As you may recall, HoH Jordan nominated Adam and Dominic on Sunday. After the previouslies, we slide back into real time on Day 14, and as they get up from the table, Adam whispers to Dominic, "Fight." Not sure if he's using that as a noun or an imperative verb, and it doesn't look like Dominic is, either. Adam Diary-Rooms that he was told he isn't the target, so he has to trust Jeff and Jordan. Dominic is much more sure that he, Dominic, is the target, and that Adam has betrayed him. Jordan tells us that she thinks Dominic is the ringleader of the (now-all-but-defunct) newbie alliance, so he has to go. Rachel thanks Jeff, and he deflects the praise to Jordan. "And if people are mad, It's Jordan too," he adds. But of course Rachel is faking -- she's pissed that Cassi wasn't nominated, because Jordan's refusal to indulge her petty personal snit with Cassi means Rachel can't trust her now. Whatever, shut up.
Dominic tells Cassi in the Have-Not room that he knew it was coming, and the outcome depends on whatever deal Adam made with Jeff and Jordan. Cassi tells Dominic to offer a better deal, but Dominic isn't interested in throwing himself on their mercy again. Lawon enters and tells Dominic to fight. Enter Adam, raising the tension level, until they both agree that they have to win the Power of Veto competition. "Stay classy, Cincinnati," Adam adds, to general eye-rolls. Maybe it's just because he's coming off insincere, but I like to think that remark would earn eye-rolls under any circumstances.
Adam's visit is to Jordan in the HoH room, still saying he needs to win PoV, but Jordan promises him that if he throws it, they'll save him. And Adam buys it. "She's HoH, that's what I gotta do," he sighs in the DR.
Rachel and Porsche are hanging in the Have-Not room discussing how to get rid of Cassi before the duos are separated. I'd go into their strategy for that, but since they'd rather just shit-talk Cassi than get into any specifics at all, I really can't. Lawon wanders in, not failing to note the significance of Rachel and Porsche talking. "Those girls are always up to no good," he DRs.
Daniele has a top-secret convo with Dominic about how she made the case to evict Cassi, but Jeff and Jordan wanted Dominic out more. Dominic DRs that he and Daniele are building a relationship of trust, blah blah, while a more clear-eyed Daniele says she wants Dominic making her moves for her, and to understand that her game is to his benefit. "At least for now." Wow, is she actually playing this game?
Daniele then whispers to Rachel that she wants Dominic to win the PoV. "I do too," Rachel agrees, like that's news. Daniele easily plays into Rachel's non-specific Cassi-hate, and DRs that although she doesn't hate Cassi herself, "if I see a bus, I'm not afraid to give a little push." She might also mention that she's seen Cassi flirting with Brendon, but that wouldn't be a push so much as a catapult. She further tells Rachel that Jeff wants Dominic out because they don't trust him. "I trust him more than Cassi," Rachel whispers, and Daniele agrees. So people are debating between Dominic and Cassi when we still don't know with finality who's even going to be up.
Rachel and Brendon (but mostly Rachel) buttonhole Jordan in the backyard to talk about alliance loyalty and warn her against Cassi, in non-specific terms as always. In the DR, Jordan shows rare insight as she talks about how Rachel's trumping up one comment Cassi made to her. If Jordan can see through you Rachel, you are entirely too transparent.
Later, in the HoH room, Jordan complains to Jeff about Rachel and Brendon's campaigning against Cassi and how she doesn't want to act two-faced. Jeff basically says that people need to calm down, which says he doesn't know the first thing about Rachel. But then he compares her to an annoying bug that won't let up, so maybe he does know about her.
The morning, Cassi's in the HoH room and Jordan tells her people are after her. Cassi isn't surprised, and Jordan says it's because Cassi's pretty and "girls are intimidated by that." Cassi DRs that this is exactly why she didn't say she was a model when she came to the house, to avoid crap like this. "But it's clearly happening anyway, so I guess I just could have been honest about it." Too late now.
Jordan calls everyone in to select the PoV players for this week. Jordan and Jeff are automatically in, as are nominees Adam and Dominic. Adam reminds us in the DR that he made a deal to throw the PoV. "Sorry, Dom." The randomly selected other duo to play are... Brendon and Rachel. Dominic plays it cool in the living room, but in the DR, he's not too thrilled about going up against the two supercouples. "Who am I bringing along with me? Come on, Adam! Yeah! You're a three-hundred-pound paperweight." In other words, he doesn't like his chances. But then he clearly doesn't know what a hard-on Rachel has for Cassi, so her winning is probably his best-case scenario. Jordan also names Daniele as the host for the competition.
