Monday delivered a lot of excitement on the twists front for Big Brother 27 but the action isn’t done just yet. Okay, it’s probably done for twists this week, but two very important powers remain lurking in the shadows, much like a Mastermind that breaks into the house overnight, that should not be forgotten.
What we saw earlier this week was both Keanu and Kelley use their Veto-centric powers that first let Keanu summon a champion to play on his behalf for a second chance at Saturday’s Veto comp. He was not disappointed and that should be fun to watch playout on Wednesday’s episode. Next we had Kelley invoke her own power, also won during Thursday night’s HOH comp, that allowed her to play a separate Veto challenge for a second medallion. Both powers were put to good use and each rewarded their holder with safety this week. Not such good news for Amy and Will, the respective renoms for Keanu and Kelley.
Despite all that action, that only consumed half of the powers floating around in the game. And it’s only week TWO! Pace yourself, Grodner.
So what about those other two powers that may have been forgotten with viewers. If we rewind all the way back to the premiere night we saw Zach outpace his competitors to “save” Julie in one of the first two competitions of the night. That achievement returned a $10,000 cash prize. Not bad at all. But wait, there’s more.
Zach was later called into the Diary Room where he received a card with more information which revealed his $10,000 reward might be worth a lot, lot more. Like potentially $740,000 more, in the right circumstances. Here’s what Zach learned:
The card inside said that at any time between now and when the Jury starts, if Zach is on the Block after the Power of Veto Ceremony, he can give his $10k prize to the current Head of Household and force them to nominate someone else. This is a one-sided decision. Meaning the HOH cannot refuse the $10k and keep Zach on the block. They have to take the money and name a new nominee.
That could be huge. In a pinch, Zach can force his way off the Block and evade the eviction vote if he can’t manage to do it with the Veto (or maybe even after the Blockbuster? Hmm.). Definitely a game changer for Zach and the HG who goes up in his place. But wait, yet again, there’s more!
Along with Zach’s 11th-hour power there’s another that’s even bigger for its impact on the game and that power belongs to Mickey. During the latest HOH comp, the black box sewer crawl, we saw Keanu and Kelley both get Veto-centric powers but the third was even more powerful. And lucky for Mickey, Jimmy wasn’t around to figure out who turned this one in.
Mickey’s power is effectively a Coup D’Etat which longtime Big Brother fans will recognize from Jeff’s season on BB11 when America voted to give him the chance to overturn the HOH and their Noms that week. Huge power. We are now looking at the return of this power in a somewhat modified, but mostly the same situation. Here’s what Big Brother revealed in Sunday’s episode:
Mickey goes to find out her power is the “HOH Interrogation.” She can dethrone the HOH and take over their reign. But the HOH gets to interrogate everyone and if they guess the HOH stealer, they get to keep their HOH. If they guess wrong, the thief becomes HOH and has to announce they are officially the new HOH.
Massive power in the right situation is an understatement. This could be something that completely shifts the game in a critical week to save multiple allies, if not also herself, and change the trajectory of the game. However, doesn’t it feel like these are often squandered? Then again, look at Matt saving Jag with his power only to go on and lose to Jag on finale night.
Anyway, the obvious catch on Mickey’s power is how the HOH can defuse her power by correctly identifying Mickey as the HG who made the power play. If the HOH identifies Mickey during the interrogation process then everything is off and the week continues as planned. So the obvious solution to increase Mickey’s odds is to just not telling anyone! No one. Well, guess what. Mickey immediately told Morgan. Now those two are together and Morgan seems pretty savvy at the game, but slip ups happen and the identity of the holder in the wrong ears is all it takes to deflate the twist.
Wow, what a set of powers in the season and we are only in the second week of the game! I’m not sure why production is throwing everything at the wall already, but it’s happening. Now luckily the two remaining powers don’t need to be played just yet and can hang around until their cutoff. Zach’s ends with Jury and I don’t recall Mickey reading a deadline on hers, but I would guess it’s the same.
Will Big Brother replenish the twist-pantry with more powers now that half have already been played in just a few short days? I wouldn’t be surprised, but for now we’ve got enough on the shelf to keep us busy.
