Big Brother 19: Why the Hell Is Paul Back?
A Twitter DM chat where we weigh the pros and cons of reality shows bringing “vets” back with a bunch of newbies.
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.
Let’s get a couple of quick Q&As out of the way:
Why should I keep up with this series if I don’t watch Big Brother? First of all, Big Brother is the ultimate lazy summer hate-watch. In addition, here are more ~intellectual~ reasons why you should tune in:
- We’ll be discussing reality TV and pop culture at large, not just within the context of this show.
- We’re funny as hell (at least we think so).
- It’ll broaden your horizons!!!!!!!!
Who on God’s great Earth are these people you’re DM’ing with? Ryan, Chris, and I all met two summers ago during the very tumultuous Big Brother 17 season of summer 2015. We are the epitome of internet friends, and we get along swimmingly.
What is Big Brother? Big Brother is a reality television show where contestants live in a house for several months (nowadays, around 100+ days) and compete in challenges to gain power and vote other people out in the quest for $500,000. Each week, someone gets to be “Head of Household” (HOH) and nominates two people for “eviction” (i.e. to be voted out). People can work to get themselves “off the [eviction] block,” and one or two people are voted out every week. The “big brother” element (from the well-known George Orwell novel 1984) comes from the fact that TV cameras are filming these people at all times, and you can pay money to purchase access to the “live feeds” and watch contestants all summer. Think of it like bougie Survivor.
Anyway, let’s get into today’s chat, where we discuss the premiere’s twists, our feelings on bringing back returning players during majority-newbie seasons for any reality TV show, our faves, and more.
Lily: Okay, so we had our two-night premiere episode, and a lot happened. The season’s theme was introduced (it’s ~temptation~), Paul from season 18 (who’s apparently a “fan favorite”?) was brought back, poor lil microbiologist Cameron was sent home in a first-day eviction, Josh lost his shit, and Cody The Heartless became the first HOH. Whew. What are our initial thoughts on this two-night premiere as a whole?
Chris: I personally thought that the first night had too much going on with the twists and Paul coming back. It felt too rushed and poor Cameron getting evicted just so Paul so could have a spot.
Lily: Yeah, I don’t like first-day evictions. Just seems like a waste of resources.
Ryan: It started out a hot mess, with so many twists, temptations and some tragedies, but I am LIVING for this second night!
Lily: Second night was DEF peak over first night.
Chris: 100% with Ryan and you, Lily.
Ryan: This is why we watch Big Brother! It gets crazy, messy, dramatic in like 15 seconds!
Chris: Indeed! And it was crazy tonight.
Lily: Fo sho. So obviously, first things first, how are we feeling about the “temptation” theme this season? Tbh I can’t even remember last year’s theme, and Big Brother’s got rid of that summer of twists thing during season 17 after three weeks, so…oops.
Ryan: The temptation theme reminds me of early trashy reality tv, and I could not be MORE excited for it! I think it will provide a lot of opportunities for drama and gameplay. It’s basically a season long Pandora’s Box. Please save this receipt for when I am hate the world when this theme eventually screws over my favorite.
Chris: Lol my thoughts at first were the same as yours Ryan. And it gives production a little too much control but I’m willing to deal with it if it means, as you said, early days hot messes.
Lily: Yeah I get a little BB purist when they start throwing out themes left and right, but so far, I’ve really liked the temptation twists in challenges and such. Josh’s challenge breakdown part 1 (we’ll get to that) proved that these temptations can drive intense gameplay and drama.
Chris: 100%. And as long as it’s causing great drama I’m here for it.
Ryan: I really like a well executed theme. I agree that this allows production to tinker a bit more, but seasons in the past like BB4 and BB5 were great with their themes. It really just falls on the execution and whether or not if affects gameplay.
Chris: Agreed.
Lily: I guess we could argue, though, that those seasons (BB4 and BB5) had all new players. This brings me to a topic I know we all have lots of feelings on: How do we feel about Paul being back?
Ryan: UGHHHH.
Chris: Personally for me I don’t like it.
Lily: Hahahahaha
Ryan: I will remember all of my memories of BB18 Paul longingly. I really hate that they brought him back for this, because he was great last year. I rooted FOR HIM last year and against the return of the Vets! It was like [Big Brother producer Allison Grodner] and the production team were standing in the Garden of Eden, everything was perfect, then Grodner decided that we can’t have nice things and bit the damn apple!
Chris: 100% I agree and the problem I have is that any chance we have for a full on All Stars season is probably over.
Lily: That makes me so angry. Another all-stars season would be so fabulous.
Chris: And we saw that Cody tried to make a move tonight against Paul and it’s going to backfire against him hard because Grodner doesn’t want it to fail.
Ryan: The fans are being robbed blind for having more potential all-star players wasted on gimmicks and stunt casting.
