Summer brings about many things each year - warm weather, vacations ... and backstabbing? It certainly does in the Big Brother house. The reality show competition has returned for a fifteenth season on CBS, featuring 16 contestants living and competing against each other. Each week a player is eliminated, with the last person standing winning the grand prize of $500,000. Let the secret alliances begin!
This season has a lot to live up to following the incredible and crazy events of last year. The first episode started the game off as they all do, with the houseguests getting acquainted and scouting potential allies. But host Julie Chen turned everything upside down by revealing the season's twist - every week three contestants will be nominated for elimination instead of the traditional two. But the third person won't be chosen by the Head of Household (the weekly contest winner who decides those in danger of being voted out); instead, a Most Valuable Player picked by the viewers will get the chance to nominate an enemy. It's a shock that defies over a decade of gameplay and throws out any strategies the houseguests had planned.
The first Head of Household competition required a lot of strength and endurance as the players held on for dear life to giant "popsicles." In the end, McCrae proved his fortitude and became the first HOH for the year. He'll nominate two people for eviction, which could set the tone for the rest of the summer.
Though the premiere did not compare to last year's, this season seems sure to follow the Big Brother motto "Expect the Unexpected." The betrayal, the conflict, the gratuitous cash prize - it's a reality show fan's dream game, and it's just getting started.
4 out of 5 doubloons
Amanda Boyer can be reached at amanda.boyer@student.shu.edu
