According to the calendar, summer technically began on June 21 — but for Big Brother fans, the season hasn’t officially started until Julie Chen utters a well-timed, “But first…”
Fortunately, CBS offered a return to normalcy on Wednesday night with the Season 19 premiere of its reality staple, cheekily dubbed “The Summer of Temptation.” Over the course of their 90-day stint, this year’s 16 houseguests will be offered tempting perks that, if taken, will introduce consequences into the house.
As every BB premiere does, Wednesday’s episode followed a typical trajectory: Alliances were formed too quickly (though I do kind of love the quirky quartet of Alex, Megan, Ramses and Jillian); the word “showmance” was dropped early and often; and, of course, jaws hit the floor when Julie introduced the season’s forthcoming twists.
Speaking of which, let’s recap all of the twist-induced drama from Night One:
* After first learning about the Summer of Temptation theme, the houseguests head outside, where they are presented with the chance to win $ 25,000. The perk? If one of them goes for the money, his or her identity will remain anonymous. The pitfall? Should the cash be taken, the houseguest who wins it will unleash the season’s first big twist into the game and won’t be eligible to become Head of Household for Week One.
Thanks to his fast fingers, Kevin — the three-piece-suit-loving stay-at-home dad — snags the money, but, upon winning it, maintains a poker face that Lady Gaga herself would envy.
* Once Kevin scoops up the cash prize, the summer’s first real consequence is introduced: Paul Abrahamian, runner-up of Season 18, walks through the front door — but since he’s moving in for the summer, he’ll be taking another houseguest’s place… and that person will be getting evicted tonight. Gasp!
Paul is then given a box of friendship bracelets, eight of which he’ll hand out to the houseguests he wants to keep safe from eviction. (Paul’s anxiety-ridden reaction, appropriately: “Oh, I’m throwing up somewhere.”) Once each contestant has a moment alone with Paul, offering him everything from pinky-swear promises to cheese sandwiches in exchange for safety, he announces who’ll get a coveted bracelet: Kevin, Raven, Dominique, Mark, Jason, Jessica, Ramses and Elena.
* As for the other houseguests, they’re left to compete in a Garden of Eden-esque endurance challenge, from which Cody and his chiseled bod emerge victorious. The unlucky trio that ends up on the chopping block: Jillian, Cameron and Christmas, each of whom grabbed a “poisoned apple” from the garden after falling off their trapeze.
* After being presented with the final temptation of the evening — let the eviction take place by a house vote, or compete with one another to decide who leaves — the nominees opt to let their fellow houseguests cast votes, leading to a whole lot of uncomfortable “Please keep me!” conversations in the final minutes of the episode.
Ultimately, though, by a vote of 8-3-2, microbiologist Cameron is the first one sent packing, proving it doesn’t always pay off to be a BB superfan.
With that, I turn it over to you. What did you think of Big Brother‘s Season 19 premiere? Are you rooting for any houseguests yet? Hit the comments with your thoughts!
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