The Power of Veto not only disrupts the ‘Big Brother’ game, it completely blows it up and changes the whole week after a shocking betrayal leaves one Houseguest fuming, making threats, and ready to tear everything down.
There’s playing hard and then there’s getting played … hard. One Houseguest learned this lesson the — ahem — hard way on Big Brother after an epic Veto Meeting betrayal left them hanging in the wind. And with one expletive-filled reaction, battle lines have been drawn!
We thought Angela’s opening week explosion was going to set the tone for an unpredictable and wild season in the Big Brother house. Well, it did, but it isn’t Angela at the center of the storm anymore. This summer’s hurricane season has just welcomed a new named system.
Power-Up … And Out?
Powers and twists are meant to shake the game up, and in Week 3 they were definitely doing that. Makensy basically told everyone about her power, so it’s pretty much public knowledge that she can save herself from the Block. Most people also know that means America chooses the replacement.
But that power is nothing compared to the one Quinn has, which allows him to hijack an entire Head of Household. Basically, no matter who’s HOH, Quinn becomes HOH. He makes nominations, and more intriguingly, can apparently sow chaos with an avatar of the actual HOH winner.
Nobody’s really talking about the fact that with these powers expiring next week … Quinn is almost guaranteed to take over next week if he’s still in the House. They know that, right? At least those of them in the House who know about his power.
As it turns out, though, that’s a lot of people. By the end of this hour, it just might be all the people. Quinn told Angela, foolishly, in the very first week (before she slipped off the deep end). Angela heavily hinted that he had it with Tucker, threatening to expose him if she gets evicted.
Well, Tucker then opened up to Kimo about it, and Kimo is one of the few Quinn told about it. Kimo confirmed, but swore Tucker to secrecy. So Tucker told Cam, who told current HOH Cedric. Everyone swears everyone to secrecy and then immediately tells everyone. At this point, we assume everyone knows and has promised not to tell anyone.
At least they kept their word in regard to one person. No one told Quinn they know.
Crazy Veto Plan
With “Crazy Eyes” out and “crazy” Angela laying low, a new “crazy” emerged, and it came in the form of Tucker’s aggressive and wild plans to shake up the game and get things moving. The guy appears to have some issues with standing still, and so he’s losing it with this safe gameplay.
As a viewer, it’s great. As a player, it must be terrifying. Rocking a boat this early almost guarantees you won’t make it to the end. But Tucker is definitely rocking. He rocked his way to volunteering to play in the AI Arena last week as a pawn, and did it again this week to play Veto (and AI Arena if that doesn’t work).
He’s trying to help shape the nominations by winning the power and keeping it out of the hands of people he thinks needs to go. And speaking of power, that’s who he thinks needs to go. If the House knows Makensy and Quinn have these powers, why on earth is no one flushing them?
It’s a valid question, as Cedric is playing such a safe HOH week it’s almost painful to watch. He’s not looking to get out actual threats to his game, but just an erratic presence like Angela or the super-checked-out Kenney. Tucker wants to play!
In-or-Out Interlude
We have got to take a brief moment to wonder what the hell is going on with Kenney in this game? This episode put a spotlight on it, but since Day 1, it seems, he’s been half in and half out of this game … sometimes in the same sentence.
On the Block again, Kenney summed it up himself by saying it was time to compete, he needs to win this Power of Veto so he can go home! Yeah! Wait, what?!
Apparently, Kenney’s master plan is to win it and then use the Power of Veto on Angela to piss off the House so they’ll vote him out on Thursday. But in five minutes, he’ll be talking about running the House with his boys all summer, or some nonsense.
Seriously, dude, you can quit. It’s not pretty and no one will respect it, but you can do it. You’re certainly not endearing yourself to anyone at home because so many people fight to play on these games and you want out. Except when you don’t.
We’re just not sure how long we can endure this ping-pong game that is his so-called game. And the Houseguests are definitely over it.
Crazy Veto Plan (cont.)
Back to Tucker’s plan. Well, it couldn’t work until he won the Power of Veto. But could he do that? The game this week was actually pretty challenging, with players having to navigate a maze of obstacles and hanging vines with a large odd-shaped “power core.”
Every time any part of the core touched a vine, it lost 5% of its power. The goal was to finish the course in the fastest time with the most power left. So power was primary, with speed a tie-breaker.
First of all, we didn’t get to see Angela’s final score, but we’re guessing it was zero. Even before she got to any vines, she was basically barreling through the course with no finesse or grace at all. It was like a drunken bull being rolled through a china shop.
In the end, it came down to Makensy and Angela’s Block-mates, Tucker and Kenney for the best score. Impressively, with only three vine touches, Tucker pulled off the victory, setting the stage for his master plan. We also have to give a shout-out to his terrible Steve Irwin Aussie impression throughout. It was ridiculous and glorious in equal measure.
His plan was to flush Quinn’s power, as it was a far bigger threat. But he also wanted Quinn to have the least chance of winning in the AI Arena. As such, Tucker was willing to go pawn for the third comp in a row (not counting HOH) and keep himself on the Block, using Veto on Angela instead.
That way, Tucker and Kenney were in there to try and stop Quinn from winning AI Arena and getting him booted before he inevitably hijacks power next week, no matter who wins. Their concern is that even allied with him, he kept this power secret. So how much is he really with any of them?
Legendary Veto Meeting
Tucker told Cedric that no matter which way this goes, it would be legendary just for the effort. Well, it was legendary, but for none of the reasons Tucker anticipated.
Oh, he did his part. He stood up and he used the Power of Veto on himself. But then, Cedric went rogue and targeted the other Power-Up in the House, nominating Makensy.
Makensy had previously told him that if she put him up, she’d just just America’s Veto and take herself off, and then she’d be gunning hard for him. All this power does is keep her safe through next week (though she could also use it on someone else).
As Makensy sat down, though, Tucker boiled over, laying into Cedric with an expletive-filled explosion about him going against the plan, targeting the weaker of the two Powers (as Quinn looked on in dawning horror that they knew about his Power), and promising that he was coming after him as soon as he could.
Tucker coming at Cedric during the veto ceremony & Makensy using her veto power 👀#BB26 pic.twitter.com/JVlCMAwk37
— Mel ✨ (@melbrown00) August 8, 2024
Because at this point, Tucker is vulnerable to the vote and not sitting next to the biggest Power in the House.
Well, that is, until Makensy did what she promised, triggering America’s Veto and pulling herself off the Block. Ainsly then popped up to explain that America was now voting for who would be the replacement nominee.
It could still be Quinn. It can’t be Angela or Makensy or Cedric or anyone who’d already been declared ineligible as nominees this week. So will America flush Quinn’s power for Tucker? It might depend on which of the two factions they like better.
We’d personally love to see Quinn’s power activate, if just to see how it plays out inside the House. But he’s also been getting a little sloppy and cocky in his gameplay, and that’s not a great combination to make America love you. It could be him. It could be any number of people.
Who it is will be revealed moments before the three nominees enter the AI Arena in Thursday’s live episode. In other words, how do you strategize a vote when you not only don’t know who will be on the Block come the vote, but you don’t even know who’s on the block now!?
Houseguest Report Cards
Chelsie Baham (27, nonprofit dir) is the power behind the throne, though we didn’t see much of her tonight. She’s probably happy to be way behind the throne right now as there is a lot of tension in the House. Cedric triggering such a public fight only strengthens her position, though. [Grade: A+]
Cam Sullivan-Brown (25, physical therapist) is in all the right rooms at all the right time. He may have been part of Cedric’s decision to oust Makensy’s power — we don’t know — but he is orchestrating big moves in the House, and doing so in a very behind-the-scenes manner, just like Chelsie. He’s in a great spot right now. [Grade: A-]
Cedric Hodges (21, ex-marine) could be in trouble, depending on the fallout of this meeting. With Tucker and Makensy gunning for him, it’s going to depend on how the House feels about Cedric’s move here, and how effectively they campaign against him. If he can finesse protecting Quinn (even if Quinn gets put up by America) right, he might get enough protection to hang in there. [Grade: B]
Brooklyn Rivera (34, business admin) is still in the right group at the right time, but that group is under a bit of fire and a bit of a civil war, unless Cedric can play this like he was protecting The Pentagon, so now they need to protect him. For now, no one’s looking at her, which looks pretty good. [Grade: B]
