Big Brother 23 Week 9 recap: The Cookout makes history

For the first time in 23 seasons of the main series, Big Brother is guaranteed to have a Black winner, and it’s all thanks to the alliance known as “The Cookout”, who made history this week by becoming the first alliance to reach the end with their membership entirely intact.

Claire and Xavier were sitting on the block heading into the first double eviction of Big Brother 23, and after Tiffany lost her closest remaining ally, the only chance of a non-Cookout winner would’ve been Alyssa snagging the crucial double eviction Head of Household win. It was Hannah, though, who nabbed the victory in a memory comp, and though she tossed around the idea of taking a shot at Xavier, Alyssa’s fate was sealed when he won veto and the Cookout’s victory secured.

Big Brother 23: And then there were two

After not even a Coin of Destiny could shake the target of Sarah Beth’s back, The Cookout’s path to victory became one step clearer – only Claire and Alyssa remained in the house to be picked off unless one of them won a crucial HOH comp. As host Julie Chen Moonves mentioned on the live show, Claire was forced to throw the HOH in return for winning the Coin of Destiny and being the secret HOH, so an Alyssa win was the only path for a Cookout member to leave this week and Claire and Alyssa’s unknowing last hope make it to final six.

It was Tiffany, though, who claimed victory in the second endurance HOH of the season (the dizzying spinning discs comp, a BB classic) and nabbed power once again. Tiffany’s win, though technically interrupted by Claire’s coin of destiny victory, marked the first time a houseguest has won HOH back-to-back. But this week, Tiffany’s nominations weren’t nearly as easy: She was finally forced to break the news to Claire that she was cutting her.

Big Brother 23: The Kings sit in nomination chairs – but a Queen gets the boot

Not wanting to be forced to nominate Claire unless it was her only other option, Tiffany nominated Xavier and Alyssa for eviction – Xavier because she knew he would have the votes to stay, and Alyssa because she’s his partner and closest ally. The nominations were made in the hope that Tiffany or someone who wasn’t one of the nominees could secure a veto win to keep the noms the same, but in a tiny veto competition (a repeat of BB22’s ‘microbrews’ comp), Alyssa pulled out a crucial victory, putting Tiffany in the painful spot of telling Claire she was going up and going home.

In a tearful one-on-one, Tiffany broke the news to Claire that she was going up as the backdoor re-nom, explaining that she and the other Black houseguests were playing for a purpose higher than a single player’s victory and that this had been the secret plan all along. Though she was understandably crushed by the revelation that her closest ally would be the one sending her home, Claire seems to hold no resentment towards Tiffany and made it clear (both in the DR and in her eviction interview with Julie) that she understands the significance of The Cookout.

On eviction night, though she made strong cases throughout the week – and a fiery eviction speech where she painted a target on Xavier’s back – it wasn’t enough to secure Claire the votes to stay, and she was evicted by a vote of 4-1.

Big Brother 23: The double sends Alyssa packing and secures The Cookout’s victory

Claire out the door wasn’t the end of the evening, though – as we knew from last week’s live show, week 9 was the first of two double evictions. And in a memory-based comp, Hannah snagged a crucial HOH victory. Her nominations were a no-brainer: Alyssa and Xavier hit the block together once again. This time, though, Alyssa couldn’t quite pull out the veto win she would’ve needed to save herself, and it was Xavier who nabbed the puzzle-themed veto victory.

With Xavier pulling himself off the block, Hannah nominated Kyland as the replacement nominee (a move which didn’t sit well with him, if his face was anything to go by) but the renom was virtually meaningless: The Cookout had the numbers to send Alyssa packing. And by a vote of 3-1 (Xavier being the sole sympathy vote to save his former Kings teammate), Alyssa went out the door. Alyssa’s eviction was the final step in a season-long process (spearheaded by Tiffany) to get the six-member The Cookout alliance to the final six.

Their success not only guarantees that this season will have the franchise’s first Black winner, but it also means that The Cookout is now the most successful alliance in Big Brother history: The only alliance to ever reach the end with every member still in the house.

Heading into next week – and yet another double eviction – things will finally have to come to a head as The Cookout is forced to look inwards and take shots at each other for the first time this season. With Kyland as the new Head of Household, Hannah could finally look to be in some danger, but an all-important veto and a second eviction (in a two-hour episode) could certainly shake up the course of the back half of the season.

Big Brother 23: Week 9 superlatives

Clutch Play of the Week: Alyssa winning the veto secured her safety (at least, by one vote) and meant that Claire was the one heading out the door first on Thursday.

Most Memorable Moment: The Cookout celebrating their victory in the final moments of the live episode was BB history live in the making.

Houseguest in the Best Spot: Snagging HOH secured Kyland’s longevity for at least another week,  even if he could face ramifications at the upcoming double eviction.