Head of Household Angela doesn’t begin to get any of her facts straight before unloading on the entire house in an epic explosion for the ‘Big Brother’ archives that leaves everyone rattled — including her closest allies.
Well, that didn’t take long. It’s been less than a week in the Big Brother House and one Houseguest is already so consumed with paranoia she’s convinced the entire House is out to get her … even those in her own alliance.
Unfortunately, that person also happens to be the Head of Household. Heavy are the shoulders that wear the embroidered bathrobe, we guess. Whatever the issues were, Angela spiraled and spiraled until after one sleepless night it all came out.
And scared the living bejeezus out of the entire House!
As if things weren’t already tense enough in this first week with not two, but three, Houseguests on the Block, nobody was expecting the Head of Household to come down the stairs literally clapping her hands before blowing up at the House.
Well, her target was a little more specific than that, but she also called out the “visitors” that came to see her in her HOH Room the night before, telling them their “performance was great.” That so-called “performance” was them sincerely telling her about an alliance she was part of.
They were definitely trying to include her and her immediate thought was that they’re coming after her. Not only her own alliance, but the entire house.
As Quinn said in a confessional after the blowup, “Oh my god, Angela, what are you doing? We were not lying!”
But the newly-formed Collective alliance of Quinn, Chelsie, T’Kor, Joseph, Cedric, Cam, Kimo, and … Angela(?) … wasn’t even the biggest target in her crosshairs. That was Matt.
‘Crazy-Eyes’ in Crosshairs
Now, credit to the producers for offering a more nuanced edit of Matt ahead of Angela going all in on him. We’d already seen him get a little overly aggressive with her in the HOH Room when she apologized to him for saying he’d be in a showmance, making him think she was targeting him.
Then we got the burgeoning showmance between him and Makensy, which showed more than a little arrogance on his part about her obvious attraction to him. After admitting they wound up sleeping next to each other as the final two beds available, he went so far as to speculate she orchestrated it on purpose.
He then asked her if she was uncomfortable being that close to him, blushing, and the like. It was flirting, but hyper-masculine flirting. Oh, and it was working, too.
“Just ’cause I’m pretty and I can talk doesn’t mean I’m flirting,” Makensy told him one night, admitting in a confessional that she totally was — she’s just also playing hard to get.
What wasn’t hard to get for the whole House, though, was that these two were clearly into one another. Unfortunately, that meant it was part of Angela’s epic explosion, with her telling Makensy multiple times that she could do better than Matt.
Honestly, your words are s–t so you should just put it back in your a–
Before we break down the fallout of this, and the subsequent breakdown of Matt, here’s that speech (almost) in it’s uncomfortable entirety!
“Matt, Matt, Matt, you must be so proud of yourself. I mean really, I am so flattered that I am a threat to you. I am so freaking flatter, thank you, Crazy-Eyes. You have freaking crazy eyes. And for the House, for the visitors that came to visit me last night, your performance was great. It was absolutely great, for a low-budget movie. I would love for the Houseguests to know how Crazy-Eyes, how he very aggressively threatened me verbally in my room on our one-on-one. Oh yeah. And then he tells me, you put me up, you put me up, somebody will take me down, if not myself, And when I am down, you better believe you’re going on the block. I’m a little heated right now. I still want to continue relationships with every one of you. I’m a people-pleaser and I’m that to a fault. I really just want to have fun with you. Except for you, don’t talk to me! … With that being said, please could we just put this behind us.”
As the fight continued, she told Matt at one point, “You can’t be pretty on the outside when you’re ugly on the in.” She also told him when he tried to defend himself, “Honestly, your words are s–t so you should just put it back in your a–.”
9 minutes of Angela flaming tf out of Matt in front of the entire house LMAO #bb26 pic.twitter.com/E225eJOIA8
— sal (@sanguinesal) July 20, 2024
All of this was while she was actively trying not to let him speak at all, saying she was done. The problem with this was that she was basically telling the House that hers was the only perspective they needed to hear.
