It has been 99 days and tonight either Paul, Nicole or James will be the winner of Big Brother 18. Julie Chen welcomes us to the finale #ButFirst we go back to part 1 of the HOH competition. They are dressed like cats and have to follow a red dot and hold on until the light comes back. James claims endurance competitions are his thing. They are hanging for about 30 minutes and continue to rotate from station to station. It is looking difficult and at one hour and 12 mins, Nicole drops and surprisingly James drops right after her. (I’m guessing he did that purposely). Paul wins part 1 and is guaranteed to play in the final competition.

Nicole and James now battle during part 2 of the HOH competition and the winner will battle Paul live. The competition is called “Snapshot” and it is a memory competition where they have to use clues to figure out which three evicted HG they are asking about. The quickest time wins part 2 and the trick is you have to take the correct photo at the right moment. Nicole is getting winded but she knows the HG they are asking for immediately. I think she did very well. I feel like James gives the same response anytime he asked a question. James struggles at taking the pictures and I’m going to predict Nicole wins this. James does the competition in 19:06 while Nicole crushes him with a time of 7:24. It will be Paul vs. Nicole for the final HOH and a guaranteed spot in the final 2.

Big Brother legend Dr. Will (the winner of BB2) returns again to chat with the chaotic jury. They basically do their back and forth on who they think played the best game. The majority of them think that James coasted through the game. (Natalie obviously defends him). I agree with them. He didn’t do anything this season. They decide Paul is very well-rounded and a competition beast as well as a manipulator. Some of the HG (Michelle) have issues with Paul the person, but they all agree Paul the player was phenomenal. Corey obviously thinks Nicole should win and again, Michelle is 100 percent against Nicole and starts crying for some reason. I hope they never bring her back to anything BB ever again. She is so annoying. They feel Nicole controlled the men in her alliance when she needed to. By the end of the conversation they basically have no idea who to vote for.

It’s time to crown the final HOH of the summer. The winner must immediately select the HG to evict and who they want to take to the final 2. The final part is similar to past seasons where Julie asks them questions about the jury members and they give their responses. Eight rounds. It is tied 1-1. It’s pretty close as we head to the final question. Paul is up 3-2 and they both get the final question right which means Paul is the final HOH of the season! TEAM FRIENDSHIP is guaranteed final 2 and at least second place and $50,000 prize.

It is time for the biggest eviction of the season. Paul must decide who to evict and who to take to the final 2. It is a tough choice but Paul decides to evict James and take Nicole to the final 2. James is the final jury member. James tells Julie his strategy was to use his social game to advance his gameplay (which he did). He hopes he can have a future with Natalie outside of the house.

It is time for the jury to question Paul and Nicole before casting their votes. Paul tells the jury that his behavior in the house is just the person he is, that he had a great strategy being able to survive six times on the block and that he played his cards and played a tough game since day one. Nicole’s answers were a bit weaker. She tells them she had some big moves, she was the brains behind the guys. I think it is looking good for Paul. If I was voting, I would cast my vote for Paul. The final 2 give their last statements to the jury. Paul was outstanding. Nicole was average.

It is time for the jury to cast their votes. I’m thinking they are leaning towards Paul but you never know until we see the votes. James votes for PAUL. Corey votes for NICOLE (duh). Victor votes for PAUL. Natalie votes for NICOLE. Wow 2-2 so far. Michelle votes for PAUL. Paulie votes for NICOLE. Bridgette votes for PAUL and Zakiyah votes for NICOLE. WOW a 4-4 vote with Da’s vote determining the winner. Da’Vonne votes for…NICOLE!

Wow. I’m truly shocked. Nicole wins on a 5-4 vote. I honestly can’t remember a vote that close. Nicole is the first woman to win Big Brother since season 13 and the first woman in BB history to beat a man in the final 2. I was very happy that Victor won the America’s Favorite Houseguest prize of $25,000.

It was an interesting season of Big Brother with some memorable houseguests. Congratulations to the grand prize winner Nicole and 2nd place winner Paul. I hope you enjoyed my recaps and we don’t have to wait long for more Big Brother.

Big Brother: Over the Top begins next Wednesday only on CBS All Access.