Big Brother 26: Angela is The Most Insufferable House Guest/Human Being of All-Time
CBS Photo Archive. Getty Images.I have no clue how many Barstool readers watch the show Big Brother, but it's my favorite reality competition game show (or whatever the hell those games are supposed to be called) on the market. Even more so than Survivor.
I was a little late getting started on this season, but I'm officially caught up. We're now three weeks & three eliminations into Big Brother 26. I'm going to plan on blogging the show for the rest of the season. Not every episode, but at the end of each week, after the elimination, I'll put some sort of recap together. I don't watch the live feeds either. Nothing against those who do (except for when I accidently run into a spoiler which is almost fucking impossible not to do… so maybe I do kinda have something against them). One of these seasons I'd like to try it out, but I don't inherently love the idea of knowing everything that's going to happen before the episode airs. It's hard enough to keep up with 3 episodes per week. I don't know how people can keep up with 24/7 live feeds.
Anyways, since I have 3 whole weeks to catch up on now, instead of going week by week, I'm just going to hit on a few main points. from the first 11 episodes, and go through each house guest. I'm sure I'll miss some stuff. At the same time, I'm sure this blog end up being way too long. But moving forward the weekly recaps should be a little more manageable.
A.I. Ainsley + 3-Person Block
The big twist this season is the 3-person block. Each week, the HOH selects 3 house gets to put up for eviction, as opposed to the traditional 2. All 3 of them compete for the power of veto. But before the eviction vote, the "17th houseguest" A.I. Ainsley, holds a competition in which the winner is taken off the block. The vote occurs directly following that 3 person competition.
Overall, I can't say that I love this twist. I love that Big Brother go for twists like this to mix things up, but this one hasn't been hitting for me. At least not yet. A few thoughts on it:
It emphasizes competition over gameplay
Personally, I always prefer gameplay to competition. Forming alliances, lying to house guests, backdooring your enemies. All of that stuff is what makes Big Brother great to me. When you're giving house guests two chances to get themselves off the block, it makes it almost impossible to knock out a strong competitor. You saw it last week with Tucker. Tucker made a HORRIFIC strategic mistake (we'll get to the details of that later). In any other season of Big Brother, that mistake sends him out the door. He deserved to be eliminated. But since he's such a strong competitor, it didn't even matter. He gets that extra competition to save his ass in the end. It's a MASSIVE advantage for strong competitors, and oftentimes nullifies the gameplay leading up to it.
Julie Chen is DYING for players on the block to "pull each other into rooms" before the vote
With the 3-person block, and the last second A.I. Ainsley competition, it feels like Big Brother is trying to capture the magic of a live eviction every episode. It's clear that in Julie/the producer's minds, as soon as the A.I. comp ends, they want the players pulling each other aside to wheel and deal in the final seconds. Much like what happens at double evictions later in the season. For whatever reason the players just don't want to do it. I don't know if they just think it's just pointless, or if there's too many people in the house to organize any sort of real conversation. But it's clearly not playing out the way Big Brother had in mind. After the A.I. comp everyone just kinda hangs around and hugs each other for a couple minutes, then go into their regular on-the-block speeches
They just need a little more time
I wish they would play the A.I. comp at the very start of the live eviction episode. That would give the house guests 30 minutes to plead their cases (live) before holding the vote at the end. I just want a little bit more time between the comp and the vote. Just a little more strategy and gameplay.
I'm just going to go down the list of house guests and give some thoughts
Angela
Advertisement
I tweeted that Angela may be the worst human being to ever play Big Brother. After tweeting it I thought to myself, "Well maybe that's a little bit unfair." But the more I watch, the more I think I'm right. I'm all for a competitor who shakes things up and causes drama. She's making for a great show. But hearing her talk makes me physically sick to the point that I want need her gone.
Everybody in the house can't stand her. Often with a player as horrible to be around as Angela, they're voted out instantly because it's an easy vote. Just get the annoying trainwreck of a person out of the house so we can continue playing this game without wanting to blow our brains out. But by winning HOH in Week 1, Angela managed to hang around long enough to point that people inevitably realized, "Well this woman is a complete non-threat in competitions. She has a zero percent chance to win the game. Might as well just keep putting her on the block and use her to get out a stronger player."
