Big Brother 26, Week 8 Review- Mist Opportunities and Missed Opportunities

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 in the first HOH competition. There were clearly two lines of thinking with the answer to the question. There was the proper way of deducing that Cedric and Chelsie earned the downgrade, making them ineligible to play. Then, there's the way five of the six players tackled the question. As has been the case for most of the season, everyone turned to Tucker as the answer. Makensy was the only person to clock that Cedric was the correct answer. She and Tucker technically got to play but weren't picked to be on a team. It's the first time OTEV has only gone one round, marking the beginning of a historic week.

Chenbot is Human After All

Shockwaves were sent through the Big Brother community on Thursday afternoon with the announcement that Julie Chen-Moonves would miss the eviction episode for the first time. It was revealed that she tested positive for COVID. In her spot, Jerry O'Connell stepped up to the plate. His first appearance in front of the houseguests was met with astonishment, and rightfully so. I thought Jerry did a great job. It couldn't have been easy to take over for someone who is such a staple of the show, but Jerry genuinely seemed to have fun. It was a change of pace and nice to see someone who appreciates the show step into the role for a night.

Chelsie's HOH Week

Determining how well this week went for Chelsie might take a little bit to figure out. On one hand, Quinn seemed more than willing to work with Chelsie in the coming weeks and keep her safe. On the other hand, Quinn was a wild card whose relationship with Leah could be detrimental to her game. Chelsie has proven herself to be one of the most strategic players in a house that lacks strong strategic minds. This week, Chelsie and Makensy appeared to be "misted" by Angela's lie about Quinn, Leah, and the trio of T'kor, Kimo, and Rubina being in cahoots. This opened the door just enough for Chelsie to throw Quinn on the block. If we're being honest, Chelsie shouldn't have been the HOH because Cam is bad at math.

Eviction Thoughts

With Thursday night's vote, my preseason favorite to win the season is out of the house. Quinn divided many within the fanbase, though it was mostly people rooting for Tucker during their little rivalry. The week started well after Chelsie won the HOH and he managed to stay off the block. However, by the time the veto was won and Angela sunk her claws into Chelsie and MJ, his fate was sealed. Quinn did his best to "beg" for votes on Tuesday but to no avail. He needed one of Cam or MJ to switch to bring the vote to Chelsie, though I'm not sure that would've done anything either.

Quinn's super-fandom was never in question. The problem is that he didn't play like one. He was truly not good at the game. He was leaky with information, trying to balance all of his alliances and doing so poorly. His two HOH reigns were easily the worst in the game thus far, resulting in two allies being evicted. He bombed OTEV. His personality on the show came across as a little too childish, especially in the DR. Most of his game was spent crushing on a girl who didn't completely reciprocate, though he might've made a dent by the end of this week. Frankly, he survived longer in the game than he probably should've. To top it off, he didn't get his interview with Julie since she was sick. This week, everything that could go wrong for Quinn did. For all of the negative surrounding his game, I still really liked Quinn. He was consistently near the top of my rankings as my favorite houseguest remaining. For all of his childish antics, Quinn had some warm and heartfelt moments. I expect him to be a good foreman for the jury as its first member. He really should've played his immunity idol.

Week 9 Preview (WITH HOH SPOILERS)

After Thursday's episode, the feeds stayed down well into Friday, causing some to speculate that the HOH Competition was the Pressure Cooker. The feeds finally came back on around with Leah crowned the new HOH, much to the delight of a large portion of the fanbase. This was the absolute best-case scenario for my own personal enjoyment because Quinn's eviction left me excited for a "Leah's revenge" arc. After inadvertently playing a part in Joseph's eviction and watching Quinn go out, Leah should be on a war path this week. Anyone could be at risk this week. I'm predicting a member of the trio of T'kor, Rubina, and Kimo being evicted this week, though Cam and MJ aren't out of the woods.