Split House Twist Blows Up Everything

For the first time ever, the remaining ten Houseguests were told they’d be divided into two groups of five and then they would proceed to play an entire week of “Big Brother” completely separated from one another, as in no contact at all.

In keeping with the festival theme of the summer, one half would play inside at “Big BroChella,” while the other half would be stuck in the backyard all weekend at “Dyre Fest.” And if you know anything about the ill-fated Fyre Fest, you can imagine their conditions — actually, they weren’t quite that bad!

Still, it wasn’t great. And this was where Terrance was going to be spending his week, after scoring second place in the live Head of Household competition on Thursday. With his sixth win of the season, Michael became the first two-time HOH.

He also got to spend the week inside. As for who joined the new HOHs, and where, that was down to a schoolyard pick. Thursday’s episode left before we got to see this play out, but it was quickly clear that Michael had a solid plan.

His goal was to make sure that his HOH reign eliminated a non-Leftover member, as he wasn’t ready to expose his reservations about that alliance yet. In fact, that was also a factor in some of his decision making.

Going back and forth with Terrance, Michael first picked Jasmine as his potential target, followed by Brittany and Taylor as allies to help him get the job done. Terrance started with people he felt he could trust in Turner and Alyssa, followed by Joseph.

That left Monte and Kyle standing there, with the decision in Michael’s hands. He knew that Kyle was considering taking a shot at the alliance, and thought that would be better to happen not on his watch if it happened, so he chose Monte, sending Kyle outside with his showmance.

Inside, the Big BroChella Houseguests were treated to a pizza party while the Dyre Fest attendees packed and then seemed to enjoy the lap of luxury as the week began. And for Michael, it was all pretty straightforward. Even though she didn’t know it, Jasmine was his target.

When she hilariously tried to use her birthday as an excuse to not see the Block for the third week in a row, he knew he was totally over it, and her. She has never been on the Block, and she was incensed at the very idea it could happen.

This while she’s pretty confident that she’s only a pawn, with Michael again maintaining the narrative that they’re gunning for Monte this week. In truth, Michael would probably love to do that, but he’s not ready to take that shot just yet.

Instead, with Monte volunteering to be the pawn this week to allay any questions about why he’s not on the Block, Michael’s job couldn’t have been easier. He nominated Monte and Jasmine, with her hoping that Monte is the true target, but a little nervous. She should be.

Sticking to The Leftovers alliance this week with only one non-Leftover inside the House is probably his safest and smartest strategy. He has no idea what’s going on outside, but The Leftovers are hoping that their boys get Alyssa out.

Terrance is a wild card, though, as he’s never had power and never really talked strategy with any of them. Their hope is that a Leftover can get his ear and move the target the way they want it to go.

It should be smooth sailing this week inside the house, save for being annoyed by Jasmine, with a clean elimination at the end of it. But what about outside? This is the first time a non-Leftover has had any power since they formed.

Right from the jump, things were looking pretty good out at Dyre Fest, with Terrance leaning heavily on Turner for advice and strategy. So, of course, Turner started to orchestrate the Leftover plan of putting up the showmance and getting Alyssa voted out.

If Kyle and Alyssa are on the Block, then Joseph and Turner can easily vote her out and that’s the Leftovers’ dirty work done for them. There’s just one problem. Terrance said he promised Alyssa she would be safe. So what now?

Well, the boys started their work and got so far as Terrance considering putting Joseph and Alyssa on the Block, with Joseph as his target. This would guarantee Joseph going home, in truth, because Kyle probably wouldn’t vote out Joseph, creating a tie that Terrance would break.

But Kyle wasn’t even ready to go that far. Instead, desperate to save himself and Alyssa, he made what he acknowledged will either be the biggest move of the summer or the dumbest mistake. He spilled the beans about everything!

First, he told Alyssa about The Leftovers, and the Pound alliance within it. He told her how they’d orchestrated all of the evictions from Ameerah forward and how she was supposed to be the target this past week, but he refused to use the Veto.

He then told Terrance everything, including that Terrance was chosen to join the Monte/Joseph Festie Besties group as a shield to be eliminated. When Terrance and Alyssa talked after that, they realized they’d both been duped for half the summer. It was time to turn the tables!

Kyle had also said that Michael and Brittany were looking for a way out of The Leftovers. They’d already realized they were at the bottom, and when Kyle told them about the Pound last week, they felt even more vulnerable. Taylor was also not part of that core four, but everyone feels she’s in tight with Monte and Joseph, basically running the show now.

