Spoilage – “Part of me last night was like, it would be really funny a dream come true if I got to put all three of the icons up .”

10:44 AM — Barrett and Devens (HOH)

The one-on-ones start. Barrett is in the Head of Household room in a hoodie and a fresh bandana, going through his fridge, and Devens is the first one up the stairs.

Devens: “Hey, buddy. You all alone? Do you want to be all alone?”
Barrett: “No, you’re good. Come in here. I was just perusing my fridge and putting on my hoodie and the bandana.”
Devens: “Ooh, I like your new bandana. Your bandana collection is strong.”
Barrett: “Yeah, they gave me a good color.”

Then the reason he came up.

Devens: “Nominations today, according to the TV now.”
Barrett: “Did they just put it on there?”
Devens: “Yeah. Did you know you have to do that?”
Barrett: “I figured I had to do that today. That’s what I was worried about.”
Devens: “I just wanted to check in and see where your head’s at, or if there’s anything I could do for you. Other than volunteer myself.”
Barrett: “Yeah, I figured we weren’t going to get two weeks of that in a row from you.”

Barrett gives him the version he will give everybody this morning: three nominations, eight people, no good answer.

Barrett: “I don’t know where my head’s at right now. I want to talk to everybody. With eight people left in the game, I know with three people that I still have to put up, it’s almost half the house. I’m now nominating over half of the house, in terms of my options.”
Barrett: “Whatever decision I got to make, it’s going to piss off some people. And I have to just kind of live with that.”

He asks for the temperature downstairs. Devens gives it to him, then names what his own side is hoping for.

Devens: “I think the vibe is just kind of wait and see, it seems like. I don’t know what’s going on through, like, the Taylors and Yashes and Melodies of the house. We don’t talk about that.”
Devens: “Obviously, I think the Crossovers are hoping it goes three — those three.”

Dee puts her head in at 10:47 and gets waved off with a promise of a turn later. Then Devens asks the direct question.

Devens: “Is it strictly a Melody conflict, or are you thinking bigger?”
Barrett: “I can’t say I’m even sure of that yet. It is partly a Melody conflict. I don’t know what Drew is wanting either so far.”

What he does raise is last week — being the one the Icons stopped trusting.

Barrett: “I did feel a bit of a weird vibe last week — not with you. I felt like with the other two, the mistrust in me was kind of disappointing. And I didn’t enjoy that feeling.”
Devens: “And I tried to be open about it.”
Barrett: “No, you were so open about it.”
Devens: “Too open about it?”
Barrett: “Yeah.”
Barrett: “It was disappointing a little bit just from the sense that I don’t feel like I do that to y’all.”

Then the pitch he will repeat in every room this morning — the word “selfish,” with a precedent attached to it.

Barrett: “I do also have to think about my own game right now, because there are only four weeks left. I know this is probably the last week we’re actually going to have three people to nominate, and going into a double.”
Barrett: “I would probably not be playing the best game if I didn’t want to be a little bit selfish in my decision making — in the same way that when Dee was HOH, she did a similar thing.”

And then the two questions that matter, asked plainly, and answered.

Devens: “Am I in pretty good shape, or is that up in the air too? And understanding that that could be the case.”
Barrett: “I think you’re in pretty good shape.”
Devens: “Okay. Oh, good, good. That feels great.”

Devens: “I know we’ve been talking about Yash being the main target. Is that still how you’re feeling, or is it just everything’s up in the air until you talk with everybody?”
Barrett: “No, I think Yash is a great competitor and probably the best competitor left in the game, so I would not… Yeah, I absolutely am still there.”

Devens leaves satisfied, and volunteers to stay out of it.

Devens: “I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down, and I’m happy to just let you feel it out. I would love to be kept in the loop, but I also understand — you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Devens: “I’m not gonna deliver this message. I’m going to let you deliver this message.”
Barrett: “Okay, I can do that.”
Devens: “Unless you want me to say things.”
Barrett: “No, I’d rather you not. Just say he’s talking to everybody.”

It ends the way every Barrett conversation ends.

Devens: “There’s no such thing as an easy week. We’ve made that clear.”
Barrett: “No, and I don’t think I was given the easiest week by any means, but I’m happy to be up here with that said anyway. It’s a s—ty time to make a decision. I wish there were two nominees right now.”
Devens: “It would make things easier.”
Devens: “You know I love you.”
Barrett: “I love you too, man.”
Devens: “Congratulations. Now you get to deal with the unfun part of things.”
Barrett: “Yeah, I’m already feeling that.”

---

10:54 AM — Barrett and Taylor (HOH)

Taylor comes up next, and she is not okay.

Taylor: “It’s so weird talking to you. Not in a bad way, but in a good way.”
Barrett: “You doing all right?”
Taylor: “No, but it’s okay. I’m sad. That’s it, but that’s the game. If anybody knows how this feels, it would be you with Mallory.”
Barrett: “Oh, for sure.”
Taylor: “It’s not that fun. I’m just exhausted, you know, just always on the freaking block and stuff.”

Then she stops being sad and starts playing, and what comes out is the sharpest strategic pitch anybody makes all morning.

Taylor: “I’m scared. Okay, so game-wise — I don’t know who your target is. But if it’s one of the Icons, the best bet, period, game-wise, is to keep me, Melody and Yash off the block. Because that’s the only way to guarantee that you have those three votes to get out whoever you vote out. And I’m sure you know that.”

And then she says the part nobody else in the house would dare say to him: put up Drew.

Taylor: “And I know Drew’s your guy, and I’m not throwing Drew under the bus in no way. But if you were to put up two Icons and Drew, you can tell Drew you’re only putting Drew up to be proactive, in the idea that he might win the veto. And that way he could only use it on himself instead of pulling one of them off.”
Taylor: “And then it just messes up the idea of having those three votes to get out whoever your target is. So that’s game-wise that I could think of.”
Barrett: “No, that’s kind of where my head was at. If I really want to guarantee that, it’s going to have to be…”
Taylor: “Those four.”
Barrett: “Yeah. All week.”
Taylor: “Renom and all.”

He asks her who she wants gone. She does not name a person — she names a group, and gives the reason.

Barrett: “Is there anybody you would like to be the preferred target? This stays absolutely between us.”
Taylor: “Not necessarily a target, but I just feel like maybe an Icon. Simply because I feel like if the Icons get any further, they’re winning the game, because they have the numbers.”
Taylor: “And they’re more likely to take each other to the final two than one of us. Only because they’re probably already under the impression that they have a better chance winning next to each other than one of us.”
Barrett: “Exactly.”
Taylor: “Simply because we’ll be like a bitter jury.”

The conversation turns to Thursday’s vote and the two people who tried to keep Lala. Taylor has made her peace with it, and worked out half of it on her own.

Taylor: “I told myself I wasn’t going to drive myself crazy over it, because I did not want her to go to jury with a zero. So I’m happy that she got at least one, which I know one was at least Angela.”
Taylor: “The other one could have been somebody trying to be messy, or somebody simply thinking the same thing as me — let me at least give her one vote. And I still appreciate it, because it didn’t change anything. And that’s my girl.”
Taylor: “Was it you?”
Barrett: “No. I voted Lala. I came out in the hallway and Yash was like, did you vote Lala? And I’m like, yep. And he’s like, all right. Then he walked in.”