Rachel and her Uggs pull Brendon into the storage room to ask him if he'd be willing to win the PoV and change the nominations, even though it means going against Jeff and Jordan. "I think that they're just thinking about what's best for their game," Rachel hisses. Those shady motherfuckers! Brendon's not down with going behind their backs, but Rachel insists in the DR, "We gotta do what we gotta do." Or, what Rachel wants to do, which is frequently the opposite. Rachel says it might help them to make a deal with Dominic afterwards. Brendon's just cool with winning, either way. "Cassi is a snake and a liar, so she's gotta go," Rachel insists in the DR. Which is odd, because the only reason Rachel hates her is because she told Rachel the truth about her feelings with regard to Porsche. And the only worse crime than getting between Rachel and her man is telling Rachel something she doesn't want to hear.
Rachel quietly tells Daniele that she and Brendon agreed to win and use the Veto. Daniele warns that it's risky, but in the DR, she's pretty happy about how this is playing out, even if it upsets the veteran alliance she belongs to: "In the end, nobody's gonna be mad at me and I'm still gonna get what I want." What more could a girl ask for? In front of Rachel and Brendon, Daniele can barely contain her glee.
It's hard to get a first impression of the PoV game field when they come out to the backyard, other than it's color-coded. Each player is wearing a different color, and there are also colored balance beams and gumballs. Waving a day-long lollipop and wearing a crown and purple robe for some reason, Daniele tells them that this PoV is being played as individuals, which is great news to Dominic. To win, they have to chew up sixty or seventy gumballs and stick them on a big card with a Veto symbol marked out on it. The catch is that they have to chew them one at a time, and take each one across the balance beam individually as they chew. "I walk and chew gum all the time!" Jordan boasts, forgetting to talk and look at the camera at the same time. The other catch is that anyone who falls off their balance beam is out -- unless they submit to two weeks of slop to stay in the game. But there are no third chances; a second fall knocks them out of this PoV competition permanently. Jeff thinks Dominic's going home as long as one of the veterans wins, unaware of Brendon and Rachel's plan to get rid of Cassi instead.
The competition starts, and at first, the only remotely interesting thing is Jordan using the phrase "balls in my mouth" in the DR after the competition. Adam admits that he has poor balance, and indeed he's faltering a lot. Lucky for him he's supposed to suck at this anyway. But the first to fall off is Jordan. She's about to take two weeks of slop, but Jeff quickly tells her not to. "You're crabby enough," he explains." In the DR afterward, he says she had no chance at winning anyway, so it's not worth it. Jordan reluctantly agrees. In the DR, Rachel takes this as a sign that "Brendon and I need to take control back of this house." As anything ever not a sign of that to Rachel?
"If the HoH isn't playing then maybe we shouldn't be," Rachel says in front of everyone, in the middle of the competition. Jeff narrates that this pissed him off, but he was focused on winning. Rachel falls , and immediately takes the slop, making a big deal out of it as always. And then she falls off again, so she's out, and on slop for nothing. Couldn't have happened to a nicer gal. With the four guys still in it and picking up the pace, the tension mounts. Brendon and Dominic are nearly tied, while Jeff is getting annoyed with Rachel's constant play-by-play and encouragement of Brendon. Brendon is determined to win: "The nominations cannot stay the same," he DRs, even if he's not entirely clear on why that is beyond the fact that it's what Rachel wants. In any case, it looks like they won't, because Dominic's the one who wins it. First competition won by a newbie all season! Dominic gloats loudly in the DR. Cassi, however, sees this as a good news-bad news situation, seeing a good chance that she and Shelly will be the replacement nominees. And it's not like anybody's after Shelly.
The competition has barely been over for a minute when Jeff says to Rachel, "I didn't appreciate your comments during the race, by the way." He basically tells her to mind her own business, and Rachel, with her fragile ego, is crushed whenever anyone says anything mean to her, so she storms off, saying, "It's done," whatever that means. Brendon, who, didn't hear Rachel's earlier comment, follows her. And when Rachel tells him what she said earlier, even he is like, "You can't be saying shit like that!" He more or less tells her she fucked up, and then in the same breath adds, "I'm behind you 100 percent, okay?" Dealing with Rachel is a much more delicate balancing act than the one he just performed, that's for damn sure. He tells her to keep her head in the game and not get emotional like this. Even in the DR, he says she needs to use her head. Passing by, Jeff has more to say to Rachel. "You showed that you're better than Jordan. You showed it tenfold today." Rachel says that wasn't what she was trying to do (it totally and completely one hundred percent was), and goes off to cry in the bushes. Of course, Dominic and the other newbies are trying to pretend that a fracture of the veterans' alliance isn't the best thing they could have hoped for.
