Tings were progressing according to plan on “Big Brother” this week with Head of Household Turner having nominated Taylor and Brittany with a backdoor plan in motion to get out comp beast Michael.
But that’s when it was just “Big Brother” going on. Things took a dramatic turn when comments from earlier in the season were pulled out and shared with the House, not just shaking things up, but nearly tearing the whole game apart.
The time of the release of this information, though, was not lost on all of those in the House. There is revelation because it matters and it is important and there is revelation because it helps your game. There is real life and strategy. Was this a bit of both? More the latter?
When Michael caught suspicions from Turner that he was being considered as a backdoor target, and with the new clear divide in the House aligned with Dyre Fest and BroChella attendees, Michael decided on a hail mary.
He and Brittany decided that they’d been “protecting” Kyle for weeks now, but with him pretty firmly playing against them now, there was no reason to do it anymore. This puts us pretty firmly in this whole bombshell revelation was revealed strategically.
If they were genuinely as horrified and morally outraged as they said they were, they wouldn’t have kept it to themselves and protected Kyle until such time as they felt vulnerable. Now, their morality is telling him to throw him under the bus in hopes he’ll get evicted this week.
Making this intention even more clear in our minds, after deciding that the House needed to know this information, they still decided to wait until after the Veto to decide what to do with it. Our interpretation of this is that it was all strategy.
So let’s get to said Veto before it all blows up. This was the classic slip-n-slide competition where they have to go up and down the yard with a glass full of liquid to fill a large container at the end.
There’s a smaller container that unlocks a larger cup they could try to fill first, but we’ve honestly never seen this strategy work for anyone. Do the competition designers know this is a trick and makes it nearly impossible to win?
Right away, Turner went for the smaller container, while Michael was down there measuring both containers to calculate if it was worth going big or going small. He opted to stay with the big container and just hustle.
Everyone else’s strategy appeared to be all about falling down — a lot. In on time at all, Veto King Michael was racing up and down the track like he was born sliding, setting up a sizable lead. Turner was doing great, as well, but his small container strategy appeared a disaster.
In the end, it wasn’t even close and Kyle picked up his incredible fifth Veto competition, and eighth win over all. This guy is going to win all the way to the end if they don’t take a shot at him … and he knows it.
That’s why he’s willing to make any move he needs to in order to shore up the BroChella side of the House. Obviously, he’ll take Brittany down, but if Turner just puts up Monte, his side of the House is still losing a number and Dyre Fest (aka The After Party) can run the House.
Michael is not a dumb player by any means. He’s playing 3-D chess when everyone else is playing checkers. He doesn’t make any move without fully calculating how it will impact the game moving forward. He knows he’s a huge target and this is a pivotal week.
It’s not just about shifting the target away from him and his allies for this one week, it’s about making a single move that could shift the power dynamic based on what Michael knows (which is his belief that BroChella is four strong — they’re really not as Monte is shifting all over the place).
Michael said as much that the ideal scenario would be finding a way to convince Turner to turn on one of his own. And the only thing in his arsenal he can think of strong enough to do that is Kyle’s earlier conversations about Cookout 2.0 concerns.
Kyle’s comments are complicated, as well. He suggested earlier in the game his fears that the commonality the people of color in the House share could unite them as it did The Cookout last season, who were fighting to guarantee the first Black “Big Brother” winner.
He went so far as to suggest that it might be prudent for the white players to align. He never said those words, but listed off those players. The problem is that while it’s reasonable to have this concern that minority players are aware of that strategy, there was zero evidence of that happening this season.
It was clear from the jump with Taylor being targeted constantly and Terrance being on the outside of everything that there was no Cookout 2.0 forming, but it was still a big enough concern in Kyle’s mind that he voiced it more than once to Brittany and Michael.
Does this mean he’s racist? Not necessarily. But it is still a racist thought process to cling to in the face of no evidence to support it. It is a fear based on a racial premise. It was not necessarily malicious, nor is Kyle likely racist. More than likely, he is immature, extremely naive, uneducated, sheltered and clueless.
Taking race out of it, just watching how he plays the game and interacts with everyone, the 29 year old comes off more like a teenager than a grown man. We’re not even sure Michael and Brittany thought he was racist, but they were clearly concerned enough about his comments to only hold onto them and protect Kyle so long as they needed him as a number and they weren’t in any danger.
Michael and Brittany started their campaign by opening up to Monte and Taylor, as two of the targets of Kyle’s concerns. It’s telling that they spoke with the BroChella people of color only and did not include Terrance in this conversation.
They said they were concerned about going wide with it before talking to the people of color most impacted — but then only talked to two of them.
To their credit, they did clarify that Kyle never said “all-white,” it’s just that the names he was concerned about working together were all people of color and the names he thought should counter that by aligning were all white.