She has worked out that one of Lala’s two votes was Angela. She has not worked out that the other one was Yash, who is currently telling Devens he voted the other way.

Barrett closes with the same line he has been using all morning, and Taylor hands it back to him sharpened.

Barrett: “I might nominate over half the house this week, which is crazy. So part of me is like, damn, that sucks, but also — I’m sorry ahead of time, everybody.”
Taylor: “Not show your cards, but show your cards — your rationale is just, I have a target, and the only way to get this particular target out is to keep these three off the block, because those are my votes.”
Barrett: “That’s it. There’s about as many votes as there are people on the block. So that’s never going to be easy. But my decision is going to be just what’s going to be best for my game.”
Taylor: “And even if that’s me, that’s fine. But I’m just thinking about you.”

Then the warmest exit of the morning, and a joke Barrett does not have an answer for.

Taylor: “Once again, I tell you all the time, I admire you. I think you’re amazing. I’ve said nothing but great things about you. I know I’m quiet, but I wanted to be a person for you, so I have no ill will towards you.”
Barrett: “I hope you’re doing okay. I know you’re missing Lala.”
Taylor: “I know. Thank you, babe. I appreciate you so much.”
Taylor: “Oh, you just totally smell so good.”
Barrett: “Jesus. I didn’t even put anything on.”
Taylor: “That’s just your natural pheromones, maybe.”
Barrett: “Please.”

---

11:01 AM — Barrett and Yash (HOH)

Yash comes up offering to go fetch Dee, and stays instead.

Barrett: “It’s so weird talking to people like this after two months.”
Yash: “You’re the host now.”
Barrett: “How are the vibes down there?”
Yash: “Quiet. Everyone’s just kind of in their bed, just hanging out.”

Barrett runs the selfish pitch again. Yash does not just accept it — he endorses it.

Barrett: “I keep saying, damn, I might have to nominate over half the house anyway this week. I hope people understand that a little bit. No decision’s going to be easy. And on top of that, we got eight people left. I’m trying to do what’s best for my game, too.”
Yash: “Yeah, I think you have to, bro. Also, you have good relations with everyone, bro. I don’t think people will take it personally.”

Then Barrett asks the question he asked Taylor, and gets a much more specific answer.

Barrett: “Is there anybody that you would prefer to see out of the house this week?”
Yash: “It’s either Dee or Devens. I don’t have a preference as to who, but we know they run it together, bro.”
Barrett: “That’s the thing.”
Yash: “They run it together.”
Barrett: “So I just think separating that is good.”

And then Yash hands Barrett the thing that actually moves him — a quote from Devens, from the week Mallory went home.

Yash: “They’re such good game players. You know that. They were ruthless with how they did Mallory, bro. So I’m like, f— that.”
Barrett: “I don’t forget that s—.”
Yash: “And even with you, bro — like what I was telling you before, they looked at you as a calculated risk there. Like when Devens was like, if she’s his number one, it’s all the more reason to get her out. So that Barrett pulls closer to him, he said.”
Barrett: “Yo. Oh, he said that?”

Yash walks him through where it came from.

Yash: “Remember I was telling you when me and Devens were in the bathroom talking about Mallory versus Drew, and he was like, yeah, I have my thing with Drew, so I definitely want to keep him, even though it’s not what you would like.”
Yash: “And then I was like, do you think Barrett would be mad about voting out Mallory? And he was like — yeah, but if they’re that close, it’s all the more reason to get out Mallory, because then Barrett will get closer to me.”
Yash: “In my head, I was like, damn, bro. Damn.”
Barrett: “Pulling me in.”

Yash has a phrase ready for it.

Barrett: “You ever seen Devens when he’s pissed?”
Yash: “He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I know that for a fact. You can see it on his face when the flip switches. Even yesterday during the comp, it came out — it was like, this is bulls—.”
Yash: “That’s how he looked when he was talking about voting out Mallory, which just showed me — I was like, bro, he really is ruthless.”
Yash: “So I think him leaving, him or Dee leaving, I’d be comfortable with.”
Barrett: “Okay. Cool. Noted.”

Barrett gives him something back, and it is the closest he comes all morning to saying what he told the cameras at two in the morning.

Barrett: “The Icons have felt decent with me. Decent to good. I feel like they’re my friends. Everybody in this house is my friends. That’s why this week f—ing sucks too.”
Barrett: “We lived with each other for two months and now we’re gonna be like… I know nothing’s gonna feel good. But I do have to put all that aside. You and me are trying to get to the end of this game.”
Yash: “Let’s f—ing go, bro.”
Barrett: “I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet exactly. But I don’t think it’ll be the easy route, by any means.”

Yash leaves with an offer and a caveat.

Yash: “Do what you gotta do, bro. You know I’m ass in the morning, so I got to think. Let’s do this s—, Barrett. Let’s go.”
Yash: “And you know I’ll fight for your ass in this veto. You know that. If I’m not nominated, of course.”

---

11:10 AM — Barrett and Dee (HOH)

Dee comes up last, and this one turns into the biggest conversation of the season so far. It starts with a bath bomb.

Dee: “Am I in trouble? Am I good?”
Barrett: “I think you’re good. I mean, I’m still figuring s— out. Got to nominate nearly half the house.”
Dee: “Ooh, I like your bath bomb.”
Barrett: “My bath bomb? I ain’t gonna use that thing.”
Dee: “Can I have it?”
Barrett: “Yeah. It’s all you.”

She gives him the read on downstairs in one word.

Barrett: “How’s the vibe out there?”
Dee: “Eerie. Well, because there’s a little bit of people, so everybody’s spread out. Angela’s in the diary room and everyone’s just spread out.”

Barrett runs the pitch. Dee does not just accept it — she pushes him further than he was going.

Barrett: “My pitch was really just, one, there’s not that many people left; two, I am trying to be a little bit selfish with my HOH.”
Dee: “As you should. As you f—ing should.”
Dee: “Barrett, I’m going to support whatever you do. As long as it’s not me. But you get what I’m saying.”
Dee: “Just try to keep your eyes open in order of priority, and be selfish for sure. Don’t worry about Crossovers strong. I know you want to, but we all want to in the bottom of our hearts — do what you gotta do.”

And then she tells him something she has been sitting on since Week 8.

Dee: “I will tell you one thing, though. He should probably go up for your game, because there’s a lot less people left. And he can’t not only put me up — he can’t put Devens or Angela up either.”
Barrett: “What do you mean?”
Dee: “He can’t put the three of us up. It’s not just me.”
Barrett: “How?”
Dee: “We were all in the room when it happened.”
Barrett: “All of you?”

She lays out the terms of the bribe she paid Yash — and they are wider than Barrett understood.

Dee: “When the power was done, the four of us were in the room. And that was the agreement between everybody — to keep us all safe. So if Yash wins the next HOH, the only people he can put up are you, Drew…”
Dee: “Don’t even tell Drew, nobody, please. I’m telling you this for your game, and I’m willing to vote him out. He cannot put up the three of us. As long as it mathematically makes sense, obviously.”