And the House was uncertain, with Joseph telling Matt point-blank he wasn’t sure what to believe. The bottom line is that none of them were in the room when Angela and Matt had that conversation. What the House did agree on, talking later, was that Angela did not handle that well at all.
While we saw some of that conversation ourselves, and did see where Angela could think Matt was threatening her by saying he was confident he could take himself down and then he would have definitely targeted her, he certainly didn’t see it that way.
“I did not threaten Angela,” he said. “I thought we smoothed things over. That’s clearly not the case.”
We suspect that Matt is just an extremely cocky and confident guy, so he was just saying what he believed to be his truth. And based on the events of this episode, he did seem right in that most of the House seems to like him and probably wouldn’t vote him out.
Veto Tears
With Matt in Angela’s crosshairs, but not on the Block, he was more hopeful than ever he’d get to play in the Power of Veto competition. Unfortunately, with all those nominees, only two additional people were picked to play.
When Lisa’s chip got pulled, she knew Matt would have wanted her to pick him so he could save himself, but she was more worried about her own game and future — she was, after all, already on the Block — so she picked Brooklyn.
When he wasn’t picked, Matt had a full-on breakdown, crying in the bathroom. That scene showed just how much the House was sympathizing with him in this moment, even if they weren’t sure how much (if any) of what Angela said was true.
He’d mentioned to Angela during the fight that his mother was going to have to see this, and she weaponized his mother seeing how awful he is against him. That tore into him in the moment. Matt knew he wasn’t done fighting, but told the House he just had to get the emotions out.
It was a classic, slimy Spelling Bee competition, with the players having to find letters in a honey-sludge mess to try and spell the longest word possible. To make it more complicated, they could veto a letter, which Kenney did, picking “E.” That meant any word using “E” was invalidated.
That killed Kimo’s “Pipers” word, while Joseph’s “Spin” was disqualified because that “N” was actually a “Z” turned sideways. Angela, who came in determined to win this one, didn’t even buzz in in time, so her score was also a zero.
Kenney’s “E” strategy looked to be working when he revealed his seven-letter “Camping” word. But then Lisa revealed “Transform,” and took the lead. Brooklyn’s “Flocks” was a good effort, but not enough.
Even though it was clear that Angela was gunning hard for Matt, Lisa found she couldn’t risk her own game in this early going, so she used the Veto on herself, sending Matt to the hot seat.
The good news for him in the game is that it’s not over yet. This season, the three nominees will square off in the AI Arena for a competition just before the live vote. The winner saves their own skin. Matt, Kimo, or Kenney will save their game at the last second.
It makes strategizing who to vote out even more complicated, as a target could disappear mere moments before the vote. Houseguests are going to need to have layers to their strategy, and a solid backup plan in place. Plus, how will the saved HG vote?
It’s going to upend a lot of traditional strategies come eviction night, which is a good thing as they’d been getting pretty dull in recent seasons with the whole House agreeing to boot the same person. Plus, depending how long it lasts, it could make it a lot harder to get rid of an obvious competition threat.
