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Big Brother USA: Nominations revealed

Aired Sunday, Jul 28 2013 at 8:00pm EDT on CBS

Power shifted yet again on Big Brother on Thursday when Aaryn - who is, let's be honest, the absolute worst human being in that house - miraculously won Head of Household in a luck-based competition which saw her roll a ball down a slide and land on the partition with the highest number value. Hurrah. Only no one's celebrating, except for maybe GinaMarie, and we don't pay much attention to anything she says or does, so there's that.

Aaryn during the Nomination Ceremony



We must be in for some seriously offensive language (again) during tonight's episode, as we've got that old warning screen in the beginning of the broadcast explaining to us that houseguests are on camera 24/7 and say what they want to say, blah blah. Joy. Let's not forget, by the way, that Aaryn promised Helen that if she won HoH, she'd nominate whoever Elissa and Helen wanted. Will she honor that offer? Probably not, but let's find out.

Reliving eviction night, Aaryn is pleased that she's figured out how to get everyone on her side so that Kaitlin would go and she'd get another week in the house. Of course, she's doubly pleased once the HoH title is back in her hands. Elissa, however, is none too pleased - in fact, she's speechless and doesn't bother to congratulate Aaryn. Meanwhile, Helen is questioning whether she's going to hold up her side of the deal and nominate Howard and Spencer, who were Helen's choices for this week.

Jessie tries to play super-nice with Aaryn so that she can stay safe this week and wants to make sure they remain on good terms. Meanwhile, Candice and Howard are down in the dumps, with Candice telling him that she's sure she and Elissa will be on the block. Howard tells her not to really kiss Aaryn's butt but to try and lay low. Candice is also concerned as Jessie told her before the eviction about Aaryn's deal with Elissa and Helen, but she makes him promise not to tell Spencer. She believes she or Howard could be in danger because of the deal, but he promises her that everything will work out.

Spencer is already going up to Aaryn to try and ask her what she's doing this week for nominations. She admits that she has to wait and see what everyone else says but that if she had her way, she wouldn't want him to go home because she respects him and wants to play with people she respects. Aaryn also says that she doesn't want to put Howard up but she's under a lot of pressure and has no alliance to keep her safe. Spencer is unimpressed with the conversation and thinks since she's HoH, she should be able to say one way or another what's happening.

Helen goes to speak to Aaryn, telling her that Candice knows about their deal. She claims that Candice was "threatening" her by saying she hopes Aaryn doesn't nominate herself or Howard, which... no. I'm starting to dislike Helen too. Aaryn says she'll take the heat for putting Howard up and isn't worried about it.

In the kitchen, Elissa and Candice are cooking and whispering about Aaryn when she comes into the room. She tries to inquire as to what they're cooking, but Elissa pretty much ices her out and stands there awkwardly. Candice at least makes an attempt to chat to her, and privately Aaryn admits that while she knows she and Elissa are enemies, she's HoH and Elissa is just making things weird. I hate to say it, but she's kind of right.

Aaryn on Big Brother

© CBS / Sonja Flemming


Soon after, Aaryn wants everyone to see her HoH room, but the house is pretty much deserted. It's because everyone is already upstairs hiding, and they jump out to cheer when she comes up the stairs. That's a bit much, but okay. The HoH room looks exactly the same as it always does, but her scary clown doll is back, which makes the rest of the house laugh... and some of them scream. Aaryn tells them to help themselves to her food and then claims she "axed" (instead of "asked") for particular items. She quickly makes fun of herself, turning to Candice to cast blame for her speech choices. The whole room is awkwardly quiet. Aaryn's racial stereotyping strikes again! It's amazing to me how much I've managed to hate someone I've never actually met.

Helen is trying to poison Judd, Amanda and McCrae against Howard and Candice, relaying the story about Candice confronting her over the deal. Helen is annoyed that the plan got leaked and wonders how she found out. More importantly, she doesn't want Howard or Spencer to get wind of it because it could change the game. Helen believes it was Elissa who repeated the information, when it was actually Jessie - unfortunately no one is there to correct her. However, this realisation prompts Helen to suggest that Elissa needs to leave the house for good because she can't keep secrets. Well, that was a quick change of heart, Helen. She's getting a bit ruthless.

Amanda and McCrae share a romantic bath together, where they kiss and exchange vows of love and McCrae charmingly farts... lovely. Nothing says seduction like letting one rip underwater. Meanwhile, Spencer is upstairs talking to Aaryn and wants to set the record straight about himself and find out why he's on her radar. He claims that he would not have nominated her if he was HoH, but she insists that he wouldn't have had a choice. Aaryn then tells him she made a deal in order to guarantee her safety, but Spencer doesn't think she'll be okay after this time around. She kind of sees where he's coming from, but who knows if it'll be enough to sway her.

