A new episode of Big Brother 17 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
Steve is the Head of Household, and he nominated Austin and Liz for eviction. Tonight the Power of Veto competition will take place. Will the Veto be used to save either Austin or Liz from the block? Let’s find out.
After the nomination ceremony, Liz is in tears. She feels betrayed by her friend Steve and is upset to be on the block next to her showmance partner Austin. Steve says in the diary room that he’s done playing a passive and defensive game; he wants to play offensively from here on out. Austin goes to comfort Liz in the comic book room. He reminds her that the two of them and Julia can still be safe if Julia wins the Power of Veto.
Austin and Steve talk in the parlor room. Steve continues to mislead Austin into thinking that he is not the target this week. Austin seems to believe him, but he will likely be evicted if he doesn’t win the Power of Veto. Afterwards, Austin, Liz, and Julia talk in the purple room. They are really hoping that Julia will win the Veto, and they tell her they will throw it to her if they can. If Julia wins the Veto, she could save Liz and force Steve to name either Vanessa or John as the replacement nominee. They are certain Vanessa would be the replacement nominee that they could vote out.
It’s time for the Veto competition. It’s hosted by Season 10 and Season 11 HouseGuest Jessie. Liz and Julia are beside themselves in excitement seeing him, which annoys Austin. Jessie explains the rules. The players will compete against one player at time in a bowling match. The two players will have to spin around 15 times and have 15 seconds to knock down four pins with a bowling ball. After the 15 seconds are up, they must spin around 15 times again. The player to knock down his or her four pins first wins the round.
Round 1: Liz vs Steve. Liz wins the round. Steve is eliminated.
Before Round 2 starts, Vanessa tells Julia to pick Austin to compete against. Everyone is assuming Julia would pick John to give the Austwins a fighting chance if she beats him in the round, but Julia takes Vanessa’s advice and chooses Austin. Austin is now extremely paranoid that he’s the real target, and he even believes Liz and Julia are playing a role in it too. Liz is confused too, but Vanessa tells her that Austin winning the Veto is the worst case scenario. Unknown to them, this is Vanessa’s plan to try to make sure nominations stay the same and that Julia does not win the Veto.
Round 2: Julia vs Austin. Austin wins the round. Julia is eliminated.
Round 3: John vs Liz. John wins the round. Liz is eliminated.
Round 4: Vanessa vs Austin. Austin wins the round. Vanessa is eliminated.
Final round: Austin vs John. Before the round begins, Austin whispers to John that he wants to win and hopes that he will let him win. We then hear from John in the diary room, and he reveals that he did throw the competition since Austin seems to be on board with getting out one of the twins. Austin wins the Power of Veto.
After the competition, Liz tells Julia she was dumb to listen to Vanessa and pick Austin instead of John to compete against. Austin joins the conversation, and he’s also frustrated with Julia’s decision. She says Vanessa told her to and she regrets listening to her. Julia and Liz then confront Vanessa in the bathroom. She tearfully tells them she was not playing them and that Austin was not going to throw the competition to Julia. She says it was never in Austin’s best interest to go to Final 3 with the twins. She insists she was looking out for the twins and that she has information on Austin that she can expose. We then see a flashback of Austin admitting to Vanessa before this week’s HoH competition that he was willing to let one of the twins (preferably Julia) be the next one evicted. The twins are falling for Vanessa’s claims once again. They don’t seem to realize that her plan was just to make sure Julia didn’t win the Veto, but she can use this information on Austin as an excuse.
Liz then asks Austin if there’s anything he hasn’t told her about. He becomes indignant and says this is Vanessa playing him again. He then asks Liz if she was behind any plot to take him out, and she insists she wasn’t. Liz is still suspicious about Austin and walks away from him. She talks to Julia and Vanessa in the bathroom, and Liz says she realizes Austin is selfish. She says Austin is not a knight in shining armor like Clay was for Shelli.
Meanwhile, John and Steve are talking in the HoH room. They’re amused by all the arguing going on downstairs and are glad Vanessa managed to convince Julia to challenge Austin in the competition. Even though they know Vanessa could be playing both sides, they’re glad there now seems to be tension between Vanessa and Austin.
Austin and Vanessa then talk in the parlor room. Vanessa manages to convince Austin that she is still on her side. Austin is still weary of Vanessa, but plays nice since the both of them will still be in the house next week. Afterwards, Austin goes to the comic book room to make amends with Liz. Liz tearfully tells him that his reaction after winning the Veto said a lot and that it won’t end well between them. Austin is perplexed and tells Liz he loves her, but Liz still has her doubts about him. Austin tells her that he has done nothing but look out for her and Julia, but Liz says in the diary room that she won three HoHs and protected him more than he ever did for her. She believes this could be the end of them being a couple. The argument ends with Liz calling Austin disgusting and telling him to go away. After he leaves the room, Julia goes into the bedroom and she vents her frustration with Austin. She’s annoyed that he is still wearing the Veto around his neck hours after the competition already took place. She then throws Austin’s clothes across the room as Liz laughs in amusement.
Before the Veto Ceremony, we see a scene of Liz and Austin managing to make amends. It seems like they won’t be breaking up after all…at least not for now. At the Veto Ceremony, Austin decided to use the Power of Veto on himself. Steve named Julia as the replacement nominee.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Big Brother 17. The twins will be broken up as either Liz or Julia will be evicted tomorrow night. Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow for the live eviction.
