TV Review: Big Brother Canada 5 “Week 2”

The first veteran has fallen. In this intergalactic game of Big Brother Canada 5, we might have hit a time loop as the past came back to bite one of the players. With the first week done and the houseguests now familiar with each other (newbies and veterans alike), the real game began. Alliances were formed, some were broken, showmances were sparked, and fights came out in a burning rage. This is when it’s the perfect time to start watching a Big Brother season as the drama and betrayals start to kick into full gear. And for you psychology lovers out there, when human nature and the inner habits take over.

Let’s start at the beginning with Mark’s bonehead move. There’s nothing wrong with lying – lie all you want, this is Big Brother after all. However, you NEED to stick to your lies. I hated that he faltered and backed down from his game when Cassandra called him out. There was a legitimate chance that he could’ve flipped players to keep him minutes before eviction. Ika and Gary were pissed at Cassandra because they believed Mark. If he had stuck to his guns, he could’ve stuck around. Before I had thought that it was a simple split between physical threats that led to his eviction, but now this is his own fault. He failed in his lies and everyone caught on.

Emily, on the other hand, is shaping up to be a good manipulator. She saw the opportunity to deflect the attention from Dillon and herself to put it on another target. This is the makings of a good player: she got lumped into a budding showmance and when she got nominated, she came up with a strategy to get everyone to focus on someone else. While I’m positive she didn’t mastermind Dallas’s eviction, she did fan the flames to get people talking. I’m impressed with this side of Emily.

The challenges followed a similar Big Brother Canada format as with previous seasons. What this means is that product placement reared its head. As compared to the U.S. networks that have a vast budget, Canadian programming relies on production companies, the government and/or sponsors to pay their way. Big Brother Canada is no exception to this. Whereas the U.S. edition keeps product placement/sponsors to subtle prizing or one-off challenges, Big Brother Canada creates entire challenges about them. The Oreo challenge, in particular, was a fun little game. The squeezing of liquid into a marked area is a challenge we’ve watched in the past; it simply got a new look with a sponsor named to it. There’s nothing wrong with it – it looked challenging and if this is the way to keep Big Brother Canada on the air, I welcome it.

We got a quick look into the Have-Not room for the season. The prehistoric bedroom looked uncomfortable and I wouldn’t want to be one of the houseguests who had to sleep on the ground next to the bone. My issue with this room, however, might be due to the Have/Have-Not twist in general. It no longer seems necessary or part of the story. I would rather Big Brother bring back the group food challenges to see these players work together to win a prize or even work together to not be on slop.

Karen is slowly ruining her game. She’s picking away at any good reputation she’s built in her first week; the scene with Jackie looked back on her and not the other way around. The same goes for Sindy. She needs to tone down the manipulation or else the others will turn against her to get out a threat. I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them ends up on the block within the next few weeks. Jackie and Cassandra is another pair that I think will end up on the block soon. Jackie seems like the optimal floater while Cassandra is causing doubt with her tight hold on Demetres. She’s a mastermind and while she was able to hide this in Big Brother Canada 4, the others are well aware of her tactics this time around.

Dallas. Dallas. Dallas. Look at how far you’ve fallen. You were trying to make a change from your past Big Brother run, but you fell victim to the same trappings as you did before. He made alliances with the wrong people, relied on the wrong people to save him, and he let his mouth run wild. Was this déjà vu? It basically seems so. His eviction is a mirror image of his Big Brother Canada 4 tenure, except this time he’s the second person to walk out the door. I didn’t have him on my pick to win – he’s a bit too hot-tempered and unpredictable to rely on for a potential victory. However, similar to last season, he was in a good position early on.

The downfall had to be when he let his emotions get the best of him. Sure, his name was slandered by being lumped together with other targets, like Dillon, Bruno and Emily. This is something that can happen every season – it takes relationship management to reaffirm trust and shift the rumors to someone else. The problem, however, is that Dallas couldn’t shake the bad reputation and when it the target shifted to him, he lashed out. He yelled at Dillon, he yelled at Emily, he confronted Demetres and Sindy, his veterans and whoever got in his way. Dallas was plagued by mistrust and he tried to throw anyone under the bus. Sometimes you can’t shake the mistakes that have happened to you before. Week #2 of Big Brother Canada proved that.