WALK SOFTLY, BUT CARRY A BIG STICK
Eric's eviction is greeted with equal amounts of ecstasy and despair. Sarah is over the moon, whereas Maggie and Ivette get choked up. "The house is divided (with) the rats on one side," taunts James, summing up the event. "They were led by the Pied Piper, but he's no longer with us. He's watching from home." He adds cheekily, "Hi Eric."

As HoH, Maggie plans a dual purpose for personal and strategic maneuvering. Her allied "Mag-Hags" scurry around their new commander, salivating with the thought of payback. Ivette declares that "this week she is the cherry on top of the sundae," while Sarah suffers the blues over her failure to stop Maggie's ascension from the ashes. Kaysar is stumped over their loss: "I don't know what happened. I thought we were golden." Janelle is keeping her fingers crossed for an intellectual PoV Competition as she says the Mag-Hags are idiots, while Ivette and Maggie are busy having a quiet celebration for two in the storage room.

Mags' HoH Room includes cookies and pictures from home. While her sycophantic clique is excited for her, other opinions are more honest. James' smile doesn't match his eyes as he sneers, "It was pathetic. I had to watch these putrid little rats go around and try and kiss her ass some more…. Just don't make me sick."

Mags is definitely lording it over the house, calling Rachel and then Howie into a meeting. She looks for a deal from them, telling Rachel that as Eric liked her, she will accept her back into the fold. Maggie proposes a deal: if Rachel and Howie promise not to put her up the next week, she will not put them up for eviction. For the ultimate decision, Howie defers to Rachel, who agrees to Maggie's terms. Maggie likes the fact he deferred to Rachel, as that plays to her feminist principles. "If your keys are in the box tomorrow, you know you have a deal," she smiles as they are dismissed.