Was it a blindside or a missed opportunity? Brent’s latest eviction on Big Brother 23 was sealed early on from Week #2. The players wanted him out of the game, so the proceeding round focused on the houseguests making the moves and blindsiding their former ally. Week #3 served up a pretty expected week once the Wildcard and Power of Veto competitions were played–Brent’s days were numbered in the house. Still, it would’ve been nice if the house had kept to their word of truly blindsiding Brent during the eviction vote. We need another shocked Dustin face from Big Brother 8 or Swaggy C being chosen as a replacement nominee during Week #2 of Big Brother 20. Give us the blindsides!
Just like the previous round, Week #3 played as preparation for the following week. Travis, Frenchie, and now Brent were the obvious house targets to evict as they were competitors or created tension for the other houseguests. Brent’s eviction meant the house couldn’t rely on an easy vote afterward; Hannah and Derek X. pointed it out perfectly that the possibilities were open and they needed to start thinking of the next big move. I love that these houseguests are strategizing and playing the game hard—it’s confusing to follow the changing paths/alliances, but the 24/7 live feeds and gameplay are exciting to watch. A majority of the house isn’t settling to float and coast to a boring eviction.
Derek F. and Britini, on the other hand, need to step it up with their lackluster gameplay. Britini has been nominated two times for eviction and she’s become the easy choice as the house pawn. Compared to the other players, she’s only made one established alliance with her Jokers team. Britini should use the sympathy from being a pawn to foster new alliances and manipulate her way out of being a pawn. Derek F.’s problem is that he’s relying too much on being a friend and The Cookout alliance. Just like Britini or Azah, he could become a pawn option if someone needs to place him on the book. And, his constant pitching that a woman needs to be evicted next could land him in trouble.
The same goes for Kyland regarding his open thoughts. Kyland fostered strong alliances, like The Royal Flush, The Cookout, and his pairing with Sarah Beth. The problem, however, is that he’s becoming too vocal about saying the women are going after the men and that they need to get a woman out next. Let’s get this out of the way: there is no established women’s alliance in the house. Some of the women are working together, but it’s not a “girl’s alliance.” All Kyland has done is paint a bigger target on his back. He should stop stating that fear immediately and continue fostering his alliances. As of now, Tiffany and Claire, his allies, are looking at possibilities for when they can get rid of him.
The Cookout (Azah, Derek F., Tiffany, Xavier, Kyland, and somewhat Hannah) could possibly dominate Big Brother 23 if no one notices them. Each houseguest fostered a parachute alliance with an outside player and they’ve kept their team meetings separate as to not draw suspicion. If they keep the course, we will most likely have the winner of Big Brother 23 coming from The Cookout. The only thing that could tear them apart would be their own mistakes.
Like, why is Azah so dead set on keeping Hannah out of the alliance?! Hannah is committed to protecting the group, and them having another number on their side benefits them all. Everyone else in The Cookout wants Hannah in, so why is Azah being so exclusionary and hurting her numbers? It doesn’t make sense from a strategy aspect. Also, Xavier messed up big time by painting a huge target on Hannah’s back to the Kings. He should’ve pushed harder and deflected to another player, like Whitney because now he’s made Hannah the next target if the Kings win Head of Household. By throwing out possibilities in his strategizing, he gave Sarah Beth and Alyssa the pull they needed to direct the attention toward Hannah. This could blow up in his face if Hannah walks out the door.
From a competition standpoint, Tiffany and Derek X. weren’t subtle in the least during the Wildcard competition. They were blatantly going after Britini to keep her from winning—everyone could see it, especially the Jokers. If houseguests band together to oust another, they need to come up with a better excuse beforehand in case anyone asks. Their hesitation and bad excuses nearly exposed their plans to Derek F., Azah, and Britini. I love when players try to “game the game” and think outside the box; it’s a great move because they needed her as a pawn up against Brent. However, for a move like this to work, they need to ensure everything is laid out smoothly.
Brent’s gameplay, unfortunately, was one miss after another. How did he not notice sooner that he was the next target? People were visibly silencing when he was around, and he got a few hints dropped by Derek F. and Christian. Granted, he had no shot to win the POV due to the players ganging up on him during Bowlerina, but his smaller moves, like not campaigning to have the POV used on him, only buried him deeper. Brent mentioned that the way he looked was the biggest reason why he got evicted, and to some extent, there is a little truth in there: he’s one of the more muscular men and he’s a big physical threat. However, we can’t ignore the mistakes he made in his social gameplay that truly lost him the game.
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Brent’s ego clouded his judgment and he focused too much on how he was running things instead of observing the state of the house. And, his comments toward the women ruined any alliances he built in the first few weeks. Just like Frenchie before him, Brent sabotaged himself and made it easier to get evicted. If he had heeded some warnings, downplayed his skills, and made plans that benefitted others (like going after the Kings), there’s a world where he could’ve stayed over Britini. It wasn’t the biggest possibility, but there was a chance early on where players, like Tiffany, considered keeping him.
Week #3 wasn’t the most eventful round. Brent’s eviction pretty much set the tone for the rest of the round of what was coming. Instead, we were treated to strong gameplay, a forming blindside, and moves being set in the weeks to come. Now that the last obvious house target is gone, let’s hope these houseguests turn on each other and use the moves they plotted these last few weeks to fruition.
Big Brother 23 airs on CBS on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8/7c.
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