Alliances Crumble as New HOH Ignores Advice

There was a little room for silliness, though, and a little more room in Chris Kattan’s belly for some of Carson Kressley’s cake. Apparently, Chris Ka is a bit of a cake monster, as we see footage of him three nights in a row going for Carson’s cake.

Even worse, Lamar Odom called him out for double-dipping like a fiend into this cake that was made for the whole house. Covid or no, there are lines, and we don’t mean the ones he was making with his fork as he went back for more and more. Compliments to the chef, we guess.

Night 3 was our favorite, as Lamar and Mirai Nagasu were up chatting at the table when Chris Ka came stumbling by like he was in a cake trance. They could only laugh and shake their heads … and swear off that cake.

The sugar high didn’t do much to help Chris Ka in the HOH competition this week, though, as he gave a deplorable showing. He appears to have some mobility limitations (fused spine or neck maybe) that definitely impacted him, but it was still a whole lot of mess.

The competition was a riff on Rotten Tomatoes, but had them rolling “Rotten Potatoes” across three different types of boards trying to get the highest combined score. They had to lock in the score once they were happy with it at each station, but only had two minutes total to lock in three scores.

As much as Chris Ka was a mess, Shanna Moakler may have been even worse, though she wound up with the third highest score. She kept forgetting to hit the buzzer. Had the other Houseguests been more ruthless, she could have wound up with a zero despite her efforts.

In the end, it was a surprisingly dominant performance by Chris Kirkpatrick that proved he was NSYNC with the game boards. His 75 points was way more than Lamar, who came in second with 61 points. It was a good showing for Lamar, who’s been needing to show some competition prowess.

With Chris Ki firmly in power, that should make it an easy week for the Athletes Alliance, who fully took control of the game last week with Miesha Tate in power and the eviction of Teddi Mellencamp. Her next target was Carson … but it isn’t her HOH.

Chris Ki was adamant that this was his HOH, and he wanted to target Mirai, who was actually Miesha’s second target during her week. The problem for Miesha, though, is that she solidifed a working relationship with Mirai and wanted to continue to exploit that.

What she didn’t want to do, though, was tell Chris Ki that, which says how much she respected him as an equal in her alliance. Apparently, only Miesha and Todrick Hall are really tight out of the Athletes … and even then, we think they’d each stab the other in the back.

Miesha made it clear what she thinks of her larger alliance (which technically includes Todrick, Lamar, Chris Ki and Mirai) when she mentioned only Todrick and Chris Ki in a candid bathroom chat. And now that Chris Ki is going against the alliance himself, it seems she’s down to just Todrick.

Credit where it’s due, Miesha did not back down lightly, aggressively trying to convince Chris Ki to target Carson and Cynthia Bailey, as the only two left of the original Formation alliance. As Chris Ki pointed out, though, they’re just two people and they’re not a threat to his game. He even established a working relationship with them this week, figuring if he doesn’t target them, he could earn some loyalty.

It’s amazing how weak all of these alliances are this season. The only things that seem to matter are pairs, which can be a very effective way to play.

We learned this week that Shanna and Chris Ki actually established a tight twosome on Day 2, and he does seem inclined to honor that for now. Todrick and Miesha are a pair, and Carson and Cynthia became on by default. Beyond that, everyone is playing a solo game or a temporary alliance game, and none of it seems to really be sticking.

It means the game is a lot more fluid and in the air than we realized. These guys can’t even keep an alliance going from one day to the next, which makes it nearly impossible to predict how things are going to fare moving forward.

Ultimately, Chris Ki stuck to his guns, putting Mirai on the block next to Chris Ka, figuring that he’d make a great pawn. But pawns sometimes go home. Maybe that cake munching will come back to haunt him as the rest of the house wanted some of that. Or maybe Mirai will campaign better than him. We know Miesha has reason to want to keep her.

There’s also the Veto to consider, which could further flip things upside down and sideways. In other words, we’ve no idea what’s going on minute to minute, much less what might happen next.

Todrick Hall (36) all but disappeared when Chris Ki won HOH, which is about as smart a move as he could make. While Miesha is making waves to try and get her way, Todrick knows that it doesn’t really matter so long as it isn’t him or Miesha (and it won’t be). So he’ll lay low and let Chris Ki have his power trip and be happy with whatever happens. He’s still got his finger on the pulse of this game. Grade: A+

Chris Kirkpatrick (50) proved himself a student of this game and a very determined player, with an impressive HOH performance and an even more impressive sense of conviction in playing his own game for himself. He’s not betraying Miesha, nor is he targeting her, so he’s staying true-ish to their alliance. He is targeting Mirai, but alliances are so fluid this season, none of them really count. It could hurt him later, but it feels like he’s handling it respectfully and should be good for the time being He definitely knows what he’s doing. Grade: A

Shanna Moakler (46) is stealthily aligned with Chris Ki in a way that makes her jumping ship from Formation make a little more sense. She’s proven she knows this game, but she’s playing it in a way that others are already underestimating her savvy as to what’s going on. That coupled with partnering with a guy willing to make moves makes them a very dangerous pair. If this is a partnership that lasts, it could be quite a powerful one. Grade: B+

