‘Big Brother 27’ week 9 review: We all lost at “The White Locust”

We’re not going to sugarcoat it: Week 9 of CBS’s Big Brother 27 was a rough week. Like, really bad. The same type of bad that lives in the infamy of Big Brother 25’s “Zombie Week.” A simple out-of-place game twist that sent negative ripples throughout the round, which, unfortunately, could negatively impact the rest of the season. In its short time, “The White Locust” twist will go down as one of the worst twists in Big Brother history.

Hamster Wheel of Death.

For Big Brother superfans, you might be familiar with the challenge at the heart of The White Locust twist. The “Hamster Wheel of Death” first appeared on Big Brother Reindeer Games, a spinoff show based on elimination-style challenges (e.g., last to complete the challenge is eliminated). That season’s iteration sent shockwaves as it eliminated a Big Brother legend due to a betrayal. But why did that hamster wheel have its impact on Reindeer Games vs. Big Brother? Well, simply put: Big Brother Reindeer Games is a completely different game!

A 2-week competition where players are eliminated via challenges isn’t the same as Big Brother. Big Brother is a 3-month-long game of challenges, twists, and social strategies where players scheme and vote each other out. Having a houseguest get “sacrificed” because they couldn’t complete a hamster wheel in time isn’t Big Brother. It’s more like The Challenge, another long-running reality TV series based on challenge-based eliminations. We didn’t come here to watch The Challenge; we’re here for Big Brother.

Sure, the show’s motto is to “Expect the Unexpected.” And there are plenty of twists throughout the seasons that shake up the rules or unleash powers. However, the houseguests get the final say on who gets evicted. All of their work, scheming, and competitions come into play for who ends up seeing Julie Chen on eviction night. Instead, The White Locust changed up the game in all the worst ways, impacting everyone with something that didn’t feel like Big Brother.

A break in the chain.

The fact of the matter is that this twist would’ve been bad, regardless of who was eliminated. Rachel, the iconic and divisive Big Brother legend, was sent packing. But the problems would’ve been felt for the rest of the cast, too, even someone as polarizing as Kelley. The season was 60 days in and had just started the jury phase. How fair would it be for anyone to get eliminated because of it? And without a vote? Their entire game would’ve been thrown out because they couldn’t spin a giant hamster wheel in time.

For a challenge like this, the ideal placement in the safety chain would’ve been either to go near the beginning or not to be picked at all. Those at the start of the chain, like Vince and Lauren, had a better chance of survival since they had the time to solve the maze path. Whereas in the second half of the timeslots, where Rachel was placed, the window of opportunity was too small. It’s better to place your enemies in the second half because there’s always a chance they’ll fail the maze and can’t catch up.

This twist mostly focused on challenge ability, but there’s a small, tiny portion of it that utilizes a social game. I disagreed with Big Brother when they tried, retroactively, to blame Rachel’s social game for her elimination, but I also disagreed with the consensus that this twist had no social game. The tiny portion was the decision of where people could be placed in the chain. If someone hated a person or wanted a certain spot, their relationships/campaigning may lock their spot.

Still, Rachel lost because she didn’t solve the hamster maze in time. Her social game with Ava, Vince, and Lauren had nothing to do with it. Ava may claim now that Rachel “pulling on her arm” was the deciding factor, but let’s be real here, she chose the safe option for Vince to start the chain. Her post-twist commentary (like swearing and calling Rachel the “B” and “C” word) is merely reactionary to justify her decision. The White Locust twist was simply bad all around, and now the houseguests are dealing with the blowback.

Out of rhythm, out of time.

In a post-Rachel/White Locust round, the effects on the game were felt immediately. Everyone threw in the towel emotionally to stop scheming. If the players weren’t playing Big Brother 27 anymore at Week 9, that’s a troubling sign. Like, why can houseguests be eliminated immediately through only a challenge? And why is the BB Blockbuster twist still running into the jury phase? This is the time of the season when players need to be strategic and make big moves to get each other out, not roll the die on a challenge for their fate.

Thankfully, houseguests like Ashley and Keanu stepped up to the plate to keep the gameplay moving. Who would’ve thought Rachel’s elimination would bring these two together? Arguably, this pair is a strong one to watch. Keanu has proven himself with competition wins, and Ashley has an impeccable social game; together, no one would believe they’d pair up. If they can keep their alliance under the radar, they have a shot at blindsiding everyone to the top.

Compared to them, Lauren has dug herself into a deep hole of trouble. She won Head of Household (HOH) for the second time … and she gets out Will?! It’s a huge detriment to her game resume, where her evictees have been easy and non-threatening players. Unfortunately, she’s painted a picture of an ineffectual game player. For instance, she started the week by targeting Morgan and Keanu, but neither of them left. Plus, she’s made an enemy of Keanu by betraying him, which is ridiculous since he publicly stood behind not nominating her when he was recently HOH. Vince could’ve been the worst player this round due to his messy social game (and cheatmance) with Morgan, but Lauren took the cake.

To be liked and loved.

Will’s eviction is a classic case of the game moving too fast without him. He was very well-liked, becoming the most likable person in the house across all players. No matter where anyone stood, they enjoyed Will’s company and didn’t want him gone. Which, unfortunately, stood as the main reason why the house decided to evict him. Will would’ve won Big Brother 27 BECAUSE everyone liked him so much – his likability and social game were too good to keep around. Think of this like when Jordan won Big Brother 11; sometimes the likability/social game cancels out everything else.

Though Will’s other main issue was that he suffered from a Floater/Coaster mentality. What I mean by this is that he actively withdrew himself to play more passively, if even at all. He was “over it” at many points. Even though he was part of the Judges alliance and other relationships (like with Ava, Mickey, Ashley, etc.), he preferred to sit back and rely on his connections to do the heavy lifting. Will never took the driver’s seat himself, and by the time he should, it was already too late. The strategies had already been made that got him out.

Overall.

Week 9 of CBS’s Big Brother 27 was a disappointing and frustrating round for Big Brother fans. Not only did we lose a main driver of strategy and drama (Rachel), but the game took a huge emotional pause. The little bits of gameplay we did see gave us a glimmer of hope, a bright spot for a future possibility. But in a week where lovable Will was also sent out the door, his eviction was the cherry on this messy sundae. Not even the return of BB Comics could overtake the shadow left hanging over the week.

Let Week 9 of Big Brother 27 be a red flashing warning sign to production: stop trying to be anything else but Big Brother! By meddling with the format this egregiously, the game flew off the tracks and nearly irreparably ruined the season. We’ll have to see in the weeks to come how much damage this week caused for the season, and its legacy, at large.

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