SPOILER WARNING: If you do not want to know what happened after Thursday’s eviction, who won HOH or who is sitting on the block, stop reading now. We are getting into all of it. Friendly Fire has officially arrived in the Big Brother 28 house, and it did not take long for the Newbies to start turning on each other again.
Less than 24 hours after the Newbies finally managed to send one of the Icons to jury, they have officially started putting each other on the block. Yash followed his HOH victory by nominating Drew, Barrett and Melody, turning what had once looked like a Newbies versus Icons war into something much messier. The three players who entered Thursday night hoping to keep Angela are now the three players sitting in danger, while Dee and Devens remain safely in the house. And we are going to say it again. How useless was that Angela eviction? Because apparently we are not the only ones asking.
Julie Chen Moonves thinks keeping Dee was “not smart”
We spent plenty of time yesterday questioning the decision by Yash and Taylor to evict Angela instead of Dee. Now Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves has weighed in, and she was considerably less diplomatic.
Entertainment Weekly directly asked Julie what she thought about Yash and Taylor leaving a major threat like Dee in the game while eliminating Angela. Her answer? “Not smart.” Thank you, Julie.
And yes, we have the receipt. Julie made the comments in her weekly interview with Entertainment Weekly, where she questioned both Yash and Taylor’s decision and essentially wondered what they were thinking.
Read Julie Chen Moonves’ full interview at Entertainment Weekly
This is exactly what we were talking about yesterday. Angela was sitting there without an HOH or Veto victory this season. Dee, meanwhile, had demonstrated over and over that she could manipulate relationships, change direction when necessary and convince people to make moves that benefited her. And what did Yash and Taylor do? They kept Dee.
Even better, Julie currently thinks Dee may be in the best position of anybody in the Final 7. She specifically pointed to Devens’ loyalty to Dee while suggesting Dee is enough of a gamer that she could cut Devens if necessary. Sound familiar? Come on, somebody wake Devens up.
We said almost exactly that yesterday. Devens continues showing loyalty to Dee without necessarily understanding how flexible Dee’s loyalty can become when her game requires it.
Angela may have been exactly the person you wanted to keep
This is why we still cannot understand the decision. The goal of Big Brother is not simply to eliminate somebody because you can. The goal is to eliminate the people most likely to stop you from reaching the end.
Angela had become dangerous socially because she was an Icon and had relationships throughout the house. But compared with Dee and Devens, she was not exactly terrifying anybody with her competition résumé.
Dee practically told Yash and Taylor how useful she could be to them during her eviction pitch. She offered herself as a weapon against Barrett, Drew and Melody. And they bought it.
Dee basically said, “Keep me because I can help you fight your enemies,” and instead of thinking, “Wait, maybe the woman capable of doing that is somebody we should evict,” they kept her. Entertainment Weekly’s eviction recap confirms Dee made that exact strategic pitch before Yash and Taylor joined Devens in evicting Angela 3-2.
Now Dee is still there. Devens is still there. And the Newbies are targeting Newbies. Brilliant. The Friendly Fire has begun, and the BB28 Newbies turning on each other may become one of the biggest stories of the week.
Friendly Fire begins as the Newbies last approximately five minutes
Remember the ceasefire? That adorable idea that the Newbies might temporarily stop targeting one another so they could deal with the Icons? Yeah. About that.
Overnight after Yash’s HOH win, Drew, Barrett and Melody were already doing the math and realizing one of them was probably leaving. Drew told the group that one of them was going home, while Barrett narrowed the danger down to himself or Drew. Melody believed Yash wanted Drew out.
There was also new information circulating that made Drew’s position considerably worse. Taylor told Melody that Drew had allegedly tried to turn the Icons against Melody almost immediately after the Newbies made their ceasefire. That allegation needs a little caution because the available feed reconstruction identifies it as secondhand information from Angela rather than something independently established from the feeds that night. But strategically, the important part is that Taylor and Melody were discussing it as information that could further damage Drew’s standing.
In other words, whatever trust remained among these Newbies was hanging by dental floss. The Newbies alliance is fracturing, and the Friendly Fire is no longer theoretical.
Poor Drew as the Newbies turn on each other
We have criticized Drew’s game plenty this season. He has played the middle. He has tried to maintain relationships everywhere. He has occasionally looked like he was trying to keep six doors open while everybody else was busy slamming them shut.
But we like Drew. He’s a nice kid. Yes, he’s in his twenties. We can still call him a kid. And we genuinely hope he can somehow survive this week because there is something entertaining about watching Drew constantly attempt to wiggle his way through situations that look impossible.
He certainly tried after Yash won HOH. Drew pitched the idea of a Final 6 consisting of three pairs: himself and Melody, Dee and Devens, and Yash and Taylor. He also reminded Yash about their Final 2, claiming it went all the way back to Day 1. Yash laughed and corrected him. Day 28. Poor Drew.
Still, we cannot blame Drew for pitching. When you know your backside is about to hit the nomination chair, you throw everything at the wall. Maybe something sticks.
Yash wins HOH as Friendly Fire takes over
We also have to revisit something about Yash because it gets funnier the longer this goes. Yash has been frustrated with Drew for playing with the Icons. Fine. Except Yash and Taylor just voted with Devens to keep Dee.
Yash and Taylor are now exploring a path forward that involves Dee and Devens. And Yash is using his HOH to target Drew, Barrett and Melody while the two remaining Icons watch the Newbies fire at each other. Oh, Yash. You are so lucky.
