The end of Big Brother 15 is just days away so while we wait to wrap up this season, put it on the shelf, and get ready for next season, let’s take a look back over some of the top moments from this summer. Branden and I have compiled a list of the most memorable or game-impacting events of the season and will deliver them to you in two parts.
If by the end of the list tomorrow there’s something we’ve missed then we want to hear from you on what should have been added. With a longer season than ever, squeezing the top events down to ten spots wasn’t easy and not everything could make the cut.
#10: Moving Company moves in and then right back out
What happens when you pull together five of the biggest guys at the start of the season for a powerhouse alliance called The Moving Company? If you said on Week 1 that they’d fall by Week 2 and be quickly picked off with just two lasting to the second half of the game then we’d have called you crazy. That’s exactly what happened when Jeremy, Nick, Howard, McCrae, and Spencer formed what should have been a dominating alliance at the start of Big Brother 15.
Instead of winning competitions and block voting to keep themselves safe when winning didn’t work the guys were split apart when Nick went up on the block in week 2, couldn’t talk himself out of a wet paper bag with Elissa, and then McCrae flipped to keep his new girlfriend happy and possibly safe. Soon Spencer and Howard splintered off as well when they realized the Moving Company ship was sinking.
They could have been a dominating force but were instead destroyed from the inside out. Jeremy’s jerk attitude to his closest allies, Nick’s inability to talk game, and McCrae’s hormones brought the group down and ended it before it ever had the chance to get off the ground.
#9: Showmance Mania
Speaking of hormones, my goodness. What was in the water this season? We usually get a couple or two, but this season thought it was the Summer of Love. We had 4 showmances, 1 fauxmance, 2 flirtmances, and 1 someone-please-like-me-mance. It was like the wires were crossed and HGs thought the season’s ultimate prize was a night in the sack with each clamoring to win the crown.
McCranda kicked it off with their showmance. Jeremy & Kaitlin started up early but wasted no time getting hot & heavy. David & Aaryn kept it light and slow (“No tongue!” Aaryn, afraid of on-camera romances, would yell at David. But of course racial slams were A-Okay in her book. Go figure.). Howard & Candice even kinda, maybe had something going that slowly picked up steam.
Nick & GinaMarie’s fauxmance could have a top ten list of its own. This bizarro relationship featured a madly in love girl with a guy who did his best to keep her off him. While Nick has admitted to forging the relationship as his part of the Moving Company’s plans he’s been more than generous when declining to admit what we all suspected: it was completely fake on his part. As for post-BB, we’ll have to wait and see.
Judd had a few flirtmances of his own with Jessie and Aaryn. Both were formed out of game moves, but I imagine he didn’t mind the extra homework. Unfortunately for Judd the Jessie situation boiled over quickly and Aaryn’s seemed mostly directed to disrupt Jessie’s sanity.
Ah, Jessie. The “please someone look at me”-mance. Desperate for a showmance Jessie bounced around from target to target early in the season, but sadly none every took hold except for her late night smooches with Judd and even then it was hardly what she came in search of on Big Brother.
Early in the season when I touted the overload of romance and was told by a reader that they weren’t interested in late night hookups, but really showmances are so much more than that. You get to watch HGs do the stupidest moves all in the name of love. Or at least normally you do. This season most seemed to be willing to let their other halves go, except for GM who never wanted to let go and McCrae who saw the damage his relationship was doing to his game but kept on anyway.
#8: Conspiracy Theories
First it was the game was allegedly rigged for Elissa with production giving her food in the DR, calls to home, and a roadmap of the season. Then it was the hoax about Amanda being best friends with the show’s producer and everything being rigged for her to win. Apparently that included losing every single competition she faced except for one. Even after Amanda was booted we heard claims that production had decided to indirectly support Amanda by helping McCrae. They were all bogus, but my goodness people just couldn’t let it go.
Aside from being allegedly rigged for players there were the claims that things were rigged against. Remember Helen falling during her chance to come back in to the game? Oh she was pushed by a mysterious hand, some readers claimed. She was pushed bute never yelled out “Hey! Someone pushed me!” Right.
Big Brother is all about pulling out clutch wins and saving yourself against all odds. We see it season after season, but it doesn’t take a conspiracy to manipulate your fellow HGs or fall victim to gravity. If you’re desperate for rigged reality then check out The Joe Schmo Show. It’s hilarious and features a small, scripted cast of actors who have to pull off convincing one player for two weeks that everything is real. Considering the number of screw ups and near reveals they face in two weeks just imagine controlling 14+ people for 3 months with 24/7 cameras and trying to convince millions of people. Exactly.
#7: MVP Twists and Flops
It was a good idea. Adding a third nominee was totally different and really did mix up the game in the first few weeks, but things quickly fell apart. Elissa kept winning the power and everyone knew it. Then they switched it up to America nominating a HG, but then Judd went and nominated their target leaving Elissa, the previous 3x MVP, in the crosshairs.
Had production taken a few simple steps this twist could have avoided unraveling on them. First: no HG can be MVP two weeks in a row. Second: the MVP can not reveal he or she has the power. If they do, then it’s an automatic loss of power & up on the chopping block you go. Considering production managed to keep DPOV and the Coup D’Etat a surprise then they could have done the same with the MVP role.
Most Big Brother twists flop in fantastic fashion and this season was no different. Production finally threw in the towel and gave up on the twist. No one knew who was the MVP for three weeks like they did the first three weeks so it fell on Howard, then Judd, then Judd, then Judd, and OMG, it’s gotta be Judd! Either keep it secret from the start or let it be known who’s deciding the whole time. Flop.
#6: A Juror Returns
It wasn’t the first time a Jury member returned to the game, that honor goes to BB3’s Amy who returned in the season where all HGs were part of the Jury. But it was the first time in the current styling of Big Brother’s Jury.
After having seen Gary on Big Brother Canada get voted back in from Jury and make it to the F2 while losing by a poorly aimed voted I didn’t think they’d possibly make the same mistake. For the most part it seems they didn’t as Jury members were prohibited from talking game when not on camera for footage at the Jury House.
When it came time the first four Jury members: Candice, Judd, Jessie, and Helen were all given an equal chance at the opportunity to get back in the game. It was an exciting endurance competition and our highest viewed comp of the season, according to our site stats.
Judd ended up getting back in to the house after a two week leave of absence and surprisingly lasted longer than most of us expected. But, much like Pet Sematary, the Judd that came back to us wasn’t the same Judd. He was angrier and more bitter, but still managed to entertain us with his time back in the game. Ultimately his luck ran out when his drive to compete did the same. He quit in the middle of a Veto competition that was still anyone’s game and he went home when the one player who couldn’t win did just that.
While the idea of bringing back an evicted Jury member is a little questionable it was a fun event to watch and it gave us the added bonus of needing a second Double Eviction. I’ll take it.
Top 10 – Part 2…
Okay, that wraps up the first half of this season’s Top 10 events from Big Brother 15. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the last half of this list, but while we do feel free to speculate and share your thoughts on what should round out our list.