Chris: Yes.
Ryan: Cody is a treasure nobody really wanted, but we’re going to love for the entertainment value.
Lily: YES, I totally agree. Paul would’ve been hilarious in an all-stars season; I think a lot of people wouldn’t have known what to do with him. Now, they’re wasting him on a cast that, quite frankly, can hold their own without him.
Chris: Yes and we saw that tonight.
Ryan: I agree 100%. We had 16 fresh, exciting personalities, why mix that up?
Lily: Okay I was going to talk about this way later, but let’s just skip to Cody and then talk about the rest of this cast, shall we? I personally find Cody’s self-righteous, humorless crap to be hilarious.
Ryan: He is an enigma, and I can’t stop watching.
Chris: Me as well and people have to look at him in that light. He like Phillip Sheppard. If you take him seriously, you will not like him.
Ryan: I want to know how Cody works, why he finds now joy in life, and HOW he got casted in the first place?!?! I am clearly too excited about Cody, because I can’t spell simple words. Lol.
Chris: It’s intriguing for sure lol. And they always cast his types but he has this little quirk that screams craziness lol.
Lily: His nomination speech to Megan was icy cold AF. “I just don’t like you very much.” WHAT?!?!?!
Ryan: Chris, you actually mentioned one of my favorite things about Big Brother, taking things seriously. This is such a fun show, you can’t get too caught up in these characters they pick to cause drama!
Lily: Cody is the perfect example of a character you just sort of have to troll all season while not letting him know you’re trolling him. Megan didn’t understand that.
Chris: I loved his nomination speech. And that’s how I try to approach it as character driven. The problem is over the last couple of years, we have been lacking in those imo.
Ryan: Cody is all business, and his nomination speech was an instant classic! I just wish we had got a facial reaction from him after saying “Megan, I just don’t like you.”
Chris: Agreed. I was tweeting something and when he said it I was like “Woah! He’s not messing around!”
Lily: I will say though, he seems to be playing a smart and calculating game based on his own personality. The one problem though, is he’s forgetting something crucial: People aren’t going to play their games based on what’s best for HIM. They care about themselves, obviously. Also, bro alliances often falter when showmances come around, so not sure how the Cody/Matt/Mark trio will end up working out.
Chris: Someone point out that it’s probably going to go the way of the moving company like in BB15.
Ryan: I love the Cody/Matt/Mark DaddyBro alliance. But girls are going to tear them apart!
Lily: I don’t think the women will take well to essentially being called the second string periphery group of “babes.”
Chris: Not at all.
Ryan: Exactly, we appear to have a lot of smart women this season, so I hope we get some dominant female players.
Chris: I agree which is the exact opposite based on cast bios and the like.
Lily: Yeah, that’s one thing I’ve really liked: The women seem more dynamic this season. Sure, we’ve got the “quirky girl” trope in Raven (and slightly Jillian) as well as the “hot chick” trope in Jessica, but there seems to be a little more variety in terms of who these women are.
Ryan: I could not agree more. We have some interesting types in Christmas, Dominique, Elena, and Alex.
Lily: Ugh if only those four would pair up…
Ryan: If we trust Cody’s point of view, we have a high school social clique dynamic.
Chris: I’m torn on Christmas. One minute I like her and the next I’m like “shut up.”
Lily: Haha, please explain Chris!
Ryan: Christmas is her favorite time of the year and also her favorite topic. She’s a crossfitter, in case you didn’t know.
Chris: What Ryan just said is when I don’t like her. I appreciate the “I’m here to play and eat souls” stuff. But please, I don’t wanna hear about that stuff all the time.
Ryan: Sorry! I just could not contain myself! To add on to that though, her Diary Room sessions talking about how “this is all going to her plan” and “I want to see where I stand,” It is day 1 girl, nobody cares about you that much!
Lily: True, true, true.
Chris: Esp since she was JUST on the block and only got TWO eviction votes.
Ryan: Can we talk about that first night decision?
Lily: Ah yes, let’s talk about the first night! So, what did y’all think of it being a first-night eviction, first and foremost?
Chris: I myself don’t mind them but how Cameron went out was crap. If they wanted Paul on, cast 15 [people] and Paul.
Ryan: My superfan heart broke for Cameron. I’m sure he spent all this time getting ready to live his dream just to have it come to a shrieking halt. I understand that Big Brother is a game, and it is far from fair, but I do not understand the logic behind these decisions. Why spend all this time casting for this person, putting in so much work to find the perfect balance of a cast just to ruin it? Paul was a recruit! This opportunity did not hold the same value going in as it did for Cameron. I would say we have to “Expect the Unexpected,” but this is now the third “premiere” eviction we have seen in six seasons.
Lily: Wait, that’s so true. I think it’s losing its flair.