Houseguest Report Cards
Cedric Hodges (21, ex-marine) gets props for thinking hard about the game right from the jump and orchestrate The Collective alliance. It’s the strongest alliance to this point, and the largest, so if it holds, they’ll all (well most) be good for a while. The fact he’s that focused is a good sign for him individually, too. [Grade: A-]
Chelsie Baham (27, nonprofit dir) seems to have emerged in a leadership position within The Collective. We see her strategizing and looking ahead, as well as putting out fires and being that calm head that others are turning to already. That bodes well for her game. [Grade: B+]
Quinn Martin (25, nurse recruiter) is surprisingly well-positioned for a superfan in a House that seems to know he’s a Superfan. He’s got a power alliance in The Collective. We’re not sure that Final 2 with Angela is still holding, but the House seems to like him and he’s definitely very, very aware of what’s going on. It could make him a target later, but for now, he’s doing pretty good. [Grade: B+]
Joseph Rodriguez (30, video store) is playing a pretty straightforward game right now, not rocking the boat but also being pretty honest, as he was with Matt. That’s commendable and should serve him well in maintaining good relationships — we’ll see what happens if he needs to lie. [Grade: B]
Cam Sullivan-Brown (25, physical therapist) and T’kor Clottey (23, crochet business) are just chilling in a potential power alliance, The Collective. They’re not rocking the boat, but they’ve positioned themselves to ride further into the game. [Grade: B-]
Leah Peters (26, VIP cocktail) has been quiet, but definitely impacted by Angela’s explosion. She’s in a Throwmance alliance with burgeoning showmance Makensy and Matt, which is risky in that, yes, that makes three, but have you hear the expression “third wheel”? What do you think will happen? [Grade: C+]
Makensy Manbeck (22, construction pm) is a little too public with her flirt-mance with Matt, which is putting a huge unwanted spotlight on her right now. The good news is that no one is blaming her right now for anything. The bad news is showmances can be risky, and pairs are risky. If Matt stays, she needs to be careful. [Grade: C+]
Brooklyn Rivera (34, business admin), Rubina Bernabe (35, event bartender), and Tucker Des Lauriers (30, marketing/sales exec) aren’t doing anything wrong, but they’re also not really doing anything. That’s not a bad thing at all with a House in early chaos. Ride it out and wait to see what emerges from the ashes. Just don’t get completely lost and forgotten in the meantime. [Grade: C]
Lisa Weintraub (33, celeb chef) just saved herself from the Block, but her glitterati attacks had some people in the House getting nervous. She appears to be a very savvy and smart person, but it remains to be seen how she’ll rebound from being targeted so early. [Grade: C-]
Kimo Apaka (35, mattress sales) is an early target because no one has really connected with him yet. While he took his time to get upset about it, it’s the wake-up call he needs to get more invested in these other players on a personal level. He’s been invited into The Collective, which is a perfect way to get that chance, but he’s gotta survive the Block first. [Grade: D+]
Angela Murray (50, real estate agent) is really blowing up her own game. It was uncomfortable watching her laugh and giggle in an over-the-top fashion after she made everyone in the House cringe. Her own allies don’t trust her anymore — this is going to be hard to recover from. [Grade: D]
Matt Hardeman (25, tech sales) is in a terrible position overall in the game. While people feel bad for him, they’re also not sure if there was at least some truth in Angela’s outburst about how he treated her. Plus, he’s the biggest physical threat on the Block, so if the opportunity is still there to take him out, that temptation will be there, too. [Grade: D]
Kenney Kelley (52, ex-cop) was Angela’s original target because she sees him as a threat to win competitions. He appears to be sliding into a bit of a dad role in the House, but should Matt be able to save himself, Kenney could be in real trouble — hell, he could be in trouble either way if the House sympathizes with Matt. [Grade: D]
House Chatter
(amusing asides and comments made by HGs — not necessarily strategy, but entertaining and sometimes revealing)
- “There’s nowhere to cry in this house.” –Lisa (after nominations)
- “Are you blushing?” –Matt (to Makensy)
- “No, I actually have rosacea.” –Makensy
- “What? I thought you said focaccia.” –Matt
- “If you were to ask me, that might have been planned on her end.” –Matt (about Makensy’s bed being near his)
- “Just ’cause I’m pretty and I can talk doesn’t mean I’m flirting.” –Makensy (to Matt)
- “I can’t believe that Mr. Casanova Crazy-Eyes is threatened by me.” –Angela (about Matt)
- “The Collective is coming for me.” –Angela
- “I think that’ll make the episode.” –Joseph (after Angela’s explosion on the House)
- “There’s bad people in the world and you taught me they won’t finish first no matter what happens.” –Matt (getting emotional talking to his mom in DR)
Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS.