'Big Brother' determines sole Head of Household and two eviction nominees after "Battle of the Block"

Big Brother's two Head of Households each nominated two houseguests for eviction and then those pairs of contestants played against each other in the "Battle of the Block" competition -- ultimately dethroning one of the HoHs -- during Season 17's Sunday night broadcast on CBS.


Big Brother's third episode began with Jace Agolli admitting Austin Matelson was "the ying to his yang." They dubbed their bromance "ShellTown." Austin said Jace was the perfect guy to pair up with because, besides the fact they got along so well, Jace would take the fall before him since he had such a loud mouth and strong presence in the house.

Meanwhile, the two Head of Households, Jason Roy and James Huling, tried to establish a relationship and trust with one another. They were both worried about getting dethroned and thrown back into the pool of regular houseguests.

Jason said he thought Steve Moses would make a good target because he was a big social threat already, along with John McGuire because he didn't really seem like a dentist and probably had a fabricated story. James agreed with both options.

Jason told James he didn't want to go after the big strong guys -- even though they were tough competitors -- because that'd be terrible for his game considering they could all go after him next.


As for Jackie Ibarra and Jeffrey Weldon, former Racers on The Amazing Race, Jeff explained his relationship with Jackie was shaky because she wanted more with him after the Race was over, but he didn't. Although they were working together, Jeff wanted to create some distance between them so they'd be viewed as individuals in the house, not a pair.

The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan then appeared to announce the group's next "BB Takeover."

Phil revealed that because Da'Vonne Rogers and Vanessa Rousso had offered to sit out of the season's first two HoH competitions, they'd receive the "BB Fast Forward" advantage, which was inspired by the Race's own "Fast Forward" twist.

As the Race's "Fast Forward" allows a team to skip over all the tasks in a leg and head straight to the Pit Stop, the "BB Fast Forward" enables Da'Vonne and Vanessa the chance to skip right over the week.

Phil explained the two girls could not be nominated for eviction this week, and in addition, they could each choose one houseguest to join them. Da'Vonne and Vanessa had only 30 minutes to make their decision.


Vanessa wanted to pick someone who would likely win HoH next week and could therefore keep her safe. Vanessa didn't consider herself a strong physical threat, so she desired someone with a different skillset to complement her -- someone who could win the physical challenges.

Da'Vonne was in an all-female alliance with Audrey Middleton and Shelli Poole, but she didn't want to choose either girl in fear it would blow up her spot.

In the end, Da'Vonne selected Liz Nolan for the "BB Fast Forward," and Vanessa opted to save Austin. Shelli wasn't sure her alliance was intact anymore because Da'Vonne picked someone outside of their close threesome.

Afterward, Shelli was getting pretty close to Clay Honeycutt. Even though Shelli was 33-years-old and divorced, Clay said in a confessional he enjoyed getting to know her better. He also likes older women. Shelli felt safe with Clay and thought she could really trust him. Clay felt the same way about her and it seemed they had developed an unspoken alliance.

Da'Vonne then told Audrey that Shelli was making her nervous so they should probably keep her on the "outer ring" of their alliance. Audrey agreed they could keep her at an arm's length. Da'Vonne just thought Shelli was more interested in flirting with Clay than making it to the end and winning money.


Da'Vonne and Audrey knew that Austin and Jace were tight, and Audrey pointed out she didn't feel she could trust Jace at all. Audrey therefore talked to Jason about whom he was planning to nominate for eviction. Jason was on the same page, saying he knew Jace could win HoH competitions.

An alliance soon bloomed for Audrey, Da'Vonne, James and Jason. While they were hanging out in Jason's HoH room, they discussed how diverse their group was.

The two HoHs agreed Jace couldn't compete on the "Battle of The Block" or the "Power of Veto" competitions because he could easily win. The group determined they could only get rid of Jace by backdooring him. As a result, they'd need to nominate houseguests as pawns and try to gather enough votes to get Jace out of the house.

James and Jason warned many houseguests -- including Jackie, Steve and John -- that they could be nominated for eviction but certainly were not the targets. Jackie and John were fine with it although they weren't exactly feeling comfortable. Steve, on the other hand, wasn't happy and argued how pawns often go home on Big Brother.

When it became time for the Nomination Ceremony, Jason announced he had decided to nominate John and Becky Burgess because he hadn't established strong personal connections with them yet.
 
James then nominated Steve and Jackie for eviction. He explained they could both fight their way off the block and that's why he chose them.


Jackie wasn't too worried because James had guaranteed her safety. Jace also felt confident because he believed he was playing an impressive social game. Becky, on the other hand, cried because she felt blindsided by her nomination.

Jason assured Becky they were friends and she'd be fine, but Becky admitted to the cameras she would "absolutely" put Jason on the block the following week. 

John and Becky ended up winning the "Battle of The Block" competition, meaning Jason was dethroned as Head of Household. Going forward, James will remain the sole HoH, and Jackie and Steve are still on the chopping block for eviction.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski