The Hacker twist has stirred up the game, for better or worse. We've got the live feed spoilers from over the weekend, including who's on the block, who the Hacker targeted and who won the Veto. Read no further if you don't want to know what's happening before the episodes air!
Here's how everything is shaking out so far in the Big Brother house...
Head of Household
Angela
Originally nominated
Rockstar
Scottie (saved by Hacker)
Won the Hacker competition
Haileigh? (Still unconfirmed, but that's the rumor)
Nominated by the Hacker
Tyler
Won the Veto
Angela
Veto Used?
Not yet
Currently Nominated
Tyler
Rockstar
Here's the TL;DR version: Tyler and Rockstar are on the block (Tyler was put up to replace Scottie by the Hacker). Angela won the Veto and -- as of Sunday afternoon -- plans to use it to take Tyler off the block and replace him with Bayleigh, who's their current target for eviction.
But there is so much more to this story, and I'm going to try to get through the key bullet points.
To recap Friday's events, Angela nominated Rockstar and Scottie. Then the Hacker competition played out and Scottie was taken off the block by the mysterious winner, after which Tyler was nominated. So, who is the Hacker? Technically, we don't really know and neither do most of the houseguests. The usually-reliable Twitter source RealVegas4Sure, who's known for leaking inside-info about Big Brother in recent seasons, claims Haleigh won the Hacker power, and that's the theory fans are running with right now. However, as we posted earlier this weekend, no one has come out and claimed credit/blame for Tyler's nomination on the feeds, so this is still very unconfirmed information, which we'll likely get confirmed or debunked during tonight's episode. Tyler and the rest of Level 6 strongly suspect Bayleigh is the Hacker, and as of Sunday afternoon, she's the likely target for eviction this week.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves...
After Tyler found himself on the block, the house was scrambling to figure out who did it. Some suspected Scottie was the Hacker, since he was taken off the block, while others thought maybe the Hacker was trying to frame Scottie. More than a few people, Scottie included, claimed they would use the Veto to save Tyler from the block if they won it, which boded well for Tyler going into the Veto competition. Not only do he and Angela get to play, but the odds were high that at least one of their allies would also end up getting chosen to play, given their numbers right now.
Then on Saturday, the houseguests had to choose players for the Veto. This happens off the feeds, but it sounds like the Hacker chose Kaycee to play for Veto. From an outside perspective, that seems really random and not the best choice if they're trying to get Tyler out. It seemed more likely they'd choose Scottie, assuming they really were trying to frame him for the nomination. Maybe they never intended to choose Scottie, or they heard he was planning on using it to save Tyler if he won it. It's also possible the Hacker panicked that if they chose Scottie they might be figured-out somehow. We don't really know, since this person is smartly keeping quiet. Either way, they went with what I assume they thought was a more random/neutral option by selecting Kaycee... one of Tyler's closest allies. Not that most people in the house know that. Still, what a perfect scenario for Tyler. And Scottie ended up playing for Veto anyway.
In addition to Tyler, Rockstar, Kaycee and Scottie, Brett and Angela (as HoH) also played for the Veto. It sounds like the competition was the prize-swap comp, where the houseguests compete in something physical, one-by-one get eliminated and open a box or capsule or something and earn either a prize or a punishment, which they can either keep or swap with a previously-eliminated player. From talk on the feeds, it seems Mr. Pectacular himself, Jessie Godderz, hosted the competition. When it was over, Rockstar earned some kind of fitness-training punishment (or prize, from Jessie's perspective, I'm sure), Brett won an "Instagranny" punishment, Kaycee won a peanut costume, Tyler won a trip to Hawaii, Scottie won $5,000 and Angela won the Veto.
I think Tyler ended up winning the overall competition, and based on a LOT of conversations about the competition, it sounds like Tyler had the option to trade the Instagranny punishment he won for something else. Rather than taking the Veto or Scottie's $5k, he took Brett's Hawaii trip. It also sounds like Scottie was seriously considering taking the Veto when it was his turn to trade or keep his prize, but Angela discouraged him from doing that enough that he kept the cash. Brett seemed genuinely annoyed about Tyler taking his trip when talking to JC, Scottie and others, but he later revealed to Tyler that he was just faking anger to make himself seem more secluded and separated from the rest of the Level 6 group, Tyler included. Whether or not he was ever really mad is unclear, but he seems cool with Tyler, Angela and Kaycee for now and doesn't want anyone outside that group to know he's not really mad.
Points to Brett for playing up his frustration, and for repeatedly putting it out there to his allies that he thinks JC is trying to keep the two sides of the house even so they will come after each other and leave JC safe week after week. Whether or not that's exactly JC's plan, I'm not sure, as I don't think he's ever stated it that way in the diary room, however we do know that he's cast at least one hinky vote, and is pretty openly running back and forth between sides.
So right now, Angela has the Veto. She has assured Scottie she's not going to use it to put him back on the block. Scottie had some emotional conversations with Tyler and Angela about his frustration over someone (Bayleigh?) once making him swear on a bible, which he didn't appreciate. Whether or not Scottie's tears were totally genuine, we can only guess, but Tyler and Angela seem willing to adopt him onto their side (in the outer-ring where he only gets bits and pieces of information) for the time being.
So what will Angela do with the Veto? As of right now, the plan is to take Tyler off the block and replace him with Bayleigh, who they believe is the most likely Hacker this week, and whose App power still lingers for the next couple of weeks. They're not 100% sure she can't use her Identity Theft power after the Veto (she can't), but they want her out and seem prepared to try to make that happen this week. So unless something changes between now and Monday, Bayleigh's in for a blindside nomination. Angela spent a fair amount of time talking to Bayleigh about options on Saturday and acting like she's not sure what she's going to do with the Veto, so while Bayleigh may have some natural concern over being backdoored, I don't think she's fully expecting it to happen at the Veto ceremony on Monday.
Well, that was a lot to cover, but it's been a busy weekend inside the house. I'm not a big fan of this Hacker twist. It seems like way too much power for someone to be able to wield anonymously, and the season really didn't need it. I get that Big Brother needs a competition to spice up the Sunday episode, but the game's been going well enough without this extra shakeup.
