Julie brings us up to speed from the stuff that's happened so far this week. Sharon and Sheila, of course, are not remotely aware of the plan to evict Sharon in Joshuah's place, so they're considerably less up to speed. For now. Sharon DRs that it's going to be hard for her to watch Joshuah leave. Sheila sympathizes in the DR with the powerful Sharon/Joshuah bond that is about to be torn asunder. And Joshuah is feeling pretty confident about his prospects, since Natalie has promised to break a likely tie in his favor. But Natalie DRs that she's now balking about having to break any such tie, and would much rather Joshuah secured himself a third vote so she doesn't have to be Sharon's executioner.
Josh is looking kind of smug lounging in a chair, until Natalie confides to him that she doesn't want to have to cast the tiebreaking vote. I do enjoy watching that smug expression just melt. So he decides to cover his bases by going after a third vote, namely Adam's. Joshuah takes up position at the kitchen counter and starts crying over some pizza sandwich just as Adam comes in. Adam wonders what's up. Joshuah throws a great big fake breakdown, hurling himself into Adam's arms. A clueless Adam comforts Joshuah, getting him a tissue and everything. He's totally unaware he'd getting played, and offers to make the vote "2-2" for Joshuah.
Later, in the hot tub, Joshuah and James soak while Natalie frets to them about whether keeping Joshuah is going to bite her in the ass. They don't exactly go out of their way to reassure her, which is a mistake on Joshuah's part. He would rather just give Natalie a cold "Don't need you any more anyway, Dizzy" look.
Which backfires. See, Josh forgot something about Natalie, which is that she can't keep a secret. So Natalie goes and tells Sharon about the plan, and an irritated Sharon tells Sheila. The three women end up going into the HoH room and forging a female alliance. Which isn't necessarily going to help them that much in the short term, seeing that Sheila is the only one of the three who gets to participate in the upcoming vote. Now Natalie has to secure Adam's and Ryan's votes to evict Joshuah.
So Natalie pulls Ryan into the HoH room to make sure he's on board with booting Joshuah. Natalie wants to blindside Joshuah and James, and the best thing Ryan can come up with in defense of his secret ally is "Sharon just worries me, man." Natalie passes that along to Sharon, so Sharon assures Ryan that everyone knows she's trustworthy, and if she leaves, James and Joshuah will take them out. Seeing Adam coming, Ryan and Sharon duck into a bedroom to finish forming their alliance.
Meanwhile, Natalie is making the same case to Adam in the HoH room, and he seems to be on board. Ryan joins them and they cement the plan, agreeing to keep it secret so Joshuah doesn't see it coming. Sounds good to me.
Out by the hot tub, James marvels to Joshuah over Natalie agreeing to keep him. But how is Joshuah dealing with the guilt he must be feeling as a result of screwing over the partner who's done nothing but look out for him throughout this game? "Sharon needs to go," Joshuah says. "I'm tired of babysitting her." My jaw hits the floor. Not only that, he says he's looking forward to Wednesday, for no other reason as far as I can tell than sheer filthy meanness.
Before throwing us to ads, Julie promises to introduce us to Joshuah's mom, who's got some 'splainin' to do. But first! DR comments. Sheila wants Sharon in the house and on her side, since Sharon is loyal and trustworthy. Ryan says the same. Sheila wants Joshuah to leave, since the way she sees it, Sharon's been carrying him all along and now he's screwing her over. She doesn't mention the fact that she was the one who had to sit with Sharon in the toilet stall trying to get her to stop crying about Joshuah's likely departure.
Back from the ads, Julie greets the houseguests via viewscreen and starts with Sheila, asking how she feels about James after the emotional roller coaster they've been on together this week. She just says that he's smart and playing a smart game, and it was good advice he gave her in his PoV speech. James, in turn, says he wanted to return the favor Sheila did him in pumping him up, even if she was full of shit. Of Adam, she asks how he's stayed so calm with all the emotions running so high. Adam cops to having some emotional moments himself, but just wants people to be happy. Way to tease out those fascinating nuggets, Julie. Her question is to Joshuah, asking how he feels about Sharon now that he's on the block with her. He bullshits about how hard it is to campaign against her. "I don't want to stoop that low." He'd do it to others, he says with a straight face, but not to Sharon. Instead of calling him out, Sharon just says that she's loved Joshuah since coming back, and they'll always be best friends. My wife Trash has never watched this season, but even she has spotted parallels between Sharon and the totally overinvested blonde friend of that guy on Boy Meets Boy a few years ago.
So let's meet Joshuah's parents and see what they think about the foul-mouthed freak-outs he's been broadcasting to the nation. His mom insists that she's never seen Joshuah act the way he does on this show. There's a replay of some of Joshuah's greatest hits, and we get to see his parents cringe on their couch. She says it's not really him, but keeps telling herself that's his "strategy." There's a little "This Is Josh's Life" bit, which is notable for its mention of his football career and string of girlfriends. Dad breaks his silence by saying that Joshuah is up against it now. You know who I think has the hardest time watching Joshuah's antics? Not his family -- not his friends -- but Neil, who Big Brother thought was Joshuah's soul mate. You just know he's back home telling everyone, "I barely knew that dude."
1 2 3 4
Farewell messages. James says he had Josh's back all week, unlike some other people. Ryan says he did his best to save Joshuah, but that Joshuah damaged himself too much. Natalie calls him her "brother in Jesus Christ," causing Joshuah to mime shooting himself in the head. Sharon promises to avenge Joshuah. I'm so tired of this "revenge" bullshit. What's an HoH supposed to do, refuse to nominate anyone and walk out themselves? Julie gets ready to dismiss Joshuah, who says that she and James are the only ones in the house with backbones. Funny how that's only true of the people who were on his side. Anyway, he's off to the jury house.
Sharon, Ryan, Sheila, James, and Adam are lined up for an HoH quiz show called "More…or Less," where they have to guess where there are more or less of a given number of certain things in the house -- lamps, trees, pillows, two-way mirrors, what have you. I'm just going to go on record saying that there are not nearly enough weapons. Sharon takes an early lead, but she blows the penultimate question, leading to a three-way tie between her, James, and Adam. The latter and last-placed Sheila are the only ones to get the last question right, so Adam is HoH again. It's not really looking like Joshuah is going to get his wish, is it?
Julie talks to the post-HoH houseguests in the living room. Adam feels good about getting to be HoH, and Sheila says she's glad about the "classy" way Joshuah exited the house. By which she means the speech, not the maneuvering to get his partner thrown out while she was crying in the bathroom.
And in the "let's eavesdrop" clip, almost everyone is still talking about Adam's victory, while Sharon stands apart and James pouts in a bedroom by himself, wondering how he's going to swing a fourth PoV in a row. Only six idiots left.
1 2 3 4