After 97 days and 40 episodes, we’ve finally reached the end of Big Brother 16. It’s been a long, slow, predictable journey filled with more unanimous house votes than ever before, an alliance formed on day 2 that won nearly every HoH and an entire week that didn’t even matter thanks to the Rewind Button.
In the Final 3 we have Cody, the man who talks a big game but never delivers, Victoria, who has been nominated more times than anyone in the history of the show, and Derrick, who has never been nominated. We all know Derrick is going to win, but before that happens, we have all three parts of the final HoH, the jury interrogation, a reunion with all of the HGs, the winner and Fan Favorite. I really hope we get to see the cast’s reactions to Team America and Derrick being a cop.
BUT FIRST…this is the Big Brother 16 finale!
Julie Chen is still insisting this was the most twisted season ever. Really, because it seemed like a straight line for Derrick to win. Also, he didn’t “survive” the Team America twist, he rode it to the end.
Even the recap of the season is kind of boring, with the Bomb Squad being rebranded as the Detonators, taking everyone out and then Derrick the puppet master secretly running the whole game. There were some big personalities for sure, but I watch and love the show for the big moves and the gameplay, of which there was none.
The show is obviously biased for Derrick, saying he strategized his way to the end while Cody flirted and Victoria floated.
The Final HoH, Part 1
Cody, Derrick and Victoria are on hang gliders in a battle of endurance. Victoria still thinks she can win, which is just delusional. Victoria falls after just over 40 minutes and she’s frustrated with herself. Come on, girl, you’ve lost so many times you should be used to it by now.
Derrick tries to get Cody to throw it by saying that Cody would be better at the second part against Victoria. Cody doesn’t fall for it, and instead, he just gets angry at Derrick for saying he couldn’t beat Victoria. Derrick realizes he can’t convince Cody to drop, so Derrick drops. Cody wins part 1! Victoria still thinks she and Derrick have a Final 2 deal and that she can beat him in the second part.
The Final HoH, Part 2
There’s an ancient Egypt theme as Derrick and Victoria must climb a wall to find the faces of the two nominees who faced each other in each of the 14 evictions. Whoever does it faster wins. When Derrick sees his own name, it makes him gloat about how he never got nominated at all. Victoria struggles to go up and down the wall. They both get them all right on the first try.
Derrick: 15:29
Victoria: 30:03
Derrick wins part 2! By almost 15 whole minutes. That was a landslide. Now Victoria hopes Derrick will take her. Cody just hopes there won’t be the biggest backstab in history.
The Jury Deliberates
Nicole starts off by saying she wants Cody to be evicted because he didn’t do anything. Caleb tells them about the Hitmen from day 2. Frankie immediately goes on the defense about how his actions never betrayed Caleb. Dr. Will Kirby moves things on from this sideshow.
They all agree that Derrick is manipulative, using his child and using the dead grandpa bond with Frankie. Caleb doesn’t know if anyone else made it to the Final 3 without ever being nominated. Um, Danielle Reyes and Jason Guy both did it in season 3.
Donny calls out that Derrick betrayed them all and worked them while Derrick also “fake prayed” with Jocasta, which rubbed her the wrong way. Donny stands up for Cody, saying that he was underestimated and better at competitions.
They all agree that Derrick and Cody worked together, so they give a lot of the credit to both of them. Donny can’t even think of Derrick’s best move. Wow, maybe Derrick doesn’t have this on lock like we thought.
They mention Victoria and try to pretend that he has a shot, but most of them know she was an idiot and a joke. Zach says she’s not playing dumb, she just is dumb. Jocasta says she’d vote for Victoria because “dumb got you far.” Caleb would also vote for her out of bitterness.
The Final HoH, Part 3
It’s time for the live battle between Cody and Derrick. They are asked questions about the jurors and what they said after they left. The best out ot eight questions wins.
Question 1:Derrick is right. (about Caleb)
Question 2: They’re both right.
Question 3: They’re both right.
Question 4: Cody is right. (about Donny)
Question 5: Derrick is right. (about Zach)
Question 6: Cody is right. (about Nicole)
Question 7: They’re both wrong. (about Hayden)
Question 8: They’re both wrong.
It’s a tie! Whoever is closest without going over wins.
Tie-Breaker Question: How long was part 1 of the final HoH in seconds?
Cody: 3,120
Derrick: 3,013
The right answer is over 3,600.
Cody wins the final HoH!
Wow, Cody wins. The winner of the final HoH has won the game in the last six seasons, and since the jury mentioned that Cody is better at competitions than Derrick, this could somehow push him over the edge with a shocking result. Can Cody win?
