Big Brother 19: Do “Showmances” Help or Hurt Your Game?
Our #math showed that showmances may not be all that bad of a strategy, contrary to popular belief.
Welcome to The Queue’s coverage of the 19th season of Big Brother, where I’m holding Twitter DM convos with a rotating panel of guests about the show and posting those chats online.
If you have questions about what Big Brother is, who Ryan and Chris are, or why you should keep up with this series even if you’re new to the show, click here.
Tonight’s episode marked the first veto competition and an update on how houseguests are doing during the first week and a half in the house. We also address the contestant who walked (i.e. quit), the show’s big three showmances, and what’s happened on the live feeds. (Note that I’ll mark where live feed spoilers start so you can stop reading if you just want to keep up with just the episodes.)
Lily: Howdy, y’all! To recap the episode: Megan voluntarily left the house, which is a big deal considering that only two other people in Big Brother U.S. history have voluntarily walked (Neil Garcia in season 9 and Dick Donato in season 13). Megan quit due to the experience bringing on post-traumatic stress disorder from a previous sexual assault; I’m sure we all hope she’s doing better and continues to have a upward recovery. I also don’t think her exit affected the game in any meaningful way. Moving on, Paul won an advantage (no surprise there) granting him immunity for the first three weeks of the game, and Cody nominated Alex for eviction to take Megan’s place. Is there anything y’all would like to quickly add from this recap before we head into our main chat about showmances?
Chris: Not really because you summed it up pretty well.
Ryan: It was unfortunate what happened to Megan. I think that was a giant bundle of mistakes that could have been avoided, and I hope she is doing better. Otherwise, it was a standard episode of Big Brother.
Lily: If anything, there was even less action than a normal episode. Anyways, onto the main event: Showmances! So this season, we have three main showmances (Cody/Jessica, Mark/Elena, and Matt/Raven), but I’ll save my feelings about them for when we talk about the live feeds. What I find interesting in the world of Big Brother is that often showmances are looked down upon as a poor strategy for getting to the end. However, some preliminary digging says otherwise, and eight out of the 18 seasons of Big Brother have been won by someone who was in a showmance at some point during the season they won. Moreover, there’s an even 4–4 split amongst men in showmances who won and women in showmances who won, which is fascinating to me because I personally assumed it was male-skewed before looking up the actual numbers.
Ryan: Yes! Showmances are a Big Brother standard, and they come jam-packed with a lot of interesting points. I cannot remember the last time we had a Big Brother season without a showmance, and to some, it’s what they look forward to each year.
Chris: Showmances are tough for me because a lot of the segments for the show are based around that and not actually gameplay, which, if you watch the feeds, isn’t an issue, but if you don’t, sometimes you have no idea why someone got nominated.
Ryan: For many hardcore fans, a showmance is not a respected form of strategy, but it is a strategy employed by many contestants.
Chris: Oh it is 100% a strategy. I just wish that they showed it more as such and not as fluff.
Lily: Why specifically do you think it’s not respected?
Ryan: The weekly segments we get on CBS are mainly fluff pieces, as Chris mentioned. They show the players being silly or as characters, because it is a TV show, and they often leave the strategic content on the cutting room floor. As to why I think many people don’t think it is respected, I think many fans see it as a cop-out.
Lily: I did notice this week’s episode didn’t really mention how the showmances themselves and their “associates” drove the decision to nominate Alex. We'll get into the live feeds that happened post-veto comp in a second, but we do know that the showmances wanted her up.
Ryan: Exactly. We got our season’s theme, an introduction to the showmances, the Megan incident, some fluff pieces, but little discussion on decision-making.
Lily: Has there ever been a showmance in Big Brother history where it was shown as a major strategic factor? Amanda and McCrae [from Big Brother 15] come to my mind for whatever reason, but I’m not sure if that’s necessarily the case.
Chris: Bits and pieces of some but not as a major thing that I can recall.
Ryan: I feel like Amanda and McCrae were definitely one of the few showmances that started as a power move (on Amanda’s part). I think the others that come to mind may be Will/Janelle and Mike Boogie/Erika.
Chris: Those as well.
Lily: I don’t know if the show’s ever had a showmance where both players were on the same power level, though.
Chris: Me either. It’s usually one as a power player and the other is dragged along.
