Yahoo Finance Big Brother recap: A new HOH tries to navigate their path to the end of the game
Tonight's episode of Big Brother is a bit of a weird one. Usually we have a few days to digest the previous eviction and then watch the action play out on Sunday, but because this episode was moved to Friday there's only so much taped footage to really tap into. So this is a pretty disjointed and repetitive episode, but nonetheless we do get some insight into the double-eviction night and a new HOH who will be guaranteed a spot in the final 3, so let's get to it.
First up, let's talk about the second eviction of the double-eviction night. Azah won the HOH and promptly explained to Hannah that she was putting her on the block alongside Xavier, and that it was going to be easy to get Xavier out of the house. When Hannah started asking her about potential veto plays, Azah was confident that if Xavier came off the block, she'd just put Kyland up and all would be well.
All of this stems from Azah thinking she has a tight bond with the guys, one that's stronger than her relationship with Hannah. But it's a disastrous misreading of what's actually going on in the house. So rather than seeing Xavier or Kyland go home, Azah ends up sitting on the sidelines as Xavier and Kyland control the two votes for eviction and unanimously send Hannah to the jury house, securing their final 3 deal with Big D.
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Of course, Azah is livid. She feels played and disrespected, like the guys had their own motivations and never looped her in. Um, Azah, what do you think this game is all about? It's all about hiding your true intentions and keeping everyone on your side so that you can get to the end, especially this late in the game. Azah is justifiably angry because she feels betrayed, but I honestly don't have a ton of sympathy for her because she had Hannah trying to get her to think more clearly, but she had tunnel vision. I will say, though, that this is yet another example of why I wish we hadn't had a double eviction last night. Give Azah more time to process her HOH and the dynamic in the house, and maybe things turn out differently. Azah was undoubtedly in a tough spot, but I also think she simply didn't play the HOH very well.
Moving on to some more fallout, we get some news that was, at least to me, rather surprising: Xavier has a final 2 deal with Big D, and he's more loyal to that than the one with Kyland. I honestly don't remember this being brought up at all during the season, so their chat about the veto and Big D being worried about their final 2 deal was shocking to me. To be fair, I do think Xavier will win no matter who he's sitting next to. I think he can beat any of the other three players left, and that those players should be doing everything they can to send Xavier to the jury house if they want a chance at winning this whole thing.
That brings us to the biggest chunk of the episode, which is the veto competition. Because there's only so much footage to use for this episode, this veto takes up a lot of the episode's runtime. It's incredibly repetitive watching each of the players go through the same set of CSI: Vegas-inspired evidence, trying to put all the clues together in the fastest time. It's a fun competition, just a little lengthy. Anyway, after Big D and Kyland clock in with pretty similar times, Xavier comes in and absolutely destroys them. Like I said a few episodes ago, Xavier has played this season perfectly. He sat back, made friends, threw competitions, and now when it matters he's beasting out.
As far as the rest of the game goes, this win all but assures that Xavier is going to win this whole thing. He's guaranteed final 3, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wins the final HOH competition as well. Still, there's more game to play, and Xavier has nominations to make.
He sits down with everyone to chat about the nominations, and what he's starting to think about is the possibility of sending Kyland out of the house. He talks with Big D about it, and Big D is conflicted because of the deal they have. Meanwhile, Azah is trying to get a sense of things, asking Xavier if he has a final 2 with Kyland. He says no, and when Azah asks if he'd tell her the truth if he did, he says "maybe." She's just a few steps behind, and it might cost her.
At the nomination ceremony, Xavier puts Azah and Kyland on the block. But as Xavier says, the nominations only mean so much, because whoever wins the veto this coming week is the one who holds all the power. So now we wait, and let the anticipation build.
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