Big Brother is officially back for the twentieth season, and I couldn't be more thrilled. If you know me at all, you know that I plan my entire life around this show during the summer (dramatic, but true). I wholeheartedly believe that I will win this show one day, but that's a discussion for an entirely different article.
If you've never heard of or watched the show before, allow me to introduce you to the best thing that has ever happened to reality television. Sixteen houseguests enter the Big Brother house live during the season premiere. The contestants aren't allowed to speak to one another until they are inside of the house. The contestants are completely isolated from the outside world, with no access to phones or television. To put it simply, the show is a three month power struggle that happens to take place under one roof.
Each week consists of a Head of Household competition, Power of Veto competition, and a live eviction ceremony. At the beginning of the week, all of the houseguests (except for the outgoing Head of Household) compete in either an endurance, skill, or quiz competition to become the new HOH. The person that wins this competition earns the key to the coveted HOH bedroom. They are usually welcomed into their new room for the week with a letter from a loved one and some of their favorite snacks. The Head of Household has earned safety and privacy for the week, but it now becomes their responsibility to nominate two houseguests to be evicted from the Big Brother house. The two nominees, as well as four other houseguests picked randomly, compete in the Power of Veto competition. This means exactly what it sounds like. Whoever wins the POV has the power to veto one of the nominations, or to keep nominations the same. If they choose to veto one of the nominations, the HOH must nominate a new houseguest for eviction. A live eviction ceremony takes place, where the houseguests (excluding the HOH) vote to evict one of the two nominees. This process continues week after week until the last person standing wins the half-million dollar prize.
Still not convinced that you should tune in? The mantra of Big Brother is "expect the unexpected." Twists are thrown at the houseguests throughout the season to make the show even more intriguing than it already is. For example, back in season five, the "twin twist" was introduced. The twist involved twins who were both playing the game as one person. If they both made it to week five without the other houseguests figuring it out, they would both join the game as individual players. This twist repeated itself in season seventeen, in which one of the twins went on to be the runner-up. The theme of Big Brother 20 revolves around technology. The production team for Big Brother always does an impressive job reinventing the game, but this spin has already made the show look, feel, and sound different. I absolutely love it and I can't wait to see the corresponding twists of the season.
One of the most popular Big Brother terms is the fan-favorite "showmance." This is reality television. Of course, production is going to cast attractive people in hopes that they will couple up and become teams. Getting involved in a showmance can either make or break a houseguests' game. They could end up being a power couple that completely dominates competitions, or they could severely ruin their social game by spending too much time with one another. Without going into too much detail, let me just tell you that the game gets extremely interesting when the first showmance of the season shows itself.
Week one has already come and gone, and this season already shows promise of being one of the most creative yet. The cast is extremely diverse, and I can't wait to watch them squirm for the next three months. I won't go into detail about the events that took place week one, simply because I want everyone that reads this to enjoy it for themselves. You can catch up on all things Big Brother on CBS's website. Big Brother airs every Wednesday and Thursday night at 9/8c, and Sundays at 8/7c. You can thank me later.
