Can't Win by Doing Nothing- Big Brother - Week 7 (Ep. 22-24)

Well, we left last week wondering who would take charge of the game with Tucker being evicted from the house. Will it be the vengeful Rubina, the confident Chelsie, the schemer Quinn, or somebody else?

I am grateful that Big Brother usually does an aftermath recap of the evictions on the Saturday episodes. Not be any fault of their own, due to the aspect of the “live” eviction episodes… you usually miss some key reactions/strategizing. I’m glad they don’t just gloss over it and instead show us all the drama. For example, there was a lot of emotion coming out of Tucker’s departure! Rubina was tearful, Chelsie was cheerful, and Angela was…Angela. 

Even as a viewer, you can’t help but feel like the show lost a major character. I hope it doesn’t take away from the rest of the season and I don’t think it will. Luckily, we had good drama this past week and we can get into all of that now!

Who would you consider to be the competition threat now? Just by physical looks you could say Cam. Another angle is Makensy who has proven multiple times that she can win competitions. You could even say Quinn too. He has a good blend of physical attributes but also super fan knowledge of the game. Let me know what you think!

It is interesting to see how quickly power can shift in this game. For example, just look at T’kor and Kimo. They flip the house to gain numbers/alliances when voting out Cedric. Yet, once one player went home in their alliances (Tucker), they are back on the defense. They have to either bend the knee to someone or sway someone to your side. Both options can be difficult to do. It seems like all they can do to ensure their games is win competitions and power.  

We have another classic HOH competition this week! They have been giving us fun competitions recently, no reason for me to complain. It was the classic cage egg competition. I want to know how long this one took because you could very easily be there for a while. 

Angela not doing anything until the first have-nots are decided is hilarious but also made me roll my eyes. She always proclaims that she can win and constantly proves herself. Then she does that. I can’t with her. Eventually, they all got into a nice routine of how to maneuver the egg through the cage. However, the real challenge was the ramp. With the egg being oblong, it’s unpredictable how it will move. I think the best course of action with the ramp is seriously not to think about it as much and just send it. I don’t know if it helps but some of them were shaking the egg to harden the yolk. It’s not a bad idea but it’s still going to be tough no matter what.

Despite multiple people being only a letter away from winning, Quinn was able to pull it out. Which he let everyone know by screaming, “I’m like that.” Happy for him, but the dude has no volume control. Especially in his diary room conversations too lol. Even though he has an unhinged amount of energy, I am happy for him.

I think it was guaranteed that we would see Rubina and Angela on the block. However, I don’t get his thought process when it comes to the other nomination. After winning HOH, he said that he wanted to build something with Chelsie, T’kor, Kimo, and Cam. His reasons were because they were bold enough to take out Tucker and it’s the people he’s worked closest with. Yet, not all of those people listed wanted Tucker out or were aligned on the same side. I said it earlier in the season, but he’s all over the place with what he wants and who he works with. 

Then later in the week, he goes to T’kor saying that he might put Kimo on the block. First, he’s going against what he said earlier. Secondly, why would you even say that to someone who is Kimo’s closest ally? Then lastly, the reasoning for putting him up is silly. He claims that Kimo prioritized a relationship with Tucker more than him. Well, by that logic, why aren’t you targeting T’kor or Joseph then too? He’s just very wishy-washy.

Putting Kimo up would clearly ruin his alliance with T’kor too and he becomes their immediate target. It just wasn’t worth it but I don’t think he thought it through at all. However, he did make it clear to everyone that Angela was his only target. Hey…what could go wrong!?!

We all know that Angela is a loose cannon lol. One moment she will be crying and then the next she’ll be bashing someone. That’s exactly what happened when Quinn called her out as a threat. She went to make amends with him by saying she doesn’t normally name-call. Despite name-calling Quinn, Matt, and Lisa. She’s television gold, but I get how it could be overbearing to compete with her in the show.

