Tomorrow is the Big Brother 22 season finale and we’ll see who the Big Brother: All-Stars jury crowns the winner. I think if past seasons have taught us anything, you should never think that one person is a clear winner. Nicole Franzel, Cody Calafiore, and Enzo Palumbo each have an equal chance of winning the game. There is not one person who has no shot of it, and players who seem like the frontrunner could easily have made a bad move along their journey to victory.
Yesterday, we explored Nicole’s game and if she could be a two-time champ. On Sunday, we looked at Enzo’s game and whether being liked is a strong enough attribute to bring him the win. Today is all about Cody’s game and if he’ll finally get redemption for taking Derrick Levasseur to the finals in Big Brother 16.
I think most Big Brother fans believe that this is Cody’s game to lose. He’s won a ton of competitions: three Head of Households (possibly four if he wins the final one) and four Veto competitions. He could also join Dan Gheesling and Paul Abrahamian in having the distinct status of being a player who played twice and made it to the final two both times. Cody also joined Derrick in being a player who managed to escape the block all season. From a statistic view alone, Cody looks impressive as a player and a potential winner. However, Big Brother is about far more than competition wins and breaking records.
Cody managed to use his social skills to develop close bonds, especially with Nicole, Enzo, Daniele Donato-Briones, Memphis Garrett, and Tyler Crispen. He also always wanted a final three with Enzo and Nicole, his two-closes allies, and that’s what he got. There was never a moment in the Big Brother game that Cody didn’t have influence or basically chose who left that week. Because Derrick was such the overwhelming mastermind in Big Brother 16, Cody is often just seen as Derrick’s sidekick, but we saw this season that Cody is a good player in his own right. And I even dare to say that Derrick needed Cody more than maybe we thought in Big Brother 16, because would Derrick been able to gain so much trust with people if it wasn’t for Cody’s social skills right along with him? I don’t know and we’ll never know.
Now Cody was good at keeping his people on his side, but he was weak with garnering relationships outside his circle, and that could come back to bite him big time during the votes. Kevin Campbell is clearly not a Cody fan and he did nothing to really develop relationships with David Alexander, Christmas Abbott, and Da’Vonne Rogers. Tyler developed those relationships and Cody sometimes benefitted from them, but those votes could easily go to Enzo or Nicole who at least had some relationship with these jurors, especially Enzo. I think many fans expect an overwhelming win for Cody, but I could easily see him winning or losing by a few votes no matter if he sits next to Nicole or Enzo because he neglected to form even surface-level bonds with a good chunk of the jury house.
He might need to hope that Dani or Tyler are solid votes for him and can try their best to sway votes that may be uncertain. However, Cody’s wins and influence has been so dominant this year that it’s hard to ignore, but like I’ve said in the past, with jury votes, you really don’t know what values and skills come into play. Maybe the jury votes strictly on who dominated with strategy and comps, or maybe they vote for the one who had the hardest road, or who had the best social game. There are really a million little factors that go into the final votes.
Make sure to subscribe to the Big Brother 22 Live Feeds to witness the house in HD. Subscribe here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and check our site regularly for Big Brother 22 spoilers, exclusives, recaps, and so much more.
