It’s only the second episode of Big Brother 18, but one HG is already going home. After a series of new twists, a competition will decide the fate of one player who will not get to spend the rest of the summer in the house. It’s not unlike season 14, when Jodi Rollins was unceremoniously evicted after just eight hours in the house (though at least her name is now a verb, because someone is getting Jodi’ed).
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In the Big Brother 18 premiere, the 12 new HGs and four returning players were split into four teams. Team Unicorn (James, Victor, Natalie and Bronte) was the first competition and are therefore immune not only from Thursday’s eviction, but from next week’s second eviction as well.
However, the losing team, the Freakazoids (Nicole, Corey, Tiffany and Glenn) came up short. After losing the first three competitions of the season, the four team members will compete against in each other on Thursday’s episode, with the loser being immediately evicted.
The good news is that the other three will get to choose one of them to become the first HoH of the season, most likely resulting in all of them being safe. With Team Unicorn safe as well, that only leaves eight HGs in real danger of being nominated and evicted in second place.
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But first they must survive the competition. Based on this promo for the second episode, this last competition appears to involve climbing a palm tree on a wobbly platform, so there’s definitely a big physical component. Here’s how they stack up.
Corey: The last man standing in the first competition, he’s tall, athletic and coordinated (he’s a baseball coach). I can’t imagine he’d be bad at this comp, unless his massive height is a disadvantage.
Nicole: The veteran player proved in season 16 that she could win mental and skill-based competitions. And since she outlasted Tiffany and Glenn on the rocket, she could probably survive a physical competition as well. Her willingness to give up all of her clothes and dye her hair pink in week 1 just to stay proves that she’s willing to do what it takes.
Tiffany: My pre-season pick to win, Tiffany really botched the first episode. She was as paranoid as her sister Vanessa and got schooled by Michelle in their conversation where she was forced to reveal her family connection. And let’s not forget that Tiffany was the first person to fall of the rocket out of all four teams. If nerves get the better of her, I could imagine a scenario where the pressure of living up to her sister causes her to crash and burn, sending her out the door right away.
Glenn: Without a doubt he’s the clear frontrunner to lose the competition and get evicted. He’s bigger and older than everyone else in the house by a large margin. He just doesn’t quite fit and he was the last person picked for a team, just like Jodi in season 14. Sure he was the only person on his team who saw what they were doing wrong with the sandcastle puzzle, but I’m not sure climbing palm tree.
The choice is almost too clear and obvious. Big Brother‘s motto is “Expect the Unexpected,” which is the only thing helping Glenn since him being out first is the very definition of expected at this point.
But all hope is not lost. This year the first evicted HGs will not be doing phone interviews with the press, just e-mail interviews. That’s usually reserved for jury members, meaning it’s possible that one of the first few people to get evicted could get a second chance to come back, something they also did in seasons 3, 6, 9 and 13.
That theory makes even more sense since the long season requires a few extra twists along the way if someone is going home in the premiere. This basically leaves us with only 15 HGs, and if we get two double evictions and one returning player, the show still has to fill two more weeks. Those two weeks could include a rewind/reset (like season 14, maybe an eviction will be cancelled when the teams are over) and we could even see TWO players get to come back into the house.
So if someone like Nicole or Tiffany gets evicted in the premiere, there’s at least a glimmer of hope that they might get another shot and come back. Or not. With four competitions and three twists in the first two nights, anything is possible this season.
Big Brother 18 airs Thursdays at 9pm, Sundays at 8pm and Wednesdays at 8pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
