Putting the Strange in Strangers

Season Premiere - 7/13

ARTicle by funnygirl

Season 10 has started with a whizz-bang-whoot! Julie has promised us that there will be no "exes", siblings, twins, partners of any form in this season's cast. Everyone is complete strangers. We then get the two minute clip of all the new houseguests receiving their keys and re – "acting" to the news. Some were so bad that I have little hope for some good Survivor-like subterfuge. I did manage to write down some stand-outs in my notes. Dan, Jerry and Angie were highlighted, but for the life of me I can't remember why. This is why I should not order cocktails until after I recap. Before the commercial, Julie teases that the game will begin before the houseguests ever get a chance to talk to each other.

Start 'Em Up Early

We come back from break and the houseguests are lined up outside the Big Brother house. You have your usual sideways glances of the houseguests as they size each other up. These intensify when Julie announces they will be choosing the first HOH before they go into the house. The gather around a makeshift podium where there are ballots with pictures of each of the houseguests. Verterans of the show know that houseguests are not allowed to talk to each other until they are inside the Big Brother house so their choice will be made on gut reactions to appearances alone. The ballots are cast and Julie informs them she will announce the first HOH later. Then she starts to allow contestants into the house in groups of 4 and 5.

Renny, Dan, Angie, Jessie and April go in first. Renny is the oldest woman in the house and she immediately falls in love with the 70s themed bedroom and April is right there with her. She tells us quite excitedly that she voted for Renny because she felt a connection with her. Jessie and Dan pass up the pink room and go for the black and red rock and roll room instead.

The next group to enter is Libra, Brian, Keesha and Memphis. Memphis is the first person to mention that everybody is all friendly now, but just wait until they find out who is HOH and predicts the vibe will change immediately.

Jerry, the 75 year old great-grandfather corrals the final group into the house. This consists of Steven, Michelle and Ollie. As they arrive, Renny is wandering around the house yelling peace in a voice that makes last season's Amber's voice tolerable by comparison. We then get a DR glimpse from April ruminating over her decision to throw her vote at Renny for HOH and checking her vibe to see if it needs new batteries.

The Meet & Greet

Everyone eventually meets up in the living room on the couches. They open the champagne and everyone is talking and sharing their excitement for being there until Ollie pronounces "I don't drink" and the room quiets quickly.

Renny takes this opportunity to say as many inappropriate things as she possibly can before she loses her moment in the spotlight. It doesn't go unnoticed by any of the other players.

Somebody gets the bright idea to change the subject and play the "get to know you" game. They go around in the circle and introduce themselves, who they are, how old and where they are from. Libra jumps right in with both feet and talks about her inter-racial marriage and mixed package kiddies. One of the contestants compares it to Ollie and April who happen to be sitting next to each other. Nervous laughter erupts. Steven introduces himself as single and then stops himself short. Editing takes us to a DR session of Steven telling us he didn't want to let on too early about his ability to ride some bull (if you know what I mean). Memphis explains to us that he's a mixologist which is not to be confused as a bartender, but more a "chef for alcoholics". My initial reaction to Memphis is…"I likey"!

April decides the best way for people to get to know her is to cop a feel of her real breasts. Jerry takes his turn and the crowd goes wild. I give a mental high five to Jerry for taking part in this childish game, but managing to get himself something above the waist for a change. (Yeah, I went there.)

The Competition Begins

Julie is back to tell the hamsters that they will be having their first competition. In the spirit of the 10th season, it will be a luxury competition. She then proceeds to explain that there will be two teams and because there is an uneven number of houseguests somebody must sit out. Jessie the "natural" body builder (this is such an oxy-moron…I know he means he's done it without steroids, however, there is nothing "natural" about the way this kid looks) doesn't hesitate to volunteer himself out of the game. He tells us it's so they don't use his physique against him, but I'm not buying it.

The teams separate and they head to the backyard where they see two VW Bugs hanging upside down on what appears to be a zip line. Also in the backyard is a '66 convertible and a '69 Camaro. Jessie has to sit and between his head between his knees when Julie tells them choice of the vintage cars is the prize for this game.

Julie proceeds to explain how the game works. One by one each of the members of the team must climb into the upside bug. Then they have to move themselves to the opposite end of the field and retrieve a gas can. Once they have it, they must pull themselves back to the other end of the field and drop off one member of their team. The team who drops off all members of their team first wins. The last person to get out of the car, wins their choice of vintage cars.

As each individual is figuring out how to win without being seen as a greedy Gus, Julie further explains that the losing team will be on slop for the week. She throws a bone to Jessie and says because he cannot compete he is exempt from slop this first week. He regains some color hearing this.

The game begins and the girls are quick to let it be known they are not interested in winning the car, they just want to win to stay off slop. Ollie explains how he wants to win the car for his brother. (yeah, right) and we get a couple of DR tidbits from the younger guys telling us how their car broke down just before leaving for the show. Yeah, right!

The red team takes the early lead because they can't get Renny-the-useless out of the car fast enough. They also realized having one member jump out of the car to retrieve the gas can and jumping back in is a heck of a lot faster than dangling from the car and reaching for the gas cans. Long story short, red team wins. Memphis wins the '69 Camaro by beating Steven in a "rock, paper, scissors" throw down. I'm thinking Memphis just placed a huge target on his back.

The white team is worried about great grampa being on slop for the week. The white team is cluttered with boneheads.

HOH Winner Revealed

I was not shocked that Jerry got HOH. What shocked me is that Renny was a very close second with 3 votes (Jerry had 4)!! This is either going to be a very good season or a very bad season. I would truly like to know how the votes went down and their rationale behind the voting. Should be Julie's first question each eviction night.

