Sarah Walker

Yes, that’s right. Dan is really on a roll this week. Fresh from a birthday save from the chopping block, he’s the new HOH. And there’s even more in store, so read on to find out what the magic man has left in his wand. His words, not mine. Definitely not mine.

BB begins tonight’s offering with a reminder that there will be a luxury competition that could change the game. We see a recap of Renny’s eviction, after which Keesha reaffirms that losing Renny sucks for her. Jerry interviews that his HOH was a success because it kept him here another week. However, it was also a failure, because it kept Dan here another week.

Memphis interviews that his whole plan for the week was to get rid of Renny and it worked. “At this point, with Renny gone, any of us could win this game.” Dan tells us “If Renny did not leave this week and she found herself in the finals - the jury house loves Renny. She’s very dangerous, because she’s so likeable people would love to give her the money. That’s why she had to go.” Crying Keesha interviews that Renny’s picture should have never turned black and white because of the way she always lights up a room.

There is footage of the most recent HOH competition, followed by Diary Room Dan gloating over his “huge” win. “This (HOH) key insures that I have a one in three chance for 500K. I’m at a loss for words.” Memphis interviews “Dan being HOH, it keeps the renegades off the block. But last time Dan won HOH he did put me on the block. If he puts me on the block again, I’m gonna hurt him.” Keesha tells us that Dan winning HOH concerns her, “because I’m starting to think Dan’s a little more closer to Memphis than he is to myself.” It only took her an entire season to figure out that the boys are ‘a little more closer.’ Jerry interviews “I feel that the house is against me every day, and I do have to try to break the house apart, or pick my way through it somehow. I’m not going to sit here and pout around. I’m just gonna try and find some way to win this game.”

BB replays the HGs’ discovery of the Sumo wrestler. As they speculate about his sudden, unexplained presence, he repeats in ‘Sumo’ “I am sitting on the information you need.” Keesha interviews “The Sumo wrestler was huge. Huge. HUGE! He was talking in a different language. I was like, ‘Dude, what’s going on?!’ Really!”

Memphis speculates “We have to Sumo for the money.” Dan observes “He’d make a hell of a deep tackle, man.” Memphis says nervously, “I don’t really know what to do.” He interviews “Seeing the Sumo wrestler in the house was definitely strange, no one’s been in the house since we walked in here except for the HGs. It’s very awkward and weird when you don’t really know what to do.”

Dan knows what to do. Sumo guy stands, and we see something on the seat. Dan asks “Why are you here?” He repeats his phrase. He stands again and does some leg lifts. He is sitting on a dark colored envelope with a gold seal. Dan spots it and sits nearby on the couch. The others are still hanging back. When Sumo guy stands again, Dan snatches the envelope from his seat. He opens it and reads it silently, driving the others wild with curiosity. He finally lets them in on the contents: “Congratulations HGs. By managing to obtain this letter, you have officially launched a very special luxury competition. The winner will be awarded an amazing trip out of the house; a trip that could impact the game. More details tomorrow.” The HGs immediately begin speculating. Keesha needlessly informs us “I really am lost on this one.” Sumo guy bows. Dan returns the bow and thanks him.

Memphis interviews “This is going to be a great week. We have a luxury competition, Dan is HOH. You couldn’t put a better week together for the renegades. It’s awesome.

Keesha meanwhile languishes in the bedroom. Dan and Memphis come in. Memphis says “This is gonna suck with his (Jerry) ass in here.” Keesha remarks “Jerry’s going to try to come in between all of us. Do you think us three are going to make it to the end?” Dan replies “I hope so. As long as he doesn’t win POV. We’ve got three against one.” Keesha interviews “I would hope these two guys would pick me over Jerry, I mean, that’s what they’ve been saying the whole time. But it is the BB house, and you never know.” Back in the bedroom, she says “We just need to be under the same understanding, which I think that we all are.” She looks from Memphis to Dan, but neither offers a reply, causing Keesha to get that very confused deer in the headlights look.

Keesha is alone on the back porch crying. She interviews “It’s just really hard being in her without Renny. We just knew that we had each other’s backs. And these guys have each other’s backs as far as I’m concerned. For the first time I’m pretty much going to be alone. It’s going to be rough for me, but I’m going to give them a run for their money, that’s for sure.”

Now Memphis and Jerry are together on the back porch, not crying. Memphis remarks “It’s going to be an interesting couple of days.” Jerry replies “I’ll say. Two people here are going to win it. It’s been a rough week for me because I couldn’t play in the HOH, but however it works out. I have a couple of kids that really need some help, but you know, it’s not life threatening.” Jerry interviews that he is grasping at straws and will take anything he can get from the remaining HGs to stay alive. Jerry reminds Memphis “The way it’s going with what happened with Dan and you and everybody else, the jury has - they’ve already said that if a woman made it they were gonna vote for a woman (Who said what?! And how would he know?). Somebody would have to send Keesha home. I mean, it’s that simple.” Memphis interviews “Dan’s HOH, and me and Dan have a good chance of making it to the final three, but the question is, who’s the best person to take? Jerry or Keesha?”

