Spoiler warning: These Big Brother 28 spoilers include the latest Week 8 vote plans, Thursday’s BB Block Buster possibilities, strategy from the Big Brother 28 live feeds and how the Risky Pawn Gamble could change the week.
Okay, Big Brother 28, our Risky Pawn Gamble story has somehow gotten even messier. We already questioned Devens’ decision to volunteer as Drew’s replacement nominee, and Wednesday’s Big Brother 28 live feeds gave us even more reason to wonder what he was thinking. Dee and Angela are now discussing whether Devens should leave if he loses Thursday’s competition, Barrett remains prepared to vote him out, and the numbers around one of the biggest players in the house are beginning to look considerably less friendly. Somehow Devens still appears relatively comfortable with his position. He told Drew he felt good about their side and talked about continuing to win HOHs before the numbers eventually flipped. Rick, my man, we think they may have already flipped.
Risky Pawn Gamble could become one of the season’s biggest blunders
We’ve been saying this for days, so there’s really no reason to stop now. Devens did this to himself. Before this week, he had spent practically the entire season protected. He was the last remaining houseguest who had never been nominated, was generally well liked and had positioned himself as one of the biggest threats to actually win Big Brother 28. Then he repeatedly offered himself as a pawn. If Drew was eventually going to put Devens up anyway, make him do it. Make the HOH make the uncomfortable decision. Make him burn the relationship. Make him choose between Melody, Dee, Barrett and anybody else whose name was being considered. Don’t hand him your name and save him the trouble, especially when you’re one of the strongest players left in the game.
That’s why this Risky Pawn Gamble remains so difficult to understand. Devens had safety, relationships and a powerful position in the house, and he voluntarily gave everyone an opportunity they hadn’t been able to create themselves. If he wins the Big Brother 28 BB Block Buster Thursday, all of this disappears. If he doesn’t, we think he’s in very serious trouble.
Risky Pawn Gamble makes the Big Brother 28 eviction vote look brutal
Wednesday made the danger even clearer. Angela and Dee discussed wanting Devens gone if he remains vulnerable after the competition, with Angela willing to cast the vote and the two talking through how the move could be explained afterward. That’s on top of Barrett’s plan to vote Devens out and the other players who appear increasingly willing to take advantage of the opportunity.
That’s what makes the potential Big Brother 28 eviction so fascinating. Devens volunteered because he believed he understood his numbers, but numbers in Big Brother aren’t money sitting safely in a bank. They’re people trapped in a house who reconsider their plans approximately every 17 minutes. One day you have the votes. The next day the people you counted are discussing which goodbye message they’re going to record. And this isn’t just somebody floating a wild idea in the backyard anymore. There is a legitimate path to Devens leaving if he fails to save himself Thursday. The Risky Pawn Gamble has gone from questionable strategy to a move that could actually end his game.
Risky Pawn Gamble could trigger a Big Brother 28 vote flip
Here’s where our opinion may be a little different. Look, we get it. Big Brother is cutthroat. Eventually alliances crack, friends betray friends and somebody has to eliminate the strongest players if they want to win $750,000. Taking a shot at Devens makes perfect sense for several people in this house.
But Dee? That’s where we’re struggling.
If Dee actively helps send Devens to jury, we think she could be creating the second biggest blunder of the season, right behind Devens volunteering himself onto the block in the first place. Yes, Devens is dangerous. Yes, his social game is strong. Yes, he could be incredibly difficult to beat if he reaches the end. But he’s also dangerous in a way that benefits Dee right now.
Devens protects Dee.
Not just with a vote. Not just because they’re allies. He protects her because his own game gives everybody else something enormous to look at before they look at hers. Earlier this season, he literally used his Diamond Power of Veto to remove Dee from the block. Beyond that power, he has a strong social game, relationships throughout the house and one of the largest threat levels remaining.
We also think Devens would have protected Dee very deep into this game, possibly until the Final Three or even the Final Two. Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe he eventually would have recognized that sitting beside a Survivor 45 winner wasn’t exactly ideal. But from everything we’ve seen, Dee has been one of the people Devens trusts most. That makes this possible Big Brother 28 vote flip a much more complicated decision for her than it is for Barrett, Melody or Yash.
Big Brother 28 spoilers: Dee may not realize how much Devens protects her
Take Devens away and ask a very simple question. Who suddenly looks like one of the biggest threats left in Big Brother 28?
Hello, Dee.
She won Survivor 45. She’s already won two HOHs in this house. Everybody knows she understands social strategy, and nobody needs binoculars to see that she can win competitions. Right now, Devens stands in front of her as another enormous target. If he leaves, that shield disappears.
That’s why we’re not automatically buying the argument that eliminating Devens is a great résumé move for Dee. Sure, if she reaches the Final Two and can say she recognized the moment to remove one of the biggest threats in the game, that’s something she can absolutely sell to the jury. But there is one rather important requirement for giving that speech. You have to actually make the Final Two.
