Mystic Gemini's BigBrother POV
Even BB is encouraging a slow ramp up to BB16. We get a 2 night premiere, with only half the HGs even being on the first show. And no feeds until after the second show. At least that means I get one more full night of sleep before the craziness begins.
The first show was the usual happy, happy, joy, joy stuff with the excitement over the keys, "an hour to pack" and quick goodbyes to the families. The first 8 got in the house and quickly started making more alliances than should seem possible with so few of the in there. I won't even bother trying to keep track of them at this point. I'm sure most of them are already over, and those that aren't only count if they last past the first eviction.
The HOH comp was the usual rolly polly on a log while holding on to something. Frankie won when Amber decided to throw the comp. They'd been told in advance that the HOH wasn't necessarily safe this year, but not told exactly what that meant. After the comp Julie told them another group of 8 would soon be joining them, and one of those 8 would also become an HOH. She then said that by the end of the week there would be only 1 HOH. It was stated that both will nominate 2 people for eviction, but it hasn't become clear if the nominees have to come from their own group of 8, the other group, or either group. There's a new comp. to determine which HOH remains in power.
In other news the Team America twist will allow us to vote for 2 more HGs to be our "secret alliance". The first is almost sure to be Frankie, with his pre-show [family] name recognition. I'm still not sure how I feel about all this.
The best news for me is that so far I don't hate any of them. There are certainly a few I like more than others, but no one has stood out as awful yet. Of course, we only saw half of them.
More tomorrow....
So, the second group moved in, which was basically only interesting because we finally got a typical first night chaotic scene of everyone scrambling around the crowded house. I continue to be baffled by Jocasta's bow ties. She seems to wear them constantly, to the point where I was starting to suspect they were actually anchoring her head to her neck. But she was tie-less for the HOH comp, so that's not it.
Most of the second group was as promising as the first. We've got some true fans, some good entertainers, and some real competitors. Just when I was thinking I really didn't dislike any of them, Zach came along. He's so obnoxious that you know he'll stick around a while.
They trotted out to play the HOH-B comp, this time doing a cling to the rolly polly log, and getting sprayed with fake blood -- I mean barbecue sauce. Caleb held on the longest and became HOH-B (or the second HOH as Julie kept saying--this is going to get confusing when it comes to those "name the week" comps).
Julie finally explained the Battle of the Block comp/twist. Each HOH nominates 2 people (for a total of 4, Julie points out for the math-challenged), then the pairs compete in the BOTB. The winning pair is off the block, and the HOH who nom'ed them is "de-throned" and back in the pool of HGs (i.e. eligible to be a post-POV nom). It is unclear if the BOTB winners could be post-POV noms. This is actually a pretty nifty twist. The HOH has to think about noms and potential fallout a lot harder than ever before. It also means that the 3rd comp of the week is about power, not just food/Have-Nots, which is much more interesting, if you ask me.
In another shocking twist, Joey won the Team America vote. The only explanation I have for Frankie not getting it is that the Ariana fans, not being existing BB fans, didn't know to vote. Now that show has started I'll be kind of surprised if he doesn't get the second slot. Or maybe we're all over-estimating how much the Ariana fans actually care about BB. Or underestimating producer manipulation.
In any case, the opening act is over, and the real show begins shortly....bring on the live feeds!