Chris: I agree 100% with you Ryan and why I will not apply for future seasons.
Ryan: I feel like Cameron got to play the most Big Brother of the three first night boots, but it still crappy!
Lily: I just keep think about the amount of resources (namely $$$) they spent on casting Cameron, only to get him out 12 hours in.
Chris: Right for Paul whom they think will bring in ratings when it probably won’t.
Lily: Also, what was up with that “Paul gives out eight friendship bracelets to save people” crap? Do we think it’s going to make a difference in the future?
Chris: If I had to guess, I’d say that it was a way for him to build an alliance so to speak.
Lily: And quite frankly, is Paul even popular enough to pull off what Grodner hopes he can? I thought he was super polarizing last season.
Chris: He was.
Lily: I actually wouldn’t be entirely shocked if he doesn’t get that first “Den of Temptation” prize thing that America votes on.
Ryan: Honestly, Paul is super charismatic, so he can build off of the goodwill he created (or production created) with the bracelets, and we have seen that Teddy Bear Mark already feels loyalty to Paul.
Chris: Me either. I’m banking on him getting it, which is unfair IMO but we just gotta hope that this cast is strong enough to overcome that.
Ryan: Paul will most definitely win the first America’s vote to ensure he’s safe for awhile.
Lily: This is also why I’m glad Cody could potentially backdoor him: At least there’s some drama there.
Chris: That’s true. Once Paul get its, it’s over and Cody will go nuts and if it means we will lose a non entity like Jillian then I’m not too upset.
Lily: Anyway, back to the first night’s shenanigans. Did anyone’s votes during that first eviction surprise you? I was totally not shocked that it was all guys’ votes going after Christmas and Jillian.
Ryan: The eviction vote was somewhat surprising, but I think it was smart for the woman to maintain a gender balance.
Chris: I agree with both points.
Chris: With that being said, why are you not taking Christmas out there? She has the social game and the comp game. That’s deadly lol.
Ryan: The real shocker for me was Christmas choosing a vote over a competition! Why did she do that!?!?
Chris: THIS! And she would have smoked Jillian and Cameron.
Ryan: I think she would have dominated, which I guess is what she’s trying to hide.
Lily: My thoughts EXACTLY. It ended up working in her favor.
Chris: Valid point lol. It did.
Ryan: But I’m not sure you know, she’s a champion crossfitter.
Chris: Lol Ryan bringing us back.
Lily: Hahahaha. Okay so I do want to get into some of the other characters and then talk Josh/Megan. As I said previously, I think Kevin is a genius casting decision. Pure genius.
Chris: 100% I agree about Kevin. “Cockplay” dead hahahahaha.
Ryan: Kevin!! He is completely genuine, and will provide a lot of unintentional comedy this summer. And way to go snagging $25K on night 1!
Lily: When Kevin took the $25,000 temptation on night one, I was intrigued. When he changed his outfit 20 times on night one, I chuckled. When he was like, “WTF IS THIS BIDDY?” when Nicole walked in, I cackled.
Chris: 100%. OMG THAT WAS GREAT! He had NO idea who she was.
Ryan: TBH, I was like who is this when Nicole came back too, because I’m STILL pissed.
Lily: #ByeNicole
Chris: I was annoyed. No one blames Kevin for taking the $25K right?
Lily: Hell no. Someone was going to take it.
Ryan: Not at all! Kevin will make more money than 90% of this cast in that single moment.
Lily: Another interesting wild card who’s been more subdued than I thought he’d be: Jason the Cowboy.
Ryan: You mean Whistlenut?
Chris: Agreed about Whistlenut. Lol.
Lily: I thought he’d be pissing people off with Trumpisms or something by now tbh. He seems really well-liked?
Chris: In the house, yes.
Ryan: I grew up in Mississippi going to rodeos, I can respect a grown man who chooses to go by Whistlenut to entertain the masses.
Chris: Same here. And the fact that he asked his wife to be in showmance is >>>>.
Ryan: Jason hits the Donny Thompson chord for me.
Chris: That’s a good comparison.
Ryan: He’s a middle-aged guy who’s here to make sure everyone has a good time.
Lily: Oh totally. And two characters I wish were more diabolical than they’ll probably end up being: Alex and Ramses.
Chris: I am totally turned off by Ramses to be quite honest. Like yay for him for being excited but he’s going to be excited for every. Little. Thing.
Lily: He’s 21! 2–1!
Ryan: It’s strange, I really like Ramses, but he’s super young for this cast, and I think that will be a detriment to him.
Lily: Preaaaach. He’s a young 21.
Chris: He sure is.
Ryan: Then on the same hand, Alex, is 28, but comes off closer to 21.
Chris: And I think that someone is gonna play him hard.
Ryan: I am having a really hard time liking Alex.
