Big Brother Canada loves to introduce new twists and try something new. For Week #5, that power came in the form of the Invisible Head of Household (HOH). To sum up the twist: someone would secretly win HOH, they would nominate two houseguests, everyone would play the Power of Veto (POV), and then the house would vote someone out. It’s a typical week of Big Brother; however, no one would know who the HOH was or who to campaign to about the nominations. The week provided an early bit of chaos before settling into a dull and calm week. Plenty of potential that could’ve turned this into one of the most exciting weeks ever, but Week #5 didn’t stick the landing.
Firstly, the problem wasn’t the twist. The Invisible HOH was the type of power that could flip the house and cause a whole lot of chaos. The power is ambiguous enough for the player to do anything and it provides mystery to heighten the paranoia. Week #5 started with all the elements above, but the real concern came with how it was used. The twist is a great way for someone to nominate big threats without getting blood on their hands; however, if the power nominates two floaters or falls in the hands of the majority, the malevolence loses its effect. Why waste a huge opportunity like the Invisible HOH to target a weakling in the middle? Go big or go home.
Victoria (the Invisible HOH) made this fatal error. Instead of going after people who were targeting her, she wasted her power on Breydon and Austin – two people who had worked with her in the past and who were more pre-occupied with just hanging out in the house. Literally, she wasted her power on floaters! Granted, Austin did win challenges and was a physical threat, but compared to the biggest threats Tychon and Jedson, the urgency wasn’t there. Victoria used her power to support the majority alliance and further their games instead of protecting hers. Unfortunately, the main Sun Setters (Jed, Ty, Beth, and Kiefer) won’t prioritize her in their alliance; it won’t be shocking if they evict her soon.
Part of the problem also stemmed from Victoria hiding her secret terribly. Why bring attention to yourself by making yourself a Have-Not? Why tell Kiefer you’re the Invisible HOH? Why be so obvious in throwing people under the bus and throwing suspicion at them? Victoria didn’t play this power subtly. All she had to do was stand back and let the chaos happen around her; she went for the big flashy drama and fell into her hype. Victoria is leaving Week #5 in a worse position than how she started, regardless of the goodwill she built with Tychon and Jedson.
Rohan’s game is sinking by the day. Beth gave him the perfect opportunity to foster a new pairing and potentially target Tychon and Jedson in the coming weeks. Instead, he creates a blatant lie that only made Beth question his honesty and loyalty. Rohan needs allies, and if he thinks The Sun Setters will welcome him with open arms so easily, he’d be foolish. He has to balance his relationships, build new bridges, and establish connections before manipulating them with lies. Starting from a post-ally eviction with lies wasn’t the strongest foundation to jump from.
His decision to not use the POV might also come back to haunt him. Granted, Austin is now out of the game, so he doesn’t have to worry about that fallback. However, what about Breydon? He blatantly lied to the pair about planning to use the POV; instead, him going back on his word made him seem untrustworthy and not a loyal ally. Catering to The Sun Setters wasn’t going to redeem Rohan’s reputation with the group easily, so throwing away the few people who did trust him only damaged the goodwill he had. It’s still questionable if using the POV would’ve saved Breydon AND Austin, but using it wouldn’t have changed anything of the view toward him.
The competitions for Week #5 were fun, but there were a few things I’d tweak for the HOH competition. Firstly, more temptations should’ve been offered to the players. Pushing them to give up with their spot in exchange for luxuries or powers would’ve made the debate even more intriguing. Secondly, the letter temptation should’ve been offered to the 2nd most and last place players. That uncertainty would’ve had both players wondering if they were close or at the end – the decision to take the letter would have more weight to it. And lastly, something should’ve been added to distract the players. The counting was too simple and routine – it became dull and formulaic after a few minutes.
Austin’s eviction was expected, but it could’ve been easily avoided. Simply enough, why didn’t she campaign this week?! Seriously, she barely pitched her case to stay in the house until the final few days. By then, the houseguests had mostly made up their minds and settled on her being the biggest threat out of the Austin/Breydon pairing. Her campaigning was working since it had the players debate whether to keep her. If she had done that a few days earlier, the strategy could’ve worked out in her favor. Instead, Austin let the game slip through her hands; she was more content with playing hangout instead of playing Big Brother Canada.
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Week #5 of Big Brother Canada 9 started strong before shifting into a chill and mellow week. The houseguests easily figured out who the Invisible HOH was, so with the mystery over, no one had to worry about the results. If Victoria was on your side this week, the story wrote itself. The twist has potential, so hopefully, it returns again in the future.
Big Brother Canada 9 airs new episodes on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays on Global TV, and streams new episodes the following day on globaltv.com.
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