Big Brother returned tonight for it’s thirteenth season, and while my favorite BB duos weren’t among those who re-entered the house, I find myself intrigued, excited and a little nostalgic, seeing the six former houseguests who’ve joined eight newbies to play the game for the summer.
It’s always exciting to see a fresh set of houseguests enter the Big Brother house. Some are more prepared than others, but even with things like strategy charts and varying knowledge of previous seasons, I doubt anyone can really be ready for a game like this. The houseguests are cut off from their friends and family for the duration of their stay in the house, as they hope to outlast the rest of the houseguests and make it to the end to win a half million dollar prize.
(broken up by the teams of two)
Dominic - He’s a daredevil and an admitted virgin who still lives at home. He’s adorable and seems to have a good attitude. Right now, he’s high on my list of people I want to see make it far, as well as…
Adam - He’s a proud metal-head, acts like a pro-wrestler when he gets angry and has an appreciation for Beverly Hills, 90210. I loved his reaction when Brendon and Rachel walked through the door.
Kalia
- She compares herself to Carrie from Sex and the City. She’s a blogger, so she gets points from me there, and she seems up front in her diary room sessions, which is always a plus.
Lawon - He declared that everyone loves him. That remains to be seen, but I do expect to be entertained by his colorful wardrobe, if not his personality. I’m on the fence about whether or not I’m going to love his big personality or just find him egotistical and loud (in a non-funny way).
Cassi
- I feel like we didn’t see much of her tonight, with everything that went on, but from what we did see, she’s a gorgeous model with a southern accent and proud to be a tomboy.
Shelly - She’s a mom and an VP at a company that has something to do with outdoor activities or sporting goods or something. I don’t think she mentioned that during her introduction to the group, which is smart. If she can handle being away from her family, I think she’ll do ok.
Porsche
- She reminds me of Janelle, but so far, only because like the former BB contestant, she’s a VIP cocktail waitress from Florida. She also stuck it out longer than any of the other newbies on her banana during the HoH competition, so we might expect her to follow in Janie’s footsteps competition-wise as well.
Keith - Keith is a minister who likes to use biblical references to make sexual innuendoes (“The Lord is my shepherd and he knows what I want!”) He had a strategy to collect as many hot girls as possible and form a “Keith’s Angels” alliance, but that went down the drain when the couples-twist entered the equation.
Dick and Danielle - The father/daughter duo who reunited and took the final two spots in their season haven’t spoken to each other in three years. Dick was entertaining with his antics during Season 8, but I didn’t want him to win, and if memory serves, Danielle complained a lot, which made it hard to want her to win either, despite how well she did in competitions. I’m keeping an open mind though. She’s older and may have developed a better attitude.
Brendon/Rachel - I cannot handle Rachel’s laugh or the way she occasionally yells like a high-pitched trumpet in the diary room. With that said, she and Brendon are easily the best choice for potential love-to-hate team. They do well at competitions and aren’t shy around drama. I also appreciate Rachel's willingness to make bold moves in the game. She's there to play. Stuff happens around Brendon and Rachel, so we should be in for an interesting season with these two here.
Jeff/Jordan - Jordan fudging the math on the length of time she and Jeff have been the adorable couple they are was a reminder of what makes these two so much fun to watch. They weren’t the most exciting players in terms of strategy, but their conversations and the charming way about them as a couple makes them a nice addiction to the house.
Big Brother is offering a couple of twists this season, one of which seems like a modified version of the Season 9 twist, which saw the houseguests paired up in teams of two. Season 13’s team-twist allowed the eight newbies to choose their own teammates, rather than be paired by the producers. Considering they did this after a brief introductory chat session, I’m thinking at least one pair will end up regretting their choice. Kalia didn’t seem thrilled to be defaulted to Lawon, but perhaps they’ll hit it off.
The Head of Household’s teammate is automatically safe for the week and (for now), instead of two random houseguests being nominated each week, the houseguests will be nominated in teams (two nominees, each from the same team). How the Veto affects this, we don’t know but Julie did mention another twist. Perhaps the new twist is that if a nominee wins the Veto, both are taken off the block and a new team replaces them.
This twist dictates that when two houseguests are on the block, the one that doesn’t go home on eviction night is given immunity until the Top 10. They can still vote for eviction, but they don’t compete in competitions and can’t be nominated. My guess is that “The Golden Key” was put into place in order to set aside the remaining houseguest once their partner is eliminated, since they have no teammate to be nominated with going forward. I suspect the partnerships will be broken up (as far as nominations and HoH partner safety) once they reach the top ten.
The HoH competition not only opened up the door to lots of jokes about being on bananas, but it gave many of the houseguests the opportunity to show some backside-cleavage as their pants were tugged down due to the way they were sitting. Not a bad way to break the ice, I suppose. Each team had to grip a giant banana and hang from it for as long as they could. They were occasionally shot at with chocolate and whipped cream and one by one, the contestants fell.
The eight newbies made an alliance together before the three previous duos entered the house, so all of them were hoping a newbie would win Head of Household. That didn’t happen. It came down to Rachel, Dick and Danielle. A deal was struck and the Donatos handed the prize to Rachel, who is this season’s first HoH.
Rachel has a deal with the Donatos, but will she keep it or will she plot to eliminate one of them. Considering Dick and Danielle won their season, it wouldn’t be the worst plan, however thanks to the Golden Key twist, whoever is left in the house will be safe until the Top Ten. So, it might not be such a good idea to stab them in the back so soon.
