‘Big Brother 27’ week 5 review: The consequences of an unused power

An old adage warns that if you don’t remember the past, you’re doomed to repeat it. Don’t believe that? The latest evictee of CBS’s Big Brother 27 fell victim to that hard lesson during Week 5. One simple blunder became someone else’s big move, shocking all of the house guests with a chance to evict a big threat.

Many had deemed the latest evictee to be an early frontrunner to win the game! But Big Brother 27 has shown that anything is possible, even into the fifth week. Week 5 shook up the house by flipping it on its head, giving us an exciting and thrilling round.

In the spotlight.

Ava winning Head of Household (HOH) could’ve been detrimental to her long-term game. She had strong relationships with everyone; no one looked at her as a threat, and not a single person wanted to evict her pre-jury. Comparatively, past HOHs of Big Brother 27 have been hurt by winning the title. Like, Jimmy’s alliance turning on him after Week 2 or Mickey’s self-sabotaging during Week 4. So, for Ava to be put into the spotlight, it exposed her game play targets to the rest of the house.

Thankfully, Ava is walking away from Week 5 with the least amount of personal damage. She made it very clear during her HOH run that she wanted to target strong threats, specifically those who seemed uneasy with her win. Painting the targets on Keanu, Vince, and Zach showed everyone that quirky little Ava wasn’t going to be a pushover. But the real standout: Ava listened to her allies and nominated those who benefited her game if they were evicted. That’s the way you should be playing Big Brother! Why did so many past HOHs nominate their numbers and make self-sabotaging moves?! It made no sense.

Week 5 was injected with a heavy dose of excitement because the house wasn’t taking the easy route this time. They couldn’t have! However, the only flaw in Ava’s HOH reign was her decision not to have strategy conversations with the majority of the house. She made a terrible move by only speaking with Will and Mickey right before her nominations. While Mickey correctly convinced her not to nominate Ashley, Ava should’ve still met with everyone to hear their cases and build those relationships. It’s too early in the game to cut off any opportunities to strengthen alliances and newfound deals.

An unconventional tactic.

The Week 5 competitions spotlighted several interesting game play choices – some that were good, and others that were questionable. The Week 5 HOH elimination game was the chance for house guests to target specific people from winning, but it also exposed their targets. It’s a great way to heighten strategy and cause some drama in the house. So, for both Rylie and Zach to ask the group who wants to volunteer, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Big Brother isn’t a game about taking the easy route or going with the house. While past votes followed that mentality, it has hurt the game in the long run. Rylie and Zach, trying to play it safe, nearly ruined the fun of this classic HOH competition. And why would Zach put his ally, Morgan, up as one of the options? Thankfully, the house guests made more selfish decisions as the rounds went on, but it exposed how safe and cautious Rylie and Zach looked at the game. Which, arguably, aligns with how Zach got evicted this week.

The other interesting game play move was during the Power of Veto (POV). Katherine rightfully won the POV during the crime scene slider game, and if she wanted to claim the prize for her Big Brother resume, that was her choice to make. But I loved how the editors included Ava’s diary room segment, calling out Vince’s messy, emotionally manipulative game play. Seriously, let Katherine breathe and think! Begging her to give him the POV mid-game was a new level of emotional tactics, more so than any of his tears and sob stories. It felt almost poetic for him to end up with the egg costume punishment. Somewhere, Rachel is having sweet dreams of that moment!

Shifting targets, close votes.

Week 5 will stand out as one of Big Brother 27’s most memorable rounds due to its complex game play. Even though Keanue (a competition threat) was on the block, the house consistently shifted between voting out BFFs Zach or Vince instead. This round perfectly prioritized gameplay vs. personality – that’s a mindset that can’t be ignored. When you have two strategic and powerful targets on the block, especially when they’re well-connected and have strong alliances, it’s better to break that apart.

Realistically, between the two, Vince was a much bigger threat. He’s always in several alliances, including the formation of The Melting Pot with Zach, Morgan, and Mickey. And he has several one-off alliances to protect him, like with Lauren or Kelley (the latter is basically for show). The house should’ve recognized the opportunity to take out a manipulative player, but I understood why they didn’t since Vince was so well-insulated. Having him around benefited their games (except for Rachel), and many of them still view him as their closest ally.

It’ll be a while before anyone takes the shot and successfully gets him out. Even if he was sitting next to Keanu during the vote, the chances of him leaving were slim but not impossible. Thankfully, Keanu didn’t throw the BB Blockbuster to protect Vince. Could you have imagined if he had made that blunder? It would’ve been worse than what Zach did this round. Much, much worse.

A powerful blunder.

Speaking of Zach, his eviction during Week 5 was a bundle of errors. During Week 1, Zach won a power that could’ve pulled him off the block – it was a POV/nomination buy-out. In a week when he was a nominee, it made sense to use the power. So, it’s baffling that he didn’t use the twist to save himself!

When your allies can’t definitively say they’ll vote to keep you during eviction, it’s time to use your power. When the numbers aren’t leaning in your favor during any eviction combination, you’d better use your power. And even if there’s a chance your ally will be nominated instead, you need to prioritize yourself first. Sure, keeping $10,000 is a nice treat in the game, but surviving longer in the game would’ve netted that same amount. Big Brother is a game that changes weekly; if he had survived to the following week, anything could’ve happened.

Zach chose to take a risk and prioritize his allies instead of playing his game. Not using his power so that Morgan wouldn’t be nominated was a bad call, and not voting to keep Adrian in the game during Week 3 was a bad call. Zach tried to rally his allies and play it safe, but people like Mickey, Morgan, Lauren, Kelley – his allies – these were the same people who voted him out. All of them had stronger connections with Vince, which didn’t benefit Zach’s chances because he looked at the group instead of himself. Zach lost sight of the Big Brother game being played around him.

Overall.

Week 5 of Big Brother 27 flipped the power dynamics to topple one of the season’s biggest frontrunners. The move shook the house so much that a big blunder became everyone else’s opportunity. There’s no telling where the season will go from here. But with surprising HOH and POV winners, a competitive nomination block, and a shocking game play move, Week 5 packed plenty of action into one round.

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

Images courtesy of Paramount