It’s night and the HGs are lounging on the porch, bored - but not crying - watching a giant spider crawling around in its web. Memphis comments that they wanted a pet in the BB house, and have adopted Ted the spider, who comes out above the couch every night. Memphis decides it would be cool to catch a moth and feed it to Ted. Keesha squeals “Memphis, don’t do that!” He ignores her, catches a small moth and tosses it into the web. Keesha is totally freaking out: “Memphis, don’t! It’ll catch its own food. That is SO not cool to kill the moth like that!”

Memphis actually thinks it’s very cool, but the spider isn’t interested because the moth is already dead when it hits the web. Dan comes out of the house, and Memphis catches a second, larger moth that survives being flung into the web. The spider darts for it and moth dust flies everywhere. Keesha shrieks while Dan stares open mouthed. He interviews “I’m a biology teacher. Now I’ve been able to see one of the coolest things ever (ever!) - the prey of a spider getting caught in a web.” Is life in Dearborn really that uneventful? Back on the porch, Keesha squeals “I can’t believe you actually did something like that - ass!”

Dan invites the others up to see his new HOH room. There are lots of Monica and family photos. Jerry sees one of Dan with chubby cheeks, and it’s not from his childhood. He remarks to Dan “You used to be fat!” Dan interviews “Jerry sure knows how to get on my good side; the first thing he says when he sees my HOH room is that I was fat.” There is a letter from Dan’s mom and dad. Dad reminds Dan that he can “say a lot in a few words.” As a recapper, I’m really grateful for his advice, and hope Dan will heed it. Mom says “Memphis is so cool.” She thinks Keesha is so funny (don’t we all!), and “even Jerry….” Mom leaves it at that.

As the HGs sleep, the camera pans the backyard, and we see that some funny things have come to call. There are statues of all types, from a large elephant to a blueberry, an egg with a hatching chick with a large red “IT” on the side, a bathtub full of what looks like slop, a real live contortionist and a real live guy in a gorilla suit. Gorilla guy goes to the diary room, commenting “I think the HGs will be pretty surprised to see me back in the house.” He pulls off the head and it’s Jessie. “I mean, who else could fill out this suit?” Same old Jessie. He continues “Jerry, Keesha, Dan, Memphis - you guys are in for a rude awakening, and I’m dishing it out this time. How does that sound?”

Replacing his head, Jessie Gorilla returns to the house to wreak havoc. He first wakes Memphis and Keesha, turning on the light in their room and lurching around, gorilla-style. They don’t seem especially alarmed, just annoyed. Keesha complains “Are you freaking kidding me?!” Jerry takes in stride being awakened by a gorilla, who then heads up to HOH and pounds on Dan’s door. WTH? is Dan’s reaction. He astutely comments “It’s not every day you’re woke up by a gorilla.” Memphis interviews “The gorilla waves me to follow him to the back door, so why not? Why wouldn’t you follow a strange gorilla running around your house.” The HGs all troop sleepily into the back yard.

Dan interviews “The first thing I notice is a contortionist. I immediately think to myself, there’s another female in the house, and I’ve been staring at the same ones for the past sixty days. If there were any single guys in the house, they’d all be going after that contortionist.” For the first time, Dan is sorry he won HOH as he must drag his eyes away long enough to read BB’s instructions: “Are you ready HGs? The luxury challenge is about to get started. Surrounding you are a number of clues. The clues will help you uncover a common phrase - a phrase that could also be considered helpful in the BB game. When I say ‘Go’ you can study the clues and ring the game bell whenever you’re ready to head to the diary room and make a guess. We have three hours to make three guesses. But be careful - most of the clues are misleading. The clues that have nothing to do with the phrase will be covered up one by one until only the most important clues remain. Make your guesses wisely. We won’t find out who made the first correct guess until after the competition. The first person to ring in and give the correct answer will be awarded a special trip out of the house - a trip that could impact the game.”

The HGs meander around the yard with Jessie the gorilla looking on. Dan interviews “This was one huge puzzle, and it was a play on words. You had to find a way to match a few pieces together to create a common phrase. Some of the pieces were not used at all, and you didn’t know which was real and which were fake. Jessie Gorilla mimics - I should say ‘apes’ - the contortionist, then Dan. Memphis interviews “The gorilla was mocking us; it was pretty funny.” Jerry soon rings the bell and heads to the diary room. His official first guess is “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.” He explains his reasoning: there was a picture of an ear, and the stuffed emu was wearing glasses. What about “speak” or “evil,” you wonder? Me too. But Jerry offers nothing in the way of explanation as to this half of his guess.

