Big Brother Season 26 - Episode 35 - Power of Veto & Live Eviction

[Fuskie]

Two sides left in the House. Two allies left on the block. And a special 2-hour live eviction episode that will determine the Final 4. Welcome to Big Brother!

Previously on Big Brother, with a dynamic double taking out the blondes, there was a line in the sand between the Final 5. On one side were besties Kimo and Rubina against the trio of Makensy, Cam, and Chelsie. The odds were stacked against them all at the HoH competition, but the construction manager constructed her 8th comp win of the season. 

Her targets were a no-brainer, but after Rubina went for a Hail Makensy, it seemed there could be trouble in paradise. Chelsie quickly squashed Makensy's doubts and the best buddies became block buddies. 

Tonight, BB Comics is back. Will the Veto save one of the nominees? And by night's end, another eviction will bring us to our Final 4. Plus, is there romance blossoming in Jury? All this, right now, live on a special 2-hour Big Brother!

It is Day 80 in the Big Brother House, just 10 days away from crowning the winner. Tonight, allies Kimo and Rubina sit side-by-side on the chopping block. But as this season has proven, anything can happen when the Power of Veto is up for grabs. Should either nominee win the Veto, they could save themselves, forcing HoH Makensy to choose one of her allies to put up on the block. 

But first, Makensy was loyal to her allies with her nominations, but is she having a change of heart?

With her nominations Makensy aimed to target Kimo, believing he was the least likely to take her to the end if he gained power. Her ideal final three included Chelsie and Cam, both of whom recognized Kimo as a significant threat due to his strong social game. For the moment, it seemed that Makensy’s target would remain in place.

With both Rubina and Kimo on the block, they understood that one of them needed to win the Veto to maintain their positions in the House. It was Kimo's 7th time on the block. Rubina considered the possibility that if Makensy won the Veto, they could persuade her to use it to backdoor the bigger threat, Chelsie. Makensy had hinted to Rubina she might consider it, but made no commitments. Kimo hoped that Makensy was thinking about her end-game.

Makensy and Rubina decide to play the Tortilla game, where two people fill their mouths with water and then try to slap each other with tortillas to see who spits out their water first. After all, they have nothing else to do. 

Makensy takes a light swap at Rubina, who does not react though Makensy thinks it's so funny she almost spits out laughing. In response, Rubina makes as if she's going to attack Makensy with her tortilla and nearly spits out her water laughing in the process as Makensy ducks safely.

Makensy doubles over stifling the giggles when Rubina brings out a step stool to even the playing field. This is for putting me on the block, she says privately, swiping Makensy hard on the cheek with the tortilla. She slaps back and Cam tells her she has to hit it harder. Even Rubina motions that was weak. Makensy waves Cam away and then gives Rubina a proper slap.

Then it is on, with Rubina jumping off the stool to chase Makensy down, slapping her so hard that her tortilla flies out of her hand. Rubina crashes to the ground, emptying her mouth with laughter. Makensy equally spits out her remaining water, leading to a draw. 

Feeling confident that Rubina was merely a pawn in her game, Makensy suggested to Chelsie that if they won the Veto, they could take Rubina off the block and nominate Cam in her place. After all, he hasn't contributed to either her or Chelsie's game. Rode their backs, Chelsie agreed. 

This plan raised a red flag for Chelsie, making her wary of Rubina's potential influence over Makensy. She tells Makensy to put off that conversation until after the Veto. 

Rather than revealing the full conversation to Cam, Chelsie hoped to light a fire under him by making him understand that Rubina was making a concerted effort to get into Makensy’s good graces, which meant they both needed to win the Veto. Cam thinks Chelsie is overthinking the threat. 

Makensy pointed out to Chelsie that all Cam had done in the game was ride their coattails. Chelsie agreed that they had protected him with their wins. Makensy didn't want to see Cam get another free ride in the Veto competition.

In this week’s timed Veto competition, the final five competed in the iconic “BB Comics” challenge, where they climb a ladder to slide down a zip-line across an open view-port to quickly grab a glimpse of each Houseguest's BB Comic cover inside the BB Comics studio. Faced with two comic covers per Houseguest, one an AI-generated bootleg variation of the one identical to the display, the Houseguests had to both place the comic book covers in the right order but select the correct version. 

Kimo sees his BB Comic, Vol-Kimo (All's Fair in Lava and War). He focuses first on getting the right order and then getting the details right. Sweet Kenny K is a real hot dog in his BB Comic. Leah is the Chubby Chaser. Kimo notices there is a trashcan in one version that is missing from the other. He just needs to verify which matches the comic cover in the studio. 

