TV Review: Big Brother Canada 5 “Week 3”

The hole has been dug and the dirt was finally kicked in. A formidable Big Brother mastermind walked out of the Big Brother Canada 5 house in what can only be described as a downward spiral. It kept getting worse and worse as this player threw out anything to stay around. It’s a sad sight to see, especially when they were on my list to make it to jury. But oh well! That’s the way the eviction key turns…

Cassandra fell victim to her own ego. She conquered the Big Brother Canada 4 house by playing under anonymity and a strategy the others didn’t expect of her. She made friends, had alliances, and effortlessly manipulated people to do her bidding. This season, on the other hand, everyone was onto her gameplay. They knew she was a liar, a manipulator and a smart threat to have around. No one could trust her. She didn’t expect this and thought the others would fall under her spell. Now that she’s outside of the house, it’s obvious to say she thought wrong.

I am a fan of Cassandra. She’s entertaining and she’s a good strategic threat. However, I think part of the reason she got the boot is because she couldn’t keep genuine lasting alliances. She had friendships with Ika and Jackie, but she threw both of them under the bus to stay. Did she not realize the others would talk and throw her under the bus too? That’s sloppy gameplay that reeks of desperation. However, her last minute idea to flip the vote was a smart idea. We’re reaching the point in the season when lasting alliances are formed and the house starts to splinter. The others should have considered keeping her around, only for the possibility of what might happen next and causing the other side to feel imbalanced. Though, we would’ve lost Jackie and I am more curious of her potential in the game.

The competitions were a nice balance of new and old. The “True or False” challenge is one we’ve seen countless times throughout both the Canadian and U.S. editions – it’s nothing ground-breaking at this point. My favorites were the high school-themed throwing game and the fashion stylist Power of Veto. Anything that involves throwing a ball at another houseguest is fun because it shows the true thoughts of the houseguests at that time and who they’re targeting. Cassandra knew that she was the next time because of this. While the POV may have been skewed to Neda (she’s a stylist and fashion designer!), I loved that she didn’t win. This was a tough memory competition and having the newbies dominate over the veterans proved that the veterans don’t have this locked.

Demetres and Ika may have started the first real showmance/”friendmance” of the season. I don’t count Emily and Dillon’s friendship because I don’t think THEY even know what they want. The former pair clearly like each other; they’re flirting hard and enjoy spending time together. However, I don’t foresee this relationship to be one that last long. A showmance puts a huge target on those involved and eventually people are going to target them to split them up. It will only be a matter of time.

I’m glad that we’re finally getting to see more of the newbies. We’re in the third week and I barely know anything about these new players – the focus is squarely on the veterans to provide the scenes and get their direction on what’s going on. This is a downside to the twist overall. We don’t need the focus to be taken away; as fans we want to get to know these new people. I like that we saw the earnest and confrontational side of Jackie, the crazy side of Karen, the naïve side of William, and the rational side of Dre. William considering using the POV on Cassandra, while a terrible idea, led to him getting strong game advice from Gary. This was a growing moment for him as a player. We need more moments like these. They’re players in the game and I want to feel sad if they get evicted.

The “Backwards Week” twist revealed by Arisa at the eviction episode is an interesting concept. It shifts the way these players look at the game and keeps them on their toes as their power diminishes. However, it came at the worst time. The house is already imbalanced with one side of the cast having more votes/members than the minority. It skews things and hurts the other side even more. I hope it’s not an obvious week and we get a big shake-up; though, I could see someone who is a target from Neda’s side, like Gary, getting the boot in another unanimous vote. That would be boring and a waste of the twist. I’m crossing my fingers!