('Power of Veto #9') Only a few more weeks and 'Big Brother 12' will be history. Of course, many think it would be best to put it out of its misery now, but that's not going to happen. The hamsters are dwindling and we're down to five. Because of the low number of houseguests, CBS decided to up the count once again by forcing new sock puppet hamsters into the house.

Well, maybe there's another reason for the sock puppets. If only they could dance, this house might be entertaining once again.

While the main theme of tonight's episode was the Power of Veto competition and subsequent ceremony, the best action in the house was the continuation of punishments. When Lane opened Pandora's Box last week, he unleashed three punishments. The first one was just odd. Okay, they took away the silverware and glasses. That's not that big of a deal, perhaps an inconvenience at the most. They can work around that.

But tonight's first punishment was more of a delight, I'd say! They were each issued sock puppets that were tailored to represent them and each time they talked, they were supposed to move the puppet's mouth. Hayden's puppet had his mop of hair while Ragan's sported the bow tie he wore in his Memory Wall photo. Lane and Enzo's had their hats, plus Enzo had Meow Meow whiskers.

Supposedly they were to become a Have Not if they didn't move the puppet's mouth while talking. Enzo had his puppet arm down while talking in the HoH room. Perhaps he was mumbling, I don't know. But to me, it looked like he was moving the puppet mouth after the fact or not at all. Yet, he received no real punishment.

Prior to the veto competition, we had to endure Ragan's sob story about being all alone once again. I'm tired of it. Ragan has brought many of his own ills down on himself. He goes from drama queen to raving lunatic to sulking to curling up in a fetal ball for hours on end. For someone who knows the game inside and out, he's played it too emotionally all season and now it's biting him on the butt. It's probably going to be even worse when he finds out his one buddy in the house, Matt, lied about his wife's health. Enough already! And, get rid of those Dustin v-neck tees!

This was the first Power of Veto in which everyone played. That means they'll need a host. That means just one thing ... it's time to makeover Otev and put him in play. This time it was a Broadway clam Otev. No, I have no idea why a clam is tied in with Broadway. Do you know?

Broadway clam Otev sang tunes with clues to two houseguests. The hamsters had to combine the names of the two and scramble to find the right CD in the yard. Similar to Otev comps in the past, they had to offer their finds to Otev. If someone had the wrong disc, elimination. Last one to the platform with the disc, elimination.

If memory serves, I don't recall anyone ever bringing the wrong offering to Otev. That is, until tonight. In the first round, Lane snagged a totally wrong disc and got the boot. He grumbled something about the "Hamburgler clam whatever" and it was up to Britney to win as far as he was concerned. You see, he's growing closer to Britney and knew she'd keep the nominations the same. They really want Ragan out.

Hayden, then Britney got eliminated. It was down to Enzo and Ragan, the two up for eviction. When they heard the clue, both knew right where the disc was. They lunged. Ragan was actually a teensy bit closer, but Enzo practically flew over him and grabbed the disc. In a fit of anger, Ragan flung a disc that bounced off of Otev's clamhead and struck the Enzo head. Oh, so not cool.

Before they had the veto ceremony, we were entertained with the third and final punishment. As far as I'm concerned, this was the best ever. I watched it go down on the live feeds and it cracked me up each time. For 12 hours, they had to dance whenever music played over the loudspeakers. Asleep, in the shower, in the hot tub ... dancing fools! Sure, I laugh. But Hayden can dance better than I can. Oy!

With Enzo sure to save himself, Lane was in a deep dilemma. His gal pal might mean more to him than his Brigade bros. He told her he wants to go to the final two with her. Although he has a pact with Hayden for the final two, he doesn't want to lose his Britney. Nor does Lane want people mad at him. Ragan's the target. This should be a straight pawn situation. However, if he puts Britney up, he knows the tides could turn and his boys just might want to split them up.

What to do? I personally think that anyone left in the group against Hayden might only be playing for second place. Hayden's played a good social game and has a few wins under his belt. Lane is considered more sketchy by people in the jury. He might do better with Britney. He chose to put Hayden on the block in Enzo's place. Hayden's the new pawn. Let's see if Ragan's got any tricks up his sleeve. This could be the time for a power move, but will anyone go for it?