Season 12: Episode 14: The New HoH is Tempted by Pandora's Box, Unleashing the New Saboteur on the House
The HouseGuests continue to spin on the giant paint can for the endurance Head of Household competition. After seeing his secret showmance Kristen sent packing, Hayden wants to win and seek revenge on outgoing HoH Rachel and her showmance, Brendon. Fellow Brigade member Enzo is happy to see Kristen gone, because now Hayden’s head will be back in the game.
Kathy quickly has enough, and announces she is dropping and taking one for the team by being stuck on slop for the week. Several HouseGuests find this amusing, because they assume Kathy—always a weak competitor—would be the first one to drop anyway. Meanwhile outgoing HoH Rachel cheers from the sidelines for Brendon, who struggles to stay on the can. Enzo decides to let the other Brigade members do the hard work and drops out, a move that irritates Matt. Enzo is “undoubtedly the most selfish,” Matt confides in Diary Room, noting his Brigade buddy will always let everyone else in their alliance do the heavy lifting.
Despite Rachel’s support, Brendon falls. “When he needed me to compete, I did it twice,” she fumes. Soon after, Lane drops out of the competition, followed by Britney and Hayden. This once again leaves Matt and Ragan competing for the final spot in an endurance challenge. “For some reason the brain is the last one standing,” Matt says, noting he always saves the Brigade. With no interest in being the winner this week, Ragan drops, making Matt the HoH for the second time this season.
As everyone cleans up, Hayden, Enzo and Matt conspire in the storage room. Hayden loves that Rachel and Brendon are squirming now. Enzo wants to make sure Matt uses his HoH properly this time—just put Rachel and Brendon up on the block and be done with it. Meanwhile, Brendon approaches Rachel in the rust bedroom to console her, but Rachel is still irritated at him. She feels Brendon has put a target on her back, but isn’t about to tell him that.
To Open or Not to Open
Matt comes into his HoH suite and is faced with a huge question mark attached to a previously unnoticed door. Matt learns he is now faced with Pandora’s Box! If he opens the Box he has a chance to dramatically alter the game, but there could be consequences for him, the rest of the house, or both. Matt goes for it and enters the question mark door. Inside he learns he is getting the Diamond Power of Veto, which allows him to save himself or anyone else for the next two weeks, and also solely pick who will go up as the replacement nominee. The deal is he can’t reveal he has the Diamond Power of Veto until he uses it.
Matt goes downstairs and tells the house he opened Pandora’s Box, but lies about his prize—he tells them he won just $1, but Brendon and Lane are both immediately suspicious. Matt doesn’t know this, but opening Pandora’s Box sets another action in motion—Ragan is called to the Diary Room, where he learns he has been chosen the new Saboteur by America! Ragan learns if he accepts the Saboteur challenge, he must pull off six Sabotages for the next two weeks. If he succeeds, he gets $20,000. After some hemming and hawing, Ragan takes on the challenge.
The next day Rachel goes into the Cabana room to pitch Matt on staying. Ragan asks if he should leave, and Rachel says it’s fine if he stays, because she knows they are buddies. This irks Ragan, who explains he and Matt are not in an alliance. Rachel snaps back and says this has nothing to do with him, but Ragan notes Rachel started it by accusing the two male friends of being in an alliance. The exchange gets more heated, prompting Brendon to join the conversation. Brendon suggests Matt and Ragan are as much of a pair as him and Rachel! Matt—who has been keeping quiet as everyone else bickers—calls out Brendon on that statement, which prompts Rachel to send Ragan and Brendon out of the room. In the kitchen with everyone else watching, Ragan and Brendon bicker so much that Rachel feels the need to come and collect Brendon! Rachel finally gets her moment with Matt, and explains aligning with “Brenchel” would be good for his game. She also notes after one of them are gone, people will be coming after Matt.
Hello Old Friend
Once things calm down, the HouseGuests chill out until they hear a familiar static sound—the Saboteur is back! Everyone rushes into the living room where the Saboteur announces that Matt opening Pandora’s Box, has released the Saboteur back into the game. After the message, the HouseGuests talk about how one of them has been recruited to be the new Saboteur. Matt is sweating—he notes in Dairy Room that he never should have opened Pandora’s Box in the first place. Trying to throw suspicion off himself, Ragan suggests there has to be an incentive for the new Saboteur. But Ragan better watch out--Enzo says he wants to sniff the Saboteur out!
It’s time for the nominations. Matt calls everyone in, and to no one’s surprise, nominates Rachel and Brendon for eviction, citing their continued dominance in HoH and Veto competitions. Who will win the Power of Veto? And will they use it to save Brendon or Rachel? And how will the houseguests react when last season’s showmance Jeff and Jordan return to the house for a special visit? Find out Tuesday, August 10 at 8pm ET/PT on BIG BROTHER on CBS!
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