Big Brother 16 has a lot going on. With the addition of the Battle of the Block competition, the timeline of events in the house is dramatically compressed. While nominations typically haven’t come until Friday afternoons, now the two HoHs must nominate faster than ever.
Two and a half hours after the show ended, week 2 HoHs Amber and Devin got the keys to their HoH suite. And by 10pm PT, the TV screen in the living room announced “Nominations Today,” causing everyone to freak out (though the screen lied as the feeds didn’t cut away for the nomination ceremony until 30 minutes after midnight). Instead of having the whole night and the next day to campaign and plan, now there’s a lot more scrambling and panic.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains Big Brother 16 spoilers.
HoH Devin nominated Brittany and Paola.
HoH Amber nominated Hayden and Nicole.
This was a tough decision because, with eight people in the Bomb Squad alliance, Amber and Devin’s options were limited to the other seven people in the house. Actually, they both like Donny and Jocasta too and refuse to put them up, so the four nominees had to come from a pool of just five people: Hayden, Nicole, Brittany, Paola and Victoria.
See Who Won the Battle of the Block>>
The worst part is that, before the nomination ceremony, Frankie was in the HoH room with Amber and Devin helping to craft their speeches. Well, he was actually telling them exactly what to say. For Amber, it was to explain that she didn’t want to be HoH and only wanted to see her family’s photos, so she put up two strong people hoping they’d win the Battle of the Block.
For Devin, his target is Brittany because she “called [his] integrity into question” (ugh) and Pow-Pow is with her because she’s weak and will ensure that they lose the Battle of the Block (although that won’t be part of the speech). However, Devin is trying way too hard to make everything go his way, even asking Pow-Pow to throw the Battle of the Block. It’s not quite bullying, but it’s definitely obnoxious as he’s trying to tell everyone exactly what to do and how to feel about it. He also basically told all of the nominees they were going up before the ceremony, which violates the rules, but there probably won’t be any consequences.
Watching this unfold on the live feeds was embarrassing, especially for Amber. Frankie quite literally scripted her speech and rehearsed it with her many times. She’s completely incapable of playing her own game and is relying on men to carry her to the end. It’s also painful because Frankie is so disingenuous, but Amber is way too oblivious to see through his lies and B.S. He’s playing the classic game of pretending to be everyone’s BFF and sucking up to whoever has the power.
Now their plan relies on Hayden and Nicole winning the Battle of the Block (which is a virtual lock given Pow-Pow’s track record), but not everyone else is on board with Devin’s plan to get rid of Brittany.
The End of the Bomb Squad?
The Bomb Squad might have stuck together with these nominations, but there’s already plenty of division. Zach and Cody are already conspiring with Christine to bring in Donny, Jocasta and Brittany with Derrick to turn the tables on the other members of the Bomb Squad (Caleb, Devin and Amber) in the near future. There’s a LOT of disgust for Devin over how disrespectful he is to women, particularly in his speech to Brittany. Frankie is squarely in the middle and playing all sides.
This could cause problems later this week. If Brittany and Pow-Pow are the final nominees, will Zach and Christine pull the trigger and try to get the votes to keep Brittany against Devin’s wishes? That would tear the Bomb Squad in half. This is what happens when you form early alliances without fully getting to know the people you’re aligning with.
Anything could happen at this point, which is exactly what I want in a week of Big Brother. The dynamics of this season, and the four nominations, are certainly adding plenty of drama, with ever-shifting alliances and plotting. It’s just a shame that the two absolute worst players left in the house are this week’s two HoHs.
(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.
