How many times do you hear the phrase “expect the unexpected” during the course of Big Brother season? Needless to say, it’s often. But this season, it’s necessary. Big Brother 26 has been the season that has reignited the fandom thanks to the Houseguests willing to make bold moves rather than lay back and float. Certainly, some big players in the reality competition have seen their demise after shocking Head of Households reigns. Others who have laid back and waited took a little too long to get into the mix. But following the most recent eviction, Big Brother has proven that nothing is set in stone. You must be prepared to expect the unexpected on eviction night.
Big Brother is the hit CBS reality series that fans have been glued to their screens watching since 2000. With microphones and cameras around every corner, Big Brother has established itself as one of the most beloved competition reality shows. Thanks to the Big Brother Live Feeds, fans can tune in nearly 24/7 at the action inside the house. And this season, tuning into the Live Feeds is essential to understanding the full story.
Live Eviction Night Was In Fact Live
When it comes to Big Brother, on eviction night, the Houseguests tend to know who they will be voting for to leave the Big Brother house. Yes, host Julie Chen Moonves has the nominated players give a speech to plea to their fellow Houseguests to save them, but the outcome is often predetermined. The players have spent days trying to save themselves. Wheeling and dealing, trying to stay another week. So when it comes to the Thursday night live episode, everything seems like a formality. Except this time. For perhaps the first time ever, one Houseguest’s eviction night plea may have actually saved their game and extended their time on Big Brother 26.
To set things up, Week 7 in the Big Brother house was essentially a major reset week. Again. With Tucker Des Lauriers’ shockingly evicted from the Big Brother house, the most dominating player of the season was gone. While it was on the hands of his ally T’Kor Clottey, knocking out Des Lauriers allowed the remaining players to have a new lease on life. Quinn Martin won an official Head of Household, following his Deep Fake Head of Household earlier this season. He made a shocking decision by initially nominating Angela Murray, Rubina Bernabe, and Kimo Apaka for eviction. His decision caused minor ripples before they turned into waves. Clottey was not thrilled to see her two allies on the block, so she, along with the other women in the house, saw the opportunity to band together. Should Bernabe remain on the block following the AI Arena, they had the numbers to evict a male Houseguest, no matter who it was. To complicate the week even further, Leah Peters not only won the Power of Veto, she decided to save Martin’s number one target, Angela Murray.
Martin was forced to name a replacement nominee: Joseph Rodriguez. Why? Well, maybe just to solidify his placement on the Mount Rushmore of horrible players. Once again, Quinn Martin decided to put his ally at risk of leaving the house.
Now let’s set the scene for eviction night. After Rubina Bernabe won the AI Arena, it was down to Kimo Apaka and Joseph Rodriguez to be voted out. As requested by Julie Chen Moonves, both players gave their final speech. Rodriguez chose a lighthearted pitch. Kimo shared a heartfelt plea. The tears. The statement to be there as a representative as a queer person of color. It was touching. For Makensy Manbeck, whatever plan had been solidified before the live show began, it went completely out the window. While sitting in the Diary Room, being asked who she would like to evict, she took a very long pause and revealed she went with his heart. She voted to evict Joseph, an apparent last-minute switch. When Chen Moonves came back to share the results with the house, utter shock came over the room. Rodriguez was walking out the door and no one quite knew who flipped. The blindside was a blindside. Kimo Apaka’s final plea saved his game.
How Did It Happen?
Once again, Quinn Martin’s Head of Household was botched. For the second time, his ally walked out the door on his watch. First, it was Cedric Hodges. Now it was Joseph Rodriguez. Not only was his initial target, Angela Murray, still in the game. So was his secondary target. And his third. When the camera cut to Martin dumbfounded, it soon became the meme of the fandom. When the episode ended, he was left in utter shock as the credits rolled. To analyze Martin’s game thus far and where it may go from here is an entirely different story. At this point, he’s the perfect goat to bring to the end because he may have a challenge win under his belt, but his strategy has been horrendous. He’s the perfect person to sit next to on finale night. There may only be one player he could beat, but at this point, is Cam Sullivan-Brown even in the game?
For the televised show that relies on storytelling, the live episode uses information that comes straight from the live feeds. But there’s only so much time to present the story they believe will come to fruition. Up until Julie Chen Moonves came on screen, Big Brother likely believed it was either Kimo Apaka or Rubina Bernabe leaving. That’s what they presented. Sure, there were some crumbles of clues in the previous episode that Rodriguez’s standing in the house was being questioned, namely by Murray and Chelsie Baham, but leaving on eviction? Pish posh. It was never going to happen. But it did! Now, what’s likely to happen? The next episode of the show will focus on the behind-the-scenes rumblings during the day that led to Makensy making this decision.
Angela Murray truly believed she did not have the votes to save Apaka, so she tearfully threw a vote on him as she didn’t want to be in the voting minority. The other two votes for Apaka came from Cam Sullivan-Brown and Leah Peters. They followed the plan set forth. Clottey and Bernade were set votes to keep Apaka and evict Rodriguez. Baham, who has gotten close to Clottey and the women, gave one to Apaka to stay. So it came down to Makensy Manbeck’s shocker. Something changed her decision. It easily could have been Kimo’s tearful plea. Perhaps Chelsie Baham got in her ear at the last minute. Her break from her close allies Peters and Sullivan-Brown even shocked Rodriguez when Chen Moonves asked who he received votes from. And that’s the beauty of this season. Expect the unexpected people!
The Game Has Reset…Again!
Now moving into Week 8 of the game, Big Brother 26 has reset again. What looked like a week prior was a sunk game at the hands of T’Kor Clottey. It was in the works for herself, Rubina Bernabe, and Kimo Apaka. Now, the jury phase of the game has officially begun. And the AI Arena is over. We are back to the standard play of Big Brother where only two houseguests are nominated each week. With nine houseguests left in the game, there is a tried and true trio left. And that’s incredibly powerful and immensely dangerous. There is strength in numbers, and Clottey, Bernabe, and Apaka having Angela Murray in their back pocket, losing Tucker Des Lauriers may not have been the end of the world. They have new life. For Chelsie Baham, she’s in the middle. She has this newfound connection with Clottey as well as Manbeck, who has Cam-Sullivan and Peters. Her safety can easily get her to the end game, especially now that she has won the week 8 Head of Household. And then there is Quinn Martin. His credibility in this game has been shattered once again. Why align with him any further if he might risk your game by placing you on the block?
Never has there ever been a season of Big Brother that has truly flip-flopped week by week. To say it’s exciting is an understatement. At the moment at hand, it appears that Kimo Apaka’s plea and Makensy Manbeck’s last-minute switch proved that Big Brother is a truly brilliant game. What has been a formality on eviction night has allowed the moment to be “live.” Between the result of the AI Arena and the nominees’ pitches, the live eviction night episode of Big Brother was easily one of the most shocking and exhilarating episodes of the show.
Big Brother 26 airs every Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday. All episodes and the Big Brother Live Feeds are available to stream on Paramount+.