“Big Brother 27” ended in the best-case scenario that didn’t involve Rachel Reilly.
25-year-old Ashley Hollis took the $750,000 prize home over 34-year-old Vince Panaro in a landslide 6-1 vote, with the only opposing vote coming from Morgan Pope.
Ever since Hollis was Blue Shirt Girl in the first commercial for the season, I had her as my winner pick. From taking a 40-minute shower to trying to change her vote during week four to winning two out of 48 competitions this season, she earned her keep as a great player.
With eight competition wins under her belt and the ability to control Panaro’s game for the back half, Morgan Pope was the frontrunner to win the game. However, she choked at the final competition and was evicted by Hollis on day 83.
But what was Hollis’ greatest obstacle in the game? Was it not having the direct power herself due to not winning competitions? No, it was Julie Chen interrupting every single one of her answers at the final jury speech. Her answers (at least what we got to hear) were phenomenal, but apparently too long.
Although Panaro had a strong game, he was unable to articulate it well and he told unnecessary lies frequently. Combined with Hollis’ spectacular answers, not only was his outfit at the final speech horrible, but he had no chance to win the game.
The season as a whole was looking bleak after Reilly was evicted in the dumbest twist in the show’s history, but after the double-eviction sent Kelley Jorgensen and Lauren Domingue home in one night, the season began gaining momentum as the endgame approached.
The greatest reveal was the identity of the mastermind, who had tormented the houseguests all season and tormented the viewers by eliminating Reilly.
And who was the mastermind? Apparently, there were three masterminds the whole time. They were three past players whose chances at winning were ruined by twists.
After losing their respective games thanks to a twist, the masterminds set up the White Locust to eliminate Reilly in the worst twist of all time. This was probably the most evil action that Frankie Grande has ever done.
Keanu Soto took home the title of America’s Favorite Houseguest with a whopping 65% of the vote, with Reilly and Cliffton Williams rounding out the top three. Reilly seemed like a lock to win the prize, but if she had no chance of winning, then her frenemy ally was a fine outcome.
“Big Brother 27,” White Locust aside, was a pretty good season. There was drama all the way until the bitter end, mostly nonsense involving Panaro and Pope’s controversial showmance because Panaro had a girlfriend at home.
I think although that week was a slog, there was still a lot of good to be found in Hotel Mystere. Even if the strategic prowess was poor, the season had very few dull moments where I was actively not enjoying what happened. Minus a few duds, this is one of the strongest casts we’ve had in a few years. I would love to see Soto, Jorgensen, Mickey Lee and more come back for another season.
There are lots of standout moments from this season, but if I had to choose one, it would be Soto and Ava Pearl getting into an argument over one simple question: “I believe you have a prompt?”
I ended my first piece about “Big Brother 27” asking how long until “Survivor 49.” But with how “Survivor 49” is turning out, I have a new question: how long until “Big Brother 28?”
