Calblog

Big Brother 5

Another summer, another round of Big Brother. We're up to Big rother 5 already. Amazing. CBS promised another twist this summer in Project DNA, Do Not Assume. They delivered.

Two of the houseguests are related and didn't know it upon arriving. The related guests are Michael, a 23 year old cowboy-garbed young man who appears to be a redneck and Jennifer, a 21-year-old heavily tattooed woman with blue hair. They share a father.

Michael's mother told him the name of his father and stories about the man she knew. She never told Michael's father she was pregnant. Michael's father did not know he had another son and therefore, could not share the information with his five known children, including his daughter, Jennifer.

Sitting around introducing themselves, the houseguests shared last names. Michael started asking questions and quickly figured out that this is indeed his half-sister. Despite what is a watershed moment for him, he kept calm and did not say anything to anyone else right away.

What followed is a series of poignent vignettes in which Michael asks Jennifer questions and learns about his father and learns that she has always wished for an older brother. This is not a Lifetime movie, or a reenactment or a moment staged for some TV newsmagazine. By this point, the awareness of the cameras has faded and we watch a young man grapple with a big moment with quiet grace.

It turned weird for a while after that. After one of the competitions and the installation of the Head of Household, Michael decides to go to the winner and the winner's ally first with the news. It's unclear why he did that. He acknowledged later that it was a mistake. My only guess is that he hoped that the newly installed leaders of the house would lead the group through this process.

The young guns in the power seat reacted by not believing Michael and suspecting him of having some very creative gameplay going on. Even after the truth is revealed by Big Brother, along with the typical tears and hugs, the young guns are suspicious. That suspicion seems to have faded, although the way the show was edited, it is unclear why.

Jennifer is now on the block for eviction. She took $10,000 and made the house eat PB & J for a week. That will get you nominated even if you have just found your long-lost brother. So it remains to be seen whether we have more story developing from this situation.

Big Brother has more "twists' ahead. Two of the houseguests have identical twins who will be switching places with their twins. It is unlikely that will produce the emotional draw that we had in the first two shows but I thought the long-lost sibling angle would disappoint so I approach the rest of it with an open mind.

[cross-posted to blogcritics.org]

Posted by Justene Adamec at July 11, 2004 12:04 AM | TrackBack