Big Brother 17 Finale Recap and Live Blog

Tonight either Vanessa, Steve, or Liz will win the game and the $500,000 prize. We will see how the Final HoH plays out and who will make it to the Final 2. All the HouseGuests will return as we look back on the past three months. It’s sure to be an eventful night. Let’s watch how it all plays out.

The episode begins with Part 1 of the Final HoH competition. It’s a grueling endurance challenge that requires them to hang onto a rope with a giant apple on the end as long as possible. They are sitting atop a disc as they are repeatedly slammed against a wall and dipped into water. Later on, they must then sit on the giant apple underneath the disc, which is a greater challenge than the disc. Eventually, Steve is the first to drop out. After nearly four hours of the competition, Vanessa tells Liz that she is not dropping and can last ten hours. She tells Liz she will only be hurting herself for Round 2. Liz makes Vanessa promise her she will take her to Final 2, and she agrees. Liz voluntarily drops out. Vanessa wins Round 1! 

It’s time for Round 2. Steve and Liz will individually try to complete a giant crossword puzzle in the fastest time. The clues and answers are all about the HouseGuests and events that have occurred in the house the past season. Steve is the first to compete, and Liz competes second. Afterwards, the winner is revealed. Steve completes the task in 28:27. Liz completes it in 31:11. Steve wins Round 2!

Jury segment. Dr. Will is there to lead the discussion. But first, they must welcome the eighth jury member. Austin hopes Vanessa is the next jury member, while Becky doesn’t want to see John. However, John comes in and tells them all what happened. They then discuss the Final 3. Shelli and James respect Vanessa’s game. Becky thinks Vanessa didn’t need to swear as often as she did. James thinks Steve benefited from being in the middle. Shelli says Steve won when he needed to and made bonds with people.  John disagrees and says that Steve was a rat who hid behind people, while Vanessa was able to think for herself. John says that Liz ran coattails and shouln’t have won. Meg likes Liz’s game, however. Becky didn’t see Liz as an individual. Julia is voting for Liz no matter what, but Austin admits he would consider voting for Steve if he evicts Vanessa.

It’s time for Round 3 of the HoH competition. Vanessa and Steve will have to answer questions made my the jury. Julie will read a statement read by a juror and then give them two possible answers of how that statement ended. Vanessa and Steve will answer either A or B.

Question 1: Steve gets it correct.

Question 2: Neither get it correct.

Question 3: Both get it correct.

Question 4: Both get it correct.

Question 5: Both get it incorrect.

Question 6: Both get it correct.

Question 7: Vanessa gets it correct.

Question 8: Steve gets it correct.

Steve wins Part 3! He will either evict Vanessa or Liz after the commercial break.

Steve stands ups and praises Vanessa’s game. He says that Vanessa is the strongest female competitor ever and he can’t justify taking her to the end with. Steve votes to evict Vanessa. Wow, after playing a strong game, Vanessa loses due to a crapshoot question and answer game. She would’ve been a deserving winner, but alas she just barely misses out of making it to the end. Vanessa talks to Julie. She admits that she never fully trusted Steve, and also says that she would have taken Liz to the Final 2 too if she had won Part 3. Julie tells Vanessa that she played an amazing game before sending us off to another commercial break.

Julie welcomes the jurors to the stage. They’re asked who they think is the ninth and final member of the jury. Julia doesn’t want to make a guess, while Austin hopes to see Vanessa. Julie then welcomes Vanessa to the stage. There is strong reaction from the jurors. John jokingly says he is so glad to see his best friend again. Afterwards, it’s time for the jury questions.

After some technical difficulties with the audio, John asks the first question. He tells Steve that he believes he relied on John and Vanessa for all of his game moves and asks if he’s wrong. Steve says he made all his own decisions.

Becky asks Liz if she made any of her own decisions instead of relying on Austin and Vanessa. Liz says she made her own decisions and did her own campaigning too.

James asks Steve why he should win if he floated through the game. He indignantly says he was not a floater and he made his own alliances and won necessary competitions.

Julia asks Liz what was her biggest game move instead of winning comps. Liz says it was aligning with strong people.

Jackie asks Steve for proof of strong strategy. Steve says he strategically hid the Scamper Squad alliance by faking a tiff with Austin. This helped make James target Clay and Shelli instead of the Scamper Squad.

Austin asks Liz why she deserves to win. Liz says she had a huge disadvantage with the twin twist and had a lot more to overcome.

It’s time for the final pleas. Liz says she she was not a super fan nor a big gamer, but managed to make it far in the game with her sister. She says it was a miracle they lasted so long. Steve gives his plea next. He says Liz had a big advantage of playing with Julia since she only played half the time for the first few weeks. He also notes how Liz always had Julia to count on 100%, which no one else had. He says he won more HoHs and made his own moves. He says he was the one to evict Vanessa, the strongest player in the game. Afterwards, the jurors vote.

Shelli votes and says she loves them both.

Jackie votes next and says she is voting for the person who has been dreaming about this his whole life.

Becky is next. She says kudos to the Final 3 for being very strong all-around and she is happy for who she is voting for.

Meg is torn and says she will give credit to big moves.

James says they both played great game. He name checks Carrie Underwood and says he will let Jesus take the wheel. His vote will be random.

Julia says her vote is obvious, but she’s proud of them both.

Austin says his vote is obvious too and name checks Selena Gomez. “The heart wants what it wants,” he says.

John says Steve was worst alliance member and couldn’t think of a good enough insult for Liz before he votes.

Vanessa tells Steve there are no hard feelings, and that she will vote for the person who best represents the season.

It’s time for the pre-jury members to talk. Julie asks them about the season and what surprised them most. Da’Vonne asks Austin what happened to Judas. He said he just couldn’t follow through after liking the people in the house. Afterwards, Vanessa reveals that she is a professional poker player worth millions of dollars. Jason says Vanessa played a brilliant game and likens her to Dr. Will, Dan, and Derrick, but wonders why she didn’t own her game. Julie talks to Audrey next about the reaction when she returned home. Audrey tears up as she says she was overwhelmed by how positive the response has been and how many other people’s lives she affected with her story.

It’s time to find out who has won the game. Julie reveals the votes.

Vanessa voted for Liz.

John voted for Steve.

Austin voted for Liz.

Julia voted for Liz.

James voted for Steve.

Meg voted for Steve.

Becky voted for Steve.

Jackie voted for Steve.

STEVE WINS BIG BROTHER 17!

Julie congratulates Steve and reveals that Shelli also voted for Steve to win. She then announces who won America’s Favorite HouseGuest. The Top 3 were John, James, and Jason. However, the $25,000 goes to James. Darn, I was hoping Johnny Mac would’ve won that. Next, Julie asks Steve what he will do with the $500,000. He says he will be very responsible and save it.

And that concludes Big Brother 17! Thanks for reading and post your thoughts on the finale in the comment section below.