“Do you know why they want Drew out? .. he’s just kind of a loose screw.”

The target order flipped this afternoon, and Haley’s account of how is the story of the day: she created it by accident. Venting late last night — “if my only threat is Melody, why the f— is she just not going home, if you’re so concerned?” — she watched Dee seize on it (“wait, that’s a good idea”), the room fall in line, and her own sarcasm become the plan. Her review: “You motherf—ers.” By 4 pm it’s official enough that Kamu is relaying it to Devens through a shower door: “Target A, Melody. Target B, Drew. If you’re cool with that.” Angela gets filled in last, while everyone’s cooking, because “she’s going to be fine with whatever I tell her.”

The afternoon around it belongs to the storage room. Yash and Taylor weigh the other side’s alliance offer and tell each other the truth — it benefits them more than us, and Chuk is “a little naive where he thinks we are completely good with him” — before deciding to rock with it anyway. Yash then runs his count with Mallory: keep Melody, evict Drew, five votes and one more needed. His reason for the “house” wanting Drew gone doubles as the post title: “I think he’s just kind of a loose screw. This room, that room, that room, this room.”

Drew, meanwhile, spent ninety minutes in the HOH working Haley — read instantly by her and Kamu as a keep-Melody campaign (“this is what got him in trouble in the first place”) — and the two of them close the gym unable to find Devens anywhere in the house. Haley’s guess: “Maybe they changed the date of the power, and maybe he’s got a power.” He does. He’s had it for two weeks.

BB28 Time Capsule tally

The BB Time Capsule is a multi-week America’s Vote twist running Weeks 2 through 7. America votes one houseguest into the capsule each week, that person competes, and they either win a power or take a punishment. Each houseguest can only go in once.

• Week 2 — Angela Murray: lost, and wore the Hard-Boiled Detective costume
• Week 3 — Rick Devens: won the Diamond Power of Veto
• Week 4 — Dee Valladares: BB Bribe power.This allows her to offer one houseguest $5,000 in exchange for performing an action that benefits her game.

While the feeds ran without us this afternoon, the vote talk kept moving. Haley reportedly spent time reassuring Drew he’s safe, telling him she and Kamu will come out of the week less hated than they went in. The bigger development: the target order appears to be shifting, with Melody moving ahead of Drew — by mid-afternoon Yash had heard it too, telling Taylor and Mallory that people are saying Haley wants Melody out instead. The Icons reportedly kept working the other direction, with Dee still pushing to protect Drew. We pick up the transcripts at 3:30.

3:30 pm — Yash and Taylor, storage room

They’re weighing an offer to join up with the other side.

Yash: “Let’s think. Let’s think that through, because—”
Taylor: “We could do it. You don’t turn that down, Yash. That’s what I was going to say.”
Yash: “Keep us off the block.”

Chuk walks in. Taylor covers.

Taylor: “I can’t remember what I came in here for. I really can’t. So I’m just going to look at everything.”

Chuk points at what Yash is eating, says those look good, grabs what he came for and leaves.

Taylor: “F—, what did you come in here for? Every time. Oh, duh — a Coke.”
Yash: “That’s exactly what I was thinking, because you can’t really decline.”
Taylor: “But she was like, oh, I feel like Chuk’s going to win next week. And I don’t feel like he was going to put either one of us up anyway.”
Yash: “Yeah, like for me, being in an alliance with them doesn’t necessarily—”
Taylor: “I think it benefits them more than it benefits us.”
Yash: “That’s what I’m saying.”
Taylor: “Because I feel like if they had to, they probably would put us up. And we feel the same way.”
Taylor: “Let’s just rock with it. But we know.”
Yash: “Yeah, I think Chuk’s a little naive where he thinks we are completely good with him.”
Taylor: “I think we both understand that we see through it.”
Taylor: “But for now, it’s great.”

3:32 pm — Yash and Taylor count the vote

Yash: “And then, for the vote, I heard people say, like, Haley wants Melody gone instead of Drew.”
Yash: “I think we get Drew gone. We have the numbers for it anyway.”
Yash: “I think Drew, main target. Melody, Lyric — ultimately, they’ll go with whatever everyone wants to do. Because none of them, to me, is someone I’m going to stick my neck out to get out now.”
Yash: “But I feel like that’s the sentiment. What are your thoughts? Have you heard shit?”
Taylor: “I kind of heard the same thing, and I feel the same way as you. That’s what the HOH wants. Let’s go for it.”
Taylor: “But that could just be a shield for the next few weeks. Because as long as Drew’s here, Drew’s going up. There’s a new person to continuously go up on the block for the next few weeks, because he’s there.”
Taylor: “But I think because people see the way Drew is, Drew is more likely to probably go out next week or something. So that’s one more week for us.”
Yash: “It is. That’s good, though.”

3:40 pm Mallory and Yash in the Storage room

Yash: “People have started to say, like, should we put out Melody instead of Drew?”
Mallory: “I’m not going to do that.”
Yash: “I’m like, no.”
Yash: “So that’s what I was kind of telling Taylor. I was just making sure, see if she heard anything. Because we have the numbers to keep Melody or Lyric — they’re safe.”
Yash: “Again — me, you, Taylor, Lala, Barrett. And we need one more.”
Mallory: “Yeah, I’m going to vote to keep Melody, though.”
Yash: “I agree.”
Mallory: “Do you know what it looks like between Lyric and Melody?”
Yash: “My thing is, it seems like Lyric’s going to stay. If people are considering Melody over Drew, to me that inherently tells me they’re going to keep Lyric over Melody.”
Mallory: “Okay, that’s what I thought too.”
Yash: “I think that’s what Haley wants, is why I say that. Because I talked to Chuk and that’s what he told me. He’s like, I talked to Haley and she brought it up.”
Yash: “But I also get the vibe Chuk kind of wants Drew out as well.”
Yash: “This is an interesting one.”
Mallory: “Yeah, do you know why they want Drew out?”
Yash: “I mean, I think he’s just kind of a loose screw.”
Yash: “Like, this room, that room, that room, this room, that room. All the time.”
Yash: “And I don’t know. I mean, I kind of see it, too.”
Mallory: “This game is hard. You can’t walk around too much, but you can’t not walk around enough. You can’t be good with everybody, but you can’t be good with nobody.”
Yash: “There’s no right way to do it. Which is the hard part.”

Where they actually stand:

Yash: “Because there’s so many different perspectives, there’s pros and cons to voting out everyone based on who you talk to.”
Yash: “But for this one, I’m kind of like — I think I would want Drew out. Between me and you.”
Mallory: “Yeah, between me and you, same. I’m closer with both of them.”
Yash: “When Melody asked me, in terms of campaign talk, I told her I want to keep Drew. Between you and Lyric, it’s a toss-up. Because I’m not going to tell her.”
Mallory: “It’s not looking good, yeah. I said the same thing. Like, maybe I’m down to keep Drew, but if it’s not where the votes are, I’m not tight enough with Drew to stick my neck out for him. Where with Melody, I am.”
Yash: “Yeah, exactly. I feel like out of those three, if I was you, I would feel comfortable with the girls more than— And with Drew, it’s like, I don’t even know where he’s at. Because he’s f—ing everywhere, all at once. So it’s hard to know.”
Yash: “Like, he’s — we’re cool. He’s my boy.”
Mallory: “That’s the thing about the Blockbuster. You can’t tell people that they might go home.”
Yash: “Because if they win and they stay, then it’s like — exactly.”
Yash: “And you just hear something different every time.”

Mallory: “I genuinely have no idea, but I’ve been telling people, between Melody and Lyric, I want no part of it. I’m just going to vote with everybody, because they’re both my friends.”
Mallory: “And even just them going back and watching this — I don’t want them to see me speaking out against either of them.”
Yash: “I think going back, no one’s going to look at that in a personal way.”
Mallory: “I mean, they might, if they go home this week and then see that this week I was campaigning to get them out.”
Yash: “But you had no choice. If someone has to go, your hands are tied — as opposed to if you were just close with one of them out of the three and then you’re campaigning against them. That’s a different story.”
Yash: “So I wouldn’t put that added pressure on yourself. That doesn’t benefit anyone.”
Mallory: “That’s true. But you’re right, there’s pros and cons to everybody.”

4:05 pm – Haley and Kamu, upstairs gym

Haley debriefs Kamu on Drew’s 90-minute visit to the HOH room.

