So now that Ryan/Allison and Matt/Natalie have been nominated, Joshuah DRs that Allison has to go "in order for the house to have any type of sanity." Because of course Joshuah won't go off unprovoked on anyone else after she's gone, right? If he and Sharon do somehow win it all, I fully expect him to rip her a new asshole while Julie's handing them their checks. The nominees are varying degrees of nervous, and Chelsia DRs that she really wants Matt and Natalie gone this week.
After the nominations, Joshuah and Sharon head up to the HoH room so he can congratulate himself on not attacking Allison during the meeting. "It was very un-Josh-like," he boasts. Wow, if that's the nicest thing you can say about yourself, it may be time to reassess your strategy.
Matt assures Natalie that they're safe, since Allison is the one everyone's after. He DRs that he hasn't had a good night's sleep in about eight days. He's referring to the stress of being on the block, but at first I thought he was talking about the fact that Natalie always seems to be climbing all over him when they're in bed. So they rejoin a group that includes James and Chelsia and Adam, the latter of whom is amazed that he and Sheila still have never been nominated. "It's all about timing," Adam bug-eyes to the DR camera. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Allison and Natalie are talking to Sheila, who DRs that Allison has actually helped Sheila out her out by screwing up all the time.
Time for a "Needy Needy Natalie" montage, always chasing after Matt for cuddling and/or massages, heedless of the fact that Matt is, as much as I hate to use this expression, Just Not That Into Her. I can't help feeling a little bad for Natalie. Not so much for her romantic desperation, but the fact that she has the face of a comedienne and yet isn't remotely funny.
Allison decides to form a secret alliance with her fellow nominee, Natalie, wherein they'll be the best of friends until eviction, just to make Josh crazy. And then if one of them wins PoV and takes themselves off, Josh will nominate Adam and Sheila to take their place, and then whichever couple gets saved will vote to keep each other. Natalie agrees to the plan, out of gratitude to Allison for "saving" her and Matt last week. Does Natalie realize that "save" does not mean "decide that Matt and Natalie should go, and convince everyone to go along, and then make everyone change their vote at the last minute"? Clearly not. The list of things Natalie is capable of realizing seems rather short. Speaking of which, I would advise Natalie to always do the opposite of whatever Allison suggests, but it's not like Sheila got burned by the stupid "we're lesbians" tactic.
For the PoV competition, the players will be Josh and Sharon as the HoH couple, Matt/Natalie and Ryan/Allison as the nominated couples, and Adam/Sheila as the randomly selected couple. James will host. That leaves only Chelsia with nothing to do except hope that Matt and Natalie don't win it.
While they wait for Big Brother to call them to the competition, Matt goes up to the HoH room to strategize with Joshuah. They both think Ryan and Allison will lose, and Josh promises to de-nominate Matt and Natalie if they win the veto. Which Matt appreciates.
The PoV competition has a Cupid theme, with James all draped in a toga with a laurel crown and a toy bow-and-arrow. The teams head outside to find a fogged-up backyard and four suspension harnesses with angel wings hanging from pulleys. The way it's going to work is that the harnesses will lift the women up above a platform, where they'll have to put together a jigsaw puzzle about twenty feet in the air. The men will be bringing them the pieces, from bins at the far end of the playing field. The first catch is that there are more pieces than they need. The second catch is that the men will be attached to the other end of the cables holding the women, so the women can only be lifted up when their partners are off retrieving pieces from the other end of the playing field. Allison feels confident that she can do well in the puzzle, but Sheila's so afraid of heights she tries to switch with Adam. He wisely doesn't go for it. "She's gonna lift my fat ass?" he says incredulously in the DR.
When the competition starts, Ryan and Allison take an early lead, in running and screaming respectively. One by one, the teams start to realize that teamwork is of the essence here, as the women start frustratedly yelling at their men to stop raising and lowering them all willy-nilly. Adam in particular keeps running back and forth with pieces without making sure Sheila has a hold on them, causing her to fly up and down empty-handed. At least she's too pissed to be afraid of heights this way. Allison is doing well on the puzzle, but when she's down to one piece left -- and it's obvious what piece she needs, because the picture on the puzzle is the PoV symbol -- stupid Ryan keeps running back to her with the wrong piece. That gives Matt and Natalie time to catch up, pass, and beat them. Of course they're both thrilled -- Matt because he can get off the block, and Natalie because it means Matt is happy with her. Everyone else tells us about their reactions to the results, but I'm not going to get into it too much because I'm really looking forward to the commercials.
Okay, back to work. Allison and Ryan sit and mope in the kitchen about how Joshuah hates her for no reason. "He just wants to be a hater," Sheila agrees. Sheila, if you're not going to finish the thought, shut up.
