Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Big Brother live feeds as of Tuesday, September 28. Read at your own risk!
Big Brother Season 23 has reached finale week, and for live feed viewers, it’s often the most boring time of the season. Most players already prepared what they were going to do if they made it to this point, and there’s little reason to deviate from that plan. This season is an exception, however, as a fight between Azah Awasum and Derek Frazier led her to rethink her endgame strategy.
Azah and Derek have been thick as thieves as members of both the Jokers and The Cookout alliance, but the two have been at odds this past week. It all started when Derek said that he was responsible for Azah’s continued presence in the house, while Azah felt she stayed in the game based on her own merit. The two have gone round and round on the issue for days until Azah finally told Derek she’s going to take Xavier Prather to Final Two if she wins Part Three of the Final Head of Household competition.
Derek Frazier essentially had a guaranteed Final Two chair spot prior to the fight, as both Xavier and Azah wanted to take him with them to the end. Now, he’s pleading with Azah to reconsider her options, not just for his benefit but for hers as well. Derek spent the afternoon explaining just how insane of a game move it would be to take Xavier to Final Two and that members of the Big Brother jury house will see it as a stupid game move.
Derek has an agenda in wanting to go to the Final Two, but he has a point. Azah taking Xavier to the end of the game would be a terrible game move, especially if she had the chance to evict him over Derek. Xavier has many more accomplishments this season than Azah, and based on what we’ve heard from the jury, he’s the top choice to win. Azah would likely win against Derek, yet she’s seemingly more content to evict Derek out of spite if she has the option.
What’s doubly weird about this situation is that Azah told Xavier she would be okay if he decided not to take her to Final Two. In doing this, Azah has effectively given her blessing to Xavier to take Derek Frazier to the end, so it’s not even like this stand against Derek is a ploy to get Xavier to choose her if he wins Part Three. It’s confusing, but Azah has made many game moves based on her personal feelings rather than strategy in Big Brother, so not totally surprising.
Will Azah evict Big D if she’s in that situation? Their conversation today seemed to go well, and I think Azah was genuine when she told Derek she’d think about reconsidering her decision. Honestly, I can’t imagine how she wouldn’t, as Azah evicting Xavier would effectively mean she’s the Season 23 winner of Big Brother, the first Black houseguest to win the main American version of the game, and $750,000 richer. Would she really throw all that away just to spite Derek? I guess we’ll find out if it comes to that.
Big Brother Season 23 comes to an end on CBS Wednesday, September 29th at 9:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend after the finale for interviews with the Final Three Houseguests and for more fallout from the events of this season.