Jessie Gorilla covers up some object that looks like a jet ski. Keesha leans down to pet the very real looking stuffed wolf. Behind her Memphis gives a loud bark. Keesha jerks back her hand, saying “Memphis, you’re such a butt.” Keesha rings the bell next and burns her first guess: “Where sleeping dogs lie.” That, of course, isn’t even the correct phrase, but really - what did you expect?

Next Jessie Gorilla covers the emu and the ear, and Jerry realizes his first guess was premature and incorrect. Undaunted, and unwise, he rings the bell again. This time he officially guesses “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” Explanation: “There was a girl and a diamond.” Hmmm. But the phrase is supposed to also be ‘helpful in the BB game.’ And ‘friend?’ Where was that? Jerry is losing it, and he can’t blame it on slop this time.

Jessie Gorilla promptly covers up a fancy layer cake and a Roman statue. He does a little boxing using a third plastic cover as a cape, then does a funny little dance. The HGs crack up; Keesha calls him “hilarious.” He then covers up the bathtub full of slop. Keesha rings in again. Her official answer has to do with the blueberry and the hatching egg with “IT” on the side. This becomes ironic later. Her official guess is “Blue it.” Or maybe she means “Blew it.” Anyway, she laughs and says “I think I blew it.”

Dan sits on the porch step gazing at the contortionist. She gets up, waves a seductive good-bye and leaves. Dan shouts after her “No! No! Please - stay!” But she’s gone. Feels the need to take a shower, no doubt. The others join Dan on the porch and they all sit staring at the remaining objects. Dan interviews “There’s an old football rule: ‘Don’t go until you know,’ and that applies to this luxury challenge. I will not ring the bell until I have a pretty good idea what the answer to the puzzle is.” Guess Jerry never played football, or didn’t listen to ‘old rules,’ because he jumps up and rings in for the third and last time to make his final lame guess: “A dog is a man’s best friend.” Oh, Jerry! First of all, that thing out there is a wolf. Or if it’s a dog, it’s Cujo - not anybody’s ‘best friend.’

As Jerry disappears into the house, Dan wonders aloud if Jerry knows the answer. “He must be pretty confident if he burned all three. Probably does, man. He knows every saying in the book. He created the book!” Jerry returns, and Jessie Gorilla covers the hot dog, and the dog. And the diamond. Jerry now realizes his guesses were all wrong and he has “nothing left to hope for.” He says aloud “I guess I should have waited,” thereby making his first correct guess of the day.

The elephant is covered next; only the blueberry and the hatching egg with the red pained “IT” remain. Keesha, suddenly inspired, runs to the bell. Her guess: “Don’t count your chickens before your eggs are hatched.” Again, not quite right on the phrasing, and….what about the blueberry, Keesha? Oh well. Her guess was fruitless.

Dan rings in his one and only guess: “Bury the hatchet.” He explains “I saw a blueberry, you can’t use the word blueberry in any sentence, so break it down to berry. Then you have an egg being hatched with the word “IT” on it - hatchet. I put together ‘Bury the hatchet’.” And of course you know he’s right. Memphis gets up, saying “I might as well say something, just for the hell of it. He guesses “Fruitless exit.” Get it? Eggs-It. He tells us “That makes no sense at all, it’s not a saying, at least it’s not a saying that I ever heard.”

At the game’s conclusion, Jessie Gorilla shakes Jerry’s hand, making the noise he always made to Jerry while he was in the house, and quickly departs. Dan picks up on it right away. Who just made that noise? Is that Jessie in there? He just made the noise, dude!” Back in the house, there is a gorilla hand hanging below Jessie’s photo. The HGs decide it was Jessie in the suit. Dan remarks “No one else would know those (body builder) poses.” Everyone heads to the living room as they discuss how “crazy” it was that Jessie was in the house.

Dan interviews that he is very confident he guessed the correct phrase, he just doesn’t know if he beat Jerry or Keesha to it. The TV screen announces that one of them has in fact solved the secret phrase and won a trip out of the house. Dan is the winner. Jerry cries “Dan, you’re winning everything!” Everyone congratulates Dan as he is summoned to the diary room. A note tells him he won a private helicopter trip to a remote island for a day. He may take one other person with him. “Your guest can be either one of your current housemates or a jury member of your choice.”

Dan has to decide then and there, and does his thinking aloud. “If I pick Memphis, people will think I have a deal with Memphis. If I pick Keesha, Memphis might think I have a deal with Keesha. Taking a jury member could do less harm, and which one of the jury members is this trip going to mean a lot to?” He continues “You have Michelle, who’s had a trip stolen from her, and she was back doored. If I take her, she would be so appreciative, maybe that’s a vote I could count on.”