Ryan: Well, that’s often a reflection on real life. I think many relationships we have in the real world have some power level associated with it, and often times, someone has more power than the other.
Lily: Yeah, an alpha and a beta.
Ryan: Diane Henry and Drew Daniels may have had very similar power levels back in Big Brother 5, but it was always situational. And Drew ended up winning out in the end.
Chris: He did. So that’s a couple of instances.
Lily: Tying the showmance thing into this season, I know we’ve all commented separately on the weird sexual energy between Cody and Alex, and we found out the reason for that is because their both libertarians (ugh, k). I actually think if they ever coupled up in this game, they’d be quite potent.
Ryan: Cody respects her, as a competitor. He wants to align his interests. Man, this guy is so stoic!
Lily: Haaaaa that he is. Well, I’m still rooting for them, mostly because they have one of the most bizarre situationships in the house.
Chris: It’s interesting for sure lol.
Ryan: I agree, Lily, that if they were able to pair up, it would be dangerous. But there are so many obstacles in the way. It’s very 90s high school romance movie.
Lily: Might as well be goddamn Pretty In Pink!
Ryan: The alpha jock is into the quirky gamer girl. Instant classic!
Chris: Lol.
Lily: So basically our conclusion here is that showmances are looked down upon because they’re not seen as “pure” as other types of game strategies, but for them to work, there’s typically and alpha and a beta person.
Chris: Correct.
Ryan: Yes, I would agree with this. To start a showmance often does not require a strategic element, just a flirty disposition.
Chris: It does and using it effectively is hard to do.
Lily: Yeah so if you don’t fit the romantic “type” for anyone in the house, it’s a strategy you can’t use. But then again, every strategy is based around individual personality. Flaunt it if you’ve got it, I guess. Are we ready to talk live feeds?
Chris: I am if you guys are.
Ryan: Aren’t we always? It’s not like I had any exciting plans this weekend!
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re discussing the live feeds (i.e. the online livestream of the game in real-time that’s a few days ahead of episodes in terms of chain of events), so stop reading if you don’t want spoilers!
Lily: Oh boy. So, let’s get up to speed on what’s happened since the veto comp. Today’s feeds starting around 3pm EST after the veto ceremony were batshit b-a-n-a-n-a-s to say the least, but can someone set up for our lovely readers what happened the past two days pre-ceremony in a couple of sentences?
Chris: Pretty much this: Feeds turned on.
Ryan: Ok, so feeds were started, we found out Megan was gone, and that Alex was the new nomination. Cody had a great master plan that nobody in the majority knew.
Chris: We found out Megan walked due to what you saw on the show tonight. And Alex won the veto lol. Not even we feed watchers knew about [Megan quitting]. We suspected who but we didn’t even know.
Lily: The Pretty People alliance (that's what I'm calling the couples and their "associates") were pissed that Alex got herself off the block.
Ryan: Lily, how dare you name the alliance! Cody does not do named alliances. He has interests and promises.
Chris: Or alliances, apparently.
Lily: Sorry!
Ryan: But yes, everyone but Cody was PISSED that Alex won the veto. Everyone thought we would have a simple Ramses/Whistlenut (i.e. Jason) renom, but Cody was cooking up something else!
Chris: For sure. We knew something was gonna happen, we just didn’t know what lol.
Lily: So we obviously have to go into when shit hit the fan: Cody gets the bright idea to nominate Paul, not knowing that Paul has his den of temptation pendant, which grants him immunity. We didn’t see the ceremony, but the feeds came back on, and CHRISTMAS WAS NOMINATED AND SHE WAS IN THE MIDST OF A GODDAMN MELTDOWN.
Ryan: IT WAS EVERYTHING!
Chris: She was PISSED. And livid. And EVERYONE was so confused.
Ryan: So yeah, yesterday the feeders pretty much deduced that Cody was not going to stick to the plan. Everyone in his alliance was like, “We think he’s nominating Whistlenut, but he doesn’t tell us anything.” Instant red flag.
Chris: Yep and they should have been hammering him but idk if it would have mattered much.
