Twist Changes Everything, Shocking First Elimination

We say wild because absolutely everything changed from the top of the show to the bottom, including Head of Household Miesha Tate’s target. By the close of the hour, there was one extremely frustrated evicted Houseguests and one extremely confused Lamar Odom wandering around the House.

We can’t lie, we were cracking up as he clearly had no idea what happened during an eviction. “Oh, we walk them out?” he asked, following the group reluctantly. He then couldn’t understand why anyone was upset. Lamar has a very healthy understanding that this is just a game.

That may be a mindset difference between the athletes and non-athletes in the House, as Miesha had that same no-nonsense approach when talking to people in the House. She was even upfront when changing her target, seemingly confused why this would be an emotional thing.

In MMA, you hit the mat and you battle it out but you can go out for drinks afterward. Separating the game from real life is apparently much easier for athletes than it is for non-athletes, which has been interesting to watch play out so far this season.

That said, Mirai Nagasu did struggle a bit with her own emotions after Miesha nominated her for eviction alongside Carson Kressley. She found surprising compassion and support from Chris Kattan, who looked like he slipped effortlessly into dad mode, offering a lot of kindness in her vulnerable moment.

Mirai also shared a powerful conversation that moved her to tears with Lamar when the two spoke briefly about racism in the United States. While they’ve had obviously different experiences with it as a Black man and an Asian woman, it’s nevertheless impacted them both.

And yet, they are both still proud Americans and were proud to represent their country in the Olympics (even if Lamar had to cheat his way past a drug test to compete). Lamar made a poignant statement when he said he was proud to represent the U.S., he just wished the U.S. would represent him, as well.

With their backs against the wall, and Miesha gunning for Mirai, it was a brutal Veto competition. The nominees and HOH were joined by Cynthia, Lamar and Mirai’s “Houseguest Choice” Todrick. Little did she know that he did not have her back in this moment.

After dominating the first HOH competition of the season, it looked like Miesha was maybe going to repeat with a dominant Veto score, coming in a full eight minutes ahead of her nearest competitor in a competition that was a combination of memory and speed.

Lamar, meanwhile, timed out at 30 minutes, clearly having no idea what was going on. Cynthia didn’t do much better, struggling epically with remembering the order of events based on crytpic text message clues from their clueless assistant.

In a startling testament to his memory and his physical ability, Miesha’s time of 8:58 was obliterated by Carson, who slammed through what looked like a lot of physicality and riddle solving in less than four minutes! His final time was 3:54, which is just astonishing.

It came at the worst possible time, though, as Carson’s pal outside the House proved just how much he’d come to play by telling Miesha that it was time to gun for Carson. With him winning the Veto that was off the table, but puppet-master Todrick wasn’t done yet.

Clearly, he was over the Formation alliance (Mirai, Teddi, Todrick, Cynthia, Carson, Shanna), going all in on the Athletes alliance with Miesha, Lamar, Mirai, and Chris Kirkpatrick. What’s dangerous, though, is that no one knows he’s fully betrayed their alliance.

He wasn’t the only one betraying the Formation, though, as a nervous Shanna Moakler ran to Miesha and not only blabbed the membership of Formation, which includes Miesha’s number one ally Todrick, but said that it was done and over with. She then offered herself as a double agent.

What a boon for Miesha, who wasn’t even targeting Shanna then or even as the night progressed and Todrick began to work his magic.

Throwing Carson fully under the bus, Todrick is right that the designer is a huge physical and mental and social threat in this game. He’s on a clear run to victory. He was even sitting pretty as a pawn on the Block without a fear in the world.

So Todrick’s diabolical plan was to cut Carson off at the knees by targeting his closest ally in the house in Teddi Mellencamp. We’re not sure if that assessment is true, but before Mirai betrayed Miesha and became her vengeance target, the MMA fighter was already thinking of targeting Teddi just because.

Now her week had come full circle, with Teddi back in her sights, but this time with Todrick helping to point her in that direction. If it was ever clear just how much influence Todrick has in this game right now, Miesha’s HOH reign essentially becoming his is a huge statement.

Him turning on his dear friend Carson so quickly and diabolically is another testatement. He knows Carson is more savvy than he’s letting on and he knows how dangerous he is. That means that if put in power, Carson could well decide to turn on Todrick and Todrick can’t have that.

We said at the top that Todrick was playing this game hard, and if anything, he’s playing it even harder now. He’s also doing a good job of keeping his aggressive gameplay under wraps, for now. After the first eviction, though, people usually start opening their eyes and seeing the game that’s happening around them.

On the one hand, we respect that Miesha was upfront with Teddi, pulling her aside and bluntly telling her that she’s putting her on the Block in replacement of Carson after he inevitably pulls himself down. It’s a testament of respect that she’s backdooring Teddi, but at the same time, Teddi feels it’s not giving her a fighting chance (which is absolutely true).

Kudos to “Big Brother” for a pretty clever twist that was right in front of our eyes, even if we had an idea exactly where it was going. The clues were a bit obvious that even someone not nominated could get evicted when the Curse of Mon-Won was unleashed.

What we didn’t expect was that flipping the logo would reveal Nom-Now, and that’s exactly what happened. Using the same round robin game, this time the final person standing with the purse-hat would become the third nominee.

Eliminating those who were safe and with Cynthia going first, the purse-hat made its way through Shanna, Chris Ki and Todrick, who handed it off to Chris Ka. We can’t imagine he didn’t know he was giving the final choice to the “SNL” alum as to who the new replacement nominee would be.

The curse didn’t quite name a third nominee, as the newly-nominated Houseguest would get to choose who they replaced. Ultimately, Chris Ka handed the purse-hat off to Lamar, leaving Todd Bridges as the unexpected replacement nominee.

Todd looked more than a little put out, as Chris Ka looked genuinely hurt by having to make the choice at all. Todd then took down Mirai, meaning that neither of Miesha’s original nominations was still on the Block. Nevertheless, her new target was still there, which was good enough for her game.

All this was happening live, so there was almost no time to scramble. Teddi had to hope that her pitch against Mirai was enough to stand against Todd, who didn’t even try to save himself. “Do what you gotta do,” was all he said during his Save-Me Speech, while Teddi again talked about getting backdoored and wanting a fighting chance.

In the end, it was closer than we expected, with Carson, Chris Ka and Cynthia voting to evict Todd. But the Athletes alliance with their spy on the side, Shanna, sealed Teddi’s fate.

With Formation cracked and Todrick all in with Meisha, the Athletes are the only dominant alliance left in the game. If one of them picks up the next HOH competition, they could quickly take full control. With Shanna voting with them, it only takes one more eviction and the game is theirs to run to Top 5.

Hopefully, the others will figure out what’s happening, how strong that alliance is and put something together. Of course, that requires Lamar, Todd and Chris Ka to wake up (literally in some cases) and start playing the strategic side of this game. Can they do it, or will they get picked off one by one?

Todrick Hall (36) is running this show right now, and he’s positioned perfectly to make a run right to the end. He’s juggling a lot of balls, but masterfully keeping them all in the air right now. On top of that, Miesha was completely in his thrall this week, and he smartly chose an alliance that seems to have it together enough to stay strong. The other side of the House is an absolute mess and their time is already running out to get it together. Grade: A+

Chris Kirkpatrick (50) is in stealth mode, but like Todrick he is very savvy in this game. He’s smartly laying lower during these early days as it can be dangerous to play as big as Todrick is. Nevertheless, the two are aligned and he’s working with the biggest athletes in the House, which could give them an edge when it comes to competitions and maintaining control. Chris Ki is a dark horse, as he’s going to have to firm up his one-on-one relationships to survive past the alliance phase. He’s definitely behind the curve there. Grade: B+

Miesha Tate (35) isn’t showing a whole lot of savvy in the game on her own, but she’s tied tightly with the guy who’s seeing everything, thus far. With him determined to take her to Top 2, that could be just the ally she needs to overcome her strategic deficiences. She, on the other hand, is a clear physical, dominant threat. That should make her a huge target coming out of the first HOH, but we’re not sure the rest of the House can get it together to take a shot at her. We’re hoping for it, but a little worried. Right now, she’s got the strongest alliance ready to protect her. Grade: B

Mirai Nagasu (28) is working her way back into the good graces of the Athletes alliance. With Teddi gone, she really has no choice but to be truly loyal to them. The question is if she fully knows that Formation is done, and how close she feels to Carson and Cynthia, as the only two on the other side of the House who seem to have any idea what’s going on. Mirai could find herself in a power position to shake things up, but she’d have to be willing to be bold and really see what’s going on. Grade: C+

Shanna Moakler (46) has betrayed her own alliance to be a leech on the Athletes alliance. They’re not going to let her in as they know she’ll turn on an alliance (she just did), but they’ll probably use her for as long as she’s useful. At the same time, if she starts to feel dangerous or a threat, she’s in trouble. She’s put herself outside of any circle of trust, though not everyone knows it yet, which puts her in a precarious position in the game. Grade: C+

Carson Kressley (52) has a huge target on his back with his social game and that dominant POV win, but we’re still having a hard time writing him off just yet. We believe he is much smarter in this game than people give him credit for. With the Athletes gunning for him, Carson has his work cut out for him trying to make a difference in his fate, but if anyone has the social skills, the intelligence, and the strength to pull it off, it’s him. What he needs to do is see pal Todrick for the threat he is, and cut off the head of the snake. Can he do it in time? Grade: C

Lamar Odom (42) is in the Athletes alliance, though he also has absolutely no idea how this game works or what’s going on half the time. We’re not sure how much help he’s going to be for them. Maybe he’ll step up in challenges more than we’ve seen, but right now he’s just a number, and that will make him disposable. Grade: C-

Chris Kattan (51) and Todd Bridges (56) are just chilling in the middle of this game and this House. They’re disposable, though, Chris Ka is at least making personal connections that appear genuine. The problem is that unless the non-Athletes side of the House can convince them to play, they’re going to get picked off whenever such time as its convenient. Grade: C-

Cynthia Bailey (54) is seen as someone who understands the game better than she’s been letting on, and she’s probably Carson’s closest remaining ally. That makes her a target for the Athletes, as they’ll deal with floaters later. If she and Carson can’t turn things around or gain control immediately, Cynthia could find herself on the Block and heading home very soon. That said, we believe they can do it … time is ticking, though! Grade: D+

Teddi Mellencamp (40) was victim of a double whammy, as Miesha’s first target and then Todrick’s target-by-proxy when he couldn’t gun for Carson directly. Teddi was much smarter in the game than she let on, but not clever enough to hide how smart she is. Honestly, when looking at the breakdown of Athletes alliance and not, aside from Carson, she probably was the biggest threat to get out. She proved herself a huge threat in physical challenges, coming in second to Miesha, and she’s smart. That’s a huge threat eliminated right away. Grade: F