Big Brother featured the Head of Household, Hisam Goueli, winning the Power of Veto -- for the second time -- and keeping his original nominees, Reilly Smedley and Cameron Hardin, the same during the Season 20 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.
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Hisam, a 45-year-old geriatric physician from Minneapolis, MN who currently resides in Seattle, WA, won the Power of Veto and kept Cameron, a 34-year-old stay-at-home dad from Eastman, GA, and Reilly, a 24-year-old bartender from Portland, ME who currently resides in Nashville, TN, on the chopping block heading into the second live eviction of Season 20.
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The Big Brother broadcast began on Day 10 with the Nomination Ceremony.
Hisam had nominated Cameron and Reilly for eviction, with Reilly as his target because she had been gunning for him at the start of the season, and Cameron as his pawn.
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"I think by pitting those two against each other, it will cause the other side of the house to splinter and crumble," Hisam explained in the Diary Room.
Reilly said she wasn't shocked to be sitting on the block because she had told Hisam -- to his face -- that she'd be going after him eventually. She vented about how it was not exciting to be in jeopardy of going home.
Reilly and Hisam were then shown having a chat in Hisam's Head of Household room.
Hisam said it wasn't that he didn't want to work with Reilly, but it had become clear to him during Week 2 of the game that she was the only person who had "mentioned anybody's name."
"I know, of course," Reilly agreed.
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Hisam said since Reilly had thrown out his name, it wouldn't make any sense for him to try to eliminate a different houseguest.
"God he rubs me the wrong way! He really rubs me the wrong way, ugh!" Reilly vented in a confessional.
Hisam told Reilly that she's a strong competitor but he felt the need to respond to her attack, and so she started to cry. Reilly said everyone in the house was believing "this facade" Hisam was putting on for everyone, but she called it "a crock of bull."
Suddenly, Jag Bains, a 25-year-old truck company owner from Omak, WA, returned from the Nether Region, and Reilly was ecstatic since he was her best friend in the house and would probably help her in any way that he could.
Hisam was then shown talking to Reilly's other close ally, Matt Klotz, a 27-year-old Deaflympics gold medalist from Cameron Park, CA who currently resides in Baton Rouge, LA.
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Hisam warned Matt that if he won the PoV and took Reilly off the block, he'd be telling the whole house they're in a showmance, which Hisam suggested would be a big mistake.
"Matt is my backup option if I need to name a replacement nominee, and so I'm trying to gently explain to Matt how saving Reilly would be really dangerous for his game," Hisam told the cameras.
But Matt thought Hisam was threatening him, and he didn't like it. Matt said he was really close with Reilly and so he hoped he could play in the PoV competition, protect Reilly, and also keep himself safe at the same time.
"Next week, Hisam, we're coming for you," Matt said in the Diary Room.
Matt told Reilly that he was hopefully going to play in the Veto for her and would be willing to go against the HoH's wishes to keep her in the house. Reilly therefore felt "really, really good and safe" with Matt.
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The houseguests then received a transmission from the Scary-verse. The Nether Gorgon wanted more souls, and so Jag was asked to send another houseguest to the Nether Region. That person would miss picking players and therefore would not be able to compete in the PoV competition this week.
Since the Head of Household and the two nominees were already playing, Jag could not select them.
Jag wanted to send a player from the other side of the house, an older person who was not a member of his alliance, but he wanted to sell it to Hisam in a way where he would think it's for his benefit.
Jag recommended Red Utley, a 37-year-old salesperson from Gatlinburg, TN, since he was close to Cameron, but then Hisam said he'd prefer to send Blue Kim, a 25-year-old brand strategist from Riverside, CA who currently resides in New York, NY, since she was close to Reilly.
Jag was hoping Hisam would be cool with him choosing Red, and he wasn't. But Jag said he wasn't going to take out Blue, who was one of his closest friends and allies in the house.
As a result, Jag asked for a volunteer, and Bowie Jane, a 45-year-old barrister and DJ from Melbourne, Australia who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA, stepped up to the plate.
Jag thought Bowie Jane's temporarily elimination would be good for his alliance, and he asked Reilly to trust his decision.
