Cynthia & Todd Fight Gets Ugly

And that doesn’t even get into the first genuine fight of the season, which took place between Cynthia Bailey and Todd Bridges. As for what it was about, that goes all the way back to the very first week of the game when Cynthia voted to save Teddi Mellencamp.

“You’re not over that?” Lamar Odom asked Todd, who insisted that it’s a dog-eat-dog game, later telling both Lamar and Cynthia that “in the street, you cut my throat, I cut yours.”

Lamar was walking around and clapping support for Cynthia as the argument progressed, even calling Todd a “punk” at one point for not being able to get over this gameplay moment. Cynthia’s argument was she had a deal with Teddi and had no deal with Todd, nor had they ever talked game. So what was the problem here? She was true to her word to her ally?

Cynthia managed to walk away from the fight, but after stewing about it for a moment with Carson Kressley, whom she was sitting next to on the Block, she decided that she couldn’t just let things lie there. In her mind, why was Todd’s word worth more than hers, and that’s exactly what she asked him.

Now, Cynthia did come out of nowhere to confront him with this, but then Todd got up and — while shouting and cursing — started getting in Cynthia’s face. He was all words, and she was nonplussed about it, but Carson was not happy about that one bit.

After walking Cynthia out, he went back to tell Todd that as a man, you should never get up in a woman’s face like that. It’s intimidating. Todd insisted he wasn’t going to do anything, which certainly appears to be true as he turned around and walked away angrily but Cynthia wouldn’t know that and most women wouldn’t.

Life feed fans got a lot more of this, as it was the ugliest incident we’ve yet seen in the House. Afterward, Cynthia was fed up but also fired up. Whereas she was at one point ready to accept her fate if she got voted out, she came out of that encounter ready to fight.

All of this went down after the Power of Veto competition, which was a “Big Brother” classic. The Houseguests competing (HOH Miesha Tate and her nominees Carson and Cynthia, along with Shanna Moakler, Todrick Hall and Lamar) had to rock back and forth on a reindeer to bank 90 seconds on a clock. They then had to start building a tower of snowflakes without running out of time.

They could reset the clock by rocking 20x on the reindeer again, but they had to get back before time ran out. We were absolutely blown away by the fact that four out of six of them actually timed out, including some of the season’s biggest comp beasts.

Cynthia was one of those who didn’t, but she locked in a silly score of only nine snowflakes. Shanna opted to lock her score in at 22 snowflakes, which no one ever seemed to be anywhere close. It was a smart move and she picked up her second Veto win for the effort.

Amazingly — the gall! — Miesha started telling her immediately how to use the Veto, suggesting she could take down Cynthia if she wanted, so long as she kept Carson up there. Miesha plays such a straightforward and aggressive game, and it’s so blatantly self-serving that everyone sees through it.

She’s like a blunt instrument when you need something with a little bit of finesse. Todrick served that role well, but the streak of power they’ve held in the House seems to have gone to his head.

Unless he’s getting a terrible edit, we hardly see him really attempting a social game even with others in the House. Instead, he just seems attached at Miesha’s hip, playing her strategic game for her. They are a dominant duo, but also an incredibly arrogant one.

With Shanna in control of the Veto, and Chris Kirkpatrick overhearing Miesha saying that she was going to throw Todd up as a pawn if Shanna took down Cynthia, per Miesha’s strict instructions, Chris Ki was ready to make a big move. Unfortunately, there was huge risk involved.

If Miesha sticks to her word and puts Todd up, thinking he’d be a pawn, then the rest of the House can flip the script by voting Todd out and putting Miesha and all of her little minions at the bottom of a flipped House.

But — and here’s the rub, there’s no guarantee that Miesha puts up Todd. Ultimately, Miesha even went so far as to change her mind and try to convince Shanna to not use the Power of Veto, realizing that this complicates things for Miesha. This is Miesha’s game, after all, and everyone should just get in line and let her win.

Well, Shanna played it absolutely not Miesha’s way, instead taking down her number one target in Carson. That put Miesha on the spot as to who to put up, and one awkward conversation we witnessed sealed that decision.

Chris Ki had made it clear that he didn’t want to lie directly in this game, which is a lofty and impossible goal if you want to win. He proved that by hemming and hawing around Miesha’s direction question about how he would vote if Shanna used the Veto.

He tried to talk about having her back all this time, and being in her corner, but he never came out and said what she wanted to hear and that was enough for her to decide he wasn’t worth the risk. So with that decision, Chris Ki backdoored himself as he hit the Block.

From there, things pretty much solidified against him as Miesha still has a lot of minions in the House that will vote her way, but Chris Ki was at peace with it. In fact, he considered it a victory because it guaranteed that the other side of the house from Miesha would keep all their numbers and have a fighting chance in this game — even after he was gone.

