Big Brother 9 was the first ever winter edition of summer's guiltiest pleasure.  Thanks to the Hollywood writer's strike, the ninth edition premiered with 16 houseguests and a new twist: the contestants would be playing as couples.  While the houseguests were not happy with this idea, neither was America.  The day did not come soon enough when the couples were split, returning the game to be played as individuals as it was meant to be played.

This was my first time to watch Big Brother and from what I've heard, the ninth edition was by far, the most outrageous season with the most outrageous guests.  I agree.  They are definitely not like anyone I have ever met and I am happy they were on a television show rather than at my house for dinner.

Coming into the season, I had no idea who to root for as the Big Brother 9 winner.  And as the days went by, I realized that you can't really judge a book by its cover as stereotypes really can be broken. There's Natalie, the most religious houseguest who was known for her unrequited crush on Matt and who ended up being the most derisive and promiscuous player of the house.  There's Crazy James, who liked to walk around the house completely naked and ended up falling for his original couple partner Chelsia.  Beyond his crazy nude antics, sexual escapades and pink hair, he became a strangely fascinating character.  Sheila, on the other hand, was perceived as the mother of the house who bombarded the rest of the houseguests with her “I'm a single mom” drama and ended up being a complete chatterbox.  Of course there's also Joshuah, who was mostly the life of the party with his various antics.  He also considered himself as the gay version of Evel Dick though his massive blow-ups eventually got on too many peoples' nerves.

I found myself never cheering for the same person from week to week.  One week I was glad James won Head of the Household, and the next week I couldn't stand him.  While they all appeared to have played the game the best they could, it all came down to being a nice guy.  The two nice guys, Adam and Ryan, made it to the end together without really making enemies along the way.  In what became one of the biggest surprises in any season of Big Brother, Adam become the unlikely winner of the show, and is now half a million dollars richer!

I'm still trying picture Adam as the winner of Big Brother.  This proves that you never really know who will win since you never know which way the game will go.  Sadly, I feel that there were other houseguests who have played a better game.  Beyond Adam's constant penis-touching and nose-picking habits, however, the jury seems to have made a good choice by picking him as the winner given his intention to donate $100,000 to the fight against autism.

Another end to a long, dramatic season, but for Big Brother fans, the show will be returning for yet another twisted summer when season 10 premieres on July 13.



-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of realitybbq.com)