Big Brother Finale Recap: A New Winner Has Been Crowned!
At the top of Big Brother's live Season 27 finale, just three houseguests remained inside the BB walls: Vince Panaro, Morgan Pope and Ashley Hollis. But who came out of the two-hour episode $750,000 richer? And who won America's Favorite Houseguest? Read on for the highlights!
* The finale kicks off with Part 1 of the final Head of Household competition. It's a classic endurance competition that sees the Final 3 flying high and spinning in circles in the backyard. Vince tells us that he gets car sick, even when he's driving, while Ashley bails in just under 30 minutes. After 53-minutes and change, Vince falls off his contraption, advancing Morgan to Part 3 of the competition!
* Before Part 2 takes place, Big Brother: Small Stars winner Cody Calafiore returns to host the jury roundtable. After Ava is revealed as the sixth juror, Rachel, Keanu and others give Morgan props for her social game and comp wins, though Ava notes Morgan can be panicky with her decision-making. Rachel says Morgan has been playing a little bit of Vince's game and it's hard to see how their games differed. The jury then talks about Vince, and many of them actually think he's been playing a good game. Kelley says he spent the season, "Lyin' or cryin'," and a truer statement has never been spoken. Rachel defends Vinny the Lip's game, saying she doesn't want their season to have a bitter jury. She also recognizes that they can't dislike Vince's game, while admiring former winners like Dr. Will and Dan Gheesling. Fair!
When Ashley's name comes up, Rachel compliments Ashley on using her as a shield, while Will says Ash joined a solid alliance that protected her throughout the game. However, Keanu notes that Ashley hasn't done a lot of the things that Ashley herself said she wanted to see in a BB winner. Overall, the jury seems a little up in the air as to who they might vote for (when really, Morgan is the ONLY answer here, right?!)
* In Part 2 of the HOH comp, Vince and Ashley go head-to-head in another Mastermind-themed comp, this time hosted by Frankie Grande. The comp is called, "Unmask Me If You Can." On "Go," players must knock down three Mastermind billboards using a zipline. After that's done, they must complete a puzzle, figure out a password and slam their button. Vince has one heck of a lead, but while Ashley struggles to find all her puzzle pieces, Vince is completely botching the days his fellow houseguests left the game. But wait. Plot twist! It's actually not the days they left the game — it's the order they left the game! Neither of them can figure it out, only Ashley is first to reread her instructions. She figures out her massive mistake, puts the right numbers in and wins Part 2! (Cue Vince's moping and tears!) Oh, and BTW, the Mastermind is... Dr. Will, and once unmasked, he's led off to fake jail by two fake cops. Hooray for Hollywood?
Ashley tells the camera that if she wins Part 3, she'll take Morgan out, while Morgan says (via Diary Room) that she doesn't know if she can beat Vince in a Final 2.
* In Part 3 called "Perjury Duty," each jury member recites three statements. Morgan and Ashley must then decide which of those statements is false. Ashley takes a swift lead after just four questions prompting Julie to call the comp early. Ashley then becomes the new and final HOH of the season! After a commercial break, she makes her big decision — the right decision for her game — and evicts frontrunner Morgan from the house.
* Julie welcomes the jurors on stage and when Morgan comes out to join them, everyone is shook. After Morgan settles in, the interrogation begins. Question No. 1, read by Keanu, calls Vince's gameplay "emotionally manipulative" (yes, I did laugh out loud — literally). Vince maintains that he's been authentic and hopes they can appreciate his game regardless. Rachel asks Ashley to list the specific strategic moves that she personally made. Ashley says she was adaptable after all of her allies left the game, mentioning the various alliances she made and the layers of protection she set up for herself.
Kelley's question is for Vince: How much of his lying and crying was sincere? He says all of his tears were real, and that when he spoke, it was with passion and conviction. He doubles-down on his authenticity, but says there was "game behind it." Lauren asks Vince to give three game moves that he made that Morgan can't take credit for. He responds: Honoring the Judges alliance, his early votes and his first set of nominations. Morgan then asks Vince what the strongest part of his game was that led to him being in the Final 2. He rattles on about his social game and comp wins, plus the damage control he had to do after he burned his allies. (Kelley starts laughing during his response. An indication of who she's voting for, perhaps?)
In her final statement, Ashley says she recovered from #showergate and then avoided the block for a majority of the game. She then reveals her Elle Woods strategy and drops the bomb that she's actually a lawyer — gotta give her props for how well-spoken she's been throughout this finale. She ends by saying that winning BB isn't only about winning comps, it's about staying safe when you don't win. Vinny then touts his comp wins, 14 total nominations and damage control because he couldn't hide behind his decisions. He also reminds them that he hit the block three times, but found different ways off the block each time.
With that, it's time for the jurors to vote, but before Julie reveals the winner, we get a segment with all of the pre-jurors. Zach says he was most surprised by all the Final 2 deals Vince had throughout the game (eight total). Jimmy says Morgan manipulated Mickey to get him gone. However, he does give Morgan props for the move.
Julie then reveals who the Mastermind's accomplice was, but that's overshadowed by... Mr. Pec-Tacular being the real Mastermind? And framing Dr. Will? But Frankie is also the Mastermind? And ERIC STEIN, TOO!? (OK, now that's a throwback.) OK, this little Scream ripoff is cheesy as all get-out, but I'm here for Eric's looong-awaited return to our screens.
* At the end of the two hours, Julie finally reveals the results... and Ashley wins the game by a vote of 6-1! As for America's Favorite Houseguest, it came down to Rachel, Keanu or Will, but the winner of that $50,000 prize? Keanu.
That's a wrap, Big Brother fans! How do you feel about Ashley's win? Grade the finale and season in our polls below, then hit the comments with all of your thoughts!