Nicole won the Power of Veto this week on Big Brother , allowing her to delay the inevitable moment when she will have to show her hand. Nicole (plus Corey) is currently juggling two 'final four' alliances — one with James and Natalie, and one with Paul and Victor — and losing the POV to the wrong player would have forced her to pick a side. If Paul or Victor won the Veto and used it on Paul (which they were planning on doing), or if James won the POV and used it on Michelle (which he wasn't planning on doing), Nicole would have been forced to nominate another houseguest for eviction. And that houseguest would have been either James, Natalie, or Victor, all choices that would require her to choose one alliance over the other. Nicole is playing both sides on Big Brother 18 , and sooner or later, she's going to have to choose.
Lucky for Nicole, she won the POV over Paul and Michelle and was able to keep the nominations the same. Still, her decision not to use the POV to evict Paul will likely make him a bit nervous, as it should. Before the Veto Ceremony, Paul hinted to Nicole that she should use the Veto on him, but Nicole refused. Why? Because she's actually considering using this opportunity to kick Paul out of the Big Brother house once and for all.
If Nicole does decide to turn on Paul and evict him this week instead of Michelle, that would mean choosing sides a week before absolutely necessary. If Michelle goes home, she could definitely win back James and Natalie's trust, but if Paul goes home, Victor will know that she flipped Corey, ending their alliance. That said, without Paul in the house, it seems unlikely that Victor will be able to do anything to get back at her. Victor is a strong competitor, but his social game needs work, and without Paul it's unclear what kind of Big Brother player Victor would be.
Whatever happens on Eviction night, it's all down to Nicole. I hope she picks a side and sticks to it soon. The longer she holds onto both of her alliances, the more likely one of those alliances will come back to haunt her.
Images: Bill Inoshita/CBS
