'Big Brother' Blowout: Explosive Live Eviction Show Sets Up Crucial HOH Competition -- Is There Hope?

"We are live and let me tell you something, the past hour in the house has been absolutely crazy with accusations flying and secrets exposed," Julie Chen said to kick off the live eviction episode. "We have absolutely no idea what's going to happen tonight. Welcome to 'Big Brother.'"

Apparently, it was absolute chaos inside the 'Big Brother' house just an hour or so before the live taping began, and it threw everything into chaos. Head of Household Holly had already put her secret Final 2, Kathryn, on the block next to backup target Sam after Nick won the Power of Veto and saved himself. Could her pawn now go home?

Sam was doing a solid job of trying to save himself from eviction, only it was a move he should have made before the POV. That way he could have ensured that a bigger target were put up opposite him rather than someone who has no real enemies in the house and the HOH has a vested interest in keeping.

Holly may not be ready to expose her Final 2 deal with Kat, but she's totally willing and able to fight for her to stay. Alas, Sam made his move one step too late or it might have saved his spot in the game ... at the likely expense of Nicole, but it is what it is.

Secrets is a huge part of "Big Brother," but this house has been doing a terrible job of managing information. They blab secrets they have no need exposing and then keep ones that could genuinely help their game. There are clearly disadvantages to recruiting pretty people to be on shows they are not passionate about and don't understand. But hey, aren't they pretty?

Perhaps the most slithery snake of the whole season is Christie, because she's been caught so many times and manages to slither out of it simply by turning the tables and lying more convincingly than most people can tell the truth. It's a genuinely impressive skill, but it is also starting to leave people with a dirty feeling in their heads after they talk to her.

They're starting to sense that they're being duped, even if it is happening more after the fact. She's so compelling and engaging face to face that they just buy into whatever she's selling, but a part of them can tell that they're being conned. Unfortunately, there are still people in the house who are drinking the Kool-Aid and believe she's playing a straight-up game.

This week, it was basically exposed that she's setting up alliances on both sides of the house and preparing for the takedown of the Six Shooters. She admits as much, but still manages to convince the Six that she is loyal to them. Or at least mostly convince them. There are doubts, but there have been doubts before.

Last time there was a delayed reaction when a truth was brought to Gr8ful about betrayal within their own alliance at the hands of Isabella. Sure, they first villified and bullied the hell out of Nicole, but finally they took out Isabella. Sam's eviction is actually more fallout from that, but perhaps he laid the foundation for them to turn again on one another as the Six becomes a Four.

Or could it become a three? Kathryn made veiled commentary about having to endure things that go against her core beliefs of gender equality, empowerment and the like and it certainly sounded like a not-so-subtle dig at the house's resident misogynist, Jackson/Michie. We've gotten glimpses of how dismissively he talks down to women in the house, but it is definitely a bigger problem than CBS is showing.

Even here, Kat wasn't quite willing to name names, though that could be because she knew by this point that she would be staying in the house. Nevertheless, Michie's behavior is off-putting to a lot of people in the house -- except maybe for Holly, who doesn't seem to see it because he elevates her because he sees her as his (perhaps). That puts him in a precarious position within his own alliance.

It's not completely clear where Jack lands with Michie, as the two share a strong bromance and Jack has had his own problematic comments in the house. As the de facto leader of whatever is left of the Six, Jack's support could be huge for Michie, but if he turns on him, then that could change everything.

The bottom line is that the Six Shooters appear to be turning on one another, even though they can't do so directly this week. It's what Cliff and Kat have actively been working toward so this would be the time to capitalize no matter who steps into power. Even if a Six rises, they could convince them that this is the best time to strike because they don't lose the numbers advantage.

If an outlier wins, of course they should just take a shot directly into the heart of the Six as Cliff did and hope for the best. Christie still has her power, which could wreak havoc on a POV, but she's also in a potentially more vulnerable place. Play into her paranoia about being targeted and hope for the best.

It should be an interesting and pivotal week for the game moving forward, and not just because the surviving players tonight made it to Jury. This is the most important Head of Household competition, and no matter who wins it we may have just witness the last unified actions of the Six Shooters.

Jack is running the house like a relaxed king. Everyone is terrified to take him on and everyone absolutely respects his game. It's hard to imagine anyone beating him in a final vote, so someone needs to take a shot. Grade: A

Kathryn just made one of the most baller moves of the summer, solidifying her grace with what's left of the Six and assuring even more faith and trust in her Final 2 with Holly. They've kept it a secret, so far as we know, and Kat's just goofy enough that people enjoy having her around and underestimate her wit and savvy in this game. Grade: A

Tommy has kept all of Christie's blood off of his hands, and yet he benefits from her masterful lying and is right there with her. How far they can ride this game remains to be seen, but it's brilliant for him that she is clearly the bigger target and threat. With her gone, his social mastery should keep people from sending him right after her. Grade: A-

Holly had a pretty clean week as HOH even as she did Christie's dirty work and sent another person from the outliers home. Everyone knows it was gameplay and strategy and there are no hard feelings. Her association with Michie could be seen as problematic, but like Tommy it also means she has a huge human shield that will be targeted before she is. Grade: A-

Christie is playing the most dangerous game in the house, and so far she's winning it. How long that lasts will depend on who stays in power and how many times she gets called out by how many people. If enough people compare notes, she'll probably be done sooner rather than later. The next HOH could determine her fate in the house, but for now she's playing a solid, crazy, risky game. Grade: B

