Big Brother Blowout: Huge Veto Win Sets Finale Stage, Final 3 Revealed

One Big Brother Houseguest gets so close to Sunday's finale they can probably smell it -- but still gets the boot three days too soon after the Veto winner makes a decision that could doom their whole game.

It's down to the wire on Big Brother 26 and the stakes could not be higher. Chelsie won the final HOH, securing her spot on finale night. Then, both she and Rubina flopped out of the Veto competition, leaving Makensy and Cam vying for the win.

The winner of Veto not only punches their own ticket to finale night, but they got to decide who was sitting on those two chairs come this eviction night, and then cast the sole vote to evict. In other words, they get all the power left in the week.

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As we'll recall, this Veto was about remembering the days of the season by identifying on which day a picture took place. There was a physical element, too,  as well as just a hint of math, by adding 5's and 1's together to reach the day.

Honestly, this Final 4 did a great job of keeping this game competitive, with all of them making it past the seventh round with fairly even scores, save Cam who only had one of three possible wrong answers before elimination.

In Round 8, it was the end of the road for Rubina, with Chelsie dropping in the next round. At that point, Makensy had two strikes to Cam's one. But then, he dropped Round 10 and it was all down to this one final round for victory.

The moment was Leah's disastrous performance in Jankie World playing the Knock-Em-Down game to try and activate her Jankie Veto. That epic fail happened on Day 63. After Cam's wrong guess, Makensy managed to ring in first, scoring yet another Veto win.

We wouldn't want Cam to actually win anything, would we? That would change practically his whole season strategy. He's proving that floaters can at least make it to the end -- though we can't see how anyone would give him the $750,000 prize.

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Jag & the Jury

With all of that time to fill -- they probably could have moved the whole Veto competition to tonight rather than pack Sunday like that -- we dropped in again on the Jurors, where we saw Kimo join them and show them their BB Comics, which they all seemed to adore.

They then started talking about the remaining Houseguests, with Leah and Angela noting that Cam hasn't really done much of anything all season, and yet there he sits, in a pretty comfortable position.

They contrasted that to Chelsie, already in the finale and having worked hard all season long to dictate the direction of her game, while keeping her allies (numbers, minions) safe along the way. Both T'kor and Quinn agree that she's sitting in a great spot right now.

Outside the Big Brother House, last season's winner, Jag Bains, joined Julie Chen to offer his take on those left in the House, where he mostly agreed with the sentiment of the Jury House.

When asked for the worst and best move of the season, we agree that Makensy sending Leah out was a disastrous move for her game, and the arc of the season. Unless you're Chelsie. Her manipulating Makensy into doing what was best for Chelsie's game stands as the best move of the season.

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In fact, considering Makensy is the bona fide comp beast of the whole season, the fact that Chelsie has been so effectively -puppet mastering the younger player through so much of the season has been incredible game mastery.

Leah was absolutely loyal to Makensy, and Chelsie is absolutely not. We have zero doubt that if given the chance, she will take Cam to the end. At the same time, we think Makensy might actually take Chelsie, if the decision becomes hers -- and then lose to her.

You'll notice we didn't mention Cam. Julie did, and Jag just laughed. He called the quiet Houseguest an enigma who somehow worked a strategy of not winning hardly anything to carry his way all the way tot he end.

As for Rubina, while her path to the end would definitely require a whole lot of winning -- which she's not been doing -- if she were to pull that off, Jag thinks she's got a real shot. Surely, she'd have T'kor and Kimo's votes locked in, and it just takes two more. People love an underdog story!

Right now, though, his pick to win it all is Chelsie. She seems to have a firm grip on the steering wheel. Of the three remaining Houseguests outside of Chelsie, Rubina seems the only one who might actually see the threat she is enough to want to take that shot.

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Veto to Three

Rubina is seen working hard to convince Makensy that the best move is to get rid of Cam. Makensy has been leaning that way anyway, because she sees Cam as someone who would always choose Chelsie over her in a Final 3 situation.

Rubina has been beating this horse a lot, but every time Chelsie gets wind of it, "your girl" gets to work. Once again, she started talking to her ally about Rubina's chances of winning in a final 2 situation. She also mentioned T'kor and Kimo as likely locked votes for Rubina. Why take that risk by giving two votes away before you even start talking?

Cam basically admits that he'll say whatever it takes to stay in the House, including trying to convince Makensy that he'd totally cut Chelsie at Final 3. Would he? Who knows. The man is an enigma. Here's a better question. Does he think he could actually beat any of these women to win the game?

In the end, Makensy uses the Power of Veto on herself, sending Rubina to the Block as the only elegible nominee. She then stood and told everyone that she'd come into the House wanting to play a game of loyalty, and so she had to stand by the people who've stood by her this last half of the season.

And just like that, Rubina's journey came to an end, leaving the power trio that has dominated this back half week after week. And this group has been carried by Makensy's wins -- with an assist from Chelsie -- and Chelsie's Machiavellian maneuvering.

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Final Report Cards

Chelsie Baham (27, nonprofit dir) has had a fantastic season. She controlled the early game with Cedric, managed to keep herself alive in the middle part by minimizing her threat quotient, and then took over when the House flipped again. She hasn't taken her foot off the throttle since, controlling every aspect of the game through a strong social game, incredible manipulation, and wins when she needs them. She has absolutely earned a win more than anyone else here. If she's in a seat, she should win. [Grade: A+]

Makensy Manbeck (22, construction pm) has been the season's work horse, but naive in the worst ways. In particular, her naivete in believing that loyalty exists in this game, and that those she's being loyal to are being loyal to her. Unless something drastic happens, it'll likely be her downfall. If she makes it to the Final 2, it'll more than likely be because she won her way there (we largely suspect Chelsie will take her out if she can, to guarantee her win). By the same token, if Makensy takes out Chelsie, she guarantees her win, too. But would she? [Grade: A-]

Cam Sullivan-Brown (25, physical therapist) is one of the most ineffective and useless Final 3 Houseguests of all time. He did absolutely nothing all season. It's not just the lack of competition wins -- which is staggering -- but it's the lack of strategy. He's thrown a few ideas out here and there, but he is in this game through choosing the right people to befriend and align with early. And because everyone knows no one would vote for him to win. [Grade: D]

Rubina Bernabe (35, event bartender) was a scrapper who never gave up, and she had a pretty savage social game. Her strategic game wasn't horrible, she just found herself on the wrong side of the numbers. Like Leah, she couldn't pivot fast enough or convince anyone to break existing loyalties for her. She had a compelling story should she have made the finale -- which is a big reason for why she will not. [Grade: F]

Big Brother 26 kicks off the final HOH competition with an episode featuring the FInal 3 reminiscing the season on Friday, October 11 at 8 p.m. ET. Then it all comes to a close Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET in a two-hour finale on CBS.

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