Big Brother 23 Week 7 recap: Bye-bye, Baby D

After Britini got the boot and became the first housguest to become part of the Big Brother 23 jury, the rest of the house hurried to a timed balance beam HOH competition, where Derek X lost to Sarah Beth by a fraction of a second, who then became the HOH and – crucial considering she was close to being the next house target – safe for the week.

With the power shifting yet again (but remaining eerily similar despite the change in HOHs), week 7 of Big Brother 12 saw fan-favorite/comp beast Derek X get evicted by a vote of 5-2 after being backdoored by Sarah Beth, who was manipulated into nominating him by Kyland.

Big Brother 12: Night moves

The night of Britni’s eviction, Sarah Beth immediately snagged HOH, and things kicked into high gear fast. Though initially Sarah Beth made it clear that she didn’t want to target Tiffany or Claire, and was debating whether she should take a swing at Alyssa/Xavier or Derek X, soon, Kyland was able to get in her ear, and guide her HOH to do the dirty work of The Cookout.

After staying up until all hours talking and convincing her who to nominate, Kyland successfully guided Sarah Beth away from her original targets and was able to convince her to nominate Claire and Derek F, with a backdoor target in mind.

Potentially complicating her nominations, though, was this week’s High Roller competition, where houseguests could pay to play in a roulette wheel. If they won the roulette, they would be safe for the week and get to pick a nominee to bring down from the block. They would then spin again, and the houseguest who the second roulette wheel picked would then go up as the replacement nominee. Though Hannah, Tiffany, and even production tried to convince Derek X to play in the roulette to potentially earn safety, he refused, wanting to bank his money for the upcoming week 8 “coin of destiny: prize.

The decision proved to be a fatal mistake for Derek X – as Alyssa won safety, removed Derek F from the block, and Xavier was nominated in his place. Though not an immediately bad outcome, Derek X’s further exposed position kept the door open for Sarah Beth to complete her backdoor plan, so long as DX or one of his allies didn’t win the veto.

Big Brother 23: The world’s unluckiest veto draw

The ball kept rolling for Sarah Beth as – luckily for her and unluckily for Derek X. Alyssa, Derek F, and Azah were the houseguests chosen to play in the veto competition: Crucially, none of Derek X or his two closest allies would be able to play and earn his safety. Instead, it was Xavier who nabbed the veto, pulling himself off the block but earning a number of punishments in the process: he lost all his BB bucks, he would be a third nominee next week, AND he submitted himself to 24-hour solitary confinement heading into the eviction vote.

With Xavier holding the veto (and guaranteed to pull himself down), Derek X and his allies made one last push to convince Sarah Beth that backdooring him wasn’t in her best interest. Unfortunately for them, Kyland still had a strong enough grip on her that their pleas fell on deaf ears. Sure enough, at the veto ceremony, Xavier pulled himself down and Derek X went up – sealing his fate next to Claire to be sitting in the nomination chairs on eviction night.

Big Brother 23: A plan in motion stays in motion

After the successful backdoor, several attempts were made to flip the vote and keep Derek X in the house – all spearheaded by Tiffany.  To her credit, it was the closest we’ve come all season to a genuine flip, but not enough people were on the same page that the numbers were there to keep DX. Azah, Tiffany, Hannah, and Kyland would’ve been all he needed to stay this week, but when things weren’t looking up, Derek X told Tiffany that she should vote with the rest of the house if he didn’t have the numbers, in order to prevent a target from being put on her back for trying to keep him.

Even though Kyland *did* pull through and vote to keep Derek X, Azah was still too scared to go against the HOH’s wishes, and with Azah not on board, Tiffany kept her word to Derek X and voted against him so as not to incriminate herself. The vote shook out to be two to keep him (Hannah and Kyland) and five to send him home (Xavier, Azah, Tiffany, Derek F, Alyssa), officially making Derek X the second houseguests to hit the jury.

After Derek X’s eviction, it was Tiffany who snagged the win in a memory Q&A competition, which likely sealed Sarah Beth’s fate – not only did she evict Tiffany’s closest ally, but she’s also been on Tiffany’s hit list since week 2. Though the crucial coin of destiny (which essentially gives the user a coup d’etat power) could shake up the game, the outcome of the coin flip depends on which houseguests have enough money in their secret envelopes (and from America) to play.

Big Brother 23: Week 7 Superlatives

Clutch Play of the Week: Derek X neglecting to play in the high roller competition secured his fate as a backdoor target.

Most Memorable Moment:  Derek X telling Julie during his exit interview that when it comes to a possible relationship with Hannah: “expect the unexpected.” Honorable mention: Xavier is slow walking to cast his eviction vote while wearing an afro.

Houseguest in the Best Spot: Hannah continues to be in a great position, with her closest remaining ally Tiffany as the new HOH.