'Big Brother's Finale Is Always a Massive Event — Here's How It Works Each Season

The Big Brother finale is the most important episode of any given season, and rightfully so. It's the time when a winner is finally crowned after a season of more than a dozen strangers getting to know each other, befriending some, and downright betraying others. But how does the Big Brother finale work?

The finale airs on one night, but the final Head of Household competition typically takes place on multiple days, meaning you won't know who wins the last HOH competition until the finale episode. And even then, there's more game to play to determine which two players make it to the end. Honestly, it's a lot.

Although the Big Brother finale airs on a Thursday or Sunday night in most seasons, there are events leading up to the episode that help lay the groundwork for the final part of the final HOH competition. It all starts in the week leading up to the finale.

Although the penultimate episode is usually a clip show of sorts as the final three reflect on their individual games throughout the season, it also features the first part of the last HOH competition.

The winner from this competition will then play the winner from the second round in the third and final part. From there, the winner chooses who they take to the final two. And after that, they plead their cases to the jury and answer the jury questions.

And it's the latter who has the final say in which houseguest wins Big Brother.

The finale includes the rest of the competition and usually a long jury segment. Toward the end of the episode, the jury votes on which player of the final two is the winner.

Since there are three parts to the last HOH competition, two of them are typically part of the two-hour finale. However, the first part often finishes by the end of the penultimate episode. But if it doesn't, viewers have to wait until the finale to see the result.

The main takeaway is that, come finale night, the jury has two players to choose from for the final voting of the season.

Catch new episodes of Big Brother on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST and on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS and Paramount Plus.