Big Brother 21 Week 2 Power Rankings

The early game of Big Brother is often a scramble for control, alliances, and power and the start of Big Brother 21 has been no different. Between two “evictions”, the new Whacktivity competition, and Camp Comeback, the sixteen new houseguests had to quickly form relationships and build those bonds that are going to last them deep into the game.

Here are my week one power rankings. Each week we will see how the houseguests ebb and flow throughout the social and strategic game going on around them. My main criteria for power rankings asks one simple question: How much “win equity” does a houseguest have? In other words, who is in the best position to win the game? The beauty of Big Brother is that your win equity will change drastically throughout the season, and the houseguest in the number one slot this week could easily plummet to the bottom in a matter of days.

Following the power rankings, head to the comments to tell me what I got wrong and how you would rank the 14 houseguests still in the game.

Before I officially kick off the power rankings I want to say this, as long as the Gr8ful alliance is in tact and winning, they will almost always dominate my power rankings. Until the “other side” of the house begins to put an alliance together, they will remain at the bottom of my list.

No. 14 Kathryn Dunn

Kat can not and will not win Big Brother. In fact, Kat will never win Big Brother. She’s far too paranoid and oblivious to the game around her to have the awareness in takes to win this game.

She’s outside of the majority alliance and has no semblance of strategy. While she might float her way along through this game, there’s no world where she can win it all.

No. 13 Kemi Fakunle

The Gr8ful alliance has already dominated the first two HOH’s of the game. With Jack at the helm this week, it seems Kemi is most likely in trouble. If not for Christie’s change of heart, Kemi would likely already be out of the game.

Jack was the most vocal houseguest in trying to backdoor Kemi in week one. There is no reason to believe that as HOH he won’t take a shot at her again.

No. 12 Nicole Anthony

To her early credit, Nicole has laid low, developed some relationships throughout the house, and positioned herself in a place where she’s not an early target. However, she’s out of the loop socially, and even if she wanted to make a move, she hasn’t proven to be able to win a competition. I’d say Nicole is a dark-horse, but I need to see a bit more out of her before I move her up into the middle tier of players.

No. 11 Sam Smith

Sam could be on the verge of a breakthrough in this game if he starts putting the pieces together. My fear for Sam is that he’d be too impressionable if given power. As for almost anyone outside of the Gr8ful alliance, we haven’t seen what they would do if given power.

If I had to guess, then someone inside of Gr8ful would infiltrate and turn them against their own side. Sam is a physical and strategic threat and that’s why I believe unless the tables turn against Gr8ful, Sam will soon become a target.

No. 10  Jessica Milagros

Jessica needs to start playing this game because she has way too much potential to waste. The problem for her (and half the house) is that they have no idea of the alliance surrounding them waiting to pick them off one by one.

Jessica really needed to pull out this HOH and since the power remains in the hands of Gr8ful, Jessica needs to watch her back. As long as the momentum stays on their side, Jessica’s only hope is to pull out some comp wins and shake up the game.

No. 9 Cliff Hogg III

Cliff has done the unthinkable for the oldest houseguest: he survived week one. Cliff is now deep enough in the game where any good HOH is going to want to make a bigger move than to send Cliff packing. Cliff is well-liked in the house and is not a threat in the competitions.

When Gr8ful finally decides to implode, Cliff can easily make a run towards the money. Right now, its still a long-shot for Cliff to win this game, but I believe Cliff has done about as well as he could possibly do in this early game.

No. 8 Jack Matthews

Now this is where the fun begins. Leaving out all the controversy swirling around Jack, he’s going to have the hardest time winning this game among the Gr8ful alliance. He’s already proven to be a hostile and controlling player. That will only work for so long.

He is the number one target for anyone outside his alliance (and even within his alliance), and he chooses the worst time to win power. I’d give Jack until after Camp Comeback is complete and then someone will likely take a shot at him.

No. 7 Jackson Michie

Michie is in a very similar boat to Jack, however, he clearly has the better social game. While I don’t believe his charm translates very well to the television show, it’s obvious that people in that house like him. He’s aware enough to own his mistakes and flaws. Despite winning Camp Director and plastering a target on his back the size of his own ego, he’s diffused the situation enough that I don’t believe he’s public enemy number one of the other side of the house.

However, his only shield in the game is Jack, so once Jack is gone I’m not sure where Michie is going to turn. Michie needs to hope and pray David does not return from the game. He also probably needs to start thinking about his long term strategy for when Gr8ful falls apart.

No. 6 Nick Maccarone

I think the fan-base was pretty high on Nick headed into the season. As a therapist, you have to imagine he has a great read on people. However, I think Nick has underperformed in the early goings of this game. He can be a little too talkative, oftentimes revealing important information about alliances and strategy.

Nick needs to think before he speaks because he clearly has the tools to be a good Big Brother player. The fortunate part for him is that Jack and Michie are far bigger threats than he is right now, and he’s still in a majority alliance. I’d love to see Nick find his rhythm and make a run.

No. 5 Analyse Talavera

Analyse has positioned herself perfectly early on in this game. She is in the majority alliance, she’s on absolutely no one’s hit list, and she is even keeled and well-liked. There’s easily a scenario where Analyse makes in deep into the game, maneuvers herself into a power position, wins a few timely competitions and wins this game.

However, it’s far too early to believe she has the skills to pull that off. She lands in the number six spot solely because she’s positioned herself so well early on. But for her to win this game it’s going to take a whole lot more than just positioning.

No. 4 Holly Allen

Honestly, Holly and Analyse should be tied in this power ranking. However, since I can’t do that, I suppose I’ll put Holly a step above Analyse. Like Analyse, Holly has positioned herself within her alliance beautifully as no one sees her as a threat. She’s laying low in the early game, and has put herself in an early position to make a run for it later in the season.

Just like Analyse, I need to see more out of her game to properly assess if she has the abilities to make that kind of run for the crown. For now, she needs to keep up what she’s doing and wait for the right time to strike.

No. 3 Christie Murphy

Being the first HOH is no easy task. Even further, being the first HOH and making a semi-big move is gutsy. By evicting Ovi, she sends a message to the house that she isn’t afraid to get her hands a little dirty and play hard. She also proved that she won’t be told how to play her game. She did not let Jack control her HOH and as a result, Kemi stayed around. However, in the process she showed her cards as a player by being controlled by her emotions.

Christie has proven to be a threat in competitions, has a strong alliance, and socially aware. If she can gain the self-awareness it takes to play Big Brother than I believe Christie has high win equity early in the season.

No. 2 Isabella Wang

Isabella is playing such a strong early game. She’s made connections across the entire house, not just her side. She’s aware enough to know that she does not need to win competitions right now, but she could win them when she needs to. I think strategically, Isabella is quite sharp. Perhaps I’m overselling here, but I’d put money on Isabella going to at least final 6.

Isabella will be a fun player to track throughout the season because I think her potential is through the roof.

No. 1 Tommy Bracco

Almost everything I feel about Bella I also feel about Tommy. Socially, he’s as good as it’s going to get in terms of relationship building. His infectious personality makes him someone people confide in, trust, and generally want on his side.

The big difference between him and Isabella in terms of winner upside is simple: Christie. Tommy and Christie came into this game with such a huge advantage by knowing each other outside of the house.

Tommy is living up to his billing by playing as well as he has up to this point. He’s smart enough of a player that I honestly seeing him staying in the top three for several weeks to come. However, it’s Big Brother so expect the unexpected!

How did I do? Comment below your rankings and let’s discuss!