Miesha Tate (35) is getting a little salty already that Chris Ki doesn’t seem inclined to do her dirty work for her. If she’s not careful, being seen as needing to be this much in control from the start of the game could cause her allies to turn on her. We’re confident she’ll still have Todrick, but they could become targets sooner than later if she isn’t able to back down when she’s losing — like her drive to get Chris Ki to target Carson because she wants him out so bad. Grade: B-

Cynthia Bailey (54) is in a tricky spot for the moment, paired with Carson and with a segment of the house gunning for both of them. Chris Ki, though, is not one of those people. And if he’s sincere in gravitating toward them, that could shift the power structure in the house dramatically to Cynthia and Carson’s benefit. For the time being, she ranks a little higher as Carson is seen as the bigger threat. We also believe she’s way smarter in this game than she’s letting on, but unless she can get some power, she may not get a chance to really show it. Grade: C+

Carson Kressley (52) is getting a temporary reprieve from being targeted because Chris Ki is playing his own game and isn’t interested in doing Miesha’s dirty work. He does, however, see that Carson is a threat down the road. But then, so is Miesha. This could prove a pivotal week for Carson, as his social game has an opportunity to turn his entire game around. Can he do it? Maybe POV will make a difference? He’s won one already! Grade: C+

Lamar Odom (42) and Todd Bridges (56) are back to floating in this game, with Miesha and the Athletes seemingly only needing him when its convenient. Chris Ki seems keen to work with both of them as they’re ready to be loyal, which is more gameplay than we’ve seen from either of them thus far. It still doesn’t feel like much, though. Grade: C-

Mirai Nagasu (28) is Chris Ki’s target, though that doesn’t necessarily mean she’d be the one to go. She has allies in the house, and if she plays her cards right in campaigning, she could shore up even more support from all the floaters in the House. She can play on their desire to beat the best, and she’s definitely more of a competitor than Chris Ka. There’s also the Veto which she has a real chance of winning and saving herself. So her game is definitely not up. Grade: D+

Chris Kattan (51) may be the pawn, but it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to do much to determine his own fate. We don’t really see him campaigning effectively, nor do we see him dominating in a Veto competition. Chris Ki may want Mirai out, but we’re not so sure the rest of the house is so against her. She’s a strong competitor and could make a good ally for all the loose factions in the house, whereas Chris Ka is an easy vote and not someone who would probably make a great ally moving forward as what can he do to help your cause? He may be the pawn, but pawns sometimes go home. Could he be one of them? Grade: D

• “It’s not just about Todd’s snoring.” –Chris Ka (choosing Todd for the Block with Mon-Won)
• “The person we really need to take down is Chris Kat– No, I’m kidding. It’s Miesha.” –Carson
• “So, who voted for her? Me, you and Shanna?” –Cynthia (to Carson; but it was actually them and Chris Ka)
• “I know that I am, like, on probation now. If I win you definitely won’t be up there.” –Todrick (damage control with Cynthia)
• “I didn’t want to work with Tedd.” –Todrick (to Cynthia)
• “Look, I don’t care. That’s how it’s gonna be.” –Cynthia
• “I’m going from the Olympics to playing with rotten potatoes.” –Mirai
• “Did I really just lose the ballgame to a pop star?” –Lamar (after Chris Ki beat his score)
• “He’s trying to throw this.” –Carson (watching Todd’s terrible HOH performance)
• “He’s basically joined at the hip with Miesha. That could be problematic. I’d better start buttering his potato right now.” –Carson (after Chris Ki wins HOH)
• “I have to do what’s best for my game. How I use my power might not make everyone happy.” –Chris Ki
• “I got chicken legs.” –Todd (after taking off pants)
• “They’re slim.” –Carson
• “How them legs holding your body up?” –Lamar
• “I want Mirai out.” –Chris Ki
• “That’s the low-hanging fruit.” –Miesha
• “It’s an option.” –Chris Ki
• “It’s the easy one.” –Miesha
• “Miesha starts telling me what she wants for her game. And I’m thinking in my head, this is my HOH.” –Chris Ki
• “Miesha thinks she’s running this house not even in the HOH.” –Shanna (to Chris Ki)
• “Just so you know, I am not listening to anybody else tell me how to play my game.” –Chris Ki (to Carson and Cynthia)
• “Chris Kattan has been double-dipping in that cake for days, so it’s been Kattan-minated.” –Carson
• “I thought that cake was supposed to be for everybody but it looks like it’s just for Chris Kattan.” –Lamar
• “He takes the cake.” –Lamar (to Mirai about Chris Ka)
• “Do you think she’s a bigger target than Carson?” –Miesha (to Chris Ki about Mirai)
• “For me.” –Chris Ki
• “That’s fair.” –Miesha (but then she keeps pushing for Carson)
• “We could take out the head of that side.” –Miesha (to Chris Ki about Carson)
• “But there’s nobody over there. It’s just him and Cynthia. I don’t think they’re that much of a threat.” –Chris Ki