Finally, some good content!
Big Brother has finally kicked it up a notch after most of the season has been sleeping at the wheel, thanks to an annoying steamroll.
But the Lyric blindside elimination is the exact kind of drama that Big Brother does best, and if you ask me, it’s the first sign that maybe this season won’t be a snoozefest after all.
The interesting thing about this season so far is that BB28 actually has some fascinating personalities who can provide the type of entertainment that the show needs in addition to the competition component.
Kamu is an insufferable, arrogant person who you want to see humbled, which makes it easy to root for anyone willing to rise up against him.
Melody’s Diary Room commentary is so amusing that she feels every bit as reminiscent of a 21st-century, but blond version of Daria. If you know, you know.
Angela is notoriously leaving an impression with her dramatics, and Taylor is emerging as one of the most astute players in the house now that she’s starting to really lock in.
Also, Hayley’s “I’m not like the other girls” mean girl shtick has resulted in some interesting interactions and clashes.
These are all things that we’re getting to see come out a bit more.
But so many of these elements of the series kept getting buried behind the fact that Survivor alums Dee and Devens have been mostly running the house, and that irritating Toolshed Alliance has been running things for so long, it’s been difficult to invest.
For a bit, it seemed like we’d get a full-blown steamroll for most of the season with this mega-alliance taking over the house with their loose loyalties, and all the stragglers struggling to fight back in any meaningful way.
Part of the frustration has been rooted in the fact that it lowkey does feel like Big Brother has been trying to get their money’s worth by ensuring that Dee and Devens had a fighting chance, by kicking them off with advantages that they’ve been able to ride on for most of the game so far.
And another frustration was in the fact that the other side of the house seemingly was just lying back and allowing The Toolshed to pick them off without putting up much of a fight.
It’s one of many reasons why losing Jason in the house sucked, because say what you will about him, he at least had his finger on the pulse of the house and how it operated, and it seemed like he’d been one of the few willing to put up a big enough fight.
Hell, he pretty much exposed everyone, and yet, it still took some time for people to see just how right he was.
In fact, it was a near last-minute save of Jason that finally felt like the season was going to take a turn, but when that fell through, things started looking BLEAK.
Things started changing when it appeared that Drew’s ability to play all sides of the house started to catch up with him, and Hayley spent the majority of her HOH run power tripping and using it as a way of taking stabs at anyone who irritated her, because, sure.
And that’s where we got those inklings of The Tool Shed starting to cannibalize itself, which was, frankly, fine by me.
The Chaotic gremlins that are Dee and Devens have been considered the great strategists of the season.
But truthfully, they weren’t that impressive in my book because constantly picking off non-threatening people and also not keeping larger imminent threats when they’re technically always moving with a bullseye on them was ridiculous.
So them clocking in and realizing that not only was getting rid of Drew a blow to their game, but also shaking things up with pivoting from booting Melody as a backup was glorious.
Personally, Melody has been a fun personality to watch in the house, and she has the potential to be a strong player.
It just hasn’t felt like some of the contestants have had a chance to really step into their own and make the moves they wanted or really show what they’re capable of.
But after that blindside, everything changes.
It’s no longer smooth sailing, and it spells out to the likes of Hayley, Kamu, Chuk, and others that the days of moving like a united front without much pushback or pivots are gone.
Big Brother thrives best when it’s unpredictable, when we can only expect the unexpected, and when real deal-making, conspiring, and power plays shift like the wind at any given moment in the game.
No one wants to see unanimous votes and people lounging around the house like they’re on vacation because they’re too comfortable and complacent.
Big Brother is not an easy game — so it’s infinitely better when we get to actually see that. The past few days have been some of the best and most interesting gameplay the series has delivered all season.
Going into eviction night, it was the first time where we didn’t actually know what would happen. And a split vote? That’s the type of stuff that leads to delicious drama, chaos, and uncertainty not only leading up to the HOH competition, but even in the days following it.
Because no matter who wins, nothing is concrete or certain anymore.
Ideally, if someone outside of the now fractured Toolshed Alliance wins, then we may finally get some top players out of the game.
And a blindside just breathed new life into the game, and it’s the perfect motivator for those who may have started feeling too hopeless in this game.
But if someone in the Toolshed Alliance still wants, then it’s tainted by the fact that seeds of distrust have not been sown, and they’re too hard not to ignore.
This big, beautiful blindside marks an essential turning point of the season. It just recalibrated the playing board.
The shocked expressions of Hayley and Kamu, in particular, were enough to have me squealing in glee. Pure cinema!
THIS is Big Brother, baby!
It feels like the house has been properly shaken up; we’re no longer sleepwalking through the season, and the real drama is about to begin. Let’s go!