Expect the unexpected.
That is the famous line of producer Julie Chen on the very popular show, "Big Brother." Reaching its 18th season, "Big Brother" is full of twists and surprises that will shock the house-guests. You do not know what I’m talking about at all? Well, I will try to explain the three-month long, drama-filled show that is "Big Brother."
Each year, there are 16 house-guests brought into what is known as the “Big Brother” house. I am sure that you can figure out some part of the show just by the name of it. The idea is taken from the saying, “Big brother is always watching.” You might remember it from the book “1984” that was written by George Orwell. However, the show does not seem to have a huge relationship to the book. Basically, the concept of big brother is utilized in the show to watch the house-guests' every move. There are surveillance cameras everywhere as well as microphones on each house-guest to make sure that nothing goes unseen. But anyway, enough about the name of the show. Let’s get into what actually goes on.
It is hard to explain it because every year is different. There are always competitions dealing with the mind, body or both. Players fight for their safety in the house and people get sent home each week. It all seems pretty simple, but the twists change everything. There is usually one Head of Household every week, and they determine who gets “nominated” to be sent home. They have to go through what is usually a grueling competition in order to win their position in the house. In addition to controlling who goes home, they themselves cannot go home, either. Now, it might be great to be in control, but what happens when your plans go awry? Well, that is what happens when the veto competition comes around. The veto competition is used to, well, veto a nomination that was made by the Head of Household. With the veto power, one person can remove one person from the “chopping block” and the Head of Household must replace them with another nominee. It is pretty insane, to say the least.
This season, there were many unexpected twists to the game that left the players absolutely shocked. CBS decided to bring back four players that had already played in a previous season while also bringing in two players that had siblings play on the show before. If that was not enough, the producers also decided that they wanted the house-guests to play the game in teams. With contestants already being in a house for three months where everyone apparently goes crazy, adding teams to the mix does not make it any better. You are now not only trying to fight for your own safety, but also safety for your teammates.
Another interesting idea that they had was to make a "BB Roadkill" competition. I will not get into too much of it, but basically every single house-guest is allowed to compete in this. Whoever wins gets to secretly nominate anyone in the house to be a choice for eviction from the Big Brother house. Now, not only do you have to be on the block, but you also do not even know who did it to you so that you can get revenge.
Overall, this season has been a roller coaster of craziness already. With the second house-guest leaving tonight, who knows what will happen?