Big Brother 23 week 2 recap: Frenchie flames out & a new target emerges

In many respects, the first HOH of any Big Brother season is crucial in setting the pace and the tone of gameplay going forward, but Big Brother 23 seems to be an exception to the rule.

After he won power and safety for the rest of his team, week 1 HOH Frenchie quickly spiraled – promising safety left and right, forming alliances only to turn on them almost instantly, and going back on his word time after time. Though he *did* succeed in getting out a meathead (surfer dude-bro Travis), his no-holds-barred gameplay came back to bite him the following week when Kyland won HOH and the entire house practically begged him to put Frenchie up.

Kyland went with the status quo – nominating Frenchie alongside a pawn (Britini), and after Derek X secured yet another veto win, the farmer was swiftly shown the door – but not before the house began to take shape and find a new target heading into week 3.

Big Brother 23: Kyland and the Queens reign supreme

After winning a skeeball-style HOH competition, Kyland found himself safe for the week, also securing the safety of his remaining Queens teammates Claire and Tiffany. Though he spent his first night as HOH lying low and enjoying the luxury of a new room, the next morning he held one-on-one meetings, and nearly everyone in the house (excluding Frenchie and his loyal sidekick Derek F) threw Frenchie directly under the bus to Kyland. Sensing that he may be in danger, Frenchie opted to play for safety in the Wildcard Competition, alongside Brent for the Aces and Sarah Beth for the Kings.

Sarah Beth pulled out the wildcard win, but faced a tough decision – in order to win safety, she would have to swap teams, putting either Tiffany or Claire in danger and robbing them of their safety that week. Not wanting to rock the boat and knowing that she was close with HOH Kyland, Sarah Beth opted not to use the Wildcard power, leaving Kyland’s potential nominee pool the same.

Big Brother 23: Frenchie feels the heat

After a loss in the wildcard competition, Frenchie finally (and unsurprisingly) hit the block, alongside pawn Britini, who brought the waterworks during and after the nomination ceremony, despite being in virtually no danger of eviction.

Though he did his best to keep his head high and attempt to mend fences heading into the veto, unfortunately for Frenchie, the damage had already been done – the house had made up its mind, and he was on the outs.

Things went from bad to worse for the former HOH when Derek X pulled off yet another veto win in the slip-n-slide-style competition (a variant on the classic midseason HOH comp), and, doing the bidding of his close ally and friend Kyland, chose not to use the veto – keeping nominations the same.

Big Brother 23: Always play two steps ahead

With Frenchie’s eviction all but decided the second that Derek X won the veto, the houseguests spent the remaining few days leading up to eviction night forming alliances, talking game going forward, and determining targets for week three.

Though there were some attempts to revive Frenchie’s now-defunct ‘Slaughterhouse’ alliance, they were just as dead as Frenchie’s game, despite former members Derek F, Brent, and Frenchie still being close in the house.

Instead, a new alliance took shape – The Royal Family. Named after its consisting members (the Kings and Queens Teams, plus Derek X) the roster fills out as follows: Queen Tiffany, King Kyland, Duchess of Claire, Duke of Derek (X), Sir Xavier, Prince Christian, Princess Sarah Beth, and Lady Alyssa. The Royal Family is shaping up to be the largest and most dominant alliance this season thus far, especially considering that (unlike the Slaughterhouse) all members seem to currently be on board with working together moving forward.

Other alliances heading into week 3 include the pre-established Cookout (Xavier, Tiffany, Azah, Derek F, Kyland, and unofficial member Hannah),  and The “Mafia (a loose alliance between the Aces and Queens teams). Despite Brent being a member of the Mafia, though, he looks like he may be sleeping with the fishes if the rest of the house gets their way – thanks to some work on Tiffany’s end, Brent is shaping up to be the house target next week.

Already on several houseguests’ radars thanks to his close relationship with social pariah Frenchie, Brent further dug himself a hole by making frequent, unfiltered comments about wanting to target women going forward (in front of women), as well as a little too much flirting that made a few of the houseguests a little uncomfortable. Even former Slaughterhouse alliance members Alyssa and Whitney agreed that Brent and his woman-targeting ways needed to be the next to go heading forward.

Big Brother 23: The farmer says farewell

Come eviction night, Frenchie got the boot (surprising nobody) in an 11-1 vote – the sole vote against Britini being from Frenchie’s final 2 ride-or-die Derek F. After a relatively tame speech from Frenchie that didn’t rock the boat, and a rap plea from Britini, Frenchie said his goodbyes and headed to meet Julie as the rest of the houseguests geared up for the HOH competition, a video Q & A comp hosted by comedian and former Celebrity Big Brother houseguest Tom Green.

Prior to the HOH competition, a large portion of the house had agreed to attempt to throw the competition, including Derek X and Hannah, so that Brent couldn’t win safety and would be vulnerable for nomination. DX and Hannah stuck to their word – though they didn’t need to since Brent was eliminated in round one – and it ended up being Xavier who snagged the week 3 HOH win.

Looking forward to the rest of the week, Xavier seems like he doesn’t want to rock the boat or ruffle too many feathers, which will likely result in house target Brent going up alongside Whitney (his former alliance member and relatively close ally) or Britini (the de-facto pawn) on the block.

With Brent out of the running for the wildcard competition (having used his pass this past week), it’s unlikely that the winner of the wildcard competition will shake things up, but as the Big Brother motto goes – expect the unexpected.

Big Brother 23: Week 2 Sup

Clutch Play of the Week: This was a relatively tame week gameplay-wise, but Sarah Beth opting not to use the Wildcard power likely kept things from going astray.

Most Memorable Moment:  Britni’s rapped eviction plea was charming, if a little cringey, but kept her in the house nonetheless.

Houseguest in the Best Spot: Tiffany continues her iron strategic grasp on the house – influencing nearly every conversation and guiding gameplay without getting any blood on her hands or coming up as a possible target.