Spoilers from Thursday's live episode of Big Brother ahead!
Things actually got interesting in the Big Brother house this week. Rather than simply staying the course of agreeing on a target, pursuing that target and evicting them, alternate plans were made. By Paulie, mainly. I'm not sure if it's coming through in the episodes as much as it is on the live feeds, but Paulie is undoubtedly steering this season, at least for now. Paul wanted Bridgette to go at the start of the week. Paulie wanted Da'Vonne out, and wouldn't you know it? Guess who walked out the door tonight.
Da'Vonne was evicted with six votes to leave (two to stay).
I'll admit, I bought into the rumors and speculation that Da'Vonne might have the round-trip ticket. She had ticket #8, and there's apparently an "Ocho Rios" sign in the house, that tipped some theorists off that ocho = eight = Da'Vonne's favorite number, and the number on her ticket. So I was genuinely prepared for Da'Vonne to be returning to the house, especially considering the eviction took place a bit earlier in the episode than usual. And if the tickets are numbered, it's fair to assume the producers know which number is the winner.
Alas, Da'Vonne's ticket was one-way. So she's not coming back.
Let's talk about Da'Vonne's eviction, because there are numerous reasons why this situation is interesting.
While I can't say I'm disappointed that Bridgette is getting to stay, or that the house shifted in a different direction this week, Da'Vonne made things interesting, so I'm disappointed that she's gone. Her strategic game had issues. I think Julie was onto something when implying that maybe Da'Vonne was too focused on getting Frank out, and not nearly as aware of how she was being perceived by everyone else. That left her vulnerable this week, with no bigger target in sight than herself. Well, except Paulie. He should bet he obvious target. Whether or not someone actually figures that out before it's too late remains to be seen.
Michelle and Zakiyah were left mostly in the dark on Da'Vonne's eviction. Either that, or they hoped so desperately that things were going to work out in their favor that they ignored the signs and voted to evict Bridgette anyway. I got the sense from the live feeds that they knew plotting was happening, but I can't believe they would've voted for Da'Vonne to stay if they knew the entire rest of the house was voting against her.
Michelle really (really) wanted Bridgette out, so she's likely extremely disappointed that things didn't go according to plan.
And things with Zakiyah and Paulie have been seriously rocky, as we've seen on the feeds and in the episodes. Assuming she had no idea this was happening, I can only imagine what's going through her mind as the episode wrapped up. Judging by her and Michelle's faces during the endurance competition, neither are happy campers right now, and both are likely to fight for the Head of Household.
I hope Natalie wins it. She's the biggest wild card in that house right now. Despite being close with Bridgette, she would've been all for voting her out to keep Da'Vonne in the game. James, meanwhile, proved he needs to watch what he says, seriously tipped Da'Vonne off that things might not be in her favor this week, when he let slip that he'd target Victor and Bridgette if there's a double eviction. But James, how can you target Bridgette if she's already evicted? Whoops.
Cut to Nicole making that deer-in-the-headlights face. It's the same face she was making tonight, right as the voting was about to start. She needs to invest in some sunglasses, or something if she's going to play the sneaky game. Da'Vonne can't be the only person that recognizes that look by now.
And speaking of sneaky... Paul's goodbye message to Da'Vonne had him playing dumb about her eviction, as if he didn't know she was going. Not sure if that was because he was afraid she'd see the message before the ticket was opened, or if he thinks she won't eventually find out he was in on the situation once more people arrive at jury.
Also on the sneaky side, Da'Vonne hugged Victor on the way out and told him they were targeting him for the double eviction. Yeah, "she snitched." And that is why I'll miss Da'Vonne. Especially if that makes things interesting for Victor in the house, because so far his return has been painfully uneventful. But who knows if he'll take it seriously.
And that wraps up another week. Big Brother live feed watchers will know who will be the new Head of Household soon enough. In the meantime, next week is actually the first double eviction episode. That, combined with the ticket twist could make things especially interesting, particularly if the first evictee walks right back through the door. The odds of that are probably slim, factoring in the number of tickets still in play, but man, that'd be fun to watch play out live.
