“Big Brother 16” Crowns A Winner

HOLLYWOOD—Well this summer has been teased as one of the most twisted seasons ever of the CBS reality hit “Big Brother.” The 16^th cycle in the series was not as twisted as it had been promoted to audiences, so imagine the surprise, when the final two was revealed. Many had predicted the winner of season 16 would be the undercover cop Derrick Levasseur who played one of the most strategic games ever in “Big Brother” history and he claimed the top prize by a landslide.

Standing in his way was ‘Hitmen’ alliance member Cody Calafiore and Victoria Rafaeli. Let’s face it, Victoria may be one of the worst contestants in “BB” history, but if Derrick had no intention of taking her to the final 2, why keep her around.

Audiences were treated to a special surprise this season as the best player to ever play the game (yes I said it), Dr. Will Kirby returned to clue in the jury on how they should vote. I’m seeing a trend here, as he also coached the jury last year. Could this be an inkling that the mastermind will be returning for a possible all-stars season in the future? We could only hope after the stale game play this season. This was the most fun of the entire episode; watching the jury debate about who should win and why, and having the best strategist of all-time make arguments in favor of all finalists.

The episode opened with the revelation that Cody was the winner of Part 1 of the Head of Household competition, while Derrick squared off against Victoria in Part 2 of the Head of Household which was a mental comp that Derrick dominated. So in the final round it was ally against ally as questions from the jury took front and center and it was full of juicy drama that audiences have been dying for the entire summer.

The jury was pretty confident Caleb was the next to join the panel, as Dr. Will played moderator. Caleb revealed to the jury that Derrick and Cody had an alliance from Day 2. Frankie and Caleb took spars about loyalty. Derrick became the center of the conversation as the jurors noted that he was a master manipulator. Nicole mentioned Derrick making people feel guilty and never being nominated once. Donny discussed the aspect of stabbing people in the back multiple times, Jocasta was not happy about Derrick’s fake praying with her.

Zach made a point of Derrick’s great game play, without acknowledging Cody’s awesome under the radar game play. No one in the jury could name a specific game move that Derrick made; not good. The jury then debated Victoria who has been nominated nine times and allowing her dumbness to come across. The jury then debated about factors of determining the winner: social game, competition wins and strategy wins. At this point in the episode, it looks like either of the three could be victorious. Some bitterness here and there I’d say.

So who knew the members of the jury the best: it was Cody in a nail bitter that resulted in a tiebreaker. Cody had to make a game changing decision either eliminate Derrick or either Victoria. If he was smart it would be Victoria, but he chose to take Derrick to end. During her interview with Julie, Victoriaacknowledged that she did play the game, even though it didn’t come across that way. It was rather quick. It was interesting to see Ariana Grande in the audience, as well as “BB” alums Jeff, Jordan, Rachel and Brendon.

The time we all waited for the jury putting the Derrick and Cody in the hot seat with their intense questioning. Frankie asked a very important question to Cody about rather he was Derrick’s puppet and took a stab at Frankie himself. Caleb put Derrick through the wringer by asking if he used his family as a form of manipulation.

Cody was asked about his biggest strategic move, where he stumbled quite a bit, that was not a winner in my opinion. Derrick argued that he should win because he never got nominated, while Cody argued his social game was much stronger than his ally. Cody declared in his speech that he was not happy to be seen as a puppet, taking out big players like Caleb, Donny and Frankie. Derrick argued he never got nominated and he won competitions when he needed to. Both speeches were rather brief and not as convincing as in the past. Jocasta took a stab at Derrick about fake praying, ouch! Zach revealed his vote for Derrick that caused some waves, as did Donny talking about Skittles. Jeez the jury was really taking jabs at the finalists this season.

When former houseguests Joey, Paola, Devin, Brittany and Amber reunited with the rest of the houseguests, fireworks and secrets were unveiled that shook people to the core. The houseguests were stunned to learn about TeamAmerica, and Nicole nailed it with Donny and Frankie, but forgot about Derrick. To say the jury was stunned was an understatement. When Derrick revealed that he was a police officer it shook the houseguests. The house was literally stunned with that revelation which is sure to leave many quite bitter.

I was surprised to see that Julie didn’t ask any questions to the houseguests. The episode was on a straight course and did not deviate one bit, but I question why CBS chose to reveal Derrick’s occupation? I thought that should have been something Derrick had the choice to reveal or not. Not fair in my opinion at all.

Cody received votes from Jocasta, Donny, while Derrick received votes from Hayden, Zach, Nicole, Christine, Frankie, Victoria and Caleb.

While everyone was eagerly waiting for the revelation of who America’s Favorite Player would be, deep down “BB” fans knew it would be Donny all along, who won the $25,000 prize. I will admit that Nicole and Zach were also close favorites. The top three vote getters were Zach, Nicole and Donny, which shocked Frankie. Donny was absolutely shocked with his win.

So “Big Brother 16” is in the record books, I’m so praying that “Big Brother 17” gives the fans what they are waiting for: another all-star season. Season 16 was not the most twisted, so it’s time for the producers to put their money where their mouth is and live up to all the hype for once.