Dare I say, this season of Big Brother was among one of the best. We got everything Big Brother has to offer: strong alliances, big upsets, punishments, bromances, showmances, and so much drama. This season had me hooked from the very start, and I can’t believe it’s already over. This cast had amazing chemistry and was always up to something. From “Hot Dog Gate” to Melody just talking to her mom on the phone, there were so many iconic moments happening every single day.
In all honesty, the first episode of this season had me a little worried. Rachel Reilly falling to her death from dinosaur was not on my bingo card, and I was not a fan of the theatrics. I think we need to scratch all these new implements and just play Big Brother. The houseguests are players, not actors, and that’s clear anytime they try to add a show to the episode. The icon component of this season was interesting, to say the least. Personally, I am not an Angela fan, so I wasn’t thrilled to have her back, but I will admit she makes for good TV. I haven’t watched Survivor, so I didn’t know Devens or Dee before this. So in that sense they were almost like typical houseguests to me. They were both great additions to this year’s cast. They were good players and brought back the fun and riskiness of the past Big Brother seasons. They both played for their alliances, but also for themselves, and weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. And that’s why they’re icons.
I loved the time capsule twist at the beginning of the season. It gave America the chance to make an impact on the game without completely running it. The punishments were entertaining, and the powers were iconic. But also, #JusticeforDrew. His power didn’t do anything monumental for him in the game. Drew won just like Devens and Dee won, but their powers were way more influential to their gameplay.
This season made me start to appreciate the blockbuster and three nominations. Traditionally, it was two nominees and only the veto to save yourself. When three nominees and the blockbuster were introduced in season 26, I hated the concept. But I’ll admit, I was just salty they were changing up the game. This season, I saw how the blockbuster kept people on their toes. It causes the Head of Household to take a risk to get a threat out because they can’t hide behind the fact that there’s no way for the nominee to save themselves. Instead, they have to own their move, knowing there’s a chance the nominee they want to backdoor could win the blockbuster and live to see the next week.
The finale this season left me with so many mixed emotions. If you ask my suitemates, they’ll tell you I was barging into their room every couple of minutes with a new reaction. At one point I was shaking from excitement, and then the next I was sitting on the ground in silence in disbelief.
Full transparency, I was rooting for Drew to take home the win. I knew it was a slim shot that he would actually win it all, especially since he didn’t take home that final HOH, but I still wanted to have hope. Prior to Taylor’s conversation with Devens the night before the finale, I fully believed that Drew was going to sit in the final two chairs no matter what. But what I didn’t want to believe was Devens planning to commit the betrayal of the century and evict Drew. However, I do think it was the right move for him if he wanted to lock in his win. We knew Drew was going to cut Devens if he won, so we can’t be too mad at Devens for cutting Drew. Do I think Devens deserved to take home the win? 100 percent. But did I still want Drew to have a shot? Also yes.
I wish we could talk about all the gameplay from this season, but I think we’d be sitting here for hours and this article would be 1,000 pages long. So instead, let’s dive into the final three.
In third place rests Drew Campbell, the hair-obsessed king himself. I know this is a hot take for some, but I think Drew played a fantastic game. He was nominated six times, but never saw the block on eviction night until finale night. In weeks four and seven, he saved himself in the blockbuster, and he would have gone home both times if he hadn’t. In weeks 11, 13, and 14, he saved himself with the Power of Veto (POV). He won when he needed to, and that’s really important for houseguests to survive in this game.
On a social level, Drew was the true middleman. His loyalty to his alliance, FAP, and also to the Icons made a lot of people mad, but I don’t think it was a bad strategy. He had a lot of close relationships that helped keep him in the game until finale night. He did something right to make it that long. He even won the hearts of America and made it into the top three for America’s Favorite Houseguest. A lot of people say he was the “Icon’s puppet.” Maybe in a way he was, but I also think he knew what he was doing. He did a lot for the Icons because he knew they were important allies, but he also had a mind of his own. He gets a lot of hate for not kicking out Dee during Week 10’s double eviction, but I honestly think he made the right move. He gave Dee a reason to trust him and got a huge threat out. He freed himself from his pressure-cooker deal with Yash without having to go back on his word. And, let’s face it, we all know Yash would’ve booted Drew out if the roles were reversed. Yes, this was a good move for the Icons, but I also think it was a good move for Drew.
The season 28 runner-up was Taylor Brown. I’ll be honest, I did not want Taylor to win. I remember night one feeling like she would be one of my top picks. She’s an elementary school counselor, and I’m an aspiring elementary teacher, so I felt connected to her in that way. But as the season went on, I kind of forgot about her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for flying under the radar, but in my opinion, to be worthy of winning, you need to get on the radar by week 10 at the latest. And if you wait that long, you better drop so much strategy in those last five weeks that you become a huge player and prove that flying under the radar was a strategy and not how the cards played out.
I will admit her HOH win impressed me. If she hadn’t won, there’s a very strong chance she would’ve gone home. She won when she needed to, but she could’ve saved herself each time she was nominated, but didn’t. The only reason she survived the block seven times is that she was the easier vote. No one wanted to get rid of her because she wasn’t a threat. Personally, I just don’t love that strategy, but it did get her second place, so maybe she deserves more credit.