Later, Howard takes Aaryn aside because he knows he has a target on his back this week and wants to make sure he's not on the block this week. Aaryn openly tells Howard of Helen's claim about Candice's threat over eviction. She also reveals the deal he made with Helen and insists she has to go with the numbers. Howard makes the same case Spencer did - that once she goes with Helen and her alliance this week, there's no telling what will happen next time around. However, if she shakes the game up, it can become a bit of a free-for-all. Aaryn knows he's right, but she has so many people telling her different things that she's unsure what to do.

The houseguests listen to Poppy Montegomery


The houseguests listen to Poppy Montgomery

Later that day, sirens begin sounding in the house and a logo for the 'BB Police' comes on the screen. Something tells me we may be in for a little cross-branding. In fact, I'm not wrong - Poppy Montgomery from CBS's Unforgettable pops up on screen to promote the show's premiere, much to the houseguests' cheers, as if they actually care. Poppy recruits the house to compete in the Have/Have Not competition. They'll need to divide themselves into teams with colored badges and head to the garden for further instructions.

Once there, the yard is set up like a giant police station. This is a two-part challenge. Part one requires them to get the evidence off the shelf and get it all perfectly stacked on the desk. The first of the three teams to do it will get an advantage in part two. The losing team in part two will be the Have Nots for the week, but we don't really know what that entails just yet, so let's find out.

The orange team, consisting of McCrae, Elissa, Andy and Aaryn, finishes first and gets the advantage in the second round. This victory prompts an extremely rare high-five between Elissa and Aaryn. Ha! The green team - Amanda, Candice, Judd and GinaMarie - come in second.

Now it's time for the second round. After picking up an evidence envelope each, Poppy Montgomery is back and reveals that part two is unique because they'll need to remember exactly where they found each of the evidence items. They need to be re-stacked on the shelf exactly as they were found, so I think this is going to be a tough one. The first two teams to do it will be the Haves this week. Because the orange team won, their advantage was a photo with 10 of the 24 items and where they appear on the shelf. The second place team gets 9 hints, and the third gets 8. Well, that wasn't much of an advantage.

The advantage was enough - the orange team wins! This is an especially great victory for Andy, who has been a Have Not since he got in the house. Aw, good for him. The purple team - Howard, Jessie, Spencer and Helen - manage to finish second, which means Amanda, Candice, Judd and GinaMarie will have to go without this week. Thank goodness GinaMarie is a Have Not - she bragged for ages before starting about how she's never lost one of these competitions. Take that.

In the bathroom, Elissa complains to Jessie about how there are no quiet places to do yoga in the house. It's an upward battle, but she does it anywhere she possibly can. We also see tons of footage of Elissa doing yoga all over the house - at one point while wrapped in plastic wrap. It's all sorta awkward, but hey, whatever works.

Howard during the Nomination Ceremony



Candice and Howard get together to talk privately about what's going to happen with Aaryn's nominations. Candice thinks that Aaryn needs to put up McCrae and Amanda if she wants to make a power move. How she's going to suggest that, I'm not sure, but she does go up to talk to her the next morning to suggest exactly that. Aaryn has to make the most amount of people happy and admits that she doesn't want to nominate Howard but other people do. Candice encourages her to be brave and break up the people actually running the house. However, Aaryn believes Amanda is a lot of the reason she has stayed and she doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds you. Privately, however, Aaryn admits that she has a "Candice switch" and that Candice "doesn't even exist in [her] world". Well, that's nice.

Candice goes down to tell Howard that it's pretty much a lost cause and relays her conversation. She believes that having a conversation with Aaryn, instead of helping, actually hurt both of their cases and probably put a massive target on her back. She then proclaims that she wants to go home and that she "took the bait" by going up and speaking to Aaryn - she obviously blames Howard for this. Howard wants to know why she's acting like this, but she just keeps saying: "Whatever, have a great life, I don't care anymore." Ha! Oh, moody ladies. He eventually walks out when she proclaims that she wants to be left alone.

Andy, Jessie, Aaryn and GinaMarie are upstairs talking. Andy thinks that Howard is almost a certainty to go out, and Aaryn insists again she'll do whatever the most people in the house want her to do, but she's afraid that the only person in the house who would go after her is Elissa. Jessie comforts her by claiming that Elissa wouldn't dare nominate her as she knows she would go the week after. GinaMarie points out that Aaryn could end up right back on the block if she doesn't do what the rest of the house wants her to, which is true, as well. Hmm...

At the nomination ceremony, Aaryn decides to nominate Spencer and Howard, just as the house wanted her to do. She announces that it's not personal but is what's best for her game and she's sorry. Well, that's that. At least there's still a chance for them to play Power of Veto and see if they can get off the block. Elissa is also shocked that she's not on the block, but she'd better take it and enjoy it.

Who will the MVP (that's you, America!) put on the block? Who will win the Power of Veto? You'll have to tune into CBS on Wednesday, July 31 at 8/7c to find out!

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