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| Season 15, sponsored by The Rolling Stones? Image via CBS |
Chief amongst my pop culture obsessions is a summertime favourite of mine, Big Brother! And it's back! A full month early! As a Canadian Big Brother fan (hello 'Muricans), it's been like a second Christmas what with the first season of BB Canada earlier this year and now an earlier premiere date for the US version of our favourite, totally not rigged reality show. Some say it's a guilty pleasure of theirs, but for me, I don't even feel guilty about it. I just outright, thoroughly enjoy this sometimes pretty cheesy show. I even auditioned for the first season of BB Canada! (Producers, call me for season 2!) I'll try and recap every episode and as quickly as I can, but it airs three nights a week in the summer. So we'll if that promise holds up as well as Julie Chen has over these last 14 years. Has she discovered the fountain of youth? Or is she actually a robot who undergoes regular cosmetic maintenance like so many of us have assumed?
Speaking of the Chenbot, she opened up the show lurking inside the empty BB house and telling us that everything would be super sized this season. It would last for three months, there would be more houseguests than ever before, there would be twists inside AND outside the house! There was a fancy new outdoor design, which looked like the outside of the BB Canada house. Even Julie's hair looked big tonight! Perhaps the biggest news of all however was that this season would be the first since BB12 in 2010 to feature an all original cast. Even the first season of BB Canada rehashed old players like Dan Gheesling and had cameos from Rachel, Janelle and Ian.
Before the new houseguests got to enter the house, we were treated to a video package of all 16 players finding their key totally by surprise and not pre-scripted at all. During this package, there was some hardcore parkour from Nick, a lifeguard who likes to feel himself up at the beach (David), a public speaking teacher (Andy) who teaches people how to lie (you're doing it wrong?), and Rachel Reilly's sister (Elissa) who has a dream board. Because you know, it worked out so well for BB14's Ashley. There was a player who I thought CBS forgot to put a space in between her names (GinaMarie), and a former political adviser (Helen) who has run campaigns. Hopefully it wasn't Mitt Romney's. Amongst some pretty generic others of course.
This was followed up by all the houseguests entering the house for the first time and claiming their beds. And in a poor bit of planning, there were only 12 beds for 16 contestants. What a crazy mistake! There was some getting to know each other and players revealing who they have crushes on. Judd likes GinaMarie. GinaMarie likes Howard. Jessie likes Jeremy because she thinks he looks like the wolf from Twilight. Amanda likes Nick. Kaitlin likes Andy because he has a sweet kitty t-shirt and she wanted to get into a 'Gaymance" this season. Jeremy (The Twilight wolf/Taylor Lautner look-alike) likes Kaitlin because he 'felt little rainbows and doves' flying out from his heart when she looks at him. McCrae the Pizza Delivery Guy who is a cross between BB14 winner Ian and Weird Al Yankovic likes Howard. McCrae isn't gay, but if he was, he 'would tear him (Howard) apart.' David likes Aryssa. And of course, Joanie loves Chachi. Never forget.
Right away there were two, three-person alliances formed in the moustache room which featured a cameo from BB Canada's Marcia the Moose! She's clearly forgotten to wax since even she had grown a moustache. The first three-person secret alliance consists of Jeremy, Spencer and Howard. Then in a playing the game way too hard too fast possibility, Jeremy (the Taylor Lautner look-alike) also joined forces with David & Jessie, the good-looking person's alliance and with two guys because Jessie wants to fulfill every stereotype of women not being able to get along with each other. Elissa had tried to form an all-girl's alliance earlier but Jessie and Kaitlin put the kibosh on that because... I don't know... women be crazy?
With all the houseguests gathered around the TV, Julie continued the mantra that everything is bigger this season, revealing that there would not be two nominees each week for eviction this season, but three! Then with Elissa looking on, the Chenbot said there would be another twist that she couldn't reveal, but to quote Rachel, 'Floaters grab your life vests!' Awkwaaaaaard...
The first Head of Household competition was an endurance competition in which the players had to hold on to a popsicle while a giant tongue pounded them. I have a feeling this was not the first time that's happened to a few of them. This competition looked a lot like the first endurance comp in the BB Canada house when the players wore all plaid and had to hang on to trees.
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| Get it? Because all Canadians wear plaid and are grunge rockers! Or lumberjacks. Image via RealityNation |
Judd, Howard and Candice were the first three to drop, doing so intentionally because they didn't want to win this early in the game. Because you know, it worked against BB12's Hayden and BB Canada winner Jillian so much. While the first to be eliminated trio were sitting around, Candice noticed that Elissa looked an awful lot like Rachel. Earlier in the episode, Judd the good old boy from Tennessee had thought she looked familiar too and this solved it. So much for wanting to keep being related to Rachel a secret. Something I'd try and keep a secret my entire life if I were related to her as well. Aaryn, the psych major from Texas, was the last girl remaining, dropping at the 3 hour and 2 minute mark. This left four guys on the popsicles (David the Surfer Guy, Taylor Lautner, Nick aka Spiderman aka Mr. Hardcore Parkour, and McCrae, the Pizza Delivery Boy). Julie tried to lure two of them down, showing two lunchboxes. One of which featured a never-not pass which meant you couldn't be a have not all season. That would be enough to get me down. David the Surfer/Lifeguard was the first to jump off, but *sad trombone*, his lunchbox only contained a sandwich on white bread. And he totally needs whole wheat so he can maintain that buff body that he likes to feel up! Taylor Lautner was the next to jump off, thus claiming the never not pass so he could continue to eat good food and maintain his resemblance to a teen heartthrob/werewolf.
In the end, it was McCrae who beat out Nick to become the first Head of Household of Big Brother 15, only after assuring the Spiderman wannabe that he would be safe. Following the competition, Julie revealed to all the houseguests that the HoH would decide the first two nominees, but that America would vote for an MVP and that person would decide who would be the third person to go up on the block... and would get to do so anonymously!
And that's where we left off, with McCrae the pizza delivery boy at the top of the food chain but with no nominations made until Sunday's episode. My first impressions are that I'm very happy we get a longer season and that there are all original houseguests. I don't love that the viewers will in a roundabout way have a say in who gets put on the block and goes home. It didn't work so well for the first season of Big Brother when viewers decided who went home. And in a surprising twist, Rachel's sister Elissa didn't annoy me all that much!
What say you, readers? What did you think of the first episode? Who was your favourite houseguest? And who do you think McCrae will put on the block. I think there will be a lot of pressure to put GinaMarie up because she's loud and abrasive and a lot of the houseguests don't like her that much.
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter (@KenBeckett) for all my thoughts and blogs on Big Brother 15 this summer!
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