Since the beginning of the season, my feelings towards Austin have changed more than Liz and Julia have in the Diary Room. One week, he's on top of the game, and the next, Austin is the target for eviction on Big Brother 17 . And I can't even be mad about it, because he totally deserved it. Austin had been running around the house stirring up trouble and his alliance — mainly Vanessa — was like, Dude, you're done. And for a while there, Austin was basically out the door. And then, he wasn't nominated after Clay removed himself from the block. So, what gives, Vanessa?
Vanessa's back-and-forth (and back-and-forth) of nominating Austin in Clay's place was ridiculous. Vanessa is so worried about getting blood on her hands, that she almost risked throwing out one of her alliance members to keep her hands clean. For a while there, Austin had one foot out the door and he was completely helpless. He groveled to Vanessa, Liz, Shelli, and Clay, and eventually said the right thing enough times to convince Vanessa that he needed to stay in the game. So what did he say, or what did Vanessa realize, that kept Austin off the block and in safe graces this week? Here's why Vanessa didn't nominate Austin after the Veto ceremony.
It Would Have Been A Dumb Move
At the end of the day, Austin going home is just a dumb game move. There are a ton of reasons why. He isn't going to screw over the Sixth Sense alliance, which is the biggest thing, so why evict him?
The Sixth Sense Would Have Been A Minority
Yeah, I said it Clay. You and your kingdom wouldn't have had the majority of votes anymore if you would have evicted Austin. Plus, if Austin would have been nominated — and subsequently evicted — and the only people to blame would have been the Sixth Sense. They would have put themselves on the minority side of the house, which is ridiculous.
Austin Is Loyal To Vanessa
Despite Austin screwing up, he isn't an disloyal player. He would go to bat for his alliance — he's done it before — and Vanessa, Shelli, Liz/Julia, and Clay realized that just in the knick of time.
They Found A New Target For The Week
Poor Jason. After a lot of back-and-forth, Vanessa realized she could get Jason out of the house this week and actually be removing a good player from the game.
He Had A Reason For Lying, Kind Of
Austin's reason for lying about the off vote during Audrey's eviction makes sense. Voting against the house to cause paranoia that someone is America's Player is really smart, he just shouldn't have lied about it to his alliance.
He Offered To Sacrifice Himself For The Rest Of The Game
Austin — who has said he's not even playing the game to win anymore — offered to call people out and become a huge target to keep his alliance safe for the rest of the game. Is it annoying because people would kill to play Big Brother? Yes. Did it do the job and save him from eviction? Yes.
Austin's safety in the house is walking a thin line between cleverly executed and dangerous. Will he keep himself safe long enough to turn his game around? Probably not, because he's a man in love who forgot that he's playing Big Brother. To keep with all things inside the house, check out Bustle's Big Brother podcast The Diary Room. Check out future episodes of The Diary Room on Bustle’s SoundCloud page and iTunes.
Images: CBS; Giphy
