Cage Match
James and his porno future (and past) have left the house. Now, it's one of those endurance competitions that probably won't go on that long: Sharon is already out
And as soon as one more leaves, the horse trading can begin.
Ryan just gave thanks that he remembered his "nic patch." Now, try to quit fulltime!
Sheila is already appealing to everyone's goodwill, saying that she's the only one ho hasn't seen her family yet (been HoH), and her birthday is coming up to boot. The waterworks will start in earnest if one more drops out--and this is actually a good week to not have HoH if you can imagine it, because then you can play each of the last two weeks.
Update 6:48 PM house time: Nearly an hour now, and everyone still looks pretty strong. We're still a ways away from a potential new rule to speed up the endgame. Everyone seems in high spirits...but man, when all of these people are in the same spot, the voices really get to you. Sheila and Natalie in particular put me in mind of some sort of Monty Python skit.
Update 7:45 PM: I hadn't figured they would go this long, but the final three all seem very comfortable and chatty. This might actually last until After Dark time.
Update 9 PM: With Ryan out now, the negotiations are well under way, or rather, the begging from Sheila and Natalie's attempt to say "Sorry--not right for me!" There's mistrust here that's all implied, because Sheila would want to nominate Natalie and I suspect Natalie knows this. A deal that Sheila would stick to would mean a likely Ryan/Sharon nomination. But I think Natalie might try to outlast Sheila, and hope she has the alliance strength to survive next week.
Update 9:06: And it's over just like that. For the second time this season, Natalie comes in second in an endurance comp, and Sheila becomes one of the more unlikely HoHs ever--seriously, who would have thought she could win a 3 hour-plus endurance? It doesn't appear there was any deal, so now Natalie is going to be in serious trouble, for the first time, really.