Barrett tries to work out what he is actually being told, and how far a bribe can reach.

Barrett: “So you made a deal, but he made it specifically with you…”
Dee: “It only could be with me, because I’m the one with the power.”
Barrett: “Okay, but he had an agreement with all three of you.”
Dee: “Yes.”
Barrett: “What is this power?”
Dee: “A f—ing bribe for $5,000. That’s all it is.”
Barrett: “But to not be able to put three people up?”
Dee: “Yeah. It could be whatever you discuss.”

He immediately starts testing the edges of it, which is the most Barrett thing in the conversation.

Barrett: “There’s no limitations on that? Like, could you have a group of seven people and be like, you can’t put any of us up?”
Dee: “I don’t know how. I don’t think it could be seven people. I think it was what happened in that room with the four of us. That’s what was discussed.”
Barrett: “Okay. Interesting.”
Barrett: “And Devens and Angela were never going to say this.”
Dee: “I don’t know, but the numbers are dwindling down, and that’s what I’m letting you know now.”

Then Barrett does the arithmetic on what it means for him, and it is not good. If Yash wins the next Head of Household, the only people he is free to nominate are Barrett, Drew, Melody and Taylor.

Barrett: “Well, there’s nothing I can do about that, so that’s whatever. Any other deals that have been made with Yash, apparently, that I need to know about?”
Dee: “No, no, no.”
Barrett: “Like, damn.”

And then the question that reframes an entire week of feeds.

Barrett: “So when you told Devens in the room here that you bribed Yash, and he reacted like that — that was just him acting.”

Dee explains why she is breaking it now, and what it costs her.

Dee: “Look, I was never willing to say it because of, obviously, my loyalties. But because there are less people, there’s a world where Yash wins an HOH. And you would go up.”
Dee: “And to be honest, I’m not that worried about Drew. Like, if Drew goes up — and you know that, I love him with my whole heart.”
Barrett: “That’s really good to know, though. Really a little bit upsetting to know.”
Dee: “But it’s better if you know now than later. There’s nobody left.”
Dee: “And that’s putting my name on the line too. I’m doing this so you can know I’m willing to lose him. If that means that we get further.”

She starts crying, and what she is upset about is not the game.

Dee: “I just also feel bad for saying that, too. You get what I’m saying? Because it puts Angela and Devens in a bad position.”
Barrett: “No. No, it doesn’t.”
Dee: “F—, I don’t want anyone to see me cry. They’re going to think I’m, like — I don’t know.”
Dee: “Just do what you got to do and I’m going to support you. No matter who it is, I’m going to support you. I’m going to be sad about it, because now everybody’s left. I like everybody.”

Barrett says the thing he has been circling since two in the morning.

Barrett: “It’s not like — I almost wish I had vendettas against people in this house, but I just don’t.”
Barrett: “Nobody’s face going on the memory wall at this point feels like I got you. I love everyone in here.”

And then, before she goes, one more warning — about Drew.

Dee: “Just be careful with Drew. Don’t put him up, but I’m just saying. Just because the s— I hear, I’m like, bro, if you’re telling me this about Barrett, what the f— are you saying about me?”
Barrett: “Yeah, what is it? Is there anything else that he said?”
Dee: “No, just that. And I don’t know if he actually means that. That’s up to you to know. But he did say that.”
Barrett: “Of course. He tells me the opposite.”

The rest is the softest half hour of the day. Barrett is still working through the letter from his mother, and it takes them somewhere unexpected.

Dee: “And you needed the letter from your mom.”
Barrett: “Yeah, I’m gonna read it more today.”
Dee: “Is your grandma alive?”
Barrett: “No. She passed a few years ago.”
Dee: “That’s what your mom said in the letter.”
Barrett: “Yeah. Every year I tried to get her into Big Brother, because I’d be staying at her house and she just wouldn’t understand anything that was happening. But she’d be like, I love that you love it. She’d be in the room just on her iPad while I was watching.”

She had her own show.

Barrett: “She was big into the soap opera Bold and the Beautiful, also on CBS. And then random people would cameo sometimes on there.”
Dee: “What the hell? Maybe we’ll go on it. Even though I’ve never f—ing seen it. But that would be such jokes to do that.”
Barrett: “Mallory would probably go on it. She’d probably be holding pipes or some s— in some episode. I could just see her doing that.”

He goes back through the photos — nieces and nephews, and one he had forgotten about entirely.

Barrett: “That’s the best picture. I had literally forgotten about that. My nieces and nephews. They literally look at me as a giant.”
Barrett: “Yeah, I don’t even know what she looks like right now.”
Dee: “That’s what Angela was saying yesterday — that she has forgotten her grandson’s face. Because they change so quick.”

Barrett is already rationing the HOH basket.

Barrett: “I’m saving one of these wines for you.”
Dee: “Please save it, because I can’t have it. I’ll have it Wednesday.”
Barrett: “You and Melody as the wine drinkers, definitely keep one. I’m keeping one each for you. Because I don’t need all that s—.”

Which brings them to the reason Dee cannot have it until Wednesday — and the pick she is still annoyed about.

Dee: “Yo, f—, he’s not volunteering.”
Barrett: “What the f— was that? He literally was confident as hell about it, too. He’s like, I’m not doing that s—. I ain’t volunteering for that.”
Dee: “I should have f—ing picked him. I feel like a dumbass.”
Dee: “Trust — when I was there and it was the have-nots, they’re like, three people. I’m like, guys, make it easy on me.”

She asks what he needs. He gives the answer of a man who has not slept much.

Dee: “Do you need anything from me?”
Barrett: “Support, advice, laughter. No, you got me all those things already.”
Barrett: “I’ve been up here while you were here, two separate weeks. So seeing the stress in your eyes was bad but helpful at the same time, coming up here.”

And there is one thing about the timing he is grateful for.

Barrett: “Part of me is also glad that we’re at the jury part already. So it’s like, I don’t feel like I’m crushing someone’s dream. It’s not like, no, you could have been into this — you get to decide at least who wins.”
Dee: “Yeah, right. It’s not as bad.”

She asks for one thing on the way out.

Dee: “And I trust that that goes nowhere.”
Barrett: “It won’t. Nowhere.”
Dee: “Nowhere? Forever?”
Dee: “And like your mom said — trust your gut. Do whatever you think is right for you. No one can be mad at you for it.”

She offers to send up whoever he wants next. He picks the one person who has not been up yet.

Barrett: “I keep seeing Drew walk around. I guess just if you see him.”

---

12:24 PM — Barrett and Melody (HOH)

The last one-on-one of the morning, and the only one where Barrett is not managing anybody. He opens by asking Melody what she wants.

Barrett: “I guess I just want to know — you’re still thinking your targets, if you had an ideal nom, would just be all three.”
Melody: “Yeah. You already know where I stand with them. And I know that all three of them would put me up. It’s just the fact of it all.”

Then she does the vote math, and it is the clearest anybody has put it all day.

Melody: “The hard part is you need three votes to stay. And if Yash or Taylor are sitting next to an Icon, Drew and the two other Icons would vote to keep the Icon.”
Melody: “And then that dwindles down my chances, of course. But I know you’re HOH, so you should do what’s best for you, that you think is gonna take you farther.”

