We are heading into the home stretch of Big Brother Over the Top, so it’s time to step back and take a look at the season. How has it gone? Who’s on top? What about America’s involvement — how did that play out? Let’s take a look.
The Final 5
Last night Danielle was voted out of Big Brother Over The Top, meaning the two arguably best players of the season are out of the running to win.
I’m of course talking about Alex and Danielle. Most of the season fans have been as divided as the house. You were either Team Plastics with Alex as sort of the leader or Team Misfits with sort of Danielle as the leader. Or if you didn’t see either them as the leaders, per se, you at least saw them as the best players on their side of the house.
But they’re both gone now. So were we all wrong about them? Not really. They definitely played the best games up until they were ousted, but others have stepped up late in the game to take claim. Right now Shelby has emerged as the best competitor while Jason has shown a lot of growth as a strategist.
So if I were to rank the Final 5 it would go like this: Shelby, Jason, Kryssie, Morgan and Justin. Those last three are actually tough to rank because they’ve all done very little in the game. Kryssie has shown a few more signs of life than Morgan and Justin, so I think I’m confident naming her as third. And Morgan might slightly out-nudge Justin because he’s just so bad at the game I can’t overlook it. And his social game has even gone downhill has he’s burned out from lasting so long in the season.
The competitions
Well, watching the competitions play out live has been interesting. I won’t say it’s always been fun. Watching timed veto competitions in the middle of the day is a bit tough for anyone not on home confinement and endurance competitions starting at midnight is also not ideal.
And to be honest, TV production is messy. That’s why editing plays such a huge role. I don’t really enjoy seeing the flubs or watching the delays or hearing the announcers intervene. That’s just not fun for me.
As for the competitions themselves, I’ve been pretty impressed. Sure they’re not all pretty to look at, but those elaborate competitions we see on a regular season are for TV. And often they’re flat-out cheesy. I’m OK with stripped down competitions that can be assembled and disassembled quickly.
The best part, however, has been all the new ones. It’s been so refreshing to not see the same competition we’ve been watching since BB10 or earlier. And they’ve been very inventive. The haunted veto, for example, was so easy to produce but so entertaining to watch. Good job, production.
Production
Speaking of production … every season we hear what we think is production interference or favoritism. This season there seemed to be a lot more of than than usual. I’m not going to go into it, because it’s always hard to really tell what we’re seeing and hearing, but there were a few times where I just had to go “WHAT???” Like when Shelby talks about her friend in production who some are pretty sure she’s pretty hot for. But who knows. Again, not touching that topic any further. Moving on…
America’s Vote
Oh America, I don’t know what to think about you when it comes to voting. For anything. But we’re talking about Big Brother right now. Anyway, I liked the idea of America getting a say at first. But then it became way too much. Social media wars were out of control because fans got so involved that they were campaigning and making (bad) graphics and spewing all kinds of nastiness. The game would be a lot different right now if America wasn’t allowed to make a nominee or vote to evict. I think America’s involvement should stay at voting for Care Packages. But now we’ve still got the privilege of voting for the winner of this season. And that’s just ridiculous. This isn’t American Idol. Let a jury decide who wins BB. We don’t deserve that right. Sorry.
Summary
As of now, I think Shelby is most poised to win the season. If Jason some how ends up at the end after this week, then he has a great shot also. But what happens if it’s a Morgan, Kryssie, Justin final 3? I don’t know and I don’t even want to imagine it. I think Kryssie would have my vote in that scenario.
Overall, this has been a great season of Big Brother. I’d venture to say it’s one of the best seasons in years. I loved the gaming, the strategy and the drama. Most of all, I loved how the house stayed divided and the power shifted from week to week. Sure, America’s involvement got in the way here and there, but as far as the HGs went, they definitely kept things going back and forth. I hope there’s another season next year, but I hope America isn’t allowed anywhere near the power.