Brooklyn is the Charcuter-Thief, and notes one version says "Hide your Salami" and the other says "Pastrami". Salami was the right one. Kimo presses his button and 3 are incorrect. Lisa is the Glitter Critter and he realizes she is wearing a different color collar in each comic. He's down to 2 incorrect. 

He realizes there may be two comics in the wrong order, and swaps Crazy Eyes (Matt) and Cro-Slay (T'kor), then locks in his time. 

Makensy is next, identifying the differences between each comic cover variation, then looking to see which one is in the BB Comics studio. She's taken by Mech-Kensy, a robot warrior with hair extensions, who will control-alt-delete you. One version includes the scientists who built her, and in they other, they are missing. 

For T'kor's Cro-Slay (Cross her and you're in deep knit), the two men caught up in her yarn are swapped. In QuinnSanity (The ultimate Mad Hair Day!), the wording is yellow in one variant and maroon in another. Angela is the AtomicMom (always ready to go nuclear) holding Matt as her victim, and in one variant, the nuclear balls are missing.

For Matt's CrazyEyes BB Comic (His retina is gettin' ya), there's a missing stop sign in one variant. He has rays coming out of his eyes but Makensy says they got his abs just right. She finally figures out that Rubina's Roller Rebel BB Comic (Won't Let Crime Skate By) has a yellow lane stripe in one version. Once all the comics are correct, she places them in the correct order.

It is Cam's turn next and races off. He's the CAM-ELEON (No one will see him coming) who blends into the wall behind him. His variation is that one of the bad guys he is sneaking up on has a green or black jacket. Young Cedric (Barely legal, totally lethal) looks like he just graduated - middle school. Frankie the Flamingo (no relation to Fred) only appears in one cover.

He presses the button and has 8 incorrect. He swaps Crazy Eyes and Chubby Chaser and is down to 6 incorrect. He swaps out multiple covers for their variants and gets down to one incorrect, that he already swapped out from the correct version. Exhausted, he pauses to catch his breath before riding down the zip-line again. He wishes he had super stamina.

He finally realizes there is no trashcan behind Leah's Chubby Chaser comic and completes the competition.

Rubina is next, small but quick. She plans to get the comic order and then verify the details. She misses The Instigator (He'll tuck you up) for Tucker, who has stripes on his legs in one version. In her first attempt, she has only 4 correct. Then she gets it up to 6, then 8, then 15. But she can't figure out which one is wrong, wrong, wrong. 

Chelsie is the last to go, hustling from the start. Her BB Comic is The Micro Chip (She's on the ultimate Power Trip!), and the difference is in one variant, the windows are dark and in the other, the lights are on. For Sweet Kenny K, in one cover he's wearing ketchup, and in the other, mustard. Joseph's comic is Rewind (Pausing Crime throughout Time), and in only one variant, his control column has a rewind symbol.

When she buzzes in, she has only 2 wrong. She fixes Rubina's comic but still is wrong on Brooklyn's The Charcuter-Thief. She gets the correct meat and buzzes in.

It is time to find out who completed BB Comics in the fastest time. The Top 3 results are revealed to be Kimo, Makensy, and Chelsie. Kimo is shocked, but then places 3rd with a time of 30:27. Chelsie is incensed that Cam couldn't even complete the competition in 30 minutes. 

With a time of 13:51, Makensy wins the Power of Veto. Again. Rubina thinks there's a chance Makensy might take her off the block. 

Seeing the competition results, Makensy expressed her disappointment in Cam for not performing better. Her frustration grew when Cam admitted that he had taken breaks during the challenge, which only added to her and Chelsie’s concerns that he was coasting through the game. They started to wonder if he was throwing competitions intentionally to appear less threatening while putting blood on their hands. Even Rubina and Kimo, who were fighting for their lives, looked at him in disbelief. 

Makensy warns Chelsie that she is still thinking of throwing Cam up in place of Rubina because he's throwing comps. Chelsie is pissed not only that he's not trying to win, but that it's giving Makensy reason to put him up. She can't let him go home.

In the Fish Lounge, Chelsie vents over Cam's Veto performance. Uncle Cam took over 30 minutes, she told the fish, and he may be playing with them. The fish don't understand her. In the Storage Room, Chelsie is grousing to the live feed camera about Cam when he overhears and enters, leading to a confrontation.

Cam apologizes to his friends and family for his performance, saying he is simply not good at the comp. Chelsie accuses him of throwing the competition, which he laughingly denies. He says he plays sports but doesn't hang from zip-lines and look at comics. BB Comics is easier than D1 Football, Chelsie counters. No, it's not, he says weakly. 

