There’s always a ton of ground to cover on the first episode of Big Brother. We have to meet all of the houseguests, learn the twists, see the house, get a feel for the relationships so far, and have a Head of Household competition. This being the case, there are some aspects that will remain less fleshed out than some fans would like. For instance, a few of the 14 houseguests didn’t get much screen time, and we therefore know very little about who they are. Tonight, these people were: Mike, Zach, Amber and Jameka.
CBS did do as good a job as they could with setting up the season, giving viewers all the necessary information, and making it an entertaining hour of television, even if it was almost all exposition. On to the recap!
Let’s cover this sucker from all angles. It may not be in perfect, chronological order, but it will make sense. Trust me.
The House
The house has a bizarre, surreal Alice in Wonderland vibe this year. There are weird-shaped mirrors everywhere in the house, the beds are tiny, and a bunch of doorways are about four feet tall. It’s unclear what this means going forward in the season. Maybe it’ll come into play somehow, maybe it’s just there to look cool.
The First 11
To kick off the show, Julie Chen brings out the first 11 houseguests. They are not told anything about other houseguests, and are sort of led to believe that they are it for the season (which they’re not). These 11 are: Amber, Daniele (best-looking house guest ever), Carol, Eric, Jameka, Jen, Joe, Kail, Mike, Nick, and Zach.
They are sent into the house in waves and are only given a minute to choose a bed. After everyone’s inside, the 11 begin talking. Here are some notable facts:
Daniele: Is only 20, but tells everyone that she is 21.
Carol: Seems like a reasonable human being. Attractive, 21-year-old college student.
Jameka: She’s not used to hanging around white people, feels out of her element.
Joe: Gay and proud. Very personable and outspoken.
Jen: Hot nanny, but vapid and not very intelligent. Probably going to piss off a lot of people this season.
Kail: Oldest woman in the house (37). Conservative, has three kids, doesn’t approve of gay people. She tells everyone she’s a Real Estate Agent, when she’s actually a multi-business owner.
After awhile, they speculate on why there are only ten of them. They believe that more house guests are coming. And they’re right.
The Enemies
The big twist of the season is revealed. Three additional houseguests have been in the Big Brother house the entire time. Situated in the Head of Household room, they’ve also gotten to watch everything that has gone down. These three houseguests each have one so-called “enemy” among the other 11 houseguests. They, like their enemies, had no idea when coming on to the show that they would be in a house with someone they knew. Here are the enemy pairings:
Dick/Daniele: Dick is a 44-year-old bar manager who looks like Tommy Lee. He calls himself Evil Dick because he’s kind of an asshole. He embraces it, though, and doesn’t seem all that terrible. Daniele is his daughter. They haven’t spoken in two years.
Jessica/Carol: Jessica is also a 21-year-old student. She and Carol used to be friends in high school and then had a falling out. Now they hate each other.
Dustin/Joe: This will be the most volatile of all the enemy pairings. These two are ex-boyfriends who had a terrible break-up.
The Head of Household
Julie lays it down for everyone: The 11 are informed that there are three other houseguests inside the house and they’ve been watching their every move. For the HoH competition, only the 11 will participate. The other three will watch and, in turn, will not be eligible for eviction during the first week. The 11 head to the backyard where they find a surreal mushroom garden.
It is a partner competition and, as such, only ten can compete. Julie tells everyone to pair off and that the one person who doesn’t find a partner won’t compete. That person is, surprisingly, the former pro-football player Nick. The game: One partner sits atop a large mushroom. The other has to answer true/false questions based off of a houseguest survey (for example, “Five houseguests admitted to having cosmetic surgery. True or False?”). Whenever someone gets a wrong answer, their partner’s mushroom begins spinning faster.
Eric and Kail win the challenge. Since only one person can be HoH, however, the tiebreaker goes to the three mystery people upstairs. Eric tells the people to give the HoH to Kail, since she was on the mushroom. They oblige, and Kail is named Head of Household.
Meeting the Enemies
The 11 are called to the living room and told that the three people upstairs will not be strangers to some of them. Everyone speculates on who it’s going to be. Joe correctly predicts that Dustin is going to be there. Carol has no clue. Daniele admits in the Interview Room that she believes her father, Dick, will be there. She’s right.
Joe tells everyone that Dustin gave him gonorrheas and that’s why he knows that Dustin cheated on him. Carol seems put off, but indifferent that Jessica is here. Daniele is broken up and immediately leaves and begins crying. She seems just shocked more than anything. Dick also seems a little embarrassed at the situation. Let’s hope they can get along.
America’s Player
At the end of the episode, Julie reveals that Eric is “America’s Player”. This means that he will be at the beck and call of America as long as he’s on the show. Here’s how it works: America will vote on line and through text which task they next want Eric to accomplish. For every five tasks which Eric accomplishes, he will receive $10,000.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
