Season 12: Episode 01: A House Like No Other
Meet the New HouseGuests!
Every fan knows that the Big Brother HouseGuests show up to the House ready to compete for the coveted $500,000 prize. Well, the classic BIG BROTHER mantra “expect the unexpected” is still very much true. For the first time ever, one of the thirteen HouseGuests will not be playing for the big prize, but acting as a secret Saboteur!
Host Julie Chen explains that over the first half of the season, the Saboteur will be wreaking havoc on individual players, rival alliances and even the entire house itself. The Saboteur does have an incentive, however—if he or she makes it five weeks in the House and pulls off all of their assigned sabotages, the Saboteur will walk away with $50,000. Talk about a different kind of season…
The House takes on an ultra-modern Miami feel this summer, with Arkansas hotel sales manager Britney, California college professor Ragan, swim coach Brendon and chemistry student-slash-Las Vegas cocktail waitress Rachel kicking off the season by entering their new South Beach-themed home.
The second group of HouseGuests to enter features Texas oil rig salesman Lane, Florida bartender Annie, New Jersey insurance adjuster Enzo, Arkansas sheriff Kathy and Miami podiatrist and Orthodox Jew Andrew, who shouts “Mazel Tov” when he bursts into the House.
The HouseGuests are all accounted for when Arizona college student Hayden, Philadelphia boutique manager Kristen, certified genius/web designer Matt and Illinois model Monet come rushing through the door. Instead of stopping for some introductory hugs, Monet plows past Kathy to make sure she has a bed of her own—now that’s a woman ready to play the game of Big Brother!
Bring out the Bubbly
Annie gets the party started by popping open the introductory bottles of champagne, which leads right into the traditional HouseGuest meet and greet. Ragan thinks the tall and handsome Brendon could apply for the job of Superman, while Enzo is worried about having a sheriff like Annie in the house. Andrew starts off by making up a sob story about being laid off and having to work in a shoe store, but all Rachel notices is how cute Andrew looks wearing his “Yom Kippur.” Andrew isn’t the only HouseGuest holding back; Matt declines to reveal he is a certified genius, Annie keeps her bisexuality quiet and Ragan also gives himself a demotion by telling everyone he is a student, not a professor. That’s a whole lot of lying and obfuscation right from the start—is the Saboteur among those already spinning tales or keeping quiet?
Hanging with the Enemy
Julie chimes into the living room and after a quick hello reminds everyone BIG BROTHER wouldn’t want to disappoint them by being too predictable. “One of you is actually not here to win the game,” she says, explaining the Saboteur twist to the HouseGuests. Julie reveals the Saboteur can win Head of Household and Veto competitions, but he or she will not be eligible for the final $500,000 prize. While the Saboteur has a chance to walk away with 50 Grand by making it to the halfway point, he or she will leave with nothing if evicted within the next five weeks.
Suddenly the living room monitor flashes and a shadowy figure with a masked voice appears! “Watch your back,” the Saboteur warns. “I can and will strike at any time.”
“There goes our drama-free night,” Ragan says, as everyone discusses the wrench in the works. Rachel wants to know how she can trust anyone, even a potential showmance, while Annie wonders if she should suspect anyone who mocks the Saboteur. Kathy notes that cops are already naturally paranoid, so this will make her only more suspicious of everyone around her. Who could it be?
I’ll Take Mine with Extra Relish
It’s time for the first competition of the season, but some business must be worked out first. Julie announces the inaugural HoH competition requires two teams, but with 13 HouseGuests, someone must volunteer to sit out. Andrew shoots his hand up, and learns he is not eligible for HoH. Enzo and Hayden find Andrew’s behavior fishy.
The HouseGuests then change, coming out as the red and yellow teams, with Andrew dressed as a hot dog! Matt notes that Andrew is definitely a kosher wiener. When the HouseGuests go outside, they discover the backyard has been transformed into a giant grill, with two huge hot dog wieners hanging in the air. Julie explains each team will use a series of pulleys to bring team members across the grill one at a time on their respective team’s wiener. The first member of the winning team across the grill gets $10,000, with the second member scoring $1,000. Successive team members across the grill get less and less cash, but the final winning team member across wins something unique—Head of Household.
Both teams find getting their first couple of players across fairly easy, but when gobs of ketchup and mustard get sprayed onto the hotdogs, the competition gets much more difficult. Red and yellow team members start suffering some fantastic falls, but things get serious when red team member Britney falls and injures her knee.
First responder Kathy jumps down to help, but the real doctor in the house, Andrew, does nothing, keeping up his lie about being a shoe salesman. Britney’s injury requires the House medic to check her out, but luckily her knee is not seriously hurt. However, Britney is not able to continue. Julie asks Britney if she is okay with that, and Britney says she is. To make the game fair, Julie asks the yellow team to chose a red team player who has already made it across to go again in place of Britney. The yellow team picks Kristen, and the game ends when the red team quickly smokes yellow, with Hayden taking the first HoH.
The Saboteur Strikes!
After cleaning up from the very messy HoH competition, the HouseGuests lounge in the living room. Suddenly the lights go out, sending the House into total darkness. At first Britney thinks there is some sort of technical difficulty, but it becomes clear that the Saboteur just may be at work. Despite the darkness Brendon continues a search for his toothbrush, while Andrew takes the opportunity to pull some pranks by opening and closing bedroom doors. The lights come up again and the monitor flashes on—the Saboteur thanks the HouseGuests for making the first move of the summer so easy! There is now a lock on the storage room door, which means no food or supplies and a diet of BIG BROTHER slop for the night! The accusations soon start flying as Ragan notes they are living within a murder mystery. If the first prank is starvation, Matt asks, where will the Saboteur go from here?
Talk about a fun start to the BIG BROTHER season! So whom will Hayden nominate for eviction? How will the Saboteur strike again? Can the HouseGuests figure out who is the traitor among them? Tune in Sunday, July 11 at 8pm ET/PT for BIG BROTHER on CBS!
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