Season 26 is arguably the best Big Brother season in years. This year, another 16 houseguests joined to game to win the $750,000 prize. This season had an intriguing AI concept with several game-changing twists.
*Spoilers Below*
Big Brother is a survival reality show on CBS, running since 2000. Each week, houseguests play in several competitions to gain power and safety. The first competition of the week crowns the head of household, whom nominates two houseguests for eviction. Then, players compete for the power veto, which has the power to remove one nominee. If used, that nominee is replaced and the house must vote between the two to be evicted that week. When the last two houseguests remain, the jury of nine evictees vote on a winner.
So far, this is hands down my favorite season of the decade. Since season 19 in 2017, the following years continued to decline in viewership. Boring houseguests, boring drama, boring gameplay all playing a part. I have been a regular watcher since season 14 and completely fell off after the all-stars season 22.
The premiere prompted houseguests with a question: should Big Brother invite a 17th houseguest into the game? Each player had to vote “Yes” or “No” and the majority would determine if Ainsley would be eligible to play. She didn’t get the votes to enter, but it was a twist. She wasn’t a real houseguest, but a AI host for the season. Her name meaning “Artificial Intelligence Network Self-Learning Entity”. Those who voted yes competed for a power-up competition, and those who voted no competed separately to avoid a punishment.
Ainsley’s main twist on the season was the AI arena. Starting the week off, the HOH (head of household) would nominate three houseguests for eviction instead of two. The three nominees, the HOH, and two other players selected by random draw would play for the veto competition. If a nominee was saved by the veto, another houseguest would take their place. The three nominees would then battle it out in the AI Arena competition, the winner of which removing themselves from the block. The house would then vote between the remaining two to send home.
Thankfully, this season brought some entertaining houseguests.
If the houseguests are boring, any potential drama is null and void. If I’m not interested in the players then the drama doesn’t matter. The chemistry between them is just as important too. Here are some of my favorite players:
My favorite houseguest was Leah. She was such a chill and grounding character to the drama, and she was super underestimated. Being a floater for the early half of the game, she laid low, but everything changed in week nine when she won a grueling endurance competition. Similar to “What’s the Hold Up” in season 19, houseguests had to hold a plastic marshmallow against a plaque with nothing but a long pole. She lasted five minutes shy of 10 hours, winning the third longest endurance competition in all of US Big Brother.
My bias-wrecker would definitely be Quinn. He was 100% a winner coded character. I was devistated when he was evicted. Quinn was huge game threat, physically and mentally, and he was such a passionate and charming guy. He was winner of the first power-up, granting him a bonus “Deepfake HOH”. He could activate this at any time within the first three weeks, hijacking the current HOH’s power while remaining anonymous. To count my blessings, he did make it to the jury house.
Angela, a mom at 51 years old was so out there and had me keep watching. She definitely crossed the line at times and went too far, but she was really entertaining to watch. The infamous “crazy eyes” fight in week one was very iconic. She was a big competitor with two HOHs and one veto under her belt. The older houseguests are typically coded to be the first to be evictees, so I am so happy she made it as far as she did.
One of my favorite parts of the season was “Jankie World”. Shortly after Quinn’s live eviction, houseguests were brought outside to compete. Ainsley had went on vacation, and left her own creation behind to control the house in her place. “Jankie”, a lesser intelligent AI program welcomed them to Jankie World, a place where they danced, sang, and ate ice cream and pizza all week long. Unfortunately, this was reality. They were locked outside the for the entire week . All they could eat was ice cream and pizza. They had to sleep, eat, shower, and compete for the entire week, outside with the hot sun and Angela’s snoring. There was even a new “diary room” built outside to film the confessionals.
Every time Jankie called, they had to go to the dance floor and dance, and every time the jingle played they had to sing along. It was a completely miserable week for the houseguests but very entertaining for the viewers. Unfortunately for Leah, the luxury of her HOH was also robbed. Even as the winner of the record-breaking ten hour endurance comp, she was stuck outside like everyone else. She got a gift basket with family photos and a letter, but that’s all.
The drama this season was light but still entertaining. Angela was not shy to start it off with a bang in week one. She complemented Matt on being a handsome guy, joking that of all the houseguests, he’d be the one in a showmance this season. He almost took that as a threat, then when they hashed it out, Angela took his words as a threat. In her HOH room, he said “…I was like do I take this as an opportunity to be like, ‘You wanna put me up? Let’s go. And if I win, next week, I promise…’” The next night she comes down the stairs slowly clapping, saying “Matt, Matt, Matt…” COMPLETELY shaking the vibe. That’s when the iconic “crazy-eyes” fight happened. Unfortunately for Matt, he was the first evicted houseguest.
Gameplay was also very impressing this season. T’kor and Kimo formed a powerful alliance early in the game. In a week focused on splitting the showmance that was Tucker and Rubina, the two managed to convince the house to evict Cedric instead. He left on a vote of 6 to 3. T’kor and Kimo formed an alliance with Tucker and Rubina called the “Friendzzzz” alliance. Unfortunately, Tucker left the next week, yet the others managed to make it really far. T’kor left as the eighth to last place houseguest, with Kimo in fifth place and Rubina in fourth.
Makensy, Cam, and Chelsie were a powerful trio that actually made it to the final three. It was Chelsie who convinced Makensy to nominate and evict her friend Leah on week seven. Leah’s eviction was a shocker, as she was an ally and not a threat to Makensy’s game. Makensy’s loyalty to Chelsie may have cost her her game. The duo made it to the final two, and Chelsie won by a unanimous vote of 7-0.
All in all, this set new standards for a good season of Big Brother. Entertaining houseguests, insane twists, and the best drama. I think the timing and the application of the AI concept was perfect. There were several houseguests I just know the producers would want on an all-stars season, so I’m hoping to see my favorites again in the future. I’m looking forward to the next season in the summer.