She urged him to step up his game, as Makensy was frustrated enough to consider nominating him. Cam dismissed her concerns as paranoia. Makensy is going to shoot herself in the foot if she overthinks it. Later, he approached Makensy to express his embarrassment over his poor performance, which he blamed on the Yips. While she laughed it off, Makensy didn’t believe his claims of incompetence.

For the first 11 Veto Meetings, the Veto has been used to change nominations. However, at the Veto Meeting, Makensy opted to not use the power, deciding instead to look out for her own game by leaving the nominations as they were. Rubina said she would campaign for herself but not against Kimo. Cam said he was honest with Makensy and she believed him. Makensy was sad to see Kimo go. But Chelsie is not 100% sure that getting rid of Rubina might not be best for her game. 

In the Jury House, Quinn was tired of being alone but didn't want to see Leah. When T'kor entered, he was surprised as he thought she was well-positioned to win. T’kor shared a video from JANKIE World and Quinn was disappointed to have missed it. Quinn thought Leah would nominate Chelsie but then says she's getting it done with Rubina and Kimo's nominations. Then he's stunned that Angela won the Veto, leading to T'kor's nomination. 

Quinn thinks Chelsie and Kimo voted for T'kor to stay, and T'kor thinks Kimo voted to evict her and Chelsie voted to keep her. Quinn said that was weak on Kimo but a big move for Leah. T'kor thinks staying off the block and winning two HoHs makes Chelsie the best player. 

A week later, Leah arrives at the Jury House, pleasing T'kor out of pettiness. Quinn is reminded how devastatingly cute she is but gives her a friend-zone hug. Privately, Leah says Makensy's betrayal was very hard to take. She reveals it was a Double Eviction and T'kor thinks Angela will be next. 

On queue, Angela bounds into the Jury House, saying it wasn't a surprise after Leah was evicted, naming Chelsie as the reason for her eviction. She doesn't want to see Chelsie win. The video for Quinn and T'kor starts with Makensy's HoH win and the death of JANKIE, which Quinn said was so traumatic. 

As the Double Eviction plays out, Leah describes Makensy as the comp beast of the season. Two HoHs, two Vetos, and two AI Arenas, T'kor confirms. Angela calls out Makensy's fake tears at the Veto meeting that replaced Kimo with Leah - low budget acting, she says. Leah grants that Makensy's a terrific competitor and she respects her for that. 

Angela says that Makensy told her that Leah might be a renom in part because she has a thing with Quinn. Angela says she doesn't believe her, but Quinn and Leah look at each other like school kids and laugh. That would be crazy, Quinn says as Leah blushes. 

Leah says that a crush on Quinn was never so ridiculous to her, and Angela is stunned. This might be the biggest twist of the season, Angela says. Privately, Quinn can't breathe, and he knows that like Angela, America at home didn't think he could pull it off either. He didn't even believe it. 

Leah notes that her eviction was the first unanimous vote of the season, but both she and Angela expected a tie. The rest of the Double Eviction plays out, and Quinn notes Chelsie was clutch. T'kor celebrated Kimo's Veto win, thinking he would be a good winner. 

Quinn says that whoever Chelsie puts up will indicate which side she trusts more. When Rubina is put up, Angela says you see which side she trusted more. Quinn questions whether Makensy is closer to Cam or Chelsie and they all think Chelsie. But Chelsie is a threat to her, Angela observes, because she's been the mastermind all season. Cam is a floater, Angela says, who better to stand against? Quinn agrees that Chelsie is the smartest person in the house and most deserving to win. 

Julie Chen Moonves said hello to the Houseguests who had been keeping themselves entertained in the Living Room. Upon hearing her, they broke into an original song:

She's the greatest
She's a wonder
Don't forget to love one another
The best part of BB
We love you, Julie! 

Julie was moved and delighted, telling them they all have singing careers. She says was so touched, thank you, and they are her favorite Houseguests. They explode in happiness. Just keep it between us, she reminds them.

As the Houseguests settled in for the final stretch of their journey after 80 days in the House, Julie surprised them with video messages from their families. 

Rubina's father and sister are first, who tells her that possibilities become realities when you believe in yourself. Makensy's parents and brother bring her to tears. Dad says play tough, win comps. Kimo's mom and brother say everyone in Hawaii is supporting him. Keep pushing forward, Mom says. Cam's dad says he may not be one of his dogs from the crib, but he is his second oldest fan. 

Chelsie's family, including Junior her dog, gather in the kitchen as her dad tells her to win that big cash prize. Junior escapes their grasp and knocks over the camera causing all the Houseguests to laugh and cry at the emotional pick-me-up they received. 

When prompted by Julie Chen Moonves, Chelsie said she was most happy to see her dog. Kimo said his mom and brother are his world. Julie Chen Moonves says Makensy's mom looks like her sister. This Manbeck will bring it home, she replies. Cam says his pops is his dog but he doesn't know who his oldest fan is. Rubina says she's mad her dog Butters wasn't in the video. 

