Big Brother has mastered the “expect the unexpected” mantra, but this latest twist almost ruined a perfectly exciting season. This week, the remaining Big Brother 26 houseguests were forced into the backyard and live outside in a Jankie nightmare carnival world. This Jankie World has nearly pushed the players to the brink. Sure, there may have been games and dance parties and ice cream and pizza, but it’s coming at a cost. In a twist that could have broken the game and ruined any semblance of a strong end to the season, thankfully, all turned out well as the Jankie twist kept the game moves pumping. Big Brother 26 has been one of the best in recent memory. In the latest twist, Big Brother is proving that maybe AI of the future is not all that its cracked up to be!
What Is Jankie World?
Last week AINSLEY, the AI “host” of the season, shared that she was going to explore the world, and she’d be leaving her protégé, a Junior Artificial Neurokinetic Intelligence Entity in charge who will oversee the game. As some fans, and players, felt that meant it would be Zingbot, little did they know, the clue was all right there. This junior artificial intelligence entity was a cute and adorable AI literally named Jankie.
JANKIE wanted the houseguests to have a lot of much fun, so he gave them a week to live in the backyard where they would play games, dance, and have an endless supply of ice cream and pizza. This wasn’t just a quick little gimmick. This was reality. When Jankie appeared, he would instruct the players to engage in one of his fun parties or sing the Jankie World theme song, which is so earworm-worthy, it gives “Baby Shark” a run for its money.
J-A-N K-I-E, Jankie, Jankie, you love me
J-A-N K-I-E, Jankie, Jankie, let’s party
Ice cream, dancing, so much fun
Jankie, Jankie, #1
Candy, Pizza, Never ends
Jankie, Jankie, our best friend
The amount of times that Jankie requested a sing-a-long, well, it probably amounted to something close to a kid requesting to watch Bluey. As far as the conditions of living in Jankie World, the luxuries of the Big Brother house were missing in action. As a reminder, this backyard is in the heart of Los Angeles, so these players were forced to endure the LA climate. They slept on cots. The Diary Room was on the top tier in front of a backdrop. The bathrooms were, well, they might as well have been given port-o-potties. They were relegated to cold showers. Remember the ice cream and pizza? That was it. When the houseguests complain in the makeshift Dairy Room about not eating vegetables, you know this experience was rough. In some parts of the world, they might call it torture. These players were certainly pushed to the brink!
Jankie World Kept the Power of Veto Alive
As enjoyable as this was to watch from the comfort of our homes, there was a risk that in Jankie World mode, the players might bail on the action and gameplay that was previously set forth. The houseguests quickly turned against the conditions, making them irritable and miserable. But, that might have allowed some fascinating gameplay to arise! To kick off the fun, Jankie tasked the players to engage in an endurance Head of Household challenge where they hold up a marshmallow with a long stick. The longest player to remain wins. But, what this challenge from previous seasons showcased was that Angela Murray, the oldest player in the house, lasted until the end and had the ability to wheel and deal for power. After attempting to duke the ifnal part of the challenge out on one leg, Leah Peters beat Cam Sullivan-Brown to end the hours-long event and become the next HoH in the least luxurious HoH week. At least she got a Jankie World plastic tiara to wear!
Now that Leah was in power, she and Angela — who were on the outskirts of two trios — had the ability to fire the shot at one of the alliances. She took aim at Kimo Apaka and Rubina Bernabe. Since the jury phase began, the trio of Kimo, Rubina, and T’Kor Clottey has been seen as the most powerful trio. In a game of numbers, a tight three can be detrimental. Even with Jankie’s song infiltrating her brain, Leah smartly made the move that would be most beneficial to her game. Now to the Power of Veto competition. The game Jankie had the houseguests play was a puzzle where the winner would earn the PoV. But in Jankie World, surely he had to make it more fun! There was another Power of Veto up for grabs, the Jankie PoV. In a shock to many, Angela Murray won the PoV with Leah Peters snagging the Jankie PoV. Now, based on everything set up thus far, it was safe to assume that the streak of using the Power of Veto for the ninth straight time would end. But, this is Jankie World within the Big Brother universe — expect the unexpected!
Jankie World Resets the Tone Again
Angela Murray had previously been saved by the Power of Veto three times this season. After discussing it with Leah and some of the other players, they realized that Kimo and Rubina would be good to reduce the numbers of their alliance, but the most dangerous player in the trio was T’Kor. So, another record was broken: The Power of Veto was used for the ninth time as Angela removed Kimo from the block. Leah, who lost the game to activate her Jankie Veto, named T’Kor as the replacement nominee. And the stage was set. Did the house have the numbers to evict T’Kor?
Let’s go back to the chaos that Jankie World caused. Sleeping on cots isn’t ideal for many people, but one thing that these cots have over the beds inside the Big Brother house is they are portable. So, Cam felt the desire to move his cot closer to Makensy Manbeck and away from Chelsie Baham. The trouble is, Chelsie, who has kept her head in the game, was immensely jealous of her crush getting closer to Makensy. Not only does a love triangle potentially compromise Chelsie’s game, it puts Cam in a position to figure out who Chelsie’s number one ally is. Is it him? Is it T’Kor Clottey? For Angela and Leah, they wanted T’Kor gone but feared that Chelsie would sway Cam to do her bidding and keep T’Kor in the house. In the end, T’Kor Clottey, who saw her first time on the block this week, was evicted by a vote of 4-1.
It was a rough week in all senses of the word. Jankie World could have been a repeat of Dyre Festival, a brief twist from Big Brother 24 inspired by Fyre Festival. Instead, the right amount of houseguests remained to make this torturous week strategically beneficial and immensely entertaining. Inside the house, it’s likely Angela may not have used the Power of Veto, but the elements of Jankie World pushed her to make a move. A game of musical cots became personal as one player had to figure out how to prove his loyalty. Friendships were tested to the tune of the Jankie World theme song. The success of this twist likely means Big Brother will implement a similar week of torture in future seasons. The pure chaos of Jankie World is why this season’s game is so unpredictable.