At this point, does Big Brother: All-Stars have any other outcome than Cody winning it all? The Committee alliance (with their close ally Enzo) controlled everything this season, and even in the few times they didn’t have power, they manipulated the game or sought revenge afterward to get their way. The 22nd Big Brother mainline season has been a predictable mess. Now in the two rounds following the triple eviction, the inevitability of a Cody win hasn’t detracted in the least. The houseguests made safe decisions and the game has suffered because of it.
This is, however, not to say that Cody wouldn’t be a deserving winner. Cody put the work in to establish these tight relationships and reaffirm them in his time of need. And, Cody can’t be faulted for the terrible gameplay made by his fellow players – he’s reaping in the rewards of their errors (that’s part of the Big Brother game). It’s a shame that he hasn’t faced any type of adversity to potentially get his future win; a physically and manipulative game like Big Brother shouldn’t be an easy one to win. With the exception of Christmas left, both Enzo and Nicole want to take Cody to the Final 3/Final 2, which is shocking since they’ll most likely lose to him. Cody’s strengths are his charm and physical capability; he’s used both to get him this far (and questionable pre-game alliances).
During Week 9, the outcome was going to be a Tyler or Christmas eviction – that move was set in stone the second Cody won both the Head of Household and Power of Veto. Their failed attempt at voting out Nicole during the triple eviction came back to bite them and there was nothing they could do to shake the targets off them unless they won challenges. Week 9 was a filler week with one of two expected outcomes, which sums up how most of the weeks have been during Big Brother: All-Stars.
The players did make the right choice by voting out Tyler. Tyler is a strong competitor, people like him, he’s willing to make cutthroat moves, and he’s got charm. The only difference this time, however, was that his heart wasn’t in the game – him wanting to quit multiple times this season proved he didn’t have the killer instinct to win anymore. Tyler tried to fix the “errors” he thought he had from Big Brother 20, but in doing so, he overcorrected what worked for him and it hindered him. If Tyler made moves that benefited him earlier and worked with the people he actually liked, the entire season would look completely different.
The only bright spot of Week 10 was the return of BB Comics. This tried-and-true competition is a staple of the Big Brother series that pokes fun at the houseguests with stylized comic book covers. The challenge was the exact same as previous years, but why mess with success? The comics, on the other hand, were lackluster compared to previous years. Most of the superheroes had NOTHING to do with the Big Brother: All-Stars game. Why wasn’t Janelle’s cover about the star costume or Janellousy? Why wasn’t Dani called “The Gardener”? Why was Tyler’s comic so bad? The best comics were Keesha’s, Nicole Anthony’s, Kaysar’s, Christmas’, and Bayleigh’s comics since they either tied to the series or made a connection to their names.
In addition to the BB Comics, the other great challenge was the baseball memory POV game. The baseball game sequence is simple, but it requires the houseguests to use their best judgments and deduction skills. These challenges work amazingly because they put everyone on an even playing field and anyone could come away with the prize. Big Brother should incorporate more games like this in the future!
During Week 10, the houseguests made a terrible decision not betraying Cody. They had the perfect opportunity to get him out and eliminate the biggest target from the house since he didn’t win any power. Enzo and Nicole F. should’ve made the move because they’re playing for second and third-place finishes by how easily they’re handing the game to him. Sure, Memphis and Christmas would’ve protected each other, and Cody staying helped Enzo/Nicole more. However, the pair had deals with Memphis and Christmas that could’ve helped them in the Final 4 spot; all they did was choose an option that worked against their better outcomes. Where are the cutthroat players this season?!
Memphis being the main target stemmed from his competition wins. He proved himself to be a strong competitor who could beat Cody in challenges and potentially be a threat in the final rounds. Where his social game lacked, his physical prowess shined. Now with him gone, it’s a done deal that an Enzo/Nicole/Cody Final 3 will be the most likely outcome. Memphis wouldn’t have won Big Brother since he made controversial comments and had bad social games with the jury members. Christmas also had bad jury management, so the eviction was a 50/50 possibility. Also, his “Wise Guys” alliance strategy would’ve only worked if paired with someone who had his back fully; Enzo wasn’t the right guy to work within this strategy.
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Week 9 and Week 10 of Big Brother: All-Stars came and went with a whimper. Two expected evictions progressed without anyone having the power to do anything to topple the power structure. And, even when there was a glimmering spark of hope to make the biggest move everyone needed to make, the houseguests passed on it yet again. The rest of the season seems like it will be following the same trajectory. (Oh well, there’s always next summer.)
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