So Kyle’s vision is that he and Alyssa join with Terrance in Dyre Fest to send one Leftover packing, and then try and hook up with Michael and Brittany (who are sure to both survive the week inside) to create a strong five-person alliance with only eight people left in the House.

That would put Taylor, Monte and whomever survives out of Joseph and Turner on the bottom of the House. And with Kyle telling Terrance Joseph is Monte’s right-hand man in the house, it’s pretty likely he’d be the target.

Feeling duped and angry, Terrance was ready to make a big move, and he did just that, putting both Turner and Joseph on the Block. This way, even if one of them wins the Veto, he’s got the support to get rid of the other no matter what happens (again with him as the tie-breaker).

With this one move, he just spelled the end of the Leftovers as we know it, and Joseph seems fully aware of it. We’re not sure he knows Kyle betrayed them, but we’ve seen this coming for weeks. Had they just left Alyssa alone and last to be eliminated, they might have been able to hold together, but they kept pushing Kyle and pushing Kyle. Tonight, he broke.

Brittany Hoopes (32) has no idea that things are about to get very interesting when this week is over, and it should be very good for her game. If she has blind loyalty to Michael, she’s going to hand him the top prize. If she knows when to cut him, she could be setting herself up for a very good summer, indeed. Grade: B+

Michael Bruner (28) continues to dominate this game, and now he’s being courted (unbeknownst to him) to help flip the House again, keeping him on or toward the top. Everyone is sleeping on him and yet he’s this huge threat. It’s blowing our minds, but if he can keep it up, how could anyone stop him? They have to know they should take a shot as soon as they can, right? Right? Grade: B

Kyle Caapener (29) made a huge move out of desperation, but little does he know it’s exactly what Michael was hoping would happen. He made his choice between Alyssa and The Leftovers, and there are still enough players in the house for it to matter. This Split House Twist is the best thing that could have ever happened to him, because if he can cripple The Leftovers this week, he does it in a vacuum and maybe can not even expose his own duplicity. Grade: B

Alyssa Snider (24) suddenly finds herself in a power position, and possibly in a new alliance that wants to flip the house and see her in the top half. She may be part of a showmance, but there’s another power duo above her in this group, so if the five stays strong, it may not matter what duos exist (unless you’re Terrance, who’d need to make a move before it gets to that point). Grade: B-

Terrance Higgins (47) took the intel he’d been given and completely regrouped and came out strong with a huge move that will knock The Leftovers for a loop and weaken them. What the top of that group doesn’t know is that it’s already weaker than they think. Terrance will probably be at the bottom of a new five, if it forms, but with more awareness in the House and a willingness to make move, he may be able to pivot a few more times before the end. Grade: B-

Matt “Turner” Turner (23) went from Terrance’s right-hand guy at Dyre Fest to on the Block, and he has no idea what happened. We’re sure he’ll try to work his magic with Terrance, so a lot of what happens next will hinge on if Terrance admits that he knows about The Leftovers, or leaves Turner and Joseph in the dark. We don’t think Turner would go this week, but stranger things have happened. Grade: C

Taylor Hale (27) could find her fate about to change dramatically, though she’s still a bit of a wild card. She was never part of the Pound alliance, so technically she’s been on the outs as well, no matter how tight she’s been with Joseph and Monte. If she’s smart enough to jump ship, maybe even work with Terrance before the duos at the top take their shot, she might have life left in her. Grade: C

Monte Taylor (27) has gone from a big fake target to a potentially real one if this five-some happens. Michael has been wanting to get him out for awhile now. If he feels bold enough, he could potentially try and take the shot this week as he could easily get Brittany and Jasmine to both vote Monte out, so even if only one can vote, he’s the tie-breaker. Would he take that shot and hope for the best outside or play it safe? Either way, Monte’s in more trouble overall than he knows. Grade: C-

Joseph Abdin (24) could well find this twist ends his game, and he certainly seems to be feeling it. He was already Terrance’s target. The only way we see that changing is if Terrance feels personally betrayed by Turner and wants revenge. The rest of the outside might go with that, though they’d probably still think of Joseph as a bigger threat. Grade: D+

Jasmine Davis (29) should be going out the door, unless Michael comes up with the nerve to take a shot of his own at The Leftovers inside the house. We have a feeling he won’t, though. If Alyssa were to go home outside (and he has no idea what’s going on out there) and he took out Monte he’d be The Leftovers’ biggest target in the House, with very little room to maneuver. In other words, we think she’s gone … on her birthday week! Grade: D