She is a threat to blow up people's games with her mouth, but by now I think everyone is smart enough to know to not give her any information, or trust her with anything at all. So can she even do any more damage other than driving people fucking crazy? If they can manage to not let her get to them, then she's a complete non-threat. But that's WAY easier said than done (also if she's lurking around every fucking door she's eventually going to overhear something).
Somebody tweeted at me that she's a producer plant. I don't want to believe that. I choose to believe that doesn't happen on Big Brother, just for my own enjoyment of the show. But at this point I almost want to believe it because it makes me depressed to know there are real life people in this world as terrible as Angela.
Tucker
Absolute mad man who can't control his emotions. He also might never lose another competition. By far the biggest beneficiary of the A.I. Ainsley 3-person block twist. His decision this week, after winning to power of veto, to not use it on himself and instead give it to Angela, was batshit crazy. ESPECIALLY after Cedric blatantly told him to not do it. Tucker is just so headstrong, and so impossibly confident in himself that he didn't consider for one second that Cedric might not do exactly what he wanted him to. The way he dismissed him when Cedric approached him to tell him there was a change of plans… like nobody would possibly dare to change plans if Tucker is against it. He's fucking nuts.
Advertisement
Then he shows up to the vote with a mohawk and painted nails, muttering to himself like he was in the midst of a full blown mental break down…
He's out of control. But as long as the 3-person block twist is in play, I don't see how anybody knocks him out.
Note: I think a good rule of thumb is that when playing Big Brother, you should never be comfortable enough to volunteer for the block. If you're comfortable enough to do that more than maybe once, you're way too comfortable.
Cedric
I like Cedric a lot, but he's got to grow a pair. He's gotta learn to start making tough decisions or else he won't stand a chance. Yes, he put Makensy up on the block instead of Quinn after Tucker tried to bully him into it. But earlier he couldn't even pick a pawn. He was just waiting for someone to volunteer. Which eventually Tucker did, and then look what happened. I'm hoping the whole Tucker experience has helped him get over his "trying to please everyone" thing, because as far as "displeasing" people goes, it can't get much worst than the Tucker situation.
Quinn
Advertisement
Another player who is way too comfortable. He truly thinks he's dominating the game because he's aligned himself with everybody. I think he has 5 alliances going on right now. That's only going to work for so long. We already saw it blow up in his face when he tried to tell Joseph he had his special HOH power, and Joseph instantly ratted him out. When Makensy used America's Veto's, and America voted Quinn onto the block, I have to imagine that knocked him down a peg. Tucker seems to think he's a great player, but I don't see it. He's an alliance merchant who's terrible in competitions. But now that Tucker has publicly declared him the best player, he's got a target. I don't see him lasting too long.
Makensy
I like her. I don't think her social game is great, but she can for sure win competitions. I'm not so sure about her strategy of just telling whoever about her America's Veto power whenever she felt threatened. But I guess it ended up working out fine for her? There was really no way it could have worked against her. And she only would have had 1 more week to use it anyways. If she can make some more friends in the house I think she'll do well.
Leah
Her and Makensy are close, but they could both stand to play a little better socially. They never quite seem to have the numbers on their side. I also have NO CLUE how she likes Tucker over Cam (showmance wise). Tucker seems insufferable to me. Not nearly as bad an Angela, but insufferable nonetheless. Cam seems like the coolest guy in the house. All the while, she claims to be a chubby chaser? I'm not believing that until I see a roster of past boyfriends. I see nothing on her Instagram that suggests it's true.
Advertisement
The rest of these people I don't have too much to say about, because they're just doing what they should. Haven't learned too much about them yet. They haven't been overly involved. They're right where you should be at this point in the game.
Joseph
I don't like his mustache, his dark sunglasses, his beret, or his attitude. Not cheering for him at all. Although I will say, when it was time for America's vote, he said something like, "I think America probably doesn't like me much." Which showed me a level of self-awareness that I appreciated. So maybe he'll grow on me.
