Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Big Brother All-Stars live feeds as of Tuesday, September 1. Read at your own risk!
Big Brother All-Stars has come under fire for its increasingly stagnant and predictable gameplay, which has largely happened because of the super alliance created by Cody Calafiore in Week 1. The odds have increasingly favored the group as those outside the alliance have been picked off for three consecutive weeks. If something doesn't change this week, things aren't looking good for anyone outside the group. Now, it's possible that Ian Terry could cause the change the show needs.
The problem is that, until recently, a good number of people believed they were in "the group." That changed when a wall yeller clued former winner Ian Terry into the fact that his own alliance may be a sham, and that if he doesn't flip the game in a major way soon, he has just a couple weeks before he's sent packing to the jury house. Obviously Ian wants to win, but for that to happen, he's going to need to make a play that could shake up the rest of this season.
Ian's Revelation That Could Change The Game
Just hours after I made a case that wall yellers' contributions to the game are pointless, Ian Terry revealed to Kevin Campbell that the statement "Cody and Nicole are playing everyone," confirmed something he had been pondering for a while. Ian's alliance with Nicole Franzel wasn't a Final 2, but a way for Nicole to shield herself should she get targeted by a rogue competitor. Her true Final 2 was with Cody Calafiore, which the two had established outside the house before Big Brother All-Stars began.
Ian believes that Derrick Levasseur, Big Brother winner and friend of Nicole and Cody, opted out of participating in the season but worked with the two on a strategy ahead of the game to ensure their success. The strategy was for Cody to wrangle up the men, and for Nicole to wrangle up the women. Together they could run their respective sides, while not making it obvious they never intended to target each other. The plan didn't successfully divide the house by sexes, but both have pulled in enough in the majority that their true intentions have been masked by the groupthink of the alliance.
It's a valid theory, and now that Ian may have cracked the code, it's a bit of knowledge he can finally take to the others outside the alliance and definitively prove their alliances with some are not as solid as they think. If he can deliver the message to the right people, there's a chance they could unify and flip the game in a major way in the coming week.
Why Ian's Truth Bomb Would Shake Up The Game
Many guys like Tyler Crispen, Enzo Palumbo, and Memphis Garrett think they're the Final 2 with Cody, which is why they're so willing to talk game and overlook his protection of Nicole Franzel. Meanwhile, he's telling them to target the women Nicole is in with (Dani Briones, Christmas Abbott), which keeps the blood off his hands.
The majority alliance is largely fine with picking off their own, but it's only because they trust Cody when he says the Final 2 is going to be between them. Once it's laid out that Nicole Franzel truly is Cody's Final 2 partner, a lot of people outside the majority alliance will be less wary of "voting with the house," and the majority alliance may start to feel uneasy about when they may be unexpectedly blindsided or put on the block.
At the very least, the move would encourage members in the majority alliance who aren't Cody Calafiore and Nicole Franzel to spread their wings and create actual alliances with other members of the house they can go to for protection. A vast majority of the house feels safe right now, even though that's far from the case. If that message becomes clear in the coming days, expect the majority alliance to crumble rather quickly.
What Would Need To Happen For This Plan To Really Work
The delivery of this news really has to lead to an impactful decision to change the course of the game. With Kaysar Ridha up on the block and set to go home, the voting power of the rest of the house is going to be handicapped the rest of the way through. That is unless Ian Terry can successfully make a play to save Kaysar, and instead see that pawn Christmas Abbott is sent home instead.
It would be a bold play, and at the moment, would require 6 votes to pull off. Ian could potentially get Kevin Campbell, Bayleigh Dayton, and Da'Vonne Rogers on board, and it's a strong maybe for David Alexander. David can be swayed by Bay and Day how to vote, but the real issue is getting that final vote. The team could be thrown a bone if Dani Briones throws another hinky vote, or if Tyler Crispen decides to secretly flip on his alliance.
Tyler seems like the safest bet to be swayed for this plan, but he would need reassurances. Tyler knows that Kaysar Ridha had wanted to target him early in the game, so he may not be too keen on betraying his alliance to save him. Then again, if the Cody Calafiore and Nicole Franzel stuff has him rattled and will blow up their game anyway, this may be the best time to jump ship into a majority alliance. Unfortunately, it has to be at least 6 votes because Enzo Palumbo will 100% break the tie vote in Christmas' favor, so there will have to be some real game talk in this coming week to make that happen.
There is another option in which Ian Terry snags this week's Head of Household, which he's currently trying to make happen. Ian has gotten a verbal commitment from Cody Calafiore that he'd help him win HOH if Ian puts up Da'Vonne Rogers and Bayleigh Dayton, which won't happen. Ian would likely nominate Cody or Nicole Franzel and hope that the rest of the house would be rattled enough by the info drop he'd want Kaysar Ridha to give during the eviction speeches to ensure one of them leaves.
The final option is that Ian Terry has been begging America for an in-game power to influence the game, and no one really knows if that's happening or not. The Safety Suite expired this week, and another twist is supposed to be introduced after this week's eviction. If America does have an opportunity to grant Ian a power, it does seem like he would do the most with it.
How This Plan Fails
Ian Terry has to play this move right, and as the popular adage goes, loose lips sink ships. Telling the wrong person this information could result in Cody Calafiore and Nicole Franzel getting a heads up well before any real plans are put in place, and gives them a chance to negate the impact of Ian's reveal.
Furthermore, it could just put a target on Ian's back, and result in him leaving much sooner than intended. That's fine with him because he'd rather go big or go home, but I think the house would largely ignore his message if he was discredited and then bounced from the house. Ian needs to stay to make people feel safe about pursuing this avenue, rather than continuing to lay low hoping they'll figure out a way to fight when they're on the block.
Will Ian Terry pull the trigger on this move? Big Brother All-Stars airs on CBS Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for the latest happenings in the season, and for the latest news in television and movies.
