Big Brother Season 17 Episode 20 Recap: Bye Bye Clay

By Mark Drum
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Julie Chen made a surprise wardrobe addition yesterday by adding some new specs to her eyes, which surprised not only the houseguests but also myself included and probably many viewers at home. But first we bid adieu to the showmance "Clelli," from the game as Clay the 23 year old Graduate Student at Texas A&M was voted out with a unanimous vote. What happen to James plan of voting to evict Shelli? Also the power alliance of last season "The Hitmen," make an appearance on last night's episode to discuss what has been happening this season. Here's my recap from yesterday's live eviction.

Sixth Sense becoming a Fifth Sense

With James winning the POV, he made it clear he was going to split up the power couple and decided not to use the POV on either of them. Neither Clay nor Shelli wanted to campaign against each other to stay in the house. Meanwhile Liz, Julia, Austin and Vanessa had a difficult decision in trying to figure out whom they'll want to keep in the house. Do they take out Shelli who is a powerful player or Clay who wants to give up his chance to ensure Shelli can win the game? With this decision they all know that who ever they keep the alliance needs to stay strong to move forward in the game.

Jackie Catching On To Vanessa

Vanessa made it a point to Shelli that she'll fight for her to stay in the game so Shelli doesn't have to. In doing so, Shelli feels like if she did survive she would owe Vanessa. Later in the HOH room, the remaining houseguests meet to try and decide whom to evict from the house. James the current HOH wants it to be a unanimous vote and for the house to evict Shelli. But Vanessa made some points about Clay to evict him, which raised some signals that Jackie had been suspecting for a while. Jackie during her DR said Vanessa has been trying to convince the house to keep Shelli, while in previous weeks has voted out her strongest allies of DaVonne, Jeff and Jason. I'm impressed by Jackie's intuitions and social awareness, even during a #BBShoutout that Julie Chen asked the viewers to chime in that DaVonne herself was rooting for Jackie. Maybe Jackie will be a player instead of a floater now. We'll see ...

The Hitmen Weigh In

We were treated to the winner and runner up of last season's Big Brother Derek & Cody. The two men formed a powerful alliance called "The Hitmen," which got them both to the finale. The two seem to be closer than ever and remain buddies since Big Brother Season 16 ended. Even Tenley was wondering where Cody was when the segment started. No surprise that Derek was getting recognized at his job and Cody getting back into modeling. Derek is cheering for John and James, while Cody has a little crush on Becky.

My Midseason Ranking of the Houseguests

John - Even though he has a very independent game strategy, the house has been receptive to the dentist and relied on him to execute evictions. He's my dark horse in this game.
Vanessa - She's taking her bets but she's starting to show her tells. Vanessa needs to keep her emotions in check and she can go far in this game.
Shelli - Being saved from eviction, proves she's a competitor and wanting to win this game. But now that her other half is gone, she'll be relying on her Sixth Sense alliance to move forward.
James - Making some big moves but also creating a big target on himself. He's a likable individual but from a game perspective dangerous to be around.
Liz - She survived switching with her twin sister, she's part of a strong alliance and she's one a BOTB. But she's really hasn't done anything to show. Her smart move has been toying with Austin's heart.
Austin - He's physically a threat but emotionally he's in love with Liz. He's also needs to quit the Judas routine and trust in his alliance.
Becky - She's been able to build relationships with the houseguests and the houseguests feel like she's a competitive threat. But Becky hasn't really done anything to prove this, so hopefully she'll live up to her accusations.
Jackie - Taking on punishments, having been a part of one of the BB Takeover twists, and outlasting her Amazing Race partner on Big Brother are her accolades. But she's still to me a floater. Hopefully her loyalty to James & Meg could get her far.
Julia - You could say she helped Liz survive five weeks, but now that she's an individual her credits are short. She was a part of a twist at least and now able to compete to win $500K herself. You could also say she's now with her sister Liz the strongest power couple in the house, since "Clelli," is no more.
Meg - She's still here, somehow and still excited to be there. But she hasn't won anything and those she's aligned with have been getting booted prior to this week.
Steve - He may be an "Ian Terry," like clone, but unlike John he hasn't been relied on for evictions and he's just a floater that has now made it to jury.

My Prediction to win

Now that we're at the half waypoint and my pre-show prediction has just been evicted, he's my midseason prediction of who I think will win Big Brother. That person is Jackie. I may give her flack for being a floater, but having being thrown as a twist in the game, being an early target in the house and now trying to stay in the house, Jackie during this midseason is starting to blossom. This is because she's starting to learn more about the game from the super fans in the house as well as use her social skills to pick up on others. We'll see if I'm right if this Amazing Race contestant will win Big Brother Season 17 or if someone else maybe a "dark horse," will win it.

Prediction of HOH & Nominations

Being the third endurance competition of the season, without James playing since he was the reigning HOH, I think this competition of "Midway Mayhem," will go to Becky. Because it's an endurance comp, she can go far and it would be nice to see anyone other than the now five-member alliance of "The Sixth Sense," to win. Before ending the show she was already in an early lead, with the twins right behind. It also looked like Steve was close by. I predict Becky will win and she'll look to nominate Liz and Julia, which would be to get the next strong power couple out of the house. But we'll have to tune in on Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS 62 if my prediction is correct!