First, thanks to Angel for covering for me on Sunday. That episode was a mess, man. I picked the right time to be gone.
But now I'm back up to speed, with HoH Andy having made the safe play of nominating Spencer and Jessie on Day 50. Because he's Andy. Jessie DRs that she needs to win the Veto, which will allow her and Andy to make a big game move together. And I thought the first half of that sentence would be the unlikely part. Spencer isn't happy about being nominated, but he DRs that he's going to pursue a strategy of being cool and likable this week. It'll be interesting to see what that looks like. And Helen is disappointed with Andy's failure to nominate "McRanda. Is he with them or is he with me?" Both for now, as long as nobody in the house hears you say, "McRanda."
Andy takes Spencer aside to give him assurances that he'll be fine and that other people will be telling him the same thing. Spencer plays it cool, even though he doesn't trust anyone. Andy also offers assurances to Jessie that she's not his target either, so he's either lying to one of the nominees or he's got a big back door plan in place after all. And in the Diary Room, Andy confirms that yep, he's lying to Jessie. She seems to believe it, because she wants to. Meanwhile, Amanda is telling Aaryn in the Have-Not room that Jessie's increasingly public desire for a "big move" means she has to go. Andy and McCrae join them, and Amanda decides that since Aaryn has proven herself and given Amanda everything she wants, they're in a final four deal together. Aaryn DRs that she's in because she thinks these three can get her further than Helen can. The discussion soon evolves into an embarrassing brainstorming session for an alliance name. Amanda DRs that she'll have no problem turning on Andy and Aaryn when the time comes, "Because this game is between me and my pizza boy." So from a play on the group's initials, they come up with 3AM. Which is actually my favorite alliance name ever because it's easy to type.
Helen talks with Andy about his nominations, telling him he made a safe decision. She also DRs that she's starting to mistrust him, which is the last thing Andy wants. So join the ranks of HoHs who have been terrified of Helen, Andy.
Helen goes to Elissa and whispers her concerns about Andy, as well as the limited amount of time they have left to turn on Amanda and McCrae. They're both worried about which side Andy is more loyal to.
The first question is in regard to the large number of fake bats hanging from a vampire film set. Jessie and Spencer are unsure enough of their answers to fold, and the other three were planning to fold anyway, so Helen wins that round. They then have to guess the number of fake brains floating in tanks. Everyone except Helen folds again, meaning she's got a second ticket. At some point, Jessie is going to have to figure out what's going on here if only from all the sarcastic "Good job, Helen"s that are emanating from the booths around her. Third round: they have to guess at a number of gold coins. There's the wide range of guesses you might see when only half of the six players in the game actually want to win. Jessie continues to fold (because she's such a bold player who wants to make big moves), but Spencer decides he's had enough of this stupid plan and decides to try winning. He stays, and his guess is closer than Helen's, so not only does he win a ticket, Helen has been eliminated from the game. So much for the plan. And so much for Spencer's strategy of being cool and likable this week.
So now it's anyone's game. There's a little DR interlude in which Elissa claims to be a "total math whiz" and then babbles some word salad about "ratio" and "proportions" that her brother-in-law is probably laughing out loud over back home. In the fourth round, which calls for players to guesstimate a quantity of plastic bolts, Jessie and Spencer both fold, while Amanda, Elissa and Andy all stay. Andy wins a ticket and Amanda is out. Spencer DRs, "If Jessie doesn't get eliminated soon, I am so screwed." In more ways than one. As Amanda stomps over to join Aaryn, GinaMarie and Helen at the spectator seats, we see her DR that Spencer screwed this up so badly, "I don't even know if I want Jessie gone." For the fifth question, Jessie consciously goes higher than the otherwise would after lowballing the first four rounds, and ends up guessing almost triple the other players. Spencer folds, Jessie stays, Elissa wins a ticket and Jessie is out of the competition. There's only one question left, and with Spencer, Elissa and Andy as the only players remaining -- with one ticket each -- the winner of the question will win PoV. Andy DRs that he needs to win and keep the nominations the same, while Spencer DRs that he pissed people off, but if he wins he'll be safe for the week. Solid long-term plan, that.
This is sufficient "suspense" to make us wait until after the ads to see the outcome. Spencer, Andy and Elissa have to guess a number of garlic bulbs. Elissa folds, even though this is the last question and there's no point in holding out for the one. That's our math whiz. Andy's answer was closer, so he wins PoV and gets to keep his nominations the same. Everyone looks pretty happy about it other than Jessie. Spencer hopes in the DR that going against the plan won't bite him in the ass, though Amanda DRs that it just might. And here's the downside for Andy winning the PoV: Helen now expects him to use this opportunity to take out a strong player like she wants him to. Careful what you wish for, Helen.
Andy joins McCrae and Amanda in the HoH room, and the main topic of conversation is Spencer, who has made himself a target. Andy adds that Spencer is a lot less readable than Jessie is and thus might be more dangerous. Spencer himself enters the room. Awkward silence. Spencer tries to patch things up, but his overtures don't seem to be cutting much ice. Especially since one of them was a mocking imitation of Amanda's reaction to Spencer's abandoning the plan. Jessie sticks her head in to say the alcohol has shown up and they head down -- but Andy asks Amanda to hang back so they can shit-talk Spencer some more. Spencer has gone against Amanda's wishes, and he must be punished.
Andy gets back to the HoH room to find Jessie waiting for him. He sighs, as anyone would, and she launches into her pitch about how Andy is at the bottom of the totem pole and he could put himself on top by nominating… Amanda. Too bad she has no idea what's actually going on, which, if she did, she'd be advising him to nominate Helen.
Helen finds it challenging to have a private conversation with McCrae given his constant attachment to Amanda, but she does it anyway. She wants to make sure Amanda doesn't know about their fake alliance, of course not realizing that the fake alliance was Amanda's idea in the first place. Helen is worried about Amanda winning HoH when it's down to four of them, so she thinks Amanda should go before then, which tells McCrae that Helen's going to have to go before then. And then McCrae goes and tells Amanda, who agrees. With all this "striking first" everyone's talking about, we're going to end up with a final two of Jessie and Elissa.
Now it's just a matter of telling Andy. The 3AM alliance (Amanda, Aaryn, Andy and McCrae) convene in the HoH room. Aaryn's been out of the loop as a Have Not, and when Amanda and McCrae tell Andy what's up, he's torn between keeping his hands relatively clean and making his first big power move. "It's an extremely tricky decision!"
And that's all the cogitating we get before Andy gathers the Veto meeting. For once, Andy lets the nominees speak in their defense, starting with Jessie. She says she'd love it if Andy used the Veto on her but understands if he doesn't. Spencer tells him that he'd like Andy to use the Veto on him, "But you haven't done anything intelligent all week and I wouldn't expect you to start now." Everyone laughs as Spencer sits back down, but it's more of a "What just happened?" laugh than a "That was funny" laugh. I can tell because someone actually says, "What just happened?" So at least he's screwing up his own plan as well. Andy decides not to use the Veto, because he is, after all, Andy. After the Veto meeting, Andy DRs that Spencer needs to dial it back with the jokes or he'll be out of here. Spencer seems to realize that too, as he DRs, "I'm starting to feel like a candy bar at fat camp." Yes, jokes like that. Jessie DRs that she's been nominated before, but has managed to stay. Like that's had anything to do with her. Helen DRs that she's now just looking for the chance to evict Amanda, and Amanda says they week they can get rid of Helen or Spencer. "Depends on what I feel like." Wow, cocky much? She's lucky there's no more America-as-MVP vote after that crack.
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.