Liz had the opportunity to make a major decision on Big Brother this week. She has been talking with Austin and Julia for the past week saying that they can't trust Vanessa and that it's time to make a big move. Yet when it came time for her to decide whether she wanted to use the Power of Veto on either Becky or John, she didn't use it at all. Huh? Why didn't Liz use the veto on Big Brother, when it could've let her get a main target out of the house? As far as targets go, Becky and John are two people that she has no reason to worry about coming after her.
The thing is, Liz doesn't exactly have any big targets. Her main target this week is Becky, who last week had nominated Vanessa and Shelli for eviction and ended the Sixth Sense alliance for good. Liz getting Becky out doesn't improve anyone's game in any way, she's just doing it because someone needs to go home this week and she and Becky have butted heads in small ways over the past few weeks. It seems that even though a big move might benefit her game, Liz has no interest in shaking up the house like that.
Liz's reasoning for not getting out a bigger target was that both of the nominees would have a chance to return to the Big Brother house soon. Although she doesn't care for Becky or Johnny Mac, Liz and the other houseguests are worried that if they get out a big target now, that person will soon return when one of the jury members re-enters the house. Vanessa seems to be everyone's target, but no one will evict her because of the possibility of her coming back into the game.
That's not a bad reason to keep someone in the house, but it does feel like Liz is wasting an HoH run that could've been used to eliminate a legitimate threat. Unfortunately, the two biggest threats in the house are Vanessa, and Austin (who Liz certainly won't be evicting anytime soon). James is another strong competitor, but Liz knows that he'll be more useful in the house than out of it (since he'll likely be targeting Vanessa). The only other big target in the house right now is Steve, but only the audience at home knows just how good he's playing this game and how much he's deceiving the other houseguests.
Given all the options available and the motives behind the decision, it seems that Liz has made all the right moves for her game, considering she's in a very sticky situation. The result of all this may prove to be a fairly uninteresting week, but it's rare that smart and calculated gameplay comes off as interesting. (A lot of fans thought BB16's Derrick was boring, but he still won half a million dollars). Liz is laying low and trying to be a subtle HoH for the week, and if she can get through this without a target on her back, she will have served a much better HoH reign than most other houseguests.
For more on this season of Big Brother, check out Bustle's podcast The Diary Room below.
Image: Sonja Flemming/CBS
