Big Brother 20 Review: “Week 5”

Week 5 of Big Brother 20 can be summed up in one word: messy. Queen Bayleigh’s reign as Head of Household brought forth a new level of HOH power trip we hadn’t seen…this summer. Only Sam’s HOH during Week 4 could rival the sheer paranoia and decisions made by those in power. Kaitlyn comes in at a close third during Week 2. The gameplay by these houseguests has provided some of the best footage we’ve seen in YEARS, but they’ll definitely look back on their moves with embarrassment.

All Bayleigh had to do was not overthink her nominations and put a little trust in her allies. After four weeks of the FOUTTE alliance being on the losing end of the vote, the truth should’ve been clear that the other side of the Big Brother 20 house had a majority alliance. Rockstar, Faysal (“Fessy”), Haleigh, and Scottie were the only people to trust without a shadow of a doubt. Tyler lied to her. JC lied to her. Sam lied to her. Taking the time to put the pieces together would’ve saved her a week of paranoia over the rogue vote against Rockstar – that move shouldn’t have mattered in the grand scheme.

Bayleigh made the right choice by nominating Brett for eviction for Week 5, but she chose wrong with Rachel’s nomination. There’s no denying that Brett is working against Bayleigh. They’re on opposite sides, and he’s a serious physical threat in challenges. Rachel, on the other hand, is a challenge competitor, but Bayleigh wasn’t one of her targets since Rachel wanted Scottie and the men out. Out of the three Level 6 females, Bayleigh had a closer rapport with Rachel, and after the response she got from Rachel that she was being put up as a Big Brother pawn, Bayleigh could’ve used that to win over an ally.

Bayleigh’s smartest move would’ve been Brett vs. Angela. Both Level 6 alliance members are strong competitors, their loyalties aren’t with Bayleigh, and neither had strong bonds with her. Losing either houseguest would’ve benefited the FOUTTE alliance going forward.

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Another bad move by Bayleigh was telling Rachel about the BB Power App. The move helped build a stronger bond, but putting her on the nomination block and lying about Tyler wanting Angela out caused a lot of doubt in their friendship. Of course, Rachel would tell her best friend that someone wanted her backdoored! Angela and Rachel had been close all summer, so she’d definitely warn her friend and tell her the truth to reassure her. Now everyone knows about Bayleigh’s BB Power App and can strategically plan against it.

Speaking of Angela, congrats to her finally playing Big Brother 20. Unfortunately, she made the worst move for her game. Why get her best friend Rachel out? Sure, Brett was a HUGE target in front of her and Rachel’s paranoia drove everyone crazy, but Rachel had better standing for Angela’s game than Brett. Rachel immediately told Angela her name had been thrown out by a close ally. Even though Bayleigh clearly lied, Rachel’s first instinct was to believe it and warn her friend of the danger.

Plus, she told Angela first about the BB Power App – Angela had Rachel’s trust explicitly. And sure, Rachel got desperate enough to consider Angela going up. But compare this to Brett, to whom loyalty means nothing, especially after he let HIS best friend Winston get evicted in a blindside without a warning.

Kaycee and Angela will look back at Rachel’s eviction as a bad move they shouldn’t have made. They evicted a member of their trifecta in favor of someone who’d turn against them in a second to stop a women’s alliance. Plus, Angela will regret her goodbye message to Rachel. Seriously, her words might be the coldest goodbye someone has ever said post-eviction…and she was supposedly her best friend. Hello, Angela the villain!

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Also, kudos to Brett for two weeks of jaw-dropping speeches. Instead of wasting time and thanking people, he goes for the jugular and throws everyone under the bus. I’d love to see him on the nomination block every week just to hear what he would say.

Between the two challenges, the Power of Veto might be my favorite of Week 5. Utilizing the road puzzle and the different path elements – like the barriers – kept the houseguests on their toes. We don’t normally see these types of puzzles, so pathway changed things up for the Power of Veto. Hopefully, the Big Brother 20 houseguests will realize how much of a threat Tyler is in the house. He won the Power of Veto in less than seven minutes – and this POV adds to long list of wins! They need to get him out sooner rather than later.

When it came to the partnerships, JC had Faysal wrapped around his finger. Faysal should’ve deduced that JC wasn’t on the same page as him when he didn’t act excited after Faysal made the case to Bayleigh about not nominating him. Faysal is a bad Big Brother player – he’s bad at reading people and he’s not securing himself a strong spot. At this point, he’s even pushing Haleigh away with his controlling attitude. She’s a free woman and she can do whatever she wants, like hanging out with Brett in the hammock. He and JC do have a good shot at being a team on the Amazing Race after that cheesy sitcom segment though.

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Rachel’s last week of Big Brother 20 is the classic case of “she did everything right early on, but once she got nominated, everything crumbled until her eviction.” Paranoia ruined Rachel’s game, and she let the fear of being evicted push everyone away with her erratic behavior. In a situation like that, keeping calm and making clear-headed, strategic conversations work best toward avoiding eviction votes. Her own alliance of Angela, Kaycee, Tyler, and Brett turned the votes against her. Her only shot to stay would’ve been turning the girls back to her side. And, you know, not agreeing to be a pawn in the first place! Crying about Brett’s game in the Diary Room did nothing for her game.

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Week 5 of Big Brother 20 continued the great momentum these houseguests have delivered this summer. Rachel, who never stood out as one of the bigger players, still got evicted in a dramatic blindside that shook her to her core. In fact, her eviction caused one of the most uncomfortable chats with Julie Chen ever; Rachel sat in disbelief. The houseguests were ruthless, and they’re giving our Big Brother live feeds/weekly episodes life! Now that we’re entering the second phase of Big Brother 20 with the Big Brother jury, let’s keep our fingers crossed that the houseguests keep it going.

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