HOLLYWOOD—Its back! My summer guilty pleasure “Big Brother” kicked off its 20th season this week and dare I say this: it’s all newbies. Perhaps, we’ll get another all-stars before season 25 comes around if the show lasts that long, I mean we DESERVE IT! This season it looks like we’re getting a reboot from the Den of Temptation twist from last season.
It’s slightly complicated. The viewers play a role in getting the houseguest to trend; those who are trending get an opportunity to visit the Big Brother App store where rewards and punishments will be issued. So it appears special powers will be in play. The 2-hour premiere episode was a hoot as viewers were introduced to our new 16 houseguests, but wait, the fandom of past BB players in the audience really ticked me off.
If the producers and show can go all out to get this many fan favorites and all-stars in the audience, why the hell can’t we have an all-star season already? Stop making excuses and make it happen, like seriously. “Survivor” runs circles around “Big Brother” when it comes to bringing back fan favorites? Why? They don’t implement twists to save people, if you don’t play well you’re out. I mean seeing Danielle Reyes and Keesha Smith in the audience just reminded me how great of players these women were in the house.
Back to the game, there are several players that I have honed in on as being potential standouts. Chris ‘Swaggy C’ is a hoot in the diary room and the guy does not take himself too seriously. His personality pops and I know he is going to be the catalyst of plenty of drama this season. Rachel is totally giving me Jessica BB19 vibes, but she might have a bit more killer instinct than Jody did.
However, it looks like she is already sweet on Brett, the cyber security engineer who just screams villainy. People are down on Brett, but I think this guy is here to play and will be a ton of fun to watch. Also on my list to watch are Winston, who beame a super fan after watching BB19, but his personality is slightly bland. I think he’ll get in trouble with Angela because those two look like a showmance waiting to happen.
JC is a wild one people and the same echoes for Angie, who while out there, seems like someone I would align with. Steve looks like a dead man walking. Why BB continues to cast the sole old person surrounded by a ton of twentysomethings I have no clue. How about a bit more diversity ala BB3 and BB10? Haleigh has the beauty to use her looks to her advantage and Kaycee looks like the female athlete to boot this season when it comes to physical comps, I mean the woman plays football for a living. Seriously, I love this cast, I didn’t expect to enjoy Angie aka ‘Rockstar’ as much, and the same applies for Sam. The people you least expect to like, sometimes surprise you.
There were three competitions during the first night. Why, oh why, is BB so keen on casting a sole surfer dude each season? I mean this happened in BB15, BB16 and BB17. It was evident that Winston has all of the ladies including Rachel on his radar. The lies have already started when it comes to careers, with Brett and Steve keeping things under wraps. Showmance alert between Haleigh and Fessy, but man Haleigh looks just like Nicole Franzel. Kaitlyn is already freaking people out with her positive aura energy.
Scottie’s love life has the houseguests freaking out, but Julie dropped a few bombs on the houseguests about the new season. It looks like friction will exist between Kaitlyn and Scottie. Sorry, but I’m calling it now: Kaitlyn is annoying the hell out of me already! The first competition of the night involved the BB Supercomputer, where the winner can keep 8 houseguests safe. The comp looked complicated America. Angela managed to find the folder to compete again for safety.
The second competition involved the houseguests being forced to spell the word ‘Houseguest’ to advance to the final round of competition against Angela, and that person is Swaggy C people. So the other person receiving a punishment is Sam. Swaggy C is a player; this guy came to play, but Angela is an idiot for not attempting to barter a deal. The comp between Angela and Swaggy C was all about balance, and Swaggy won the comp and looks like he is going to stir the pot. As victor, he gets to select who stays safe, but only out of the 4 move-in groups. Nice twist, as I expected the victor to be able to select the 8 people they wanted to keep safe. Good job on Haleigh making a valid point to keep less blood on Swaggy’s hand.
So both Sam and Kaycee received a punishment for finishing last in both competitions. It was nothing game-changing; Kaycee had to wear a costume where she is forced to stay in the room whenever her pinwheel spins. Sam was forced to interact with the houseguest as a robot, but would get an opportunity to return to her human self when prompted. After being teased for nearly 40 minutes, Swaggy selected to keep his group safe (Angie, Brett and Rachel) and choose to save Scottie, Kaycee, Haleigh and Faysal. Looks like some people were NOT happy with Swaggy’s decision America, so we can already see battles igniting.
SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t want to know the HOH and nominees for the week stop reading now! Our resident lifeguard Tyler won the first HOH of the season, and decided to nominate Steve and Sam for eviction. Hmm, if Steve doesn’t win the Power of Veto, I think he’s outta here.
Looks like BB wanted to create two sides this summer. At long last, we learn about the BB App Store, by answering questions each week about the houseguests. The houseguest who is trending the most will receive an advantage in the game, while the least trending houseguest will receive a punishment. The great thing is the other houseguests will have NO IDEA who won for the week. I
I don’t love this tech theme because I feel like BB is going to push this notion onto the viewers all season long and it will become tired very quickly. Out of the 16 houseguests, only 1 has seriously rubbed me wrong: Kaitlyn. That woman is too in your face and just annoying already. “Big Brother” airs Thursday at 9 p.m., Sunday at 8 p.m. and Wednesday at 8 p.m.
