Big Brother All-Stars Recap Season 22, Episode 11: New Lease for Kaysar?

Never has a “Big Brother” Houseguest needed a Head of Household win more than Kaysar. Well, that’s probably not true but his head has been on the chopping block since he and Janelle walked into the house together.

With her gone, one of two things happens. He either gets a new lease on life in this game or the house decides to just go ahead and finish what they started. You know, because Kaysar has never finished higher than 10th place in two seasons.

Clearly he’s the biggest threat in this house right now, right?

It’s almost frustrating watching these players because they’re playing the same way recent seasons have gone. An enormous alliance is formed early on and no one ever wants to rock the boat so it’s just easy vote after easy vote after easy vote.

At least Janelle was a huge threat in the house, or at least a huge perceived threat. Right now, the half of the house with their heads in the game and running the show are the real threats, because they just keep taking power week after week.

This week, it wasn’t The Commmission (or Committee by extension) that took home the Head of Household, but it was still Commission-adjacent. And really, Tyler and Cody have been running the house.

Between The Commitee and the Slick Six, they are aligned with eight other people in the house. That’s an incredibly dominant combination of alliances. Even more remarkable is that neither alliance appears to be targeting the other.

We can only credit Tyler and Cody for a big assist in that area, keeping the target on someone outside of their collective ten-person alliances. Which means that when Enzo pulled off a slick victory in the HOH comp, the boys were sitting pretty … still!

Cody, in particular, has been working very closely with Enzo, who thinks the two are rider-or-die together. But Cody seems to have this arrangement with Tyler and Memphis as well. One thing’s for sure, though, the straight white boys are standing strong in this game. We’ll have to more to say on that in a bit.

Enzo chose Christmas as his plus-one in the Safety Suite last week in hopes of roping her in as a strategic ally and boy did it start to pay off immediately. Christmas is a very observant player, as is Enzo.

After firming up that he wanted to work with her and have each other’s backs, they had one of the most productive meetings we’ve seen all season, breaking down all the other players, perceived alliances, floaters and where everyone stands.

Overall, they have a pretty good read on the house. The only chink in the armor appeared to be those hinky votes to save Janelle last week, but Cody is pretty sure he knows who it was. Because she asked him to do it with her.

We’ve been saying it for awhile now, but Dani is playing a very dangerous game. Just like Memphis is losing the trust of his alliance members with his rogue moves in the game, all of Dani’s duplicitous pot-stirring is starting to cost her trust.

This week, she could have engendered some more trust in Cody if she’d come clean about throwing that vote Janelle’s way after she asked him if he’d do it with her — to pin it on Da’Vonne and Bayleigh — but she didn’t.

And yet, he’s pretty sure it was her who did it and he’s pretty sure why she did it. By lying to him, she created layers of mistrust. If she’ll lie to him about a plan she made with him, what else would she lie about? What can you trust that she says?

With Dani, so much of her strategy is these social manipulations, she needs to be careful that people can believe what she says. Otherwise, she’s just digging her own grave. It remains to be seen if this will cost her.

The biggest issue is that Dani is also in both the Slick Six and The Committee, which means she’s clearly decided the first of those isn’t real to her at all. But with Memphis and now Dani sowing mistrust, could Cody and Tyler decide The Committee is the more problematic alliance?

This week’s nominees is like a bad sequel. Both nominees have been on the block before and neither of them have proven themselves particularly strong strategically or physically in this game. For Enzo, though, he says it’s because they’ve not approached him or talked game with him.

Has he approached them?

Da’Vonne and Kaysar had a meaningful conversation about Black Lives Matter, representation and the challenges people of color face coming into this game. One of those challenges is socially being accepted by the majority white players in the game.

Inevitably, the white people tend to gravitate toward one another and historically that has been bad for players of color. There are rare exceptions, but on shows like this and “Survivor,” there is an alarming history of BIPOC being targeted and eliminated early.

That’s why we have to note that with Enzo’s repeat nominations of Kaysar and Kevin, there has not been a single straight, white male on the block all season long after four weeks of nominations. If one of them pulls themselves off the block, a replacement nominee can change that.

For now, though, nominees have been Keesha, Kevin, Nicole A, David, Janelle and Kaysar. And of those six nominees, the three white women have gone home. The house has yet to evict a male or nominate a straight, white male.

Does it mean anything? Possibly not. We feel confident in saying it doesn’t mean anything intentional is happening in how things are playing out, but it does speak to some subtle passive racism and sexism in just how people culturally interact and connect.

We absolutely do not expect this distinction to continue, but “BB22” is coming on the heels of rampant racism last season, with the first four Houseguests evicted being people of color and plenty of terrible comments being made against BIPOC and women.