The other thing that bothers me for some odd reason is Julie reminds Jerry that with the sweet comes the bitter and that in less than 24 hours he has to put two people up on the chopping block. I'm not bothered by Julie taking the wind out of Jerry's sails. What irks me is her using the term "chopping block". She cannot sit there in a cocktail dress, trying to be all professional and throw off the words "chopping block" like she's discussing his wish list for Santa. It just doesn't sound right coming out of her mouth. But I digress…Jerry tells us he thinks this honor will give him the pick of the litter on who to go all the way with (his words not mine).

Aftermath

As hamsters scramble to various places in the house, Dan is already at work trying to figure out who to align with and how to get to Jerry's ear. He sets his sights on Brian and starts working it early. They talk strategy and decide they need to bring a third into the mix. Dan indicates Ollie and Brian isn't opposed to the idea. Dan says he'll work on it and they leave each other with a brief kiss promising to hook up later in their room. Not really, I was just wanting to see if you were paying attention.

Dan nonchalantly flops on the couch across from Ollie. He indicates he needs to talk in private. Ollie motions that they should go into the bathroom. With a nod of his head, Dan is on the move. He tells Ollie about he and Brian's plan. Ollie tells him he's in and that Dan has his word on it. He lets Dan know that his word is all he has in this game.

The HOH room is revealed with all of Jerry's personal belongings. The man has been gone for maybe all of a week and he gets all misty once he spots the throw that normally hangs over his favorite chair at the old homestead. There are before and after pics of he and the wife. One of the gals mentions that Jerry "was a hottie". I know he's an old curmudgeon now, but a little decorum puhlease! That hurts your feelings at any age folks!

Nighttime Antics Brings Da Drama

After a very long first day in the Big Brother house, Jessie is tired and heads to bed. Shortly thereafter, we see everybody else start heading to their respective beds. Renny, who told us early on that she was there to bring Mardis Gras fun to the BB house and to hell with those who weren't in, has decided that it's too early for bed and gets out of bed in the dark and starts bumping around the room. Then she starts giggling telling people the door is locked and she can't get out of the room. That gets no reaction so she brings up the fact that it's a fire hazard. Somebody gets out of bed and opens the door without a problem which sends Renny into hyena-like giggles and hisses. In the other room, Jessie is getting pissed. He's tired and he knew that people would be up late in the BB house, but he didn't think they would be rude about it like Renny is. He waited 20 minutes and then couldn't take it anymore. He gets up and goes out to the living room and flops on the couch. You know he's feeling all gangsta cause he has his hood pulled up.

Renny comes out of the bedroom and walks through the living area. Nobody says anything at all. She goes into the bathroom where Jessie follows her. He says something to Renny about being disrespectful to him while he's trying to sleep. She starts to apologize, but then tells him to "lighten up". In a DR moment, she says he's such a baby and would be embarrassed if he was her son. God, I hope this woman did not procreate!

In the meantime, Dan and Brian have a front row seat to the festivities but don't say a word.

Strategies and Alliances – Day 1

The next day the majority of the houseguests are outside in the sun and Brian and Dan are locked together in an embrace. Again, just waking you up They are actually in the storage room. Brian is telling Dan how he is going to go up to talk to Jerry now and get in his ear as opposed to waiting to see how things fall. We next see him up in the HOH room with Jerry and he's telling him how his granpa was in the Marines and he was in the Airforce. Jerry takes this moment to have a fireside chat with Brian and bond a little bit. He tells some anecdote from Nixon about grabbing somebody or something by the balls and Brian is all for it. Why does it always come down to testicular issues with men?

Dan finally gets around to asking Jerry what his plans are for nominations. Jerry tells him he trusts Dan and thinks they should form an alliance to the end. Dan agrees, but in the DR he tells us that he'll keep Jerry around until the ship starts sinking. Jerry is thinking out loud and mentions maybe putting Memphis up since he already won the car and maybe Dan. Brian looks shell-shocked at the mention of his secret lover's name. He tries to be cool in suggesting to Jerry that maybe they should consider Renny and maybe Jessie. You can tell that Jerry notices the sweat on Brian's brow, but tells him that may not be a bad idea.

While Jerry ruminates about where to put the keys in the box, Renny tells us that she hopes she's making a good first impression. She just wants everyone to like her. (yeah, my jaw dropped too) Jessie (who I really want to like) tells us he hopes his physique doesn't make him a target. Brian is sweating it out until he actually has proof that Jerry is on his side.

Jerry calls everybody in for their first nomination ceremony. Most of the girls are safe early on. Funnily enough Jerry doesn't let Dan or Brian off the hook until the last so their seats were a little damp when they stood up. The two without a key are Jessie and Renny. Jerry's explanation makes perfect sense and it's a very adult way to do such a horrible thing. Because of their dispute the other night, Jerry feels that the house as a group should make the decision and help them work out the differences.

Renny is up to the challenge but tells us Jessie will need "all of his muscles" to beat her and Jessie is just pissed that Renny's bad behavior made him a target.

Brian gets the last laugh since he thinks he's pulling the strings in the house.

Funnygirl's Thoughts and Opinions

I personally loved this first episode. We do have a nice mixture of folks in the house this season. It is so obvious to me that most of the girls in the house are putting on a show and that we will see some real behavioral issues in the very near future.

I think that Renny is going to be this season's Sheila and her annoyingness is going to be around for a while. This is good news because she gives us plenty to bitch and laugh about.

I also think that the "cocky guy" is not going to be gay this season and we're going to have a lot of dramatic eviction ceremonies.

Dan and Ollie will be this season's Bible Buddies.

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