Big Brother 25 (Week 7): Twice the Fun...(or So We Thought)

I love a good Double Eviction. It always feels like there is plenty of good drama when condensing an entire week of Big Brother into a whole episode. Some great players have been shown the door as the second person in a Double Eviction. Tonight, there was speculation that it would be anything but an ordinary Double Eviction. By the end of the night, our worst fears were realized. 

The Aftermath of Izzy's Eviction

The lead-up to the first eviction this week was unlike anything we'd seen this season. For once, a plan was in place, and it didn't change during the week. We have Izzy's lack of a presence to blame. For weeks, Izzy was a catalyst for chaos, turning straightforward votes on their head with the help of Cirie. Instead, this week came and went without much of a surprise. As satisfied as I was with Izzy being evicted last week, I did miss having her impact the game in a disruptive way. It's very possible America would've been evicted if Izzy was in the house simply because she would've second-guessed the decision to send Cameron out the door. 

Jared's 2nd Reign as HOH

For the second week in a row, the consensus house target managed to swipe the HOH. Jared took advantage of a lousy wall competition, claiming his second HOH crown in three weeks. Despite his initial nomination of Cory and America, it was clear that Cameron was the target. Once the POV was won by Jag, it was the perfect opportunity to get Cam on the block and out of the house. Almost every HOH reign this season has been plagued by people knowing exactly what they would do with little input from the rest of the house. Jared has done the same thing twice now. He was deadset on Cameron going during his first reign, then changing his target to Jag once Cam came off the block. This week, Cameron was his target, but he couldn't afford for him to win the POV, even though he was picked anyway. He put on his blinders so much that he didn't see the result later in the night coming. 

This Week's (First) "Eviction"

This vote felt very straightforward. Cameron has been the target for most of the season. Through seven weeks, Cameron has touched the block four times and sat in the chair on Eviction Night three times. The only weeks he wasn't on the verge of being evicted were Week 1, and the two weeks he won HOH. He would've been gone during Jared's first HOH if he hadn't won the POV. He was so disliked in the house that his entire first HOH week was negated by a power, keeping his target, Jag, in the game. I'm not surprised he was evicted unanimously. It didn't take everyone in the house knowing the plan to see that he would be out of the house without a vote to stay. 

But Wait...There's More...

The fans knew it was coming, but it's always fun to see the houseguests' reactions to the announcement of a Double Eviction. It sends everyone into a frenzy because games can go sideways. After we got through the first eviction of the night in short order, we immediately got into the HOH competition. It was the second knockout competition of the season, and it gave us some interesting moments. One of the more significant moments was Matt blowing his cover by choosing to face Cirie, though he picked the wrong answer and was eliminated. The final three came down to Mecole, Cory, and Blue, all of whom would nominate different people if they won HOH. After beating Mecole in the penultimate question, Cory beat Blue to earn his first competition win of the season. 

Cory had to pick between a combination of three people, and I think he made the right decision. Jared going on the block was a no-brainer. The only question is whether he'd put Jared next to his mom or his showmance. I think he made the right decision, putting Jared and Blue on the block and leaving Cirie as a backdoor option. Jared still had a chance to win the veto and take himself off the block. That went away once the veto draw took place. When it was announced that Matt, Jag, and Mecole were selected to play, it felt like the odds weren't in Jared's favor. That would be accurate, as Matt destroyed the competition to win his first POV of the season. Opting not to use the veto, Matt left the nominations the same, leaving Jared and Blue in a spot to be evicted. 

This Week's (Second) "Eviction"

If not for the twist, I'd be more stoked about how this went. Still, it was very satisfying to see Jared get voted out in a near-unanimous vote. While it's no surprise she didn't vote to evict her son, I'd have loved to see Cirie make it a unanimous vote. That being said, this could have repercussions for Cory since he took the shot at Jared, and he's still in the house. Jared has been a menace in the house for far too long. Having him and Cam out of the house on the same night would've been great if Big Brother hadn't decided to go crazy with this stupid twist. 

What Could Happen Next Week

I was prepared to write about the start of the jury phase beginning. Instead, we were given a twist none of us wanted. It's incredibly ironic that this twist will save one of the two people we absolutely didn't want to come back. I've seen people say this twist is only being introduced at this stage to get Jared back in the house for Cirie. I'm not buying into that theory, but the timing doesn't help. Instead, we'll get an entire week without an HOH, nominees, or power structure. It's like we've been transported back to the first season. It's purely social this week. The only wrinkle is that Jared and Camron are in the house as "zombies," and only one of them will be back in the house next Thursday. I'm still a little hazy about how this will work, but it sounds like a two-parter. First, they'll compete this weekend to eventually decide who competes in a competition on Thursday night to return to the game. The winner of the initial competition can either compete or choose for the other person to compete in something I assume is similar to Kaitlyn's Puzzle during BB20. That means we'll have seen one person evicted over two weeks of gameplay, prolonged the pre-jury stage, and made the Pressure Cooker, the Wall competition, and the double eviction mean absolutely nothing. They could've avoided all this trouble by keeping Kirsten during the first week after Luke was ejected, effectively making it an impromptu double eviction. They're also likely to be evicted again as the final evictee of the pre-jury. It's a dumb twist that only serves to hurt everyone's game.