SPOILER WARNING: If you do not want to know who won the latest Power of Veto on Big Brother 28, stop reading now. We waited about as long as we possibly could for this result, and apparently the houseguests decided to make us wait even longer. This marathon veto turned into one of the longest and most important competitions of the season.
Seriously, what was this competition?
After Yash won HOH and nominated Drew, Barrett and Melody, we knew Saturday’s Power of Veto could completely change the week. What we did not know was that the competition would turn into an endurance marathon stretching well into Sunday morning. So yes, we waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Eventually, after more than 12 hours of competition, Drew walked away with the Power of Veto and guaranteed himself a spot in the Final 6. Poor Drew lives! And honestly? Good for him.
The marathon veto becomes a ridiculously long battle
The competition started Saturday afternoon, and one by one the players began dropping. Dee was the first one eliminated at approximately 6:04 p.m. BBT. Melody followed at 7:31 p.m. Devens lasted until 9:29 p.m.
Then things got ridiculous. Barrett, Drew and Yash continued battling for hours. Barrett finally dropped at approximately 2:20 Sunday morning, leaving Drew and Yash as the final two.
At approximately 2:48 a.m. BBT, it was finally over. Drew had won the Power of Veto.
The finish to the marathon veto came with another interesting development. According to post-competition feed discussion, Yash intentionally dropped after making a deal with Drew. The reported agreement included protection for Yash and conditions involving Taylor, although the exact details have been discussed somewhat differently among feed watchers.
Either way, the result that matters is not complicated. Drew won. And the guy who entered the competition as Yash’s primary target is now taking himself off the block. That is Big Brother.
Good for Drew because he earned this marathon veto
We have given Drew plenty of grief this season, so we’re going to give him credit when he deserves it. Good for Drew.
His social game has been all over the place. He has tried to play practically every side of the house, and he has not exactly done it quietly or particularly well. People on both sides have questioned him. People on both sides have compared notes about him. At times it has seemed like everybody knows Drew is playing everybody else.
And yet… He’s still there. There is something to be said for that.
Drew has made deals when he needed to make deals. He has talked himself through situations that looked terrible. And when talking was no longer enough Saturday night, he stayed in that marathon veto for more than 12 hours and won when he absolutely had to.
That’s not floating. That’s surviving.
We said after nominations that we hoped the kid could find a way out of this mess. Yes, he’s in his twenties and we’re still calling him a kid. Deal with it. Well, he found his way out.
Drew was Yash’s target heading into the week. Now Drew has the Veto around his neck and a guaranteed place in the Final 6. You have to give him that one.
Barrett… Barrett… Barrett
And then there is Barrett.
Barrett. Barrett. Barrett.
What happened, buddy? One week ago, Barrett was sitting in the HOH room with all the power. He nominated all three Icons, talked a big game and finally accomplished what the Newbies had been trying to do for weeks. Now he is sitting on the block without the Power of Veto.
That humble pie we talked about? Somebody might want to warm it up.
To be completely fair, Barrett deserves enormous credit for his performance in the marathon veto. He reportedly lasted until approximately 2:20 in the morning, only about half an hour before the entire thing finally ended. The guy fought. We can criticize his game and still respect that performance. Those two things can be true at the same time.
But his current position also demonstrates something that players sometimes forget in the Big Brother house. Playing hard is necessary. Being tough-minded is necessary. Making moves that upset people is sometimes necessary.
Being mean? No.
There is a difference between playing an aggressive game and behaving like the HOH room suddenly comes with a crown. Power in the Big Brother house is temporary. Eventually Thursday arrives, somebody else wins HOH, and suddenly all the people who had to listen to you when you were in power do not have to anymore.
Barrett is learning that lesson very quickly.
Barrett’s HOH may have been one of the season’s biggest miscalculations
We have already discussed what went wrong with Barrett’s HOH, but looking at the house now makes the result even harder to defend.
His original nominations were not the problem. Putting Angela, Dee and Devens on the block was bold. It guaranteed that an Icon would leave the game.
The problem was what happened next. Devens won the BB Blockbuster and saved himself. That left Angela and Dee vulnerable. And somehow the person who went home was Angela.