Again, if working with Dee and Devens is best for Yash’s game, he should absolutely do it. That is Big Brother. Betray people. Make deals. Break deals. Work with yesterday’s enemy if that person can help you tomorrow.
Our problem is criticizing Drew for playing both sides and then effectively doing your own version of it. Apparently working with the Icons is bad when Drew does it. When Yash does it, that’s strategy. Got it.
And this is exactly why the Friendly Fire is so entertaining. The Newbies spent weeks complaining about other people playing multiple sides, only to reach the point where almost everybody is trying to figure out which side will keep them safe.
The BB Bribe makes the BB28 nominations even messier
Then there is that BB Bribe. This is where we need to be careful because the houseguests themselves have offered different descriptions of exactly what the arrangement requires.
Earlier feed conversations showed conflicting versions of the deal. Dee described the bribe as protecting the Icons, while Yash at other points tried to narrow or obscure what he had agreed to. The result has been confusion among players about exactly how much freedom Yash actually has.
That confusion continued Friday. When Barrett asked why Yash could not simply nominate Devens, Yash told him that he had given Devens a gentleman’s agreement and shaken on it. Feed reporting noted that Yash continued using that explanation rather than fully laying out the bribe situation.
Whatever explanation everybody believes, the practical result today is pretty simple. Dee and Devens are not sitting on the block. Drew, Barrett and Melody are. Those BB28 nominations turned the Newbies’ internal problems into an official war, and Friendly Fire now controls the week.
Friendly Fire leaves Barrett eating humble pie
And now we arrive at Barrett. Barrett, buddy… It might be time for you to go home.
We gave him credit yesterday and we will give it again. His decision to nominate all three Icons was bold. It guaranteed one would leave, which was something the Newbies had failed to accomplish for weeks. But look at the aftermath.
Barrett’s HOH ended with Angela leaving instead of Dee or Devens. He spent political capital, exposed relationships and managed his HOH in a way that left people irritated with him. Then he lost power. Hours later, Yash won HOH. Now Barrett is on the block.
Remember when we said all that confidence might come back to haunt him? The humble pie has officially been served. And Barrett may need a very large fork.
This is the part of Big Brother that players sometimes forget when they finally get power. HOH feels wonderful until Thursday night arrives and somebody else gets the bedroom. Suddenly all those people you annoyed get a vote. Suddenly all those jokes do not seem quite as funny. Suddenly you’re staring at your face on the nomination wall.
Melody is right there with him
Melody is also nominated, which means her impressive run without winning competitions is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. And interestingly enough, Julie Chen Moonves gave Melody more strategic credit than we have lately.
When Entertainment Weekly asked Julie about the bizarre Melody and Drew relationship, Julie argued that Melody understands her strengths and weaknesses. She has not been able to win competitions, but she has been able to earn Drew’s loyalty and support, and Julie views that as Melody playing the game.
Fair enough. We’ll give Melody that one. Social strategy is strategy. But eventually, especially this deep into Big Brother, it really helps if you can win something. And now would be a spectacular time to start.
Meanwhile, Dee somehow keeps winning
This is the part that should terrify everybody. Dee was sitting on the block Thursday night. She survived by one vote. Less than 24 hours later, three Newbies are nominated while she sits safely on the sidelines. That is an incredible turnaround.
And regardless of whether you like Dee’s game, dislike her game or think it has become sloppy at times, you have to give her credit for surviving. She convinced Yash and Taylor that keeping her was better for their games than keeping Angela.
Now Yash is HOH. And instead of Dee being the target, Yash’s nominees are Drew, Barrett and Melody. Julie thinks Dee may currently be the best-positioned player in the entire house. Maybe everybody should listen.
Because while the Newbies argue about which Newbie betrayed which other Newbie, Dee is still there. Friendly Fire could not have worked out much better for the surviving Icons.
The BB28 Newbies really may have blown it
This is what makes the entire situation so funny. The Newbies finally got their shot. Barrett put all three Icons on the block. They could have lost Dee. They could have lost Devens. Instead, Devens saved himself and Yash and Taylor helped Dee survive against Angela.
Now Angela is sitting in jury while Dee and Devens watch three Newbies sit on the block. You could not design a better outcome for the surviving Icons.
The Newbies spent weeks complaining about the Icons controlling the game, finally got enough power to break them apart and then immediately started cannibalizing themselves. This BB28 Newbies implode storyline is exactly the kind of Friendly Fire they could not afford this late in the game.
And Dee, the woman Julie Chen Moonves now calls the player in perhaps the best position, survived the one vote where they could have gotten rid of her. Come on, brah.
Friendly Fire makes the Power of Veto even more important
For Drew, Barrett and Melody, the path forward is obvious. Win. At this stage of the game, campaigning can only accomplish so much. The Veto could completely reshape Yash’s plans, force another nomination and potentially give somebody who currently looks doomed a second life.
Drew in particular needs it. We have poked fun at his game. We’ve questioned his middle strategy. We’ve wondered how many different groups one man can simultaneously convince that he’s with them. But poor Drew. We want the kid to hang around a little longer.
Barrett? We’re a little less sentimental. After everything that happened during his HOH, watching Barrett go immediately from the penthouse to the block is almost too perfect. We warned you about the humble pie. Now eat up.
And somewhere in all of this, Dee and Devens must be looking around wondering how they went from sitting together on the block Thursday to watching the Newbies try to evict each other Friday.
That is Big Brother. Friendly Fire has completely changed the game, and for the first time in a while, this house is an absolute mess. We love it.
Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS, with episodes also available to stream on Paramount+.
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