Big Brother 24 Week 9 Recap: Double-Eviction Leads To Major Power-Shift In The Game

Double-Eviction night on Big Brother always throws the players – and viewers – for a loop, but the game lost an absolute titan this week after the dust had settled. Just one week earlier, we witnessed both Jasmine and Joseph leave the game following a first-ever “split house” twist, but this week we got an old-fashioned double-eviction. It was a whole week of Big Brother crammed into one two-hour episode, and as Turner opined towards the end of it, and I paraphrase: “First Place is now opened up for everyone.”

Yes, this season’s dominant force, Michael Bruner, went down in a fiery blaze of glory as the victim of the night’s second eviction. Michael had pretty much ran the house from very early on, with Brittany as his closest strategic ally. But it’s Michael’s competition performances that will put him in the Big Brother Hall of Fame and a front-runner as a future “All-Star” player. Michael ended up falling short – by just one – of all-time competition wins, held by Season 6 Big Brother superstar, Janelle Pierzina, and he beat her 16-year-old record of POV comp wins with six this season. He had basically achieved such dominance at challenges that the rest of the house guests would have been foolish to keep him around after Monte finally was able to oust Michael, winning the live POV during this week’s live episode.

But that didn’t stop him from competing to the very last second. The episode began with Michael as HOH (talk about it coming full-circle), and his decision to honor his verbal agreement to not put Turner on the block. It ended up being Michael’s fatal flaw in the game, as Turner would win the HOH during the double-eviction that led to Michael getting back-doored. Brittany – who has been a steadfast ally to Michael, and who has shown to be an amazing strategic player even if she hasn’t been able to win any physical comps – tried to plead with Michael to get out someone bigger than Alyssa or Terrance during his HOH, but he couldn’t be convinced. He moved forward getting rid of Terrance, a player that definitely showed more facets the longer he remained in the game, even if he still left with the same bitter chip-on-his-shoulder towards Taylor that many of the houseguests have carried since the early days of the game (when asked by Julie Chen-Moonves during his exit interview who he wanted to see follow him out the door, he named Taylor, even though it was Michael that just orchestrated his eviction).

Turner and Monte – named as close allies by others all season long but whom nobody seems willing to take a shot at, fit comfortably on the sidelines during Michael‘s latest HOH. After Terrance stomped out without hugs or fanfare, Julie notified everyone that it was indeed, double-eviction night. With Michael unable to compete since he was the reigning HOH, Turner won the comp, a comp that Brittany really, really needed to win if her and Michael were going to continue running the house. Turner put up Alyssa and Brittany, and it all came down to an all-important POV comp. Monte came through with the win, and that set up Michael’s eminent backdoor.

What Michael did next was shocking, epic and will become a thing of Big Brother legend. Even on the block, Michael worked against the fact that Monte and Turner had just betrayed him (the three had formed a “Gentleman’s Agreement” alliance that they would work against the remaining three women in the house…a plan that Michael never seriously considered, but a great move for Monte and Turner as a backup plan to avoid the block should Michael had won that last POV). Instead of sitting quietly as those on the block often do, he pled his case until his final seconds expired, mainly to Alyssa and Taylor, who if they joined together could have overcome Monte’s single vote. In doing so, Michael willingly and seemingly effortlessly through his long-time ally, Brittany, under the bus. He went on a long monologue about Brittany’s game, and tried desperately to convince Taylor and Alyssa to keep him in the game to compete against Monte and Turner, and to not keep Brittany. Brittany’s reaction was deep-felt hurt, and the emotional expression on her face said it all. She couldn’t believe Michael could turn on her so easily, so brutally. But he did. And moments later, he was gone.

But not before one last epic, legendary exit. “Hold on, I have one more thing to say,” Michael told everyone, before getting up and storming right out of the front door. He didn’t really have one more thing to say. He just did that to not only avoid the polite “hug-fest” that usually happens right after a player is told they’ve been evicted, but it took away that special moment where the houseguests love to get a small glimpse of the outside world, by peering through the open doors at the studio audience as the evicted houseguest leaves. He would not give them that pleasure.

Perhaps this was all karma for Michael, who also in recent weeks has taken a lot of well-deserved heat – along with Brittany – for holding on to their conversations that would sink Kyle‘s game, revealing them strategically when it might benefit their game the most. This was a massive blunder for Michael anyways, and it was unclear if the jury (sure to be bitter with the likes of people like Terrance over there) would ever let him off the hook for that choice. Brittany is now left shattered, not only with what Michael did to her (and also with the same controversies hanging over her head), but with not much to fall back on in the game. She does still have the all-women alliance, if that is an actual thing, but between Taylor, Alyssa and Brittany, they have only one comp win. We’re coming up on just over two weeks of the game remaining (wow!), but if there is anything positive that came out of this for Brittany, it’s that she is probably the third target out of the three…that bodes well for her making it to Finale night, but not for her winning the game, as nobody sees her game as anything other than existing in the shadow of Michael.

On the flip side, Monte and Turner‘s stock just went through the roof. Turner has not been afraid to make the big moves, and he’s well-liked, as is Monte. Will the two really ride it out to the end, or will they see each other as threats that need to be taken out? Turner will not be able to compete in the upcoming HOH, which means that there will be massive pressure on Monte to win the next challenge. He’s the front-runner to do so, but he’ll be up against three women all with their back against the wall. Unless Alyssa were to win, I don’t see Taylor or Brittany nominating anybody except for Monte and Turner. In other words, the next HOH is the most crucial for Team Monte and Team Turner. If they lose, then the women will most definitely dominate, and will most likely take out either Monte or Turner next.

Out of all of this? How amazing is it that Taylor is still in the game, and in a great position. She has even won over the jury. With what she had to endure in the early stages of the game, if Taylor were to go on to win this thing, it would be one of the most remarkable, and satisfying, Big Brother stories of all-time.

We shall see how things shake out now that Michael is out of the house!