Big Brother 23 week 10 recap: Tiffany and Hannah evicted

After The Cookout achieved their season-long goal of reaching the final six together, the game in Big Brother 23 took a sharp turn as the all-Black alliance looked inwards for the first time all season, determining which of their members would be the first to see jury.

Though she fought tooth and nail to stay in the game, it ended up being Tiffany – the mastermind behind the cookout reaching the final six – heading out the door as the first victim of the double eviction, followed swiftly by her close ally Hannah.

Big Brother 23: Kyland nabs yet another HOH

For the umpteenth time this season, it was Kyland who emerged victorious at the HOH competition, securing his spot in the final five and removing a massive eviction target from the pool of possibilities. With his close ally Sarah Beth evicted several weeks prior at the hands of Tiffany, and a season’s worth of tension between them, Kyland was primed and ready to finally take a shot at this season’s puppet master, Tiffany.  And unfortunately for the mastermind, her first time in the nomination chairs would also be her last.

With no extra competitions, twists, or surprise reveals coming into play for week 10, nominations proceeded as usual, and after striking a deal with Xavier, Kyland nominated Tiffany and Hannah for eviction – Hannah as a relative pawn, and Tiffany as his target for the week.

Big Brother 23: Veto seals Tiffany’s fate

Unfortunately for Tiffany and Hannah, though, things went from bad to worse when Kyland won the crucial veto competition and neglected to use it – securing their spots on the block and guaranteeing that at least one of them would be heading out the door come Thursday evening.

To Tiffany’s credit, she fought to the bitter end – campaigning to Derek F, Azah, Xavier, and even Kyland to try and save her game, but her target status was too big, and she was evicted by a vote of 3-0.

Though heartbreaking Tiffany’s eviction feels like an inevitable byproduct of her strategy to get the cookout to the final six – though she’s without a doubt the most cunning strategist of the season, she made the conscious decision (like many of her fellow Cookout members) to put the group goal ahead of her own personal game intentions.

Had she entered the house playing entirely for herself and without a higher purpose to work towards, there’s no doubt in our minds that Tiffany could easily have made finale night, but in her admirable determination to get the Cookout to the final six, she ended up tanking her own game in the process.

It’s rough to see the woman who’s almost singlehandedly responsible for getting the cookout to the final six be the first of the bunch evicted, but even though she’s heading to the jury, Tiffany has already secured her status as a master game player and a modern BB legend.

Big Brother 23: The second double eviction of the season

Tiffany had barely walked out the door when Julie announced that – yet again – there would be a double eviction. Meaning at the end of the evening, the season would be down to just the final four. With Kyland unable to play as outgoing HOH, Xavier, Hannah, Derek F, and Azah battled it out in a ski-ball competition, where Azah ended up nabbing Head of Household. She immediately told Hannah that she would be nominating her and Xavier – having made a deal with Kyland that he wouldn’t hit the block unless she was backed into a corner.

Hannah’s face immediately plummeted, and for good reason – though Azah didn’t seem to realize it quite yet, Hannah being on the block post-veto was almost a certainty that she would be sent home, and though she tried to tell Azah this, the other woman seemed certain that she could rally the votes for Hannah to stay.

At the power of veto competition, Kyland tucked yet another comp win under his belt, and despite having the opportunity to take the biggest player of the season out, he instead opted to use the veto to save him: pulling Xavier off the block and forcing Azah to nominate Derek F as a replacement. Though Kyland seems to have the “beat the best” mentality when it comes to bringing Xavier to the finale, it will likely be in vain – if the jury segments are anything to go by, Xavier will win on finale night in a landslide.

The eviction vote came shortly after, and to nobody’s surprise, Hannah left by a vote of 2-0. With Azah unable to play in the next HOH competition, her moves during the double become even more questionable. She is without question the next target for eviction, and how she didn’t see that evicting Hannah was bad for her game makes us raise our eyebrows.

Hannah’s departure marks the sixth woman in a row to be evicted, and with Azah ineligible to become HOH, it’s likely that she’ll make seven next week: What started out as a female-dominated season has quickly devolved into what’s looking like three men in the finale, a disappointment to be certain.

Big Brother Week 10 Superlatives

Clutch Play of the Week: Evicting Tiffany has all but secured Xavier’s spot as the winner of this season, with everyone left in this house currently planning on taking him to Final 2.

Memorable Moment: The jury (finally) piecing the Cookout together as evicted houseguests trickle in one by one.

Houseguest in the Best Spot: As previously mentioned, this season is now Xavier’s game to lose.