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We are down to the Final 4 of Big Brother 26. The trio of Chelsie, Cam, and Makensy have been controlling the game for weeks, setting themselves on a collision course for Finale Night. The last houseguest standing in their way is Rubina, the final remaining from her trio. What felt like a surefire week for the trio came with questions concerning the right move for their win equity. Was it time for someone to make a big move? Or will the status quo remain with Finale Night around the corner? Chelsie's HOH Reign I'll keep this short because the HOH during the Final 4 holds little power outside the initial nominations. Her decision to keep Rubina off the block as an act of goodwill was as textbook as it gets. If that's all it took to earn Rubina's vote on Sunday night, it was a decision well made. Plus, it gives her plausible deniability if Cam or Makensy win the veto and Rubina has to go up as the default replacement nominee. Makensy's Veto Decision + This Week's ...

After the double eviction took two fan favorites out of the game and into the jury house, the Final 5 trekked on as the season began its final stages. With a trio and a duo remaining, the fight for power would put one group in the immediate line of fire, while the other would strengthen its numbers with one more week before the finale. Honestly, it was a slow week, which is customary for this point in the game. Only five people in the house means a lot less commotion and more time to sit around and reminisce about everything.  Makensy's HOH Reign MJ's two weeks in charge have been a masterclass in how to ruin your chances to win the game. Last week, she sent one of her closest allies home. This week, she failed to make a power move, allowing her misguided trust in Chelsie to dictate her nominations. Even when she considered using the veto, the renom would've been Cam instead of Chelsie, the clearer threat to her game. Now, she's the primary target because she refuses to...

After a week in the backyard, the houseguests were back inside the house to play the game as originally intended. They could sneak around, talk secretly, and plan their next moves. At least, that's what some of them did. Others opted to lay back and watch the rest of the house play the game. Those who chose to participate this week put together a plan that is designed to help one person succeed as the rest of the house fights for second place. The saving grace was that two houseguests were evicted, giving us twice the fun on Thursday night. Jankie Dies and Zingbot Returns I'm not sure I've ever seen the death of an animated robot play out so violently. I'm sure some young children were scarred for life from watching Jankie devolve and suddenly die in front of the houseguests. It paved the way for Ainsley's return as a villain, claiming responsibility for his death as she aims to further break the houseguests' spirits. The edit during Sunday's episode was spe...

Even during a week that felt intended to be slower, the houseguests decided to keep the fun rolling. Trapped outside the house, the eight remaining players suffered through a week of pizza, ice cream, dance parties, and more in the hopes of surviving another seven days. With a revenge arc in place and the power structure set to shift once more Week 9 offered us more than we thought we'd get amid another mediocre twist.  Welcome to Jankie World With Ainsley announcing her brief hiatus from the house, her junior counterpart took over the game for the week. Jankie might've made eight mortal enemies this week by trapping them in the backyard for a week of sing-alongs, pizza, ice cream, and dance parties. By the end of the week, the viewers were just as excited for this week to be over as the houseguests. Everyone in the backyard looked miserable. The edits for all three episodes during the week only added to it. Each episode had a compilation of everyone hating Jankie. I hate him t...

The jury phase of Big Brother 26 began this week. While things would usually slow down a little at this point in the season, the remaining houseguests gave us a dramatic week of action. It was a week of history-making decisions and gigantic blunders. It all culminated in a first-of-its-kind Eviction Night, as the first juror being named.  OTEV Returns...For One Round Some in the community feel certain competitions or gimmicks need to be retired. As long as I'm a Big Brother fan, OTEV is not one of those competitions. I look forward to each iteration of the competition. This year was no exception. So, imagine my surprise when the feeds returned on Saturday to reveal that OTEV only lasted one round. I was shocked and dumbfounded, and the ensuing edit of the competition didn't change that. This season's OTEV was a raccoon in a digital dump who sounded vaguely like Tucker. The first question asked the six players to find the name of the evicted houseguest who couldn't play ...

With this season's sparkplug evicted last week, I was concerned about the next steps for the houseguests in the final week before the jury phase begins. Little did I know that this would be just as exciting a week as there has been this season. Tucker's eviction meant a void needed to be filled. Instead of one player filling the void, half of the house stepped in to do the job. It resulted in another fun week as we waved goodbye to the pre-jury stage of Big Brother 26.  Leah's Mist is Very Real The main story of Wednesday and Thursday's episodes revolved around the trio of Quinn, Joseph, and Leah. There is no hiding how much Quinn and Joseph have been trying to win Leah's affection, only to be shut down and friend-zoned. Still, Leah has misted the two of them so much that they'd do almost anything for her. Leah deliberately went against the wishes of them both, yet they both instantly forgave her. The production team has slowly been introducing Leah as a major c...

I don't care who you're rooting for this season. This was one of the best weeks of Big Brother in recent memory. It had everything that makes the show special, culminating in one of the most exciting Eviction Nights. Last week, I predicted this could be a season-shaping week, but I never anticipated this level of a shakeup. It took one bad idea and a few missed opportunities to see the final nail in the coffin of one of the season's biggest characters. The AI Instigator Strikes I should've known that an "America's Vote" was going to be won by Tucker. Yet, here I was assuming someone like Joseph was going to get it. The reveal of Tucker as the AI Instigator was genuinely surprising to me. We didn't know who it was before the Sunday episode and logic would dictate it wasn't Tucker after the first bit of AI misinformation targeted Tucker and Rubina's relationship. We got to see during the episode that Tucker felt it would allow them to be more aff...

