revival of fortune

I had just about written off the rest of this season of BB. After all the comps and happenings yesterday, it seemed pretty clear what was going to happen. Porsche would nominate Rachel and Jordan. If Rachel won the POV, Jordan would go home, otherwise Rachel would go. Whichever was left would be alone against the 4 newbies, so there was almost zero chance of surviving for long. But then today Pandora's Box came along and changed things.

Porsche opened PB and suddenly they're duos again. It's Porsche/Kalia, Shelly/Adam and Rachel/Jordan. (It's not clear if BB picked the pairs or if Porsche did.) Porsche admitted to everyone that she got $5K for opening the box, and later told Kalia that she too gets $5K. Being paired again means the pairs are once again nom'ed together, and vetoed together. So now if Jordan or Rachel wins the POV they're both safe. And better yet, Adam and Shelly would have to be the replacements. And Jordan would get to "repay" Shelly for her last 2 votes.

As soon as the twist was revealed, and Shelly realized she was no longer 100% safe this week, she went into attack mode, just as she did the last time she was at risk of going up. She started telling the rest of them that she overheard Rachel and Jordan talking trash about all of them, and said she heard Jordan call her a bitch. I have no idea if this is true or not, I think it allegedly happened behind the PB trivia. Before the trivia Jordan did return the sweater Shelly gave her a while back, folding it and leaving it on Shel's bed. But Shelly's on a tear, saying she can't believe they've made this personal and that it's different to call someone a bitch when they're a mom. (Really?) For the record, Shelly's called several of the rest of them bitch and other names, and said plenty of nasty personal things. She also has yet to return Rachel's puppy.

[I will say this as something of an aside.... I'm obviously no fan of the way Shelly has been behaving recently. I don't agree with her gameplay of turning on her alliance, but that is just game, and backstabbing is a legitimate BB maneuver. I think all of her carrying on about how much she loves JeJo and how she'll never forget what Jordan did giving her the phone call home, etc., etc. and turning around and shanking them is just morally wrong. That's a little beyond gameplay; there's no reason to take your loyalty oaths to that personal a level. If she'd just said "I'm with you, I'm with you, I'm with you" and then jumped ship I'd say it's pure game. But when you put all the emphasis on the personal, non-game relationship, turning against it has to be a little non-game too. And I strongly disagree with hiding/stealing personal property. That's completely outside the game. However, a lot of people out here aren't being much better. It's one thing to criticize Shelly's behavior in the game, but people who are suggesting that she should lose her job or, worse yet, that her daughter she be put into foster care or kicked out of school (I really don't get what that last one has to do with Shelly), are way out of line. People need to remember, the HGs signed up for this, their families, especially children, did not. And while I think behavior in the house says something about who you are outside of the house, it doesn't say everything.]

As far as noms, Porsche still plans to nom Jordan and Rachel, but now they're all worked up about the POV. J/R have found a new lease on life, and are really optimistic about their chances. Jordan says if they don't win the veto they deserve to get kicked. Adam's not too worried, he knows even if he and Shelly go up, Rachel and Jordan will kick Shelly. And Kalia's still safe, of course.

It seems that Jordan and Rachel did have a little chat with Kalia before the PB twist was revealed, and proposed a deal where if one of them came off the block that Shelly would be the repl-nom and Kalia/Porsche would help kick her. In return Jordan and Rachel would keep Kalia/Porsche safe the following week (i.e. kick Adam). Kalia pitches this to Porsche, but she's not real big on agreeing to the deal. In part she's pissed that Rach/Jordan didn't come talk to her, given that she is HOH. Kalia tries to explain that she just has a better relationship with them, especially Jordan. It also occurs to me that this convo probably took place when the rest of them were locked outside while Porsche was doing the Pandora's Box stuff.

In any case, it's all about the POV. If Adam/Shelly win it, Rachel's likely gone. If Jordan/Rachel win it Shelly's likely gone. If Kalia/Porsche win it, they'll probably kick Rachel, though there's a tiny chance they'd work a deal and kick Shelly. Personally, I'm hoping Jordan/Rachel win it so we'll get the drama of Shelly on the block, and more of a game for the home stretch.

P.S. Just to make it official, Porsche did, in fact, nom Jordan and Rachel.