Back to the game, in a bid to save herself from eviction, Rubina approached Chelsie and Makensy about forming an all-female alliance for the Final 3. Makensy showed interest in this idea, as she felt safe with Rubina’s vote in the final four, while Chelsie was pleased to let Rubina believe she also supported the female alliance. However, the only woman Chelsie wanted to win Big Brother was her. In the meantime, she'll tell Rubina whatever she wants to hear.

But she knew she had to inform Cam about the discussion to prevent Makensy from telling him first so that he knew she was the one who had his back. However, in her telling, Makensy was playing both sides. Cam said he's well aware. He doesn't like it at all.

Kimo also aimed to angle for support, speaking to Cam about why he should kept in the game. He argued that they had the best chance of winning alongside each other. Cam recognized that if Rubina were to leave, Kimo might see him as a favorable Final 2. Kimo's approach to Chelsie differed; he portrayed Makensy as the biggest threat to win it all and offered his support to help her compete against Makensy. Chelsie was confident that if it came down to her and Makensy on the block with Kimo voting, he would vote out Makensy, but Cam and Makensy are set on keeping Rubina.

It was only after Cam and Chelsie spoke one last time that they concluded it might be in their best interest to evict Rubina instead of Kimo. If Makensy wins the Final 4 Veto and votes, she'll keep Rubina over one of them. But if it is Kimo, she'll vote to evict him over them. Chelsie expressed shock that Cam had been thinking and acknowledged his reasoning. He points out that Makensy's HoHs, AI Arenas, and Vetos are crazy. They are going to have to take her out. 

Chelsie was confident that Kimo would keep her over Makensy next week, but if it is Rubina, she didn't know which way she'd go. But she's not willing to make the move without talking it through with Makensy. 

In HoH, Makensy wanted to stick with the plan to evict Kimo. Cam thinks Kimo is not a comp threat but Makensy notes he performs better under pressure. Cam and Chelsie countered that Rubina was equally likely to earn Jury votes, even Angela's vote.

Cam believes he and Chelsie can do what they want without Makensy's blessing, but Makensy tells Chelsie that she wants Rubina to stay. She understands why Cam doesn't feel safe with Rubina, but she's annoyed that they have carried him and he doesn't get to start calling shots now. Cheslie was left wondering if Kimo is best for Cam's game and Rubina was best for Makensy's game, who was best for her game? It's a $750k decision.

During their final pleas, Kimo thanked everyone for a great season and hoped he fits into the picture of what's best for their game, while Rubina was humble to have made it to Final 5 with them and stated her desire to continue playing with them, calling herself their friendly neighborhood Filipina. 

In the voting booth, Cam and Chelsie both voted to evict Kimo. With a 2-0 vote, Kimo was evicted from the Big Brother House. After hugs and a dance with Rubina, Rubina grabbed Kimo's blue Big Brother water bottle, and Kimo told the House he'd miss it, and walked out the front door. His picture on the Memory Wall turned grey and the Final 4 applauded.

Julie Chen Moonves noted that Kimo survived 7 times but in the end, he was sitting next to his closest ally. Kimo expressed confidence that he could have won. He understood the tough choice and is rooting for Rubina. He thought Cam made a mistake not keeping him and that his close connections with T’kor and Rubina made him a target, but he was okay with their need for one another in the game. They were targeted for friendship.

Kimo had grown up watching Big Brother with his big brother who is no longer with them. The experience was everything he hoped it would be and Kimo thanked everyone for the opportunity. His brother would be proud of how far he, an island kid, made it in the game. 

This has been such a wild and incredible experience he says, Mahalo, and thanks everyone who got him to this point. He tells Julie that she was one of the first people he could relate to on television, so it is so special being there with her. Julie is slightly taken aback at that revelation. Aloha, she thanks him.

Checking in with the Final 4 in the Living Room, she congratulates them on their accomplishment but warns them that things are going to get harder in the final stretch as one of them will be crowned HoH, one will win the final Veto of the season, and one will be sent to the Jury, leaving the Final 3 to face off live on Finale night.

Tune in Sunday at 10 pm ET for the next HoH competition, then the final Veto competition and live eviction next Thursday at 8 pm ET. Plus, Season 25 winner Jag will break down this season. For now, let's eavesdrop on the Final 4. 

From outside the Big Brother House, I'm Julie Chen Moonves. Love one another. 

Final HoH, Makensy says, I will pass down the baton one last time. The baton, Rubina laughs. It's stressing me out, Chelsie says. Cam just stares silently at the Memory Wall