Big Brother Shenanigans: BB14: Britney 1

Thursday, July 12, 2012

BB14: Britney 1 - Dan 0

Finally the long anticipated season 14 of Big Brother premiered tonight! It was great to see the house and the competition; and there were some surprises, despite the fact that we already knew who the mentors were and who was HoH. (see previous posts)

One thing was obvious: Britney picked well (Shane, Willie and JoJo) with her team winning the first HoH competition. On the other hand, Willie isn't a team player, so that might not be so good for her in the long run. Dan's, in contrast, picks were puzzling (Kara, Danielle and Jodi) ensuring that he lost the first HoH competition, thereby losing Jodi whom he evicted.

If indeed the mentors will be evicted when they lose all their team, Dan is in a vulnerable position, as the mentors will strategically target his team. I would if I were in the house. Knowing Dan, however, he still can pull some magic. He managed to go from the most targeted in his season, to being the winner.

Janelle's team is comprised of Wil, Joe and Ashley. Boogie's team is Jenn, Ian and Frank. We will see what the true chemistry is in the house, how alliances will form outside of the teams, which mentors will team up in the beginning when the feeds come on... Tic Toc... time does not fly :)

On a different note, Willie needs to drop the "I'm not a Hantz routine". Ian, Dan, Janelle and Boogie are onto him, so maintaining the lie will only hurt him in the end.

This promises to be a very exciting, for sure, as we impatiently await the feeds going live at 10 PM BBT!

More thoughts:

One of the interesting things to note about BB is the type of reactions it brings out in people. Before tonight's show, Janelle was criticized heatedly for leaving a young child at home, even though Mike did the same. Britney was being criticized for being mean and cruel (the irony doesn't escape me), even though I have read far worse things on twitter. on Facebook, and on blogs etc from people who are not stuck in such an extreme situation.

Now that the games have begun, the newest target has become Dan who chose to evict Jodi from the game. Immediately, the internet flooded with accusations of racism and many jumped into the feeding frenzy with glee. If Jodi were white, then would he have been an ageist? Anti big people? A sexist who wanted only pretty girls on his team? Nobody addressed the fact that none of the mentors chose her, and she went to Dan by default. Are they all racist? Or did they see, hear, experience something different from the rest of us?

Stay tuned!! :)

Big Brother Lexicon

There are certain terms that have been used in the course of this show that should be clarified. Here is a list:

Team America: Yet Another tool for production to manipulate the game. Three players will be placed in alliance by "America" and will be given tasks that apparently will change the game. So far, it didn't change Joey's game, first member of Team America slated to be evicted first.

Battle of the Block: The 2 nominees of each of the 2 HoHs will battle each other. The winner duo save themselves and dethrone the HoH who nominated them, throwing them back out of power at risk of being a renom.

AGP: Allison Grodner of Fly on the Wall Productions which is the company that has been hired by CBS to produce the show.

PoV: Power of Veto. This allows the holder to save one of the nominations for eviction. The last PoV of the game is the most powerful, as it determines who will be evicted.

HoH: Head of Household. Along with getting a primo suite, a letter from home, pictures and treats, this person decides who will be nominated and renominated should the veto be used.

Floater: This term is often misused. A "floaters" strategy is legitimate way to get through and win the game. A prime example of this is Jun Song (BB4). This strategy allows the player to switch alliances when necessary, win when necessary, but always work under the wire. It doesn't mean just going with the power in the house (let's call those floppers). It means manipulating the house, ergo having the power. In later years, the term has been misused for players who do not make any moves in the game but work for whoever has the power.

Backdoor: This strategy is used when the true target for eviction is not initially nominated, does not get a chance to play PoV, is subsequently nominated and evicted.

Blindside: When a player is evicted without even suspecting that he/she is the target.

Pawn: This is a person who is nominated but is part of the HoH's alliance and is used as a decoy, to ensure that the other person nominated gets evicted. It has often happened that the pawn has been blindsided.

America's Player: This is a player in the game, chosen by the viewing public, who is told how to act and vote in the house. They do this for a separate monetary reward.

Fast Forward: When there are two evictions in one week. Typically they tape an eviction on Tuesday followed by a quickie HoH. They have nominations later that night, followed by a PoV competition and PoV ceremony the next day. The second eviction and HoH comp for that week happens live on Thursday.

Double Eviction: On the live show on Thursday, there is an eviction (sometimes pre-taped), followed by a quick HoH comp, immediate nominations, a PoV competition, PoV Ceremony, followed by another Eviction, culminating in the second HoH comp which is usually a physical skill or Endurance.