We need to talk about Joseph. I like him, I do! He’s a good dude, knows a lot of information around the house, and is a good guy for the most part.  I just feel like the nonchalant gameplay (physically and socially) quickly came back to hurt him. He wants to coast to the end by not really doing anything. However, he isn’t making a case for himself and now he’s starting to get on people’s nerves (Chelsie & Angela) by not being careful with what he is saying. He might think he is under the radar, but others are quickly pointing to him as a target. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this veto competition as well! The competition in the dark is always something that I think is super unique. It just makes the challenge more difficult and forces you to rely are your senses of touch. It’s also pretty cool that the houseguests who aren’t competing can watch it on the TV too. They get all the action too. 

 Of course, Joseph is throwing yet another competition. Which everyone noticed on the TV. 

Props to Leah for recognizing that the items they needed were household items. That makes it that much easier to find what you’re looking for. Eventually, it led to her winning the power of veto! I find it kind of ironic because she didn’t want to compete in the challenge. Even though she complains that she’s sick of riding coattails.

Leah has been doing things right recently because she’s got Quinn/Joseph drooling and crawling over her. It’s hilarious watching her friendzone both of them. Yet, the boys can’t help themselves because they are duped by her every move. Like she said, she’s got them wrapped around her finger. When it comes to using the power of veto, Quinn could never stay mad at Leah. She can literally do whatever she wants when it comes to them.

With Leah using the power of veto on Angela, that means seven out of seven power of veto’s have been used this season. Whatever the Big Brother producers are doing is working! I think the twist of the AI arena and having three nominations on the block has a part to play in that too. Leah's use of the advantage on Angela is an excellent long-term move. She knows she can get a jury vote from her. Everyone should start to think that way the later you get in the game. Also, you build loyalty and trust with another person in the house. It’s a win for Leah no matter how you look at it.

Quinn then puts another one of his allies on the block, Joseph. What he doesn’t know is that he has made himself an intriguing target. 

I do feel as if Joseph has a right to be frustrated with Quinn. For the most part, Joseph has had his back and Quinn’s reasoning for putting him up wasn’t very logical. I think he was pretty confident that people would still vote out Rubina or Kimo.

As for Kimo, I don’t really feel that he deserved to be on the block and up for eviction. Although, I don’t think people want him to go either because they like being around him. Instead, Chelsie has been eyeing up Joseph ever since he was put up.

The Makensy and Cam relationship/storyline is super interesting. It’s an obvious side story to what was going on this past week, but it’s one to look for in the days to come. Chelsie’s jealousy and Cam/Makensy’s obliviousness could lead to some big gameplay moves in the near future. I am looking forward to that!

Finally, we reached the live BB AI Arena competition. I loved this ropes course/puzzle competition. I think partly because it reminds me of Survivor challenges I have seen just like this one. I wonder how long it took them to set that up with the ropes the exact same way for each contestant. 

Rubina and Joseph both came out hot, leading the charge. I think Rubina’s size and agility favor her in this competition too. It also became her competition to lose once Joseph got stuck in the web of ropes. Her eventual reaction to the win was really cool too. She deserved that win after a tough week without Tucker. 

Julie loves reminding them to strategize when the players come down from the live arena. They’ve gotten better at taking her advice the later the season goes on. The only thing is that it’s so hard to strategize in secret. Everyone hears everything, including those on the block. You have to be real sneaky about how you talk and strategize during these moments right before voting. However, if your name is Angela you can just get away by crying/fake crying.

After they both pleaded for their lives in the game, Joseph got voted out in a 4-3 vote. Another close one! Which, by the way, it came down to Makensy’s last-minute decision. It looked like she was contemplating her decision until the very last second.

Quinn is shocked, but he truly has nobody to blame but himself. Joseph’s eviction was the product of some bad decisions. By both Quinn and Joseph.

Joseph did take his eviction with great sportsmanship too. He understood the fact that people deceive and lie in the game of Big Brother. It’s a really good mentality to have. Joseph is a solid dude, and I wish him nothing but the best. His humor and mustache will be missed!

That’s all for this past week! Though, we are quickly jumping into another jam-packed week soon. Also, It was announced that the AI Arena competition is done and the HOH will only nominate two people. It’s a bittersweet moment. This twist brought so much new drama and unique strategizing to the game. However, it might not be as sustainable for the later parts of the game. I am eager to see how this changes the game in the coming weeks. Talk to you soon!