Big Brother. The show that usually says to expect the unexpected. The Canadian version 100% shows that to be true. Though it is a wonder if it can go too far sometimes.
But first, lets talk about the format of Big Brother. It is a show where we have a group of strangers live in a house for around 3 months with no way of contacting the outside world. Each week, they will eliminate one person until 2 remain where a certain number of people will vote to give one person the win of a lot of money. Each season, there is usually a main twist to shake things up. Either if it is All-Stars, Battle of the Blocks, Dynamic Duos, or Internationals. The show got so big, that it made different versions in other places around the world, including my home, Canada.
Big Brother Canada is like the US Version with a HOH *Head of HouseHold* picking 2 people for elimination *Eviction* while they have a chance to save themselves with The Power of Veto. But this version usually takes more risks when it comes to their twists. Sometimes it works, sometimes it can be controversial.
Warning: in talking about this, there might be spoilers ahead, if you have not seen Big Brother Canada, then go watch the show now before you keep reading, you've been warned.
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The best way to talk about this, is to go by season by season. Thankfully we only have 5 seasons so far.
In season 1, there wasn't much of a main twist. We just had a phone that the houseguests have to answer. It was used only in 2 weeks. The first week where the one that answered it became HOH. And another time where people had to do random tasks throughout the day. It was understandable that it was used rarely as it was the first season and there wasn't much that you can do with the twist. Interestingly enough, the first season was probably the best one yet. The lack of big twists made room for strong gameplay with some moments from people there just to be characters. The only memorable twist other than that was a member of the jury getting voted by Canada back into the game. Usually when eliminated contestants return, it was before jury which made sense as it was an actual second chance. But when it was done in the jury stage, they had information from other people so they had a advantage going back into the game. It didn't help that it was a Canada's vote. If you weren't popular, you would not get the chance to return no matter how strong your game was. But this was the start of many problems with twists moving forward.
In season two, there wasn't much of main twists, just many small twists. first was a secret room houseguest twist. Where we had 3 people wait in a war room and the person with the most votes by Canada would be able to play. The other two will never be heard from again. It seems a fine twist if it was done by returning players. But it wasn't, it was 3 new people where 2 of them spend a week in sequester just to not be able to play in that season, and mostly never get to play Big Brother Canada, ever. Then we had a time where someone can take a houseguest out of a veto competition which was done poorly, a smaller jury which only screwed over the person that got 9th, and that spot was filled with Canada's Vote. You see the pattern here?
In season three, we had a BB Takeover, which cause controversy for sure. We start with the first week having the house vote for the two noms and have Canada's Vote decide who will go home. It must suck to be out first because Canada hates you. Then we had a TRIPLE Eviction which ends 2 peoples dreams in 20 seconds. Then we have the final three evict someone from jury. But the worst twist was the have-not veto twist. Have-not's are the ones that have to live a week on slop and shitty bedrooms. But this twist was having Canada vote two people be have-nots and give them the chance to win a special veto that you can use during a eviction ceremony and put someone else up. Giving them no chance to save themselves and just be evicted. And it went to someone that went to final 4 but didn't earn it, instead Canada and production dragged that person there. It helped make this season in my opinion, the worst of the 4 soon to be 5.
Now we have season four where it had 2 people from different big brother games around the world be able to compete in the Canadian version. I was cool with it as we get to know the other versions of the game that wasn't Canada or US. I might even check out a season in the UK one day. Then we had 2 contestants play as one contestant for the whole game. So if one won the veto or HOH, the other one would be safe. It was sorta the unfair advantage of the game where you can have someone drag you to the end and win the game despite not doing a thing in the game just because the other person you were with did all the important work.
Now we have the current season. There is a lot to say but I'll expand it another time, I'll just say that no one should have immunity until jury. Again, this is a case where if you won the game, you didn't earn it fully as you were immuned for half of the game.
So clearly, Big Brother Canada is a show that takes more risks with their twists. Sometimes it can be too much of a risk that it can be unfun to watch. I would give Big Brother All-Stars some credit as they didn't use a lot of twists on that season and instead, just let the returning players play and prove that they are the best. I'm not against twists or anything, I'm just saying it would be nice to have one that can have a equal chance for everyone instead of just ones that are clearly favoring a certain number of people. That's all I'm asking.
Thank you all for listening, I'll see you in the next episode.
