Why Cody Deserves to Win America's Favorite Player (Big Brother 19)

Let me begin by saying that I honestly don't know why I am still watching Big Brother 19. Is it masochism? Addiction? A mix of the two? Possibly. Truth be told, I've always been a fan of the game, but this year's houseguests are making it difficult to forge ahead to the season finale.

So I'll keep it short and sweet: this article proposes one solution to salvaging a season marred by vile houseguests: ensuring that Cody wins America's Favorite Player.

Why, you ask, does Cody deserve to win what would essentially be 3rd place? Well, here's why:

1. Cody tried to save us from the disaster of a season we currently have.

Question his motives if you have to, but Cody's decision to try and evict Paul in the beginning of the game would have saved us from a season of watching a bunch of Paullowers follow their master's orders right up until their collective evictions.

Did he go about his decision poorly? Of course, but at the same time, his tactics did kind of make sense. Had Cody told his alliance what he was about to do, and Paul caught wind of it, Paul most likely would have manipulated people into keeping him regardless.

Had Paul not been gifted three weeks of immunity, Cody's plan would have worked. Paul would have been blindsided and ousted, and we'd have had a much more interesting season.

2. Cody was genuine.  

When I ask people who just started watching Big Brother why they like Cody, they say that it's because he seems real. Can he be a jerk? Yes. Can he be cruel? Yes. But is he ever fake? No, and he never pretends otherwise.

Cody loved to call out the other houseguests whenever they appeared to be doing something for the sake of pandering to fans or trying to make a name for themselves outside of the house. Notably, he told Paul that he was merely "playing a character on TV," implying that he was playing the game to advertise his brand and make himself more marketable above all else.

While Cody's inability to be fake may have cost him in this game, it did endear him to those of us who found ourselves sick of the other people in the house. 

3. Cody stood up to this season's biggest bullies. 

First let me acknowledge that Cody's treatment of Megan at the beginning of the game left much to be desired. But to be fair, her actions did seem strange enough for Cody's "I just don't like you" to make sense.

Later in the season, Cody found himself in firefights against Josh, Paul, and Alex. He did say some hurtful things to Josh, but as we now know after watching for 72 days, Josh is the kind of guy who enjoys antagonizing people. While he always cries after he attacks people, he admits that he just can't help going after people when they're down or when they question him. That Cody was able to shut him up, albeit with harsh words, at least showed that he wouldn't back down to Josh's tactics.

Cody also stood up to the likes of Alex. If you recall, Alex told Cody that he could eat her cereal. So he did. Then when Alex found out that Cody ate more of her cereal than she would have liked, she tore into him. The first thing she did, of course, was to make a personal attack, asking whether or not he's even a marine or whether his daughter actually exists. 

Cody calmly stood his ground (or sat his ground really), and ate all of her cereal. While that may seem like a mean thing to do, keep in mind that Alex has been poking and prodding her targets in the house with similar petty kinds of arguments all season. She didn't really care about the cereal; she was just trying to put a bigger target on Cody.

At one point she even cursed Cody out while he was reading the bible, while he sat there and took it, not even bothering with her antics. It's simple now to understand why the Cult of Paul wanted Cody out so badly: he had all of them mentally and physically beat. He just lacked the numbers and the social game to execute a gameplan that would have ended them.

4. Cody had a heroic battle back, and always competed hard. 

Cody's battle back victories were a thing of beauty, and more evidence to the Paullowers of how great a threat Cody and Jessica were to their games. Unfortunately, Jody was unable to do much of anything after Cody returned to the game, both due to their own strategic mistakes and due to the house continuing to give them the cold shoulder.

But Cody deserves real credit for battling his way back into the house. Not only did he beat Paul, but he endured several trials and tribulations in the ensuing HoH competition, where each of Paul's people rained punishments down on Cody in order to try (emphasis on try) and break him.

Unfortunately for Cody, Christmas's temptation prevented him from having a chance to play for the veto that would have saved him for another week. But that leads us to...

5. Cody had one of the greatest exits in Big Brother history. 

Was it the way he walked over a glass table? Was it how he tried to throw Alex and Jason under the bus? Was it his refusal to hug or say goodbye to any of the remaining houseguests? Perhaps it's all of the above.

Cody's eviction was iconic because it symbolized one of the many ironies of this season. There you had Cody, a dude who probably never gave two thoughts about what America thought of him, literally walking over the other houseguests to get to the exit as quickly as possible. And there you had the other houseguests, all of whom think America loves them, waiting for Paul's command to get up and jeer at Cody as he left.

And the cherry on top? None of them yet realized that America largely despises the Cult of Paul. Not knowing that, Cody thought that his final act was that of a pariah. But in reality, it was that of a hero.

Conclusion

I normally don't get this fired up about reality TV, but I figure it's in my best interest to try and rally whoever I can to ensure that Cody becomes America's Favorite Player. Because, in the end, a Cody victory wouldn't just be a victory for Cody. It'd be a victory for everyone who appreciates the game of Big Brother.

Does Paul deserve to win first place this year? Absolutely. He's played this house like a fiddle. But does that mean we have to appreciate his antics, or the nails-on-a-chalkboard personalities of the majority of his followers? No. There's no question that two Paullowers are going to come in first and second place this year. But we can ensure that they don't sweep. And, in turn, we can show that we disapprove of how the Cult of Paul has played the game.