A winner has been crowned on Big Brother Canada 9! It took two years in the making for a full Big Brother Canada season to be completed (let’s always remember the loss of Big Brother Canada 8). And from that sudden goodbye came one of the best Big Brother seasons ever to emerge from North America. The finale week closed the book on a thrilling season of competing alliances, messy game moves, cutthroat houseguests, and the most diverse cast in Big Brother history. Big Brother Canada 9 made history—the finale week was no exception. This finale crowned Tychon Carter-Newman, who’s the first Black male to win North American Big Brother, and the first male person of colour to win Big Brother Canada. More firsts this season—two males of colour were in the final two in Big Brother Canada and Big Brother US, and the first Black houseguest to win a mainline North American Big Brother season (this does not include spin-offs like Celebrity Big Brother 2, which was won by Tamar Braxton).
Firstly, we need to talk about the recent evictions that brought us to this moment. Evicting Jedson, Beth, and Kiefer were big moves that changed the course of the season. The love triangle was steamrolling the house, and had they stuck together, they would’ve held a firm grip on the final three. However, the house banding together to blindside Jedson in one of the most shocking Big Brother betrayals ever—a satisfying moment cemented in history. No one will ever squander the opportunity of saving themselves with the Power of Veto. Jedson’s mistake will be future houseguests’ gain.
Beth’s emergence as a love-to-hate villain polarized the house. Many thought she would be easy to beat, but she could’ve proven to be a tough competitor at the end due to her bloody and messy gameplay. Ruling her out would’ve been a costly mistake from the background houseguests. And finally, Kiefer had the victory on lock. Had Kiefer reached the final two, he would’ve won the game—he won the most challenges, people in the house loved him, and he had a great pitch for why he should win. All of those pieces made him a huge target; his worst mistake was constantly telling everyone that he would win. Why constantly draw more attention to yourself?! Kiefer should’ve humbled himself and stayed quiet more often; that tactic could’ve changed Tera’s mind to save him.
Going into the finals, Tychon and Tera stood out as the two with the best chance to win Big Brother Canada 9. The eviction interviews from the jury members painted a picture that showed Tychon had the best game, but a weak social game, while Tera’s survival/challenge wins started impressing the jury after a bad social game. Breydon had a great social game, but he played too passively for much of the season that he would need to do HUGE moves to change their minds. Tychon became the new frontrunner and if the others didn’t take him out, they would have a huge hill to climb.
The finale challenges were each equally fun and difficult. The endurance game of balancing the disks on the moving platform would’ve been so frustrating to compete in. A small push could topple everything over—that game required patience and smooth movement. Breydon made the right call to move with the platform instead of controlling it. The knowledge game of throwing the balls was a fun challenge that mixed both mental and physical qualities. Anyone could’ve won that, so it was a nice and balanced game that Tychon pushed harder to win. Finally, the last round of the questionnaire is a staple on Big Brother; it all comes down to what you know, which is an even playing field for the final two.
Tera being evicted in third place was a smart decision for Tychon. Between Tera and Breydon, Tera was his biggest competition for winning the grand prize. She had a strong pitch with coming back into the game, her survival with clutch victories, and her persistence to compete against a big alliance. Plus, the mentality changed in the house to give more respect on Tera’s game. If Tychon had chosen to evict Breydon instead, the jury votes would’ve been closer than the 6-1 finale it ended up being. Tina would’ve voted for Tera, and there’s a chance some houseguests like Kiefer, Beth, Rohan, and Victoria would’ve given her their votes. Ultimately, those jury members could’ve voted for Tychon to win in both cases; however, those odds were much too dangerous to keep around when Tychon knew his case was stronger against Breydon.
When it came to the final speeches and jury questions, Tychon was lucky the jury voted for the best overall game instead of just the best social game. His responses were terrible! Did he not remember that he betrayed Victoria and Jedson? That he backstabbed Tina, Beth, and Kiefer? Pitching a game of “loyalty and friendship” only works when you’ve actually played a game that represented that; he turned against his friends and sometimes treated them bad on their way out the door. Tychon could’ve lost some jury based on his responses; it’s a miracle that Beth and Victoria gave him their votes after he spun a narrative they didn’t believe in.
Breydon, on the other hand, answered all the jury speeches beautifully. He easily explained his gameplay and gave the jury members exactly what they wanted to hear if they needed a bit of convincing to get their votes. And, his final jury speech was succinct and a strong pitch. The problem, however, came from what was discussed above: a season of mostly passive moves. Breydon picked up a few wins at the end, but he was content with staying in the background and hanging out with the cast instead of playing. When he had the opportunity to make big moves, he made baffling choices instead that could’ve hurt him in the long-run, like evicting Tera at the double eviction instead of Beth (he and Kiefer were so lucky Tera won her spot back in the house). Breydon should’ve built his resume earlier to set himself up as a possible winner; instead, he only vied for second place.
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Tychon had the stronger resume out of the final two. He won a few challenges, he controlled much of the season with his alliance, he built strong personal connections, and he made cutthroat game moves against his own allies. Tychon played a cold and calculated bloody game. Big Brother fans haven’t had a victory like this in a long time, where the jury awarded the more cutthroat strategic game instead of the likeable social and/or physical game. In the long-run, this victory encourages houseguests to make the game moves they need without fear of losing out to a jury’s social mentality. Tychon’s gameplay shattered those assumptions and built a strong case with his resume and personal connections to cement him the win.
Other highlights from the finale included Latoya savagely roasting Beth’s love triangle romance with Jedson and Tychon (did anyone see Breydon’s reaction to her comment? Priceless!), Julie making a pitch for a future Big Brother: All-Stars season, the fight compilation, Kiefer winning the first ever Canada’s Favourite Houseguest prize, and the greatness of this being the most diverse season/cast yet. Though, one thing was made clear: Big Brother needs a full reunion special! These small segments don’t do the season justice; there needs to be a full half-hour to an hour of the cast debriefing what went on during the season. Big Brother Canada 9 was a messy season; the cast could’ve talked at length about all the shady moves.
Big Brother Canada 9 was a fun and captivating season that gave fans exactly what we needed. Changing the focus to be more about the cast and accessible challenges leveled the playing field to give everyone a chance, which allowed the players to be strategic and cutthroat. The diverse cast showcased many walks of life and highlighted a wide representation across Canada. The live feeds had thrilling content, but the production team once again kept cutting the feeds too much to the point that it ruined the experience. And the messy gameplay, while engaging, made it hard to root for any true standout from the pack. The finale ended a great season on a high-note! Arisa Cox and the Big Brother Canada team should pat themselves on the back for an amazing season, and that with a few slight changes, the series will be perfection.
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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