Hey Big Brother fans, let’s look at the powers and punishments available in the BB Time Capsule. They unveiled all 6 punishments and all 6 rewards available with the Time Capsule on Unlocked.
And of course, you already saw Angela Murray get the Hard Boiled Detective punishment. That was an entire week of her in that big old costume. And now, another houseguest was selected for the BB Time Capsule.
This time it was another icon, Rick Devens (BB28). And unlike Angela, he smacked the big red button at the right time and got an incredible power. We’ll talk about his when we hit it on the list.
Big Brother: Time Capsule Punishments and Historical Context
First, let’s do punishments. I already mentioned the Egg Detective with the big magnifying glass. The first time we saw that was in BB27 when Vince Panaro lost a power of veto competition while on the chopping block.
Ava Pearl nominated him and Vince wound up with it during the prizes and punishments POV comp. Another punishment they revealed that I love is Lord of the Latrine. This one was from BB23 in the Kingdom of Curl-a-lot POV comp with prizes and punishments.
Derek Xiao was the HOH and he got the POV but then his nominee Britini D’Angelo was last to choose and took his POV and gave him Lord of the Latrine. This is more of a whole-house punishment.
Big Brother locked the downstairs bathroom and for 24 hours, any houseguest who needed to potty had to find Derek. Then ask his permission, and he’d escort them to the bathroom then blow a horn and announce their entry to the bathroom.
He’d say stuff like “Lady Tiffany’s now using the porcelain throne, is it a one or a two?” Fortunately, this punishment was only for 24 hours and not a whole week like so many of the worst BB punishments are.
Big Brother: Not the Whole Hog
Alright, another punishment they brought back is Hamazon. This was something Fessy Shafaat was hit with in BB20 and involved eating pork but because he’s Muslim, they had to accommodate with vegan ham.
Fessy got this in BB20 which was tech themed and it was from a BB APP store twist. Houseguests that were trending got a power app, an advantage of some sort. And those trending least got a crap app.
Fessy was least trending in Week 1 of this twist and he chose it from a list of 4 options with no idea what it was other than eating something. So, for a whole week, whenever Big Brother delivered ham, Fessy had to eat the entire package.
Deliveries were frequent, irregularly timed and could come day or night. One of the 2 a.m. deliveries he forced himself to eat came right back up and Fessy was throwing up the vegan ham while Kaitlyn Herman, the puzzle-challenged BB20 houseguest, patted his back.
Big Brother: Camp Guide and Partner Punishments
The Camp Guide punishment is also in the mix. This was from BB19‘s Summer of Temptation. The comp was adventure themed and it was typical prizes and punishments comp.
Alex Ow had the five-thousand-dollar cash prize and Elena Davies went last and got the camp guide punishment. Then, she broke a deal with Alex, grabbed her cash and stuck her with the punishment.
For the week, Alex had to wear a scouting type uniform and carry heavy gear on her back all the time. Then, when a bugle blared, Alex had to go to the backyard, pitch a big full-sized tent. Then she had to cook hot dogs for everyone and then break down the camp again.
Sometimes Big Brother would sound the bugle again right after she broke camp. Alex was so mad, she’d curse Elena late at night while building the tent like a mantra. This next punishment I’m super excited about because I’d been hoping to see a partner-punishment.
They brought back Adam and Eve from BB16. Caleb Reynolds and Victoria Rafaeli played in the Battle of the Block versus another duo. The best way to win that comp was to incur punishments.
But then you’d get safety for the week. So, Caleb and Victoria wound up with three punishments: Adam and Eve, two weeks of slop and also one had to shave the other’s head. Caleb nicely volunteered to be shaved.
They wore Adam and Eve unitards with leaves on them. They were tethered by a vine for 48 hours with the usual: eat together, sleep together, bathroom together, tethered for showers, and of course, tethered outside the door while the other had Diary Room sessions.
