Big Brother 25- Recap for 8/2/23 (Premiere & Live Feeds)

Good morning and afternoon! Big Brother feels like forever ago but we’re finally back. Making it to the 25th season is pretty cool too. I’ll touch on the positives, the negatives and the bizarre from last night. (for me at least) Be patient with me because it takes a minute to get back in the swing of things.

I enjoy a live move in, I like a 90 minute episode and love night 1 feeds. I don’t care for the move in format with 4 comps. However, this cast does look promising to me. We didn’t get much preseason info but I liked what I saw. With the addition of Cirie, this is the 2nd oldest cast we’ve ever had. (BB10 still being #1)

I’ll try to go in order of what happened but ya’ll know I won’t be able to do it. The move in was slow as hell but the intro packages weren’t that bad. Since Blue seems to be an alternate who made it in, we got next to nothing on her before last night. I was glad to hear more about her.

Although most of the cast claims to be superfans, (like they do every year) did you notice how most of them couldn’t find the backyard? If that wasn’t enough to give it away, most didn’t know who Danielle, Brittney or Frankie were either and it was obvious. Corey definitely did and I mirrored his expression at seeing Danielle.

The clip of them with the time laser was so cringy and I think my expression probably mirrored Hasim’s a bit too.

It’s fine though because it wouldn’t be BB without a little cringe. I’ll also take Britney and Danielle on my screen anytime. It was redeemed just by hearing Britney refer to ‘losing her dignity on a slippery weiner’ again and Danielle refer to her bitter jury. (Good times)

It’s a weird dynamic on move in night because I’m so hyped for it and halfway through the episode, I start wondering why. I mean, it really drags with 4 move in segments and 4 comps. I was bored for most of the episode. It’s no fault of the house guests and more about how they format it.

For the positive, someone has finally figured out how to show comps on tv to keep us interested! I liked the split screen and overhead views during the comps. For the most part, I could actually see who was ahead! Thank you BB.

Mecole running in heels was both impressive and not a great call on her part.

I enjoyed the fake newspaper headlines during the comps and the framed ones in the house. (Did anyone else enjoy just seeing a newspaper again even if it was fake?)

I’m a little meh on the theme but I did like the house decor. I like the creepy room with with what looks like prison hospital beds.

How can you go wrong with a room that has a swinging bed, a weiner bed and a cheese bed?

My favorite is the upside down room tho.

Seriously though, Julie couldn’t say nether world or or literally anything else besides nether region for the place they sent Corey? Maybe it’s different in other areas but something entirely different comes to mind for me when someone says ‘nether region.’

Having the episode end with Cirie pouring champaigne was great! It had been rumored but I didn’t buy into it. Cirie has said for a long time that she’d like to do BB and so…here we are. (I have mixed feelings)

Here’s why I’m torn… I don’t like people coming in the house with an advantage and having your son there is definitely one. This also looks to be a cast that could provide entertainment on their own. I had immediate flashbacks to Paul and BB19 and never want to relieve a season like that again!

On the flip side, Cirie is a strategic genius but we’ve only seen her operate in an edited format. The opportunity to watch someone like her on live feeds with an unedited view is pretty hard to pass up! For people who watch Survivor, we know what this woman is capable of doing but we’ve never seen the full picture of HOW she was able to do it. Here’s another but less important positive. There’s always been some Survivor snobbery when it comes to BB. BB players go to Survivor but Survivor players are’ too good’ to be on a silly little show like BB. (At least that’s the word on the street) That’s been the general consensus for years and Cirie single handedly legitimized BB in the minds of many in 1 night.

To sum it up, I still don’t know how I feel about it and I’m okay with that. Since this cast is a bit older, I don’t think we’ll have another BB19 so why worry until we see a steamroll? For now, I’m just going to enjoy what’s to come and am excited to see her play BB. (I think and hope you’ll find me doing less complaining this season)

Sure, I’ll point out things I think are stupid but that’s not legit complaining, just observation. After spending my spring trying to enjoy BB Canada without live feeds, (I didn’t) I’m trying to develop more of a ‘you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit’ mentality. (No idea if I’ll be successful) Don’t hold me to this but I might be hoping Jared gets evicted. I would see it as a win-win. I could watch Cirie play the game but without an advantage. It’s nothing against Jared, I’d just like to see his mom play Big Brother over him. (I don’t see that happening this week though but you never know)

I’m surprised they had such a big twist in Cirie joining the game to only devote about 30 seconds to it. It didn’t appear that most knew who she was when they came back in the house. Of course, we don’t know because the show ended. What we did get during credits was a glimpse of Izzy and Jared speaking alone and doing what looked like a pinky promise. My guess was she’d figured it out and promised not to tell. (That was confirmed later in the night)

Ok, pause for a moment about the names this year…Izzy, Red, Blue, Bowie, America. Were these people cast for their names alone?