Barrett gives her the reasoning he has now given four people.

Barrett: “In my mind, I want an Icon to go this week, and if it’s not an Icon that can go, to be honest, I probably would put Yash up. Just because he is the best competitor at this point.”
Melody: “Yeah, 100 percent he is.”
Barrett: “And the only way that would guarantee either of those scenarios happens is if I put all three of them up at once. Because the last thing I want is two Icons to go up, and the other gets chosen for the veto, wins…”

---

Melody has one piece of information about Devens that Barrett had not heard, and it lands.

Barrett: “I love Devens, too, but if I’m putting up two other Icons, I might as well — my relationship with Devens is, like, he would definitely put me up at that point.”
Melody: “Well, the thing is, Devens, the whole f—ing time he was trying not to be renom’d, was telling Drew to put you up.”
Barrett: “It’s interesting. Drew was, like — he just kept telling him not to put me up, apparently, and to put you up.”
Melody: “Who, Devens? That’s what Drew said?”
Barrett: “That’s what Drew said.”

Which brings them to the reason Drew will not touch him.

Barrett: “Devens is like a father figure for Drew.”
Melody: “And not in a mean way. Just simply stating. I can tell — I know the way that they interact with each other. That’s a father figure for Drew. It would really be sad for him.”
Melody: “But at the end of the day — there’s no way that Dee and Devens aren’t in a final two together.”
Barrett: “No way the Icons aren’t in a final three together.”
Melody: “So I feel like Drew thinks that he’s always going to be safe with Devens. But he’s not. He’s not.”

Melody’s read on what Devens does the moment the numbers allow it does not survive the transcript intact, but Barrett’s answer does — he invokes the Survivor résumés, then widens it to the whole trio.

Barrett: “We’re dealing with, like, a guy who does hijinks on Survivor for sport, and then literally a Survivor winner.”

Melody has the same conflict everybody has about him.

Melody: “I love Devens, and I think he’s playing a great f—ing game, and that’s the problem. This would be really fun to watch at home, but I’m here.”
Melody: “Like, if all three Icons stay this week still… dude.”
Barrett: “What are we doing?”
Melody: “What are we doing? The chances of them making the final three together are extremely high if one of them doesn’t go home this week. Like, one of them has to go.”

Barrett’s case for the Icons being a bloc rather than three people goes back to Week 3, when Devens spent the Diamond Power of Veto on Dee. His point: nobody burns a power like that on somebody they are not tied to.

Barrett: “Yeah, believe me — you’re preaching to the choir.”
Melody: “But obviously, whatever you do, I’ll back you up. As long as it’s not super buffoonery.”
Barrett: “I appreciate you. It’s not going to be buffoonery, I promise.”

---

Barrett reports on Angela’s visit, which he did not find convincing. She came in wired and led with warmth.

Barrett: “She was like, so excited you won, because I know I’m safe with you. That was her tactic. Just being like, and I feel so good. I just feel so good about us.”
Melody: “You’re like, damn, that’s crazy, because y’all was really sketching last week.”
Barrett: “Yeah. Y’all really were loving me.”

He tells her where Drew landed, and Melody reduces the whole week to a binary.

Barrett: “Drew seemed to be kind of in the middle ground on it, where he’s like, yeah, put them all up — but, like, Devens. And I was like, dude — if I’m pissing one of them off, I’m practically pissing all three of them off.”
Melody: “If you put two of them up and, like, Yash — yes. But at that point, you’ve just pissed off Taylor and Yash, and you’ve pissed off the Icons.”
Melody: “There’s no winning, obviously. But it’s like, you either put up Taylor, Yash and, like, f—ing me — or you put up the three Icons. Might as well just f—ing go for whatever it is.”
Barrett: “There’s no middle ground, really, for any of that s—.”

---

Melody has already gone and asked Drew the question Barrett has been circling all morning.

Melody: “I was trying to ask Drew — I was like, if you play in the veto, what are you going to do with Barrett’s nominations? And he was like, well, it depends on who’s on the block. But then he was like, ultimately, obviously I would just ask Barrett what he wanted. He’s the HOH.”
Barrett: “He said he’d pretty much use it on Devens.”
Melody: “Yeah. And you know he would. Which is also concerning, because — like, what the f—? Like, why?”
Barrett: “Because he thinks Devens will drag him to the end.”

Melody thinks Drew has that exactly backwards, and she has a theory about what Devens actually wants.

Melody: “Devens wants to lose to someone who is giving him a run for his money, if that makes sense. If he’s gonna lose to anybody, he wants to lose to Dee.”

And here is the part of Barrett’s motive he has now said out loud twice in twelve hours.

Barrett: “I’m being so petty about this, partly, in my mind too. Because I’m like — I cannot, I do not want a Survivor player to win this game.”
Melody: “No, I don’t either. I do not want a Survivor player to win Big Brother either. Especially not on a season that we’re on.”
Barrett: “We’ve gone long enough in this game with all three of these Icons.”

Melody’s frustration is not really with the Icons at all.

Melody: “Devens is playing a great game. He’s only touched the block one f—ing time, which was last week as a f—ing renom.”
Melody: “Drew just bothers me a lot with the Devens thing, I guess. It baffles me, because I’m like — are you dumb?”
Melody: “Drew probably does think that Devens will take him pretty far. But with the numbers dwindling down like this, that’s only a guarantee for what, maybe two more weeks? Maybe three. Because me, Yash and Taylor — and then boom, it’s you and Drew.”
Barrett: “You already have a huge target on your back, dude. Yash and Taylor do not f— with you.”
Melody: “You’re a part of the Icons now, to them.”

Neither of them can work out what Drew is actually playing for.

Barrett: “I don’t know what he wants at the end of all this.”
Melody: “I don’t either. And I truly just don’t trust anything that he does say.”
Melody: “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this, too. Do we want FAP to go to the end together? Like, what are we doing? Because we should all probably figure that out.”

Barrett’s answer is that the nominations are supposed to do that work for him.

Barrett: “I’m hoping this breaks the seal for him a little bit — me putting them up and going after them. Like I’m saying, I am not f—ing with this anymore. You can choose whether to f— with it if you want to.”
Barrett: “Yash was saying he’d want either Dee or Devens to go this week. I don’t mind that.”
Melody: “I don’t either.”

---

Then Barrett tells her what he admitted to Drew yesterday.

Barrett: “Drew asked me yesterday if I would have voted Devens out if he was sitting there. I went ahead and was like, yeah, I would have.”
Melody: “Oh, you told him?”
Barrett: “I went ahead and told him I would.”
Melody: “What did he say?”
Barrett: “He was like, I kind of was wondering if that would happen, because it just seemed like too good of an opportunity. And I saw you whispering with Melody about something, and I was like, okay.”
Barrett: “But I don’t know if he’ll tell Devens that.”

Barrett’s answer to that risk is the opposite of caution — if it gets back to Devens, that is one more reason to put him up. Melody’s worry is that it will.

Melody: “That’s another issue — I feel like Drew repeats everything back to Devens, because they have a father-son relationship. I’m not even trying to be funny. I know that Drew looks at Devens as a father figure. He just does. I can tell.”
Melody: “And I think it’s sweet, and it’s awesome. But for only so long in this game. I feel like Drew is just very… rose-coloured glasses with Devens.”
Barrett: “That’s part of Devens’ aura. He’s good at that s—.”

