Big Brother recap: Wednesday August 17, 2011

With Daniele as the Head of Household and with Adam and Brendon now on the block, who will win the Power of Veto? Will the veteran power couples be able keep all of their own in the game? Will Adam join the vets or defect to Daniele’s alliance with newbies Kalia and Porsche? What wheeling and dealing is going on behind the scenes to secure the alliances and the votes? We’ll find out tonight on Big Brother!

We get a recap of Daniele’s nomination ceremony putting Adam and Shelly on the block, with reasoning that goes back to two weeks ago. Rachel is “so excited” that she and Jeff are not on the block. Shelly, on the other hand, is fuming. Shelly goes in and talks with Daniele. Shelly accuses Porsche of “making up this stuff. She’s the little troublemaker”, but a black-and-white video flashback shows that indeed Shelly did strike a final 3 deal with Brendon and Rachel. Guess who’s the real trouble maker?

Adam drops in on Daniele next. She makes it clear to him if he’s not with them (Daniele, Kalia and Porsche) then he’s against them and he doesn’t really have an answer for that, without any deals to offer.

Rachel and Brendon kiss up and agree that Shelly’s going to be the one to get voted out. Shelly goes and blabs to almost everyone in the house that Porsche told everyone that she and Brendon and Rachel made a final 3 deal. Oh, ho, in walks Porsche! Now we’re going to get to the bottom of this. Powwow time! Everyone is present except Daniele and Adam (who somehow has a knack for missing anything important).

Shelly: “Porsche! We’ve got a couple questions for you.”
Porsche: “Ok…”
Shelly: “Evidently, you said that Rachel told you that Brendon, Rachel and I have a final three deal and Rachel says she’s never told you that.”
Porsche: “Rachel said you wanted a deal, but she didn’t trust you so there’s not going to be a deal.”
Shelly: (to Rachel) “And that’s what you said?”
Rachel: “Yeah.”
Shelly: (sarcastically) “That’s great, Rachel. That is not what I told you, Rachel.”

And then it breaks up into I-told-you I-didn’t-tell-you accusations. It comes down to Rachel saying, “everything’s coming from Shelly.” Jordan in Diary Room says doesn’t know who’s lying and it bothers her. Well, Shelly can kiss any relationship that she had with Rachel and Brendon goodbye, and probably the other power couple, too. And she’s never had the trust of Dani and the other newbies. Shelob Shelly has been caught in her own entangled webs within the lair that is the Big Brother House.

Shelly is still steaming, lighting a cigarette, smoke coming out her nostrils like the evil dragon Smaug himself. There’s a smoke fest going on with her, Jeff and Adam outside, with Jordan snacking on elven cakes, so finally Adam gets a clue what’s going on. Shelly is cracking apart in tears as she defends herself with Jeff and Jordan, pointing at Rachel as a liar. “I hate people who lie.”

Now, it’s time for the Power of Veto competition selections. Daniele picks Jordan from the key bag, while Shelly picks Kalia and Adam picks Jeff. So, it’s these six who are playing in the Veto competition. “Enjoy the view, it’s going to be a good one,” Shelly exclaims in the diary room, mentioning Rachel and Brendon. Daniele now sees an opportunity to take a shot at Brendon and Rachel.

Now it’s time for America’s vote to select the Have Not foods: 1) Beets and bologna 2) Dates and durian and 3) Hard boiled eggs and Jalapenos. Hold on, here. I lived in SE Asia for twenty years and I can tell you from first-hand experience that everyone will suffer if durians are allowed in the house. They are so pungent that the whole house will reek of them, even days after they’re no longer in the house. Hotels and guests houses in SE Asia ban them from even being brought inside. So if you really want them all to suffer, just text number 2.

The Veto competition is a farm yard and Jeff says he’s “hankering for a hay ride.” And a roll in the hay with Jordan, no doubt. The object of the game is to toss bean bags into corn holes. There is a single 1 hole and the drop slots are numbered. The highest score goes out. Depending on the finish order, they will be awarded a bucket with corn and some kind of prize in it, including the PoV necklace. Shelly completely misses the barn and is taken out of the game. She gets the PoV bucket, but the remaining players can take it from her by trading what they get for it.

Jordan gets 24-hour solitary confinement, but it also comes with a call from home. Then she and Shelly agree to trade and Shelly is grateful. Jeff calls Jordan an “angel on earth” for her magnimity. We can’t disagree with that. She is a sweetheart. Kalia gets a vacation and she keeps it as she knows someone else will take the PoV. Adam keeps telling Jeff to let him win and Dani confirms to Jeff that he’s not a target, so Jeff considers throwing the comp.

Daniele gets the Veto Ticket which guarantees playing in next week’s Veto competition. Daniele decides to keep it for the sake of game play, even with a vacation she could take from Kalia. Adam barely wins the final round 8-7, so Jeff gets the draw and picks $5,000, while Adam picks the Humilitard. He gives it to Jordan and takes the Power of Veto necklace. So now Adam is able to take himself off the block!

Brendon and Rachel are now worried. Brendon offers with Rachel to sacrifice himself to keep Rachel in the game. He tells her to settle down so she doesn’t put a target on both of them. Daniele is already talking with Jeff about putting Brendon on the block. Rachel’s name comes up as he’d rather have Rachel out. In diary room, he says his priority is to keep him and Jordan in the game. Daniele reassures Jeff that he and Jordan are safe.

Twenty four hours confinement isn’t pleasant in the padded room, without any comforts and only slop to eat. But Shelly tearfully considers it a small price to pay to be able to talk home. Meanwhile, Jordan is dressed up as the Humilitard. The costume has a Dunce cap and I’m With Stupid shirt and ballerina frills. It looks silly and might be a bit uncomfortable to wear.

Meanwhile Dani tells Kalia about the truce with Rachel and Brendon, and the only the four of them know about it. Kalia claps like seal about to be fed its fish!

Now Shelly finally gets the call home. She’s in tears talking with hubby and her daughter. Aw… little girl cries on the phone and mama cries with her. They’re pulling for mom, although they’re missing her mightily. Even hubby cries after they talk. Yeah, we’re past 30 days and there are possibly a lot more days to go. Unlike some free-as-can-be singles, it’s not easy for a family person. Finally, solitary confinement is over and the gang welcome Shelly back into the house.

Brendon and Rachel are the next to visit Daniele. They’re kind of hinting at Jordan. Rachel says in diary room that they’re with Jeff and Jordan, but they’re also keeping themselves off the block. Daniele says that she doesn’t have a deal with Jeff, but she doesn’t give any indication who she intends to put on the block with Shelly. “I’ll think about it,” she says. She doesn’t look very convinced about what Rachel and Brendon are suggesting. With Shelly on the block, Adam already safe, and Kalia and Porsche as her allies, it’ll have to be one of the veteran power couple House guests that go on the block.

It’s time for the Veto meeting. Adam cheerfully removes himself off the block and without too much in the way of preliminaries, Daniele puts Brendon on the block.

We’ve got an interesting vote coming up, possibly split between the veteran power couples and Dani’s newbie alliance, with Adam in the balance. Will it be a 3-3 tie with Daniele breaking the tie?

Stay tuned!