Originally Aired Sunday, August 20, 2006
Episode Rating: **** (four out of five stars)
Episode Overview: A jam-packed episode containing a Power of Veto competition, an eviction, and a new Head of Household.
Episode Highlights:
- James wins another Power of Veto competition.
- The Legion of Doom continue their dominance.
- Howie acts like a big baby.
Recap:
Julie Chen smugly sits outside the BIG BROTHER house and informs the audience that tonight's episode of BIG BROTHER 7: ALL-STARS is a special episode. She does not elaborate. I suppose us viewers are to assume that the “special-ness” of this episode has to do with it having an eviction on a Sunday. At best, this is only mildly special.
Janelle is shocked by Marcellas's exit, and Boogie is happy about it. I think Janelle knows she is getting completely played by ChillTown and is coming to accept it. Danielle is remorseful, crying again in the Diary Room. Overall, however, the HouseGuests seem okay with the exit of Marcellas, if just to rid themselves of his annoyance factor.
Janelle still hasn't figured out that James is against her, and I suspect that even if she did know, it wouldn't completely matter at this point. We reflect on Chicken George's improbable Head of Household win last episode. It was down to him and Danielle, and she tries to rationalize her loss, but she is unable to put forth a good reason.
Georgie's on-the-spot nominations of James and Erika piss a few people off. Danielle, for one, doesn't understand them. George and Erika have a conversation that can only be described as “unenlightening”. George says he's put Erika up as a pawn. Whatever.
The Legion of Doom discuss the nominations and think that, after they win the Power of Veto, they can try to make George backdoor Janelle.
The Power of Veto competition players are Chicken George, James, Erika, Howie, Danielle, and Will. With three players in the comp, the Legion of Doom is confident they can get James off the block.
Will tells America that he hates robot clowns. Oh.
The competition itself is one we have seen on countless TV shows. The contestants are chained to a post and are given duct tape and various items from past challenges. A few yards out of their reach is the key that unlocks their chain. To get the key they must construct some sort of device to retrieve it using the tape and the objects.
James wins the Power of Veto. Again.
Erika and Chicken George seem to form an alliance in the HoH room, but you never know. Will is up to his old tricks and tells George that he should nominate him. Will is just messing with him.
Chicken George makes another deal, this time with Janelle and Howie. He is going to have to break one of these deals. All HouseGuests but James are in the Red Room waiting for the Veto ceremony to commence when Boogie breaks the nervous silence by questioning George about who he will nominate. Boogie has heard that Will may go up and is quite defensive about it. He makes Georgie know that it was ChillTown who saved him last week.
I feel bad for George. Everyone in this episode has done their best to take advantage of him. He looks overwhelmed the whole time but tries to mask it with his “serious face” that he likes to make when he pretends to be intelligent. Anyway, it seems that Boogie has changed George's mind at the last second.
At the Veto ceremony, George goes back on his word and puts Howie on the block in place of James. Howie flips out, acting like a little kid, getting mad at George. Afterwards, Janelle tries to get Howie to settle down. ChillTown assures Howie that he'll be staying and Howie seems to believe them.
However, during the taped eviction, ChillTown, in an obvious move, vote to evict Howie. Now, one of the highlights of the season: On his way out the door, Howie rips Boogie's hat from his head and hurls it across the room. Boogie, applauds him (literally) and tells him he's a real “class act”. Howie now turns around and gets right in Boogie's face, trying to pick a fight. Howie is a little kid. Nothing else you can say.
The Head of Household challenge has to do with gnomes, so CBS hires some midgets, dresses them up like gnomes and has them parade around like idiots in the backyard. The HouseGuests must answer True or False questions about the past week. To pick True or False they must put their head in through little holes signifying their answer. If they get it wrong, a gnome throws a pie in their face.
Boogie wins. This week should be fun.
-Oscar Dahl