And then Barrett retells his own morning conversation with Devens — and the version he gives Melody is not quite the one that happened.

Barrett: “Even talking to him up here, I was like, damn, he’s being really nice about all of this. Even when he was like, am I good?”
Barrett: “He’s just like, but am I good, though? And I was kind of like — hmm. Could be. And he just goes, oh.”
Barrett: “But then, of course, he was like, well, I love you no matter what. You know that. And I know he does.”

What he actually told Devens at 10:44 was “I think you’re in pretty good shape.” Ninety minutes later it has become a shrug and a “could be.”

---

He is writing the nomination speech in his head, and he wants it to land.

Barrett: “That’s what I’m gonna have to tell all of them at the table today. I have been trying to think of the speech. I’m like, if I’m gonna put them up, I might as well have a good speech.”
Melody: “Oh, absolutely. You must.”
Barrett: “Because I do want to acknowledge that, hey, I know we’ve spent a lot of this game together. Y’all are iconic.”
Barrett: “I don’t want to be too mean. There is no world in which y’all aren’t also really good friends to me. But we’re at a point in this game where there has to be some hard decisions, and it may piss you off.”
Melody: “Nobody ever won Big Brother without pissing people off.”

Then two lines back to back that he has clearly been saving.

Barrett: “Big Brother 28 has only just begun.”
Melody: “But dead ass, though.”
Barrett: “Lala told me many weeks ago that I was going to need to choose a side. And I hope this makes it clear.”
Melody: “Yeah. I think that’s badass.”

And then he says the thing Melody came upstairs needing to hear.

Melody: “And you know that I f— with you and I trust you.”
Barrett: “I’m dragging you to the end with me. I hope you know that. And I’m going to drag Drew’s ass whether he likes it or not.”
Melody: “That’s what I’m saying too. I’ve just been in a weird spot, because I didn’t know where you guys were at. I was always like, I want us three to go to the end together. But then I was like, I’m scared.”
Melody: “Because I also still want to go to the end. And if you guys aren’t going to do that with me, then I’m going to have to go find somebody else to do that with.”

They go back to the night Mallory left, which is still the thing underneath all of this for both of them.

Barrett: “I hope you know how much a couple weeks ago had me f—ed up.”
Melody: “I remember literally thinking, this is the most emotion I’ve ever seen Barrett show. Not that you don’t show emotion — you’re just very chill, level-headed. I could tell that you were genuinely being serious, and you were upset.”
Melody: “And it made me sad, but it also made me feel good, because I was like, cool — because I’m also pissed the f— off.”
Barrett: “It also made me pissed that Drew didn’t want to do any of that last week, or take any sort of shot. And it made me mad that Devens won the Blockbuster, because I was like — we almost got his ass, dude.”

Which is where Melody produces the saddest detail of the day. Taylor lost that Blockbuster on the last ball, and told Melody about it straight afterwards.

Melody: “If you got Devens out, it would have been so f—ing legendary, dude. And I feel so bad, because Taylor, when I talked to her basically right after — she was like, I literally had it, and she dropped her last one.”
Melody: “She was like, I was literally about to win, and then I dropped my last ball. And I was like, no f—ing way. It’s hard not to beat yourself up for that. She was pretty hard on herself.”
Barrett: “Damn.”
Melody: “That’s the worst f—ing feeling. That’s how I felt with that f—ing HOH. I was right f—ing there.”

---

And then, at 12:40 in the afternoon, Barrett says exactly where he is.

Barrett: “I haven’t given anybody any indication of who I’m putting up, really, besides Drew. And even he doesn’t know if I’m putting up Devens or not right now.”
Barrett: “And I’m probably just going to keep it that way. I’d like it to be a fun reveal for everybody.”
Melody: “I think that would be fun and smart, honestly.”

He has made peace with it going wrong.

Barrett: “I’m also very content with, if this s— blows up in my face next round, I’ll be like, okay, I tried. I tried at least. I didn’t go up there and put up you, Taylor and Yash this week. Like, f— that.”
Melody: “And that would definitely build something with Yash, too. Nothing too deep, but it might secure you a little bit more safety, because he definitely isn’t rocking with Drew.”
Melody: “And I don’t want Drew to leave either. But if Drew’s sitting next to another Icon, he’d be fine. So we could all still keep surviving, us three together.”

They finish on the only thing they have completely agreed on for two months.

Barrett: “And if nothing else, I do want a newbie to win this game.”
Melody: “Same. Same. Same.”
Barrett: “I do not want to be given a two-Icon finale.”
Melody: “That would be so embarrassing, bro. Especially if it was Dee and Devens.”

Where it stands: Melody is the only person Barrett talked to all morning who wanted exactly what he wanted before he asked, and the only one he made a promise to — “I’m dragging you to the end with me.” She gave him the vote math that makes the three-Icon board the only one that works for her, the reminder that Devens spent last week pointing Drew at him, and an ultimatum wrapped in a compliment: she wants the three of them at the end, and she will go find other people if that is not real. But the load-bearing line is the quietest one. At 12:40, with nominations hours away, Barrett says nobody knows what he is doing except Drew — “and even he doesn’t know if I’m putting up Devens or not right now.” He is still choosing between two boards, and he intends to keep it that way until the ceremony.

12:50 PM — Barrett and Melody, then Drew (HOH)

Melody has not left. The conversation has drifted off nominations and onto the thing underneath them — what the Icons have been using Barrett and Drew for all season.

Barrett: “Everything with the Icons was like — okay, Drew and Barrett are tools that we can use. Not just as numbers, but to get info. And I feel like they did a really good job at managing that.”
Barrett: “But the last couple weeks, they realised that I haven’t won s—. Not only is he friends with people that aren’t in this alliance, he also hasn’t f—ing won anything. And then I think they got mad.”

Melody has watched this happen before, to three other people.

Melody: “That’s what they were doing with Kamu, Chuck and Haley, too. They were using Kamu, Chuck and Haley as their shields — to do all their dirty work and get all their info, to be protected. And now it’s just you guys. Really just Drew.”
Melody: “And I keep trying to tell Drew that. I’m like, do you not understand what’s going on?”

She saw it coming the day the Mosh Pit formed, because Mallory told her.

Melody: “Even when the Mosh Pit was formed, that’s all me and Mallory would talk about. We’d be like, we are just the new Haley, Chuck and Kamu. They’re going to want us to do all their dirty work for them, and then we’re expendable.”
Barrett: “They didn’t even give you a chance.”
Melody: “No, and they didn’t. And that was the even worse part.”

And then the part she has clearly been carrying around.

Melody: “I felt so bad for Mallory, because as soon as it formed I was like, I actually feel decent about this. And she immediately — she was like, it’s not gonna be good. She’s like, I know it.”
Melody: “She told me immediately. She’s like, I know this is gonna go wrong. There’s not gonna be any good things that come out of this. And I kept being like, no, I think it’s gonna be fine.”
Melody: “And it felt so bad, because she was the one who knew, and she’s the one who f—ing went home.”

