The Last Few Competitions of the 'Big Brother' Season Are Key to Getting to the Final Two

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for those who aren't caught up with Big Brother 23.

There comes a time in every Big Brother season when the houseguests have to make difficult decisions that truly determine who gets to the end. Take the final four Veto competition, for example. It is seen as one of the most important games because of the weight it holds and the power it gives to the winner.

After that, there's one more Head of Household competition and, for the remaining two players, it's on to the last vote of the season. It all goes pretty quickly once the final four players secure their place. But there's no denying that the final four Veto is something the remaining houseguests need to fight for harder than any other Veto of the season.

By the time the final four Veto competition comes into play, four players are left in the game. Everyone, including the two houseguests on the block, get to play in the Veto. Whoever wins this Veto essentially determines who the final three contestants are. Those three players will go on to compete on finale night for the last Head of Household title and a spot in the final two.

So if someone outside of the two houseguests on the block wins the final four Veto, they get to choose which houseguest is eliminated. Before the final four, houseguests vote on who gets sent packing. But with four contestants remaining and two on the block (with one as the HOH), there's only one other player still in the game at this point. Likewise, if the HOH or one of the people on the block wins the Veto, they get that power.

There are three rounds to the final HOH competition each Big Brother season. The first is usually an endurance competition. Whoever wins moves on to the third round automatically. In the second game, which is typically a physical and mental competition mixed together, the other two houseguests face off.

That winner moves on to the final round of the HOH competition, facing the winner of the first round, and usually answering trivia questions from jurors. Whoever wins this last phase of the competition gets the power to cast the sole vote to send one of the other final three contestants straight to the jury. Afterward, the remaining two houseguests plead their cases to the jury members in the hopes of winning their votes for the grand prize.

Usually, when the houseguests vote throughout the season, they vote on who they think should be evicted. One by one, they enter the Diary Room and cast their private votes.

But the Big Brother finale is a little different. Instead of the jury members voting on who they believe should not win, they cast their votes on finale night in favor of who they believe deserves first place.

The jury members insert their votes, which are shaped like house keys, into a box, live on stage. Afterward, Julie Chen Moonves removes each one and says out loud who each vote is for. And because there's always an odd number of jurors, there's never danger of a tie vote.

Watch Big Brother on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.