First Eviction, Power Alliance Forms

After applauding “Big Brother” for sharing real discussions about major social and political issues in this country on Wednesday night’s show, one Houseguest took it to the next level during the live vote and eviction.

Da’Vonne said her name, evoking the tragic shooting death of Breonna Taylor by police after casting her vote, saying, “Justice for Breonna Taylor.”

Host Julie Chen didn’t acknowledge the statement directly, but neither did the show try and censor her in any way. If it never happens again from anyone, we’ll know she was chastised for it. Hopefully, Da’Vonne’s freedom of expression is supported by the show.

That’s the whole point of this microcosm exploration. Just because they’re in the Big Brother house doesn’t mean they’re outside of our world. And these issues don’t just go away as soon as that door closes.

Even Julie seemed to have a slight awareness of the tension outside the studio, signing off the show with a statement that certainly seemed to address rising tension and ugliness.

Of course, she also signed off with her full name, Julie Chen Moovnes, which she has contentiously used ever since her husband — and former CBS head honcho — stepped down after multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.

As such, her statement may not be well-received by all or could be seen as self-serving. Nevertheless, these words have been dubbed the “golden rule” for a reason.

“Remember the golden rule,” she said at the close of the show. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

After a night of duos and Final 2 deals on Wednesday, the Houseguests finally got around to the business of expanding those alliances to secure the numbers and votes to gain some early control in this game.

Cody certainly took advantage of his waning Head of Household position to perhaps position himself better than anyone else yet in the game. Already, he’s in three tight duos (with Nicole F, Enzo and Memphis). Now it was time to expand.

Making it even better for him, it was Memphis who came to him with the proposal to expand their named power duo, The Commission. He’s looking to replicate his own Renegades success with lieutenants under him.

Among the four recruits he considered was Nicole F, who is already in a deal with Cody, so that was all cool. He rounded it out by including Christmas, Tyler (who has deals with everyone), and Dani. It could be a formidable group if they can keep it on the down low.

And then, things got even better for him when his other Final 2 duo, with Enzo, expanded to include another Final 2 duo (though neither pairs knows this). But since Bayleigh and Da’Vonne. Since tney don’t know about The Commission, this foursome really benefits Cody and Enzo way more than it does them down the road, but it’s good for now.

The amazing thing was that in two deft moves, Cody suddenly found himself single-handedly with enough influence and people around him to control the house entirely, even with such large numbers. And that’s exactly what he did.

Unanimous votes aren’t uncommon this early in the game, but it’s absolutely no surprise that Keesha was the first eliminated. She may have been a Final 4, America’s Favorite player in her first season, but she never even played this season.

She didn’t even bother to learn the other player’s names, and these are All-Stars who’s played the game before. We kind of suspect Keesha was a very last-minute alternate for either Kaycee or Josh and was out of her depth from the jump.

She’s clearly not watched recent seasons (or at least not Tyler’s season) and was not ready for this game. The exact opposite of Kevin, at least in one regard.

He seemed just as unprepared for this game, but it’s not from being unfamiliar with the other players. He is intimidated by them all and doesn’t appear to feel he’s even worthy to be among them. Talk to David about that, buddy!

Now Kevin is grateful and we get to see what kind of player he could be when he’s not terrified for his life in this game. Hopefully he takes some deep breaths and settles down or he’s going to drive everyone crazy!

We are kind of loving this guy they picked to play the four characters in the fake “BB” Zoom party for this round. We suspect it’s the same guy who’s entered the house a couple of times recently to harass and bother Houseguests as punishments.

And we love him! He’s so over-the-top obnoxious, he made something patently ridiculous entertaining..

This one was a memory game and we really thought it was going to come down to a tiebreaker. But then Memphis was the only one too answer right about Granny’s toilet with seven people still in the running and just like that, new HOH.

It looks like Cody solidified The Commission — and it’s lieutenants — just in time. Now, he doesn’t have to worry about repercussions from his very safe and lame HOH reign.

Perhaps more interesting is that the power alliance is now completely in control of the house again. Could this kick off a dominant run that carries them through the game, as we’ve seen in recent seasons?

That all depends on loyalty — which is not rock solid yet — and whether or not the rest of the house can present better or more interesting options. We know Cody and Memphis do the loyalty thing, but we’re not sold on everyone else yet.

