BB day 42

With this new "round trip ticket" twist  in play there is a 1 in 12 chance that Frank has it and would come right back if evicted on Thursday. Not the best odds but it could be worse, ie, no chance at all of coming back, which is the usual case.



We are back to nine votes this week on Big Brother 18 after the Battle Back twist brought another voter in to the game and that means the bar is set at five Houseguests’ votes required to send someone out the door. So who will fall just one round shy of Jury? It’s looking pretty obvious right now.

James and Natalie count the votes on BB18

Of course with the new Round Trip Ticket twist in play who knows if we’ll be seeing this week’s evictee again, but with just a 1:12 chance we should get ready to say goodbye to this round’s target.

With the Veto Ceremony out of the way our final nominees for the week are Frank Eudy and Bridgette Dunning. One of these two will be sent out the door and it looks like that’ll be Frank. No surprise.

The only Houseguest at this point who would vote to keep Frank is Bridgette and she’s up on the Block with him, so there goes that. We could get a complete shut out with 9-0 votes on Thursday night.

Will Frank campaign against Bridgette? According to Paul that’s already started. This morning he informed Nicole, Corey, and Michelle that Frank was campaigning against his close ally.

A little later this morning Da’Vonne talked with Zakiyah and expressed hope that if the vote starts to flip or if Frank starts working on it then Paul will report it back to her. Soon after that Michelle confirmed to Day that Paul had informed her of Frank’s alleged efforts. I’ll have to go back and see what Frank may have said since it’s coming from Paul who tends to be lying if his mouth is open.

Michelle and Day continued to discuss the votes a bit more (Flashback to 11:28 AM BBT 7/26 Cams 1/2). Michelle wondered if there might be an option to flip the votes, but Day doesn’t want that to happen. I still think Michelle would entertain the idea since she desperately wants Bridgette out which would give her Frank back as she noted her jealousy over their closeness. I don’t believe Michelle could find the other four votes to make this happen though.

So what happens if Frank walks out the door and his Big Brother Airlines card has the golden round trip ticket in it? Then right back inside the house Frank will go and he’ll rejoin the game. It’d be hilarious to watch the House freak out over that, but for now I wouldn’t hold my breath.

What do you think will happen? Vote now in our eviction poll for your expected elimination this week. Will it be Bridgette or Frank who is sent out this week?

Big Brother 18 Spoilers: Secret Room ‘Trip Ticket’ Cards All Collected
By: Matthew Boyer | July 26, 2016 at 12:00 PM EDT
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The Big Brother 18 Secret Room twist has now run its course for all remaining Houseguests after the hidden passage was revealed and everyone took a turn heading inside to collect their Big Brother Airlines ticket that could end up sending them on a round trip.

James and Natalie enjoy an evening in Paris

Last night the HGs received an alert to search for clues around the house and that soon led them to the secret tunnel, a Paris themed room, and a chance to return to the game if evicted.

Starting around 4:18 PM BBT 7/25 the Houseguests found messages on the main room screen telling them “clues are all around” and the hunt was on. Soon Paul figured out the key was to dial “PARIS” on the upstairs phone and at 5:40 PM BBT Paul disregarded instructions to wait until no one was around and dashed inside the red-lit passageway.

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Inside Paul found the room we shared last week along with instructions on how this new Big Brother twist would work. It wasn’t a case of one and done. Instead twelve envelopes awaited the visitors, one for each of the remaining Houseguests. Had Paul managed to be the only one in with no one seeing he might have prevented others from finding it, but realistically the system was simple enough and the rest would have been there soon enough.

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Paul did get the chance to be the first HG to pick from the 12 cards, one of which holds a “Round Trip” ticket back in to the house. HGs aren’t allowed to open their envelopes but rather will hand it over to Julie if/when evicted and it’ll be opened then to reveal either a “one way” ticket off to home/Jury or a boomerang ride back inside the house. No one will know until they are evicted. If anyone opens a card before being evicted then it’s voided.

Remember that Julie Chen said the twist would be active for the next four weeks, which I thought meant the room would be available for discovery over the next few weeks, but may actually mean the expiration on the envelopes. Only the next few evictions may fall under the blanket of this twist. We do not know and must await additional details from Big Brother.


Either way all the Houseguests have now collected a card and will await their fate. We only got to see Paul, Victor, and Michelle inside the room for the card picks. Victor went in second (6:07 PM BBT) before the Feeds cut to Fish before returning for the last visitor. Michelle was the last to enter and later cried about that after a long, stressful day. You can watch her climb back out of the hidden room at 6:41 PM BBT last night.

So far the room hasn’t been closed up yet. James and Natalie spent some quiet time hiding inside there which is pretty neat. I hope Big Brother leaves it for them until the space is needed for anything else.

What do you think of this new Big Brother Airlines twist? Who do you want to get the round trip ticket back inside the game?

Paulie may be doing all these things but in the end I don't think he's nearly as clever as Derrick was and probably won't be able to pull it off.



