Time Up for Minutemen? Who’s Seeking New Options?

Cirie has a much better sense of the culture of the house than Felicia, who is still trying to believe that Matt and Jag will hold true to their Final 4 alliance with the Mamas. This even after they evicted Blue last week, proving they’re true only to one another.

But are they even true to that? We’ve already seen Matt consider that he might have to take a shot at Jag before Final 2 because his Minutemen partner is going to be pretty damned hard to beat if he makes it to those Final 2 chairs.

After this Head of Household win, though, Matt is making himself a stronger Final 2 competitor as well. The path to the end with the most integrity would be for The Minutemen to sit together and may the best man win.

But why do that if you can almost guarantee yourself a shot at victory opposite Bowie Jane?

These are the thoughts and conversations already happening as if Felicia and Cirie left for Jury last week or something. The two oldest Houseguests may not have won much this season, but they’re still here!

Matt has been telling them both all week that they are safe, but he’s been lying to Felicia. His actual intention is to keep Cirie safe because they’ve been close all season and he feels more confident that she would take him to the end should she rise to power.

The problem is that Matt has no say in who goes home if Jag and Bowie can agree on a target. Unless nominations change, they’re the ones who vote.

This week’s Power of Veto competition was straight from the Scary-verse and was a pretty complicated and challenging one, to be sure. HGs had to drift along a corridor in the water underneath rungs like a sideways ladder. At the end was a platform where they had to stack 25 rings to build an antenna to call for help.

The problem is that it’s a floating platform and 25 is a hell of a lot of discs. As they move through the water, waves rock the platform, so it’s about who can move quickly enough but smoothly enough to not rock the platform. If one disc drops, they have to start over.

Everyone was moving pretty well on this one, so it definitely wasn’t tailored more to younger or more fit players. The problem is that Jag is just a little faster and more efficient than others, working smarter and faster. Plus, he’s eliminated all of his comp competitors, except for Matt and Bowie.

Still, Matt proved a disaster in this one, while it was Bowie and Felicia who were on Jag’s tail, But it looked as if he never dropped a single disk, moving slower and slower each round to maintain stability until he took home victory, and a place in the Big Brother record books.

With this win, Jag has tied last season’s Michael Bruner for most Power of Veto wins at six. He’s also risen to second place alongside Paul Abrahamian, Jackson Michie, and Cody Calafiore for overall comp wins at eight.

With one more, he’ll tie the all-time record holder, Janelle Pierzina. And with himself guaranteed safety this week and Matt unable to play in Head of Household next week, Jag stands a very good chance of hitting that mark. If he makes finale night, he could take the crown.

Who’s ready for another All-Stars season?

With Jag holding the Veto, Felicia said that this would tell if their Final 4 was real or not. Cirie already knew. And by the end of the ceremony, Felicia knew, too. Jag had zero intention of taking down either of them. But he’s not done there.

Matt spent this entire episode assuring Cirie that she was safe. But Jag doesn’t trust her because of her reality television resume, or her closeness to Matt. In this endgame, he’s already looking beyond The Minutemen … and suddenly Bowie Jane is looking like a pretty good Final 2.

Who would vote for Bowie to win over Jag? Honestly, who would vote for her to win over anyone else left in the house? Probably no one. Matt still thinks Jag is totally loyal to him, but Jag is looking to cut him off at the knees.

Bowie has always flocked to ride on the coattails of power, as Felicia noted, and power lately has been Jag. Matt thinks he’s been on an even level with Jag, but Jag has manipulated him every week to do what’s best for Jag’s game.

Now, Jag has one more manipulation to do, and that’s to poison Matt against Cirie and get him on board with taking her out. Does he have to? Not at all, because Bowie is already on board and Matt doesn’t vote. But Jag is playing chess.

He needs Matt on board so Matt won’t know he’s ready to betray him and cut him loose. That way Matt will do what Jag won’t, hold strong to The Minutemen if he’s the one who gets to choose. Jag wants to make sure Matt will take him to the end, even as Jag is pretty sure he wouldn’t do the same.

It’s a cutthroat game, but it’s nothing different than Jag has been doing these past several weeks. The way things are looking, he’s about to get his way, too. The biggest hurdle is this moment here with Matt. He needs to finesse this move to assure Matt doesn’t realize Jag is basically working against him.

If he burns Matt, he can still get his way and have Cirie out, but now he’s got a strong competitor who will be looking to take him out, and may just get that chance. If Matt and Jag go against one another, it would be interesting to see which side Bowie would choose.

She seems to think she’d stand a better chance of beating Jag than Matt. Honestly, she should have joined up with the Mamas and taken the boys out already, but it’s too late for that. Considering her ridiculous season of play, she should be grateful she’s so unimpressive, she might just get dragged to a second place finish.

This week also saw a bonus luxury competition, which should have shown Bowie how much her new Final 2 ally Jag really respects her. It was a “trick-or-treat” competition that saw them putting and removing candy from one another’s buckets across five rounds.

Bowie was working right alongside her boys Matt and Jag to target the Mamas, but at the end of the five rounds, it certainly looked like they weren’t backing her game as much as they were one another. In fact, she was tied with Mama Fe for the least amount of candy in her bucket. Cirie was just ahead of them.

Jag was trying to hook Matt up with a win as the prize was $5,000 and he’d already won money on the show and didn’t want it to hurt his chances in the Final 2. Every move he makes is looking at the end. Do you know where he wasn’t looking? At Bowie Jane. Does she even get it? Felicia stayed blind until it was too obvious when he didn’t use the Veto.

