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Big Brother Season 17 Episode One Recap: Time For Something New

By Mark Drum
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This season of Big Brother, started off with a bang! Julie Chen announced that this season would have three twists in the Big Brother house, consisting of a "fan favorite," a twist only the viewers would know about and lastly a new twist they've named "BB Takeover." But first it's time to meet the first eight houseguests.

Meeting the first eight

With tradition the unsuspecting houseguests were surprised with a key to the Big Brother house. A surprising fun fact was learning that Austin, the WWE wrestler has a master's degree in medieval romance literature. However when Austin entered the Big Brother house, he wanted to make sure he would be too much of a threat by saying he had injuries and surgeries. In my previous recap, I mentioned that Audrey had an interesting fact about herself that she revealed to the other houseguests. In a Big Brother first, Audrey is the first transgender houseguest competing in the Big Brother house. This secret was welcomed with open arms from the other six houseguests. However will the next six be just as accepting? We will find out tomorrow night!

Alliances & Budding Showmances in the making

Immediately out of the gate, Da'Vonne, Shelli and Audrey have a conversation about forming an alliance. Forming an alliance in the Big Brother House is a great strategy and important for a houseguest to have because it's a safety net as well as a way to get further in the game. It was interesting to see the ladies tip toe around saying alliance, however it was established the three ladies have formed one. Here's hoping this ladies alliance can survive, or will this be like last season's attempt from Joey? I'm staying optimistic. Meanwhile Shelli and Clay both seem to have a mutual attraction for one another. Could this be a showmance in the making? We'll just have to continue to watch to find out!

Battle of the Block Returns

The "fan favorite" twist was revealed to the houseguests, which was a twist introduced last season called "Battle of the Block (BoB)."  The BoB consists of having two Heads of Household (HoH) and each HoH would nominate two houseguests for eviction. Then the four houseguests nominated for eviction would then compete in BoB. The winning nominated houseguests of BoB would dethrone the HoH that nominated them and make them a possible replacement nominee. Meanwhile those nominated houseguests that one would be safe from eviction that week. However the nominated houseguests that loss, would still be on the block and that HoH who nominated them would stay in power for the week and be safe from eviction.

A Replay Decides HoH

With the first twist revealed that BoB was coming back, Julie Chen announced the first HoH competition. But one houseguest had to sit out from this competition. Da'Vonne immediately volunteers, without hesitation. I think was a good move because she was smart to make sure the other houseguests agree to not nominate her for eviction but the other six we have yet to meet could still nominate her. Entertainment Tonight's Kevin Hart, made an appearance in the Big Brother house, welcoming the houseguest to the backyard before the start of the first competition interviewing the houseguests.

For this HoH competition, the houseguests had to catch tomatoes while standing on a small platform and the first houseguest to reach to 10 would be crowned the first HoH. Meg mentioned that winning the first HoH is important for safety. However winning the first HoH can also show the other houseguests that they're a competitor as well as a possible threat. So in my opinion winning the first HoH isn't important because Big Brother is more than just a game that one has to win competitions it's also a social game as well. Meg was unsuccessful in her attempt at winning the first HoH. A huge surprise for me was seeing Clay drop from the competition so quickly because since he just finished playing college football, it would seem like he would have an advantage in the competition. However in the end it was down to Jace, Shelli, Audrey and James. In a surprising end, the final four dropped all at once and the decision of crowning the first HoH was settled on a replay. Julie Chen then revealed that James was the last person to drop, which meant he was crowned the first HoH.

BB Takeover & Third Twist Revealed

After James' victory, Julie Chen calls all the houseguests to the living room for another announcement. As she told the houseguests earlier about another twist, it was finally revealed. The "BB Takeover," would consist of a new twist introduced to the game each week. Which would mean that whatever twist would be launched in the house will keep all the houseguests on their toes. As well as Julie then revealed to the viewers on the third twist for the season called the "Twin Twist," which for superfans of Big Brother will remember from Season Five when Adria and her twin sister Natalie had been this twist. So whoever this season's houseguests are twins would have to survive five weeks before both could play as individuals. It will be interesting to figure out who the twins will be this season. Or if you really want to know, just do a quick search of all the houseguests and see which comes up with an identical twin. It's safe to rule out Shelli as she revealed that she has a twin brother.

In the meantime, don't forget to tune in tonight on CBS 62 at 8 p.m. for the second part of the two night premiere of Big Brother, where we'll meet the remaining six houseguests as well as see the first BB Takeover twist revealed and who the second HoH is crowned!

Mark Drum is a Farmington Hills, MI native and Big Brother fan since 2000. Mark is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Theatre Arts.

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