She fully lost me with her answers to the jury questions on finale night. I was hoping she would’ve come out and explained how she got to where she was, but she didn’t. Claiming to flip the Melody/Lyric vote was where she lost any potential of getting a vote from anyone in the jury except Lala. She didn’t flip that vote, and it would’ve been better for her to say her biggest move was convincing Devens to take her to the final two instead of Drew. That was a big and impressive move, and explaining that might’ve given her a little more respect from the jury.
And then we have the winner, the icon himself, Mr. Rick Devens. At the beginning of the season, I didn’t want an Icon to take home the win. But Icon or not, Rick played the best game. Being the first person to win both America’s Favorite Houseguest and the season of Big Brother really sums up why he’s considered a legend. He took home the most money anyone has ever won, leaving with $810,000. With three HOHs, three Vetos, and two Blockbusters, he proved himself as a comp beast. He didn’t touch the block until week eight despite being labeled as an Icon on day one, and he offered himself up as a replacement nominee that week, so it barely even counts. That just shows how good his social game was. A lot of the houseguests would mention how they loved him as a person, even when he got their blood on his hands. He was loyal to the Icons, his number one alliance, and was always thinking about their safety along with his. He’s an Icon because he made big moves. One of the most monumental moves he made this season was using the Diamond Power of Veto to get Kamu out of the game during his best friend’s HOH. Rick ran the house. Whoever he wanted out went home, and whoever he wanted nominated usually got nominated. He owned the game, and he deserved that win.
Overall, I’m happy with the ending to this season. In an ideal world, Rick would’ve taken Drew to the final two instead of Taylor. But as he said, when there’s $750,000 on the line, you need to go with the safe option before you lose it all.
One of the best parts of this show is watching the lifelong bonds form inside that house, and I can’t talk about this season without mentioning the different relationship dynamics. First up, we have Lyric and Rome. This relationship took off so fast, and I didn’t see it coming. Rome announcing his love for Lyric when he got evicted was cute, but I just can’t wrap my head around their relationship. They seem serious; it just happened so fast. But again, I thought the same thing about Swaggy C and Bayleigh from Big Brother 20, and look at them now: they’re still together, and their bond got as strong as it did with only two weeks together in the house before Swaggy C was evicted — just like how Lyric and Rome had only two weeks in the house together. They might’ve lost Big Brother, but they seem pretty confident they won in finding their soulmate.
Ok, now to the relationship dynamic I, along with many others, was most obsessed with all season: Melody and Drew, a.k.a. “Melodrew.” These two had undeniable chemistry and so many moments that left viewers sitting in awe. I still think about the moment when Melody asked Drew, “What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?” and Drew replied, “Being friends with you.” Like, come on. That’s straight out of a romance novel: jaw-dropping and heart-stopping. They can deny it all they want, but no one can convince me that this was just a flirt-mance. I refuse to believe they weren’t fighting against getting wrapped up in a showmance and had no real feelings for each other. Whether they were truly just friends or more, their relationship was so fun to watch. But I know I’m not alone in saying that I hope they get together.
With that being said, Big Brother isn’t Love Island, and there are so many other platonic relationships that occurred throughout this season. We had the Icon trio, the father/son duo, and Drew and Yash’s frenemy dynamic, among many others.
To start, let’s dive into the Icons. Rick, Dee, and Angela ran this game. Neither of them really even touched the block until week nine, when Barrett threw them up there against each other, resulting in Angela’s eviction. To come in with such a big target on your back and accomplish that is definitely something. Coming in as “The Icons,” they could’ve split up and turned against each other to try to take the target off themselves, but instead they formed one of the strongest and most powerful alliances in Big Brother, and it wasn’t even a secret! Everyone knew they were working together, but no one tried to split them up before week eight.
Second to Melodrew, Rick and Drew’s father/son relationship was one of my favorites to watch. You know that if it threatened Dee, the bond was strong. Although it was a smart game move for Rick to cut Drew in the final three, you could see how much it hurt him to do so. Whenever I think of their relationship, I think of that clip of Rick tying Drew’s tie for him. Like, that is so father/son-core. This was just such a wholesome dynamic that you could tell was filled with genuine love and respect on both sides. All I have to say is, Rick better spoil all his children (including Drew) with the money he won, and I can’t wait to see how their relationship translates outside the Big Brother house.
Finally, we have Drew and Yash. They both hated each other on a game level, but also we’re best friends at the same time. Drew described their relationship in an interview as “he’s the East Coast version of me, and I’m the West Coast version of him.” On a personal level, they were always goofing around in the house, but when it was time to play the game, they were straight-up enemies. They both wanted each other out because they were both threatened by the other. I can’t wait to see them be friends outside of the game, and I think there’s potential for a lifelong friendship there now that they’re not competing for $750,000.
There’s so much more I could talk about for this season. I could go on and on about every individual houseguest and break down each week, but to save my computer battery and your boredom, I’m afraid here’s where I cut it off. This season brought so much to the Big Brother fans, and I’m forever going to mourn it. It’s honestly giving how I felt after the end of season six of Love Island USA. This season was historic. The icons, the houseguests, the record-breaking, and the drama; it was all there. Big Brother 29, you’ve got some big shoes to fill. See you next summer, Big Brother. You will be missed.