New HOH Targets Power Couple

A familiar competition, this one was fun to watch for the celebrities who either just didn’t get it or didn’t care at all. This competition not only told us who the season’s fiercest competitors were of those stars left, but also who the only competitors are in the House.

The challenge had them sitting on a ski lift with three buttons in different places. They had to hold the buttons down while stripping down to their swimwear or the time would accelerate (10x, 30x and 60x) faster for each button not pressed simultaneously.

Chris Kattan, bless his little heart, just stood up, ignored the buttons entirely and proceeded to undress, actually maxing out on his time. But we weren’t much more impressed with Todd or Cynthia Bailey, who seemed to not quite get the concept or importance of holding the buttons down.

Shanna was going for it, but she missed a key component that others thought of which cost her time — use the booty the good lord gave ya to hold down the button on the seat. While their strategies varied, there were three clear categories of competitors.

Chris Ka, Cynthia and Todd were in the category we can dub, “Huh?” In the middle, with scores barely a minute apart, were Lamar and Shanna. They were in the game and giving it their all, but their all wasn’t even close to good enough.

That left competitors Miesha, Todrick and Carson Kressley really battling this one out, which is no real surprise. Carson has proven his prowess and the power duo of Miesha and Todrick have been dominating this game.

Unfortunately for Carson, he fell just short of both of them, having to settle for third place. And in another score just barely a minute apart, Todrick again fell short of his strongest ally in the House, landing Miesha her second HOH win out of three competitions (in other words, she’s won every HOH comp she was eligible to compete in, which is damned impressive!

From here, we could hem and haw but there really was no question or doubt what Miesha was going to do. She’s been gunning for Carson since he proved himself a competition threat by winning the first Veto, and he still has the strongest social game in the House. So she threw him up with his ally Cynthia next to him.

Is that dunzo then for the pair? Not necessarily, as they established a bit of a working relationship with Shanna and Chris Ki last week. If either of them can win Veto, that could shake up Miesha’s plans … especially if they take Carson down! Would it still be worth it to take out Cynthia when there are bigger threats in the house?

She could throw up a pawn in the hopes the House would still take out Cynthia, or maybe Todrick would work his magic on her to convince her to throw up her ally, Chris Ki. They weren’t able to get Chris Ki to budge last week, but Miesha has prove more malleable when it comes to other people doing the strategizing for her.

In other words, there is still a lot of game to play between now and Friday’s two-hour live eviction episode.

Todrick Hall (36) continues to ride high at the top of his game and at the top of this game. He impressed us with how quickly he’s picked up on the fact that Chris Ki is starting to think of him more as a target than an ally. The danger now is that he and Miesha are such huge targets, but to Todrick’s benefit, she is seen as the bigger danger and thus working as a shield in front of him. Plus, the house doesn’t seem to know quite how tight they are. Grade: A+

Miesha Tate (35) is an absolute badass, but is she too much of one? Chris Ki and Shanna didn’t take their shot to break up this duo last week, but we can’t see anyone not taking that shot the very next time it can be taken. She’s too much of a threat to run competition wins to the end of this game. Her social game isn’t great, and she tends to play a little emotionally, but she’s not wrong in her decision to see Carson as a huge threat to her game. So far, it’s working. Grade: A-

Shanna Moakler (46) is aligned with Chris Ki, but the house doesn’t seem to know how tight they are, either, which is good for both of them. Chris Ki is definitely seen as the bigger threat right now, despite the fact they’ve both won a competition at this point. Shanna is a competition threat and a strategic threat that’s definitely been underestimated in that regard. They’re also still kind of in the middle, giving them options for where to align and their choices could shape the future of this game. Grade: B+

Lamar Odom (42) and Todd Bridges (56) are barely playing this game, but they are now playing. Todd shoehorned his way into the Athlete’s alliance, and that was enough to create this foursome that Miesha and Todrick will cut without a moment’s hesitation. But it’s a power move for the power couple right now, and a move that puts Lamar and Todd firmly in the game … firmly, but barely. Grade: B-

Chris Kattan (51) doesn’t have the heart or the head for this game. He’s out of his element, clearly uncomfortable with everything going on, confused most of the time and definitely uncomfortable with all the strategy and backstabbing. Unfortunately, that also means he’s in a position to be ignored. The only danger in keeping him around is the same reason Chris Ki was afraid to make a bigger move — you can’t predict how he’ll vote. Grade: C

Chris Kirkpatrick (50) is in some possible danger this week thanks to Todrick gunning for him. If the POV takes down one of Miesha’s current targets, she could consider backdooring him and it would be a good move for her game as he’s definitely in a powerful swing position otherwise right now. Todrick and Miesha may have the competitions sown up, but Chris Ki and Shanna are stronger collectively when it comes to strategy. But that also makes them a huge threat. The lesson is, if you’re considering taking the shot, you should probably take the shot. Otherwise, you could find yourself the next target. Grade: C

Carson Kressley (52) is in the worst-possible position for his game with Miesha in power. He’s still got a chance to save himself, but if he can’t win POV himself, he needs to hope that someone willing to fight for him will do so. The problem right now is that Miesha and Carson are basically at war in the House, which is keeping the target huge on both of their backs. Who will get hit first? Right now, Carson has no power, so he’s definitely more in trouble, but he’s also a very, very clever man and resourceful. We’re not ready to count him out just yet. Grade: C-

Cynthia Bailey (54) is aligned with Carson, and she’ll be an acceptable consolation prize for Miesha if Carson manages to save himself, or someone else does so. Cynthia hasn’t shown much prowess in challenges or strategically, so she’s basically just saddled right now on the side of the house out of power. She’s also in a vulnerable position, because keeping Carson would be better for Miesha’s opponents than Cynthia, which could see her left on the Block, and then maybe targeted in an effort to weaken Carson. Basically, she could be collateral damage in the war. Grade: D+

• “I’m pretty sure my nose is younger than Mirai.” –Carson (after Mirai said everyone in the house was “so much older” than her)
• “For all the years I’ve watched this show, it was my dream to win a Veto and I just did, it was so cool. You don’t even know, like, little girl dream come true. I don’t even care if it was for five minutes. It was an amazing feeling.” –Shanna
• “Were you trying to lose or do you need to see an ophthalmologist?” –Carson (to Chris Ki after he got all but one wrong in Veto comp)
• “I don’t know what I did wrong.” –Chris Ka (struggling with staying over Mirai)
• “Did we miss our opportunity?’ –Chris Ki (afraid to put up Todrick for fear Chris Ka wouldn’t vote understand the game enough to work with them)
• “I don’t think I’m gonna do a lot of– can we say ass-kissing? I’m just gonna see what happens. And then I can do some ass-kissing later.” –Carson (after Miesha wins HOH)
• “Look who won her second HOH? That’s right baby, any HOH that I get to compete in, I win.” –Miesha
• “We’re toast.” –Carson (to Cynthia)
• “We’re so toast.” –Cynthia
• “Our last ditch effort is they get out Chris Kattan this week.” –Chris Ki (to Shanna)
• “So when is the nominations?” –Chris Ka (to Miesha)
• “Well, you’re not going up. We’ll see what happens if somebody wins Veto.” –Miesha
• “Are you feeling like you should put up Carson and Cynthia?” –Todrick (to Miesha)
• “I just want Carson out.” –Miesha
• “You and Chris [Ki] are the two people in the House I trust the most.” –Miesha (to Todrick)
• “I don’t think I can trust him anymore.” –Todrick
• “I’m coming for blood. I want to see that picture turn black-and-white.” –Todrick (about Chris Ki)