• “I don’t want to put this person through Dyre Fest, so Jasmine come on, you’re coming to Big BroChella.” –Michael
• “I picked Jasmine because she’s high up on my target list.” –Michael (in Diary Room)
• “Michael picking me first makes me realize that we really do have a good relationship with each other.” –Jasmine (in DR)
• “I’m pretty bummed out the fact that I’m not gonna be in Big BroChella. It honestly has me feeling pretty bad right now– Wait, you’re telling me I’m not going to have to spend the week with Jasmine? Alright, I’m totally sold!” –Turner (in DR)
• “I don’t want to go after a Leftover this week because I don’t want ot get that blood on my hands. But Kyle has expressed that he wants to start going after Leftovers potentially, so putting him on the other side, maybe he’ll take that shot and that’s fine by me.” –Michael (in DR after selecting Monte for Big BroChella, sending Kyle to Dyre Fest)
• “I think me and Alyssa are probably the easy targets because we are in a showmance. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, quite honestly.” –Kyle (in DR after getting selected for Dyre Fest)
• “This twist is gonna force me to show my cards, either way.” –Kyler (in DR, being pulled between alliance and showmance)
• “I’m safe? Am I safe this week?” –Turner (to Terrance)
• “I need your f—ing help, man. What the f— are we gonna do?” –Terrance (leaning on him for support)
• “I got you, I have a little plan going on already.” –Turner
• “I’m not letting anything happen to you. I promise. That’s why I picked you. That is my word. I mean that.” –Terrance (to Alyssa)
• “Keep fighting. If I don’t see you guys, you’re awesome.” –Kyle (saying goodbye to Big BroChella attendees)
• “I feel like I have to put him up because there’s no backdooring anyone this week; there’s only five of us, we all play Veto, he has a good chance of winning Veto.” –Michael (to Jasmine about Monte)
• “Obviously, I don’t want to go on the Block. I feel like I’ve been pretty honest and straightforward with you and hopefully that counts for something. And also, I would not like to go up on my birthday week.” –Jasmine
• “This is the third week in a row she has tried to use her birthday as a reason she should not go on the Block. It’s ridiculous.” –Michael (in DR)
• “I worked too damn hard to get here.” –Jasmine (freaking out about maybe seeing the Block)
• “Joseph, Turney and Kyle are talking about the one good thing they have out there: no Jasmine.” –Brittany (to Michael, Taylor, and Monte)
• “I’m trusting Kyle, Turner and Joseph to get the job done and get Alyssa out of here.” –Taylor (in DR)
• “You can say, ‘Okay, there’s a showmance.’ So, you can give a reason in and of itself to say, ‘This is a pair. So you guys should go up.'” –Kyle (suggesting Terrance nominate Kyle and Alyssa)
• “I told Alyssa I would never do anything to put her in harm’s way. You and her are my biggest protection right now, so that means Kyle and Joseph are people I gotta put up. We absolutely want Joseph [out].” –Terrance
• “You promised Alyssa safety, you promised Turner safety, so I say we just go with me and Joseph on the Block.” –Kyle (to Terrance, pretending he’s cool with this plan, but he’s not)
• “As sad as it is, this is your HOH.” –Kyle (about Terrance HOH in Dyre Fest)
• “I’ve been wanting to tell Alyssa about The Leftovers for a while now. I need to make a big move to save Alyssa and I this week. Moving forward, she’s a number for me — she would never put me up — and if someone else tells her, I’m gonna lose all trust with Alyssa.” –Kyle (in DR)
• “Ameerah, Nicole, Daniel, should have been you. But we got Indy. They’re going to try and get you [here], and Jasmine inside. That’s why I haven’t told you because, like, I couldn’t say anything.” –Kyle (to Alyssa)
• “When I had the Veto, Taylor, Joseph, and Monte were coming at me so hard that night to take you out. It was bad.” –Kyle (to Alyssa)
• “Moving forward, Michael and Brittany want a way out. Michael and Brittany, me, you … Terrance? It was gonna be Turner, but he’s in with them. Like, he’s with Monte and Joseph like crazy.” –Kyle (to Alyssa)
• “Monte has been running the show. Joseph has been his wingman. Turner has been involved as well. As of now, I’m on the outs ’cause I, like, stuck my neck out for her.” –Kyle (to Terrance, referring to Alyssa)
• “I’d want to be working with you, Michael, Brittany, Alyssa. Like, that would be five coming out of this and we’re Final Eight. That would give us a good shot of getting to the end.” –Kyle (to Terrance)
• “Literally in survival mode, I’m just trying to safe this week. I don’t know if I made the best move in the game or if this is possibly the dumbest move and it’s definitely gonna come back to haunt me.” –Kyle (in DR)
• “They won the first half, and now they’re gonna lose the second half.” –Terrance (to Alyssa about The Leftovers)