Barrett: “That changed everything for me.”
Melody: “It’s so f—ing weird in this house, bro.”

He puts a word to what this week has been for him.

Barrett: “There’s a lot of catharsis in finally feeling like — f— everybody. In this game.”
Melody: “Yes. 100 percent.”
Barrett: “And I think for a long time I just didn’t feel that. I think when Mallory went up, I was like, oh, f— everybody. This s— sucks.”
Barrett: “And then Haley getting out that night after Mallory gave me a little bit of, okay — there can be a path here.”

The worry that keeps coming back is the same one Melody raised half an hour ago: Drew and the veto.

Melody: “That makes me nervous. And it also makes me nervous that Drew would use the veto on him. I want to just be like — do you truly think that Devens would use the veto on you? Do you think that? And maybe he would, but I don’t want him to think that.”
Barrett: “If he was sitting next to Dee, absolutely not.”
Melody: “F— no.”

Melody: “Devens is a really smart, calculated player. How many times does he have to show you that he doesn’t give a f— about personal s—?”
Barrett: “No, he don’t.”
Melody: “I don’t know, maybe we can convince him. Or hopefully he just doesn’t win the veto.”

Barrett has a solution to the whole problem, and the timing on it is perfect.

Barrett: “My added line in today’s speech will just be: and this was all Drew’s idea. Thank you, Drew.”

There is a knock at the door.

Barrett: “I think it’s Drew. Get in here.”

---

Drew brings the report from downstairs.

Barrett: “How’s everything going down there?”
Drew: “I think people are tripping a little bit.”
Melody: “Which people?”
Drew: “Devens, for sure.”
Melody: “What’d he say?”
Drew: “He’s just like — I think we’re good, but now I’m worried. I do think he’s gonna come up here and try to talk to you again.”

Barrett gives him nothing, and Drew backs him up on it.

Barrett: “I’m trying not to be too… well, I can’t say what I’m doing.”
Drew: “No, you can’t. Yeah.”
Drew: “Dee and Angela seem fine. Angela’s always paranoid, though.”
Barrett: “Angela was f—ing tweaking out up here.”
Drew: “I was like, man, I really wish I could see what was going on. I wish I hid in the bathroom.”
Barrett: “You would have loved it.”

Dee’s visit, by comparison, he files as the calmest of the day: “hers was the most normal ending — she was like, whatever you do, I support you.”

---

And then Melody, who has been waiting all day for Drew to be in a room with both of them, does not let it go.

Drew: “Well, listen — I’m ready to ride.”
Melody: “But are you, though?”
Drew: “Yeah? Do you think I’m not?”
Melody: “No, I think you’re ready to ride. But how far are you willing to ride?”
Barrett: “Can you feel it now, Mr. Krabs?”
Barrett: “Are you ready for the Icon raid?”
Drew: “I’m ready for Scorch Raid.”

She has an actual question underneath the bit, and she asks it.

Melody: “How do you feel about FAP? You want FAP to go to the end, or no?”
Drew: “Yeah.”
Barrett: “That’s what I’d like to hear.”
Drew: “Is that not what you think I want?”
Melody: “I don’t know.”

Then she does an impression of the defence she is expecting from him — Melody, I didn’t f—ing put your ass up — and answers it before he can use it.

Melody: “It’s not just about me. It’s about all three of us making it to the end.”
Drew: “Obviously, I didn’t put Barrett up either.”
Melody: “I know that. But there’s more to being an alliance than just not putting each other up. You know that, right?”
Drew: “Yeah.”
Drew: “It’s about winning comps. Keeping each other safe and not voting each other out. Did you know that?”
Melody: “Yeah, but there’s also other things too. Like staying loyal to one alliance. You can’t serve two masters.”
Drew: “That’s fair.”
Drew: “I only serve one.”

Barrett does the arithmetic on what the week buys them.

Barrett: “All I know is, after this week, we’ll be three out of seven people. And I think that that’s a beautiful thing.”
Drew: “Three out of seven people in this house. Yeah, that’d be rad.”
Barrett: “And I would like for the four people that we go up against to be—”
Drew: “Flops.”
Barrett: “Absolute f—ing flops.”

Which turns into all three of them rating the memory wall off the HOH spy screen, row by row, with the tact you would expect.

Drew: “There’s two flops on that first row. Well, I’m not going to say flops, but competition-wise. It better not be me.”
Drew: “Second row is really scary.”
Melody: “Second row is scary. Second row is extremely scary.”
Melody: “Third row, all those people are sexy.”
Barrett: “All of them? I think those are very sexy people. Game-wise, one of them terrifies me — but then there’s Yash.”

The backyard opens mid-conversation, which gets the biggest reaction of the afternoon.

Melody: “Oh, the outside is open. Yay.”
Barrett: “Thank f—ing God.”
Melody: “I’m ready to have some fun instead of feeling sad and weird and anxiety-ridden.”

---

Then Drew volunteers the one thing Barrett has been trying to work out all day.

Drew: “Yo, you should pick my name. Pick my name.”
Melody: “And then what were you going to do with it?”
Drew: “Whatever Big B wants.”
Melody: “Do you mean that?”
Drew: “We’re talking about Devens specifically. Do you not want me to use it on him? I just would. I didn’t know.”
Barrett: “Really — if I was like, I’d prefer you not to use it on him?”
Drew: “I would probably not, if you wanted me to. I’d be like, okay, cool. I won’t do it.”

Melody thinks he is scared of the wrong person.

Drew: “I’m also just really scared of Yash.”
Melody: “You should probably be pretty scared of Devens, too. I feel like you’re not scared enough.”
Drew: “No, I agree. I mean, we saw what we did to Rome.”
Melody: “And Kamu.”

And then Drew says it plainly, twice.

Drew: “If you’re going scorched earth, I don’t think you want all three of them to be here. I don’t, really.”
Barrett: “So you would prefer one of them to be gone. Which makes perfect sense to me. It’s like I’m balancing the Yash love and the Devens love.”
Drew: “Out of the three, there’s one that I do not want here.”

He will not say which one. Instead he starts a spelling joke, and Barrett will not let him finish it either.

Drew: “And you can’t spell Drudas without…”
Barrett: “…without some of those letters.”
Drew: “Without some of those letters.”

Two of the three Icons start with a D. Neither man says another word about it.

Drew: “Dude, if you want to scorch earth — I wouldn’t veto. I’m down to not use it.”

Barrett is also managing a logistical problem: somebody had been trying to get all three Icons into the HOH room together at some point today. His view of that plan is short. “I do not want that to happen.”

Drew’s counter-proposal is worse and much funnier.

Drew: “You should get the whole house up here. Let’s discuss this together.”
Drew: “You should give everybody an M&M. We’ll have seven cups, each designated to a person. Each person has to put an M&M into who they want to go up. The people with the most M&Ms go up.”

Barrett, watching him deliver a democratic nomination ceremony while drinking: “I’m just looking at him sipping.”

Taylor knocks. The backyard is open. That is the end of the one-on-ones.

---

1:40 PM — Barrett and Angela (Gym)

Angela did not want to have this conversation again. Devens made her have it.