Chris: I’m mixed. Like she’s not as bad as I thought but she was like, idk lol.
Lily: She’s a strong competitor who played a little hard out the gate and is now in the “outsiders” alliance. Cody totally feels threatened by her after that trapeze comp.
Chris: Oh 100% and as he should.
Lily: I’m surprised he didn’t put her up actually?
Chris: There has to be more to the story.
Ryan: I am too, but I think he may be saving her as a backdoor potential?
Chris: Possibly.
Ryan: We really have incomplete information without the feeds.
Lily: Actually, now that I think about it, I could see Cody really respecting her gameplay. He keeps talking about how he values honesty, and nothing was more honest than Alex yelling, “Cody, I hope you eat shit!” an hour into a comp.
Ryan: Hahaha!
Chris: 100% hahaha.
Ryan: This is true. I feel like Cody would respect this. She was cheering for him in night 2.
Chris: Yes.
Lily: So now, we’ve gotta talk about what I know we’ve all been waiting for: JOSH. OH MY GOD, JOSH.
Ryan: JOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSH! He’s not going no where!
Chris: HOLY CRAP HE WAS GREAT TONIGHT.
Ryan: Josh is exactly what I wanted when we met him, and he DELIVERED NIGHT TWO!
Chris: He really did. And what in the wide world did Megan do?
Lily: He’s truly Devin 2.0, except I’d argue even better.
Ryan: That is the mystery of the night, what did Megan do!?!
Chris: Hopefully we find out when the feeds go live.
Ryan: I will take Josh on my screen for as long as I can have him. He is going to be a wild ride.
Lily: Megan's a strange one. I was NOT a fan during her intro when she said she was one of those girls who didn't get along with other girls (bleh). But she seems pretty harmless, if you ask me. She also doesn't have as much BB knowledge as she thinks.
Chris: I agree with that Lily. But she will probably be the easy first boot…well, second.
Ryan: Megan seems like the typical “offbeat” girl that gets targeted fast.
Lily: And how far do we think Josh is going after this week? Quick boot?
Chris: Oh he is for sure a quick boot lol.
Ryan: It will be a miracle for him to make jury.
Lily: He seems like a mashup of Devin from BB16 and Audrey from BB17 the more I think about it.
Ryan: What a beautiful combination that is.
Chris: With a sprinkle of Jozea.
Lily: Ah, all of the best pre-jury boots of recent seasons. Okay so I have a note I want to end on: We’re two episodes in. Who do we think is in a strong spot for now, and who’s on the struggle bus?
Chris: Kevin is in a strong spot imo. And Megan is for sure on the struggle bus lol.
Ryan: I would say all the girls mentioned as “the babes” by Cody [are in a strong spot]. They really hold the power, as they did in the first vote.
Chris: Agreed.
Ryan: That would be Raven, Dominique, Elena, Christmas, and Jessica. It’s only been two episodes but I would say three of these girls are going to make it far.
Lily: And do we think all of the people in the outsiders alliance are entirely screwed? I’d say no, because we don’t know what their allegiances look like with the “power” girls group or the more subdued guys (like Jason, for instance).
Chris: Not at all because recently, all the outsiders have formed a counter-alliance to combat that. For as powerful as Vanessa [from BB17] was, she was on the outs the first couple of weeks.
Lily: That’s very true!
Ryan: The only people who I think are screwed with 0% chance to win, are Josh and Megan.
Chris: At this point, yes. I agree.
Ryan: He really brought a lot of attention to the both of them, and they will be easy fodder for everyone.
Chris: And with you saying that, do we wanna make predictions as to how the week will go?
Lily: Haha yes, let’s make predictions!
Ryan: Okay, I love games!
Chris: I think that Megan is a goner if she doesn’t win veto and once Paul probably gets the pendant.
Lily: Wait we’re identical in predictions, Chris hahaha.
Chris: Hahahahaha that’s great.
Ryan: I’m not sure how this “Den of Temptation” will shake things up, but I am assuming Paul will get that power.
Lily: And if Paul somehow didn't get the pendant, who do you think would win it?
Chris: Kevin. Or Christmas.
Ryan: Christmas? She’s a social media mogul. Back to my predictions! I agree Megan is a goner without veto, but I think Alex could be in trouble as a backdoor plan.
Chris: I could see that playing out. If Megan wins the veto, she comes down, Alex goes up and Alex is gone.
Lily: I could see that happening.
Chris: And even if Paul doesn’t win the pendant and goes up, whomever he is up against will go.
Lily: Ohhhh, interesting prediction!
Ryan: Chris is correct. Paul will not go home, even if he is on the block.
Lily: So, any notes y’all want to end on?
Chris: I’m good personally.
Ryan: I just want to say to keep an eye out on those girls we didn’t get to talk about. And I guess, expect the unexpected? Ba-dum-chk.
