Vanessa is once again is in control of the Big Brother house. After being in control of last week's eviction as Head of Household, Vanessa won the Power of Veto on Big Brother 17 this week, in yet another instance of her competition prowess benefitting her paranoid gameplay. With Vanessa safe entering the final three, it's looking more and more likely with each passing week that she could end up winning the season. After getting blood on her hands last week, she'll have to do it again, as she will be deciding on her own which of the nominees will be sent to the jury house.
The final four of Big Brother creates a unique situation, in which whoever wins the veto gets to decide who is evicted. As the HoH and nominees aren't allowed to vote, only the person not the on block is able to make this decision. This means if a nominee is able to win the Power of Veto, that houseguest is not only able to save themselves, but essentially allowed to single-handedly decide who is leaving the Big Brother house. Now that Vanessa is in charge of the decision, will she finish what she started and send her replacement nominee Liz packing, or will she evict her longtime target and confidant John? There's a case to be made for both of them.
Johnny Mac
Vanessa and Johnny Mac have had one of the most interesting relationships in Big Brother history. They went from bitter enemies to working partners, and have now settled somewhere in the middle to become frenemies. They clearly respect each other's gameplay and acknowledge that they are both a threat to each other, but if Vanessa wants to strike before he and Steve are able to team up against her for final three, this is her best chance. Steve and John have a strong friendship, and it's likely that they would take each other over Vanessa to final two, given the option. While she has made a final 3 deal with the rockstar dentist, it seems that Vanessa's best move might be to evict John.
Liz
Liz seems like an obvious choice for Vanessa's eviction. Vanessa has worked with the Austwins since the beginning of the game, back when the four of them were all part of the Sixth Sense alliance. She then turned on the trio, sabotaging Julia which resulted in her getting sent home, and subsequently blindsiding Austin. Liz has also been getting fun and friendly with Steve since Austin has left, which means Steve may just take Liz to final two over Vanessa. Liz isn't likely to get any jury votes other than Austin and Julia, which means she could be a very good person to be up against in a final two situation. If Vanessa saves Liz, and Liz ends up being the HoH for final three, Vanessa could find herself in the final two next to Liz and be half a million dollars richer by the end of next week.
If all of these circumstances seem complicated, it's because they are. The farther into Big Brother one gets, it becomes all about "maybes" and trying to determine how other people think. Luckily for Vanessa, she's dedicated her life to studying how other people think and behave when there's a lot of money on the line. When Vanessa evicted Austin, he left shouting cries of "You can't win, Vanessa!" and "You don't have the jury votes!" If Vanessa wants to prove him wrong, she'll have to play it smart during this eviction, unfortunately, the right choice won't be clear until the decision has already been made.
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Image: CBS