Jessica continues to float through this game, but no one is paying any attention to her right now, which is perfect. She needs to pull out a win to establish herself as a player soon, though, or the Jury will dub her a floater and no one will give her the $500,000. In the meantime, though, no one is targeting her, either. Grade: B-

Analyse was thrown under the bus pretty hard earlier this week when she came and told Michie and Holly about Christie's theory that the couple had a deal with Nick and Sam. It seems to have hurt her standing in the Six because Christie is still weaving her magic spells and they don't know who to believe. Remember, Nicole is still seen as some kind of monster because Christie lied about what she exposed. So many victims. Grade: B-

Jackson is slowly digging his grave with the women in the house, and this will more than likely be his eventual undoing. If the outliers don't take a shot at him, this will be all the excuse the women of the 6 will need. Add to that Sam's closing comment to Julie that he thinks Jack might take a shot at Michie, and clearly something major happened tonight (we don't get to see what until Sunday). Grade: C

Nicole remains a huge target for the other side of the house, but mainly because they don't know what to think of her. She doesn't really talk game with the Six at all, or much with anyone. It's an odd strategy, and yet she's been able to maneuver her way out of trouble over and over again and she's now lying low with the outliers looking for a chance to break the Six apart. It may work yet. Grade: C

Cliff is a huge target, so he needs the outliers in power to protect himself. The Jacks likely respect his bold move of targeting them, and they'll probably honor Christie's two weeks of safety, but after that, he'll be their top target to get out. He needs to get to them before they can take their shot at him. Grade: C-

Nick is still the number one target of the Six, even as they're debating whether or not they can use him. His biggest hope now is that they're ready now to turn on one another (or that a bold outlier wins HOH and makes a huge move with nominations) because he can be an ally in that cause for one side or the other. The cracks are forming and with it comes hope for the outside five. Grade: D

Sam didn't deserve to go. He was playing a great game, but he simply went because perhaps he knew too much about all the lies Christie has said (making him a huge threat to her game if he stayed) and he made friends with Isabella and Nick and the Six were clearly looking to make a clean sweep of the former Unde9able. He was effectively collateral damage of Nick winning POV. Grade: F

"There's a huge chance that I could go home. But there's also a huge chance this could be a total maverick game move and propel me to be in a lot of people's good grace." --Kathryn (gambling as a pawn)

"I've been working closely with Holly and it doesn't necessarily help my long-term game to keep her in tight with that six. So I need to drop whatever seeds of information I can to get them kind of gunning against each other sooner rather than later to keep myself safe in the long run. So I may be a pawn, I'm actually a conspiring bitch. --Christie

"Is this Christie's world and we're all just living in it?" --Michie

"No." --Jack

"I mean, a little bit, but--" --Holly

"A little bit." --Jack

"I'm trying to plant seeds with Christie. I really need these couples to start turning on each other soon before they start picking the rest of us off one at a time. This next HOH is the time to strike." --Cliff

"It's basically a ticking time bomb. I just need to make sure that I build an army and I prepare myself for my end of this war because it's gonna be bloody." --Christie (on Six Shooters unity)

"If I were to tell this to Jack and Jack were on board would you be willing to work with Holly and myself." --Michie (to Sam after Sam tells him Christie was ready to vote him or Jack out)

"I should have put up Nicole." --Holly (not wanting Sam or Kathryn to go now)

"I listened to Christie and she got what she wanted." --Holly

"If she were to be HOH next week would she have the audacity to put me up. I don't think she's shooting that shot that early." --Jack (about Christie)

"She's not, but she is going to. And she's forming people to do it for her." --Michie

"I'm changing what I was gonna say because of the recent things that have happened ... Something you might not know about me is on the outside of this house I'm very passionate about empowerment, gender equality, equal pay and just being a confident woman, body positivity, all that great stuff. Sometimes in the 'Big Brother' house you do have to kind of save yourself and your big personality and the things you believe in the most because it benefits your game in the long run. And something I've been struggling with this entire summer is I want my parents to know the values they instilled in me and the things that they taught me and all of the things that they taught me to be the confident, passionate strong, young woman they raised me to be, I just hope that that is coming across to them. And I hope that they're proud of me. That means more to me than any vote tonight could go. I love you all. I really sincerely have been playing a game that's honest because my mom told me that you can be nice and win and I really believe that." --Kathryn (save-me speech)

"Yeah, I've been caught by guilt in association. I've been in rooms where all your names have been dropped. Who hasn't? Who hasn't? I didn't come into this game to babysit, and even the Bible says, 'Am I thy brother's keeper?' Nope. So, during this whole fiasco tonight, notice how I stayed drama free. Nothing happened. Nothing had to do with me. I may have planted little seeds. Good. It's 'Big Brother.' That's what happens. I'm playing the game. All in all, I love everybody to death." --Sam (save-me speech)

"How did things flip back to you being out here?" --Julie (to Sam)

"Yeah, I don't know. Somewhere something went wrong. I think Kat may have cried more than I did." --Sam

"Do you think the alliance of six survives tonight?" --Julie

"No. No way, they can't! If they survive, that'd be the dumbest thing in 'Big Brother.'" --Sam

"Who goes down first and who takes the shot?"

"I think Jack might go after Michie."

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