This Survivor fan deals with the drama, the emotions and the competitions of Big Brother 19 without ever seeing a full episode of this show ever before.
Welcome, everyone, to the Survivor fan’s newbie recap of Big Brother 19! I have never seen an episode of this show before, but I do have close to two decades’ worth of CBS reality show seasons under my belt primarily through Survivor. This post-show recap will follow the mentality of someone who’s primarily a Survivor fan, showing raw reactions, Survivor-based comparisons and honest feedback from someone who’s willing to learn about a similar competition reality show.
With that in mind, let’s get down to Big Brother 19 episode 1!
Getting to know all about you
In the premiere episode, we got to learn about Jason the rodeo clown/auctioneer, Alex the video game fan, Dominique the nuclear engineer, Ramses the cosplayer and more about the cast’s initial 16 different players. For some reason, we received an introduction to each of the players with a TV crew, yet they pretended like they weren’t there to shoot their promo. Compared to on-the-island confessionals, the set-up here seems a lot more forced.
The one thing I do love about the Big Brother 19 opening is how they introduced each of the players on the show. Especially with Survivor Game Changers, there was a serious lack of character-building to start off the show, even with a squadron of returning players. Within 23 minutes of Big Brother 19, you know who these 16 players are, what they do and why they’re there to play.
One of the big comparisons to Survivor so far is Elena’s introduction. “All millennials have hashtags on their walls,” Elena tells the world. It felt as forced as Jeff Probst’s probing of the players on Millennials vs. Gen X, as well as Zeke’s disdain for Twitter (despite being on Twitter).
The Summer of Temptation
The Big Brother 19 production seemed to go heavily into the “Summer of Temptation” idea, dressing the set with apple trees, snakes and playing up that theme well. CBS didn’t have to work the idea of temptation that hard with this cast, as half of the diaries in the first hour were players thirst-trapping each other like they were Boston Rob and Amber from All-Stars.
Of course, without the debilitating hunger and elements, Big Brother leans into its social strategy a lot more than others. Showmances are common place here, and not nearly as immediately self-destructive as they are viewed in Survivor (even if they are as surface deep on this show). That said, with the idea of “Temptation” being this season’s theme, and its opportunities to improve and destroy players’ games, we’ll have to see just how the players react.
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The first temptation came just 40 minutes into the first of two hours, with host Julie Chen informing the Big Brother 19 cast as a group. Money, safety and power were promised this episode, with the first coming in the Garden of Temptation where a player can earn $25,000 (anonymously) by being the first to press a button when a flower turns green.
The downside was two consequences, with one coming to the player (Kevin) not being able to win the first Head of Household competition, as well as another surprise for the houseguests. That’s right, a 17th player will be joining the Big Brother 19 house! Survivor has done this before, but usually acting as a surprise to the houseguests, not America in general. Who could it be?
“Double-secret (player) probation, sir?”
Just like Survivor, Big Brother 19 can’t help itself but bring back returning players. Paul Abrahamian just finished in second place last summer, and most of the players in this season have months’ worth of his gameplay ingrained in their brain. Whereas Survivor players need a seasoned leader with their leadership in seasons where returning players are mixed with newbies, his presence brought a cruel twist to the game that gave Paul a bigger target on his back.
By Kevin taking the $25,000, he invited Paul and uninvited one player from the game by having him swap out with another on night one. Paul has eight friendship bracelets to hand out amongst the 16 other players, with the players tempting him into handing them safety from Night 1 eviction. I thought we were watching Big Brother 19, not The Bachelor! These bracelets are essentially roses, right?
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I’ve never seen a player have this much control of a game off the bat since Boston Rob took over Redemption Island through the buddy system! At least with this show, the players approaching Bob actually know how to play the game.
Well hello, Mr. Abrahamian!
Perhaps this is the best way to insulate a returning player; give them the power to keep half of them safe. This twist gave Paul the ability to set up hidden alliances, learn more about each of the other 16 houseguests on a personal level, and gain a perspective of who he wants to keep in the game.
Paul decided to keep men and women equally safe, picking Kevin first, Raven second, Dominique third, Mark fourth, Jason fifth, Jessica sixth, Ramses seventh and Elena eighth. Matt, Cody, Christmas, Jillian, Josh, Megan, Alex and Cameron eligible for elimination, dressing up and facing off in a safety competition immediately following the selection.
Fight for your right to parrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrty!
“Tempted by the Fruit” was the first competition of Big Brother 19, where the eight unsafe players faced off against each other and the bottom three were up on the chopping block. Each player has to balance on a trapeze by a rope for as long as possible, with first place winning safety. Everyone who falls must pick one of seven apples, with three of those apples placing players on the chopping block.
The challenge dynamics of Big Brother 19 are fairly different from that in Survivor, especially with players not competing in teams this season. However, one similarity is that players don’t want to look too strong early on, as getting an Ozzy Lusth comp seems to be a death note in this game. That said, Alex tried her best and fell just short, with Cody winning the first-ever competition of the season.
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Christmas, Cameron and Jillian found themselves on the chopping block, with Julie Chen bringing everyone into the living room to reveal the third temptation of the night exclusively for them. They received the power to decide how they were to be eliminated, choosing between yet another competition or the voting decisions of the houseguests. Jillian and Christmas wanted a vote, where Cameron wanted to compete against them.
Christmas campaigned to downplay her strength, Jillian campaigned on her personal weight loss story and Cameron just asked everyone earnestly to keep him in (while also pulling off a Jenna and Heidi-esque striptease for Elena and Jessica). In the end, an 8-3 vote determined that Paul would be replacing Cameron in Big Brother 19, as Chrismas received two votes.
Tomorrow’s episode will feature the first Head of Household competition, where two players are expected to be put up for eviction. On Sunday, one player will be sent to the Den of Temptation, offering up the Pendant of Protection that will block them from eviction in the next three possible evictions. How is this not a repeat of the Medallion of Power, again?
Final Thoughts
The pacing for the debut of Big Brother 19 was all over the place. The first half and hour was about setting up the characters, with the second half of the first hour focusing on Paul and his pitches for safety. 90 minutes in was mostly based on the competition, with the final half-hour showing three players pitching to others for safety votes.
With the exception of Ramses, Megan, Alex and the power of the “outcast” alliance (name TBD), we got to see very little actual gameplay. Instead, viewers were treated to one of the most interesting characters on the show (one full of passion, gameplay and entertaining confessionals) exit Big Brother 19 after two hours of play, setting up a potentially awkward season filled with unnecessary twists and turns.
Next: Survivor Game Changers: Ranking All 33 Previous Seasons
Big Brother 19 is setting up to be another Survivor Game Changers once again.