Despite a returning juror re-entering the Big Brother 17 house Thursday night, they may be able to survive the next eviction.

Vanessa Viciously Confronts Steve On 'Big Brother'

Head of Household: Vanessa Rousso

Nominees: TBD

Other houseguests: Austin Matelson, James Huling, John McGuire, Julia Nolan, Liz Nolan, Meg Maley and Steve Moses

Is Austin Too Afraid To Nominate Vanessa For Eviction on 'Big Brother'?

The HOH competition barely lasted five minutes when the feeds came back on Thursday night. As seen on the live show, Julia, Meg and Steve dropped out very quickly, leaving James, Liz and Vanessa to compete against the four jurors, Shelli, Jackie, Becky and John.

James dropped out soon after. Then, Shelli, Jackie, Becky and Liz all dropped out around the same time. This means John is the juror re-entering the game. He and Vanessa fought it out but it was Vanessa then emerged victorious, winning her third HOH of the season.

When they got back inside, Vanessa proceeded to humble-brag about her success in the competition, while everyone kissed her butt so as not to get on her bad side. Once that was over, she strategized with several houseguests about what to do this week.

Vanessa ensured Austin and the twins that they were safe this week and that there was no chance of them being nominated. Austin and the twins still had an axe to grind with John so they said he should be nominated, but Vanessa had other plans.

She and John celebrated their mutual success (her winning HOH, him winning a spot back into the game) and seemed very chummy. Vanessa said that "they won't see what's coming" this week, implying that she definitely intends on keeping John safe.

Vanessa also told Steve that he wanted to secure a deal moving forward with him and John, and Steve was on board It's looking like for the time being, Vanessa will keep up appearances with Austin and the twins, while secretly working with John and Steve.

So by process of elimination, Vanessa is targeting James and Meg this week. She wants to target the more physical threat in James, with Meg being the next target. Amazingly, she has managed to convince Austin and the twins that targeting James and Meg will be best for their game as well.

Vanessa also made several Final 2 deals throughout the night. She reaffirmed her supposed Final 2 deal with Austin then proceeded to make deals with Julia and then Steve.

For now it's looking like James and Meg will be Vanessa's initial nominees. If one of them wins Veto, though, the week could get very interesting.

Big Brother 17 returns for a new episode on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. The episode will feature the rest of the HOH competition and the Nomination ceremony.

Tags: Big Brother Reality TV CBS