Big Brother 15: Premiere!

I had talked myself out of doing official posts for Big Brother this year, but damn….I don’t think I can hold back.  Big Brother is just too much fun and even if I’m just shouting at myself, well, so what?!

 

Episode 1 – June 26, 2013

There’s 16 people in the cast this year and Julie Chen informed us it’ll be the lengthiest season yet, so you know what, I’m totally fine with being unable to identify everyone individually yet.  Plenty of time was wasted giving us the quick rundown on each person in their “regular” life before showing them entering the house.

Immediate standouts, for better or worse, were:

Nick, because hello, he’s hot.  Well…he’s cute more than hot.  Unfortunately as the show went on, his manner of speaking REALLY irritated me.  Reminded me a lot of Dan from last season.  That isn’t a complement.

Elissa….because she’s friggin’ RACHEL REILLY’S sister!  And looks so much like her that it was a doomed strategy to pretend not to be related.  It could have been one of those things that arose midway through the season, but oh yeah, the other houseguests aren’t BLIND.  She even sounds like her, but so far, I haven’t heard the infamous laugh.

Jessie, only because the ego and arrogance of this chick is astounding.  “All the other girls are jealous of me.”  “I’m totally the prettiest one in this house.”  I am already over her, so here’s hoping she gets herself in check or I can see her getting a quick exit.

Dave – this behavior HAS to be an act.  I refuse to believe that he is this cliche of a surfer dude.   Stacie told me that Trent is rooting for him due to his hair, but I don’t think I can get behind that as a motivation.  Fortunately for Dave, I don’t think anyone will think he’s a threat because of his chillBro ways, and will probably go a long way into the summer.

The Indian, Jeremy.  He’s objectively attractive, but once he opened his mouth, it was total douche.  I can’t wait to see what other Native American skills he uses to make his way in the Big Brother house.

 

That’s honestly all the motivation I’ve got in terms of running down the houseguests so far. Believe me, there’s plenty of material from the first episode to go on, like the immediate alliances that will certainly shatter (the “pretty people” one, the other one…I need catchy nicknames, houseguest!  Get on it!), the potential drama down the line of people’s true occupations coming to light (Helen’s political background, Amanda’s high-end real estate success), showmances…. but we’re in this for over 90 days so let’s pace ourselves.  We’ll get to it, I’m sure.

There Are Twists!

As in every season of Big Brother, there’s a gimmick or two (or three).  The gimmicks revealed thus far include:

• THREE people will be nominated for eviction each week.  Two will be nominated by the Head of Household (HoH), while….
• …the third nomination will be made by whoever America votes as the Big Brother MVP.  I wasn’t clear if this is a weekly vote or not, but whoever is voted as MVP gets to nominate the third person.  Even better, the MVP is not made publicly known AND thus their nomination is completely anonymous.

I’m honestly not sure how the houseguests are going to play or strategize at this point.  Having 3 people nominated, with there being a secret nominator, gunks up the works significantly.  The MVP has a huge amount of power, and if somehow the MVP is also the HoH, that’s a ridiculous thing.  But also, the HoH can be kinda screwed if none of the people they nominated are sent home, as now TWO people will be pissed at you.  Very interesting change to the game.  It could mess it up, but there’s the potential that it will stir things up in a good way.

The Scoreboard:

Head of Household

It is pretty damn funny that McCrae ended up as the HoH this week.  No one believes that he’s “just” a pizza delivery guy because he looks a bit eccentric/genius, so there’s already shaky ground in the trust department there.  Then when McCrae walked in while the “pretty people” alliance was forming, it got awwwwkward.  Finally McCrae goes and kicks everyone’s ass in the HoH Popsicle challenge, making a deal with Nick to secure the title.  Was it smart of him to do this?  In his case, definitely yes, as he was likely an easy first target due to his odd appearance and the trust issue.  Anyone else though was smart to let it go to someone else.  Regardless, almost always that first elimination round never means anything and those who are first nominated typically go far.  No idea why, but they do.

The No-Not Pass

Jeremy managed to snag quite a great reward when Julie Chen tempted people to quit the HoH challenge:  The No-Not Pass (I think that’s what it was called).  The owner of this pass will never be a Have-Not for the entire time they’re in the house, so no slop, no cold showers, no mental patient bed…. That is a fantastic benefit and ensures you won’t lose it due to crappy circumstances like that.  Of course, as someone mentioned, he’s already a freakin’ beast, so it’s like giving another superpower to a superhero.  Have to laugh at poor David, who dropped first and got to select first, only to pick the wrong box.

Next Episode:  We’ll get the nominations and the Have/Have-Not competition