The Big Brother 18 finale is looming large, and the remaining houseguests are scrambling to make sure every move they make is the right one to put them in line to win that half million dollar prize.
As the Head of Household winner in this crucial week, veteran player Nicole Franzel had a very important choice to make about who to put up on the block for eviction. I think she made the right decision about who to nominate, but where she’s gone from there could end up dooming her own game.
Putting Michelle Meyer, who called her a snake on live television, on the block this week was an obvious choice for Nicole. Especially with half the house basically pushing her that Michelle is totally after her and far too dangerous to stay in the game. Nicole put Paul up as someone to help her keep Michelle from winning Power of Veto and to have a pawn on the block on her side (since she and Corey are now basically in a final four deal with Victor and Paul).
I think James sealed Michelle's fate with Nicole. He made it very clear to Nic Many times Meech was after her #BB18 https://t.co/QMyM3PVJMy
— Big Brother Access (@bigbroaccess) August 29, 2016
After she also won Power of Veto, Nicole solidified her power in the house this week with the intention of getting her target Micelle evicted. Although Paul argued for her to take him off the block with the Veto and put up Natalie to make sure they had another guaranteed vote against Michelle, Nicole wisely decided that doing so would basically put a huge damper on her ability to keep ‘working’ both sides of the house as much as possible. If she’d rescued Paul and put up Natalie, it would be screamingly obvious to James and Natalie that she and Corey are now totally in league with Paul and Victor.
So Nicole decided not to use the Power of Veto and leave Paul and Michelle up on the block as the final eviction nominees this week.
Is this the best decision though? Paul is obviously the most dangerous player on the block, far more so than Michelle. If Nicole were really playing for herself to truly win this game, she’d do everything she could right now to get Paul out in Thursday’s eviction. Especially since she has Corey and his America’s Care Package $5,000 bribe in her pocket.
If Nicole really had wanted to establish herself as a potential winner this week, she could have gone rogue and made a sweet deal with Michelle by promising to save her from the block. The she could have used the Power of Veto to take down Michelle, and put up Victor instead. This would have eliminated Victor’s ability to vote to save Paul. Then Nicole and Michelle could have teamed up with James and Natalie to take out the biggest threat in the game right now — Paul. Boom! Wouldn’t that look like a huge move in front of a voting Jury?
Even with leaving Michelle and Paul on the block, Nicole could still work the house just right and possibly get Corey, James, Michelle, and Natalie behind her to get out Paul. Especially since she has Corey’s $5,000 bribe in her pocket. If, of course, Corey didn’t decide to betray Nicole to Victor and Paul, which could happen, true. However, if Corey had any brains, he’d think hard about the fact that if he gets to the end with Victor or Paul, he’s a sure loser. But if he gets rid of Victor and Paul, and then turns on Nicole, he could still have a distant chance if he somehow ended up in the final two with Natalie — especially if he was in on a plot to get rid of both Paul and Victor.
As one of our Big Brother Access writers, Danielle Z, said: “If I were Corey and Nicole, I’d bribe James to vote out Michelle, and keep it secret.”
With Paul gone this week, it would leave Victor alone and vulnerable, and ready to get the boot in the next eviction if he didn’t win HoH. For everyone in the house, this would be the best next move for their games after getting out Paul because Victor is a competition beast and has already been involved in some big, Jury-impressing moves. Plus, winning his way back into the house twice is going to be huge points in his favor in front of the Jury.
However, at this point, Nicole doesn’t seem to be in any way inclined to turn on her newly minted Final Four deal with Paul, Victor, and Corey. Which is really too bad. I’m just not seeing any way that Nicole will be able to make it to the finale with both Paul and Victor surviving this week. The guys may keep her around until James and Natalie are gone, but then again, they may decide that Natalie is the girl less likely to win if she ends up in the final three. And somehow, I suspect Corey would join with Victor and Paul to get out Nicole over Natalie if it came down to that.
From what we’ve been reading on Twitter from the Big Brother 18 fans, quite a few folks seem to agree that Nicole missed an opportunity in not putting Victor up against Paul, or at least trying to get Paul out over Michelle now that she’s left the nominations the same. For Nicole’s sake, we hope James’ plan to push for Nicole to change her target to Paul (after spending so much time convincing her Michelle was the enemy, LOL!) might actually work out.
After noms are locked,James plans to start paranoia w/Nic about Paul&Victor coming after her. He's hoping he can have her target Paul #BB18
— Big Brother Access (@bigbroaccess) August 29, 2016
What do you think? Should Nicole do everything in her power to change the target this week and get out Paul? Or do you think her going after Michelle is indeed the right move for her game?