With their blessing, they moved on to talking with Alyssa and finally up to Turner. It was Monte who clued Terrance in to what Kyle had said. And just as you would expect, everyone was horrified that Kyle would make such a declaration with not only a lack of evidence to support it, but weeks of evidence refuting it.
Turner, who has a FInal Two with Kyle, was horrified now to be tied so tightly with him, and pondering what to do with this information. At the same time, he was savvy enough to realize that Michael and Brittany held onto this nugget until a Kyle ouster would benefit their games.
Michael even earnestly said that evicting Kyle just felt like the only thing that could happen at this point. All of this was happening with Kyle mostly oblivious. When Alyssa finally clued him in, he was horrified and denied ever suggesting a race thing.
He did suggest it, just not in so many words. And he may just be clueless enough to believe himself when he says he didn’t suggest a race thing at all. He was just perceiving something that wasn’t there based on something that was last season.
We’re not sold on Kyle being racist based on everything we’ve seen this season, on television, in the Live Feeds and in his Diary Room sessions we did get to see. We do believe he’s extremely sheltered and selfish and totally unaware or concerned with how his words or behavior might impact others.
We also think his goose is cooked. We didn’t get to see how the Veto meeting played out, but we know Michael is going to save Brittany. At this point, Turner’s basically been told that if he doesn’t put up Kyle, he’s condoning his behavior. And if he does put him up, he’s probably dooming his own game, handing power and numbers to the BroChella Four.
There are still three days post-Veto for Kyle to make a sincere apology tour and maybe learn from this experience with meaningful conversations with everyone in the House, but it may not be enough to salvage his game.
Right now, with Turner in power, if Kyle gets nominated the voters would be Alyssa, Brittany, Michael, Monte and Terrance. Unless something major happens in conversations, we don’t see enough allies in that group to save him over Taylor.
Monte Taylor (27) was handed the top spot this week with Michael’s bombshell reveal about Kyle’s Cookout 2.0 fears. He’s basically in the driver’s seat right now as he’s always held a lot of sway and is very good at convincing others to do what he says. If this move gets Kyle out, he’ll be in complete control of the game (pending next HOH). Grade: B-
Taylor Hale (27) could also benefit tremendously from a House Flip, which we do think will happen with this week’s vote. She suddenly finds herself part of the new majority in the House, and again a key player in votes. Her relationship with Monte only strengthens her position. Grade: C+
Matt “Turner” Turner (23) is in a terrible position, but he still has made no enemies in the House. If he gives up power and acquiesces to the House wish to evict Kyle that we suspect is coming, then he may be in their good graces enough to skate another week. From there, it will depend on if he can separate himself from memories of Kyle and strengthen new bonds. He will be able to use the leverage of the timing of Brittany and Michael’s revelation against them. He’s a smart player. Grade: C+
Alyssa Snider (24) is in control of her own fate in the game, and it will probably have to do with how she handles this information about her showmance and if he goes on the Block, if she gets on board with evicting him. Considering he’s lied to her throughout this game when it comes to alliances and strategy, we think she’ll do just that, which could give her a clean slate moving forward — and where she goes could be anyone’s guess as her game has been entirely under Kyle’s protection and shadow so far. Grade: C
Michael Bruner (28) was already a huge target, but the fact that he weaponized this sensitive topic to benefit his game isn’t lost on everyone in the House. It’s going to come up in conversation at some point. But even if it didn’t, the dude has won eight comps. As soon as there is a chance to take him out, every single person in the House (including Brittany) should be willing to take that shot. Grade: C-
Brittany Hoopes (32) is always going to be in a more vulnerable spot than Michael because everyone knows they are a power duo, and she’s the more vulnerable of the two. Even if the BroChella side rises to power, we see them trying to take the shot at Michael and/or her just about as soon as possible because if you don’t weaken or eliminate Michael, Michaels gets to the end and probably wins. Grade: C-
Terrance Higgins (47) is in an interesting position. He might be able to forge a connection with Monte at least (who told him about Kyle) over all of this and if he plays it right he could try to build something. Honestly, though, we just don’t see it happening. If Kyle goes, Terrance will go back to being on the outside of the numbers and his time will be limited. Grade: D+
Kyle Caapener (29) isn’t even on the Block, but we have a suspicion that Turner has basically been backed into a corner and it’s been made imperative to him that the only right thing to do is nominate Kyle, and unless something dramatic happens, he will be evicted. Hopefully, his ignorance can be educated some before he more than likely goes to Jury — where he’ll have to explain what happened all over again (to three people of color). Grade: D
“My god, that was so awkward I could die. That was the worst thing ever.” –Turner (after nominations)”You guys know that’s not true … I didn’t even talk with Joseph like that.” –Brittany (after nominations)”I don’t know why that conversation would be manipulated into something that is going to put me in trouble this week.” –Taylor (crying after nominations)”Taylor’s reaction to the nominations is pretty much confirming that what Turner said was true. Taylor and Joseph probably were having conversations about working long-term with Michael and Brittany.” –Monte (in Diary Room after nominations)”Dyre Fest saved my game. So, Michael, thank you for not choosing me. Now, your ass is grass and I’m chillin’.” –Kyle (in DR)”The conversation was the four, not the three. It was the four, with Michael included, and it was never locked in.” –Taylor (to Turner)”Would you prefer Taylor to go?” –Michael (to Turner, saying he’s okay with either going)”I don’t know, I don’t know if I want either of them to go.” –Turner (planning to backdoor Michael)”I wanted to get ahead of it before Terrance or Alyssa spill the beans that it was me that actually blew up The Leftovers and not Joseph.” –Kyle (in DR)”I thought I could trust The Pound, but if they’re gonna play dirty like this, it makes me nervous about what else they could pull.” –Monte (after Kyle’s confession)”I still haven’t processed my thoughts, but it just felt too easy for all of them to point the finger at someone who’s not here. I think they’re making up whatever story is most convenient. I think things were told and then Joseph was like, ‘Oh s—, cat’s out of the bag.’ It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe it was Kyle, I don’t know. I think he manipulated that whole side.” –Monte (to Taylor about After Party blaming Joseph for everything)”I’m racking my brain about how to get out of this. I’m at a point where I don’t want to lie to protect him. There’s no reason to protect him anymore.” –Michael (to Brittany)”About two weeks ago, Brittany and I realized that we had the same feelings about some of the theories Kyle had about what was going on in the House.” –Michael (in DR)”I can’t get over the fact that Joseph, Monte and Taylor have extremely strong connections with Indy, Terrance and Jasmine. I mean, it looks very similar to The Cookout.” –Kyle (to Michael on Day 31)”I never wanted to use that as leverage within the game, but I also just think people should know that.” –Michael (totally using it as leverage, opting to wait until after Veto)”Who knows, maybe his last four Veto wins were a fluke.” –Turner (after Michael gets picked to play)”During my HOH week, Kyle was saying, ‘I see that Monte, Taylor and Joseph are really close and within the Leftovers, I see them as a side. Then, he started to talk a little bit more about, ‘The Cookout last year, they all had a unifying goal and that really bonds people together. And then, he specifically said that ‘Terrance, Indy, Jasmine would be more likely to go with that side, so we need me, you, Brittany, Turner and Alyssa to come together.'” –Michael (to Monte and Taylor)”I’m sorry, but after The Cookout uniting under one cause, like race, it has to play into my thought process moving forward in the game.” –Kyle (to Michael and Brittany on Day 39)”Just so there’s no confusion, Kyle never said I want an all-white alliance, but he said, I want an alliance and then he named only the white people.” –Michael (to Monte and Taylor)”And the reasoning being–” –Brittany”–that the colored people in the House were working together.” –Monte”It brings the outside world in in a way that’s really ugly and we didn’t know how to handle it.” –Brittany”I’m shaking, this is crazy.” –Taylor”Well, this is America. I mean, this is sadly the world that we live in.” –Monte”It’s such a bummer to hear that Kyle was so afraid of people of color uniting against him when he had a great alliance right in front of him.” –Taylor (in DR)”I appreciate you coming to us before. If there’s anybody who can act on the information, it’s the two of you.” –Taylor (to Michael and Brittany)”How are we working together when I’m up every f—ing week?” –Terrance (to Monte after he learns about Kyle)”A race thing is what they’re pitching is what I was saying? … Alyssa, this is like bigger than game. This is my life. … Do you believe that? At what point have I ever made this a race thing? You understand, this is life changing? Like, what do I do? This is not true at all?” –Kyle”If you decided you wanted to take that shot, I would never turn around and put you up next week. For me, it’s hard to be happy with anything other than Kyle leaving.” –Michael (to Turner)”I absolutely believe what Michael and Brittany are telling me. It would make no sense to lie about such a sensitive issue. But they heard about this plan weeks ago. It is way too convenient that when they have a friend of theirs on the chopping block, this is the exact day that they bring this info to me. Although Kyle is my friend and my Final Two, I seriously need to consider putting Kyle up at the Veto meeting.” –Turner (in DR)”Sharing this information, feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I feel like this is the right decision on a moral level. But it’s impossible to have these human conversations without it in some way relating back to the game. And if it does result with Kyle going on the Block and going home this week, I think that is good for my game. But I’m prepared for any blowback that might hurt me moving forward.” –Michael (in DR)”They’re obviously using things that I said and twisting them. That’s a line that I would never cross.” –Kyle
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