This season has been more cognizant of race for sure this season, and CBS has done much better in airing important conversations like Kaysar and Da’Vonne shared tonight, but there’s only so much they can do when it comes to how the house interacts with one another.

Cody Calafiore rises back to the top. Apparently, winning the first HOH of the season was the most important thing ever, as the relationships and alliances he forged that week have left him effectively in a power position all season long. Grade: A

Tyler Crispen remains in an incredible position, aligned strongly with Cody and in good with basically everyone in power in this game. He’s a comp beast and yet no one is gunning for him. Grade: A-

Enzo Palumbo keeps rising, taking HOH this week and immediately solidifying an already strong social game by making alliances with Christmas and staying close with Cody, the de factor ruler of the house. Grade: A-

Christmas Abbot finds herself in an amazing position this week, working closely with Enzo. She needs to be careful in that he sees her as ultimately expendable, but she’s in an incredible place to gain intel and she’s proven she can do a lot with that. Grade: B+

Nicole Franzel can just lay low and not rock any boats. She’s on a few radars as a former winner, but nothing that seems poised to sink her game just yet. She’s also strongly aligned with Cody, which could prove her saving grace when the house finally looks at her. Grade: B

Bayleigh Dayton and Da’Vonne Rogers are seen as a duo by everyone, and now they’re being targeted for sabotage by Dani. So far, it doesn’t seem to be working, but they need to figure out something or they will become targeted for breaking up, which is bad for one of their games. Grade: B-

Daniele Briones is doing her best to sow discord, but Cody isn’t quite buying it and he told Enzo as much. This puts Dani’s trust in jeopardy, depending on how they decide to share their suspicions with others. If Bay and Day get wind of it, considering they’re her targets, the Slick Six is going to explode. Grade: B-

Memphis Garrett is laying low and off the radar. He’s been playing a very self-centered game and he’s yet to pay any price for it. His long game, though, might be crippled in that he’s got a lot of people aligned with him who absolutely do not trust him. On top of that he’s a comp beast and a threat. Grade: C

Ian Terry is being noticed, despite his attempts to downplay his existence. His only value right now is that he’s in Nicole’s back pocket as far as votes go, but with so many people effectively in power and no one willing to make big moves, that’s not as valuable as it could or should be. He’s also won no comps, which in this house means he’s a huge threat. Grade: C-

Kevin Campbell just can’t seem to get it together. He is apparently a pawn this week, but sometimes pawns go home. And if he repeats his meltdowns of Week 1, he could seal his own fate if Kaysar manages to save himself. But, we believe he’s in a slightly better place this time around and should survive. There are just better targets. Grade: D+

David Alexander keeps screwing up his game. This week, he just stared awkwardly at everyone when they asked him if he’d voted to save Janelle, which he didn’t. But he couldn’t just say it. Apparently, as good as he might be at reading the house, he is terrible when confronted or in the spur of the moment. He literally freezes, and looks guilty as hell, much to Dani’s delight. He is so not on their level. Grade: D

Kaysar Ridha got no new lease on life. He remains public enemy number one in the house, despite being one of the weakest threats. All they fear now is his wrath should he find power, and apparently that’s enough and he’s going to be the target until he’s gone, which is a shame. He’s got a good head for the game overall, but is building no ties with anyone (not that we think they’d be open to it at this point). Grade: D-

• “They’re coming for me next. I’ve been hunted like a dog since I came into this house.” –Kaysar
• “I voted to evict Kaysar because I wanted to give Janelle a pity vote. But also, if I can stir up a little craziness in this house, why not?” –Dani
• “If you can’t be a social beast, it’s time to be a comp beast.” –David (or perhaps … neither?)
• “I don’t care who’s in this house. I want blood all over me.” –Enzo (after winning HOH)
• “Am I going crazy in here? You did ask me to do it, so me thinking it could have been you isn’t really a wild assumption. I don’t understand why Dani gets so defensive, but now it’s raising a lot of flags with me.” –Dani (telling Cody she didnt’ vote to save Janelle … she did)
• “I don’t want them to think them two votes was us.” –Da’Vonne (to Janelle)
• “You think it was Kevin or Da’Vonne? It was definitely Bayleigh, obviously.” –Dani (to Cody)
• “I think it was you.” –Cody
• “David gives the usual Davidsms. What? Huh? Who is this? I’m over it. Why are you here?” –David (can’t just say he voted Janelle out)
• “I couldn’t sit idly by and watch the world burn. I couldn’t bear it anymore.” –Kaysar (says he came back to have hard conversations publicly)
• “I’m coming after you.” –Dani (after Bayleigh made her a Have-Not)
• “Listen. Swing, but don’t miss.” –Bayleigh
• “He’s a good kid. But he talked no game with me for four weeks.” –Enzo (about Kaysar)

Got a story or tip for us? Email TooFab editors at [email protected].