Big Brother 19: How Things Change…

Hi, everyone!

Remember how, when this season started, we all thought that Big Brother 18 was going to be all about girl power?  There were two all-girl alliances in the house and the boys seemed pretty oblivious to both of them.  The Spy Girls were constantly chanting “Girl power!”  The Fatal Five were all swearing that they would stay loyal to each other until the end of the game.  Tiffany couldn’t stop talking about how this was the year that a girl was going to finally win.  Da’Vonne and Zakiyah swore to each other that they would be the final two.

And the first HGs to be evicted were all men: Glenn, Jozea, and self-styled alpha male Victor.  After Victor was evicted and Bridgette won HoH, a lot of us started to think that this could be the first Big Brother to feature an entirely female final eight.

Well, that all kind of fell apart, didn’t it?  Bridgette fell under the influence of Frank and let him run her HoH.  The rest of the houseguests rebelled and voted out Bridgette’s closest ally (and leading Girl Power proponent) Bronte.  Then Tiffany had her little breakdown and, as a result, she was voted out the next week.  And then Victor reentered the house.  Of course, last Thursday, Frank was voted out but, even more than the women in the house, it was the other men who wanted Frank gone.  And then Paul, another self-styled alpha male, won Head of Household.  And who has been running his HoH?  Paulie, basically.

It seems like a very long time since this season was going to be about girl power, doesn’t it?

What happened?  I think it was a combination of things.

First off, the Spy Girls were a weak alliance and they had no strategy beyond screaming and jumping up and down on the bed in the HoH room.  Bronte knew how to chant “girl power” but she didn’t know how to fight for it.

Meanwhile, the Fatal Five started out as much stronger than the Spy Girls but two of the main members — Zakiyah and Nicole — got distracted by their showmances and, as a result, neither one of them seems to remember that they’re in the house to play a game.  Michelle, meanwhile, has never been able to fit in socially with the rest of the houseguests.  (To a certain extent, she reminds me of Aubry from the previous season of Survivor.)  And, of course, Tiffany ended up getting voted out of the house.

So that leaves Da’Vonne.  Da’Vonne is the only member of the Fatal Five who is still trying to play the game but she’s playing the game so hard that she’s ended up alienating the house in almost the same way that Frank did.  Da’Vonne made a huge mistake when she told James that she was planning on targeting the showmances.

And so, Da’Vonne is now the target.  Earlier today, Paulie won the veto and he’s planning on using it.  Da’Vonne appears to believe that Nicole will be the replacement.  Instead, Paul is planning on nominating Da’Vonne.

As of right now, it appears that Da’Vonne is about to be voted to the jury on Thursday.  Unless, of course, she has the return ticket.  If they vote out Da’Vonne and then she opens her envelope and finds a return ticket, I can guarantee that you’ll some very frightened faces in the Big Brother house!

(Even more so if Da’Vonne manages to win HoH…)

So, we’ll see what happens.  But right now, it appears that the boys are in charge of the house and Da’Vonne will be sent to the jury on Thursday.

Lisa Marie