Haley: “The moment you left, Drew’s been in my room. We’ve been talking this entire time.”
Haley: “He’s talking about Melody and Lyric. And I just told him, I said, we’re still 50-50 about who. But I was like, I want you to go out there and win it. Same thing I told you about the veto.”
Kamu: “Is he freaking out?”
Haley: “No, not so much. It was a really good conversation. He gave me a lot of reassurance about, like, oh, I understand why you did this.”
Haley: “But then he threw out — he goes, you know, Lyric, I’d be really surprised. I feel like he knows something, if Lyric wins, who she’s going to put up. It was kind of a weird conversation.”
Kamu: “What did he say specifically about who Lyric would put up?”
Haley: “He goes, I don’t see her putting up Lala, Taylor, or Barrett.”
Kamu: “Interesting. He could be saying that because he wants to keep Melody in, of course.”
Haley: “Well, I never said anything about Melody. And I was like, the only reason Melody is up — I told you at the beginning of the day I wasn’t going to touch her, and then she told me she’d put me up, so of course. That would be the easiest thing for me.”
Haley: “But he thinks that Melody said, if it’s me and you up there together, they’ll probably send you home. If it’s Drew and Melody up there, Drew will go home. Melody says to him.”
Kamu: “Melody told Drew that the house would send Drew home.”
Haley: “Over her. They were like, you’re more of a threat than I am. Why would they send me home? So I think that’s kind of gotten to his head. That’s where all of his drama is coming from.”

Haley: “And then he made a comment about you, me, and Chuk not really looking as close anymore. I was like, well, we really aren’t. Chuk and I came in both as a Western country thing. And I was like, yeah, we were all have-nots.”
Kamu: “Honestly, that’s perfect. That’s the first time I’ve heard really anybody say that — like, hey, you guys don’t look that close.”
Haley: “He’s like, I feel like this week you guys really have shown that you guys really aren’t that close.”
Kamu: “Good. Good job.”

Kamu reports his ten-second Devens update — and the new target order.

Kamu: “I saw Devens just briefly, for like two seconds. He was in the shower. I was like, hey, I think we’re leaning target A, Melody. Target B, Drew. If you’re cool with that.”
Kamu: “And he’s like, oh — what happened? And I was like, oh, we’ll talk later. That was literally our whole conversation.”
Kamu: “But he said, what happened? Which makes me wonder where he was at when the conversation ended upstairs. Where his mind was at regarding the votes last night.”
Haley: “I think we talked about — it makes sense to send Lyric, because the next couple are going to be physical.”
Kamu: “Oh, so that’s where he left off thinking. That Lyric was going. Got it. That makes sense.”
Haley: “But I do think it would be easy when everyone’s cooking. Angela would be the last to fill in. I think she’s going to be fine with whatever I tell her.”
Haley: “Kind of disperse a little bit when they’re cooking, because everyone’s going to be in there, and then we can talk real quick and clear it up and be good.”

They go looking for Devens and can’t find him.

Haley: “I don’t know where he’s at. He has to be in the DR. I checked every pod, everything. No, he’s not in there.”
Kamu: “He’s got to be in the DR. Or he’s in the bathroom.”
Haley: “Checked, not in there. But he just came from the top DR, so — maybe they changed the date of the power, and maybe he’s got a power. If he’s competing right now.”
Haley: “I’m convinced it’s probably not always that Friday.”
Kamu: “Maybe not. Did they say it’d be Friday? I don’t listen to the instructions very often. I know she said every week somebody would be competing. I guess it doesn’t necessarily have to be Friday.”

How the Melody plan started — Haley’s version.

Kamu: “Okay, so does he want Lyric? Is that where he’s at?”
Haley: “I don’t know. To be honest, I threw out that idea late last night, because everyone — like, Angela was like, I don’t want you to go home. And I’m like, if my only threat is Melody, why the f— is she just not going home, if you’re so concerned?”
Haley: “I was kind of frustrated talking. I was like, fine, I’ll f—ing — we’ll take her out. If that’s your only concern, that’s the worst, worst, worst case scenario.”
Haley: “And then Dee was like, wait, that’s a good idea. And then people were like, oh, okay, yeah. So I’m like — you motherf—ers.”
Kamu: “That’s what’s hard when nobody’s making any definitive decisions.”
Haley: “And that’s what worries me later on with you and I. Because we’re the only ones that say anything.”
Haley: “It was easy to coast last week when it was you and Devens. And now I think if somebody else wins it, they’re going to look to both of us. Because it’s like, I have the voice of the girls and you have the voice of the guys.”
Haley: “So then I’m like, maybe I’ll just wait. We can’t take turns, but maybe next week, just kind of sit back.”

Kamu’s logic on the split.

