'Big Brother' Blowout: The Explosive House Meeting and Epic Lies that Flipped the Vote

If there's a lesson to be learned about how this Final 4 of "Big Brother" is playing out, it's that if you're considering betraying your alliance and they get wind of it, you'd probably better go ahead and carry through with that betrayal.

Unfortunately, Cliff the dealmaker convinced Nicole to ignore her gut and send Tommy out the door and it's the biggest game mistake he's made yet. And as it stands, he now has the biggest risk of paying for it first. At the same time, it's also logical to argue that nothing would have been different had they honored the deal from the beginning, except that maybe Michie wouldn't have lied.

As promised, we got the full explosive house meeting where Michie doubled and tripled down on his lie against Tommy, accusing the Broadway dancer of plotting against Nicole and Cliff and playing both sides of the house. Nicole, who clearly has a better read of people, wanted to watch them fight it out to see who was telling the truth, and she absolutely saw that Michie was lying.

But Cliff was playing his own game and felt safer with Michie than with Tommy. What he underestimated was how angry Michie was that they were considering dumping Holly. Michie might have been true to his word before that moment, but now he's saying whatever they want to hear with no intention of honoring any deals with Cliff or Nicole for the rest of the game.

Michie intends to take Holly to the Final 2 and that's that, but he'll tell the other two whatever they want to hear. Nicole isn't buying it, but Cliff is so afraid of the unknown with Tommy that he's relying on trusting Michie's character as a Southern gentleman. That's a character trait Michie tossed out the door when he felt betrayed.

Cliff has made deals to carry him through the game and Nicole has trusted her gut and played a logical game of numbers. This week, her numbers were stronger and better, but she deferred to Cliff anyway. It could wind up costing them both.

To make matters worse, they made Holly agree to throw both the HOH and the Veto. Throwing the HOH actually works to Michie's favor (and Holly to a lesser extent), because this week the HOH is essentially meaningless. The Veto winner determines who gets the sole vote to evict, so everything is riding on that competition.

Plenty of people have lied their way to victory in "Big Brother." Is Michie now doing that? He fully duped Cliff and Nicole into keeping a number on his side and his ride-or-die in the house over someone that could have helped them get rid of Michie. Of course he wants to go to the end with Holly; Michie is confident he can beat her in the Final 2.

He probably feels he can beat Cliff or Nicole now, too, because he can rely on their betrayal of the Final 4 deal to call their character into question. Plus, he's a comp beast and that's just undeniable.

What's interesting is how his move is both monstrous and masterful, with Tommy even giving him props for his stellar lies and performance. Tonight, we got to see that performance on display. He was certainly committed to the lie and willing to look Tommy in the face and just sling mud all over him, even as Tommy started crying.

Proving that he does have a heart after all, at the end of that night, Michie broke down himself over what he'd done and how dirty he did Tommy. It's a brutal game, and it was a brutal play, but it was also effective. Holly is still in the house and she absolutely owes Michie for that.

Michie has set himself up to win this game. He stands the strongest chance of winning all the remaining competitions, based on his track record. And he's got Holly by his side as backup in case he falters. The odds are definitely in his favor. On top of that, he and Holly are fired up and angry which should make them perform even harder. Grade: A+

Nicole probably has the second-best chance of winning this game, if she can get to the end. But she is going to have to fight and claw her way to get there. If she can somehow keep Cliff safe this week, her odds improve tremendously (especially if they get Michie out), but more than likely she's going to be facing off against Holly and Michie in a Final 3 so she'll have to win out, which is a tough do. Grade: C+

Holly really has no shot of winning this game, even though she's got a good shot of getting to the Final 2. Almost anyone would do well to take her as she's been the least effective player in the game for weeks now. Michie had to play the social game to save her this week; she couldn't even manage that on her own. She emerged as a solo player briefly a few weeks back, but then fell back into Michie's shadow, and that's not a compelling argument to win. Grade: C-

Cliff made a really bad deal that Michie has no intention of honoring. He seems to be somewhat worn down by this point, so we don't expect him to excel in competitions, which will put his fate in other's hands. And since he's already believing that Michie will take him to Final 3, he may not even gun that hard in the Veto, trusting in a bad deal. It would take a miracle at this point for Cliff to survive to finale night. If he gets there, he's got a strong case, but we don't see him getting there. Grade: D

"I had to do things I didn't want to do, say things I didn't want to say and agree to things I didn't want to agree on. But Tommy's gone and Holly's here. I'm just hoping that my mom is not disappointed in me." --Michie

"Why would I do that? I've never said that. I never would say that. I'm not planning on doing that. I think that he is a bigger threat in this game than you. He's not just a physical competitor, he's a mental competitor. It doesn't make sense. Any person, if they have the opportunity, should be taking a shot at him, because none of us stand a chance." --Tommy (defending himself against Michie's lie)

"I'm shocked, I'm impressed, I'm scared, I'm pissed. I'm not just gonna take it." --Tommy (after finding out about Michie's lie)

"What's my plan? To watch Tommy and Michie argue and figure out who is the one manipulating the situation and who's the one telling the truth." --Nicole (calling a house meeting)

"The gloves are off. What I really need to do right now is pile enough evidence, true or not, on top of each other so that Cliff and Nicole's judgment will be clouded to the point that they feel keeping Holly is a safer bet than Tommy." --Michie

"I hate that Michie is grasping at anything he can to save me, but it shouldn't have come to this. If Cliff and Nicole had stuck to their word, this would have been a straightforward week." --Holly (watching Michie reduce Tommy to tears with his angry lies)

"I'm going to be honest with you, Cliff, and I don't know what you're going to say so I'm a little afraid. I see through Michie. That's where I'm at. He is so smart, I'm telling you. I'm looking at both their faces, and I understand Tommy's an actor. Michie is very smart and put it together. I'm seeing through. I am seeing through it." --Nicole

"I want to believe Michie because that is where our agreement was and it would be easier." --Cliff

"I don't really want to keep Tommy because I think it's very likely he would end up taking Nicole to a Final 2 over myself. But I have to be really careful here. Nicole is still pushing to keep Tommy and I'm going to go along with it." --Cliff

"At this point, I will lie to Cliff and Nicole's face and not feel bad about it." --Michie

"By the grace of God we are here." --Nicole (about her and Cliff)

"By the grace of God? Nicole, by the grace of Holly and Michie." --Holly

"Yeah and you guys would have been f--ked in the double if I didn't pay you back." --Nicole

"That's fine, if you guys want to burn bridges and go back on deals and handshakes and words, then that's fine." --Michie (planning to do just that)

"I was naive. We've been burned before by one alliance and we trusted y'all wholeheartedly and we shouldn't have because we're now getting burned a second time. This is what happens when you put your faith in the wrong people." --Michie

"On a personal level, I'm very upset and disappointed. Any deals or handshakes I had to do to keep Holly here, they aren't anything. But thanks for keeping Holly." --Michie

"I literally just handed Nicole a spot in the Top 3 on a silver tray. It's not right. It is not right. This is not fair gameplay. We made a Final 4 deal, yet here we are and somehow they have manipulated the situation and forced me to basically sell my soul to them." --Holly (after throwing HOH)

"I didn't want to have to do that. I didn't want to have to hurt him. I couldn't lose you." --Michie (tearing up over how he did Tommy dirty)

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