‘Big Brother 17’ review: The Austin saga and Outback overkill

Let’s face it: Unless you were “Survivor” winner Sandra Diaz-Twine, you probably did not like how a good five or so minutes of tonight’s “Big Brother” were an extended commercial for Outback Steakhouse. We are not an Outback hater by any means, but given that CBS is making so much money from the live feeds, do they really need to put native advertising into the show itself?

This is especially true given what we had tonight, which has to be one of the crazier episodes of the entire season so far on the basis of drama. Austin’s plans were completely blown up, and we finally got an understanding for the first time to see how Liz actually thinks about him without Julia around. She does trust him, but she doesn’t want to be with him romantically. It’s a tricky position for her, and she is not playing it much like Amber last year. Ironically, her philosophy on keeping Austin as a number was more similar to Caleb.

After Clay used the Veto on himself, Vanessa ultimately decided to nominate Jason and potentially send the self-described “gay glue” home. They think that with him gone, the likes of Meg, James, and Jackie may scatter somewhat. Will it work? We doubt that.

As for a few of our favorite moments from the hour…

1. Johnny mocking Clay for complaining about being on the block was great, but we do wonder why he tried so hard to win a Veto he had no business actually winning.

2. James picking Clay over Meg or Jackie to have dinner at the Outback has to be one of the best moments of the past week on the show. Liz picked Austin, which may be more fuel for that fire. Then again, what do you expect her to do?

3. Vanessa takes EVERYTHING seriously. Even her toast at the Outback was over-the-top. She’s a decent player, but she tries much harder than she needs to. Episode Grade: C (mostly for the Outback).

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