And finally, the last punishment’s a classic – the Red Unitard from BB8, 9 and 10 before Big Brother started doing more elaborate punishment costumes. This is probably the least problematic of the punishments unless you’re body shy. You wear it a week – that’s it.
Big Brother: Powers and the Diamond Power of Veto
Now let’s talk about the Powers at play – and I’ll tell you which one Devens just won. First, there’s Replay. We saw this in BB22 and it’s a good power because it lets the outgoing HOH play for the next Head of Household comp instead of being on the bench.
The holder of the power can use it on themselves or gift it to someone. This was won in BB22 by Dani Briones who then gifted it to Memphis Garrett so he could use it in Week 8. It’s not a particularly strong power since it only gives you a shot to win the HOH power.
But at least you have a shot where otherwise, as outgoing HOH, you’re at everyone’s mercy. Next up is the Mystery Competitor. This is from last season also, BB27. It’s when a past houseguest comes in and plays a comp on your behalf.
Keanu Soto got this power during the BB Break-In comp where the mastermind stole the HOH key and hid that and three powers in the sewers. Jimmy Heagerty found the HOH key and nominated Keanu who activated this power.
Big Brother sent in BB20 winner Kaycee Clark to play in the POV comp also which doubled Keanu’s chance to win POV. Keanu was eliminated early but Kaycee went on to win the comp for Keanu.
Big Brother: Bites and Bribes
The next power’s more about making your Big Brother experience more tolerable, not something that helps you get to the end. It’s the Never-Not Pass. This power’s been more frequently rewarded.
Jeremy McConnell got it in BB15, Becky Burgess got it in BB17, Natalie Negrotti got it in BB18. Hot mess Raven Walton got it in BB19. And Dani Donato was the last to hold it in BB22. Simply put, when you get the pass, you can never be made a Have Not.
This next power is a bit stronger than just skipping slop. It’s the BB Bribe. It first popped up in BB18 and it gives the holder cash to bribe another houseguest to do something for them. The holder can’t keep the money and if they don’t use it, it’s lost.
In BB18 the power was only live for one week. You could use it to buy someone’s vote, use or don’t use the POV, throw a comp, or affect nominations. Corey Brook got it in BB18. He bribed Victor Arroyo to vote against Michelle Meyer which he already planned to do.
But the cash was a gesture of good will towards the alliance they were both in. Next we have the Coin of Destiny from BB23. Claire Rehfuss won it during Tiffany Mitchell‘s HOH. Claire won it in a casino-style comp. When she activated it, she chose heads.
Then HOH Tiffany flipped the coin and it came up heads so she was dethroned. In that season it was a waste because Claire was allied with Tiffany (or thought she was since this was the Cookout season).
Claire kept the nominations the same when she could’ve changed them. Claire told Tiffany and Hannah Chaddha she had the power and the Cookout covered for Claire.
Big Brother: Top Tier Superpower
Okay now the superpower of superpowers – this is the power that Devens got from the BB Time Capsule – the Diamond Power of Veto. This first showed up in BB4 but with more limited powers. A higher-powered version unleashed in BB12 thanks to Pandora’s Box.
So, at the end of the veto meeting after the regular Golden Power of Veto is played or not played, the Diamond POV holder can stand up, activate the power. They get to take a nominee off the chopping block – themselves or someone else.
And this is where the Diamond Power comes in – the power holder gets to make the renom, not the Head of Household. This can be a big move to throw an ally of the HOH on the block and blindside the house.
Matt Ratcliffe was on the block in BB12 – Brendon Villegas put him up as replacement nom in revenge for Rachel Reilly’s eviction. Everyone was poised to vote Matt out. But he used the Diamond POV, told Brendon “better luck next time, you dummy.”
Then he took himself off the block and renommed Kathy Hillis who was evicted. Matt was safe. And the house was stunned because he kept it secret – no one knew so it was an epic blindside.
I’d love to see a return to this style of old school Big Brother play where houseguests actually keep their mouths shut about stuff.