Dan tells BB “I’ve decided to take Michelle with me on this private beach vacation.” He comments “This decision could mean the difference between a half million dollars, and nothing. I hope I made the right one.” Dan continues “I have to break the news to the HGs. However, there is no way I’m gonna tell them I’m taking a jury member with me. Are you kidding me?! Talk about hard feelings. If I’m able to pull a jury member out and they know about it, I might as well lose this game.”

Dan rejoins his housemates on the porch. Jerry asks “So where are you going, Dan?” Dan replies “I had to make a decision. I get to go to a private beach for a day, and they gave me a few options what I could do. Obviously, you guys can figure out one of them - pick one of you guys, or go by myself. And I didn’t want to create any animosity in the house, so I didn’t pick anyone. Hope you guys understand.” Jerry and Keesha acknowledge that they understand, but Memphis just looks at him. Keesha says “It’s rough whenever you’re put in that kind of a position.” Dan claims he was given “like two minutes” to decide.

Jerry speculates “It might even be you’re going to a private beach where the rest of the jury is.” Memphis looks sharply at Dan, who does a very credible job of looking intrigued, as if this thought had not occurred to him. Dan replies “That’d be interesting…. Now you guys got me thinking.” Jerry reminds them “Remember, it said it could change the game.” Dan says “That’s what makes me wonder, why is it so vague?” Suspicious, Jerry interviews “Dan had a chance to take someone with him, and he chose not to, and to me - that’s not Dan.” Dan tells us “Jerry knows something is up with this trip…. What I chose not to tell the HGs could backfire on me when they get to the jury house.”

In HOH, Dan asks Memphis “Who do you think is best for nominations?” Memphis replies “I would rather not be on the block, obviously.” Dan interviews “The veto is very important this week, because whoever wins the veto controls the only vote in the house and can evict whoever they want. For this reason, Memphis and I need to have some backup plan just in case he does not win the veto.” Dan tells Memphis he would feel bad putting Keesha up, because she just got off the block and “she would be a wreck.” Dan believes that Jerry thinks he and Keesha have something. Memphis says, “But that’s good.”

Dan agrees, and asks “What do you think Keesha honestly thinks about me and you? Especially after you used the POV?” Memphis replies “I don’t know if she thinks we have a deal. That’s what worries me. It might be our safest bet for me to go on the block. If I go up on the block, and she’s off, is that gonna - that might make her think that we don’t have something. Which is good. It might make Jerry think we don’t have something.” Dan says “We’re not going to get a ton out of these nominations. There’s more to gain out of putting you up.” Memphis agrees, “That might be it, man.” Dan interviews “Putting Memphis on the block is a huge risk, but it may cover up our alliance and push us further in this game.”

Memphis tells us that as long as Dan does what’s best for the renegades, he trusts him. Jerry interviews that he fully expects to go on the block. Keesha comments that she is worried that she will go up because Dan and Memphis are so close. She is not feeling too safe right now. Dan interviews that he is trying to do two things with the nominations: Make sure he gets to the finals, and make sure “the other renegade” is sitting next to him.

Time for nominations. In Dan’s preamble, he says he’s “grown close to everyone,” and he cares about all of them. “What we all have in common is the fact that we’ve outlasted some tough competitors. We should all be proud of ourselves.” With that, he withdraws Keesha’s key from the slot, putting Jerry and Memphis on the block. An astonished Keesha thanks him. Dan says “This POV is going to be one battle for the ages.”

Memphis tells us “The plan was to put me on the block to hide the renegade alliance. Hopefully, the plan works out. Gotta take a little bit of a chance for maybe a big reward.” Jerry interviews “It was a shock that Dan put Memphis on the block. I thought there was a definite loyalty situation developed there, and he turned on Memphis again. Memphis was upset. Now I can use that to my advantage to go to the end.” Oh, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. You are buying the ticket for the ride they’re taking you on. But he’s not the only one. Keesha, smiling from ear to ear, coos “Dan has decided to save me, and I’m very excited about this, because this makes me think that maybe Dan would actually want me in this house over Memphis.”

Delighted Diary Room Dan says “This has been a great week for Dan. I’ve covered up the renegade alliance, I won the HOH, tricked the Sumo wrestler (tricked? WTH?), won the luxury challenge, and I have a trip coming up that could win me at least one vote in the jury house.” It does look rosy for him, but we’ll have to see how it all plays out. Dan could have a great trip, or get tripped up. So tune in Tuesday for the all-important POV and to find out if Dan’s strategy works, or if Michelle votes him off the island.

Check out the best at Media Fiends: MediaFiends.com - Fruitless Guesses; MediaFiends.com - Interview with Renny.