After the ads, Brendon is trying to coax Rachel out of the bushes. Kalia says of Rachel that she shouldn't be calling people out if she can't back it up. "Don't let your mouth write a check your butt can't cash." Brendon bucks her up, and Jeff DRs that Brendon realizes he has to do whatever it takes to help her get her shit together right now. Pretty much everyone else goes inside the house (Dominic and Daniele flirting in the doorway), while Brendon continues trying to talk Rachel out of her literal tree. Which isn't working, because Rachel's deciding she wants out of the alliance. Of course she is. Brendon tells her to keep her emotions under control. "That's why I'm hiding in the bushes," Rachel says, without irony. But eventually he gets her to come out and head straight to the back room with him. "I'm hungry, and I want some slop," she whines. They head through the silent house, and Cassi's happy to see it. Not that it's helping her much.
Dominic a little too pleased about everything, except I fully support his remark about how Rachel's screaming over not getting her way. And he doesn't even know that she is going to get her way and she's still screaming about it. He even chest-bumps Adam, who's also beyond happy with how things went; he did what he said he'd do, and Dominic's going to save them both. Big win for Adam, if you think about it.
Up in the HoH, Jordan tells Jeff not to be mad, but he's still worked up over Rachel's behavior. "It's not The Rachel Show, "he says erroneously. He asks why someone should take two weeks of slop. Jordan stutters that that's how competitors should be. Jeff snaps, "No, that's how idiots should be." Which is funny, but Jeff? Look around. Look at the house you're living in. Jordan DRs that Rachel's mouth will get her evicted, and Jeff agrees, "People didn't like [Rachel] last year because of [Rachel]. So stop doing that. Don't do that." Jordan says they have to work with them, but Jeff isn't much more down with that idea right now than Rachel is. Jeff DRs that they still need them, but it has occurred to him to backdoor Brendon and Rachel. And Jordan doesn't want to replacement-nom Cassi and Shelly. Hmmmm.
Rachel and Brendon are discussing the same thing: will Jeff and Jordan backdoor them? Brendon dismisses the idea out of hand, which is a clear sign that it's a definite possibility. Brendon gets her to admit that she needs to apologize to Jordan, and while Rachel pretends to agree, she can't even get the words out in front of Brendon without rolling her eyes. Then she brings up how they let Jordan win HoH, and Brendon has had enough. "No wonder America hates me," Rachel whines, getting into bed. Finally, she gets it.
Later, Rachel and Brendon come up to the HoH room, and Rachel says only slightly more convincingly, "Jordan, I'm sorry. I was out of line." Jordan says she's not mad. Jeff says Rachel should have bowed out rather than taking the slop, and Rachel claims she just got caught up in the competition. Jeff adds that Rachel's now on slop for no reason, and he's clearly not convinced by her apology. Brendon adds that they can't let people see that, but Jeff's not entirely cool with everything,. And since his partner's HoH, he doesn't really have to be. As soon as Brendon and Rachel leave, Jordan sums up the situation: "She's frickin' nuts!" Admirably pithy.
Jordan has Cassi and Shelly up to the HoH room to tell then that they're the last people she wants to nominate. Cassi comes right out and asks if Jordan ahs considered backdooring Brendon and Rachel. She advises Jordan to "think about the long haul and who's gonna turn on you later." Jordan is skeptical about flipping on the veterans' alliance, especially given the numbers, but Cassi is making a good case. Jordan is torn between what's best for her and what's best for her alliance, so what to do? The same thing she's done whenever she's torn: consult Jeff, of course.
Jeff says he would happily support Jordan in keeping Cassi, to help them later. And it's occurring to them that this might be their only chance to get rid of Brendon and Rachel, who are going to be tough competitors if they stick around.
Veto time. Dominic's only doubt about using the Veto on himself is that Cassi might go up in his place, but it's not like that's going to stop him (nor should it). The only person who has to make a decision is Jordan, which we've already covered. Brendon DRs about Jeff and Rachel's "little spat," but adds that Jordan backdooring them would be the stupidest thing she could do. Which makes me wonder how well Brendon knows Jordan. "They need us in this game," Brendon insists. After an appropriate amount of time looking at the memory wall, Dominic calls everyone in for the Veto meeting. He unsurprisingly vetoes himself and Adam, so it's up to Jordan to pick replacement nominees. "Get your big booty off the block," Dominic mutters to Adam. Jordan says that her decision isn't personal "I'm very sorry but I have to nominate..." suspense, suspense, suspense..."Shelly and Cassi." Dammit, this episode had me thinking that there was a possibility Jordan might actually go off the reservation. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. Dominic ends the meeting.
Shelly DRs that it's too bad, but she has to make sure she stays. As if she's in any danger. Daniele's happy to have Dominic safe, and his other closest ally in jeopardy, putting him in Daniele's hot little hands. Cassi's sad about having to campaign against Shelly, but says she's going to keep playing. Rachel is astounded at Jeff and Jordan making a "smart decision... I guess they really are on our side." But both of those statements can't be true, can they?