‘Big Brother 18’ Week 3 Power Rankings

With the third eviction on perennial CBS summer favorite “Big Brother 18” coming Thursday night, here is the scoop, to-date, on the remaining 14 houseguests (reflecting Days 16-23 in the Big Brother house, from when Paulie Calafiore became Head of Household on June 30 thru to eviction night on July 7):

Spoiler Warning: The following article details some of the events of the past week that either have not been showcased on past CBS episodes or may air in a future CBS episode.

1. Nicole Franzel

Nicole is at the figurative epicenter of the house, as part of the 8-Pack and Fatal Five alliances, as well as having close ties with Paulie. Of the four returning players, Nicole is projected to last the longest in the game this season.

2. Zakiyah Everette

The houseguest that receives the least controversy this season so far got into a bit of dilemma when her closest guy in the house, HOH Paulie, quizzes her about the 8-Pack. Zakiyah was able to dodge these issues as she assured him he has nothing to worry about and she’s still close with him. At this point in the game, she’s the newbie of the house who’s most protected and untouchable.

3. Corey Brooks

Corey’s closeness to Nicole has benefited his position in the game. The only instance of any pending trouble was the rumor (started by troublemaker Frank) that him and Paulie should be on the chopping block if James ever was the HOH. Corey’s approach to Frank: deal with him like we dealt with Victor (as in, keep him in the dark and backdoor him as nominee, if necessary).

4. Michelle Meyer

Michelle, one of the newbies who hasn’t been controversial overall, made one big blunder on July 6 by confirming to HOH Paulie that a female alliance has been formed. This slip-up won’t matter much in the short term, with Paulie prohibited in participating in the next HOH contest.

5. James Huling

James’ pranks and playful attitude with the females of the house keeps on going, practically putting him off of everyone’s radar except Victor’s… which won’t as much matter after Victor’s eviction.

6. Da’Vonne Rogers

Da’Vonne began Paulie’s HOH reign providing some in her alliances the many reasons Tiffany was dangerous. Then, when discovering what Frank had been up to, she has gone full-force in disparaging his entire game. Her aggressiveness may eventually catch up to her, but unlike last season, when she was BB17’s second evicted houseguest, there are many other fish to fry in this season’s house before her.

7. Paulie Calafiore

Paulie, the sole houseguest sans an alliance, became the winner of both HOH and Veto challenges and did the 8-Pack’s dirty work to send Victor packing. Paulie also came into interesting info (courtesy of a talkative Frank) that there exists an 8-Pack alliance. For the subsequent days, Paulie’s conversations with those of the 8-Pack (e.g. Zakiyah, Michelle, Nicole) danced around issues of trust and loyalty. He has questioned even Frank and his true motivations.

8. Tiffany Rousso

Tiffany’s emotions and heightened paranoia have negatively evoked recollections of her sister, BB17’s Vanessa. Her unpredictable nature and constant coddling has made her one of the outcasts (unbeknownst to her) from the house’s strongest alliances, the 8-Pack and Fatal Five.

9. Natalie Negrotti

Although still mostly oblivious to what’s truly happening in the game, her playful closeness to James has at least kept herself off of the radar from some of the 8-Pack, including James and Frank.

10. Frank Eudy

There were glimmers in the previous week that Frank was getting stir crazy once he unnecessarily exposed the evict-Jozea plan to Natalie on June 29. But this past week, Frank has brought down his own game even further by exposing the 8-Pack to Paulie, arranging several Final-4 deals with various Houseguests (and even attempting to cover up his decisions by telling Zakiyah not to worry because he’ll always include her in his groupings!), and becoming misogynistic towards the females of the house (slapping their behinds). Perhaps these questionable decisions were all in an elaborate plot to cause chaos within the house with him away on the proverbial sidelines, but with people like Da’Vonne and Nicole fully aware of what he’s up to, the target on Frank has grown very large.

11. Paul Abrahamian

Paul, the person from the Jozea crew who is most plugged in to the true house vibe, agreed to be nominated for eviction by HOH Paulie as well as not choosing his ally Victor for the Veto challenge. As a reward, POV winner Paulie saved Paul with his veto before placing Victor on the chopping block.

12. Bridgette Dunning

Bridgette is equal to BB17’s Becky at this early point of their respective seasons: not doing anything to be highly noticed.

13. Bronte D’Acquisto

Bronte, paying for aligning with the delusional Jozea, looks to be a continuous target in the weeks to come. Her decision to lay low is worthwhile, although she and her fellow Spy Girls (Natalie and Bridgette) are still not clued in to what’s really going down in the house.

14. Victor Arroyo

Victor’s aptitude at challenges (winning the season’s first endurance challenge and most recent Roadkill), his close allegiance with the prior week’s ousted Jozea, and his incorrect trusting of Paulie and Frank all will lead to his own doom on this night.