Big Brother recap: Christian gets backdoored as The Cookout boils over

At long last, the heat is finally turning up in the Big Brother house – and just in time for jury. For the first four weeks of Big Brother 23, the boot order was relatively hassle-free: Over the course of each week, a new target for the upcoming week would seem to miraculously emerge for the house to unanimously agree to send packing – usually by Sunday, the results of next Thursday’s vote would already have been established.

Week five, though, finally saw the house begin to sweat and put in work in several attempts to flip the vote – but ultimately, the initial target still went home. After experiencing the first true backdoor of the season, comp beast Christian was sent packing by a 7-2 eviction vote.

Big Brother 23: Derek X demolishes the endurance comp

Hot on the heels of Whitney’s eviction last Thursday, the houseguests then immediately headed out to the backyard to take on the notorious wall endurance competition, a Big Brother staple and a fan-favorite that puts the houseguests’ physical aptitude and psychological strength to the test. As time ticked on, the houseguests slowly began to drop (some more unceremoniously than others) but when the wall got down to the wire, it was Xavier, Alyssa, and Derek X left standing.

Xavier, after securing his safety with Derek X by way of a verbal deal, jumped off the wall, and Alyssa followed suit after also being promised safety by DX – and just like that, a new HOH was crowned. Even seconds after he won the wall comp, though, Derek X was already hitting a road bump. He and his closest allies (namely Hannah and Tiffany) had discussed that if Derek X were to win, Christian would be the perfect target for a backdoor – given that he was unable to win safety because of his outgoing HOH status.

Having nabbed the wall comp victory, the path seemed relatively clear for DX to take a shot at Christian post-veto, but Xavier seemed to have other plans. Moments after DX won HOH, Xavier pulled him aside and attempt to confirm that the deal they’d struck on the wall included all of the former Kings – meaning both Christian and Sarah Beth wouldn’t see the block. Derek, of course, didn’t confirm the deal, and heading into nominations, put his plan into motion to blindside the season’s biggest physical threat.

Big Brother 23: Pawns go up – but they don’t go home

With teams over and the Wildcard Competition no longer in play, the only thing on the agenda for Derek X pre-veto was to decide on nominations. After holding one-on-ones with the houseguests (where Azah confirmed that, unlike weeks prior where she volunteered to go on the block in place of Britini, she wouldn’t want to go up as a pawn), Derek X decided to put the first pieces of the backdoor plan in motion by nominating two pawns: Former King Sarah Beth, and former Joker Britini.

Though initially there were some waterworks from Britini and Sarah Beth was none to happy about being put up, the biggest reaction from the house was the remaining Kings – Christian, Alyssa, and Xavier – who were shocked to see a member of the Kings/Queens/DX alliance “The Royal Flush” hit the block on Derek’s HOH. They confronted him about his decision to nominate an alliance member, and Derek X assured them that Sarah Beth was not the target – Britni was – and that Sarah Beth’s nomination was merely to ruffle the least feathers and keep up appearances.

In reality, though, this was a total lie that all of the Kings bought – Derek’s target wasn’t Britini or Sarah Beth, but Christian. Seeing as though Christian would almost undoubtedly win veto, had he been nominated, though, Derek instead opted to decrease the chances of Christian winning safety by not nominating him at the beginning of the week.

Big Brother 23: An 80s workout Veto doles out prizes – and punishments

The Big Brother 23 week five veto competition was the season’s most important yet: the veto draw saw Alyssa, Claire, and Kyland chosen to play, but crucially, not Christian – thus moving Derek X’s plan one step closer into becoming reality. The houseguests headed out to the backyard to participate in an 80s workout-inspired veto where each competitor knocked out would get to chose a prize and decide to keep or swap what they got.

Eliminated first, Claire ended up with a unitard and 52-card pickup punishment. Sarah Beth was then knocked out, but then, instead of stealing the veto from then-holder Claire, she opted to take $5000 cash instead, a move which garnered the anger of a number of her fellow houseguests. Kyland was knocked out next and received a donkey unitard and club sandwich-making task, and Derek X was the next to leave.

