Olympic athlete Lolo Jones blows her lid as paranoia destroys yet another alliance and the power shifts dramatically once more on eviction night.
When you compress gameplay, you get heightened emotional reactions, and when you have volatile emotional personalities in the "Celebrity Big Brother" house like Lolo Jones and Tamar Braxton, it escalates even further.
This week, with her secret power safely in her back pocket, Tamar had no reason to feel back into a corner, so she was either very quiet or the edit didn't really bother with her. But they still got plenty of drama as Lolo was more than ready to pick up the slack, exploding on her own alliance member, Tom Green.
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View StoryIn her defense, Tom was totally letting his paranoia get the best of him. He was so worried about flushing the power out he targeted (wrongly) Joey and Kandi on the block to try and find it and when that didn't work, he wanted to backdoor his own alliance member, Ricky.
Now Ricky was weird about the alliance at first, refusing to allow it to have a name, but Tom jumping to paranoid within his own alliance in a house with nine people was a little hasty. And unfortunately, it would spell the doom of that alliance, as the girls quickly solidified with their fellow athlete and pushed Tom and Kato out.
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View StoryActing Academy
Neither Lolo nor Natalie are professional actors, and that was evident as they joined with Ricky (not an actor) to try and smokescreen their former alliance members into thinking everything was cool after they defied Tom's wishes and Natalie did not use the Power of Veto.
Tom and Kato weren't buying it for a minute, but it might not matter. They've been playing the game so cleverly, that they might have outclevered themselves. The girls would probably be the first to admit they're not as insightful as the older guys, but that only makes the guys bigger targets in their eyes. And they've got the numbers now.
Paranoia consumed Tom once the powers were dropped into the house and because of it, he may have doomed his game and Kato's right along with him. The two were poised to run the summer with their strategic alliance with the most powerful athletes in the house and their own insight into the players and the game.
They couldn't have blown that more and now their backs are against the wall and they're going to need to scramble if they want to secure a new batch of allies. It is a downfall of their own doing, though, playing too hard too soon. And when you're aligned with athletes, you don't go against the team. Team mentality is what they're all about.
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Ricky Williams climbs from the cellar and right back to the top of the rankings, solidifying his alliance with Natalie and Lolo. He is an athletic powerhouse aligned with two more of those and on top of that, he's still playing that insightful and subtle game. He's reading the room better than anyone, but keeping it so close to his chest and making tiny, masterful moves. He may sneak away with the win and no one will have seen it coming. Grade: A_
Natlie Eva Marie was ready to go to the end with Tom and Kato, but they proved they are not team players. She and Lolo are a solid two, which is both great and dangerous because Ricky is ready to outplay both of them. If they can get the house to boot him, they may be unstoppable. She's only slightly ahead of her partner here because she has a cooler head, and when things get tough, cooler heads tend to prevail. Grade: A
Lolo Jones is a kettle about to boil over every day as tension continues to rise in the house. But she is intelligently aligned and has cleverly shifted with the tide, alongside Natalie, as the power in the house moves. Thus far, it's kept the power couple in a solid position, but it remains to be seen if someone on the so-called bottom wins power and sees this twosome as a threat. At the least, both girls are huge individual threats. Grade: A
Tamar Braxton kept quiet since securing her secret power, which was the smartest thing she can do as she made herself so much not a target, Tom didn't even target her when he should have. We keep waiting for her to play with her head over her heart, and maybe this boost of confidence from America is all she needed to get her head in the game. If she can focus that way, she could be a real contender, too. If not, well her power runs out at the next eviction so then it's back to paranoid city. Grade: B
Kandi Burruss kept her cool pretty good being on the block, and now that she's seen she got zero votes to evict her, she should be feeling a little better about her place in the house. Tom will probably remain a target of hers, but she also remains a solid free agent. She hasn't ruffled any feathers in awhile, and she's a great number for someone who wants it. Beyond that, we're not sure her own long-term strategies, if she's thought that far. Grade: B-
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View StoryDina Lohan continues to surprise us that she's in the house every time she perks up and vows that she's going to win the next competition and then does terrible in it. She's just not the athlete she wishes she was -- we feel you, girl! -- but she's also not a threat to anyone. She is the definition of a floater, unaligned and nonthreatening. She'll go when there are no better targets. Grade: C
Kato Kaelin suddenly found himself on the wrong side of the numbers. The other problem is that he and Tom have already won four competitions between them and so they'll be seen as big threats in the house, despite their age and perceived lack of physical prowess. The fact is, both are huge threats in this game, but they've played too hard and their bond is too tight at this point, Kato may go down by proxy. Grade: C-
Tom Green probably just played himself out of a quarter-million dollars with his paranoia. He quickly emerged as a thinking-man's player, while also taking two competitions. He's a threat, but was good due to his alliance and numbers. But then he started burning bridges within his alliance and he may have no friends in the house left. Sometimes you do it to yourself by misplaying the social part of the game. But he and Kato aren't out yet, as both are probably scrambling now. Grade: D+
Joey Lawrence fell victim to a combination of Tom's paranoia -- trying to flush out the power with his nominations -- and the newly aligned athletes three. In order to protect Ricky, Natalie didn't use the POV leaving Joey the biggest threat on the block. He was well-liked and made a great plea to the girls bolster their numbers by working with him to take out Kato and Tom, but they didn't bite. Not gonna lie, we kind of thought they might, and they could have used that strength and number over Kandi, who may not be as loyal. Grade: F
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View StoryHouse Chatter
"Look at this fool. I got the power, and you got it wrong. I think you and your friends are idiots." Tamar (after Tom doesn't nominate her)
"Tom is the most paranoid player in the house. Why get rid of Ricky now?" Lolo
"Here's what I'm thinking. We've gotta at least pretend like the five is still together. If we win the Veto, don't use it." Ricky (to Natalie and Lolo)
"You ever see a baby take their first steps?" Kato (watching dizzy Dina fall over)
"Please don't pick me, Natalie." Tom (at POV competition"Big Tom, let's go, baby." Natalie (showing where her allegiance no longer lies)
"Natalie, my alliance member, picks me again. Are you trying to knock me out of this competition?" Tom (yes, Tom, your paranoia finally pays off)
"If they had just stayed the course with the original final five, everything would have been cool." Natalie (not using the POV to allow Tom to backdoor Ricky)
"I think our alliance is dead, Kato." Tom
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View Story"You guys never said what we were doing." Natalie (lying to Tom and Kato)"That's why I was surprised you did it without talk to us, but it's all good." Tom
"You couldn't find us? In this house with seven rooms? I don't trust RIcky, Natalie and Lolo farther than I can throw a stick. That's not very far." Tom
"The biggest threat in the house is that. We need to send this house on its head and somehow get one of those guys on the block." Joey (talking to Lolo, Natalie and Tamar about Tom and Kato)
"Now I'm thinking it's in my best interest, but for my alliance as well, to keep Joe-Joe around. That's how quick shit changes in 'Big Brother,' you guys." Natalie
"Did you ever go to the acting academy?" Kato (goading Natalie)
"You are making people who used to like you hate you guys." Lolo (blowing up on Tom)"You know what you guys did." Tom (referring to Natalie not using POV)
"She burns hot, that one. Don't look at her too long, she gets mad at you." Joey (talking Lolo after eviction)
"You literally stare at her one second too long, 'Why are you looking at me like that?'" Joey (talking Lolo)
"If I had to guess right now, I'd say Patriots and Rams. Did I get it right?" Joey (guessing who's in the Super Bowl)
"Celebrity Big Brother" continues Monday and Thursday at 9 p.m. ET with a special two-hour episode on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS this week.
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