T’kor Clottey (23, crochet business), Joseph Rodriguez (30, video store), Kimo Apaka (35, mattress sales), and Rubina Bernabe (35, event bartender) continue to ride in the middle of this chaos, and we can’t think of a safer place to be. [Grade: C]
Leah Peters (26, VIP cocktail) is fading a bit into the background the longer Matt has been out of the House. She’s still closely aligned with Makensy and doesn’t have much else going on, but there are bigger threats and targets blowing up every day, it seems, so her best bet is to hope she’s forgotten about long enough for it not to matter anymore. [Grade: C]
Tucker Des Lauriers (30, marketing/sales exec) made some huge moves and also some huge threats. He is well-liked in the House, but it’s a precarious position to be in, because Cedric is well-liked, too. The aftermath of this explosion could set the tone for the next few weeks. It also doesn’t help he’s showing how big of a dominant comp beast he can be. [Grade: C]
Angela Murray (50, real estate agent) is becoming a non-threat in the House after being quiet enough for long enough. Her fate is always in her hands. Safe moves will target her, but it looks like the game may be afoot, which could be good for her, as no one sees her as any kind of threat, despite her HOH win. [Grade: C-]
Makensy Manbeck (22, construction pm) is safe and her Power is now gone. In a way, this could give her a new lease in the game. Depending on relationships, though, if more people side with Cedric, she’ll still be in trouble. So far, he’s got more friends than her, so we’ll have to wait and see if it will be a two-man war alongside Tucker, or if she can galvanize some sort of alliance out of this. [Grade: C-]
Quinn Martin (25, nurse recruiter) could be in trouble. If his cockiness and sloppy gameplay is grating on America, he could find himself on the Block this week. And if he’s there, there’s a very, very good chance he’ll go, unless he can leverage his power to work with a group to further their game. He’s a smart guy, and the AI Arena could be won, but he’s not in a great place overall socially (lots of feelings that he shouldn’t have hid his Power from allies — and he’s aligned with basically everyone). [Grade: C-]
Kenney Kelley (52, ex-cop) needs to decide if he’s playing this game or not. Until then, why would anyone bother trying to play with him. [Grade: D-]
House Chatter
(asides and comments — not necessarily strategic, but entertaining and sometimes revealing)
- “This week I have an opportunity to make my HOH squeaky clean.” –Cedric (don’t count your chickens–)
- “This week, I’m going out there to fight my damnedest– Oh, I’m probably not allowed to say that.” –Angela (in Diary Room after nominations)
- “I’m only telling you this … Quinn does have it.” –Kimo (confirming to Tucker about Quinn’s Power)
- “Okay, Tucker is gorgeous. Duh! But there genuinely is trust there [laughs].” Kimo (explaining why he told Tucker about Quinn’s power)
- “I have to be on the Block Thursday night.” –Kenney (can’t decide if he wants to play or not)
- “All I’m hearing is Ross from ‘Friends’ yelling, ‘Pivot! Pivot!'” –Makensy (about Power of Veto competition)
- “I can assume if Tucker wins, he’s gonna use the Veto on himself. But if Kenney wins, he’s gonna use it on Angela and I can’t have that.” –Cedric (…well, about that)
- “I can’t sit still in here for long and it’s moving too slow in here. I need to shake things up.” –Tucker
- “I’ll be honest, it’s been real easy to lie to these people.” –Quinn (but everyone knows)
- “Like I said before, risk it for the biscuits, and your boy likes biscuits.” –Tucker (about plan to not use Veto on himself)
- “What the f–k, bro?” –Tucker (after Cedric nominates Makensy instead of Quinn at Veto Meeting)
- “Sorry.” –Cedric
- “Alright, I’ll remember. I’ll remember, bro. Hopefully, you’re up here next time battling me in the AI Arena.” –Tucker
- “We gotta play.” –Cedric
- “Yeah, we do. It’s not a smart move.” –Tucker
- “There’s better players in here you should have put up, with better Power-Ups, and you just blindsided me, so good luck whenever I’m battling you out there.” –Tucker
- “That was not the plan. You were not supposed to be up here.” –Tucker (to Makensy)
- “Not only has Cedric made an enemy of me, but apparently he’s made an enemy of Tucker, and Tucker’s coming for him. And I am, too. So, this’ll be so fun. So good luck!” –Makensy
Big Brother continues Thursday, Sunday and Wednesday on CBS — with a special Tuesday night episode next week featuring returning winners Jag Baines, Taylor Hale, and Cody Calafiore to break down the season so far, and reveal a “game-changing” surprise to “shake things up.”