The episode ended with 4 noms and Corey stuck somewhere in Julie’s nether region. I felt bad for the guy with already being younger than everyone else and suddenly isolated. (Started having Sam, robot, BB 20 flashbacks) Luckily, he was already back when the feeds came on so it could’ve been worse. He really is a superfan so I hope he isn’t the first one gone.

I liked not having an HOH comp last night. During the feeds, it felt like everyone was on a level playing field. Well…except for the obvious one. People were scrambling to make friends and get to know each other without having that 1 person in a power position already. Although, with Cirie putting on a robe, making herself comfortable and Izzy running to get her a footstool, It sort of felt like she was the HOH.

Before you get a gross mental picture, no, it wasn’t THAT stool!

Kirsten was really working which was good because she’s otb. She was talking with everyone, making friends, asking them questions about their lives, etc. I saw good stuff from her but hold that thought because it may not have lasted.

The first alliance apparently formed was Phalanx 5 (Don’t ask me) It included Matt, Luke, Jared, Kirstin and Reilly. It happened quickly and loudly. I didn’t get the feeling it was well thought out but rather one of those that happened because that’s who was in the room.

Tyler and Brett flashback anyone?

Meanwhile, Cirie was making one with Felicia, Kirsten and Mecole. (Meme apparently) It’s the Brigade type of alliance where they’re all supposed to go get an extra person. I think Izzy is Cirie’s person.

Felicia said she wants Jared as a 5th to this 4 and Cirie didn’t complain. (Haha) Jared already asked if he can call Felicia “Mama Felicia” in front of his mom so that was pretty funny.

Jared and Cirie have the thing with Izzy too because of being busted by her and Corey may be the target for the week. Corey did some major oohing and aahhing over Cirie but told her he’d try to stop. It’s probably too late because she’s starting an alliance with the other nominees and related to one of them. Cirie believes Corey is playing dumb and that he’s very game savvy and intelligent. (Probably true)

Cirie watching Jared have to kick his own ass before he could leave the room: (You spin a thing and the number it lands on is how many times you have to do it)

To be clear, at least for now, everyone knows who Cirie is but they do not know she’s related to Jared, except for Izzy. No one knows (or will care) Corey’s brother was on Survivor too. Since we didn’t see the first couple of hours, I don’t know if this is something that would’ve happened anyway (about wanting Corey out) or if he could’ve done something similar to Izzy if he’d been entering the house with everyone else. There was a chance he could’ve confided to Cirie and Jared who his brother was and maybe they could’ve formed something. Anyway, that ship has sailed and Jared was already telling Izzy that Corey needed to go.

Most people seem to think Reilly has a lot of power already because the perception is that she’s making the most friends. (Don’t know if true) She seems to mostly hang with Jag so far.

Some random things:

Felicia has one of the best laughs I’ve heard in years. She’s also already dropped her mic in the toilet. (Haha) She’s called the HOH, the HOA and the POV, the power of attorney. (She’s gonna be fun!)

Funny Tweet from Corey’s brother:

Jared was calling Hisam ‘Hymen’ by mistake and Cirie explained just how off he was on the name.

Izzy’s been telling everyone she thinks Cameron is a serial killer. (???)

America had bought tickets for Azah’s BB premiere watch party because she didn’t know yet that she’d be ON the premiere. She also said she doesn’t think anyone should be paranoid yet and doesn’t think anyone’s really gaming yet. Haha

Moving on…

Cirie may not want to work with Kirsten anymore because Jared told her about the Phalanx 5 alliance.

Lasr night was the usual frenzy. Kirsten did alot (maybe too much) but she’s otb so I get it. I think if she goes to Cirie and tells her about her new alliance, that problem could go away. Corey was trying to get in good with Cirie but he may be doomed. Red, Jag, Reilly, Bowie and Cameron were laying pretty low but still being social. Hasim, Matt and Mecole were gaming but much more subtle. Overall, I was impressed with this group last night.

If Matt wants to disguise some of his athleticism, he may need to put on an actual shirt with sleeves for the first few days. (Just a thought)

I’m sure I missed a ton but hey, what can I say? I’ve been used to actually sleeping at night for a year. As of last night, the targets could be Corey or Kirsten. (Felicia doesn’t seem to like Kirsten) Cirie and Jared might get busted and Jared could become this weeks target. Who knows? I think we’ll know a lot more about where this week is heading after a full day of feeds.

Yes, this was loaded with Cirie images but for the moment, everything will center around her. Here’s to fun feeds this season and hoping you all have a great Thursday!

Mel