Big Brother 18 Alliances: Week 7 – Paulie Leads ‘The Board’

This past week, we witnessed the second veteran houseguest (HG) evicted from the Big Brother 18 house as Da’Vonne Rogers was evicted by a vote of 6-2. Unfortunately for Day, she was not a member of any strong alliance to offer her any protection, and the members of the house majority alliance all wanted to see Day evicted sooner than later.

Big Brother 18 Alliance Chart Courtesy of @89razorskate20
Big Brother 18 Alliance Chart Courtesy of @89razorskate20

As has been the case for the past couple of weeks, Paulie Calafiore was still calling all the shots in the house, and it does not seem as though anyone has intentions on changing his plan to walk right out the door with the grand prize of $500,000. His little brother, Cody Calafiore (Big Brother 16 runner-up), certainly should be proud of his gameplay thus far.

Although the house majority alliance (Paul Abrahamian, Corey Brooks, Paulie Calafiore, Nicole Frankel, and James Huling) still does not have an official name, other than being referred to by fans as the defunct 8-Pack alliance, a new ‘boys’ alliance has emerged. The Executives, as they have named themselves, include the following members with these quirky self-appointed titles:

  • Paul Abrahamian – Chief Friendship Operator (CFO)
  • Victor Arroyo – Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
  • Corey Brooks – Events Coordinator
  • Paulie Calafiore – Director of Social Affairs
  • James Huling – Chief Operations Officer (COO)

The only difference between the house majority alliance and the Executives is exchanging Victor for Nicole between the two alliances. With the same number of members, one could argue that the Executives is in all actuality the new house majority alliance. Being that the house majority alliance does not have an official name, and for the sake of argument, this group will continue to be referred as the house majority alliance or HMA.

Within the Executives, there are four sub-alliances to consider. The newest alliance to join this group have named themselves the Board. This is a much better title than the original possibility thrown out by Victor which was the Three Bromingos. Yes, that is correct, and there is no typo. Luck for us, the cheesey name was vetoed by the Board almost immediately. They feel the Board is a perfect name because a Board of Directors typically appoints the executives for organizations in the business world. The Board includes Victor, Paul, and Paulie. Victor bragged in the Diary Room that all three members are competition beasts, and that no one can beat them. Victor needs to be careful with those cocky remarks because history has shown us that cocky HGs don’t last very long in the BB house.

Also coming out of the Executives is the long-standing deal between Paulie, Corey, and James that have a final three deal together. Paulie and Corey have a final two deal that was made weeks ago in the house. The most colorful duo coming out of the Executives would have to be the alliance of P.P, the friendship, friendship, friendship bromance that is quite entertaining to watch. Paulie has cut his hair to resemble Paul’s, and now Paulie is even wearing cut-off sleeveless zip-up vests like his best buddy Paul. When asked about P.P. bringing in Victor to form the Board, Paul makes sure to explain that there is no ‘V’ (as in Victor) in P.P., and Victor doesn’t need to know about that, referring to his and Paulie’s secret final two deal.

There really aren’t many other alliances with much merit to mention. The house still has three showmances going on although the relationship between Paulie and Zakiyah Everette has hit some pretty big bumps as of late. Zakiyah has lost faith and trust in Paulie after he purposely fell out of the last Head of Household (HOH) competition immediately after Zakiyah. Although Paulie denied it, Zakiyah does not believe him. Paulie also declined to tell Zakiyah that the house was voting out Da’Vonne leaving Zakiyah thinking that Bridgette was the HG to be evicted last week. That move by Paulie brought on the tears by Zakiyah and also Michelle Meyers, but Michelle cries when the wind changes directions.

Natalie Negrotti & James and Nicole & Corey are still showmancing this season. Natalie almost won the last HOH competition but fell just short with Victor taking the win. She tried to guilt Victor into letting her win, but Victor’s argument that he had already been evicted once and fought his way back into the house won that battle quite easily. Natalie also won the America’s Care Package last week showing the HGs she does have likability. That could be seen as a detriment as opposed to helping her game. She has also made James promise that Nicole would be evicted before her, as a matter of pride it seems.

Paulie currently has six deals and alliances in the Big Brother house. Not to mention that he called the shots last week when Paul was HOH, and Paulie is trying to call all the shots so far this week with Victor as the HOH. It is almost getting to a point in the game where it will be too late to make a move to take down Paulie’s crown. A fairly large weakness in his game is Zakiyah, and she may be the key to blowing up his game. Zakiyah is an emotional player and has been making decisions revolving around Paulie rather than her own game.

Zakiyah Everette and Paulie Calafiore, Photo Courtesy of @BB_Updates
Zakiyah Everette and Paulie Calafiore, Photo Courtesy of @BB_Updates

This week, Victor has made it clear that he wants Zakiyah evicted as has Paul, Paulie’s right hand man. Paulie is most likely afraid of letting Zakiyah go to early because he will be losing a guaranteed ally in the house, not to mention a late-night grinding buddy. James won the America’s Car Package this week that entitled him to cancel out two HGs votes in the upcoming eviction this week. If James wants to make a bold move and finally make his mark on this season, now would be the time to do so. If he gets together with Paul and Victor and they decide to gang up together against Paulie and evict Zakiyah rather than Michelle, Big Brother 18 will be ‘game now’. That move will show Paulie that he is not in total control of the house as he thinks and put him on notice… finally. If the house continues to just do Paulie’s dirty work, we may be watching Paulie become the next Big Brother winner.