Knowing the veto would be taken from him, and understanding that he wouldn’t want to take a punishment, Derek X initially went to take the 5k from Sarah Beth – but she begged him not to, so he conceded. This further helped garner anger at Sarah Beth from the rest of the house when she laughed about the situation later, and Derek X was saddled with a punishment where he had to accompany anyone who wanted to go to the bathroom and announce them publicly for 24 hours.

Getting down to the wire, Alyssa was knocked out next, and won a phone call from home and a new phone/laptop. That left Britini winning the power of veto – securing her safety, and giving Derek X the green light to backdoor Christian.

Big Brother 23: Post-Veto pandemonium

After crumbling under the guilt last-minute and cluing Alyssa in that her showmance was about to get backdoored, Derek X successfully put Christian on the block after Britini used the veto to pull herself down. Backdoor completed without a hitch, everything seemed peachy-keen to send the comp beast packing – but Tiffany and Xavier had other plans.

Heading into the veto ceremony, the votes fell as follows: Xavier and Alyssa for Christian to stay, Hannah and Kyland for Sarah Beth to stay, Tiffany and Claire agreeing to evict Christian as long as they had the numbers, and the former jokers remaining relatively undecided.

After Christian was backdoored, the Jokers agreed to be the votes to help send him home – thanks to some work Derek X put in with making Britini feel like she was part of the plan – and the vote was tentatively sitting at 7-2. On Wednesday night, though, Tiffany came up with a last-minute plan to flip the vote and send Sarah Beth (her number one target and enemy in the house) packing by convincing Britini to flip and then pinning the flip on Britini heading into the following week.

Christian agreed to go and get Britini so they could talk her into flipping, but when Azah and Derek F saw that Christian was pulling Britini for a conversation, they sussed out that Tiffany might be attempting to strong-arm her, and accompanied Britini to the HOH room.

With Azah and Derek F standing in the way of Tiffany being able to talk Britini into flipping, Xavier and Tiffany’s last-minute flip plan fell through, but the repercussions didn’t end there. Azah and Derek F (who were both already upset that Tiffany was trying to force them to tell Christian they weren’t voting to keep him) were upset by Tiffany’s attempt to coerce Britini, and Derek F in particular got heated about Tiffany’s manipulative, assertive gameplay style.

Tiffany in turn was frustrated that Derek F and Azah accompanied Britini to the Christian/Xavier/Tiffany conversation – foiling the flip plan – causing a dual-sided crack to form in the Cookout alliance. On top of Tiffany and Kyland’s brewing rivalry, and Xavier and Kyland’s semi-distrust over each other, Azah and Derek F’s grievances with Tiffany added to the now laundry list of reasons why the cookout seems close to reaching a boiling point – it wouldn’t be a surprise if things finally hit the fan in the coming weeks.

Big Brother 23: Comp beast Christian says goodbye

In spite of Tiffany and Xavier’s last minute attempt at a flip and the ensuing drama, come eviction night, the Jokers stuck to their guns, and Claire and Tiffany resolved not to break rank: voting with the house, and sending Christian packing in a 7-2 vote – his two votes to stay being former teammate Xavier and showmance Alyssa. That wasn’t the end of the night though, Julie revealed that America would be able to vote for players to receive BB Bucks (in-game currency) to spend at a special High Roller Room, which could contain a number of risky games to help potentially win powers.

The reveal of the High Roller Room ended the evening, but on the live feeds, Kyland took power after winning the head-to-head knockout style HOH competition when he attempted to throw to Tiffany, who was unable to answer correctly. With her closest ally now HOH, public enemy number #1 Sarah Beth is safe from the threat of the block – and it looks like Tiffany’s right hand woman Claire could be in danger.

Regardless of who goes this week, though, they won’t be watching the rest of the season from the comfort of their own homes – the remaining houseguests have officially made jury, and will vote on finale night for who wins the $750,000 prize.

Big Brother 23: Week 5 Superlatives

Clutch Play of the Week: Britini winning veto – which not only secured her safety, but allowed for Derek X to backdoor Christian.

 Most Memorable Moment:  Sarah Beth’s psychotic pre-veto song: “row row row your boat gently down the stream, win the veto, earn your safety, and betray your team.”

Houseguest in the Best Spot: Hannah is now in nearly everyone’s good graces after making up with Sarah Beth – she’s a member of the Cookout and the Royal Flush, and is likely in a position to win a power from America.