'Big Brother' recap: Hisam Goueli wins Power of Veto, keeps Felicia Cannon and Kirsten Elwin on eviction block

Big Brother featured Hisam Goueli winning the Power of Veto competition and keeping the Head of Household's nominations the same during the Season 25 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Hisam, a 45-year-old geriatric physician from Minneapolis, MN who currently resides in Seattle, WA, won the Power of Veto and chose to keep Felicia Cannon, a 63-year-old real estate agent from Tacoma, WA who currently resides in Kennesaw, GA, and Kirsten Elwin, a 25-year-old molecular biologist from Orlando, FL, on the chopping block heading into the season's first live eviction.

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Hisam therefore honored the Head of Household's wishes given the HoH, Reilly Smedley, a 24-year-old bartender from Portland, ME who currently resides in Nashville, TN, had been targeting Kirsten and using Felicia as her pawn.

The Big Brother broadcast began on Day 3 of the game, with Reilly serving as the Head of Household.


Reilly explained that she decided to leave Felicia and Kirsten on the chopping block this week with Kirsten as her target because Kirsten had entered the house with guns blazing -- doing "too much, too fast."

"I just can't trust her to work with down the line, and as far as Felicia, I chose her as my pawn because she is just the sweetest angel, and she's nobody's target whatsoever. So I think it's going to be a successful HoH," Reilly said in the Diary Room.

Kirsten, meanwhile, admitted she felt "completely betrayed" by Reilly because they had formed one of the first alliances of the season.

"I just have a hard time, in general, with bold-faced liars," Kirsten told the cameras, before crying alone in a room.

Jared Fields, a 25-year-old exterminator from Norwalk, CT, said he was "happy as hell" to be taken off the chopping block, but he was worried that his mother -- Cirie Fields -- was still a target since she's a Survivor legend.


As for Cory Wurtenberger, a 21-year-old college student from Weston, FL, he was also relieved to have escaped the block.

And Felicia said she wasn't going to let her nomination discourage her.

It appeared most of the house was onboard with Kirsten's vote off. Even Cirie called Kirsten "a hot mess" and a "loose cannon," which she didn't believe was good for her or her son's game.

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Kirsten planned to play hard in the Power of Veto to save herself.


Afterward, Reilly assured Felicia that she was just on the block as a pawn. Reilly explained how Kirsten had her hand in multiple cookie jars, and Felicia was visibly okay with that.

Felicia, however, told the cameras that she didn't like being a pawn and she wanted to take control of her own game again.

Over in a different room, Luke Valentine, a 30-year-old illustrator from Weston, FL who currently resides in Coral Springs, FL, admitted to a group of guys that he didn't even realize Cory was on the chopping block.

Jag Bains, a 25-year-old truck company owner from Omak, WA, therefore joked about how Luke was either a secret genius or very dumb.

Serious alliances were also starting to form in the house.


In the Scary Room, Jag and Reilly were bonding with Blue Kim, a 25-year-old brand strategist from Riverside, CA who currently resides in New York, NY; Cameron Hardin, a 34-year-old stay-at-home dad from Eastman, GA; Matt Klotz, a 27-year-old Deaflympics gold medalist from Cameron Park, CA who currently resides in Baton Rouge, LA.

Felicia walked in on a dance party in the Scary Room and could immediately tell they had become a strong unit already.

Reilly then told Jag that he was going to be her No. 1 in the game; she thought they'd be the perfect partnership to get to the end. And Jag also said their Final 2 felt great because he considered Reilly to be a good person and a strong competitor.

The group of five in the Scary Room went on to solidify their alliance, and they called themselves "The Handful" because there were hands all over the walls in their room.

"We have a good thing going. We have people that are smart, we have the athletic people, and on top of that, we've got cute girls in this alliance," Matt gushed. "What more could you ask for?"


Reilly felt like history was being made, and she hoped one of them would win the Power of Veto.

On the other side of the house, Cory made it known that he was Cirie's biggest fan. He recognized that she was probably the biggest threat in the house and "the one to beat," but at the same time, he just wanted to talk to her and get to know her better.

