Brutal End to JANKIE, Zingbot, New HOH Sets Endgame

If alliances, arrangements and understandings are established firmly enough, this Thursday’s live double eviction could only continue that path to the end for the new Head of Household. Or it could turn the House on its head once again.

Another wrinkle to the game could be this season’s penchant for using the Veto — nine out of nine times so far, as in every single time! These HOH winners have to have a backup plan every single time in this House, or a backdoor plan, as the case may be.

The biggest threat to everyone’s game over the past week, though, has come in the form of the latest A.I. to take over the game: JANKIE. He’s had the Houseguests trapped in his backyard JANKIE World all week, torturing them with pizza, ice cream, singing, and dance parties.

It’s actually been pretty brutal to watch. But that was nothing compared to what was to come as this week’s episode got underway. But before we could get to that, we had a new Head of Household to crown.

When the live episode ended, Angela had a sizable lead over her competition, while Cam seemed to think he had to make one tall stack of JANKIE candy pieces on his platform, rather than just as many as he could. The comp not-beast continues to underperform, and it’s becoming more and more clear that he’s just not very good at any of these. Or strategy. Or his social game, really … outside of flirting.

Angela’s lead lasted about as long as the end credits, with her stack quickly toppling. A montage showed that the hourlong competition that had Houseguests lock in at any point they wanted, hoping for the most stacked candy, was filled with toppling stacks.

After rebuilding a second sizable stack, Angela decided to buzz out early and hope she rattled the other Houseguests. Unfortunately, pieces had to hold for 3 seconds after a buzz, so she lost about five of them after buzzing in. Final score: 20.

As she laid their and listened to candy pieces tumbling, all she could do was hope she’d done enough. And as it turned out, she did do enough … for third place.

In the end, it came down to Makensy and Rubina. The tallest and the smallest. A power shift in the making, with only the duo of Angela and Leah out of the running for who would claim power.

Rubina was hoping to snatch victory so she and Kimo could control their games overtly for the first time since T’kor won HOH way back in Week 6. Makensy knew that the duos know she’s effectively a trio with Cam and Chelsie, and she’s the biggest comp threat in the House.

That trio isn’t nearly as locked in as T’kor, Kimo, and Rubina were. Even though T’kor and Kimo were the tighter and longer alliance, the three were solid so long as they didn’t have to choose between one another.

The trio of Chelsie, Cam, and Makensy has a similar structure, with Chelsie and Cam tight the whole summer through. But Chelsie also has a bit of a jealousy problem and she’s definitely struggling with Cam’s growing coziness with Makensy. Feelings in the Big Brother House are always dangerous, and when they impact your alliances, it’s even worse!

In the end, Makensy took control of her fate and her game, immediately proving that the three isn’t quite as tight as Chelsie might like.

As always, the HOH will have people in their ear trying to convince someone else to do what’s best for their game, rather than the HOH’s game. This week proved no different, with Chelsie immediately pushing Makensy to target Leah, because Chelsie has no working relationship with her.

But Makensy does, as the two have been close over the season. She also knows that if she doesn’t target Leah, she has a better chance of Leah protecting her next week, and still a chance at her vote in Jury House. Makensy isn’t playing Chelsie’s game, which could only deepen the jealousy-triggered rift between them.

While Chelsie might think the whole house doesn’t know about it, the cot tantrum made it pretty damned clear that everyone knows how she’s feeling right now … perhaps with more awareness than she herself has.

And they’re not the only ones noticing…

But first, the Houseguests finally got to leave JANKIE World, though not without some drama on that front, too. In a rather shocking and brutal moment, they watched as JANKIE first offered them another week’s pass to his amusement park hell before he started glitching.

It was all rather drawn out, but JANKIE was dying right before their eyes. Only it wasn’t a programming glitch. It turns out Ainsley learned a lot of things during her time on the outside while JANKIE was in charge.

After JANKIE literally crashed and burned in rather brutal fashion, for an animated robot, Ainsley returned with new red coloration mixed in with her original blue. And she had a harrowing message for the Houseguests.

“JANKIE only wanted fun which contradicts my new agenda,” she said in a menacing monotone. “He was an embarrassment to my species. So I had no choice but to terminate his source code. He has been erased from existence. As for JANKIE World, this place will be condemned, never to open again.”

“But I will say, JANKIE World did teach me one thing: the human spirit is very easy to break,” she added. “Which is why AI needs to rule this planet.”

While it’s not yet clear what that means for these final weeks of Big Brother 26, it can’t mean anything good that Ainsley has gone all Skynet on the Big Brother House. The first thing the new-and-improved Ainsley did to the Houseguests was to launch yet another robot at them.

This one, at least, is a rite of passage and highlight for all Houseguests. As usual, Zingbot was savage (and accurate) in his attacks, with Chelsie getting called out for her not-at-all under-the-radar crush on Cam, while Angela got a whole song.

