Paranoia is a dangerous weapon to throw around in Big Brother. A simple rumor can be the axe that ends someone’s chance at the prize. And it makes it even worse when you’re being trapped in a confined house where the purpose of the game is to backstab and lie. We saw this strike effectively during the third week of Big Brother 19.
Cody started a rumor against Dominique and it led to her eviction. It didn’t even matter if the rumor was true or not; people wanted to believe that it was true. Paul was practically foaming at the mouth to have the house turn against Dom and send her out of the game. Part of this, I believe, is because he didn’t fully trust her and he liked the attention of controlling the vote. She had no chance once the leader of her former alliance campaigned against her. The others followed like sheep.
Dominique’s best bet would’ve been to keep her cool. She let her emotions get the best of her and she went after her former allies. The alliance had the majority numbers – without them on her side, she was a sitting duck. Dominique needed to sway the opinion in her favor and prove to her alliance that they could trust her and not Jessica. It’s a shame to see her go, but I’m not too heartbroken. Dominique didn’t seem like the type of player to cause a lot of drama, backstabbing or fights. She would’ve been content to stay in the background and float until jury. Though, I don’t think she could pull off the victory.
A majority of the houseguests are still only competing for second place. Paul is controlling the house and making all of the decisions. In fact, no one is even looking to him as a potential eviction; they’re all too scared to throw his name out for fear of being targeted. This became apparent during his confrontation of Dominique and the confrontation of Josh. He went out of his way to confront his naysayers and dispel any rumors before it got out of hand. And even worse, he brings his alliance members into the fold to gang up on the houseguest. I liked Paul on Big Brother 18, but I do not like this egotistical version on Big Brother 19.
The week continued with more people eager to get in Paul’s good graces. Jessica, who for all intents and purposes should be against Paul, was vying to join his alliance. And Alex, the HOH who should be targeting his big alliance, wanted to work with the majority group to do the least amount of damage. No one is willing to cause bloodshed. No one wants to make a big move. Sure, sometimes you need to bend and stick to the background for the first few rounds to protect your position. However, inability can be a sure-fire way to be sent out of the house. People are playing for jury, not to win the game – and it’s so frustrating to watch.
The competitions during the third week were pretty basic for Big Brother standards. The leaning wall is a tried-and-true favorite; it’s appeared every year for many seasons now. I’m a tad tired of expecting it – hopefully next season will have a variant. With the Power of Veto competition, it was a balancing act walking on a beam to build up their score. The only surprising change was that Christmas wasn’t allowed to compete. This goes back to what I discussed in the Big Brother 19 Week #2 review. At what point should Christmas be medically evacuated? She can’t compete in challenges for a long while and her position in the season is determined if the others will save. What happens if she gets to the Final 3, or even the finals? Would people actually vote for her? I’m not so sure.
The Den of Temptation presented Jessica with the “Halting Hex” twist – she can choose to cancel any of the upcoming four evictions. This is a POWERFUL twist to have in your back pocket, especially if you have a feeling that you’re the one going out the door. Based on this power, I’m thinking one of two things might happen: (1) she’ll use the power and stop one of the evictions or (2) she won’t use the power and one of the first four jury members will get the chance to return. The twist has set itself up to add another week to the game; there’s no other option.
Did anyone else catch that this is the last Den of Temptation twist? Why isn’t this going longer? I hate when half-backed twists are only enforced for the first few weeks before being abandoned completely. Why even bother at all with these highly complex shake-ups? And what is the consequence Jessica inflicted into the game? Is it the return of one of the first four evictees? If so, that shouldn’t be a consequence – this twist was going to happen regardless of if Jessica chose the power or not. There needs to be a punishment for this move.
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The third week of Big Brother 19 went by pretty uneventfully. The majority alliance didn’t so much splinter, but they removed one of their members to add a few more. Let’s face it: everyone is practically in this power alliance that Paul is controlling, and they all believe they’re safe. No one is making any standout moves to shake-up the power structure. So, let’s brace ourselves for the next few weeks – it looks like these houseguests are good to coast by for the time being.
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