Nick and Phil have finally chosen a side of the house to align with instead of riding down the center between them but Maddy is obviously less than impressed to be back on the block. Ramsey’s not to impressed with it either because he feels that he and Maddy have the brothers best interest at heart more than Jared and Kelsey but it really doesn’t matter at this point because people need to start playing their own game. On the other hand, Kelsey and Jared think it’s great to have things turn around and have the other couple up on the block.
The brothers are feeling a little guilty about putting Ramsey up because they actually like him but they realize that Maddy is the brains of that operation and they need to cut off the head before she starts coming after them. Not that they were ever her target but Maddy seems to have taken their speech to heart because by saying that she’s the strongest physical competitor it makes all the guys look like wimps. Maddy then advises Ramsey that he should avoid her as much as possible because apparently she’s ruining his game and Ramsey is just speechless because he’s like a lost puppy now that he’s back on the block.
It’s time to pick players for the Power of Veto Competition and Nick/Phil pick Tim, Ramsey picks Kelsey, and Maddy picks Houseguests choice to which Jared throws up his hand and says “pick me” which causes everyone to laugh. Maddy wants to pick someone who isn’t likely to win the PoV and she picks . . . Nikki. That’s probably a good call. Nick/Phil pick Jared to host the competition and then they all wait for Big Brother to inform them when the games will begin.
One of the hardest things about being sequestered inside the Big Brother house is that the rest of the world goes on around you without you having any idea what’s happening. It’s the same problem in Survivor and occasionally production needs to make the call and let outside information in and that’s exactly what happened while the houseguests were waiting for the PoV Competition to begin. Ramsey is called in to the Diary Room where he’s given a cellphone to receive a call from his mother and you can tell he already knows there’s bad news because he’s already starting to tear up when his mother tells him that his dad had a heart attack. Ramsey is an emotional guy and that opens the floodgates for a moment but his mother assured him that his dad survived and she sounded pretty happy on her end so he’s probably fine but this still was a crushing blow to Ramsey right before a competition.
Okay, maybe I’m an emotional guy too because when Ramsey went up to tell the others in the HoH room as he started to speak you could see him breakdown and the tears start coming and even I teared up a little as everyone rushed over to him. This may be just a game and inside the game these guys may be out for blood, but when something like this happens they all appear to be there for each other. Ramsey doesn’t tell them what happened just that there was a family emergency and he’s now deciding whether to stay in the house or not and he just wants everyone to know in case he starts acting weird or anything. I’d be more surprised if he didn’t.
As Ramsey goes off to be on his own the rest of them are wondering what could have happened and Jared assumes correctly that it had to do with one of his parents. Tim comes down from the HoH room to tell Nick and Maddy about what Ramsey just told them and now everyone knows that something’s wrong. Maddy suggests they just give him some space to deal with his emotions and then he’ll come and talk to them, which brings us back to Ramsey who is trying to gather his thoughts in silence.
After awhile Maddy decides that she should check in on Ramsey but he’s still not ready to talk about it and Maddy feels a bit helpless not being able to do anything for Ramsey. It’s pretty obvious that she actually cares for him but until he’s ready to talk all she can do is give him some space. All he wants is to be alone and all she wants is to help but she can’t do a thing as long as he’s falling apart. As she goes back downstairs she starts crying and feels bad for Ramsey and bad that she can’t do anything to help and . . . well, the mood in the house is pretty down at the moment.
Jared goes up to pray with Ramsey but Ramsey has already been doing that and tells Jared that the problems in the game are irrelevant to what really matters. Sometimes the houseguests tend to forget that and this is a crappy way to be reminded. Jared sits across from him and asks a few questions and finds out that something happened to Ramsey’s father and then Jared guesses a heart attack to which Ramsey nods. Jared can commiserate because his fdad had a heart attack so he knows what Ramsey is going through. His own father had a triple-bypass and Jared assures Ramsey that the fact that they got him to the hospital in time is a good sign and it’s an easy fix nowadays. Jared tries to reassure Ramsey that everything will be fine and he knows that Ramsey is close to his father. Ramsey tells Jared that his father said he didn’t want Ramsey to know, which was obviously so he wouldn’t give up on the game, but Jared knows that Ramsey is still thinking he should be there. He tells Ramsey to take as long as he needs and that he’ll let the others know so Ramsey doesn’t need to and then Jared leaves Ramsey to continue his prayers.
This shows us a lot about Jared’s character outside of the game. He’s a good kid and his parents should be proud of that. Yeah, he’s got a bit of a jealous streak but most guys do until they learn who they can trust. Jared goes down to tell Maddy what happened and she really wants to be able to help him but Jared tells her there’s nothing any of them can do. This is definitely going to make the whole game harder because it’s going to bring the houseguests a lot closer as they help Ramsey deal with it and that’s going to make all of their decisions going forward a lot more personal.
As emotional as things are inside the house it’s time to get on with the PoV Competition and as Tim goes into the backyard all he sees are rows and rows of clothes hanging on clothesline. It’s an OxyCleanHD commercial tied up in a competition where the houseguests will be shown before and after pictures of the houseguests and need to notice what items of clothing have changed and then they need to find those items amongst the clotheslines, gather the items and toss them into their hamper but if they miss they get a time penalty in the spin cycle which will make them dizzy before they can try again. Once they’ve gathered all seven items they can hit their buzzer and lock in their time. The houseguest with the best time wins the PoV and $5,000.
Tim doesn’t really care bout the PoV, he’s playing for the $5,000 and it takes him a while to find the first item but he missed the hamper and had to enter the spin cycle. His second item was easier and he figures he could have done better if he hadn’t missed the first one but he locks in his time and it’s Nikki’s turn. Nikki also just wants the $5,000 but she looks more confused than anything and misses the hamper again, and again, and again. Pretty sure Nikki won’t be winning the PoV as Ramsey steps up to win this for his father. He seems to have pulled himself out of it because he just raced through the competition and then it was Nick’s turn. Nick and Phil want to keep the nominations the same and the only way they can guarantee that is if Nick wins the PoV. After Nick, it’s Kelsey’s turn and she also wants the nominations to stay the same, and she may just do it because she hasn’t missed a shot. Now it’s Maddy’s turn and for her to stay in the house she pretty much needs to win this, but she missed the hamper on one and that may be her undoing.
With everyone having completed the competition it’s time for Jared to reveal the results. In last place with over 30 minutes was Nikki, while in third place with 13:04 was Kelsey. The winner of the PoV and the $5,000, with a winning time of 9 minutes and 52 seconds is . . . Ramsey. Well that’s going to put a kink in the nominations.
It’s Day 52 and when Ramsey wakes up he heads straight to the Diary Room after which he then gathers everyone together in the living room. He looks to have come to peace with his decision as he informs the others that he loves being in the house but he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance because even though his dad will probably be fine his dad is in poor health and Ramsey has decided to leave the BBCan Grand. Nikki almost fell off her chair when he said that and he explained that he wants to spend the next two days before his dad’s surgery by his side because the $100,000 doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and as the camera pans around for responses you can see that Maddy is taking it pretty hard both for herself and for Ramsey because she can’t help him. They all agree that family comes first and it’s been a hard decision for Ramsey to make but he has to be there.
There’s a lot of serious emotion and as Ramsey wraps up his farewell speech he asks Maddy if she wants to help him with his bags and she does. AS they go off the others remain in quiet contemplation of their own loved ones and the sacrifices that one makes to be in the game. Upstairs Ramsey tells Maddy that she still needs to keep fighting as it’s now her turn to cry. She’s dealing with mixed emotions as she’s happy that he’ll be with his family but she’s sad that she’s losing her best friend, and she’s feeling all alone. Ramsey tells her to never feel alone in the house because she never will be. Despite the game everyone at this point is there for each other on a personal level.
As Ramsey heads to the door with Maddy at his side the rest of the houseguests come up to give him a farewell hug and say their goodbyes. There’s sadness and tears as they applaud his decision and Ramsey heads out the door. Interesting to note though that the one person who seems to be unaffected by all this is Kelsey who has shown almost no emotional response throughout this episode. Tim assures Maddy she’ll be alright as he gives her a consoling hug and she just hopes so.
With no Ramsey in the BBCan Grand, Maddy is now all alone in the house and she has decided to align with the brothers who have realized that even though she was their target she can now be a valuable ally. After Maddy’s had her chat with Phil he finds himself sitting poolside while Tim enjoys a swim and then Tim comes thorium and suggests that, even though they think the house wants Maddy squashed there’s a bigger force to deal with. When Tim throws Jared under the bus Phil points out that the house could still keep Jared and vote out Maddy and then the brothers have a huge target on themselves but Tim assures Phil that won’t happen. Phil is pretty sure that putting Jared up would be a terrible decision, especially if it backfires on them and now Tim is thinking it may be time for him to make his own big moves.
Phil goes up to chat with Nick in the HoH room and Phil brings up Tim’s big game move and how it could backfire on the brothers. Nick agrees and points out that Tim has been playing everybody and it’s taken until now for anyone to see it. I love his line that “you can’t come into someone else’s country and play that kind of game without getting caught”, and now he’s been caught. Tim has made himself the Paqs brother’s biggest target. Well, he did say he wanted them to make a big move and Tim is right about making big moves in the house but this one might just backfire.
While the brothers are now plotting against him Tim has decided that it’s time for Tim to take control if he wants to win and apparently all that swimming has allowed Tim to come up with an idea. He goes up to chat with the brothers and tells them that he’s decided to offer himself up as a pawn to the brothers. Tim figures this earns their trust and the brothers seem to be on board with that, little does Tim know that the brothers had already decided to put him up and as Tim leaves Phil points out that sometimes the game comes to you.
It’s time for the PoV Ceremony and with Ramsey intending to take himself off the block before his decision to leave the house Nick and Phil must now choose a replacement nominee to take Ramsey’s place next to Maddy. Maddy hasn’t a clue how this is going to play out and just hopes that the brothers put up someone she can compete against. Nick and Phil have decided to nominate . . . Tim, who says he volunteered and then Phil agrees and says that Tim is just a pawn and Maddy starts to giggle. Pawns tend to go home in Big Brother Canada so Maddy can compete against him but she also knows that Tim is followed around the house like he’s Jesus so this could be bad for her. Either way, we’ll find out soon enough.
I’ll be back with my review of the next episode later on and I’ll also be getting down to my Amazing Race review so I hope everyone is enjoying my point of view and keeps coming back. I’ll see everyone again shortly right back here in the BBCan Grand.