After watching parts of the first week of Big Brother 19 feeds, this Survivor fan is convinced that all the information in the world about someone is too much.
Welcome to my version of a Thursday-Saturday recap for some of the big events that have happened from the Big Brother 19 feeds since they went live. I’m your resident Survivor fan who has never seen a full episode before the premiere, meaning this is also my first time looking at the live feeds periodically to check in on the players.
As someone who finds what happens in the edit to be as entertaining as the players (especially concerning edgic, something that doesn’t really exist here), I had to find out exactly what compelled people to watch 16 people 24/7. After watching several hours, not only will this be my final Big Brother 19 feeds recap, I’m not sure I’ll continue to watch them.
Consider this as a spoiler warning for events that take place between now and tonight’s Power of Veto competition.
There’s already someone who’s approached Varner-level inappropriate
One of the biggest reasons why people will likely not look back at Survivor Game Changers with fond memories is because of an incident where one player, Jeff Varner, outted another player as transgender during Tribal Council. He chose the most public, uneditable place to make this personal attack, and it turned a once-loved fan favorite (for some) into a terrible person.
The difference between Cody and Varner is that, while Cody didn’t out another player, he clearly has no remorse for saying transphobic, race-baiting crap on live television.
Cody was very flip in using a transphobic slur more than once in a casual conversation with Jessica as she made a microwaved cheese sandwich, while also regarding being transgender as “a psychological cause.” This moment saw Jessica laugh and try to cover Cody’s mouth, whereas Survivor’s moment heralded the entire tribe calling out Varner for his transphobia and Jeff Probst explaining to him (and the world) why outting someone is not okay.
I heard that CBS was very, very bad at casting psychologically sound players, but after also hearing that he flew into Ferguson, MO to “see if he could survive” the riots, the fact that CBS hasn’t stepped in here speaks to the humanity of the production staff.
Everybody f***s
When I anticipated watching the Big Brother 19 feeds, I definitely expected that there would be some sexually suggestive content. However, the one thing I did not anticipate was how fast and furious some of these players would couple up, nor the complicated dynamics involved. There are no cases of puppy love like Ozzy and Amanda; we’re talking straight-up love square stuff.
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As the feeds went live, Jessica and Cody were already seen in bed together, cuddling and embracing romantically. That’s nothing on the kind of stuff Elena’s been pulling on Mark, tempting him with her body and pulling back at the last second as he tries to make a move. I understood going into my Big Brother 19 watch that some women were capable of completely mind-dominating others, but the extent of Mark’s one-sided “frustration” shows the extent she has him wrapped around his finger.
It’s an entirely different situation than Survivor, where most of the players’ bodies and minds are in survival mode that romantic or sexual desire has long gone to the wayside. Of course, there’s always your Boston Rob/Amber, Jaime/Erik and other partners that buck the trend, but in Big Brother 19, romanticism can be much more a tool than a strategic hinderance. Plus, everyone is just open to rub up against each other even if not strictly as part of a romance.
Wait, someone’s missing
If you’re going to do live feeds, Big Brother, you should really start them up when the game starts. As soon as the feeds went live, it was evident that Megan was absent from the Big Brother house. Fans and players were divided on what could have happened (perhaps she took the Medallion of Power Pendant of Protection that forced her to self-evict for three weeks). However, it ended up being a response to her PTSD that inevitably led to her self-eviction.
The period between her departure and the official story coming out was one of the most toxic I’ve seen in an online community of so-called fans. People were calling for Cameron Heard, the first evicted player of the season, to replace the “quitter,” called her names for having the disrespect not to stand up and face her eviction in a vote, was accused of making racist comments and much more.
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The lack of awareness of the Big Brother 19 production to let viewers aware of anything that happens off stream ahead while the feeds are just about to go live speaks to the culture of confusion and misdirect they want to give their fans.
Survivor has been forthright in showing every single thing that happens on the island, even if it means re-staging it for the cameras. The fact that production has close to 80 cameras, more than 100 mics and the people paying money for CBS All Access aren’t privy to the events surrounding a player leaving the game defeats the purpose of the entire service.
Final Thoughts
I purposefully left off some of the gameplay-related Big Brother 19 events, including who wins the Power of Veto, because it’s fairly important to separate the spectacle aspect and the gameplay aspects for this recap. It’s not fair that a small percentage of the show’s fans are aware of what happens for the upcoming episodes and spoil them for non-feeders in the comments section of any related content.
Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking All 33 Sole Survivors By Season
For now, let me just say that in this cast, players like Paul, Kevin and Dominique can go far. They seem to be the only ones with their heads on a swivel, plus Kevin is somehow well-liked and has had the $25,000 blame shifted away from him. Depending on how he can perform in the end, he could be set up for third place or can find a way to sneak into the finals. He’s basically a PC Rudy at this point!