But Reilly was upset because if Red won the Veto, he'd probably take Cameron off the chopping block and then another member of their alliance may be nominated for eviction. Reilly thought this move would hurt her chances of staying in the house.
Regardless, Jag -- who wanted to keep Reilly safe but also not make the HoH mad at him -- went with his gut and chose to send Bowie Jane to the Nether Region.
"The reason I volunteered is because I thought Jag would pick Red, which would be bad for my alliance's game moving forward. He's the strongest competitor on our side and I want to keep him eligible to play for the Veto," Bowie Jane explained in a confessional.
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Reilly didn't think this was the worst thing since she's a number for the other side of the house, but she thought her Final 2 ally would pick someone that had a good chance of beating her -- and saving her -- in the Veto competition.
Hisam was upset Jag had ignored his request to send Blue, and so Hisam told the cameras, "Good thing Jag is safe this week, because if he wasn't, he'd be a really great replacement nominee."
It then became time to pick players for the Power of Veto competition.
In addition to the HoH, Hisam, and the two nominees, Reilly and Cameron, Hisam selected Matt -- which was his fear and worst case scenario -- and then America Lopez, a 27-year-old medical receptionist from Edinburg, TX who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, was selected.
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America was another person in Reilly's alliance, and then Reilly picked the "Houseguest's Choice" token. Reilly therefore asked Blue to play in the PoV competition, and Blue made it known she'd absolutely save Reilly from the block if she could.
"Oh the irony, Big Brother!" Hisam lamented to the cameras, knowing Reilly's chances of staying had improved.
Cirie Fields warned Hisam that everybody was going to be gunning hard for this Veto.
The participating players then competed in the Power of Veto competition as part of the Scramble-verse twist.
A room was transformed into a 90s record store filled with strange and "whacky" musical instruments. One at a time, the houseguests had to race to three separate turntables, where a clue -- in the form of a phrase -- would be given at each.
The players were instructed to spin a record forward or backward, at just the right speed, to hear a clue.
Once a houseguest listened to all three clues, he or she must put them in the correct order to figure out the bizarre Scramble-verse task the player needed to accomplish. For example, the players were asked to put the "Glam Socks CD" into the "PEEano," which was a toilet decorated as a piano.
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The person to complete all tasks in the fastest time would win the Power of Veto.
The best times for the competition results belonged to Blue with a time of two minutes and 36 seconds, Cameron with a time of two minutes and 10 seconds, and Hisam with a time of one minute and 45 seconds.
Hisam was pumped to win and send Reilly packing, but Matt and Reilly couldn't believe none of their four allies were able to pull out a victory.
"I've got to find a way out of this," Reilly said.
After the competition, Bowie Jane returned from the Nether Region, and then Reilly talked to Hisam again in attempt to save herself.
Hisam said it made sense for him to leave Nominations the same so he wouldn't get any more blood on his hands. He also warned Reilly that he was going to announce her as his target at the Veto meeting in order to convince the house to get on his side.
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"I don't recall someone ever doing that and it turning out well for them," Reilly noted.
At the Veto Meeting, Hisam made his announcement that he was going to keep Nominations the same and keep Reilly and Cameron on the chopping block.
"Reilly, I love you, but unfortunately, you're my target. You mentioned my name during your HoH reign, and it caused the house to split prematurely," Hisam declared.
"I'm hoping that my houseguests will help me vote Reilly out and give us all an opportunity to re-establish relationships and figure out who we WANT to be aligned with."
Hisam said in the Diary Room that Reilly needed to learn the lesson that if you're going to be careless and take shots at someone, you need to accept the accountability and consequences of those things.
And Reilly cried after the Veto Meeting because she didn't feel responsible for having split the house into half. She believed Hisam was just threatened by her and that she was going to survive eviction night.
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Meanwhile, Cirie was taken aback by Hisam's Veto speech.
"The fact that he is so adamant about, 'This is what you should do,' and who we should target and [who] he's targeting -- he's so vocal about it!" Cirie noted to the cameras.
"It's like, 'Damn, what did I get myself into? I mean, Hisam is still part of the Professors, but I think if Hisam is not careful, this professor may be in danger of losing his tenure."