Another week, another big shift in power as Jackson Michie’s Head of Household win has put Christie Murphy and Analyse Talavera in the hot seats this week. With Tommy Bracco in power last week, they seemed to have most of the power in the game, but it’s gone back the other way this week, like the best Big Brother seasons should.
Truly at this point – anyone can go home at any time and anyone can win. Let’s see how much things have shifted since last week.
9. Christie Murphy
It seems that Christie’s time is going to finally come to an end. Regardless of your feelings on her, there’s no doubt she’s been a fixture during Big Brother 21. Her presence will be felt in many ways and I think the house will shift in many ways as a result. Christie’s eviction will free Tommy up to make new close alliances, and will shift the focus from the other side of the house to people like Nick Maccarone and Tommy. While Analyse is on the block beside her, and theoretically could still be evicted, it’s pretty much curtains for Christie at this point. She’s had a noble last attempt with trying to make Nick her public target but I don’t think it’s going to work. They all know what a threat and influential player she is and I’d be hard pressed to see four votes to keep her, since Jackson certainly won’t be breaking any ties in her favor. It’s been quite a ride, Christie.
8. Jessica Milagros
Jessica Milagros truly has no allies. She’s abandoned who was probably her closest former ally in Nicole Anthony, for reasons I still don’t understand. Despite not really having anyone or anything in the house, she’s more than likely not going anywhere unless something weird happens. Nick is the only person full-on targeting her and it’s very possible he could be swayed into targeting Jackson or Holly Allen instead. She’s sort of just waiting for her inevitable eviction, because I really don’t know what she’d even do if she got power. I suppose Nick would be her target, and rightfully so, but she really has no direction and it’s been nearly impossible to gauge her motivations all season long. I really wish she would realize that Nicole was trying to help her last week, because I really cannot listen to her say negative things about Nicole considering what she attempted to do for Jess.
7. Nick Maccarone
Nick continues to frustrate in the way that he’s playing this game, both the viewers and the houseguests alike. Christie has been wanting to blow up on him and finally did as I’m writing this. Despite Christie’s attempt to blow up his game, everyone already sees what he’s doing, and how he’s attempting to play this game down the stretch. He is likely the main target of Holly, Jessica and some others might draw their attention towards him based on Christie’s fight with him, and if they don’t have another target in mind. I feel like his messy game is being exposed more and it’s only getting messier. I wouldn’t be absolutely shocked if everyone decided to just call a truce and get rid of him, especially in light of recent revelations, but he’s supposedly valuable to Tommy and Analyse at least. I think if Nick is sitting on the block beside either of them that he might very well be evicted instead. Perhaps there’s a path for him to go deep but I think the way he’s played. and the way everyone sees it. does not bode well for his chances to lock up the votes to win this game, especially with the way everyone has been openly discussing his “sick” game, which is one way to interpret it I suppose.
6. Analyse Talavera
Who knows what Analyse is up to? She’s been on the block this week for the first time and clearly it’s affected her somewhat. But she’s going to stay and probably float by for a while longer. It’d be hard pressed to see the houseguests as dumb enough to keep Nick or Tommy if they are nominated besides her. She’s likely going to become an easy pawn in the weeks to come. And while she’s made up with Holly, there’s still some underlying tension between them and I wouldn’t be shocked to see it pop off between them, or her and Jackson at some point. I’m almost curious to see what would happen if Analyse won power, but then I realize that Tommy would just run her Head of Household run and it’s not something I care to see. Let’s see something more interesting than that.
5. Jackson Michie
Has Jackson’s Head of Household reign been flawless? No. But it’s been pretty good. He’s taking out his primary target and he didn’t get a ton of blood on his hands in the process. However, Tommy and Sis now see that they need to target him if they get power and they’ll probably stick to that. I think Cliff, Nicole and maybe even Jess would leave him alone in terms of nominations, but Jackson winning everything this week put his face back on the map, and they won’t soon forget that he’s far and away the best competitor left. For Jackson, it’s really going to come down to who wins Head of Household this upcoming week. For him, he’s much better off if Holly, Nicole, or Cliff wins. Otherwise, he might need to pull out a third Power of Veto win if he wants to stick around any longer because he’s on their radars.
4. Nicole Anthony
Nicole is sitting in a much better spot than in previous weeks. I cannot see anyone putting her up with the intention of her being their main target. Nobody sees her as a threat and I think, and hope, they might be mistaken. I think one of these weeks soon Nicole is going to come alive and surprise some people, I just hope she’s not too scared to take the shots that she needs to. Ever since the blow up during Nick’s Head of Household run, she’s been playing a little scared, but it’s time Nicole gets her hands dirty in the next couple of weeks. She absolutely can win this game. While I believe she’s positioned well to make it down to it, she needs to pad her resume by winning some competitions and strategically maneuvering through the game. I know Nicole is capable but she needs to prove it to the rest of them and most importantly to herself. She has Cliff she can trust and she can stick with Holly and Jackson for the next few weeks to get through, but she’ll need to be proactive to get the respect of the jury. Otherwise, they’ll see her as being passive, like Jessica.
3. Cliff Hogg III
I think of everyone Cliff has the most options. Most of them like and trust him, and want to work with him. The biggest issue I can see is that nobody is going to be dumb enough to take him to the end. He’s seen as the lovable old man and even Nicole has to know that he’s going to be impossible to beat. It’s going to be tough for Cliff because he probably is not a favorite to win some of the competitions down the stretch, and unless Nicole or anyone else remains completely loyal to him, he is likely going to fall short. Hopefully he sees the bigger picture a bit after the blow up tonight and realizes that Nick isn’t really in his corner. I think that’s one of this most recent oversights that could spell trouble for him if he trusts him too much. For now, he can just roll with the punches, but his best chances are likely getting out the strongest competitors so that he can have a shot to win some of them down the stretch.
2. Tommy Bracco
Tommy is certainly taking a big, big hit with Christie leaving this week. In some ways, it’ll make him less of an exposed target, but let’s face it, she was a shield for him and now he’s unprotected. Perhaps some of the others would target Nick before him because he’s loud, obnoxious and a decent competitor, but because he’s sort of presenting himself as someone in the middle, Tommy could be seen as more dangerous. I think Cliff and Nicole could take a shot at him but he is well liked and might be able to scoot by if Analyse and Nick make themselves bigger targets by being not as socially liked in the house. It’s hard to say but he’s taking a hit this week and I for one am interested to see how he plays without his friend and shield in Christie. Now the real test comes for Tommy.
Holly and Tommy have traded off top spots the past few weeks, and I think it’s fairly obvious that they are the two trading off the best positions in the house. When Tommy was in power he was in the top spot, with Jackson in power, Holly has the top spot. Holly is still going to not be a target until after Jackson is gone, and she’s made very good inroads with Cliff and Nicole this week. Like Tommy, she’s well-liked in the house and really I don’t see her as a target for anyone with bigger, brasher personalities like Nick and Jackson around. Obviously it benefits her if Jackson can stick around for another few weeks, but I also think she’s adaptable and can maneuver her loyalties if need be. I guess it remains to be seen if she and Tommy will swap spots back again next week, but Holly and Tommy both now will have an almost guaranteed vote in the jury house in Kathryn and Christie respectively.
That’s a wrap on week eight! Who do you think are the biggest power players in the game right now? Comment and vote in our poll to let us know!
[poll id=”121″]
It’s Big Brother 21 season, so keep it here all summer for news, recaps, exclusives, spoilers and much more. Make sure to subscribe to CBS: All Access to get your live feeds and enjoy more exclusive content. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to stay updated on all the Big Brother news!!
