Another season of this addictive show is on, so who are you cheering on?
Reasons To Watch:
More Deception Than a Shakespearean Comedy
A few years ago, my sister mentioned that she started watching Big Brother 6 and I made fun of her for it. Admittedly now, I secretly started watching it to see what she meant and then became hooked. What could be more fun than watching other people be lied to and backstabbed? (It's free therapy when similar things are happening to you.) Now it's fun to follow who will be the next to break a promise based on emotional game play. So far this season we know that Dan and Keesha are very adamant about keeping their word. This should get more complicated later in the game if Keesha's still around since she has promised both Renny and Libra immunity from casting her vote against them. How will this work if they're the final three; Keesha will have to break her word. I'm not sure if anyone has broken their word to anyone else or not, but Jerry told Dan that Memphis was a womanizer and Dan must have told because Memphis then confronted him. (Of course something could have been missed that was edited out; I don't watch the 24 hour feed.) So I'm thinking that while Dan keeps his word, players may not want to trust him with their opinions.
Showmances
So any of you out there who are hooked know what I'm talking about when I wonder about this upcoming season. Will there be any real showmances? Ollie and April are supposedly a couple according to “Coach” Dan's “Living on the Edge” Head of Household competition motivational speech. If Ollie and April are really a couple, where's the showmance? I see April with Libra and others more than with Ollie. There's almost more action with Michelle and Jessie whose alliance (and thus budding romance) isn't going to be around much longer unless power plays change the current house dynamics. In just a few short weeks Jessie seems to me to be falling more for Michelle though he claims he doesn't want a showmance.
Twists Like America's Player
Last season's “Eric” as America's Player did a phenomenal job of being smooth and not raising suspicion while pulling off outlandish plays. Did America vote for Dan just to watch his overly obvious approach give him away? He seems to be the only one not in one of the big alliances, so America's intent may have been to get someone to stir trouble and thus change the face of the game for the big alliance (Ollie, April, Libra, Keesha with Renny and Jerry going along voting lines last week). Will Dan learn to become smoother as the tasks get more difficult or will his role as America's Player lead to his early exit? I can't see Dan getting away with hugging anyone for 10 seconds without arousing even more suspicion.
What other twists and turns will occur this season? Will twins switch in and out again like a few years back? (Remember, April is a twin.) Will “Evil Dick” or “Janelle” be back to grace their old hangout? We've already seen aliens, but that didn't phase them much. And what fun is it for things to come up missing when there's no “Natalie” to overanalyze the significance of it all.
Julie Chen
Not only is it fun to watch the players interact with each other, but Julie Chen also grills them in the nicest way. She's always smiling and kind as she stirs the pot to get every viewpoint on any controversy.
Unpredictable Twists in Power Dynamics
One surprise for this week was that 54 year old Renny was able to last so long during the Living on the Edge Head of Household competition. With Renny, Jerry and Dan under the radar right now and Keesha teetering in her loyalty, will the April-Libra-Ollie alliance be fighting to stay in the house next week? Only time will tell.
Watching the gameshow reminds me of how temporary and unreal power is. Those who have it tend to be targets because of it. It's too early to tell whether the schemers or the sheep will come out on top this year.
