Whelp, that was... unexpected. After months and months of watching Paul manipulate and lie his way to the top, the finale revealed that Josh won Big Brother 19 and it's a twist that absolutely no one saw coming. Sure, you could've wanted to see Paul rise up and finally get that win that he's wanted oh so badly for so long. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be for him.
The evening began with determining who would become the next (and final) Head of Household of the season. Paul won the first, physically-based unicorn balancing competition — a sentence I never thought I'd ever say — and then Josh beat Christmas in second memory competition, which involved knocking down cardboard cutout versions of the houseguests. This left Paul and Josh to battle it out in the third competition called "Scales of Just Us," which involved a test to see who knows the jury better. To everyone's surprise, Josh came out victorious as the final HOH winner, meaning he got to decide who he would be taking to the final two with him.
Normally, you may think he would've automatically wanted to bring Christmas with him since she's been his Ride or Die practically all season. However, it's important to factor the jury into decisions like these. Christmas was a lot more liked than either Paul or Josh, given the amount of bad blood they created. So if he chose her as his final competitor, her popularity could've been his undoing. (And in the end, he was right.)
So what did he decide? He opted to keep Paul and evicted Christmas from the Big Brother house. It was an understandable decision, but that didn't stop it from being a very emotional moment. (Then again, this is Josh we're talking about, so pretty much every moment is an emotional one.) But if you thought that was going to be the most difficult part of the night, think again!
Next up, Josh and Paul were then questioned by the members of the jury — you know, the people they upset and double-crossed and manipulated throughout the season — to try and explain why they deserve each of their votes. Talk about an uphill battle.
Obviously, it's a very difficult situation to be in, so sometimes the answers to some of the questions didn't make much sense and were a little scattered. (To be fair, it's hard to come up with stuff on the spot.) But it was interesting to see what questions were asked and the responses that both Paul and Josh gave. Then they were given a chance to speak directly to the jurors for one final plea. If you ask me, I think Paul did a better job at coming across as more genuine, but in the end, it was still up to the jury to decide. So who ended up benefiting from this Q&A session? Josh in a victory many (including myself) didn't think was going to happen! That means $500,000 is all his and he couldn't be more thrilled.
Paul may have orchestrated everyone's game throughout the season, but in the end, it left him one vote short yet again, leaving him in second place. It has to sting to have worked so hard and come out runner-up for the second season in a row (or as Julie Chen said, "a bridesmaid yet again). But maybe this will serve as a wake up call to Paul for him to perhaps change his strategy a bit. Clearly, people prefer to be confronted head-on (even with pots and pans) than get stabbed in the back by those they trust must. Either way, congratulations, Josh!
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