It was clear that Chris Ki was just looking to stir up the game and make it exciting, which is exactly what he did. It didn’t save his game, but it has the potential to make a more exciting game than watching Miesha and her cronies dominate. That is, if—

The Head of Household competition kicked off and it’s the classing leaning wall endurance competition. TV viewers will find out Sunday who won that one ahead of Monday’s next eviction episode. Who wins will dictate if Chris Ki’s sacrifice really did shake up the game, or if it will be more of the same.

If Todrick takes it, he’ll likely just continue with Miesha picking off the other side of the House. To really mix it up, we’ll need to see a big win from Shanna, Carson or Cynthia. If Todd or Lamar win, that would be more of a wild card move, but both have been working with Miesha — and Lamar is so clueless about how the game works, Todrick would be running his HOH reign guaranteed.

Todrick Hall (36) is still in the best position in this game because he’s actually pretty under the radar, while just about calling all the shots. He’s not won anything yet, and yet he’s still a strong competitor, he’s got the respect of the House and he’s got a huge shield in Miesha ahead of him. His problem is that he’s starting to get a little cocky (as seen by his smug farewell message to Chris Ki) and that often goeth before the fall. He might be getting too comfortable in power. Grade: A-

Shanna Moakler (46) drew a line in the sand between her and Miesha (and Todrick) when she used the Veto to save Carson, but she just traded one alliance for another. Miesha and Todrick may be great competitors, but Shanna has as many wins as Miesha, so she really doesn’t need them for that. And Carson is far stronger in competitions and social, so she might have a better shot aligning on that side even without Chris Ki in the House. Grade: B+

Carson Kressley (52) is like a cat in this game, he has so many lives. Saved again, he continues to prove himself an incredible social player and a bit of a comp beast. This makes him a huge threat you can never count out. Solidifying a working arrangement with Shanna only strengthens his position with a fired-up Cynthia on his other side. He just needs to hope his side can slide into power. Grade: B

Miesha Tate (35) has only been vulnerable once in this game and that was after her first HOH reign when she couldn’t compete. She can’t compete again now, so the other side needs to secure power and try to get rid of her now. Otherwise, she’s going to come back more fired up than ever. Even with things not always going exactly her way, Miesha has managed to keep all of her cronies safe and firmly under her thumb. They’re all playing her game, putting her in a good spot. But she also has the biggest target on her back, keeping her from ranking higher. Grade: B-

Cynthia Bailey (54) is fired up and fearless and ready to fight. We’re not sure if that will translate to her doing any better in comps as we’ve not seen much yet, but as an ally and a number, she is definitely someone who will fearlessly stand up and not be intimidated by anyone. The house is firmly divided, but even then, Cynthia is not anyone’s first target right now, which is a good place to be after sitting on the Block. Grade: C+

Lamar Odom (42) has no clue how to play this game, and struggles to understand it even as he’s playing it. That actually makes him more of a potential liability than an asset. If you can get him to vote your way, that’s great, but as he doesn’t understand any of what’s going on, he could just as well vote another way. He’ll last as long as someone feels confident they can control his vote — so far, that’s been Meisha and Todrick. Grade: C

Todd Bridges (56) ranks here because he’s playing the game emotionally, which makes him someone who’s harder to work with strategically. We don’t see him as the next to go, but without a current HOH, these grades are more about overall performance and assessment on a game level than this particular reign. He’s definitely made an enemy out of Cynthia, which could mean her allies wouldn’t support him, either. He went from invisible to very visible, so he better hope he or Todrick pull this one out, as Lamar wasn’t in his corner on this one, either. Grade: C-

Chris Kirkpatrick (50) backdoored himself, but he had fun. He played an aggressive game and made big moves. There were risks involved, but we respect that he just wanted to upset the dominant balance of power. That job isn’t done yet, but if his underdog allies can actually do that with this HOH competition, they can shift the power. Otherwise, his sacrifice will have been for nothing. But it was fun to watch his strategic mind playing, and enjoy how much he was enjoying just having this experience. Grade: F

Chris Kattan (51) is too sweet of a man for this game. On top of that, he’d not been feeling well these past few days. He didn’t offer much in the way of explanation as to why he was leaving, but he’d pleaded the House to vote him out when they booted Mirai, and then went inside feeling sick after the next competition. His farewell message to the House made it clear he’s just not built for the cut-throat game part of this show, and as that aspect began to take over, he stopped having fun. He’s right in that too many people in the House are taking this way too seriously. He excited a class act, and a sweetheart of a human being, but it’s sad to think he basically chose to sneak out of the House rather than face everyone. We can understand that as they’d all refused to let him leave already once. Grade: DQ

