Big Brother Season 16 spoilers ahead!
One thing that was clear early on during last night's episode of Big Brother was that the only way Derrick wasn't going to win Season 16 was if he wasn't in the Final 2. So how does Cody feel about the big decision he had to make during the finale? As of right now, he has no regrets. And Derrick has confirmed what he would have done if he'd been in Cody's place.
In short, Big Brother 16's runner-up Cody Calafiore has no regrets about taking Derrick to the Final 2. But it sounds like this season's winner, Derrick Levasseur, thinks Cody might have underestimated his game when he was making that choice...
CBS released a series of videos, which have Big Brother player-turned-host Jeff Schroeder interviewing this season's houseguests in the backyard after last night's finale. When speaking to Cody, Jeff asked him about his choice to take Derrick to the end after winning the final Head of Household competition. From the sound of it, Cody did what he thought was the right thing by taking Derrick to the end...
"If I would have taken Victoria and Derrick walked away with nothing, it would have almost been like I cheated him out of an entire game that, he pretty much helped me get to the Final 2."
Cody went on to explain about how Derrick sometimes cooled him down during moments when he was feeling hot-headed, and helped nudge him in the right direction throughout the game. "He honestly, never steered me wrong once," Cody said. "Thinking about taking anybody but him would've been like a betrayal that i don't even think I'd be able to deal with."
The Big Brother 16 runner-up nobly notes that crossing Derrick would have been like crossing his brother or his best friend, and suggests that not taking him would be like cheating him out of the money.
Likewise, Derrick says he would have taken Cody to the end if he had won the Final Head of Household. And we have no reason to question that. He pretty much told Victoria as much the night before the finale. So it seems he was prepared to honor his Final 2 deal with Cody. But would he have taken Cody if he thought it would cost him the win? That seems doubtful, but it's a moot point, really. Derrick likely would have won against Cody or Victoria. The Final 3 was set up perfectly for him to win either way.
Did Cody realize that, though? Derrick doesn't seem to think so. Speaking with EW's Dalton Ross, Derrick said:
"If he knew the game I was playing, I don't think he would have. But that was the whole process that I went through. It was to make sure that no one knew the game i was playing until it was too late. And Cody thought we played a very similar game and that we were kind of working hand in hand, when in all actuality, I was doing a lot more behind the scenes, and people were able to figure that out when they were in the jury house."
Will Cody eventually regret his decision? Knowing what we know about him from the feeds, and from the comments he made above, we might speculate that, at the very least, he'll have mixed feelings over this whole thing. On one hand, he can always feel good for the support and loyalty he showed his friend, for all of the reasons he's mentioned. But on the other hand, he may have already figured out that there's a good chance he would have been $450,000 richer if he'd taken Victoria.
That's kind of what Big Brother is all about though. Money is the ultimate goal, but there are other factors that come into play. Some people are ok playing cutthroat, even if it means breaking promises and wrecking friendships. After all, this is a game and winning the money is the goal. But winning at any cost is probably a lot easier said than done. And it's not for everyone.
As a viewer and live-feed watcher, my take on Cody's decision is about on par with what Derrick said. I think Cody thought he and Derrick were a lot more evenly matched than they really were, so he took a chance in taking his friend an ally, rather than taking Victoria. Maybe he thought his competition wins and other game moves would compensate for Derrick's social game, at least enough that the jury might decide to pick him as this season's winner. He made the decision that felt right to him in the moment, and there didn't seem to be any hesitation there. But I have to believe it would have been a much tougher decision for him if he knew how hard it was going to be to beat Derrick. Not knowing is the point though. Figuring out who you want with you in the end can be a make-or-break decision.
As for Derrick, he told Jeff that he went into the house with the following strategy...
"I've always been able to read people well. And I know what their motives are. So I always try to use that in an advantage to make my game better. So if it was something I thought was advantageous to them. I would try to spin it so that it was good for them, not necessarily for me.
Anyone who watched the feeds or even just the episodes knows this is pretty much exactly how he played the game.
