Big Brother 26, Week 5 Review- The Pentagon Has Been Compromised

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 fighting until the Final 4 against three of the tougher male competitors in the game. Tucker was clearly the only person with the strength and endurance to do this. He told Quinn that he still had 45 minutes left in him, while Quinn was shaking before falling. I liked this theme better than some of the other recent wall competitions, but the missed ending and short duration hurt this one overall.

Hide & Go Veto Return

For the first time in five seasons, Hide & Go Veto returned to the game. Known for being an easy way to trash the house, this season's group didn't seem to do much damage to their quarters. Brooklyn tried to go with the tried and true "defense wins championships" strategy employed by Brett in BB20. She quickly abandoned that by opting to throw everyone's clothes on the ground. The only downside was that this group lacked creativity. Brooklyn and Joseph threw theirs in other people's bags. Quinn threw his card in his garment bag. Cam stuffed his chip in a pillowcase. MJ opted for the planter, which would've been good if Tucker hadn't found hers so quickly. Tucker completed his competition sweep by hiding his between two of the drawers near the bedroom. I'm not sure why it took them five years to play this competition again, but I'd like to see it re-join the yearly rotation.

Tucker's HOH Week

After outlasting the rest of the house on the wall, Tucker set his sights on The Pentagon (the in-house alliance, not the government building). Conveniently, three of the four remaining members of the alliance voted Rubina out of the game last week and the fourth is Quinn, his biggest rival in the game. Logic would dictate that Quinn would be the target this week, but this is Tucker that we're talking about. In a season shrouded in uncertainty, Tucker will always and forever be a chaos agent. Instead, Brooklyn and Chelsie were in his line of fire, with the former being the primary target and the latter as his backup if Brooklyn took herself off the block. To ensure that Chelsie found herself on the block, Tucker won the veto competition and used the veto to take Quinn off the block in a move that defies most normal means of logic. This had so many ways it could've backfired, but Tucker can do no wrong right now.

Eviction Thoughts

While Tucker's game has been decent overall, this week almost ended very differently. As has been the case in recent weeks, Eviction Night came down to the AI Arena competition. Tucker was pushing for either Brooklyn or Chelsie to be evicted, but most of the house seemed aligned to vote out Cam if Brooklyn won the competition. Fortunately for Tucker, Chelsie came out on the winning side, leaving Brooklyn to be evicted by a lopsided vote. Tucker took his foot off the gas after Monday's renomination and it nearly cost him.

Brooklyn was the target from the outset of the week, and despite an excellent job from Quinn to put himself in the hot seat by ratting out Tucker's plan to her, Brooklyn got to meet Julie on Thursday. She pleaded with the house that she was the biggest target in the game if she stayed, but no one seemed receptive to it. She used the "playing for second" line, which I always hate. It's such a cheap attempt to garner votes and it almost always fails, even if Tucker is really dominating the competitions. I wasn't as low on Brooklyn as others were, especially over the last few weeks. She shed the preseason Aaryn association stigma and turned into a mostly likable player. Unfortunately, she was painted as the leader of an alliance during the wrong week.

Week 6 Preview (WITH HOH SPOILERS)

This has the potential to be a season-shaping week. T'kor won the HOH Competition on Thursday night, meaning one of the players in the middle has to make some important decisions. She's already established that Rubina, Kimo, and Chelsie are going to be safe this week, leaving a little over a handful of players to pick from. Tucker has offered and gone back on his offer to be a pawn this week, though he could easily find himself on the block as a pawn. Cam, MJ, and Leah would also be reasonable choices. I think T'kor is going to tell a little about her game, so get strapped in for a fun ride during this incredibly fun season.