Cody Calafiore masterfully played the power of his HOH into a perfect position with burgeoning alliances. He is poised to go deep into this game, and has so many options right now it’s crazy. Grade: A+

Memphis Garrett slides way up for building protection around himself and Cody as The Commissioners. We know both play loyal games and his recruitment went off flawlessly. This could prove very good for him if this group can stick together. Obviously, HOH this week is all good for his game. Grade: A

Nicole Franzel finds herself in a power position in the game, but behind the curtains, as she has a solid Final 2 with Cody (seems to be his main one right now) and now is part of The (larger) Commission with none the wiser. Plus, she’s got Ian and whatever deals he starts developing in her back pocket as alliance or intel. Grade: A-

Tyler Crispen just saw his stock go way up by joining The Commission. He’s still aligned with everyone in the house, which could make him an amazing intelligence asset for the group if he can keep a low profile. But he still plays a dangerous game. Grade: B

Enzo Palumbo seems to have a solid deal going with Cody, though it’s still not entirely clear which Final 2 means the most to Co-dy. Expanding The Roots to include Da’Vonne and Bayleigh strengthens them, but it’s a tenuous connction at best right now. Grade: B-

Christmas Abbot still waffled about even saying what she thinks, but she is now a part of the power alliance. That said, she disagreed with them about what to do with this week’s vote and why, so she’ll need to solidify this deal to really strengthen her position, or find a new one more aligned with her strategies. Grade: B-

Da’Vonne Rogers and Bayleigh Dayton are still playing this game attached at the hip. Black Girl Magic needs to be careful that this doesn’t become too obvious. Aligning with Cody and Enzo expands their options for now, but they need to lay real low and not try to look so much like a duo. We do like Bayleigh making nice with Tyler, though, as that could help them this week. Grade: B-

Ian Terry‘s entire game hinges on how comfortable Nicole F is with their alliance. She is in a much bigger alliance now, but if she wants to keep him as an option ,she has proven in the past very good at guiding votes where she wants them. He needs to get some autonomy in his game, though. Grade: C+

Nicole Anthony is still in the house, playing her social game and starting to think about awkward alignments (like her final two with Kevin), but she needs to think bigger because she’s already outside the numbers again. Grade: C

David Alexander is grateful to have survived the first week. Congratulations. Now it’s time to start playing “Big Brother.” Grade: C

Janelle Pierzina and Kaysar Ridha really need to hope that Memphis isn’t ready to turn on another old-school player again. Even if that initial divide is fading, we don’t believe for a second it’s gone and we’ve no reason to believe Cody’s desire to see these two go has faded. They could be in trouble again, and with no alliances and no Safety Suite option to save them. Grade: C-

Kevin Cambpell needs to refocus and get it together. Otherwise, his best hope is that the house stops targeting easy votes as that’s what he looks like right now. We’re not sure a Final 2 with Nicole A — who has no pull or alliances in the house — is really enough at this point. Grade: D

Keesha Smith just never got her head in the game this time around. Grade: F

• “I respected his decision but there are definitely some bigger threats out there that need to be taken care of.” –Enzo (after respecting Cody’s wishes and not using the Veto)
• “Keeping Kevin in the house is definitely more beneficial for my game. But, I want the house to come to this conclusion themselves and not have me be the one telling everybody what I would like.” –Cody
• “Old Janelle would have screamed from the second floor, ‘We need to keep Keesha in the house!’ And I would have gotten enough numbers and Keesha would be staying. But I can really get myself in trouble doing that.” –Janelle
• “It’s something that weighs on me. I was rude to you and I’m sorry.” –Tyler (apologizing for his behavior in his season with Bayleigh — but is it just game?)
• “Even if we came in swinging at each other, what good’s that gonna do?” –Bayleigh
• “Or we make people think we’re swinging at each other.” –Tyler
• “They already think we don’t like each other.” –Bayleigh
• “We need to use it. I feel like this is kind of hiding in plain sight” –Tyler
• “It’s like, hey Memphis if you want to go grab all these people, go ahead, because if the truth has to come out, it was Memphis, not me. Love him, loyal to him, but also using him as a shield.” –Cody (letting Memphis do recruitment work for Commission lieutenants)
• “I like Taylor a lot–” –Keesha
• “Who?” –Janelle
• “This poor woman. How do you not know who Tyler is? You know you’re on an All-Star season, right? Yeah, you should probably know his name.” –Janelle
• “Oh my gosh, you always smell so good.” –Keesha (to Cody on her way out the door)

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