Clay and Becky would be safe for the week and Liz and James would remain on the block. Afterwards, the Power of Veto would be used on James, Jackie would name Austin as the replacement nominee, and Austin would be evicted. Well, the plan backfired after Clay and Becky lost the Battle of the Block and Liz won it all on her own. Now that Vanessa is still in power, will she still be on board with backdooring her former ally Austin? And will either Clay or Becky be saved with the Power of Veto? Let’s find out!

After the Battle of the Block, Vanessa and Shelli are very disappointed the plan fell through. Vanessa really did not want to remain HoH and be forced to go through with the plan of backdooring Austin. James apologizes to Clay and Becky and assures them that he did try to throw the competition. Meanwhile, Liz realized that James threw the competition due to how little he contributed in the challenge. She shares her concerns to Austin, and now he is worried that Liz was the target all along. He goes talk to Vanessa about this, but she lies and tells him that there was nothing fishy going on.

Later, we see Liz and Austin cuddling and flirting in their bed. Austin has fallen for Liz, but she admits in the diary room she has no romantic feelings for him. Austin then sneaks a kiss, and Liz expresses her disgust about it in the diary room. Austin, however, has no idea Liz is not interested in him.

It’s time to pick players for the Power of Veto competition. Vanessa draws HouseGuest Choice and picks Shelli, Clay draws John, and Becky draws Liz. Afterwards, Vanessa, Shelli, and Jackie talk about letting Liz in on the plan about backdooring Austin. They agree that they should tell Liz after the competition since they don’t know what her reaction to the plan will be. They fear she could win the Power of Veto and not use it to keep Austin safe.

The Power of Veto competition is next. The six competitors dress up in squirrel costumes and must roll an acorn up an an inclined platform back and forth without dropping it. If they drop their acorn at any time, they must restart at 0. The first to roll it back and forth 250 times without dropping the acorn will win the Power of Veto.  Clay gets in the lead very early and no one else is even close to overtaking him. They all drop their acorns several times, except for Clay and John. Clay still has his lead, but takes a break after rolling it over 200 times. However, he is still too far ahead and he easily rolls his acorn to 250 times without dropping it once. Clay wins the Power of Veto!

After the Power of Veto competition, Becky is feeling defeated. She is disappointed in herself for losing three competitions in a row and that she has to remain on the block on Thursday. Elsewhere, Vanessa and Shelli inform Liz about why they’re going to backdoor Austin. They tell her the whole story about Austin revealing the twins to Jason and selling out Julia. Vanessa asserts that Austin is only interested in hooking up with Liz in the jury house and is not good for their alliance. Liz, however, still believes that Austin will be loyal to them. She also brings up the point that if they get rid of Austin, then they lose a number in their alliance. Vanessa and Shelli are now reconsidering this backdoor Austin plan. Vanessa then talks to Austin privately and she informs him that Austin was the target all week long. Vanessa cries to Austin and says she feels betrayed by him. She also admits that she is strongly considering putting him on the block. Austin panics and assures her that he will never go against Vanessa in the house. Vanessa says she already gave her word to the house, but agrees that Austin just made a dumb mistake and wouldn’t go after her in the game. She then tells him that he will have to convince Shelli and Clay to keep him for her to consider keeping him too. Austin goes downstairs to talk to Shelli and Clay. He comes clean about everything and apologizes for revealing about the twins. Shelli agrees that Austin is a number for them and believes that the Sixth Sense alliance has to stick together.

As a reward for winning the Battle of the Block, Vanessa, Liz, and James get to enjoy an Outback Steakhouse dinner. They also get to invite a guest. Vanessa chooses Becky, Liz chooses Austin, and James chooses Clay. After the dinner, Vanessa, Shelli, and Clay talk about what the right plan of action is. Vanessa admits that they will create no enemies if they get rid of Austin, but Clay points out that Austin is a number for them. It’s a tough decision since they will either lose a number or clearly draw a line in the sand. They agree it wouldn’t be right to send home Becky since she volunteered to be on the block and Vanessa already promised Jackie she wouldn’t backdoor her. James is already safe with winning the Battle of the Block and people would send home Becky if Meg was on the block with her. So the option is to either nominate Austin or Jason. Vanessa is very unsure what to do since she’ll either be breaking her word to the eight-person alliance or losing a loyal ally that could be valuable to keep in the game.

At the Veto Ceremony, Clay used the Power of Veto on himself. Vanessa named Jason as the replacement nominee. Jason, Jackie, James, and Meg are completely blindsided. They’re furious with Vanessa, but in the diary room Vanessa says she made the move that was best for her individual game.

And that wraps up another episode of Big Brother 17! Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow night for the live eviction.

About Steven Curtis 539 Articles
Steven is a graduate of the University of West Florida with a bachelor's degree in communication arts. He enjoys watching reality competition shows, such as American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race.