Angela: “Okay, I wasn’t even gonna pull you again. But Devens has a way of always making me feel nervous.”
Barrett: “Of course. He does do that.”
Angela: “He’s had me nervous, like, all week. He comes up to me and he says, do you think I’m okay? Do you think I’m good? He’s made me literally nervous all week.”

He got to her again outside, an hour ago, and she has clearly had enough of it.

Angela: “It’s just me and him. And he’s like, how do you feel? I’m like, how should I f—ing feel? And he’s like, well, did you have a good conversation? How did it go?”
Angela: “And I was like — like any of the conversations I’ve had with you at HOH, Dee at HOH, Drew at HOH. Why?”
Angela: “And he’s making me question myself again, like — well, did you tell him how you feel, and that you were nervous last week for me to go?”
Angela: “And I was like, Devens, you literally made me feel that way the whole f—ing time. What are you talking about? You did that to me.”

Angela: “He was literally always checking me, checking me. Did you hear anything? Do you know anything? Why are you making me nervous right now? So now he’s doing it again to me.”
Angela: “And I don’t understand, because we’re supposed to be together. Why is this happening?”

Then she asks the question nobody has asked him straight all day.

Angela: “Is there a consideration from you that I would be going up on the block?”
Barrett: “Yes.”
Angela: “Why?”
Barrett: “Because I feel like it’s a move I need to make, Angela.”
Angela: “Why?”

And after a whole day of not saying it, he says it.

Barrett: “I have to make very selfish decisions as HOH. And I feel like right now, as the Icons, y’all are a pretty solid block of three. And I feel like y’all think y’all can win against each other.”
Barrett: “I get that we’ve been working together the entire game, truly. But I also have to make moves for myself in this game, and I don’t feel like I’ve been able to do that yet.”
Barrett: “And I do feel like y’all all have a great chance to win, seriously. I know that I’ve been the beneficiary of working with y’all this entire game. It’s been so fun.”
Barrett: “But now that we’re in the last few weeks of this, having to put up half the house, I have to really think about who I’m really gonna go after this week. And I think all of you are so good at this game, in each individual way.”

---

Angela does not cry yet. She argues, and the argument she picks is the one that stings.

Angela: “So Devens, being as he wins s—, I win one thing, but Devens wins many things — so I’m the option instead of Devens. Threat level-wise, I’m the bigger threat than Devens?”
Barrett: “I didn’t say that. I think as a group, y’all are a big threat.”
Angela: “But you are saying that. You’re saying that I’m a bigger threat than Devens is, by putting me up. Or considering to put me up.”
Barrett: “Well, I think Devens would be in consideration too.”

She keeps pulling the thread until he gives her the shape of it.

Angela: “If you’re going off of, we’re going to break up this alliance of five because I need to worry about my game — which, totally valid — and that you’re worried about the three of us. But I’m the bigger threat.”
Barrett: “I didn’t say you’re the bigger threat. But I do think y’all are a block of three that makes sense to go up together, in my mind.”
Angela: “All three of us are going up?”
Barrett: “I didn’t say that. I can’t really say that. But I am considering all three of you, yes.”

Then she makes the case for the five, and it is the best case anybody has made for it all week.

Angela: “Barrett. You still have three other people here that haven’t had your back since day one, and you’re willing to do that?”
Angela: “You better think about that a little bit more closer. I really think you should.”
Barrett: “I still have time. And I’m really sorry.”
Angela: “You don’t have a lot of time, Barrett. I appreciate your honesty. But it didn’t have to happen now.”
Barrett: “I know it didn’t. But I don’t know when I’m going to have a chance to make a move in this game.”

And then the part he cannot answer.

Angela: “Not all of us are going to go home. And you can’t have an HOH next week.”
Angela: “And I can’t say the same for any of those people that you’re trying to put trust in right now. To have your back the way that I would have.”
Barrett: “I know. I know.”

---

She asks whether anything moves him, and then works out that she is not even the first to know.

Angela: “Is there anything I can say or do to change your mind?”
Barrett: “I mean, we can keep talking if you want.”
Angela: “Does Devens know you’re putting him up?”
Barrett: “He seems to, yeah. I just had a talk with him too, where I kind of laid it all out to him.”
Angela: “How long has Devens known that you’ve been thinking about this?”
Barrett: “Probably like ten minutes.”

Which explains the last hour of her afternoon. Devens went straight from that room to her.

Barrett: “We had a talk earlier where I was kind of vague about what I wanted to do, and I didn’t promise him anything. And I think that probably made him nervous.”

Barrett asks her not to take it personally. She declines.

Barrett: “I hope you don’t take any of this personally at all.”
Angela: “But I do. Because we made a commitment together as five. So I do.”
Barrett: “I’m sorry you take it that way. But it doesn’t change.”

That is where she starts crying, and apologises for it.

Angela: “I didn’t expect it from you. Sorry for crying.”
Barrett: “No, it’s okay.”
Angela: “I just didn’t expect it from you.”
Barrett: “I totally understand.”
Angela: “God, I saw the five of us in there. Battling it out together. And I’m not even — I’m on the lower end, because I have not won s—.”

She gets herself back in about ten seconds.

Angela: “It’ll be okay. I can win a veto.”
Barrett: “You can totally win a veto. I hope you don’t even have to compete in the Blockbuster, because you kicked ass in the veto.”

Then she solves the rest of it out loud, unprompted, and gets it right.

Angela: “There’s five of us. There’s three of them. I don’t understand. Unless you just have something so great with Melody and Drew — that she hasn’t won anything.”
Angela: “But if you have her, you know you could beat her. I get it.”

And then she puts it away.

Angela: “Okay. All right. I’m a big girl. Yeah, I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
Barrett: “I love you. I hope you know that. And you are so f—ing good at this game.”
Angela: “I’m not.”
Barrett: “Yes, you are. Because you’re Angela. And Angela knows how to play Big Brother.”
Angela: “No, I f—ing don’t, Barrett. I don’t feel that way.”
Barrett: “You should.”

She leaves him with a deadline.

Angela: “Please keep thinking about it.”
Barrett: “Yeah, I will keep thinking about it, I promise. And if you need to talk about anything more, just let me know, please.”
Angela: “There’s probably not a lot of time, Barrett.”

She holds it together until she is out of the room. Then, walking away, out of his earshot and directly into a live microphone:

Angela: “Motherf—er. F—ing a–hole.”

1:47 PM — Angela and Dee (Backyard)

Seven minutes after she walked out of that room. Angela finds Dee outside and does not ease into it.

Angela: “He’s putting us all up.”
Dee: “He’s putting us all up? The three?”
Angela: “Yep.”
Dee: “How do you know that?”
Angela: “He just told me. I said, don’t blindside me. Tell me what you’re doing.”

Dee’s first reaction is not anger. It is a scoreboard check.

Angela: “He said that he can’t win against us, or whatever. We’re the Icons. He has to make a big move. And I said, well, then there goes the alliance.”
Dee: “Good for him.”
Dee: “We go to the veto, we win it, we take ourselves off.”

Angela walks her through the whole conversation, including the part where she got him to widen it.