The Final Eviction
How awesome would it be if Cody finally made a huge move and evicted Derrick? Instead, he sticks with the Hitmen.
Cody evicts…Victoria!
No surprise. She congratulates the Hitmen on her way out. Julie calls her out for floating to the end. She says she played with her heart and fought because she stayed calm when she was nominated.
The Jury vs. the Final 2
The jury are quite surprised that Cody won the final HoH. Sorry, Derrick, but you didn’t get your perfect game. Now it’s time for the questions.
Christine: She asks Derrick whether he sent them home. He says he was playing the game behind the scenes so he didn’t get any blowback.
Frankie: He asks Cody if Derrick was the puppet master and he was just his puppet. Instead, he takes the opportunity to insult Frankie. Ugh, bad move.
Caleb: He asks Derrick if using his family to manipulate them crossed a line. Derrick says no, claiming that he didn’t use his family as a strategy. LIES!
Hayden: He asks Cody about his biggest strategic move. He takes credit for flipping the house to save Zach against Jocasta because he suspected something was off.
Nicole: She asks Derrick why he should win over Cody. He says it’s because he never got nominated until the end.
Donny: He asks Cody why he should win over Derrick. He says his social game was better because everyone was feeding him the info that he took back to Derrick.
Victoria: She asks Derrick if he was loyal to Cody or her. He says they were friends, but he was always going to take Cody to the end.
Hmm. I don’t like Cody insulting Franie or Derrick trying to act like he DIDN’T use his family as a strategy. But I actually respect Cody’s answers about his social game and taking most of the credit for flipping the house to evict Jocasta. I might actually vote for Cody after that if I were in the jury.
The Final Statements
Cody: He’s hurt that people thought he was the puppet. He claims that he gained the trust of everyone and that he took out Caleb, Frankie and Donny, so he’s not a puppet.
Derrick: He brags about never being nominated and winning four HoHs on his own.
The Jurors Vote
Jocasta says that “fake praying works.” Hayden votes for who would give him the best tip on his pedicab. Zach says his heart is in Rhode Island. Julie Chen tells everyone NOT to reveal their votes. Ha, Zach got in trouble.
Donny wishes he had Skittles. Nicole votes for who she thinks played the best. Christine is not bitter and it was a hard decision. Frankie says Cody looks hot, but he’s had better. Caleb says he Bomb Squad is why they’re in the Final 2. Victoria is happy to be the Hitmen’s Little Sister.
Well, it sounds like Derrick does have this in the bag, probably with an overwhelming vote. This is proof that these final questions and speeches don’t matter at all, they already had their minds made up.
Julie Reveals the Season’s Secrets
With the votes locked in, it’s time to talk about the season and all of the secrets with the first five evicted HGs. Joey has pink hair…for Frankie?
Team America: Julie tells them about the secret alliance. Nicole guesses Frankie, Zach and Donny. They show everyone Derrick, Frankie and Donny being in TA. Cody seems kind of angry with his fellow Hitman. They all seem kind of mad about the money. They show them all the footage of the missions. Zach seems to love the cousin thing, but Zach and Caleb appear very angry over the stolen clothes.
Derrick the Cop: Derrick tells everyone he was an undercover cop and Frankie pats himself on the back for figuring it out. The show his casting tape, and it’s just trying to make him look like he played an even better game. Victoria is shocked because she thought she knew him.
The Final Vote
It’s time to reveal the votes. It only takes five to win.
Jocasta voted for…Cody!
Hayden voted for…Derrick!
Zach voted for…Derrick!
Donny voted for…Cody!
Nicole voted for…Derrick!
Christine voted for…Derrick!
Frankie voted for…Derrick!
Caleb voted for…Derrick!
Victoria voted for…Derrick!
DERRICK LEVASSEUR IS THE WINNER OF BIG BROTHER 16!
Well, he’s the first person to win without ever winning a single PoV and he’s only the second person in the past 10 seasons to win the game without winning the final HoH (the other, ironically, being jailbird Adam Jasinski from season 9).
Between the 7-2 vote and NOT winning the final HoH, it’s hard to say he played a perfect game. Derrick definitely flubbed his final speech and the questions, so I think Dan Gheesling’s claim to the best player ever is still intact.
Fan Favorite
There were more than 10 million votes. The Top 3 were Zach, Nicole and Donny. HA! Frankie wasn’t even in the Top 3! That’s the most poetic justice ever. But the winner had more than half of all the votes.
Donny wins Fan Favorite!
That’s hardly a surprise, though I feel like Zach deserved it just because he wasn’t on Team America.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
