HOLLYWOOD—Now that the 27th season of “Big Brother” has come to an end and we have a winner, as a fan of the series, I think it’s time to talk about one of the biggest stunners of the season, ‘The White Locust.’ It was a twist that the producers, Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan came up with this season that had this fanbase in a tizzy in a way that I’ve NEVER seen in the 27 seasons I have been watching this series.
Why? It saw a contestant get eliminated for not winning a competition and that contestant was none other than veteran and BB13 winner Rachel Reilly. To my surprise, the producers spoke with “Entertainment Weekly” writer Dalton Ross about their twist and how they were pleased with it. I am calling BS on the producers. They know that twist caused more outrage than excitement that they have EVER ENCOUNTERED IN THE SHOW’S HISTORY.
Hell, even BB15 which was a crap, didn’t have the fanbase this damn angry. Fans were livid; we were upset and just in utter shock that the producers thought this was a great idea. Let’s face reality, the producers know they screwed up and they screwed up majorly, but would Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan admit to that? No, they doubled down on the twist thinking it was a great idea.
In the interview with Dalton Ross, they even chatted about the ‘Hamster Wheel of Death’ potentially returning for future seasons. I wouldn’t have a problem with the competition returning, but I think it should be a Power of Veto competition, not an elimination twist. Especially, when you introduce a twist like this right at the start of jury, right near the three-week mark of the game coming to an end. Like c’mon, the players having been busting their tails for 60 days, and out of a blue a twist takes one of them out, someone who has never been nominated the entire season, that is a brutal gut punch, I don’t care what anyone says!
The producers of BB might not know this, but they may have killed the chance of getting returning players with this outcome. I doubt we see a sole veteran in the game with a bunch of newbies anytime soon, if ever again. I mean you cannot do something of this magnitude to a player who has left their family, including kids and just with the snap of a finger they are taken out of the game? What is the incentive to even make me as a vet want to play?
Rachel Reilly was a great sport because I thought it was the stupidest thing in the world for the show to bring Rachel Reilly BACK to the set to have an interview with Julie Chen nearly a week after she had been eliminated from the game and was already at the jury house. If anything, they were trying to gaslight Rachel Reilly and the audience to make it seem like it was HER FAULT that she was booted from the game.
No, BB, she was booted because you never learn. If anything, they should have interviewed Rachel right after she was eliminated, they would’ve known how she actually felt about the twist screwing her game. The producers knew better than to do that though, right?
Twists are fun when they are expected to some degree. They are not fun when they completely destroy or mess with the game dynamics, which happens time and time and time again with “Big Brother.” Their goal always seems to be this spectacle of a series. Stop with the theatrics, we don’t care as fans.
I cannot recall the last time BB just had a bare bones basic season. Oh, let me think about it, it was BB10, which until this day is heralded as one of the greatest seasons of all time. Besides that, America’s Player twist during that one week, there were no unexpected twists in the game. The players were allowed to play, and damn did they play and it was amazing to watch in the process.
Hey, here is an idea for “Big Brother 28” how about a back-to-basics season ESPECIALLY if you’re doing all newbies again. If you’re planning on bringing back veterans or some sort of split season, let’s limit twists that immediately take out a player without any social capital or vote at stake.
Fans like good TV, it’s not good TV when you introduce a twist that doesn’t give all of your players a fighting chance. I mean half of the house didn’t even get to compete in the HOH during ‘The White Locust’ twist. Now tell me Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan how the hell is that fair and equitable? No need to respond, because it’s not.
