We Need to Talk About 'Big Brother's Elissa

Big Brother's generated a lot of chatter this summer, primarily for the crazy racism espoused by, like, 20 percent of its contestants. It's what we have to talk about, because these guys just cannot stop being racist. But did you know that houseguests yet outside the Evil Axis of Aaryn, Ginamarie, Spencer, and Jeremy (never forget) are also terrible? They are!

Case in point: Elissa. Being the younger sister of previous BB winner Rachel Reilly (remind us again! Please!) has garnered Elissa considerable sympathy since the beginning of the season. Sympathy in the form of regular "MVP" elections, which she's used to help control what happens on the chopping block. Each week she nominated a third houseguest to sit, and in the event her nomination vetoed their way out of it, re-nominate someone else. MVP power is significant. Or rather was, since the latest game twist saw her own MVP power stripped of her and given… back to America. Who chose to put her on the chopping block.

Now, Elissa's borderline insufferable qualities aren't some new development. She's egotistical, and naively so, and has been that way since the first time she invoked the word "sister." But watching her deal tonight with even the possibility of going home…boy, you'd think her victory were preordained and any threat to that some unfathomable slight. How DARE someone nominate THE Elissa Slater? The nerve!

Elissa all but cried after hearing her name read as the MVP's nomination which, fine — it sucks. But what we have here is a classic case of "can't take it" when she's been dishing it out for weeks. It is she, after all, who's enjoyed the power position at every turn… and with everyone knowing it, too, only augmenting that power. The houseguests have needed her. And oh, she's let them know it. Remember her attempted "negotiations" with Nick a few weeks ago, asking him to throw the Veto competition to assure his safety? He did go home, proving her right, but it doesn't excuse the ego-stroking.

Even more of the same shit was on display when she cattily poked fun at Amanda's birthday costume for McCrae. Amanda, just trying to give her house love interest a sexy 24th birthday gift, slipped into a tight black swimsuit. "Eeeew, is that a onesie?" cried Elissa, unaware that they make bathing suits in non-bikini patterns. Amanda tried to brush it off — she's a trooper — but Elissa just kept digging. "I'd be so embarrassed if I were in that outfit!" The worst part is there was no strategy to it, absolutely no reason to make fun of someone ostensibly on your team. Elissa was just being awful because she's awful.

The good news: Should "MVP" as it existed prior to this week be gone for good, there's a strong chance Elissa will find herself up for elimination once more next round (where she'll be unable to win Veto, per the conditions of her victory tonight). Will she go home? At the very least, she may begin to learn some humility. And that's something the home audience, her houseguests, and maybe even her sister Rachel Reilly can get behind.

Image: CBS