The seven houseguests got cut down to just the final five after Thursday's shocking surprise elimination.
*Caution: Spoilers ahead!
Big Brother is barreling headfirst toward a wild and unpredictable finale, and Thursday's surprise double eviction night really turned up the heat and sent one of the most powerful players of all time to the jury.
So, which two houseguests were sent packing? Scroll down for the big reveal! Otherwise, here's how everything that led up to and played out during Thursday's big show.
Last Thursday, Kyle Capener got evicted after yet another big blowup regarding racial comments and controversy. With Kyle in the jury house, everyone's focus then pivoted over to Michael Bruner -- the winningest house guest of the season and one of the best comp beasts in the history of the show.
However, true to form, Michael won his third Head of Household competition of the season and made it impossible for the other houseguests to get rid of him -- yet!
With only seven houseguests left, Michael's options were limited. He obviously wasn't going to nominate his ride-or-die bestie and Final Two pact member Brittany Hoopes, who will clearly always have his back in return. (This, by the way, is what's known as foreshadowing).
Michael considered nominating Matthew "Turner" Turner and was encouraged to put long-time ally Monte Taylor on the block.
However, Michael knows that there's more to this game than simply winning comps and making it to the final two. You also have to play with a level of decency that doesn't totally alienate you from the jury, which ultimately votes to crown the champion.
Without having a reason to target Taylor Hale -- who has also long been a close friend to Michael -- he instead puts Terrance Higgins and Alyssa Snider on the block, with his true target being Terrance.
This meant that it was up to Terrance and Alyssa to win the Veto Competition if they wanted to take themselves off the block. But in an act of true mastery, Michael managed to win that too -- making him the hands-down record holder for Veto Comp wins.
Michael decided to leave the nominations the same, meaning Alyssa and Terrance would for sure be the ones facing possible eviction, and both went into vote-swaying mode.
It was at this moment that Brittany decided that she'd hitched her wagon to the strongest player in recent memory -- meaning even if she made it to the final two, she'd lose. And if he's the biggest target and gets taken out, there's no way she'd move past the final three.
Instead of playing it cool at this possible revelation, Brittany went the opposite direction and decided to just go around making half-concocted final two pacts and alliances with nearly everyone in the house.
As one might expect -- and as Brittany seemed to overlook -- the other people she's playing against all still talk to one another. And it wasn't long before Brittany went from staying under the radar to painting a huge target on her own back and proving herself to be someone totally untrustworthy.
This led to what could be a very successful new trio alliance between Michael, Turner and Monte -- with each of them planning to nominate each other's friends (Brittany, Alyssa and Taylor, respectively) so they don't get blood on their hands, so to speak. Like a weird three-way version of Strangers on a Train.
And that brings us to Thursday's live double eviction night!
After all the manipulating and alliance-making this week, it all came down to Terrance and Alyssa's time on the block, fighting to save their lives (in the game, obviously).
"Houseguests, listen, I've entertained a lot of lies this week blatantly in front of me, so I want you guys to entertain the truth. When I go back to jury, it's going to be a lot of onion peeled back there. So every decision you make right now is going to reflect of jury right now," Terrance said. "So you can't play this herd game. It's not going to work. It's no way to get to the end of the game that way. You've got to have courage, and you can't live in fear."
Meanwhile, Alyssa's simply said she would be "absolutely devastated" if her time in the house came to an end now, and that was it. Essentially, spoken like a woman who knows she's safe.
And, after all the votes were cast, it turned out she was right. The votes came in 4-0 in favor of evicting Terrance, who simply said "I got to do a Daniel" (as in Daniel Durston, when he was evicted). He got up, grabbed his bag and walked out without saying goodbye to anyone.
Speaking with host Julie Chen Moonves, Terrance admitted that he regretted a few of his decisions along the way, but added, "I absolutely loved this experience."
"I did it to make my parents happy, and to just see exactly what encompasses this game is amazing. Because you can sit at home all day with that remote and play this game, but it is absolutely not the same game when you go inside the Big Brother house," he added. "So I loved this experience."
Then it was time for Julie to drop the real bombshell on the houseguests -- the big Double Eviction surprise. However, while the six remaining contestants seemed stressed about it, it was clear they suspected it was going to happen. They simply got down to business and got ready to play a whole week's worth of Big Brother in a single hour!
As the outgoing Head of Household, Michael was not allowed to participate in the HOH comp -- meaning he is finally vulnerable to the other houseguests' machinations.
The game was called "Laser Focus" and it required houseguests to look at a video featuring a series of colored laser light shows, then answer questions about the color patterns. Essentially, it was a memory game.
After several challenging rounds, Turner wound up snagging the title of HOH, and that's when the real challenge of a double eviction came into play -- he had literally moments to talk to each of the houseguests, hear their arguments and figure out some gameplay strategy.
After a commercial break, Turner didn't waste any time when announcing his nominees -- Alyssa (yet again) and Brittany. Turner's real target was Brittany and he promised Alyssa safety, but there was no real way of knowing if things would go according to plan.
The Veto Competition came immediately next, with all houseguests going face-to-face in a game called "Amped Up." It required them to untangle a long length of cable wrapped around a metal pole structure and plug it into an amp across the yard.
While it looked like Michael was going to win yet again, Monte ended up snagging the victory and becoming Head of Household. This turned out to be another must-win for Michael -- as Monte decided to take a shot at the comp king while they still had a chance.
At the Veto ceremony, Monte made his move, taking Alyssa off the block. Turner followed with the second knife in the back by putting Michael on the block instead.
This meant Brittany and Michael were sitting side-by-side on the bench, and both of them looked devastated.
Brittany delivered a heartbroken appeal speech, sharing, "Oh, god, this is the hardest thing I'll ever have to do. Please, I feel really at a loss right now. I think I could be a tremendous asset to you guys' game if I stay in this house. And I just hope that I get the chance to do so."
Michael, meanwhile, went for the jugular.
" Alyssa, Taylor, this move to take me out is Monte and Turner's move. This is going on their resume even if you all vote, the jury will not see this as your move. Take that away from them. Keep me in the house so I can put them on the block. Taylor, I have never put you on the block. Alyssa, I know after the leftovers blew up, you need me."
"They see you as a jury threat and you as a jury threat. You are the next two to go. They will take Brittany. Please keep me in this game. You need me. I will come after them," Michael said, as Brittany looked up in shocked horror at getting thrown under the bus.
However, the gambit didn't pan out. Alyssa, Taylor and Monte voted to kick Michael out. He didn't really take it well, and told everyone to remain seated as he left the house without a single goodbye.
"Coming in, I thought I was going home first," Michael told Julie, while still reeling from his eviction. "I was like, 'I'm not going to win anything.' So to be here with nine comp wins, [including] six POVs? That's insane."
In his final thoughts, Michael said, "I had so much fun playing this game. I have nothing but love and respect for the people inside the house."
Season 24 of Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on CBS.
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