A huge move isn’t automatically a great move because everybody gasps when you make it. Timing matters. Positioning matters. What happens next matters. If Dee helps remove Devens, becomes the obvious major veteran threat remaining and finds herself nominated shortly afterward, that shiny résumé move isn’t going to look nearly as impressive from the jury house.
Angela isn’t replacing Devens as Dee’s shield
Then there is Angela. To be fair, she has won a competition, so we’re not taking that away from her. She won a BB Block Buster and earned her safety when she needed it, and simply surviving this long in Big Brother 28 deserves some credit.
But if we’re Dee, we aren’t looking at Angela and thinking, “Perfect, there’s the enormous strategic and social shield who replaces Devens.” Come on. Angela simply isn’t viewed the same way. She isn’t carrying Devens’ combination of strategic influence, social connections and overall threat level.
If Devens disappears, Dee’s protection gets thinner very quickly, which makes this Risky Pawn Gamble important for more than just Devens. Maybe Dee sees a path we’re missing. She’s an excellent player and has already won one reality competition, so dismissing her instincts would be foolish. But from where we’re sitting, there is a major difference between eliminating a dangerous player and eliminating a dangerous player who is also protecting you.
Big Brother 28 live feeds: Barrett and Melody keep surviving the chaos
And yes, we’re returning to Barrett and Melody because apparently this is becoming a weekly tradition. Yep. Yep.
First, credit where credit is due. They’re safe, they’ve reached jury, and they’re now involved in strategic conversations that could determine one of the biggest Big Brother 28 eviction votes of the season. Barrett in particular deserves real credit if he follows through on his desire to remove Devens because he has specifically recognized that helping the veterans reach the end isn’t necessarily good for his own game. That’s Big Brother 28 voting strategy, and that’s gameplay.
But our running joke remains alive and well. Between Barrett and Melody, there are still zero HOH wins, zero Power of Veto wins and zero BB Block Buster wins. Zero traditional power competition victories between them, yet here they are watching players with much larger competition résumés tear one another apart while they help decide who should go home next.
You know what? All power to them. If everybody else wants to form giant alliances, volunteer for the block, betray their shields and generally light their own games on fire while Barrett and Melody sit nearby comparing notes, why should they stop them? Sometimes Big Brother isn’t about winning power. Sometimes it’s about watching everybody else misuse theirs.
The Big Brother 28 BB Block Buster can still change everything
Of course, all this strategy depends on one enormous thing. Devens, LaLa and Taylor still have to compete in Thursday’s Big Brother 28 BB Block Buster, and one of them will win safety before the other two face the vote.
Once again, we’re not treating a Devens victory as automatic. LaLa has already proven she can win competitions, including one of the hardest endurance competitions Big Brother throws at its players. Taylor has a Veto win of her own. Both know exactly what is at stake, and both have every reason to fight like their games depend on it because they do.
If Devens wins, the entire Big Brother 28 eviction picture changes and the house has another decision to make. If he loses, this Risky Pawn Gamble could become one of those moves future players watch while screaming at their television. Never volunteer for the block. Seriously. How many seasons do we need before everybody writes that down?
The Big Brother 28 live feeds show just how fast everything changed
The funniest part of this Risky Pawn Gamble may be that Devens still appears to believe in his relationships. While he was talking with Drew about feeling good about their side and winning future HOHs, other people in the house were discussing the possibility of sending him out.
You couldn’t script that much better. The guy volunteered because he trusted his numbers, and now some of those same numbers may become the reason he walks into the jury house. That’s also why the Big Brother 28 live feeds remain so valuable. Wednesday’s television episode could show us Devens becoming the replacement nominee and understanding there was some risk involved, but the feeds show what happens after everybody has time to stare at the nomination board and realize exactly what opportunity has fallen into their laps. And boy, have they noticed.
Risky Pawn Gamble could leave two players asking what went wrong
So this is where we stand heading toward Thursday. If Devens loses the BB Block Buster and gets evicted, his decision to volunteer deserves to be remembered as one of the biggest self inflicted mistakes of Big Brother 28. He had safety, relationships and a strong social position, and he voluntarily placed all of it in the hands of people who now have the chance to remove one of the biggest threats in the game.
Rick, my man.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
But if Dee helps make that Big Brother 28 vote flip happen and then discovers she just eliminated one of the strongest shields protecting her, we may have our runner up blunder. Taking out Devens could make her résumé stronger while making her actual path to the end considerably harder.
Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe Dee cuts him, takes control of the house and makes us eat every word of this. If she does, we’ll happily give her credit. But if Devens leaves Thursday and Dee suddenly finds everybody looking directly at her?
Well, Rick already knows the question.
Dee, what were YOU thinking?
Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS, with episodes also available to stream on Paramount+.
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