Tuesday, July 26, 2016
5 Examples That Prove Paulie Is Playing Derrick's Game on 'Big Brother 18'

John Kubicek
Senior Writer, BuddyTV

If you asked me who I thought would win Big Brother 18 right now, I'd probably have to say Paulie Calafiore. Cody's brother is definitely a little too cocky and arrogant, but for some reason he seems to have the majority of the house fooled. Not me.

As someone who's been covering Big Brother and watching the live feeds every single day since season 12, I've picked up a few things about winning strategies. And it's very obvious to me that Paulie is using Derrick's playbook.

Derrick, of course, was the winner of season 16, when Paulie's brother Cody finished second. Derrick is still good friends with the Calafiores and based on how Paulie is playing the game, he has clearly learned more from Derrick than from Cody.

If you don't believe me, here are five examples of things Paulie has done on Big Brother 18 that lead me to conclude he's trying to play Derrick's game.

The Onion Strategy

While studying Derrick's game, one major takeaway emerged. He always had a majority sub-alliance within every alliance he made. Like an onion, there's an outside layer that can be peeled away, then another layer to peel away, all the way down to the center. The Bomb Squads started with eight people, but inside of it was the Detonators, a five-person sub-alliance. Inside of that was originally Los Tres Amigos (Derrick, Cody and Zach), though eventually Zach got swapped out for Frankie because of Team America. And inside that was the Hitmen. So Derrick had two inside of three inside of five inside of eight.

Paulie is similarly protected, with layers and layers surrounding him. With 12 people left, Frank and Bridgette are obviously on the outside of the main 10. But then Victor and Da'Vonne are the next layer of the onion, leaving eight. Michelle seems to be on the outside of that as Paulie has the showmances and his bros in Nicole, Corey, James, Natalie, Zakiyah and Paul. Then the women are the next layer, leaving four guys in the middle. Paulie has a trio with Corey and Paul and duos with both of them, ensuring him the majority at all times.

So Paulie has a pair of twos inside a three inside a four inside a seven inside an eight inside a 10. That's a very well-protected onion bulb.

Finding a Cody

Very early on, Derrick aligned with Cody, knowing that he was a young buck who could help by winning competitions and keeping him safe. He also knew that Cody wasn't as well-versed in the game as he was, making it easier to beat him in the Final 2. Paulie has not only done that, but he's doubled down. He has both Corey and Paul as his main boys, either one of whom would make an excellent second-in-command. They are both loyal, committed and too naïve in the game to know any better.

But Paulie has gone a step further, assembling an entire crew for his endgame just like Derrick. He has the loyal follower who is easy to manipulate (James is the new Caleb), he has the competitively weak naïve girl who does what he says (Zakiyah is the new Victoria) and Paulie's top lieutenant is flirting with a girl who they can string along until they need to cut her (sorry, but Nicole is the new Christine).

Making It a Group Type Thing

Season 16 had more unanimous house votes than any other season, due largely to Derrick's influence. He fought hard to keep the house united as one, playing as a big group and convincing everyone to always be on the same page. When Nicole returned, he told his group (Cody, Caleb, Frankie, Christine and Victoria) that no one was allowed to talk to Nicole or Donny, that they needed to be isolated and shut out. And when the Rewind Button appeared, he made sure they all talked about it first so they could agree as a group whether or not to push it.

Paulie does the exact same thing, always telling everyone to stick together, to isolate the outsiders (Frank and Bridgette) and making sure that everyone in the house always has the exact same targets for eviction. Week 5 is the perfect example, as he and others have spent so much time isolating Frank and Bridgette that he ensured anyone would've nominated those two, even making James break his word.

Going Undercover

One of the most ingenious bits of strategy from Derrick was how he went undercover, just like he does as a cop. He walked into the house as a nerdy married dad, but then he started changing his appearance and the way he acted to fit in with the younger people. The show even did a segment on it, with Derrick explaining the strategic merit.



Now look at Paulie. He came into the game as a clean-shaven pretty boy, but then he grew out his beard and got a haircut so that he and Paul are basically twins. Not only has it succeeded in getting Paul to completely trust him, but it also helps to take away the stigma of being Cody's brother since he's no longer just a baby-faced hottie.

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I saved the most damning bit of empirical evidence for last: Paulie has literally told other HGs he's playing Derrick's game. On multiple occasions, he actually talks about how Derrick gave him advice on how to play the game. Derrick is the one who told him to evict Vanessa Rousso or her sister as soon as possible if they were in the house. Paulie has also mentioned Derrick's advice that if any of his boys are getting close to a girl, you need to take that girl out right away.

Over the years, one of the biggest giveaways I've noticed on Big Brother is that whenever a houseguest accuses someone else of doing something, it's usually because they're doing it themselves. When Paulie targeted Tiffany, he constantly accused her of playing just like her sister Vanessa, using her playbook. Methinks he doth protest too much, and that he was just worried because he knows he's using Derrick's playbook.


Is Paulie playing Derrick's game? If so, do you think it will work and he'll win? Only time will tell on Big Brother 18.