The end of Big Brother 16 is here and it’s time to say goodbye to our sixteen Houseguests and their journey that kicked off way back in June. It’s been the longest season of Big Brother and while there hasn’t been quite the same level of fireworks as in the past we’ve still had plenty of big events.
Yesterday I ran through some highlight moments for each of the Houseguests, but today it’s time to start in on the season’s highlights with our Top 10 Events list. This was a hard one to narrow down, as they always are, so I’m sure there will be disagreements on the rankings and especially what made the cut and what didn’t. Our list is just that: ours. Read through and then share yours too!
#10 – Devin Calls a House Meeting – Tears Ensue
I do love me a good House Meeting and while we didn’t have much of that this season Devin did not disappoint in his three weeks on BB16. Devin called the HGs together on July 2nd at 11:19PM BBT and offered up a confession. He wanted to revolutionize the way Big Brother is played by doing it with honor and integrity. Oh goodie, that usually works well.
Devin confessed to misreading Donny and failing to be the good role model for his daughter that he wanted her to see when she looks up this season of Big Brother in twenty years. The HGs was left scratching their heads and unsure what to make of this guy other than he seemed a bit off his rocker.
Following the meeting Frankie observed that all Devin had managed to do was unite the house against him. Caleb was upset because Devin took credit for his nominations and no one does that to Beast Mode. How’d it all work out for Devin? As soon as his HoH was over, he was the next Houseguest voted out.
#9 – Brittany Kicks 2400 Goals in 24 Hours
There are punishments and then there are Big Brother punishments. Brittany Martinez encountered the latter when she lost out in the Week 4 Power of Veto competition and was challenged to complete 2400 soccer goals in 24 hours or be banned from competing in competitions the following week.
Well it turned out she was the target that week and it didn’t really matter since she couldn’t compete from home next week anyway. But Brittany was determined and even though she saw the writing on the wall she stuck to it and completed the challenge with plenty of time to spare. Flashback to 5:10PM BBT on July 20th to watch her complete the challenge.
There was nothing easy about that challenge and her opt’ing to go the more tasking route on her methods only added to the difficulty. Hard not to say this wasn’t impressive and it gave Brittany something to hold her head high when she was evicted just days later.
#8 – Caleb’s Amber-session
From the very start of the season we saw Caleb Reynolds fall head over heels for the beautiful Amber Borzotra. Unfortunately for Caleb, or rather for Amber, things didn’t work out and it just got weird.
Caleb spent the first five weeks of Big Brother watching, staring, watching, and more staring when it came to Amber. When Caleb wasn’t watching her in the backyard from behind the tinted glass he was non-stop talking about her. Caleb discussed how their encounter was a plan from heaven, he contemplated their marriage and life together when they’re 80, and eventually he discussed her eviction when the guys convinced him she was coming after him.
Many of us could see this was not going to end well for one of them and Amber came out on the losing side of that battle. I can’t help but wonder how much different either of their games might have gone without the other. Amber might have stuck around a lot longer and Caleb honestly could have gone sooner if he hadn’t been so distracted from the game and seen as a tool for their means.
The whole thing was overly uncomfortable at times and some worried about how far Caleb might take it. Other than standing over Amber while she slept and secretly watching her from afar things mostly melted away with her eviction. Of course he does still think she’ll leap in to his arms on finale night and give him a big kiss. Yeah, we’ll have to wait and see.
#7 – Donny “Darko” Dominates – Fear The Beard
Was Donny a special ops mercenary, a rocket scientist, a Harvard doctor, or a simple groundskeeper? The Houseguests weren’t sure what to make of Donny but they definitely knew to Fear The Beard and despite Donny’s repeat alliance offerings and competition domination no one wanted to work with him. Donny because a nine-time nominee but he was no easy eviction.
Jumping back to Week 8 we saw Donny pull off an incredible victory in the Battle of the Block series. We had just seen the week before where Frankie overcame an attempt by Caleb to sabotage his chances, but this week took things to a new level.
Not only did Donny’s partner not help him in the completely dark “Black Box” bone-searching challenge but she actively worked against him. Christine gave bones to Cody and Caleb that Donny handed over and abandoned the ones she did find. It was basically three against one but they were no match for Donny and he defeated the majority alliance yet again before eventually falling to them the very next week. This was really the most impressive solo vs sabotage performance.
#6 – Apple Pie? “Overwhelming No”
Team America was brought together as a bit of a sideshow to the main attraction on Big Brother 16. We saw Joey evicted before she could even get involved, but the rest of Team America did very well until things got very bleak for fan favorite Donny.
Luckily for Donny, production offered up an easy solution to create their own mission. Problem solved right? Team America could just come right together and campaign to get Donny off the block and back to safety. Done and done. Wait? What? Frankie has a better idea?
Despite Donny’s pleas for help Frankie decided for the group that what America really wanted was a play that he would produce to show off all his marketable skills to the talent managers out there. Aside from a few funny impersonations it was a flop. Heck, the HGs didn’t even want to participate until Big Brother called a fake lockdown so they were stuck inside with no other options. Seriously.
Given the opportunity to weigh in on Frankie’s decision America flat out rejected his attempt to steal the spotlight. Not only that but Big Brother broke its vow of silence and said they would inform Team America of their mission’s results. This was not done for any other mission all season long and should be noted that production knew it was a failure when they made that decision. Bringing in feedback from the outside world is not a frequent event and makes this event especially noteworthy for its rarity.
Team America had a covert mission to answer Julie’s question with a coded message to reveal their $5K’s fate. Julie opt’d to field the request for apple pie from Frankie before replying with an “overwhelming no.” Oops. This event was a turning point in production’s goldenboy edit of Frankie and viewers were seeing a side that Feedsters had been observing for awhile. It wasn’t always pretty.
Donny was still evicted that week and Frankie would later claim he tried desperately to save him, but the apple pie suggests otherwise. As for why they failed, Frankie explained that America just couldn’t handle a man in drag. Okay, Frankie.
#5 – To Be Continued…
Five more big events remain in our countdown to the end of Big Brother 16. I’ll have the rest of the list tomorrow, but in the meantime, share your thoughts and guess what makes the rest of the Top 10.