Big Brother houseguest Victor Arroyo, who is also this week's Head of Household, won the Power of Veto and chose to keep his nominations the same during Wednesday night's CBS broadcast.

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After Victor won the Power of Veto competition, he left Paulie Calafiore and his closest ally Corey Brooks on the chopping block heading into Thursday night's live eviction.

The Big Brother episode began with Paulie and Corey getting put up on the block together during Victor's Nomination Ceremony.

Paulie started ruffling feathers by asking Victor and Paul Abrahamian what they were thinking. Paulie asked what possibly could have happened when they were supposed to be five-guys strong against the rest of the house.

Victor just barked at Paulie to stop questioning and knocking his strategy, but Paulie insisted he simply wanted to understand the course of action. Victor explained that Paulie was behind his blindside and ouster at the beginning of the season, so while he can forgive, he can't forget.

Nicole Franzel then talked to Michelle Meyer and Natalie Negrotti about how Paulie had just spilled the beans of an all-male alliance. Nicole worried she might be in trouble because she had associated herself with Paulie, whom the entire house was targeting at this point.

Paulie then confronted his "P & P" alliance member Paul about the plan, and Paul repeatedly told his friend that he didn't know anything and he was in the dark.

Paul didn't appreciate how Paulie came at him "hot" all the time in disbelief of his loyalty, but Paulie didn't appreciate the fact Paul was lying to him -- because Paulie said, through his vague responses, his position in the house wasn't difficult to figure out.

Although Paul argued he always had Paulie's back, he wouldn't promise to take Paulie down off the block if he won the veto. The brother of Season 16 houseguest Cody Calafiore then realized he was very alone in this game, except for Corey, who was also in jeopardy of losing the game.

Paulie then cried to the cameras about how his boys had betrayed him and he hated the idea of saving himself only to see his best friend Corey go home in his place. Paulie briefly considered using the PoV on Corey if he won, but Corey told his friend he had to play for himself.

It then became time to pick player for the PoV competition.

In addition to the HoH Victor and the nominees Paulie and Corey, James Huling and Paul were also picked to play. Paulie had his choice of a houseguest, and after asking Michelle if she'd win and save him -- to which she firmly replied, "No," -- he selected Nicole to play.

Paulie thought his odds of winning the competition were great. But before it commenced, everyone tried to rattle his cage so he'd go into the competition distracted, worried and confused. Paulie, however, knew what they were doing and said their fear would only make him stronger.

Paul reprimanded Paulie for not trusting him, and when Paulie tried to preach about loyalty, James fired away at him by saying "loyalty" is never hitting on a friend's girlfriend or disrespecting her. James was clearly referring to Paulie's argument with Natalie.

For the PoV competition, the houseguests were required to slingshot beanbags onto a large floor map of fake states which represented a number of electoral votes for Zingbot, who's running for president. To make the shots more difficult, the launching pad rotated.

The houseguest to land his or her beanbag on a state with the lowest number of votes would be out of the competition until only one player remained. Along the way, each person out of the competition would receive a "prize."

It was up to that player to decide whether he or she would like to keep the prize selected or trade it with a person who had been eliminated beforehand. As a result, the actual winner of the competition could choose among all six prizes, one of which was the Power of Veto.

Paul was out of the competition first and learned his prize was the PoV. Nicole was out next and learned she must dress up in a secret service suit and, every time an alarm sounds, pat down all of the houseguests and run to five security checkpoints to make sure they are safe. Nicole traded with Paul for the PoV.

Corey lost the challenge next and won a vacation for two to any American destination. He traded with Nicole for the PoV. Following Corey, Paulie was out and discovered he must wear a "Patriot Tard" around the house in honor of Zingbot's campaign. He quickly traded prizes with Corey.

James was the next person to lose the competition and claimed $5,000. He decided to keep it. That left Victor as the winner, who learned his prize was to bake an apple pie every time Zingbot sings a patriotic song.

Victor obviously chose to pass that "prize" along to Paulie, who then was forced to hand over the Power of Veto. Victor was ecstatic while Paulie was absolutely crushed.  

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Paulie said in the Diary Room he was positive he was the target and barely had any fight in him left. He was simply scared. Paulie entered the game expected to show America his best, but instead, he hated how the game brought out the worst sides of him.

And once in the kitchen baking an apple pie, Paulie couldn't help but break down into tears in front of his fellow houseguests, and everyone genuinely felt sorry for him at this point.

Paulie said he always has to be the strong one in his family, and at this point in the game, he almost just wanted to pack up and quit. Paul comforted Paulie, saying it was okay to show emotion.

At the Veto Meeting, Victor announced he had trouble separating emotion and sentiment from strategy, however, because he could "forgive but not forget," he decided not to use the PoV and keep his nominations the same.

Paulie told the cameras he needed to try to think of a specific way to save himself or just leave it up to fate in the hope his airline pass was a Round-Trip ticket back into the Big Brother house.

Meanwhile, Corey intended to watch out for his own game, even if it meant campaigning against his best friend in the house.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.