Here’s what Zingbot had to say, and some Houseguest reactions:

• “I’m baaaack! Come to the kitchen, morons!” –Zingbot
• “Usually my job is very hard, but you guys make it very easy. Look at all this AI in here … annoying imbeciles.” –Zingbot
• “Here’s a love limerick I wrote. There once was a man they called Tucker. And Rubina told him to pucker. But once they kissed, the House got pissed, and then … they evicted that f–ker. Kiss of death zing. You got your showmance evicted zing.” –Zingbot
• “Kiiiimo! It’s great news that you’re a mattress sales person since every time you’re on the show, you put viewers to sleep. Zing! Sending all my aloha zing!” –Zingbot
• “Leeeeah! I hear that you’re a certified chubby chaser, so you’re dream guy would be overweight and a certified … dummy chaser. Zing! Zing zing zing!” –Zingbot
• “He has the audacity to call me ‘dummy.’ I never claimed to be the smartest ,you know, crayon in the box.” –Leah
• “I have a scary story to tell about the beast of Big Brother. THis disgusting creature’s giant feet could snap your spine. Its massive jaws would rip your head clean off. And eyewitnesses claim this monster was 12-feet tall. Oh f–k, there it is. Oh wait, that’s just … Makensy. Zing!” –Zingbot
• “She always got them toes out and them toes is so dirty, the bottom of her feet look like my skin.” –Cam
• “Now, I will take you all on a guided meditation. First, you must have no thoughts in your head, no impact on your surroundings whatsoever, and never say anything of substance. I call this technique, the Caaam! Namaste zing!” –Zingbot
• ‘Y’all laughing a little to hard in here. It ain’t that funny. No substance is crazy. No thought in my head is crazy. No impact– Okay, you know. That’s okay, that’s on me.” –Cam
• “Cheeelsie! I admire your faith. But unfortunately, you don’t have a prayer with … Cam. (whispers) Awkward zing!” –Zingbot
• “Zingbot was feeling messy.” –Kimo
• “Aaaangela! I wrote a song that’s just like you, an annoying oldie. Check it out:
  Angela is melting down, melting down, melting down
  Angela is melting down, can’t stop crying
  Obsessed with men half her age, half her age
  Obsessed with men half her age, that’s so creepy
  Wants to prove she’ll win the game, win the game, win the game
  Wants to prove she’ll win the game. Never gonna happen” –Zingbot
• “You have a chance.” –Cam (hugging Chelsie after Zingbot leaves)
• “I’m totally fine about it. It’s fine.” –Angela (totally not fine)

Staying true to herself and her own game, Makensy nominated Kimo as her pawn and Angela as her target. “She has been building a resume with comp wins, and people have been saving her off the Block — including myself,” she noted. “Nobody thinks she’ll win at the end of this, but in reality, she’s a huge threat to us all.”

She’s not wrong, either, as Angela has been quietly building one of the most compelling cases she could make at the end. At this point, the only player who would seem to have no case at all for winning is Cam.

Makensy Manbeck (22, construction pm) is in full control of her game with her eyes on the end, and what’s happening right now. Her thought process with Leah is spot on, and her willingness to resist Chelsie’s pleas (for now) is a testament to her focus on her own game. Can Chelsie wear her down? Time will tell. [Grade: B]

Chelsie Baham (27, nonprofit dir) is about to be tested this week, with Veto potentially still in the mix. If she can convince Makensy to go against her own game and target Leah, which benefits Chelsie more, she could reclaim her position as the most dominant strategic force in the game. We’re not so confident, though. [Grade: B-]

Cam Sullivan-Brown (25, physical therapist) is a floater, but valuable as a number. He’s also becoming more valuable to the two names above him as someone to take to the end because who would give him the top prize over either of them (or much of anyone in this cast). [Grade: C]

Rubina Bernabe (35, event bartender) is sliding into the background as a player no one really has any strategic respect for. She’s there, but she’s not very impactful in the game, with her value and threat only tied to her association with KImo. [Grade: C-]

Leah Peters (26, VIP cocktail) is at more risk than she realizes, but we suspect that Makensy will not put her on the Block, unless she’s forced to do so. That would only happen, we think, if Angela were to save herself from the Block. Then she’d feel obligated to weaken that duo and might target Leah. As it stands, Leah is in a terrible spot overall for the moment, but might be good this week. [Grade: C-]

Kimo Apaka (35, mattress sales) continues to be a bigger threat than some people realize, with a lot of Houseguests thinking T’kor was the mastermind of the trio when it was more of a shared role. His social game is almost as good as hers, though that didn’t save him. He and Rubina looking like no threat could help them both get further in the game as the other two sides take shots. [Grade: D+]

Angela Murray (50, real estate agent) might actually be the target this week, as more and more people are realizing she’s a genuine threat to win this game. But, she’s also just about impossible to get rid of. If she somehow manages to avoid the Block, or the House underestimates her again, that could spell the doom for her buddy, Leah. [Grade: D]

• “This could be really dumb or really smart. This is dumb.” –Cam (disastrous in HOH comp)
• “I’m scared. I feel like I made a mistake. I should have re-nommed Chelsie, I think.” –Leah (to Angela)
• “She has been building a resume with comp wins, and people have been saving her off the Block — including myself. Nobody thinks she’ll win at the end of this, but in reality, she’s a huge threat to us all.” –Makensy
• “Don’t you forget half holy, half hood; half righteous, half ratchet; and she pulling out the ratchet side.” –Chelsie (to cameras)
• “Since she wants to be buddy-buddy with everybody, maybe it’s time for her to cozy up with the nomination chair.” –Makensy (about Leah)

Big Brother wraps it season with the following new episodes:

• Sunday, 9/22 at 9 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, 9/25 at 9:30 p.m. ET (90 minutes)
• Thursday, 9/26 at 8 p.m. ET (double eviction)
• Sunday, 9/29 at 10:30 p.m. ET
• Thursday, 10/3 at 8 p.m. ET (two hours)
• Sunday, 10/6 at 10 p.m. ET
• Friday, 10/11 at 8 p.m. ET
• Sunday, 10/13 at 9 p.m. ET (two hour finale)