The weakest competition threat of the three.
Barrett broke up the Icons, sure. He did not break their power. That distinction looks enormous now.
Angela is sitting in jury while Dee and Devens are sitting pretty for another week. And Barrett? He’s on the block.
Honestly, we have watched some questionable gameplay this season, but Barrett’s HOH may end up being one of the worst HOH outcomes of the entire season.
He got an Icon out. Technically, mission accomplished. But he lost the Icon who posed the smallest competition threat while leaving Dee and Devens in the house. Then he lost power, immediately went on the block and now failed to win the marathon veto despite fighting for it almost the entire night.
That is a brutal return on an HOH.
Dee and Devens must be loving the marathon veto fallout
Can we go back to Thursday for a second? Seriously. How did these people not evict Dee?
We are going to keep asking because every day makes that decision look stranger.
Even Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves called the decision by Yash and Taylor to keep Dee over Angela “not smart” in her interview with Entertainment Weekly.
And look at what has happened since. Angela went to jury. Yash won HOH. Drew, Barrett and Melody went on the block. Now Drew has won Veto.
Meanwhile, Dee and Devens are still sitting there.
The surviving Icons have basically been handed a front-row seat to the Newbies destroying each other. You could not ask for a better situation if you’re Dee or Devens.
Melody keeps surviving without winning anything
Then we have Melody.
We have to give her credit for one thing. This woman has somehow made it this far without winning anything. That is impressive in its own strange way. Her social game has kept her alive. She has built relationships, particularly with Drew, and managed to avoid becoming the person everyone absolutely had to remove. But eventually you have to win something, right? Saturday’s marathon veto would have been a really good time.
Melody dropped out of the Veto competition at approximately 7:31 p.m. BBT, hours before Barrett, Drew and Yash finally finished.
So here we are again. No HOH. No Veto. Still here. At some point we might have to stop calling it luck and acknowledge that floating around while everybody else shoots at one another has actually worked. That does not mean we think it is a winning game.
But she’s still in the house. You cannot argue with that part.
Drew went from the target to the Final 6
The biggest winner of the night is obviously Drew.
Before the competition, he needed the Veto more than anybody else. Yash had been targeting him. Drew knew his relationships were becoming exposed. His attempts to play the middle had finally started catching up with him.
Then he did exactly what a player has to do when all the social maneuvering stops working. He won.
And he did it after more than 12 hours.
Whatever happens next, Drew earned his safety this week. There is also something wonderfully Big Brother about Yash entering the marathon veto wanting Drew gone and ultimately making a deal that helped Drew secure the Veto.
You cannot make this stuff up.
Barrett may finally be heading home
Which brings us back to Barrett.
If Barrett is evicted Thursday, we are not going to pretend he was simply unlucky. He earned this position.
Not because he nominated the Icons. We still think that was the right initial move. It was everything that followed.
The miscalculation over which Icon was actually the most dangerous. The way he handled having power. The relationships that were damaged. The assumption that he would be able to deal with the consequences later.
Well, later has arrived. And later brought a nomination chair.
Barrett fought incredibly hard for the Veto, and we genuinely respect that. But Big Brother does not grade on effort.
If he leaves Thursday, his story will be a pretty spectacular reminder that winning HOH does not make you king of the house. It makes you king for one week.
Then somebody else gets the crown. And sometimes they put you on the block.
The marathon veto leaves the Newbies doing the Icons’ work for them
That may be the funniest part of all of this.
For weeks, the Newbies wanted to break up the Icons. They finally did it. Then they immediately went back to targeting each other.
Drew is now safe. Barrett and Melody remain in danger. A replacement nominee will have to be named when Drew uses the Veto, and the week could still shift again before Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dee and Devens remain in the house. Still dangerous. Still connected. Still watching.
The Newbies broke up the trio. They did not eliminate the power.
And if one of the remaining Icons ends up sitting in the Final 2 after all of this, there are going to be several people in the jury house wondering why on Earth they kept Dee over Angela.
For now, though, give Drew his moment. More than 12 hours. His game on the line. His back against the wall. And when he absolutely had to win, he did. Poor Drew isn’t so poor this morning.
Barrett? Buddy, that pie is still waiting.
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