If there’s one thing Big Brother producers know how to do, it’s cook up an ill-advised twist. For twenty-five seasons now, Big Brother has been a fascinating look into social dynamics and gameplay strategy—and for nearly as long as the show has been running, production has been devising ways to mess with their perfected formula by throwing twists into the mix. From BB16‘s Battle of the Block to Paul’s friendship bracelets in BB19, or BB21‘s Camp Comeback, most Big Brother twists have one thing in common: superfans despise them. The latest addition to this trend of needless complications is the newly-announced “BB Zombies” twist, which has given the two most recent evictees, Cameron and Jared, a shot at reviving their game in the Big Brother house. But what exactly is the “BB Zombies” twist, how does it work, and how did production find a way to make this double-eviction (a consistently reliable source for intrigue and tension) one of the show’s most lackluster entries yet?
House Fields Comes Crumbling Down
Before we get to gripes about the BB Zombies twist, though, there’s some groundwork to be laid. All season long, Survivor legend Cirie Fields has been running the house with the help of her son Jared. She has used him as a mole in opposing alliances and built a vast network of information through all manner of alliances (both real and fake). For six weeks, Cirie’s hold on the game seemed nearly unshakable—but her greatest asset in the game has also proven to be her greatest downfall: Jared. As well-liked and well-positioned Cirie has been in the house, Jared has been notably more volatile and drew some major heat last week after he had an argument with Cory regarding the house’s decision to flip on Cirie/Jared and vote out their closest ally, Izzy.
In the wake of this argument, a majority of the houseguests came down in support of Cory—including Jared’s showmance partner, Blue. Alienating your own showmance is already a major gameplay failure, but Jared has exacerbated his situation tenfold by not telling Cirie that Blue knows she’s Jared’s mom. Because Cirie doesn’t know that Blue knows their secret, she’s been inadvertently alienating her with every lie and mistruth, which in turn is driving Blue closer and closer to working with the other side of the house. As such, Jared (unaware he’s turned his own showmance against himself) has been continuing to feed Blue intel about Cirie’s plans, and Blue (having flipped on him) immediately runs the information to Jag, Cory, and the rest of the forces amassing against Jared and Cirie.
It’s a nightmare scenario for Cirie, and one she doesn’t even realize is happening—all because of Jared’s decision to not only A) tell Blue about his connection to Cirie, but B) not tell Cirie that Blue knows. Until Jared clues Cirie in on the fact that Blue knows their secret, she’ll continue to unknowingly alienate Blue further—resulting in more and more information leaking to the other side of the house. The Cirie/Jared/Blue information pipeline is bleeding like a stuck pig and has ruined what was once a steamroll of a season for Cirie.
Double Evictions Are for Big Swings
As if their position in the game wasn’t bad enough, the fall of House Fields was all but cemented by the announcement of the double-eviction: a Big Brother staple that squishes an entire week’s worth of gameplay into one night. Historically, double evictions are wildcards, used to take big swings at players who might otherwise be insulated. Because there’s no time to strategize or work on making deals, players feel much more comfortable trying to take out big targets, who won’t have nearly as much time to defend themselves as they might in a normally-paced week of play.
It was already looking like Jared would hit the block next week—he can’t play in the HOH, and post Cory-fight, he’s more disliked around the house than ever—but the announcement of the double eviction made things that much worse (if such a thing is even possible). Not only is Jared the house target, but his biggest asset (Cirie’s social game and ability to talk people into doing her bidding) is virtually unusable due to the nature and speed of the double eviction. And, lo and behold, when Julie made the not-so-surprising announcement that it was double eviction night, it ended up being Cory who nabbed power.
The double eviction HOH was Cory’s first win of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a more poetic time—after having a massive fight and being nominated by him last week, Cory was able to give Jared a taste of his own medicine and put him up on the block alongside his showmance partner, Blue. After Matt pulled out the win in the high-speed power of veto competition, a little momentum was all the house needed to finally pull the plug on Jared—voting him out 6-1 (with the one, of course, being his mother Cirie).
Zombies in the House
Unfortunately for us, though, being voted out wasn’t enough to get rid of Cameron and Jared—after they said their goodbyes to the houseguests and made their way out to Julie, they were informed that their game wasn’t over and that for the next week, they’ll be “BB Zombies.” What does that mean? We don’t entirely know yet, but what we *do* know is that Cameron and Jared will remain in the house for the week, culminating in a competition that will allow one of them to re-enter the game. Having a double eviction where nobody actually goes home is headache-inducing enough, but the “BB Zombies” twist adds insult to injury by robbing us of both an HOH and a veto—meaning that until Thursday night, there’s effectively *no* gameplay going on in the house.
Sure, the houseguests will continue to plot and make alliances, but with no HOH in power and no nominations to be made, it’ll be a heaping helping of thumb-twiddling until the zombie competition on Thursday night. A twist that arbitrarily saves two rightfully evicted houseguests is frustrating enough, but what’s most infuriating about this “BB Zombie” twist is how it prolongs an already sluggish season.
As pointed out by BB pundit Taran Armstrong on Twitter, the combination of Jag’s non-elimination and this new zombie twist means only two houseguests have been evicted in thirty-five days’ worth of gameplay—a painstakingly slow pace that feels even longer when you remember this season is a whopping 100 days long, and we’re just barely passing the halfway mark.
Twists have never been a particular favorite of Big Brother superfans, but at the bare minimum, they can usually be reliable in making exciting television for viewers. This new zombie twist is the worst of both worlds. Not only does it slow down an already lethargic season and keep two undeserving players around for another week, but it actively robs fans of an entire week of gameplay, having swapped the standard HOH and Veto for a pair of arbitrary, underbaked zombie comps.
When it’s all said and done, it’s unlikely that this “BB Zombie” twist will have a lasting outcome on the game. Jared and Cameron were both house targets who were disliked by a majority of their fellow houseguests and were evicted on unanimous votes. Even when one of them *does* come back, chances are high that they’ll find themselves immediately on the block and right back out the revolving door. Big Brother‘s twists don’t tend to be remembered fondly, but “BB Zombies” could prove to be a new low.
(featured image: Paramount+)
Published: Sep 23, 2023 08:40 pm