It's Finally Getting Interesting on 'Big Brother'

Big Brother airs three nights a week, and sometimes the sheer number of episodes makes it seem like time moves slower inside the house than out in the real world. It's been less than a month, but it feels like the Detonators have been on top forever, and— shiver — like Caleb has been on my TV so long his face is practically burned into the screen. So when something happens that really shakes up the Big Brother status quo, it's exciting news. For far too long, Frankie and Derrick have gone unchallenged. Week after week, no matter who actually wins HOH, these two manage to get their own target on the block. They've successfully campaigned for half of the original eight women in the house to go home, while only one man has been sent packing. But finally, the Detonators' power is starting to crumble. This week, Donny and Nicole won the HOH competition and were crowned Heads of Household.

Nicole has been HOH once before, but her nominees lost the "Underwater Polo" Battle of the Block and Derrick got to remain top dog. This time around, however, Nicole and Donny are working together to ensure that, no matter whose nominees stay up, at least one powerful guy will be up for eviction come Thursday.

Donny, Nicole, and Hayden got together to plan nominations, and they all seemed to agree that it doesn't really matter who stays HOH, because both pairs of nominees include one male threat and one female floater. Nicole will nominate Zach and Jocasta, and Donny will put up Caleb and Victoria. This will be just the second time in Season 16 when an equal number of male and female houseguests are up for eviction.

It's a breath of fresh air to finally see two actually decent people making moves in this game, and even better to see that they're collaborating instead of attempting to take each other out. Go Team Donncole! In the past, Donny has been too trusting at times, and Frankie in particular has been able to manipulate him. But with Nicole and Hayden both there to keep Donny's head clear, it looks like these two HOHs can really make some permanent changes to the Detonators' lineup — and possibly have some of them come running to form a new alliance with the house's less powerful players.

Last season, we saw a similar shift go down when those not in power got sick of Aaryn, Kaitlin, and Jeremy picking them off one by one. If Donny and Nicole got the other non-Detonators to form their own alliance, things could get very interesting (and I'd love to see what alliance names Donny could come up with). Whatever happens, Frankie, Derrick, Zach, and Caleb are sure to squirm this week. Even though Frankie and Derrick are both playing good games and have high chances of winning the $500,000, they're getting too complacent at the top of the heap. Nicole and Donny's time in power is sure to force them to reevaluate their strategies and their alliance. Like Julie Chen always says, nothing's ever certain in Big Brother.

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