Kamu: “My thought process was, look, if we’re not going to bring her in as an ally and work with her, then we should take her out, because she is a threat. Either we’re working with her and she’s going to benefit our games because she’s a threat, or we’re not working with her and she’s going to harm our games because she’s a threat. That was my whole thought.”
Haley: “You just need to clear your name from that Lyric thing. That’s the only thing that concerns me with your standpoint.”
Kamu: “I’m down for whatever. I do think that if we are trying to keep Drew, we should split them up. Drew and Melody.”
Kamu: “There are pros and cons for all options. But if we do want to keep Drew, then I think it’s important that we take out Melody. If we keep Drew, I don’t think we should take out Lyric. If we keep Drew, I think we should take out Melody, so we split them up.”
Haley: “And it has nothing to do with the showmances — just because of the fact that he is the only other glue to why he would be doing this shit to us.”

Drew’s Mallory backtrack:

Haley: “He backtracked on his statement about Mallory. About all the stuff that she’s been saying.”
Kamu: “He did? What did he say?”
Haley: “He basically just said, she hasn’t been saying anything. So I was like, I do want to talk to her, see where her head’s at. Because I did put three of her friends up, you know? And then he was like, well, if you’re wondering, she’s never said anything about you — which is not what he said the other day.”
Haley: “It just makes me wonder who she’s actually talking to and not. He said that Mallory backtracked. But he was very quick to throw her name out, so.”
Kamu: “Well, you gotta remember, he’s trying to do everything that he can to make sure that he stays on her side and gains as much trust as possible.”

The door opens, and both freeze.

Haley: “That door opened. I just have to wait for that door to close.”
Haley: “I hate when I don’t hear the door twice.”
Kamu: “You took behind it? Behind the door?”
Haley: “Yeah, that’d be my ass. Hiding.”

On Barrett:

Haley: “I told Drew, I said, I want everyone to be on the same page, but I’m kind of avoiding conversation with Barrett right now.”
Kamu: “You know what you may want to try? See what Mallory’s been telling him. Not that he would even share, but I’m curious if he would provide any sort of insider information. Because if you’re like, dude, Barrett, where is her head at? I know you’re very close to her. If she won HOH, who would she target? Because there are different rumors circulating.”
Haley: “And then I think I might throw in, like, I’m trying to keep her safe with everybody so she’s not a constant target.”
Haley: “And I won’t tell him who I’m thinking. I’m saying it’s a 50-50. I want everyone to kind of talk later.”

Reading Drew’s campaign:

Haley: “But Drew just made it sound like she would come after people. Lyric would come after people.”
Kamu: “But he really wants Lyric gone over Melody. He’s trying to do everything to keep Melody in.”
Haley: “No, I know. It’s just weird gameplay to me.”
Kamu: “This is what got him in trouble in the first place. You can see he’s trying to push his agenda on things. But dude, that’s what’s getting you in trouble. I get it, but it’s like, bro, you really need to just chill right now and be like, hey, as long as I’m safe, I don’t care what happens.”
Haley: “Yeah, which I think today, that’s what he did. It was pretty cool. I’m not worried about it.”

Kamu: “All right, I’m going to go take the last cold shower, hopefully, of the season. Because hopefully there won’t be any more have-nots in the next couple weeks.”
Haley: “There’ll be two more have-nots. It’ll be fine. And then you can use my shower tomorrow if you want.”
Kamu: “Hey, good work.”
Haley: “You too.”

5:40 pm – Kamu and Devens, HOH room

Kamu catches Devens for the full version of the shower-door update.

Kamu: “You resting? You resting with your eyes open?”
Devens: “I would never.”
Kamu: “My bad, man. I wanted to come catch you real quick, if you’re cool talking now.”
Devens: “100%. What’s up, man?”
Kamu: “Last night I came in, Haley was like, hey—”
Devens: “Barrett and PQ?”
Kamu: “Yeah, Barrett and PQ. They’re hosting a podcast right now.”
Devens: “Oh, nice. It was pretty funny, actually. I was listening to it for a little bit.”

PQ is Pipe Queen — Mallory, the nickname Morgan gave her at the veto competition. It has stuck.

