Jury Declares Mastermind, Final 5 Plot Betrayal Ahead of Eviction

In many ways, this was a do-or-die Power of Veto for everyone in the House because there are only five of them left. The power trio of Makensy, Chelsie, and Cam have been running the House for most of the season, and the other two are on the Block.

If either Rubina or Kimo pull out this win, that means one of them has to sit on the Block, and suddenly Head of Household Makensy might have to show her cards as to who she’s closer to in that trio. And that could mean going ahead and evicting whichever of the three hits the Block, leaving the powerless duo intact.

In other words, this one really matters. So how is it that not everyone appeared to be giving one hundred percent throughout this competition? One might argue that one of them hasn’t been giving one hundred percent all season long. In fact, two of them started making that argument before and after this Veto.

It was definitely interesting seeing the different strategies at play as the competition played out. Fans of the show have watched years and years of this game now and surely thought of how they’d best approach it.

Personally, we were digging Makensy’s strategy of laying out all the pictures on the ground and studying them first. That way she could pinpoint the differences in the pictures before she even took the slide. Amazingly, it looks like the strategy really paid off, as she got it right the first time.

Kimo did okay with a more traditional approach, while Cam slid across a couple of times before starting and then he was an absolute mess. Your boy even started taking breaks after he got flustered. It was a disgraceful performance, and one that left him out of the Top 3.

Everyone else was about what you’d expect, with even the results what you’d expect. Both Chelsie and Makensy have been carrying their trio all season long, and they were both in the Top 3. In fact, they wound up the Top 2, as well.

What didn’t sit well with them was that Cam wasn’t in the Top 3. Instead, Kimo was there, with his time more than 30 minutes. Considering Makensy did it in 13:51 in her admittedly very fast time, winning the Veto, they can’t figure out how this athlete could lose … again!

“What has Cam done for mine or your game?” Makensy wondered tonight as she was weighing a backdoor of Cam even before she won the Veto. After the Veto, Chelsie was kind of wondering the same thing. At the same time, she also knew that keeping Cam in the game is best for her game.

After all, he’s so far proven absolutely loyal to her, despite flirting with Makensy throughout the summer, and he’s clearly not a threat to win anything and throw a kink in her plans.

He’s certainly more loyal to her than either Kimo or Rubina would be, so a four-person house with half of them wanting her out or seeing her as the mastermind (which she totally is) is not good for her.

She voiced as much in the Storage Room out loud, which Cam was able to hear, after he’d admitted to taking breaks during the competition. It was after he confronted her to try and explain himself, arguing ultimately that he got the “yips” about the whole thing, that she shared Makensy’s backdoor considerations.

Cam then went up to do some damage control with Makensy, as well, who’s also had Rubina in her ear about an all-girl finale. Neither Makensy or Chelsie are really considering it, but it’s very smart of both of them to have her believing they’re on board with it.

If they get rid of Kimo tonight and keep Cam and Rubina miraculously comes into power, she was far more likely to make sure Cam was on the Block, and then they could take him out, protecting themselves. If not, well Rubina would just be surprised with her eviction.

Truthfully, the only way that anyone wins is for Chelsie to somehow get evicted. it seems, though, that she has the loyalty of Cam and Makensy down to the final, making her look like the inevitable winner of this season. Hers has been a masterfully dominant performance from the beginning (save the midseason Tucker chaos and temporary house flip).

Cam was even considering keeping Kimo as that might be better for his game, knowing that Rubina is wanting that all-girl finale, but he caved under the pressure of the mastermind and ultimately it was Kimo who went out to see Julie after Makensy declined to use the Veto (the first time all season it wasn’t used).

With Cam the last man standing, will the trio make Top 3 or will the ladies decide to cut him and make it an all-girl thing, after all? No matter what, at least one member of the trio hits the Block, which should be very telling, depending on who wins the next Head of Household.

Chelsie Baham (27, nonprofit dir) has this game on lock, unless something truly crazy happens. Either Makensy needs to realize she will not win next to Chelsie, no matter how many comp wins she has, or they need to get rid of her. We don’t see it happening. [Grade: A]

Makensy Manbeck (22, construction pm) needs to hope that she controls her own destiny by winning her way at the end, but then she needs to also get rid of Chelsie. If she does that, she wins. If not, she’ll have to settle for second. She’s had a great season, but has let Chelsie lead her by the nose and be her attack dog. That’s not going to win over the mastermind. [Grade: B-]

Cam Sullivan-Brown (25, physical therapist) could make it to the end if the ladies in his alliance turn on one another, which they should totally do if either wants a slam-dunk guarantee of a win. There’s no way he can convince anyone he’s deserving of a win, so even if he wins his way to the end, which seems unlikely, he’s not going to win this. [Grade: C-]

Rubina Bernabe (35, event bartender) survived the week, but she’s the next on the chopping Block, unless someone decides to take a huge shot within the trio, using her vote to make it happen, and then hope they can chop her at the end, which should be doable. We don’t see anyone taking the risk, though, and we see her out next. [Grade: D]

Kimo Apaka (35, mattress sales) was the biggest social and strategic threat left outside of the trio. And outside of Chelsie and Makensy, he was the biggest competition threat left. In other words, he was a threat to make a compelling underdog case and maybe sway a Jury. It was definitely time for him to go. [Grade: F]

Big Brother wraps its season with the following new episodes:

• Sunday, 10/6 at 10 p.m. ET
• Thursday, 10/10 at 8 p.m. ET (elimination episode)
• Friday, 10/11 at 8 p.m. ET (season recap, final HOH starts)
• Sunday, 10/13 at 9 p.m. ET (two hour finale)