Kimo
The only note I have on Kimo is that I don't like when people go up on the block like he did in Week 1 and play the, "I was bullied in high school so this brings up traumatic memories" card. You're playing a game where the goal is to eliminate people. The winner gets $750K. Nobody cares about your feelings. At least nobody should, except nowadays that card does somehow seem to work at times.
Cam
Advertisement
No notes for Cam. He played wide receiver at Penn State. I like him a lot. I think he's playing an almost perfect game. He's got strong allies. He's clearly a comp threat, but hasn't shown it yet. I think he's both my front runner and my favorite house guest at the moment.
Brooklyn
Seems like a lovely woman. She won Mrs. America. Which I only recently learned is different than Miss America (i.e. way less impressive)
Chelsie
I thought I was going to be annoyed by her goofiness at first, but I've come to find her endearing. I enjoyed her and Cedric and the microchip mascots. They're be a fun final two.
Rubina
Advertisement
I get her and Chelsie confused. They have similar hair, skin color and attitudes.
T'Kor
One of the most insane accents I've ever heard in my entire life. The London-Atlanta crossover. The 21 Savage if you will. Except 21 Savage sounds nothing like her. Every time she speaks I'm in awe of what I'm hearing.
Eliminated Contestants:
Matt
Poor Matt. The main victim of hurricane Angela. I really did feel bad for him. Except he really should have eased up on the, "I'm being stereotyped against because I'm hot." Even though that's exactly what Angela did. Because something about Matt being tall, dark and handsome made Angela lose her god damn mind. But nobody wants to hear that from him. You gotta read the room a better than that. Still.. he didn't deserve to be eliminated. Pour one out for Matt.
Lisa
Tucker's rival in the kitchen. Except I'm not sure Lisa is a real chef. Pretty sure Tucker said she was going around and sprinkling edible glitter on people's foods? That person has to go. I would throw my plate directly in the trash out of protest. You also can't be breaking down and sobbing because Angela called you a twit. If Lisa were just a bit more likeable, I think she could have turned the house against Angela at that point and gotten her voted out instead. But she handled it terribly.
Advertisement
Kenny
Boy did I really want to like Kenny… but holy shit. What a disaster. The man had been trying to get onto Big Brother for years, and the minute he gets on he starts crying about missing his kids. He starts telling everyone in the house he wants to go home. Really one of the pathetic showings all things considered. I can't help but wonder what his family thought watching that. I'd be like, "Dad I promise we're ok just play the fucking game and bring us home hundreds of thousands of dollars. I promise it's ok if you miss my piano recital."
Current Power Rankings of Players I Want to See Win:
1. Cam
2. Cedric
3. Makensy
4. Chelsie
5. Leah
6. Rubina
7. Kimo
8. T'Kor
9. Brooklyn
10. Joseph
17. Quinn
32. Tucker
56. Angela
Current Power Rankings of Players I Think Could Win:
T1. Cam
T1. Chelsie
3. Cedric
4. Tucker ????
T5. Brooklyn
T5. Makensy
T5. Kimo
T5. Rubina
T5. Joseph
T5. T'Kor
11. Leah
12. Quinn
4298. Angela
Cam and Chelsie I think are the strongest, but there's still so little to go off of. I think Cedric has the numbers over Tucker, so if he can get over that hurdle he's right there with them. I'm really torn on Tucker. I have no clue how the rest of the house other than Cedric feels about him. I also don't know how long the 3-person block will last. I feel like there's a world where he's the favorite, and another world where he's down there with Angela. Honestly, all the T5's and T10's might as well have the same chances at this point. Leah just seems a step behind them. I feel like she's going to annoy people. Quinn at 12 is probably a hot take, but I really just think he's gonna blow it with his too many alliances.
Sorry if this blog was a too all over the place. I'll have my thoughts organized a bit better when I can do these recaps a week at a time. I didn't even get into alliances yet. But there's so god damn many, I don't even lend them too much credence yet. I'll do my best to nail them down for next week.