Even though he's safe this week, Matt isn’t resting on his laurels, already strategizing on how to win everyone over. For instance, with Josh, he decides to "appeal to his gay side." This seems to mean, to Matt, dancing around shirtless like a big nelly and kissing Josh on the lips. The hell of it is that it works. I can't decide whether it's Matt or Joshuah who's being more insulting to gay men here.
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For Ryan, Matt makes the move of being his friend, and offers to campaign for the couple of Ryan's choice to go up against in the upcoming vote. As for Allison, he decides to be emotionally supportive to Allison, assuring her that Ryan isn't as worried as she is about her getting him on the block. He advises her to get on Josh's gay side too. "Gay guys are like women," he says (grrrr!!), and tells Allison to do what she's good at: "stir up some trouble." Because that's worked out so well for her. Of course she loves the idea. I think she likes being told to play to her strengths.
Later, in the kitchen, Sheila complains to Allison about Adam. And then when Adam goes to tell Sheila that it's not looking good for them, Sheila takes umbrage and tells Adam to quit putting her down. She says that she could probably have a better conversation with the wall. So that's what she does, with James in the room playing the part of the wall, and they all end up laughing together. James DRs that Adam and Sheila's bickering takes the heat off of them. Sheila DRs that she has a love/hate relationship with Adam. I can see that, except for the love.
Back to Matt, talking about his strategy with Sharon: "make her think I care about her, which I don't." Somehow that turns into the two of them shit-talking Natalie in the HoH room. When Matt senses Natalie coming up, Sharon sends him to hide in the bathroom, which he does. Natalie pretends to be concerned about Sharon (who is ostensibly holing up because she doesn't feel well), then runs off to find Matt elsewhere. But that's not going to happen, because as soon as she's gone, Mat returns to the HoH bed and starts making out with Sharon. He DRs it's all part of his plan, and she DRs that she's not falling for it. Of course they keep going until they hear Josh's key in the lock, and split up like a couple of busted teenagers before he comes in. Josh says Natalie's hunting for Matt. She eventually comes back up, and Josh and Sharon give Matt up, saying he's in the bathroom. Natalie and her pixilated thong flop on the HoH bed, hoping to hang, but now that she's there, Matt's leaving. Natalie does some more pathetic begging for massages, to no avail. Once he's gone, Natalie assures them that he's just too turned on by her, and that's why he's pushing her away. Sharon rolls her eyes, not even caring whether Natalie notices her Matt-breath. And when she's gone, Joshuah and Sharon agree that Sharon should continue "playing" Matt if that's what it takes. The producers are like, "Yes! More making out!"
After the ads, the guys are out playing pool while Natalie watches. Finally she gets tired of being ignored by Matt, so she flounces inside. Matt appeals to the guys for advice on how you tell a girl you don't like her. So the two of them go off together and have a whole conversation where Natalie tells Matt to stop being mean to her and to talk to her and have conversations with her and be her friend. After getting kind of worked up and pissy with her, Matt ends up apologizing to her, saying he didn't realize that she only wants to be his friend. And he DRs that he's glad she knows that they're not going to have a relationship. And then she DRs that Matt's only pretending not to be her soul mate as part of his "game play." Oh, Natalie. ["I've seen a total of about twelve minutes of this show all season, and I totally saw that moment, and, OH MY GOD." -- Miss Alli]
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In the kitchen, Allison accosts a passing Josh, asking again why he's so mad at her. He's totally not into it, saying that it doesn't matter because she's leaving anyway. He finally closes the discussion by saying, "I've got nothing else to say to you." Way to flip him, Allison.
The houseguests get a letter, which Sharon reads to them all in the living room. Basically it tells them that if they hear this sound [loud alarm klaxon], they are to meet in the living room immediately. Everyone freaks out like this is going to totally change the game somehow. Sure it will. Expect the unexpected! Or expect another Jericho cross-promotion. Whichever.
In the HoH room, Josh and Sharon and Natalie and Matt hang out, worrying that the siren might somehow mean the revocation of Matt and Natalie's veto, or gives Allison some kind of immunity.
While out playing pool with Matt, Ryan is optimistic about the siren, saying he's got nothing to lose as far as any twists in the game go. Allison, meanwhile, theorizes to Natalie that a change is in the air.
Matt and Natalie go to contemplate the memory wall, like they have to think about whether to use the veto in the impending meeting. Which begins now. Matt and Natalie give Ryan and Allison a chance to speak on their own behalf. Ryan advises Matt and Natalie to use the PoV on themselves, and they are happy to oblige. So Joshuah gets up and nominates Sheila and Adam for eviction. They take their places to Ryan and Allison on the couch.
Adam swears he'll freak out if he gets backstabbed. Sheila is sick at the thought of leaving the house. And Alison says she's been through a lot of situations in her life, and is a survivor. And the swath of people in her wake who used to think she was a lesbian? They're just weak.
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