Devens: “Haley pulled me up here and she kind of gave me a rundown of what you guys were talking about. And it sounded like you guys were talking about possibly keeping Drew. That’s what she pitched.”
Kamu: “If people want to keep Drew, I’m on board for whatever. There are pros and cons with all three.”
Kamu: “But I said to Haley, I said, I think that if we keep Drew, then we should get rid of Melody over Lyric. Because I think that Melody is the glue that’s keeping him attached to that side of the house.”
Kamu: “Lyric is swearing she wants to work with us. And it actually wouldn’t make sense for her to come after us, for her long-term game. Maybe she takes one of us out this week, and then we all come after her again next week. It’d kind of be dumb for her to do that.”
Kamu: “So we’re saying maybe target A is Melody. Ideally, Drew takes himself off the block — cool, then we take out Melody if she’s sitting there next to Lyric. If Melody takes herself off the block, we take out Drew. That way we keep them separated. Because I think the only thing with Drew is he finds himself in the middle — not because of Mallory and Lyric, but because of Melody. What are your thoughts on that?”

Devens: “That’s where I was the whole time. Leading up to last night — coming in here last night, it’s like, Drew was the target. Because he was just so messy. He was hard to deal with, and we couldn’t trust him.”
Devens: “But then, as Haley was going through it — it was basically like, if Melody wins random HOH, Plinko or whatever, she’s going to blow up the house. She don’t care about nothing.”
Kamu: “Totally.”
Devens: “And then we were going to the memory wall. If Lyric wins — and this is not me saying it, this was all of us — I don’t think she’d put up any of us as the original noms. But I think she almost would have to put up someone as a replacement nom, if it came to that. But that’s a lot of steps. Whereas Mallory, or Melody — would come out swinging right away.”
Devens: “And then Haley, kind of out of nowhere, was like — Drew wouldn’t. He’s the only one who wouldn’t come after any of us. He wouldn’t put any of us up in any of those situations. And we’re all like, that’s true.”
Devens: “We can’t trust him, but he’s almost more with us now than before he was a pawn. Which was weird. I don’t know if he got whipped into shape or if he just feels like he’s doing it for the team.”
Kamu: “I think that he is in a position where he has to trust us. Especially if he does not win the Blockbuster.”
Kamu: “He told me yesterday, he’s like, dude, selfishly, I’d love to keep Melody over Lyric. He goes, but dude, my game is in all of your guys’ hands. Whoever you guys end up evicting, as long as it’s not me, I’m cool.”
Kamu: “Before, man, he was so comfortable. He’s with Melody on that side of the house. Now I think he’s like, dude, I don’t care what happens. Just keep me safe. I’ll do whatever you guys need me to do.”

They work the scenarios.

Devens: “Part of me is like, it’s Drew vs Lyric, you know, duh. But that’s only even a question if Melody wins the Blockbuster, which is so low probability it’s like I don’t even want to get caught up on it. It’s almost like we made such a big deal out of the Mallory vote that never even happened.”
Devens: “You know what? If Melody wins the Blockbuster — sorry, Drew, that sucks. What are the odds that happens? But either other way, it’s Melody going.”
Kamu: “So I think either way, we’re at the point where it’s like, okay, we just got to split them up.”
Kamu: “If Drew is sitting up there next to Lyric, it’s still one of those things where Drew has done a lot of shady things, man, where we still can justify sending him home. Because of his gameplay. I don’t think it would be a crazy move to send him home.”
Kamu: “Because dude, let’s say we were to evict Lyric. Well, now you still have Melody and Drew together going into next week. And he’s still not going to want to vote against her. There can still be weirdness, just like we saw last week when he was playing right in the middle.”
Kamu: “My thought process is, it’s probably going to be Lyric who wins. I wouldn’t be surprised. She’s done the best in comps overall. And then we send home Melody, and then we show Drew that he can trust us, and now he’s on board with us even more. Are you cool with that?”
Devens: “Yeah, I’m fine with it. Until last night I was, I think, same as you — love Drew, really care about Drew, but dude, how do I play with you? And then Haley was basically, as she was just going through it, she’s like, Drew’s never coming for us. And it was like — that’s a good point.”
Kamu: “If we get rid of Melody, his loyalty is 100% with us. There’s no more torn anymore.”
Devens: “Exactly. If Melody’s still here, he’s gonna have trouble putting people on the block.”
Devens: “I’d be less worried about his noms than Lyric’s.”
Kamu: “Well, the thing is — would he even try to win HOH, though? That’s the question.”
Devens: “Exactly. And I don’t know that she would either. Because she’s made promises to everybody.”

The deal is set.

