With The Cookout relentlessly dominating this Big Brother season, it’s true that this summer’s strategy has become a bit of a snooze. But… as a self-admitted Derek X. stan, I’m not mad about the way this week unfolded for Sarah Beth, as predictable as it may have been.
Head of Household Tiffany, then Anonymous Head of Household Claire, both nominated Sarah Beth and Kyland, who remained on the block after Power of Veto winner Hannah saved third nominee Xavier. We all know how it likely goes from here: The Cookout easily has the numbers to keep Kyland and boot Sarah Beth, an oblivious Sarah Beth spends the week campaigning anyway, yadda yadda yadda. Read on for more details of Thursday’s episode:
THE STRATEGY | Sarah Beth’s eviction seems so inevitable this week, Big Brother doesn’t even show much of her efforts to get votes. Instead, the pre-taped strategy segments are dedicated to the Cookout members, who are already thinking about which of their alliance-mates should get ousted first once they reach Final Six. In short: Derek F. is a strong Final Two contender in just about any configuration of the six, since most anyone would beat him in the end — but Tiffany hopes to reach the end with Hannah above all.
THE JURY | We also take our first trip to the jury house, where Britini is nothing short of flabbergasted to see Derek X. walk through the door. He shows her the heartbreaking events of the past week — from juuuust barely losing out on the HOH win, to Xavier saving himself with the Power of Veto — and when Derek shares the contents of Kyland’s goodbye message to him, in which Kyland divulged that he’s working with a separate group of people, Derek and Britini quickly piece together what’s really been going on in the house all summer.
Not only does Derek X. correctly name all six Cookout members, but a lightbulb goes off when Britini off-handedly mentions that Xavier and Tiffany both had solid partners in Alyssa and Claire. Immediately, Derek X. catches on to Tiffany’s master plan, which gave all the Cookout members a non-Cookout partner with whom to protect themselves. If only he’d realized this quite as quickly inside the house! Gah.
THE EVICTION | Shocking no one, Sarah Beth is evicted by a 5-1 vote, with Tiffany throwing her a sympathy vote. And though they don’t name The Cookout outright, both Kyland and Azah reveal in their goodbye messages that they’re clandestinely working with others in the house, which seems to comfort Sarah Beth in the wake of her eviction.
THE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD COMPETITION | The latest HOH competition — which Claire can only compete in for show; she’ll have to throw it at some point as outgoing Anonymous HOH — is an endurance-based challenge, and a familiar one to longtime BB viewers. Houseguests are hoisted into the air as they stand on teeny, tiny discs, all while they’re spun around the yard and repeatedly slammed into a giant elephant.
In a rare turn of events for an endurance comp, two houseguests are already knocked out before the episode ends. Derek F. has fallen off his disc by the time the show returns from a commercial break, and just as the credits start to roll, Alyssa — the only non-Cookout member actually competing in this game — jumps off her disc and makes a beeline for the back of the competition set, where it looks like she might be dealing with some motion sickness from all that spinning. (Fortunately, if she is tossing her cookies, Big Brother is nice enough not to show it on camera.)
Your turn! How do you feel about Sarah Beth’s eviction? And who are you hoping to see assume the HOH throne? Drop a comment below!