The difference is that even though Jag clearly doesn’t respect Bowie as a player or a team member — neither does anyone else this season, for that matter — he still might drag her to the end. From there, it’s up to her to try and justify and explain her game. So a little hurt here might not matter if she can get that second place money.

Jag Bains (25, truck company owner) is poised to betray Matt in an effort to secure victory. The danger, though, is that an ultimate betrayal after a season of loyalty can actually sit poorly with some juries. They won’t respect the easy path to victory. Jag has played the best game this season, so he could win against anyone. Will he do it with honor and integrity, or deceit? And how will the jury respond? [Grade: A+]

Bowie Jane Ball (46, barrister/DJ) is looking more and more likely as a Final 2 contender as it looks like Jag and Matt might be about to split. If that happens, Jag has the stronger chance of controlling the narrative to the end, as he’s got Bowie in his corner to vote with him and Matt is probably about to lose his ally in Cirie. Bowie has been a lackey since she woke up in this game, but she could be used to assure Jag’s victory. Even if a jury doesn’t respect his move of booting Matt, it’s hard to imagine them willing to give Bowie the win. [Grade: B-]

Matthew Klotz (27, deaflympics gold medalist) is about to be betrayed by the Mafia, who will go against what he wants. He’s pretty good at playing it cool, so it’s possible he can convince them he won’t feel betrayed. But if Cirie goes — and how could he stop it? — he’ll know that Jag is more interested in just Jag than The MInutemen sitting together at the end. Will he finally be ready to strike, and will he get the chance? It would be an uphill battle, but an incredible story, if he can pull it off. [Grade: C+]

Felicia Cannon (63, real estate agent) is fighting mad to find out Matt and Jag never meant their FInal 2 deal. Will she be so mad she won’t make the smart move of working with Matt if The MInutemen spliter? She’s the next to go if she can’t somehow secure her own power, or if Matt and Jag split and she can set it all aside to work with Matt against Jag and Bowie. It could make for an epic final week … but it’s unlikely to change her fate. [Grade: D]

Cirie Fields (53, nurse) certainly seems like a goner. She’s had a huge target on her back since she walked into the house. If Jag did not know her story outside of BB so well, she might be able to schmooze her way into another week and even into one of the final chairs But he does, and he knows how dangerous she can be. He’s positioned himself to have a lot of power and influence, and right now it looks like that spells the end of her journey. [Grade: D-]

• “I want Cirie here next week because if things go sideways, I know she’ll fight to save me.” –Matt (in DR)
• “Matt’s telling me that Felicia’s the target but I don’t know if I believe anything Matt says anymore.” — Cirie (in DR)
• “I know Felicia is Matt’s target, but she’s not necessarily my target.” –Jag (targeting Cirie)
• “Bowie’s my target but I can’t put her up because Bowie will play hard if she’s on the block.” –Matt (lying to Felicia about his target)
• “If he gets that veto, he’ll use it on you again.” –Matt (to Felicia about Jag)
• “To be honest, the only person I really trust is you.” –Matt (to Jag)
• “Mafia versus the Mamas.” –Jag (about new Final 3 alliance with Matt and Bowie)
• “Bowie Jane just chases power. I just can’t stand s–t like that. Those are those ass-kissers at work.” –Felicia (to Cirie)
• “We starting to wonder. What happened to our Final Four, guy?” –Felicia (in DR about Matt and Jag)
• “My bed is where I lay my face.” –Cirie (in DR about Felicia working on her toes on her bed)
• “I hope it’s us at the end.” –Jag (to Bowie)
• “You, me, Matt, or Jag gotta win that veto.” –Felicia (to Cirie, still believing in Final 4)
• “Wake up, Felicia.” –Cirie (in DR)
• “The best case scenario is either Jag or Bowie winning.” –Matt (not wanting more blood on his hands)
• “Now we’ll see their true colors … If he doesn’t use that Veto, that means they intend for one of us to go home.” –Felicia (to Cirie)
• “Now that Jag has won the Veto, we can keep noms the same and Felicia will be the one to go. Bowie, Jag and I are guaranteed Final Four and everything is going as planned.”
• “I think Felicia going is better. She has better comp chances because she is mental. She’s pretty smart sometimes.” –Matt (to Bowie and Jag)
• “No matter what, you’re good … I refuse to let anything happen to you.” –Matt (to Cirie)
• “Matt’s telling me I’m safe. I think that Matt really may believe that, but at this point it is totally out of Matt’s hands.” –Cirie (in DR)
• “Jag feels the same way?” –Cirie
• “It’s gotta be Cirie.” –Bowie (to Jag)
• “It’s gotta be Cirie.” –Jag
• “I gave all my candy to Matt and Jag, so where’s mine?” –Bowie (in DR, oblivious she’s being used)
• “Your bros left you in last place, the same way they plan to do in this game.” –Cirie (in DR)
• “This week’s pretty much over.” –Jag (to Cirie)
• “I love you, Jag.” –Cirie (laying on the charm)
• “I respect the effort, but I see what you’re doing.” –Jag (in DR)
• “Matt’s a liar, Jag’s a liar, and I ain’t never pay attention to no damn Bowie Jane. I’m sick of this whole damned season where everybody has underestimated Felicia.” –Felicia (in DR)

Big Brother concludes with a live eviction Thursday at 9:20pm ET, another live eviction Sunday at 10pm ET, a recap and Part 1 of the final HOH competition Tuesday at 8pm ET, and a live two-hour finale on Thursday at 8pm ET on CBS.