You can get backdoored onto the Block, you can find yourself a nominee for any number of reasons. And sometimes, there's just nothing that can be done for otherwise great players to save their own games.

With BBAI unleashed this season, Julie Chen(bot)'s AI counterpart Ainsley threw the whole house for a loop before the competition had even really begun by explaining how everything was going to change this season. And they thought the powers and punishments earned during the two-night premiere were game-changing.

Actually, they were, too, with Ainsley finally explaining just what those were and how they could possibly change the game. Makensy scored the Night 1 "Upgrade," with her bonus power being America's Veto, meaning she can veto any nominee in the first four weeks and let America choose the replacement.

Quinn was the Night 2 winner, landing the Deep Fake HOH power, which is even more dastardly and devious. Not only can he take power from the HOH, he does so in secret and via deepfake so the HGs think the HOH is still in power. This means he not only controls nominations, he can also sow discord and chaos in the house via the Deep Fake.

As learned during the premiere, it was worse news for Chelsie and Cedric, who both got a Downgrade on their games. That meant they were ineligible to compete in this week's HOH competition or Power of Veto, but they were both still available as possible nominees and evictees.

It was before the first Head of Household competition of the season that Ainsley dropped the biggest bombshell so far. Each HOH will be nominating not two, but three Houseguests for eviction. Then, just minutes before the eviction vote, those three HGs will compete in a competition, with the winner becoming automatically safe.

This has more far-reaching consequences for the House than what it may seem at first. Especially early in the season, the House is often in lock-step about what to do and who to evict each week. But this season, it's not that straightforward. What if that person secures safety?

Now, they'll have to come in with a backup plan. And they may not be able to exclude nominees from those discussions, either, as the one who comes off the Block is going to be able to vote, which could affect the numbers if things aren't unanimous.

Then there's the fact that the House has always had a chance to backdoor huge competition beasts out of the house after any Power of Veto competition. Now that threat has one more chance to save their bacon via one final competition. Depending how long this twist lasts into the season, those people may prove nearly impossible to get rid of.

With alliances just beginning to be hinted about -- but nobody wants to be accused of playing too hard, too fast -- Big Brother put everyone's relationships to the test right away with the first Head of Household Competition.

First up, they had them pick their own teams of three. But as the number of HGs does not evenly divide, that left Makensy and Tucker out of any groups, which is a potentially huge statement about where they stand in the House. They could only sit on the sidelines and watch.

• Team 1: Brooklyn, Kimo, Rubina
• Team 2: Kenney, Matt, Quinn
• Team 3: Cam, Leah, Lisa
• Team 4: Angela, Joseph, T'Kor

Then, though, the competing HGs played against each other in their selected groups ... for just one round! To make matters worse, the winner of that first round had to eliminate another team, making three potential enemies. Team 2 took first victory and took out Team 1.

Then, things changed and each Team had to immediately compete against one another in this game of sliding a disc to land on a number. The winner within each Team would then move onto the final round. Here, the winners were Kenney, Leah, and Angela.

In the final round, Ainsley again switched up the rules -- is this indicative of how chaotic the season is going to be? -- making only odd-numbers count. That knocked Leah out, who otherwise would have won. In the end, Angela won and became the first HOH of the season.

It's a little too early for anything really solid to form, but the ladies have already floated a tentative all-women alliance, while also acknowledging that it never seems to work. Angela's name was floated as part of that in a conversation involving Chelsie, Makensy, Brooklyn, and Rubina -- who seemed to really be pushing for it.

Angela also found herself in the middle of an alliance discussion with Chelsie, T'Kor, Joseph, and Cedric. But it was another conversation that may have solidified the season's first Final 2. In an effort to ingratiate himself with the first Belle of the BB Ball, Quinn revealed to Angela his Upgrade Power.

It definitely pays to be the first Head of Household, though it's also treacherous ground to walk on. Everyone knows your name, and that means it's in their mouths all the time. And Angela, who is a very outspoken and bubbly personality, may have said too much.

She wasn't trying to start anything with Matt when she called him "eye candy" and joked that he'd probably find himself in a showmance, but that's certainly how he took it. He then shared it with everyone, leading Joseph to honor his new alliance with Angela by telling her.

When she tried to clear the air, Matt had a very interesting response. Despite her being in power and not having yet decided on her nominations, he went with cocky and threatening. He told her he was prepared for her to put him up, confident he'd have the votes to stay and then he'd go after her.

Whoa, dude! Accusing her of playing too hard, too fast and then responding to a mea culpa with all that energy? Somebody's playing too hard but it wasn't Angela in that conversation. She was trying to do some damage control and Matt was drawing a line in the sand.

With very little to go on in the game so far, Angela did not lean on the more obvious choices of further picking on the two who weren't picked for the HOH Competition. She did, however, look to that competition to see who her target might be.

Kenney proved himself a tough competitor and apparently just enough intimidating for her to want him out of the house. She then talked with the House to get the pulse of the early going for her other two nominees, landing on Kimo and Lisa as people who either no one really knew, or were making people nervous.

Apparently, Lisa's penchant for edible glitter in her cooking, and sprinkling it on her fellow HGs, makes her a threat in their eyes. They actually started thinking she was anointing alliances or expressing some covert meaning behind her sharing of the glitter. Isn't it a little early for that level of paranoia?

Regardless, that's who it is ... which brings up another factor in this new three-nominee twist. Not only do all three have a chance to save themselves in the Power of Veto, like usual, but again before the final eviction on Thursday.

Putting a competition threat -- as Kenney is perceived -- into that final group increases the risk of him saving himself and coming back with a vengeance. Could that mean other competition threat allies would be considered as better pawns to try and ensure the actual target walks out the door?

It remains to be seen all the ways in which this first twist will shake up the season, but we're certainly expecting ("the unexpected") more in the weeks to come.

(amusing asides and comments made by HGs -- not necessarily strategy, but entertaining and sometimes revealing)

• "Oh Cam, God spent some extra time on him." --Chelsie (an admirer)
• "Don't do anything for him until after the game." --Angela (to Cam about helping Matt's lower back)
• "I would never hurt your hip. But I cannot say the same of my lady houseguests. You're eye candy. You know what's gonna happen. You know you're gonna get a showmance here."
• "What are we talking about?" --Matt
• "She's stereotyping you because you're handsome." --Quinn
• "I saw a couple ladies here that might want your ass, so you never know. I gotta stop talking, it's getting super-late." --Angela
• "These guys are all supermodels. Boo! … I need to fluff them up. A girl needs some blubber once in a while." --Leah (self-proclaimed "chubby-chaser")
• "Oh, woe is me. I'm so hot. I only use water in my hair … Matt, even if you feel this, don't speak in front of half the house." --Chelsie

Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS.