Big Brother 23 — Campaign Notes

Earlier tonight, Xavier and Azah were counting votes to see who, of the two nominees, were most likely to go home on Thursday. Xavier said that he, Derek F., and Kyland would definitely be voting to send Derek X to the jury house. When he said that, I was a little bit surprised. I was like, “Wait a minute, Kyland’s the HoH. He doesn’t get a vote.”

Then I remembered that actually, Kyland is not the HoH. Sarah Beth is the HoH. It’s been really easy to forget that this week because Sarah Beth has pretty much just been doing whatever Kyland’s been telling her to do. For all the talk about Sarah Beth being a strong player and making this “her week,” she’s actually been the weakest HoH since Frenchie.

As for the rest of the House, Derek X is definitely campaigning to stay. He’s figured out that he’s the target and it appears that he’s finally figured out that the Cookout exists (how that took so long, I’ll never know) and he’s been going to everyone and making his pitch. The Cookout seems to be divided. Xavier, Derek F., and Kyland all seem to be determined to vote him out and to keep Claire. However, the women — Azah, Tiffany, and Hannah — have all said that they’re not so sure. They feel that Claire might be a bigger threat.

Tiffany and Hannah are both starting to chafe at the way Xavier and Kyland are throwing their weight around the House. Earlier today, they agreed that Xavier and Kyland act like they’re more important than the other members of the Cookout because they’re the only ones who have won any competitions. Tiffany is especially concerned that, once they read the final six, the men are just going to start picking off the women one-by-one. “They act like they’re just carrying us,” Tiffany said at one point.

The thing is, though …. the men are just carrying them. Azah, at least, has a good social game. Tiffany and Hannah have pretty much just been floating through the game, letting the other members of their alliance do all the work. So, if the other members of the Cookout act like they’re not that important, that’s because they’re not.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the Cookout going to stay united until the top 6. The only thing that’s going to cause one of them not to make the top 6 is if Sarah Beth, Claire, or Alyssa is lucky enough to win the veto or some other sort of special power over the next three weeks. But once it is only the Cookout left in the House, it looks like it’s going to be men vs. women.

As for Thursday’s vote, Derek X is fighting but, as Xavier pointed out to Azah, he’s also promising too much. In the end, I expect to see him head for the jury after Thursday’s vote.

Lisa Marie