Big Brother 18: State Of The Game [Op-Ed]

Big Brother 18 has been airing for almost a month and a half and we’ve seen six evictions and one person battle their way back. That means we should be at the jury point if they’re going with a nine-person panel as they have been doing in recent seasons.

So now is the perfect time to weight in on the state of the game. And I have a lot of thoughts rolling around in my head about this season. While this is a fan-run blog, the journalist in me likes to keep most things I write lighter on the opinion. Sure, some opinion seeps in here and there, but let’s be real, blogs aren’t intended to be New York Times caliber. That being said, this post is when I go full-on opinion. I’m not going to be nice or even objective. So read on at your own will.

I’m going to address each remaining houseguest and then go into a few other points of interest. So let’s go.

(Warning: spoilers ahead)

Paulie. I’m going to start with the person clearly running the game this season. He might be Cody’s brother, but he’s playing Derrick’s game. Well, he’s TRYING to play Derrick’s game. Paulie has made it no secret that Derrick gave him some pointers on playing the game of Big Brother. And it shows. Paulie is the first to shut down any kind of pending altercation. He also knows when you see “your boy getting too close to a girl,” the girl got to go. So many eye rolls.

Speaking of the girls, Paulie is seemingly terrible when it comes to respecting women. He’s admittedly strung Zakiyah along most of the season and finally gave in when she was starting to realize she might be able to use her own brain in the game. Yes, I’m saying that his timing with letting Zakiyah have a little fun in the have-not room might have been a bit calculated on his part. She doesn’t want Da’Vonne gone, so let’s give her some lovin’ to see if that helps set her straight. I know, that’s disgusting if it’s true. Maybe it’s not true. I hope it’s not true. But the timing suggests otherwise.

And it’s not only with Zakiyah that Paulie’s misogyny has shown. His weird obsession with whether or not Natalie had a boob job, and the way he talks about it with Paul makes me nauseated. I’m sure Paulie and his family would beg to differ since Paulie loves his mom and sister, but this guy clearly doesn’t know how to respect a woman in the least.

My other issue with Paulie isn’t exactly a Paulie problem, but a house problem. And that’s how almost everyone is basically handing Paulie the $500,000 prize. I know that’s early to say, but when everyone does what he says and can’t make any of their own decisions, I have to wonder if it’s not really too early. I mean even Michelle, the “superfan,” has asked “so who is Paulie’s next target” … No one is thinking for themselves this season and I find that insane.

Paul. Let’s go right into Paul from Paulie, since they’re basically one in the same at this point. PP, or Team Pissed, have reached creepy status. They look alike, they talk alike, they probably smell alike. And Paul is doing Paulie’s dirty work for him as we’ve seen this week. I liked Paul for a couple of weeks when I thought he saw the writing on the wall, but the moment Paulie took Paul under his wings, the rest of his allies stopped mattering. Paul will be sorry in a couple of weeks that he decided to play Paulie’s game instead of his own.

Nicole. I wasn’t the biggest Nicole fan in Big Brother 16, but I didn’t necessarily dislike her either. But this season’s Nicole isn’t that season’s Nicole. This one is whinier, more self-concious, more annoying and more man-hungry. Everything Nicole has done this season has been for or because of Corey. He’s all she talks about. She’s gotten herself so distracted by Corey that she’s currently ditching every female ally she’s had in the game. You’d think she’d realize that girls don’t fare very well in the game when it’s just them and a bunch of guys. I mean even if she didn’t see Big Brother 12, surely she saw Big Brother 16, the season she was on, and what happened with Victoria.

She’s really shady this season, too. She flip-flopped from Frank to Tiffany to Da’Vonne, to Frank, to Tiffany to Da’Vonne and back again. She’s playing sloppy and weird and nothing like someone who has gotten a second shot at the game. Some might even say this is her third shot since she won the returning juror competition in Season 16.

I just don’t understand who this Nicole is. Nor do I want to anymore. I’m too far gone with her. I can’t even watch a Live Feed camera with her on it anymore.

Zakiyah. I can’t talk about Nicole’s guy issues and not talk about Zakiyah’s. Every time Nicole talks about Corey, Zakiyah talks about Paulie. And the big difference here is that Corey is at least kind of interested in Nicole. For most of the season, Paulie has given Zakiyah little indication he is actually that into her. Of course that all changed this week when they might have hooked up in the have-not room. But as I mentioned above, I think that could be a despicable strategy on his part. Or he’s just been locked in the Big Brother house so long, he needed it. Regardless, she’s not interested in playing Big Brother and that is very clear.

Corey. I just want to get this clown out of the way so that I don’t have to think about him later. Corey has been worthless in the game. I’m still waiting to see why Paulie is so interested in working with him other than the fact that he’s a bro. But since he’s probably going to make it to the end at this point, I’ll try to think of something more to say about him the next time I weigh in on the state of the game.

Da’Vonne. I love Day’s DRs. Who doesn’t, right? But I have to be honest and not blinded by the fact that I like her. She’s just not good at Big Brother. I don’t think she’s a threat and if I were among the guys this season, I wouldn’t be targeting her. But I do understand why Paulie and Corey are gunning for her. I get it. Da’Vonne isn’t even really nice to the other HGs. I mean I find that funny, but when you’re playing Big Brother, you’ve to to fake it at least sometimes. I respect her for always being real, though, but BB isn’t about being real.

That being said, I hope hope hope she’s got the round-trip ticket and re-enters the house if she’s the one to go this week.

The list continues on the next page…

Moving on to the second half of the remaining Big Brother 18 cast…

Michelle. I don’t have a lot to say about Michelle right now. I thought she might be playing a pretty low-key, but solid, game until she started acting insane over Frank leaving and has spent most of the season being catty toward Bridgette.

James. I think James has done a pretty good job getting himself off everyone’s radar. He’s done such a good job I don’t even think he’s really playing the game. But I think he actually is. Maybe? I can’t be sure though. Enough of the pranks, though. That’s getting old.

Natalie. I think she’s sweet and she’s clearly popular with viewers. I would like her to actually start playing the game, however. Her goal was only to get to jury, but I want her to kick into game mode and actually try to win.

Bridgette. Some people are Team Bridgette now because she’s the underdog. I do like an underdog story, but I don’t think Bridgette fits that persona. She made some stupid moves in the game and allowed herself to be Frank’s puppet. And now she’s probably going to be Paulie’s puppet. She’s playing for third at best, fourth at worst.

Victor. I think Victor worked hard to get back into the game. And that’s about all I can say. He’s not adding anything to the game and I don’t really think he knows what he’s doing. He’s just another number for the bros that will almost certainly ensure we get another season of all or mostly guys at the end of the season. Zzzz.