Week 4 provided a hijacked HOH reign and a blindside, leaving four houseguests in the dark. With Cedric evicted, it was time for the new minority to try and turn the game around. Unfortunately, they found themselves in the crosshairs of a mad king without a care in the world to give. Without a solid plan in place, this week brought the return of two favorite competitions and some fireworks. On The Wall This week's competition lineup began with a live wall competition on the feeds. The firewall proved tricky, lasting just over 30 minutes. It was only slightly disappointing since I was prepared for a long competition, only for us to not see the end on the feeds because they cut away when only Tucker and Quinn remained. It appears that the days of marathon wall competitions might be behind us. To the houseguests' credit, this particular iteration looked really tough. The blasts of slime made it impossible to find a good grip and appeared violent. Rubina deserves some praise for fi...

This week of Big Brother will go down in the history books. It portrayed every great thing we've come to expect from the game. There was strong gameplay, exciting competitions, and an Eviction Night that no one knew the outcome of before it began. From the onset of the week, plans were thrown into disarray. It only got worse from there. The true winners are the fans because we got to sit back and go along for the wild ride. The Recap of the First Three Weeks The only non-game thing to talk about this week was the surprise Tuesday night episode where former winners Cody, Taylor, and Jag came together to break down the big moments of the first three weeks. It absolutely felt like a filler episode with the Olympics finally ending. Everyone whose attention was on the events in Paris got to catch up on what they'd missed. It didn't provide much for those who had been following along, giving us very little new information. The big tease was the revelation of the next twist. Fooli...

After a straightforward week during Week 2, the house got more chaotic again. The revelation of the secret powers held by Quinn and Makensy became widespread knowledge, putting the two houseguests in the cross heirs. Desires to flush the powers led to some fireworks in the house, with Tucker running the show to get them on the block. While things didn't go as planned, it was all done to our benefit as the season gathered more momentum.  The Blindside That Wasn't The crux of this week's conflict centered around the veto meeting on Monday, though it wouldn't be seen on television until Wednesday and Thursday. After winning the veto competition last weekend, Tucker devised a plan to flush Quinn's power by putting him on the block and evicting him this week. Cedric didn't seem convinced by the plan, though Tucker took it and ran. Cedric warned Tucker before the meeting to use the veto on himself because they didn't have the votes. Instead, Tucker went through wi...

"The Biggest Party of the Summer" took over Cleveland as WWE presented the 37th annual Summerslam. While the card was light for a marquee event, the show featured seven singles matches, six of which were title fights. The King and Queen of the Ring took their guaranteed title shots, a deep-seated rivalry wrote its first chapter and a Bloodline Rules match threatened the title reign of the American Nightmare. The card might've been light, but the action was fast and furious in the Cleveland Browns' home. Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley- Women's World Championship Dominik Mysterio was already capable of evoking nuclear heat from the crowd. After Summerslam, he might never get to speak another word ever again. Choosing Liv Morgan is going to cause him issues, and Morgan will just be collateral damage. The match between the two was more about psychology than action. Morgan avoided Ripley in the early stages with a cat-and-mouse game. Ripley sold a "dislocated shou...

I expected the season's second week to bring chiller energy as the houseguests tried ingratiating themselves into the game. Instead, the fireworks continued with big blowups. Unfortunately, most of it wasn't seen as the feeds cut in and out like a stiff breeze. Still, this week brought plenty of drama as new houseguests earned power and tried to create a power structure that wasn't formed during the first week. The House Starts Taking Shape...Kinda Alliance began to form during the first week, but it wasn't until this week that things really started to take shape. No large majority alliance has formed, though several splinter groups are becoming very strong. The 3 Cs (Chelsie, Cedric, and Cam) were one of the noteworthy groups, but Chelsie's disdain for Cam trying to flirt with Leah has soured her thoughts toward her stablemate. While they aren't as strong now, The Pentagon (The 3 Cs + Quinn and Brooklyn) is one of the larger alliances in numbers, though Quinn a...

The new season of Big Brother has officially begun, and the week's antics were non-stop. There was not a dull moment once the live feeds kicked off after Thursday's episode. A new batch of 16 houseguests started their journey to finale night intending to win $750k, but one would lose their chance by the end of the week. Here's my recap of the first week of the new season. Meet Ainsli, the "17th Houseguest" One of the earliest teases for the season was that the house would be voting to allow a 17th person into the game during the premiere. Each group of eight was presented with a package showcasing Ainsli, a San Diego native whose life goal was to be on Big Brother. Ainsli needed five votes to enter the game, though she failed to convince either group to vote her in, getting four votes on Wednesday and just two on Thursday. However, the twist came when Ainsli was revealed to be a crude-looking blue AI model who will be the in-house host for most of the season. She ...

It's hard to believe I'm going into my fourth live season and my third covering it through my blog. It feels like yesterday that I was watching The Cookout walk into the house, devise a plan, and execute it to perfection. Alas, we've made it to the premiere of Big Brother 26, where at least 16 more houseguests will compete for their chance to win $750k. Like everyone else, I've been doing my due diligence and trying to figure out the twists and turns of the season while getting to know the new crop of hopefuls. I've gathered my thoughts on the theme, the houseguests, and hopes for the season into this introductory piece.  Quick Thoughts on This Season's Theme Where the BB Multiverse might've been a symptom of its time, Artificial Intelligence is a present and prevalent part of our lives. It's hard to determine what is real and what isn't when scrolling on our phones through social media. That idea fits perfectly with Big Brother. Everything in the ho...