Big Brother recap: 'Big Brother, Not Big Baby'

It's a slippery slope to the Big Brother finale. No, literally, it's a super slippery, buttery slope... at least in pursuit of HOH right now. When we last left off, Natalie had been evicted (RIP New Jersey's finest) and James, Corey, Nicole, and Paul were sliding back and forth in the HOH competition — it's the comp where houseguests have to get from one side of the backyard to the other using a scoop to transfer liquid. This season? It's butter. You can use a small scoop to fill a bigger container, or fill up a smaller container and release a larger scoop. It should be a dead ringer for The Final Four? alliance, but Nicole and Corey are starting to have a change of heart. Nicole, who has mastered the art of having absolutely no allegiances to anyone but Hayden 2.0, has decided that she might be interested in flipping power on Paul and Victor. It's an EVENT.

Maybe, I haven't been watching closely, but it appears that James and Nicole and Corey have had a very apparent alliance since the beginning? This is exactly how I felt when Vanessa came out of the woodwork last season and announced that her and Steve had been in cahoots as well. But nevertheless, it appears that this is going to be a bad week for Paul and Victor because Victor isn't competing and Paul has zero capability of standing up. Nicole unlocks her big scooper, but Paul has mastered the art of sliding down on his butt, and he's not far behind her. Meanwhile, Corey doesn't need any of your advantages. He doesn't need your pity. And he doesn't need my commentary, because he essentially crushed the entire competition without falling down... and that's coming from a non-Corey fan.

Paul and Victor feel great. James feels great. But in reality, the only two who should really feel great is Budget Jeff and Jordan, because Corey is HOH and Nicole is his lady. Regardless The Final Four? go through the motions and toss their bodies against each other in celebration. Elsewhere in the house, James is feeling the sadness of missing Natalie. We didn't see it last episode, but James went to Natalie to try and make things right. But she was over it. She said, "I threw you under the bus. I had a fling with Paulie, right?" It's a big stab at James, but then again, this game is just a series of low-key stab wounds. Anyway, the conversation continues, and James insinuates that he wanted to tell Natalie he loved her... so she left him her flip-flops, because what is love if not a heightened concern for athlete's foot?

NEXT: The Price of Being Nice

Anyway, we get to see Corey's HOH room. He gets pictures of his dogs and his sister. His selection of music is Taylor Swift's 1989 because in some ways, Corey is just. like. us. But after the fun and games are over, Nicole and Corey are left to discuss what they're going to do... which is go after Victor and Paul. Nicole is scared. Mind you, she's been scared all season. But after Corey makes the announcement that he's going to start playing Big Brother, Nicole is all in because it's hot. It doesn't change the fact that she's scared though. She says she wants to sit the Nomination Ceremony out, but you can't stop playing because you're scared.

But part of her fear might not just be game related. It could be related to the heart. Why would I say that? Because we get a montage of all the times Victor apparently made romantic advances toward Nicole, including picking her up, kissing her boo boos, and scaring her. But her heart is connected to Corey, and their collective heart is connected to James. They watch the HOH creeper screen to see what James is doing. They're hoping he'll come visit so that it doesn't seem obvious that they're working with him, and he follows the plan accordingly. James comes up to the HOH suite, where he makes a deal with the duo in charge. Downstairs, Victor and Paul wonder exactly how James is going to work to save himself.

Paul follows James' lead and wants to make sure that The Final Four? is still intact. Corey attempts to reassure him, but it's only just a Band-Aid for the eventual betrayal to come. Nicole, attempting to never forwardly tick anyone off, says that Corey should put up James and Victor to keep things from being awkward. Having to process too many emotions, Corey decides to clean the entire house. Suddenly, Corey is becoming one of my favorite players... if for no other reason than I can really respect a man who values cleanliness. In the midst of all that cleaning, Corey makes a decision... and even though it goes against Nicole's strategy, it doesn't make everyone happy.

Going into the nomination ceremony, Corey decides to make a big move because, as he puts it, he's "playing Big Brother, not Big Baby." He makes a valid point. He reveals his first nominee to be Victor... which is fine. But once he reveals that second one to be Paul, you can palpably feel the Friendship in the room start to evaporate. He pretty logically describes his game plan, saying that if he puts James up and he comes down, he'd have to put up Nicole. And even if the plan works, it's Paul and Victor against Nicole, which makes them sitting ducks (YIKES FOR NICOLE, but also, yeah). Paul and Victor are pretty sad, James is pretty grateful, and Nicole imagines what it would be like to win Big Brother, but with Corey actually making moves and no one else willing to take her, I can't imagine she'd ever win. Right? RIGHT?? Who do you want to see go home? Who would you cast a winning vote for? Until then, mull on Corey's not-baby move, and we'll see you at the special eviction episode on Tuesday.