Kamu: “So we go target A, Melody. If Melody’s up there, she’s gone.”
Devens: “The only way it’s not Melody is if Melody wins. And then we vote out Drew. Is that right?”
Kamu: “Yeah. Sounds good to me.”
Devens: “That works for me.”
Kamu: “Perfect.”
Devens: “And then we go win it next week and just keep this momentum going.”

On Yash:

Kamu: “How are you feeling about Yash? You still good with Yash?”
Devens: “I feel good about Yash.”
Kamu: “Me too. I think his druthers are Drew. I think he’s all in with us.”
Kamu: “I think what we may have to do, though, a little bit, is we might have to protect him from Angela.”
Devens: “Yeah, Angela got it in her head.”
Kamu: “Because Chuk.”
Devens: “What happened there?”
Kamu: “I don’t know. I was talking to Haley about that and I was like, dude, that caught me off guard. I have a pretty good relationship with Yash.”
Kamu: “In fact, Yash told me — this is true — he goes, dude, if I won HOH, I’d put up Mallory, Lala, and whoever stays between Lyric and Melody.”
Devens: “That’s basically what he was talking about. I remember when he said it, it was like, ideal. It was like, oh shit.”
Devens: “Well, I’d be cool with Yash winning.”
Kamu: “Same with me. Honestly, let’s say there’s a case where — depending on how the HOH comp works, the structure of it — dude, if I get in a position where I could throw it to Yash, I will.”
Kamu: “Because dude, I already have enough blood on my hands with Mallory specifically. If there’s somebody else who wants to take a shot at Mallory, be my guest. Because if she ends up winning power, it’s like, now I’m not the bad guy anymore.”
Devens: “And it brings him even closer to us if he has to declare that. Because everyone loves Yash — why wouldn’t you?”
Kamu: “We’ve bloodied ourselves up a little bit.”
Devens: “It brings him closer to us. We trust him.”
Kamu: “And it would also make Angela trust him, because he wouldn’t be putting her up. So it’d be like a win across the board.”
Kamu: “But yeah, I’ve reassured Angela a couple of times. I’m like, Yash has never once mentioned your name to me, ever.”
Devens: “Me either.”
Kamu: “So when that happened, I was a little bit caught off guard.”
Devens: “It was super weird.”

Kamu: “So — Melody A, Drew B. Sick.”
Kamu: “I just wanted to catch you, because, you know — I appreciate that.”
Devens: “I was waiting for someone to tell me what happened last night. But I was like, we got all day. No one’s in a hurry.”
Kamu: “We got tomorrow too. No, thank you for catching me. I didn’t want to flip out about it. I was like, honestly — it’s kind of like, hell yeah. That sounds great. Perfect. All right, man. Sounds good.”

6:37 pm Mallory, Drew, Melody and Berrett’s podcast continues

Where the alliances stand — Week 4

• The Tool Shed — Haley, Kamu, Chuk, Dee, Devens, Angela, Barrett, Drew
  The eight-person mega alliance, still official, still meeting. The catch: seven of them are using it to blindside the eighth. Drew trusts it completely. Barrett is in it and kept in the dark.
• The Red Corner — Kamu, Chuk, Haley
  The trio actually steering this HOH. They hide how close they are — Haley calls it “keeping up with the storylines” — and they’ve run the week: the nominations, the veto plan, the Lyric renom.
• The Icons — Dee, Devens, Angela
  The counter-trio, and the house’s quietest power. Dee and Devens are the strongest duo in the game; Angela is their third. They planted the Drew target in the Red Corner’s heads, then spent Tuesday debating whether to un-plant it. Devens is sitting on the Diamond Power of Veto, and only Dee knows.
• The Littles — Melody, Mallory, Lyric
  The other side’s trio, and it’s fraying. Lyric relayed Mallory’s plans to the Red Corner, Melody seeded the story that Lyric sold them out, and all three are nominees or recent nominees.

The pairs that matter

• Dee and Devens — ride or die, and everyone knows it.
• Drew and Barrett — real friends, which is exactly why Barrett is being kept in the dark.
• Mallory and Barrett — the almost-showmance.
• Kamu and Lyric — not an alliance. A recruitment project, and half the reason this week nearly split the Tool Shed.

And the middle: Yash is playing both sides better than anyone, by Devens’ own read. Taylor and Lala are a family unit with no alliance to anyone — which is exactly why Taylor keeps landing on the block.