Big Brother 19 hasn’t been without its moments. Kevin has been a gift and Cody’s (second) exit is one the best the show has ever seen. But tor the most part, the long-running reality competition has hit a bit of a snag in its 19th iteration. Rather than the usual back and forth that makes Big Brother so much fun, BB19 has told one story of one mission for the entire house. Jury has arrived and there’s been WAY too many unanimous evictions. It’s boring. All hope is not lost, though — there are few ways that the season could (and should) be able to turn it around for something more exciting.
The 5 Best Double Evictions in Big Brother History>>>
The Puppets Need to Meet the Puppet Master
This is a long shot as Cody and Mark, separately, have been sounding the drum for Paul’s manipulations for almost two weeks. It’s all falling on deaf ears however. Either no one wants to believe that Paul is controlling them, they recognize Paul is bad but they see benefits to him or everyone’s just a big idiot. Whatever the reason, Paul is behind everything in the house.
If Paul was removed from the game, things would open considerably. There has been some strategy and scheming happening but if it doesn’t fall in line with Paul’s game, he quickly snuffs it out as quickly as possible. Paul’s word is (insane) law.
Regardless of whether Paul is playing a good game this season or not, he’s making for some boring TV. Big Brother should be a game that is constantly moving and changing. Paul’s iron grip on the house has stalled any semblance of gameplay this season. If there’s any chance of the house playing the game, Paul needs to go.
Big Brother Needs to Balance the Scales
With Cody and Elena’s eviction, there is now an even bigger power imbalance in the house. On one side, there is Paul and his eight alliance members. On the other side, there’s just Mark. Mark is backed into a corner and there’s very little hope of him getting out of it.
This type of power imbalance isn’t that unique for Big Brother. In fact, it’s standard. Usually, though, the game will introduce a twist to help the underdogs try to get back on top. There’s been the coup d’etat and even Paul’s ridiculous three week safety earlier this season.
The temptations were the type of twist that could help out those on the bottom. However, the multiple and changing temptations were taken out of the game way too early and the Temptation Competition ensured safety and nothing else for the victor. Safety for one week is not enough to change the game.
According to Julie, a new temptation twist is coming and it might arrive in the special Friday episode. Until it’s revealed, Big Brother 19 is stuck in the same rut. Whatever the new temptation is it should help the game balance out so the rest of the season isn’t just Paul’s alliance fighting amongst themselves.
Embrace the Fact that Everyone’s Awful
This one’s more on the editing that anything else but Big Brother 19 could really improve by giving almost no one a favorable edit. The cast of Big Brother 19 has been awful to each other constantly with manipulation, bullying and harassment running wild. This is not even to mention racist, sexist or transphobic comments that have been made, even off-handedly, on the live feeds. So far, the show has mostly ignored that material and tried to find a standard summer escapist story with drama and wacky characters. There has even been an effort to edit some people like heroes. Jessica and Cody received an incredibly sympathetic edit.
Why I Refuse to Give Paul Credit for Playing the Best Game on Big Brother 19>>>
It’s probably in everyone’s best interest to stop being so kind. Paul, despite being in many people’s estimations the villain of the season, is still getting a heroic “funny” edit. The broadcast episodes have greatly toned down Christmas’ more abrasive behavior too for jokes and jingle bells. It’s still unclear if the show thinks Josh is a lovable class clown or is an immature crybaby who can dish out but can never take it.
Big Brother 19 needs to embrace that there are no heroes this season, only villains in varying degrees. Big Brother 19 could be much enjoyable if there’s a disconnect of emotional investment. There’s no one worth rooting for or even really liking. It’s just a bunch of awful people stuck in a house and being awful to each other. It’s unconventional way to look at Big Brother but this season needs a unconventional touch. Anything would be better than the boring do-whatever-Paul-says approach that has occurred thus far.
But what do you think? Could these changes improve Big Brother 19? Does the game need improving? What would you do to change things up?
Big Brother 19 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c, Thursdays at 9/8c and Sundays at 8/7c on CBS. Want more news? Like our Facebook page!
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