• “It’s been a little bit of a day, so Mommy needs her medicine.” –Carson (drinking wine after getting nominated)
• “Why would you not be nice to Chris Kattan and nominate one of us and let the poor man go home.” –Carson (to Cynthia, after Chris Ka said he wanted to go home)
• “I thought I would maybe have gotten a heads up, but I suspected.” –Cynthia (to Todrick about getting nominated)
• “I think they’re trying to figure out how to get us out of here.” –Todrick (to Miesha)
• “Who?” –Miesha
• “Everyone.” –Todrick
• “What do you mean everyone?” –Miesha (do you really not get this?)
• “Once Carson’s gone, it’s Kirkpatrick that’s next.” –Miesha (to Todrick)
• “You need to ride it out, because you are so smart and so savvy. Think about how we can help you before we go down.” –Carson (to Shanna about him and Cynthia)
• “I’m having a tough time. I was doing great, now I’m okay. I want to go back home.” –Chris Ka (before leaving the Big Brother House)
• “Number one, he’s an athlete. And number two, he seems to be the only person outside of my group that Miesha doesn’t have in a headlock.” –Cynthia (about choosing Lamar to play in Veto, not knowing about Athlete’s Alliance)
• “If your goal is to get out Carson, then you shouldn’t save her.” –Todrick (after Lamar says he’d save Cynthia)
• “I don’t get it.” –Lamar (not understanding the rules or strategy of this game)
• “He might vote Julie Chen out, we don’t know what Lamar is gonna do.” –Todrick
• “I don’t think they have reindeers that fly. Reindeers are for real, though, right?” –Lamar
• “I think you’re gonna win. If you want to pull Cynthia down, you can, if it makes you feel better, ‘cause she’s not who I’m targeting anyways.” –Miesha (condescending to Shanna)
• “You can put me up, that’s fine.” –Todd (offering himself up as a pawn next to Carson if Cynthia comes down)
• “If she puts Todd up, we win, because you, me and Carson can vote for Cynthia. And Todd will go home.” –Chris Ki (to Shanna)
• “There’s a chance she could put me up, but I’m willing to roll the dice.” –Chris Ki
• “I think Chris is stressing so much because he’s thinking if he wins the next HOH it’s time to pull the trigger.” –Miesha (to Todrick about Chris Ki targeting them next)
• “I need to know where things are at because I’m not trying to send Todd home.” –Miesha (to Chris Ki)
• “We have a thing. You know I have you.” –Chris Ki (unwilling to lie to Miesha’s face)
• “I definitely need to just, like, think about everything. It’s tough.” –Miesha (not buying it)
• “I know I told Shanna that I wouldn’t mind if she took Cynthia off the Block, but the more I thought about it, that just creates unnecessary risk for me. My safest bet here is to try to convince Shanna not to use the Veto.” –Miesha (needing full control at all times)
• “If we want Carson to go home you should probably just leave Cynthia up there.” –Miesha (to Shanna)
• “She just wants everyone in this house to be her obedient little followers. I’ve never been a follower and I’m not going to start being one now.” –Shanna
• “You’re a very powerful player. If I even stand a chance here, I’m going to need someone who’s going to get out in the comps with me.” –Shanna (to Miesha after saving Carson with Veto)
• “I had a plan and now I’m on the Block. Who backdoors themselves? On purpose? Maybe this is my Dan [Gheesling] moment. This could be amazing.” –Chris Ki (after Miesha makes him replacement nominee)
• “Now the line has been drawn and that’s how I feel.” –Miesha (after Shanna took down Carson)
• “If you feel like you can beat me head-on in a competition, or Carson feels like they can beat me head-on in a competition, then let’s go.” –Miesha (to Shanna)
• “She hung me out to dry with Teddi.” –Todd (telling Lamar he won’t save Cynthia)
• “You ain’t over that?” –Lamar
• “Nope. This is a dog-eat-dog game.” –Todd
• “If you can’t get past it, don’t vote for me.” –Cynthia (to Todd)
• “He’s a punk.” –Lamar (about Todd)
• “With all due respect, in the street, you cut my throat, I cut yours.” –Todd
• “Cynthia, let me know when you have time to talk.” –Todrick
• “I don’t have anything to talk about. I don’t like the way this game is going. It is what it is and when I leave I’m leaving with my word, with my integrity and with some class.” –Cynthia (to Todrick)
• “It’s never appropriate to get up and get in a woman’s face.” –Carson (to Todd after he got in Cynthia’s face)
• “I wasn’t going to do anything.” –Todd
• “Be happy.” –Chris Ki (to everyone as he leaves)