Monday, July 7 may forever be known as “Manic Monday” on Big Brother 16. The already-twisted week got even more complicated after the Power of Veto ceremony. Alliances shifted, secrets were revealed and everyone scrambled. It’s the least predictable week ever and things could go either way.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains Big Brother 16 spoilers.
Devin won the Power of Veto. He used it to save Brittany and he nominated Zach.
Chaos ensued Monday. It sounds like there were fireworks at the Power of Veto ceremony, with both Paola and Zach calling out Devin for his numerous lies, and even making personal attacks against him. Everything got outed, including the fact that Devin convinced Pow-Pow to throw the Battle of the Block competition (which she denies) and that Devin told Hayden and Nicole about it.
Then things got really complicated. Zach told Hayden all about the Bomb Squad. Derrick was there too, and then Zach told Frankie about it. Frankie told Christine and Amber and they all freaked out about it. Frankie was especially worried because he admitted to Zach that his plan was to play both sides of the house until week 8, and then pick one.
Christine then decided to tell Nicole about the Bomb Squad, trashing it and describing all of the various sub-alliances (mainly Devin, Caleb and Amber vs. Zach, Derrick and Cody).
Devin called Hayden up to the HoH room with Caleb and Frankie and offered Hayden Zach’s now-vacant seat in the Bomb Squad. Hayden was reluctant, but Devin really forced the issue and essentially threatened that if Hayden didn’t say “Yes,” he’d be the target. Hayden agreed, but immediately told Frankie after they left that he felt like he couldn’t say “No.”
As a result, Hayden is 100 percent committed to saving Zach and going against Devin. Hayden has sort of joined Zach, Cody and Derrick as the fourth dude in their mini-alliance. But Derrick is keeping his options open.
Frankie and Christine are the most worried. They really don’t want to make waves, and they think keeping Zach will cause drama and make Devin, Caleb and Amber their enemies. Keep in mind, Christine doesn’t actually like any of those three and wants them all gone, but those two are playing the Andy-style floater game. They both want to make sure that, no matter how the vote goes, they can still play both sides and blame other people for their votes.
As for Frankie, one of his strategies is to try and make this a “girls vs. boys” situation, throwing Zach under the bus as a misogynist and chauvinist to sway Jocasta and Victoria, and hopefully Nicole too. It’s amazing how, when Joey tried to unite the girls (for genuine reasons), she got shot down, but now that Frankie is doing it (as a way to manipulate the vote against Zach), it’s kind of working.
Donny is leaning towards keeping Zach, but since he’s now on Team America with Derrick and Frankie, those two guys are convinced they can sway Donny however they want by invoking the importance of the viewers picking them. But they’re still unsure of the best option and still puzzling it out. They tried to see if there’s any wiggle room with Caleb, but there isn’t. Caleb is 100 percent committed to evicting Zach and believes Hayden is completely in the Bomb Squad, which Derrick and Frankie know is false.
By the end of the night (or the start of the morning, since this season’s HGs stay up all night), it looked like Christine may have come around to keeping Zach, primarily because she’s fed up with Devin’s strong-arm tactics and she hates Devin, Caleb and Amber. Surprisingly, it was Cody who made the most compelling argument, namely that if they were fans watching at home, they would hate it if they went along with Devin and evicted Zach.
It’s hard to figure out where people’s heads are at since they’re all saying different things depending on who they’re with. That’s especially true with Frankie, who tries very hard to mirror the opinion of whoever he’s talking to at the time.
I think that Hayden and Cody are the strongest supporters to keep Zach, with Donny a close third. Devin obviously doesn’t want that and continues to use his “bullying” technique, which is quite effective because everyone is scared of him. I’d say Caleb, Amber, Victoria and Jocasta are solid on evicting Zach, though Derrick claims he can sway Victoria. That leaves Derrick, Frankie, Christine, Nicole and Brittany in the middle, and those are the votes that could swing either way at this point.
The problem is all of the various combinations of allies. Christine and Frankie are close. Christine also has an alliance with Hayden and Nicole (which they have tentatively called “the Trilogy”). Frankie is on Team America with Derrick and Donny. And Hayden is now in with Zach, Cody and Derrick. It’s a Gordian Knot of alliances.
The bottom line is that keeping Zach is a risky move and will mean that the house declares war on Devin, Caleb and Amber, which is something some, but not all, are ready to do. Getting rid of Zach is more like losing the battle to try and win the war, giving Devin what he wants now and hoping that they will be able to get rid of him later.
Which path will they choose? As of now, I genuinely have no idea.
(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.