Lily: Now, the eight-persona majority “we’re not an alliance” alliance is fracturing. Everyone’s suspicious of Jessica and Cody. Elena and Raven claim they won’t vote out Christmas. Raven’s now telling everyone who’ll listen to her that Jessica can’t be trusted. Dominique is praying. Paul is just running around like a madman.
Ryan: Cody has played his hand, showing that he was targeting Paul/Christmas with no regard to the relationships his entire alliance had with both of these players, and the entire house has been turned upside down. Also, I’d like to remind everyone, this is just Week 1. WEEK 1!
Lily: I said it the last time we chatted: The biggest flaw in Cody’s plan is that it was always centered on people looking out for his best interests first.
Chris: Yep.
Ryan: Cody is problematic in many ways, and this includes his gameplay.
Chris: Right. I will say that while Cody the person is terrible, Cody the player fascinates me.
Ryan: He wanted to be this “big hero” to get out the veteran of the game, but he just did not take into consideration the other mechanics such as voting, or what a majority is. I actually don’t hate his move to nominate Paul/Christmas if it was executed properly because they are both huge threats, but Cody does not have the same emotional intelligence as a regular human being, and did not consider anyone else.
Chris: Clearly he did not.
Ryan: He did not “Expect the Unexpected” more or less.
Chris: He should have ran it by his “alliance” on Christmas. Not Paul, but Christmas.
Lily: So my question is, who’s sitting pretty because of this huge development, and who’s in deep shit heading into Thursday’s live eviction and subsequent HOH comp?
Chris: Kevin is sitting pretty. He’s the only one really lol.
Lily: Kevin is still the best casting in the show’s history imo.
Ryan: Well, this has created a HUGE opening for Paul. Alex, Ramses, Kevin, and Whistlenut all have new potential now. Get this: JOSH IS NOW RELEVANT AS A VOTE.
Lily: Paul is going on one of the biggest power/guilt trips the house has ever seen. It’s incredible.
Chris: He went from house target to a different form of house target lol.
Lily: Today Alex was cursing up a storm realizing she needed Josh.
Ryan: [Paul] really is playing up the betrayal factor of it all, and all of his friends are dying to make sure they are in good standing.
Chris: 100%.
Ryan: Paul is playing this somewhat well. Gathering information and figuring out who to trust, but if he comes off too victimized, no one will feel sympathy for him.
Lily: He also needs to be careful like last season to keep his stories straight.
Chris: Indeed.
Lily: And any predictions on who’s going home, Jillian or Christmas?
Chris: Right now, this vote is TIGHT.
Lily: It’s one of the most contentious first votes in BB history imo.
Ryan: I think Christmas will end up going, because we have until Thursday. Emotions will die down, logic will prevail, and people ultimately want $500,000!
Lily: That’s true. It’s also pre-jury, so this person’s vote doesn’t matter in terms of handing out that dough.
Ryan: Christmas staying will be HUGE, and really amp the drama, but when you look at her opponent, Jillian, you have to think, is it really worth it to keep Christmas in the game? I feel the houseguests will be conflicted with this all week, and it will probably be a 7–5 or a 6–6 vote.
Chris: [Christmas’] social game is great and she can be a comp beast. I agree with you, Ryan. I think if it’s a 7–5 vote, Jillians gone. If it’s a 6–6 vote, Christmas is gone ’cause Cody breaks the tie. Of course, it’s Sunday and anything can happen.
Ryan: Yeah, we’re making predictions on the current information. There could be another huge event and everything can change.
Lily: Totally. Also, the Pretty People alliance isn’t dealing well with the power shift; who knows who could blow up before then? All right, any last thoughts to end the night?
Chris: I would just like to say that if you don’t have the live feeds, get them. They are $6/month and they give you much more information than the TV show itself.
Lily: And this season is worth the money!
Ryan: I’m going to say we need to watch the core of the showmance alliance, because there is some dissension amongst their ideas going forward. We also need to keep an eye on Dominique because she is WORKING IT!
Chris: Dom is! And also, Elena and Mark aren’t on the same page for this vote as well.
Ryan: What ever will Marlena do?!?! Can they survive this?!?
Chris: Oh god no. Not at all.
Lily: Ohhhh all good points. Basically all of the showmances were fragile, and this nomination ceremony didn’t help things.
Ryan: I hope we see some mixing of the sides so that we have a new chess game going into next week.