"I've got both eyes and hands and feet watching Cory," Cirie shared in the Diary Room. "Being a Super Fan and knowing my resume that well, he should know a little better than to tell someone how good of a player they are -- not really a smart move."

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After Jag and Hisam had a heart to heart about wanting to represent their communities, cultures, and different religions well -- and prove the stereotypes wrong -- another alliance was forming.

Felicia warned Cirie; Bowie Jane, a 45-year-old barrister and DJ from Melbourne, Australia who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA; Izzy Gleicher, a 32-year-old professional flutist from New York, NY; and Mecole Hayes, a 30-year-old political consultant from St. Louis, MO who currently resides in Upper Marlboro, MD, that the five people in the Scary Room were clearly tight and working together.


These ladies therefore locked down their side of the house and called their alliance "Bye Bye Bitches!"

Bowie Jane, however, left the room mid-conversation as to not give away her position in the house.

"I'm willing to stay loyal to the Bye Bye Bitches as long as [they'll] stay loyal to me," Cirie noted in a confessional.

Cameron and Reilly were then shown inviting Cory, Jared, and America Lopez, a 27-year-old medical receptionist from Edinburg, TX who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, into their alliance -- and all three houseguests were onboard with the plan.

But Jared quickly noticed that his mother wasn't a part of this majority alliance.

"Being in an alliance like this is great. It does give you some safety in this game, but... my ultimate goal is to make sure that can we both make it to the end," Jared said in the Diary Room.


Jared proceeded to warn Cirie about the house's eight-person alliance.

Cirie said that, on the bright side, she could learn information from her son about this alliance's plans and goals, but at the same time, being on the outside of this big alliance made her feel vulnerable and "super, super nervous" about becoming their target.

Before the Power of Veto competition, Kirsten put her game face on and intended to be nice to Reilly in order to keep her enemies close. Kirsten said she was ready to fight for her place in this game.

It then became time to pick players for the Power of Veto competition through random draw.

In addition to the HoH, Reilly, and the two nominees, Kirsten and Felicia, the houseguests who were selected to play in the competition were Hisam, Blue, and Cameron.

Reilly hoped to keep nominations the same and send Kirsten home at the end of the week.


Since Hisam was picked to play for the Veto, Cirie warned him about the big eight-person alliance. Cirie was hoping that if Hisam won, he'd save someone on her side.

The Power of Veto competition from the Humili-verse required the participating houseguests to stack wild flowers onto a vase. The players could be humiliated at any moment by being pulled into the air by their bulky underwear.

The first competitor to stack 35 wild flowers onto his or her vase and push the finish button would win the Power of Veto.

During the competition, the players were sprayed with water and subjected to "atomic wedgies."

Cameron was so close to victory but then his pieces fell off the vase. Kirsten also made a lot of progress, but her tower crumbled after stacking 25 pieces.

Hisam and Reilly also experienced tumbling pieces along the way.


After 36 minutes or so of competition and a close race against Kirsten, Hisam ended up winning the Power of Veto.

Reilly was frustrated by the results, and she acknowledged how her HoH probably wasn't going to be perfect after all.

Following the competition, Kirsten approached Hisam about working with her. Hisam needed houseguests on his side, so he wondered if teaming up with Kirsten would help him.

"I'm not going to make a hasty decision," Hisam told her.

At the Veto Meeting, Hisam decided not to use the Power of Veto, keeping Reilly's original nominations the same.

"I could never decide between either of you, so I will leave it to my roommates to choose," Hisam explained to the nominees.


Hisam had finished in second place in the first two competitions and first place in the PoV, and so he said he didn't want to give the other players another reason to target him.

Felicia admitted being the pawn was not ideal. She just hoped she could trust Reilly and wasn't going to fall into a trap.

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And Kirsten said that although her back was against the wall, she wasn't going to give up.

Cirie, meanwhile, hoped to build numbers so the "Bye Bye Bitches" could say goodbye to the eight-person alliance.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski