Cast reveal and first Head of Household competition

For about a month prior to day one, the official cast had been shrouded in speculation until premiere night. Once the cast was revealed live, it is safe to say that there is a fair amount of variety within the house. There is a good blend of winners, high placers, fan favorites, and players that never had a fair shot.

What surprised me the most is the fact that there are only two previous winners on the cast, those being Ian Terry (Season 14) and Nicole Franzel (Seasons 16 and 18). On the other end of the spectrum, there is David Alexander (Season 21) who was the first houseguest to go in a surprise early eviction.

I am not disappointed by this cast, but there are some shocking discussions. I am surprised that players like Derrick Levasseur (Season 16 winner) and Dan Gheesling (Season 10 winner and Season 14 runner up) are not in the cast. I would expect this roster to be rounded at more than previous winners rather than just two. Then again, with inclusions such as Tyler Crispen (Season 20 runner up) and Cody Califiore (Season 16 runner up) the cast overall is well constructed. 

In the first Head of Household competition of the season, groups of four went in one at a time to qualify for a second round. Round two was a time trial challenge with the player with the fastest time claiming HOH. Cody went second, and breezed through the course with a time of roughly 22 seconds. Because no other houseguest could beat the time afterwards, Cody was crowned Head of Household of the season.

According to Cody, he did not want to win HOH at first. Seeing all the people he was going to compete against, however, motivated him to take the power and make the important first step of the game. Following the competition, Nicole Anthony, Ian, Kevin, and Memphis were randomly selected at the first Have-Nots of the game.

Host Julie Chen Moonves also teased the house with a new twist known as the “Safety Suite.” After the tease, Moonves said goodnight to the houseguests, ending the first day on air and allowed the Big Brother game to play out.

Safety Suite and nominations for eviction

Early on, a duo emerged, aiming to take power: Cody and Enzo. The two New Jersey men paired together and already came to work to decide nominations. They ultimately decided on putting up Kaysar and Janelle on the block. That is until information regarding the Safety Suite was given to the houseguests.

In this twist, every houseguest was given a pass to the Safety Suite that they may only use once. If they scan in for the week, they will play in a competition that not only guarantees their safety for the week, but also nominate another player as a plus one that has safety as well. That “plus one” will also bear a punishment for the week.

Just as this new twist serves as a free safety week if a contestant wins the competition, the stakes are high just to use it. Other houseguests would be notified if someone swiped in to play, meaning the whole house would know that a player does not feel safe.

The house had an hour to decide if they wanted to play it safe and save their one use. However, Kaysar and Janelle scanned in at the last minute, putting a dagger in Cody and Enzo’s plans. Though Kaysar won the competition, he nominated Janelle as his plus one, so Cody and Enzo were back at square one with their plans.

With their prime targets gone, Cody needed to scramble for nominees. He ultimately decided to put up Kevin and Keesha, due to a lack of connection with the two.

Power of Veto

As the week progressed, a few other duos formed as well. Kaysar and Janelle began working closely with one another, but so have Nicole Franzel and Ian Terry with the idea that if they have the best chance to win against each other as the only two previous winners in the house. Bayleigh and Da’Vonne also decided to form an alliance with each other.

Regardless of the few duos in play, most of the other houseguests are either riding solo at the moment or remaining silent. Kevin, however, already went into desperation mode looking for a partner to work with in the game. He ended up walking around the house pleading with the other houseguests to work with him.

In the Power of Veto player drawing, Cody selected Tyler, Kevin selected Enzo, and Keesha selected Ian. In this week’s veto, the players rode on large bananas to power a timer for them to stack fruits and vegetables on top of a platform with the player that has the stack with the most food being the winner.

This veto competition raged on for a full 30 minutes. With about five minutes left to play, Enzo had a stack of 18, so he decided to quit while he was ahead. None of the players could get their stacks greater than his in time, so Enzo was awarded the Power of Veto.

Later, Enzo encountered Ian and Nicole Franzel talking with each other, prompting him to believe that they are working together. He told Cody, and they were on board with that idea. Despite this newfound knowledge, Enzo decided to not use the Power of Veto, keeping the nominations Cody set the same. Heading toward eviction night, the fates of Kevin and Keesha seem to be unknown.

Eviction night and Head of Household competition

In the waning days of the week, a new duo emerged. Cody and Memphis, having both been precious runner ups to a duo that dominated the Big Brother house, make the decision to team up as “The Commission.” As the first order of business, Cody convinced Memphis to run around and form a group of six involving themselves, Tyler, Dani, Nicole Franzel, and Christmas.

Meanwhile, the entire house remained indecisive on who to vote out. With The Commission’s influence upon the six, they were able to get the whole house on page with a single verdict. Come eviction night, the question remains: Will Keesha or Kevin be the first all star out of the game?

One voting session later, it was a complete landslide. By a vote of 13-0, Keesha was evicted from the Big Brother house. Keesha lasted nine days and became the first houseguest to be eliminated from the game.

Shortly after the eviction, the houseguest played a memory game as part of the next HOH competition. As the competition finished, it was Memphis that remained the last one standing, winning the Head of Household.

Thoughts on the week

All things considered the opening week was very quiet, but to be fair I expected that. If anything surprised me, it is the fact that nobody made any game shaking moves that threw the house into a frenzy. Everybody played the first week incredibly safe to stay out of trouble.

While there is nothing wrong with that, it just means that the game will take a little more time to build momentum. Though if you know Big Brother, then you know that it is only a matter of time until things start heating up. There are many great players still in that house and dynamics are starting to form. I cannot wait to see how the rest of the game will play out.