Did Cody, Enzo or Nicole Win?

It’s been a long summer and an almost inevitable march to the finale for this Final 3. But after Wednesday’s two-hour finale, only one could emerge the winner of “Big Brother All-Stars.”

Nicole F had the early leg up, having already won Part 1 of the three-part Final Head of Household competition. But it means nothing if she can’t seal the deal and take the third part.

But before that, we got to see Enzo and Cody battle it out in a genuinely complex challenge that saw them not only having to remember Houseguest situations but also knocking multiple swinging pigs on pendulums so they’re all out of the frame at the same time to take a picture.

It’s hard to explain, but it looked even harder to execute. And yet, as we’ve seen time and again throughout this season, it wasn’t all that hard for Cody. He just has a knack for these physical comps, coming up with ways to facilitate a monster score in the end.

In fact, he beat Enzo by more than a half hour on this one, though it helped that Enzo misread the last clue completely — we’ve no idea how much time that cost him. We do know, however, that the loss drove Enzo almost to the brink.

Cody couldn’t even celebrate his victory as Enzo just beat himself down so hard he had both Cody and Nicole either in tears or close to it just feeling for him. Emotions are heightened in the “Big Brother” house, and Enzo is chasing his own third-place legacy here from a decade ago.

It was clear that he could see history looming up to repeat itself and it just got to be too much. But he wasn’t in third place yet. Even though his fate was out of his hands, there was still a chance Nicole or Cody could take him.

Before the Final 2 was revealed, the Jury assembled to break down the games of the Final 3 contestants, once Christmas joined them. Who was most deserving of the win? And could Nicole or Enzo win if they don’t clip Cody?

That seemed to be their general consensus. Cody has played the best all-around game, so the other two really need to take each other to have their best shot at the $500k.

• “For me, Nicole not only lied to me but she also ignited the fire, she provoked it, and she encouraged it for us to go back and forth.” –Da’Vonne
• “I personally really like how she’s playing. But that kind of passive play is not something that can be exciting to talk about and just think that if she can make it to the end, it’s something that a lot can be spoken to.” –Kevin
• “It needs to be comps. It needs to be social games. It’s how you implemented your strategy and weren’t a complete jerk about it. Enzo has a lot of boxes checked off.” –Tyler
• “I think Enzo has been playing a better game than he’s giving himself credit for.” –Tyler
• “Cody became Derrick” –Tyler
• “When I talked to him and he talked to me, I always felt included, like I was part of something.’ –Ian (about Cody)
• “If she cuts Cody, respect. If Enzo cuts Cody, respect.” –Ian

The final round was purely based on memory, and memory in meticulous detail. It’s a staple of “Big Brother” to wrap it up by seeing just how closely the finalists have been paying attention to the season they just played, and we have to give props to both for incredible recall.

Unfortunately for Nicole, she missed the very first question. After that, it was smooth sailing and perfection from both of them. But that gave Cody a perfect score and a perfect victory on a nearly perfect season. It was also history again repeating itself.

The last time he played this game, he won that final HOH and took Derrick to the Final 2 with him. He lost that vote, so he knew the pressure of getting this right. Could Enzo beat him with the jury? Could Nicole?

Ultimately, he decided that it was just too risky to be sitting up there next to a former winner who could argue the merits of the quiet game she played. The very fact a former winner would be sitting in the Final 2 could be enough to score some votes (it worked for “Survivor’s” Sandra).

And so, he took Enzo to the end. At this point, it felt inevitable that Cody was going to complete a masterful season of “Big Brother” the likes of which we’ve almost never seen. The fact he was able to execute it so easily in an All-Star season is all the more remarkable.

It’s also impressive that neither of the Final 2 was ever on the Block this season, though Cody argued that Enzo was technically on the Block after Cody won that final HOH. He just survived it.

Regardless, Cody followed Dan in being the second person in the history of this game to score a unanimous victory. Enzo played a great game, but it was also an easier game to play, as he readily admitted.

Cody worked from Day 1, evolving his game from the first time and proving dominant in physical, mental, memory and every other type of competition win you can imagine. His performance was nothing short of legendary, cementing his status as one of the best to ever play the game.

He’s not the only one to emerge from this season with those honors — we’d give it also to Enzo, Nicole F, Christmas, Memphis, Tyler and Danielle. Yes, that’s the Final 7, but credit where it’s due, they deserved their dominance in this game with how well they controlled it.

That’s not to say they’re our favorites, or America’s either. We can’t say we were surprised to find that both Tyler and Da’Vonne emerged as the top vote-getters of America’s Favorite Houseguests, and we were absolutely thrilled that Da’Vonne earned it.

She was probably the fan-favorite going into the house and is one of the savviest players to ever play the game. She definitely deserves stronger finishes than she’s managed across three seasons, but that’s a whole different discussion.

• “Go f–k yourself.” –Enzo (after blowing Part 2 by misreading clue)
• “I want to get the f–k out of this house … I said 11 minutes, you did it in 4 minutes.” –Enzo (salty after losing Part 2)
• “Third place is awesome. I just feel bad for everyone who had hope in me and I couldn’t come through.” –Enzo (salty after losing Part 2)
• “It’s my fault. I always come to the end with these f–king 20 year olds.” –Enzo (salty after losing Part 2)
• “If I lose to Nicole, I would be like okay, but if I lose to Enzo, I’ll be like, how did he just beat me?” –Cody
• “No, I’m not gonna cut you. I could never live with myself.” –Nicole (to Cody)
• “I love Cody, but I think Cody is the best player this season.” –Enzo
• “If I took Enzo and I lost, I’d feel like a piece of crap because I betrayed Cody and I lost.” –Nicole F
• “Cody, you have been my ride-or-die since Day 1, Hour 1 in this house. If I was in your position, I would not cut you.” –Nicole
• “We did this since Day 1, yo. You know I had your back. Everything I did, even saving her, was for you, bro. It was for you. You know that. Please. Take me to the Final 2” –Enzo
• “It’s so hard. I mean, I feel like I played this game from the second we walked in here with the both of you. I have that same thing with him. And so, although it was such a blessing to have the both of you in this Final 2, this is horrible to do this to one of you guys. Nicole, I’m so sorry.” –Cody
• “You guys both played one hell of a game. You should be proud.” –Nicole (after Cody evicted her)
• “You’re awesome. You’re gonna destroy me in this, though. You’re gonna destroy me.” –Enzo (after Nicole’s eviction)
• “I did not see it coming. FIrst thing this season I did not see coming.” –Nicole (after eviction)
• “Dude, you need to understand that people aren’t laughing at you–” –Cody (to Enzo)
• “Don’t make me ugly cry!” –Da’Vonne (after winning America’s Favorite Houseguest)

“Big Brother” has been renewed and will return next summer on CBS.

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