‘Big Brother 27’ week 3 review: Zach and Vince choose the safe option

A safe decision doesn’t always lead to a better outcome in the Big Brother house. Week 3 of CBS’s Big Brother 27 was a fascinating week of bold declarations and baffling moves. The house guests are stuck in a complex cycle — they’re playing the game AND not playing it at the same time. For some reason, many of them are opting for the safe route out of fear of taking a risk.

However, these actions benefit others by helping them make their big and needed moves. Week 3 has left us as viewers both spinning our heads out of excitement, while also shaking them in frustration.

Leadership woes.

The start of the confusion found its way back to the Head of Household (HOH) for Week 3: Lauren. “Who is Lauren?” you might ask. Well, Lauren is the type of behind-the-scenes player who has plenty of Big Brother knowledge and stays in the background for weeks until she strikes. For many, Lauren was an early predicted front runner to win Big Brother 27. Now? The possibility is up in the air as Lauren showed herself to be a subtle player who relied too much on the plans of others. Plus, being overwhelmed with having to nominate house guests is never a good sign. Sure, it’s a heavy feeling to end someone’s game, but these players know what they signed up for (except for Kelley).

The biggest troubling sign was Lauren following Vince’s strategy too much. Vince has been up in the HOH room every week and whispering sweet nothings to manipulate many players. This move will help Vince in the short term as everyone looks to Vince as their closest ally, someone whom they think they can trust. However, once everyone starts connecting the dots, his game will crumble faster than he realizes.

Where this posed an issue for Lauren was that she placed a majority of her trust into Vince’s hands. Not Katherine. Not Zach. Not any new alliances. Simply Vince. I liked Rachel’s conversation with Lauren when she tried to get Lauren to think about her game and make her own decisions. It’s the type of wake-up call a house guest needs to prioritize herself first. However, instead of considering her options, Lauren doubled down and told Vince everything. If Lauren fails to win a jury vote or gets voted out by Vince in a blindside, she’ll look to this week as the start of her game’s downfall.

History repeats itself.

Lauren’s nominations during the entirety of Week 3 were the epitome of safe. Don’t believe me? Every person nominated was a nominee in a previous Big Brother 27 round. Firstly, you have Keanu. He’s still the house target, and everyone wants to go; his winning the Power of Veto (POV) saved him yet again, so it’s a moot point. Then there was perpetual volunteer pawn Kelley. She once again volunteered to go up on the block and once again won the BB Blockbuster to save herself. (See, there’s the cycle we’re talking about.)

Will and Adrian’s nominations could’ve gone in any order because Lauren didn’t want to rock the boat too much. Her strategy was to respect the nominations of previous HOHs to limit any hate towards her. The problem with this strategy is that it doesn’t establish where you, as the HOH, have a stance towards your game – you’re merely following someone else’s path. It’s not that exciting for a Big Brother resume, and it’s definitely not exciting for fans watching at home. Sure, the third week is still early in the season to cause chaos, but it’s never too early to eliminate someone who doesn’t help your game.

A love triangle forms.

Elsewhere in the house, Week 3 saw a few alliances shift that we’ll need to keep our eyes on. Like the brewing duo break-up of Morgan and Mickey. After Jimmy’s free fall during his HOH, you would think that Mickey and Morgan would’ve bonded together more, but it seems a wedge has formed. Blame part of this on the secrets revealed, like Mickey sharing Morgan’s other alliances around. But a good chunk of the issue stems from a lack of trust. Morgan’s eye has shifted to other people in the house, like Zach and Vince; she’s listening and trusting them more than her other allies, Mickey and Rachel. Could this be the right call for her, or will this sink her game?

Speaking of Morgan and Zach, the episodes and 24/7 live feeds have exposed a messy romance dynamic. To sum up: Morgan likes Zach, Zach likes Lauren, Lauren just wants to play Big Brother 27, and Ashley also likes Zach. This dynamic is the type of brewing storm that could shape the future of Big Brother 27. Strategies form due to showmances all the time, whether it’s romantic or game play. People want to work with or listen to their crushes more easily. So, if Zach were to lie to Morgan about her allies or if Ashley were to drop everything to work with Zach, these could be massive moves that will shape the game. There is a lot of mayhem coming our way, and much of it has nothing to do with romance from a showmance angle.

The other showmance we need to watch out for is Rylie and Katherine. She’s not into him, right? And he’s totally giving off a creepy vibe, right?! The way this man said he’s willing to give up his entire game for Katherine is very troubling. Not to mention all the other questionable things he’s said and done in the house so far. If Katherine wants to use this to her strategy, she’s more than welcome to use this how she wants. However, she needs to be careful because this could turn into a “Beast-Mode Cowboy” situation of Big Brother 16. That house didn’t help Amber when the Caleb situation turned uncomfortable. Hopefully, the house has learned and will help Katherine if it gets that way.

A string of bad luck.

Adrian’s eviction was a baffling safe move because of how easily his side backed away due to fear. They had the numbers! When Kelley won the BB Blockbuster, they would’ve been fine to vote Will out of the house. But why did Zach and Vince get scared after the Ava chat? Don’t get me wrong, Ava’s advice was right on the money for her and the entire situation. Like, why would she vote with the other side of the house to make herself a target with her allies? But for Zach and Vince, voting to keep Adrian in was expected; no one would’ve doubted them for keeping in their friend and somewhat ally. They’re playing too hesitantly and are scared to recognize that they’ve put themselves into a bad situation.

Though Adrian’s eviction also came at the expense of his bad game moves. Where was his fire? The same person who told Julie that the house was playing “chicken” wasn’t the same person who was playing the game. Adrian played it too subtly, too quietly, and too scared; he never cemented any strong allies or led the strategy to take him out of the target spotlight. If Ashley was able to convince Lauren not to nominate her, Adrian should’ve pushed as hard not to be the re-nom.

Unfortunately, Adrian fell into the same group as an easy person to place on the eviction block. It’s one thing to be a behind-the-scenes house guest and “float” until the middle game. It’s another to be passive and let the game pass you by. Adrian was the latter.

Overall.

Week 3 of Big Brother 27 was a conundrum of strategic moves. A strong physical target left the house, but the moves to get there simply fell into their laps due to safe actions. It’s another week of déjà vu as the houseguests resort to the same moves, and the fear of the unknown has held a few players back. Though, several gleaming moments arose that spiced up the week and teased for the drama to come. Week 3 was a bit of everything – a standard Big Brother week to keep the game moving forward with flashes of excitement and game play.

Big Brother 27 airs new episodes on Sundays, Wednesdays & Thursdays on CBS.