Angela: “At first he was just saying it was me. And then I brought up — so you’re saying that I’m a bigger threat than Devens? I never brought you into it, by the way.”
Angela: “And he’s like, I didn’t say that. And I said — he’s winning stuff. I’m winning nothing. And I’m the bigger threat, and I’m going up on the block?”
Angela: “And he goes, well, actually — and that’s what he said — I’m considering all three of you. All the Icons.”

She also explains the move she made before any of that, and it was a deliberate one.

Angela: “Before that conversation, I said to him — hey, Devens had me a little nervous down in the yard. He was questioning me a lot, pressing me if I felt good about our conversation, making me feel as though I shouldn’t. Like he’s been doing all week.”
Angela: “So I put that in there just to see if I could do that, so that it could take off any blame of me being nervous about him.”

Then the part that has clearly been sitting with her worst — his answer on Melody.

Angela: “And then I’m like, so you trust the other people in the house. And you trust a Melody more than you would us.”
Angela: “And I was like — oh. She doesn’t want anything. You can win against her. She doesn’t have a good game. That’s why she’s going with you.”

And his parting compliment, which she repeats back with the full-name flourish and no patience for it whatsoever.

Angela: “And then he wanted to pop off and give me a compliment, like — I know how to play Big Brother. What the f— does that mean? What does that mean?”
Angela: “I have never, ever looked at myself like I’m a threat in here. Not in 26, definitely. And definitely not now.”

Her read on what breaking the five actually costs him is short and, on the evidence of the last twelve hours, correct.

Angela: “Just because I’m riding with you and Drew and Devens and Dee — we’re strong together. You pull us apart, we’re not anymore. But you know who’s gonna win this thing? Yash.”

---

Dee’s response is the most composed thing anybody has said today. She gives Barrett credit first.

Dee: “If he does put the two of us up — listen, respect. Respect for doing a big move.”
Dee: “But I do see his side of putting the three of us up, because that way one or the other can be mad at him for it. Which makes sense. It’s a good game move.”
Angela: “It is. But it hurts still.”
Dee: “Of course it hurts. But listen — we knew that this time was going to come, okay? We’ve done so good. All that matters right now is to lock in.”

And then she says the thing that should worry Barrett more than anything anybody said to his face today.

Dee: “If I told him about the bribe and he still doesn’t put Yash up, he just blew his game up. Because one of us wins, and Yash still can put two of us up if one of us leaves.”

Then she spells out exactly what she will do about it if she survives the week, and it is the cleanest revenge plan of the season.

Dee: “You come back, put everybody that you want up, because now it’s game. Oh, you want to make a big move? So do I.”
Dee: “And that will not be good. Because guess what — who am I not putting up? Yash. Oh, you just put me up after I just told you about the bribe? Guess who’s not going up? Yash. Because he can’t put me up. So why? I got to make big moves too.”

---

And then, calmly, in about four seconds, the two of them decide which of their own to lose.

Angela: “So here’s what I’m thinking. I’m going to make super positive. It’s either going to be me or you that wins that veto.”
Dee: “Not Devens.”
Angela: “Devens goes home.”
Dee: “Exactly. That can happen. We’re good.”
Angela: “We’re so good.”

Angela checked the timeline while she was up there, and what she found out is that she was second.

Angela: “I also asked him, how long has Devens known that you’ve been considering? He goes, just within the last five minutes or ten minutes.”
Angela: “Oh — because when Devens went up. I do believe that. I don’t think Drew or Barrett’s going to lie to me face to face, especially when I ask him directly.”
Dee: “And also, Devens wanted to talk to him again.”
Angela: “Go ahead and squirm now, Devens. Squirm all you want. See how close you are with those boys.”

She works out what Devens was probably told, and then notices what she was not.

Angela: “Or maybe he told him in a way of — hey, I had to put you up too. I don’t want you to go home. He’s gonna tell us all the same thing. That it is what it is.”
Angela: “Well, he didn’t tell me he didn’t want me to go home.”
Dee: “He did not say that.”

Dee talks her back up, and does it well.

Dee: “If the three of us go up, one of us is going home, and we fight, and it is what it is. And it’s going to happen the way it’s supposed to happen.”
Dee: “You have to put it in your head and trust in yourself — the veto, and if not the veto, the Blockbuster. And it’s fine. We are.”

---

The thing Angela cannot let go of is not being nominated. It is who is not.

Angela: “Another part of me that’s just, like — my skin is just so upset — is that Melody just feels so safe. Secure.”
Dee: “Well, duh. She hasn’t done s— in our game. She should feel safe. As though she’s playing a good game, when she’s not.”
Dee: “Listen — you’re the hero of your own story.”
Angela: “Yeah. That’s so true.”

Dee has been expecting this for weeks, and she is not confused about why it is happening.

Dee: “At the end of the day, we’ve been knowing that it was time for them to get together and get us out. We’ve been knowing that.”
Dee: “It’s true, they can’t go to the end with us. Game-wise, they can’t. They’d be stupid to go to the end with any of us. I get it.”
Dee: “And they’re trying to put the three of us in the jury, because the three of us being in jury is better for their game — we’re forced to vote for one of these s—ty ass people. And it’s fine. It is what it is. That’s why you got to keep fighting.”

Angela: “I will. This is actually fuel for me.”
Dee: “Yes, it should be. Pure fuel.”
Dee: “Anything happens in this game, and anything can change. And then you can start pointing fingers and talking s—, because now it’s a free game. Who cares?”

---

And then Angela gives the afternoon a name, and files it as a good one.

Angela: “So today, I would call it progress in Mission Get Out Devens. Because you have told them something. It’s out in the open now with them.”
Angela: “Well — with Barrett only.”
Dee: “But you know Drew’s going to find out.”
Angela: “We don’t know that for a fact. Doesn’t matter. Barrett knows. Perfect.”

Angela: “And now, all the sus of me being nervous and all of that stuff — I’ve made a point to point the finger at Devens. For riling me up.”
Dee: “Abso-f—ing-lutely.”
Angela: “I call it a win. I call it a win. I’m not worried at all. Because if he’s up there with me, he’s the bigger threat. Especially now he doesn’t trust you guys. He lies to you.”

A plane goes over. Dee notices it twice, which is the most backyard thing that happens all week.

Dee: “Oh, that’s a beautiful plane.”
Dee: “Hey, that’s a cute shirt. It’s beautiful.”
Angela: “It’s hurting my eyes. I feel like we’ve been trapped in the f—ing floor.”
Dee: “That’s why I’m sitting out here.”
Angela: “In the shade.”

Dee is already drafting.

Dee: “Because I’m about to piss y’all off. Now I’m thinking about what I’m going to say.”

Where it stands: Barrett spent all day deciding whether to break the Icons. It took the Icons about nine minutes to break themselves. Angela and Dee agreed, without argument and almost cheerfully, that if all three go up they will win the veto and Devens goes home — and Angela had already spent her turn in the HOH room steering Barrett onto him. It has a name now: Mission Get Out Devens. Meanwhile Dee has done the arithmetic Barrett refused to do this morning: she told him the bribe covers all three, he decided she was lying, and if he nominates her anyway she comes back and protects Yash — the one player Yash cannot nominate in return. The move Barrett thinks is a shot at a three-person bloc is landing on a bloc that has already picked which of them dies.