'Big Brother' recap: Reilly Smedley wins HoH, takes Jared Fields and Cory Wurtenberger off eviction block

Big Brother featured Reilly Smedley winning the first Head of Household competition, removing Jared Fields and Cory Wurtenberger from the chopping block, and lasering in on one target during the Season 25 episode that aired Sunday night on CBS.


Reilly, a 24-year-old bartender from Portland, ME who currently resides in Nashville, TN, decided to save Jared, a 25-year-old exterminator from Norwalk, CT, and Cory, a 21-year-old college student from Weston, FL, from eviction at the Nomination Ceremony.

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Reilly's decision left Felicia Cannon, a 63-year-old real estate agent from Tacoma, WA who currently resides in Kennesaw, GA, and Kirsten Elwin, a 25-year-old molecular biologist from Orlando, FL, via Dominica who currently resides in Houston, TX, on the chopping block heading into the first Power of Veto competition of the summer.

The Big Brother broadcast began with Felicia and Reilly immediately recognizing Cirie Fields from her days on Survivor.


Cirie had been on four seasons of Survivor. Even though she never won a single Survivor season, she said she felt like "an expert" in these games.

Cirie then revealed that Jared is her son.

Cirie and Jared were hoping to stay undetected, and so they entered the house under the agreement they weren't going to tell anybody about their family connection.

Izzy Gleicher, a 32-year-old professional flutist from New York, NY, however, is a huge fan of Cirie and follows her on Instagram. Izzy therefore recognized Jared as Cirie's son, and Izzy immediately made that known to Jared. The pair therefore formed a quick alliance.

Izzy promised Jared that she wouldn't say anything to any of the other houseguests, and Jared was just hoping he could trust her because he didn't want a target on his back on Day 1.


Izzy then spoke to Cirie about how she was "buzzing" inside with excitement to meet her, and she swore to Cirie that she'd keep -- and protect -- their family secret.

"Now, my No. 1 goal is making Izzy 100 percent trust me," Cirie said in the Diary Room.

Izzy also told Jared that she would make sure he'd come off the chopping block, given he was already in jeopardy of getting evicted from the Big Brother house.

"I am shaking right now because I have power over [Jared] and Cirie now. I truly think I am the only person in the house that knows," Izzy told the cameras.

Meanwhile, Jag Bains, a 25-year-old truck company owner from Omak, WA, shared how he thought Reilly was "really cool" and had a positive energy.


And Cameron Hardin, a 34-year-old stay-at-home dad from Eastman, GA, and Red Utley, a 37-year-old salesperson from Gatlinburg, TN, quickly bonded over their country roots and quirky personalities.

When all of the houseguests were gathered together in the living room, getting to know one another and sharing their personal stories, Cory suddenly returned from "the nether region."

Cory had the following message for his fellow houseguests: "This is a transmission from the Scary-verse. Cory was pulled into the nether region. Luckily, for him, it was only for a short time. Unfortunately, next week, one of you won't be so lucky. End of transmission."

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When Cory saw Cirie, he said it was the best day of his life but he also felt "screwed." He pointed out how Cirie's playbook is to make a player feel like her No. 1 ally, only to beat that person to the end.


"I'm going to beat Cirie if it's the last thing I do," Cory boasted in the Diary Room.

Reilly announced how it was her 24th birthday, and Matt Klotz, a 27-year-old Deaflympics gold medalist from Cameron Park, CA who currently resides in Baton Rouge, LA, said Reilly was his "type" and her eyes got him "locked in."

Kirsten thought Matt was "dreamy" and "steamy," but she predicted that he'd have some tricks up his sleeve.

Mecole Hayes, a 30-year-old political consultant from St. Louis, MO who currently resides in Upper Marlboro, MD, said she loved Hisam Goueli, a 45-year-old geriatric physician from Minneapolis, MN who currently resides in Seattle, WA, and his loud, contagious laugh.

A "transmission" then arrived from the Humili-verse.


"Who is brave enough to humiliate themselves by becoming the first four Have Nots of the season?" Kirsten read from a card. "Who is willing to volunteer."

Jared volunteered as well as Cory, Hisam, and Luke Valentine, a 30-year-old illustrator from Weston, FL who currently resides in Coral Springs, FL.

The Have Not room was decorated with a giant cheese bed and hot dog beds.

In order to leave the Have Not room -- at any point or on any day -- a Have Not needed to spin a numbered dial and then allow a boot to kick him or herself in the butt the specified number of times.

Afterward, Cirie asked Jared to solidify his early alliance with Luke and Hisam. Cirie also warned Jared that when he told Kirsten he'd talk to her later, that wasn't smart because other people could hear him say that.

Cirie was worried about her son being an early nominee, and she loved him so much that she didn't want to see him go. Her mind was "blown" that she was able to play such a fun game with her best friend.


