Veto Isn't Neato on 'BB3'

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

Roddy © CBS Television

It's Wednesday night, Aug. 28.

Last Thursday, Jason won HOH, and last Saturday, he made his nominations. Foolishly, he left Roddy off the block and put Gerry and Amy up instead. This sent his alliance partner Danielle into a fit and caused Marcellas to label him "weak." When a guy like Marcellas calls you weak, you've messed up.

Of course, he is not one to talk, after melting like butter last Wednesday when Roddy called him "Mr. Handsome."

As many of the houseguests have noted, Roddy has a way of talking himself out of tight spots. He's "Mr. Straight Up Guy" -- always telling the players to do what they think is best, and then telling them what to think. There's something decidedly sinister about Roddy, which becomes perfectly clear during the next pointless houseguest exercise.

Sometime during the night, the "Big Brother 3" placed ceramic gnomes all over the backyard. The players are told to pick out their gnome and decorate it. Amy tellingly selects the gnome riding a pig, and Marcellas picks the gnome holding a duck.

Roddy chooses the murderous axe-wielding gnome.

In almost every episode that is light on content (read: Wednesday's episodes) one particular guest is singled out for a bizarre personality trait and featured in a clip montage. Dear departed Josh did funny voices and cried, Gerry made disgusting noises and picked food out of his teeth.

Tonight, it was Marcellas' turn in the spotlight. As it turns out, he is a big fan of the two-way mirrors all over the house. If there is one thing Marcellas loves, it's looking at Marcellas. He declares himself the prettiest boy in the house, which is just plain silly, because Jason is still around.

The divine Mr. M lists all of the fashion disasters he's observed in the last two months. He hates Danielle's skirted bathing suit, describing it as "something a 60-year old would wear to the beach at Boca Raton." He would burn Jason's underwear (hopefully without Jason in it) and hates Lisa's choker necklace. Roddy's pleated khakis make him ask, "Is this a 1980's poor Polo ad?" and Gerry is his "nightmare." Amy escapes mention.

The power of veto contest causes Marcellas more anguish, as it endangers his gnome, whom he has named "Boo." Each is suspended by a string, and if the houseguests guess a personal trivia question about the gnome's owner, the gnome will come crashing to the ground. Ultimately, Jason wins the contest, and Roddy's evil gnome and Boo survive their respective falls.

Here's what we learn from the trivia. If Roddy were a car, he would be a Range Rover (careful viewers have noted that he already sports a sunroof). Lisa's least favorite job would be cleaning cages at a zoo. Amy's goal is to be a star. Danielle would like to be Gandhi for a day. Marcellas pampers himself by going to the dentist, and most disturbingly, Gerry met his wife at a nude beach.

If that is not enough to cause nightmares, Roddy's evil gnome goes on a terrifying rampage throughout the house. Marcellas is convinced the gnome is a crack addict and refuses to let Boo socialize with him. Instead, Boo hangs out with Jason's good gnome. Boo has a pretty sweet life -- Marcellas is very devoted to him. "I think that gnome is going to break his heart," Roddy observes. Crack gnome has harsher plans for Marcellas and is found hiding under the covers of his bed. Tragedy is averted? for now.

Danielle knows who is behind the gnome's evil actions. It's Roddy, who gets others to do his dirty work while he keeps his hands clean. "He's the devil," she declares.

Amy is not worried about trivial issues like evil gnomes or devilish houseguests. She's fretting about a life of loneliness. At 24, she's never had a boyfriend, and sees herself growing old and insane in an empty house.

Here's a tip, Amy, forming intense emotional bonds with gay men to the exclusion of all others is not the best game plan.

Danielle is also shedding tears in this emotional episode. Since she never won an HOH competition, she hasn't received anything from her family in two months. She's sure that Gerry will be the one to win this week's America's Choice competition for a video greeting from loved ones. After all, the entire house made a huge deal of his 28th wedding anniversary last week.

Fortunately, she does win the vote, and watches a tape from her parents and brother. Before she entered the house, her mother had been tentatively diagnosed with MS. On the tape, her mom assures her that she has a clean bill of health, and Danielle breaks down in the Diary Room as she is recalling it.

The second tape features her husband and daughters. They tell her about recent events in their lives, and he reads her a truly touching letter that he has written. It seems that absence really does make the heart grow fonder in Danielle's case. Afterward, she declares that she's ready to start playing the game now.

Um, Danielle, you mean you haven't been playing yet? Yikes.

It's about time she wins the HOH competition, because Jason is just blowing it. He's considering vetoing Amy's nomination and putting Roddy up, but wants to talk to him first. Jason wants to be sure that Roddy won't come after Danielle if he gets HOH next week. Roddy essentially says that he will, but Jason isn't 100 percent certain.

So what does Jason do with the veto? Nothing. The "Big Brother 3" veto concept is officially DOA.

So, either Gerry or Amy is packing up and heading out tomorrow night, unless the crack gnome gets to them first.

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