Whoa, check out the Loretta Lynn hair on Julie! Whoever gets evicted tonight is going to be terrified.
But that won't be Danielle, who won HoH last night. It's down to just her, Shane, Dan and Ian, so Ian probably figures he's already won just by getting his alliance to the final four eighty percent intact. Back in the studio, Julie fails to snicker as she tells us it's Day 69, and Danielle is about to make her nominations, which will be followed by the PoV competition and another eviction. But first, Julie says that Danielle will have to choose between "her best friend and her boyfriend." Wow, when Julie puts it that way, it really sucks to be Danielle. Not because of that choice, but for because of who passes as her best friend and her boyfriend.
We replay Jenn's eviction from last night. Danielle DRs that she was sad to see her go but glad to stay. Shane still thinks the Quack Pack is a going concern. They share a celebratory quack (which Dan sits out, significantly), and Ian DRs that he sees the new dynamic as him and Dan versus Shane and Danielle. You should be so lucky, Ian. It's Dan versus the rest of you, and y'all are hopelessly outnumbered.
We flash back to Danielle's HoH win last night, which puts her in the final three and "besides" herself. Ian's a little worried, and Shane figures Ian's definitely going home. Dan DRs that he actually wanted to win this one, but on the other hand, he has a secret final-two deal with each of the other remaining players, so it's no big. Nice to be Dan.
"The student has beaten the teacher," Dan intones to Danielle later, and advises her to nominate himself and Ian. Big of him to step up during the week when nominations count the least. And of course, as Dan tells us in the DR, he wants Shane to feel safe so he can control both of them through Danielle. Dan even writes her nomination speech for her and everything.
The nominations apparently happen that very night. Danielle calls the guys in from a bedroom rather than from the backyard (which is presumably being dismantled post-HoH competition) and convenes the nomination ceremony. Only one key in the box now, and to a nation's total lack of surprise, it belongs to Shane. Danielle apologizes to Ian and Dan, saying she didn't have a lot of options while reminding them that they both backdoored her. Ian DRs that he expected it, but they all know the PoV is what counts. Which Dan isn't even worried about winning. "I've pulled a lot of rabbits out of my hat this summer and I'm not done yet." That at least explains why he always has that bandanna on his head.
The PoV, which looks like it was taped earlier today, is a memory puzzle in which players will have to put the faces of former houseguests to clues describing them on a big diagram of a molecule. Unfair advantage for Ian, with his chemistry background? Nah, they have this competition every year, even if it doesn't involve molecules. First one to finish wins, as usual. They all go to their separately walled-off areas with their individual game boards, wish each other luck and exchange quacks, and start when the horn blows.
They rush to uncover their clues while we see them DRing about why and how much they want to win, as usual. It is the most important Veto of the season, as you may have heard. Most of the faces have more than one clue connected to them, but there's only one correct solution, which makes it a bit trickier than it sounds.
Ian is the first to get all his faces hung up, but when he goes to hit the buzzer (which is actually one of those dollar-store touch lights as usual), seven out of his seventeen are in the wrong spots. Not that he sees the highlighted right and wrong ones like we can. Dan, hearing Ian freak out on the other side of the wall, knows he has more time. Shane hits his button, but gets the same number wrong, though not the same ones as Ian. Who takes another crack, but gets it wrong again. He's down to only three incorrect, but he still has no way of knowing that. Danielle, meanwhile, seems to be in vapor-lock at the thought of Ian winning, but on Ian's third try, he's further off than he was last time. And when Danielle hits her button, she's only got two wrong, so it's almost like she's in the lead. Dan's first attempt is a hot mess, and at this point Ian seems reduced to trial and error while Dan is just moving faces from wrong spots to different wrong spots.
Finally Danielle wins it, as is telegraphed by the PoV music ending right before she hits her button. HoH and PoV wins? It's been a good 24 hours for Danielle, no? Don't worry, that'll be ending soon. "Dan, Shane, and I are going to the final three," she celebrates in the DR. Shane seems to agree with that, happily, as does Ian, unhappily. And Dan isn't ruling out the possibility of convincing Danielle to use the Veto on him. I'd tell him not to push his luck, but his luck never seems to push back so why the hell shouldn't he? And indeed, back in the studio, Julie agrees, "With Dan in the house, anything is possible."
After the ads, Julie welcomes us back by asking who's really in control. We're back in the house, watching Ian fidget in front of the memory wall and DRing that it looks like either he or Dan is going home. "And neither of those situations is good for me." One's probably a little better than the other, though, Ian.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.