Reilly, Jared, Kirsten, Matt, and Luke then had a chat in the house's gym. The group got along and talked about working together going forward, and so they formed the "Phalanx Five." Reilly and Jared weren't convinced this alliance was going to last, but it was all in good fun.

Kirsten was also a nominee for eviction, but she was feeling good about her chances of getting off the block. Cirie and Kirsten also discussed becoming allies and having each other's back in the house.

Kirsten also became buddy-buddy with Felicia, which ultimately formed a trio of strong women.

But when Cirie delivered the news to Jared, Jared said that he didn't trust Kirsten because she was playing "way too hard, too fast." Jared explained to his mom how Kirsten had already tried to form a bigger alliance with the other gym goers.

"The moment she gets a chance, she's going to throw me under the bus," Jared told Cirie.

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Cirie therefore didn't have a good feeling about Kirsten because she didn't want to work with players who would be "lukewarm" about their alliance.

When Cirie shared the news of Kirsten's other alliance of five -- and how she seemed dangerous -- with Felicia, Felicia didn't like the idea of Kirsten having another set of allies that didn't include her. Felicia thought Kirsten was putting a big target on herself by doing this.

"She might be a problem. We don't even know if we can trust what she says," Felicia noted to the cameras.

It then became time for the season's first Head of Household competition. Cory, Felicia, Jared and Kirsten all had to sit out of the competition due to their losses on move-in night.

At the start of the Comic-verse competition, the houseguests learned that the first HoH of the summer would be able to remove two of the players from the chopping block and save them from possible eviction. (Typically, when an HoH is crowned, he or she gets to nominate two houseguests for eviction).

Felicia thought Cirie would take her off the chopping block if the Survivor alum was able to win it.


For the competition dubbed "Crash Course in Comics," the participating houseguests, one at a time, were required to race across a balance-beam course and hit a button on the other side to lock in his or their time.

The houseguests could choose different paths, featuring a variety of balance-beam sizes, to the end, and any time a player lost his or her balance, that person must start over again at the beginning.

There were also swinging obstacles along the way.

The houseguest to hit the button in the fastest time would become the first Head of Household of Big Brother's 25th season.

Blue Kim, a 25-year-old brand strategist from Riverside, CA who currently resides in New York, NY, clocked in a time of 1:36:04.

Cameron's time was 53.11, Red's time was 50.56, and America Lopez, a 27-year-old medical receptionist from Edinburg, TX who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, finished the competition with a time of 50.57.


Hisam clocked a time of 22.49, and Bowie Jane, a 45-year-old barrister and DJ from Melbourne, Australia who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA -- who didn't want to be the first HoH -- attempted to throw the challenge by finishing with a time of 22.50.

Reilly's time was 16.03, and then no one else could beat it.

Reilly therefore became the first Head of Household, and she was ecstatic about making the big move and having the power early on.

Kirsten wasn't sure that Reilly was going to have her back, but she planned to show how she could benefit Reilly's game going forward.

Felicia sought Reilly out for a conversation after the competition, and they both agreed that Kirsten was playing hard. Jared and Cirie both let Reilly know that they were game for targeting Kirsten, and Jared said he could truly see himself working with Reilly in the future.

Cirie called Kirsten "a loose cannon," and Reilly liked how there was a common denominator in the house after talking to all the houseguests. Reilly could tell that Kirsten was on everybody's radar right off the bat.


Reilly spoke to Cirie about how she was going to need a pawn to remove Kirsten from the game. Reilly told Cirie that Jared seemed like a really good person, and Cirie agreed that she liked Jared's energy and he seemed respectful.

Cory then congratulated Reilly on her victory, and he explained to her how he'd be at risk of going home if he stayed on the chopping block. Reilly told Cory that she totally understood how he was fighting for his life in the game and she could appreciate that.

At the end of the day, Reilly intended to make a decision that would best benefit her own game.

At the Nomination Ceremony on Day 3, Reilly announced she had decided to remove Jared and Cory from the chopping block.

"That means Felicia and Kirsten, you are the two houseguests nominated for eviction," Reilly declared.

"I want you both to know how highly I think of you and how much I respect you as people, and I am dying inside knowing how badly you want to be here and how hard you've worked to be in this house."


She added, "And with that being said, I hope you can understand how extremely difficult this decision was to make. I wish you both the absolute best of luck in the Veto Competition."

Kirsten was shocked because she thought Reilly was her friend and that they were early allies. Kirsten said in tears she had no inkling this was going to happen, nor did she have any insight into what was happening in the game.

"I feel betrayed," Kirsten cried in the Diary Room.

Cory, meanwhile, expressed how he had experienced three days of "pure terror" but now he could finally breathe.

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Reilly told the cameras that her target for the week was Kirsten, due to her alleged pot stirring and scheming, and so she couldn't envision herself remaining aligned with someone capable of doing that.


Cirie was thrilled that her son was off the chopping block, but Felicia was "devastated." Felicia, however, felt pretty confident she'd be safe come eviction night.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski