Big Brother 11: The Wedgie (Ep. 1)

Posted by: Danielle McGaw  •  July 10, 2009 @ 2:30pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

The Big Brother 11 season opener starts off with the usual introduction. With 52 cameras and 80 microphones in the house we know just how much they can catch! This year's Big Brother goes along the High School Cliques theme and Julie tells us that everyone will be divided into 4 groups: the Athletes, the Brains, the Populars, and the Off-Beats. Of course, everyone who is a Big Brother fan already knows that because it is all over the internet isn't it? But there is more to it than just that, which will soon be revealed. Oh, and of course, Julie has to make a joke about expecting things (she's preggers).

Of course, none of the house guests know what is going on yet. If they are smart, they are expecting something weird and considering there are 3 brainiacs amongst this crew there should be someone that has figured it out. So, the first task is to get everyone into the house so they can finally chat and get to know one another.

The first group to enter the house is Ronnie, Laura, Russell, and Kevin. The immediately starting yelling and screaming, "Oh my God!", "Look at this", and "I can't believe we're here!" Ronnie was the most excited of them all – I think he's been fantasizing about this for years. I hear that he's a total Big Brother junkie and has watched every episode and knows who was eliminated and in what order from every season. Hope he makes it long enough to put that to good use. They were followed by Natalie, Casey, Chima, and Braden. Finally Jordan, Lydia, Jeff, and Michele were allowed in. It took them awhile, but they finally noticed that there weren't enough beds for everyone. Michele (such a smarty) was quick to figure it out and assumed that someone would need to share, which quickly led her to wonder whether she could get away with sharing with Jeff. Happily married indeed! Ummm – your husband it going to watch the show! What do you think he'll think of that? Hmmm. No one has a clue yet that sharing a bed is going to be the least of their worries – but I get ahead of myself.

After everyone is done running around and screaming and such they finally settle down to some drinks and some get to know everyone time. They give a brief intro to themselves – age and job – and Big Brother intersperses it with some of the house guests' impressions. Lydia labels Kevin as a loveable character and Russell thinks that he's going to have to learn to like Ron. Casey hates Chima's laugh and although Michele spends most of the show telling us how smart she is she plays down her job title and PhD by telling them she "takes care of rats." Turns out Natalie is not only a Tae Kwon Do champion (3rd place in the junior Olympics) but she's also a poker freak. Might give her an edge. She tries to tell everyone she is 18 so people will think she is really young but Kevin sees past her lie. While Kevin is disgusted with Laura's big boobs but Jeff can't even remember her name because he's so enamored with them. I knew he wasn't that smart. Russell doesn't see anyone as a threat and says he can't wait to "put them all on their asses" (to the camera of course, not the house guests).

The house guests don't know about the cliques yet though! So, finally Julie reveals this year's twists. "Cliques rule the school – and the game." Julie reveals something new as well (I didn't know about it before tonight anyway). Although they are still playing as individuals and will be nominated and eliminated as individuals, if any member of a group wins HOH you are guaranteed safety. Hmmm – a smart player would be taking advantage of that one! A group of smart players would be taking advantage of that one. Can you imagine if one member of each group aligned together to agree not to vote each other out? That would be one tough alignment – but I don't think any of them have thought of that – yet.

Of course, now that they know what is going on they start to speculate about what group everyone is going to be in. Lydia jokes that her and Kevin are the two obvious members of the Off-Beats. She's Molly and Kevin is Ducky (who knows what movie that is from? 80's fans?). Ron and Michele know they'll be part of the Brains group (they both think they are the smartest players in the house) and Jordan admits she was homecoming queen so she'll be in the Popular group. Natalie doesn't want to be in the Athletes group and is wondering how little she can tell her teammates if she is. Casey loves the idea of teaming up – so far.

After they've had some time to wonder, Julie finally tells them that it is time to reveal their groups. She tells them to make their way to the backyard and find their names. The groups are confirmed: The Popular group is made up of Jordan, Laura, and Braden. Ron, Michele, and Chima are in the Brains group. Lydia, Casey, and Kevin make up the Off-Beats and the Athletes are Jeff, Russell, and Natalie. Jeff is happy but Casey is not thrilled (what group did he think he'd be in???). Michele thinks the Brains will control the operation. Chima is quick to point out that she wasn't just a brain in high school – she was popular, too. Really popular.

Julie explains all the apparatus around them – it's the first HOH and it is called "The Wedgie." Why is it called "The Wedgie?" Well, it works like this. Every houseguest has to slip into a pair of very ugly oversized undies and grab on to a toilet seat. Then this contraption raises them into the air and they have to hang on for as long as they can. How's that for a shock – an endurance competition to start things off. Pretty typical. Poor Brainiacs. They were out of this competition before it even got started. But, Julie has another surprise. The person who lasts the longest will NOT be head of household – no one in the yard is going to be HOH! That's when they realize that there is going to be one more person joining the houseguests.

After another commercial, Julie reveals the Mysterious Four that have a chance to come back into the Big Brother house. Yes, they are previous houseguests – working with that whole recycling theme I guess. The four potential competitors are Cowboy from BB5 (to represent the Off-Beats), Jessica from BB8 (to represent the Populars), Jesse from BB10 (to represent the Athletes), and Brian from BB10 (to represent the Brains). I would have loved to seen Dick in that group – man, he would have been awesome in the Off-Beats. Now I'm all disappointed. Not that I'm not anyway considering who won but... Anyway, if their clique wins the competition they will be back in the house and they will become the first HOH.

Now that we know what is going on, Julie tells the house guests what's happening and the competition begins. Everyone is looking pretty uncomfortable as they are raised in the air and discover exactly why the competition is called "The Wedgie." A couple of the guys are being kind of showy – hanging by one hand and showing off. Ron worries about his ability to have kids in the future. Casey clowns around and acts like a monkey. And pretty soon, Michele is first to fall. Ron follows shortly after her (guess his concerns about the damage to his goods was short lived) and Chima is the last of the brains to hang in there.

But you know it is never as easy as just hanging in there in a Big Brother competition. Time for a Super-wedgie. Each of the Mysterious Four are allowed to choose one group to give a super-wedgie to for 30 seconds. The Populars get one vote, the Off-Beats get one, and the Athletes get two. The contraption starts to shake the around and everyone groans.

I was disappointed that after that Lydia dropped out saying she'd had enough. I thought she'd be made of tougher stuff than that. Next to fall is Jordan from the Popular group. Chima is still hanging tough but Kevin gives up as well leaving Casey as the last of the Off-Beats to hang on. The Athletes are the only ones with all three left until Jeff can't take it anymore and falls to the ground. It's time for another super-wedgie. This time the Athletes get three and the brains get one. And that's it for Chima. The Brains are out of the competition and that means Brian is not coming back. Casey falls shortly after that leaving Casey out of the house.

As the competition continues with two Athletes and two Populars left, everyone comments about how Russell makes it look so easy. Natalie makes a comment about how he's just making it look that way and he thinks that she's coming across as brash and might need to tone it down a bit before it hurts the group. Laura drops next and claims that it is because she doesn't want a target on her back. Smart but she's a popular, not a Brain so I'm sure she only thought of that after she fell. Finally, after doing a few pull-ups, Braden falls as well and the Populars are out. The Athletes win with both Natalie and Russell hanging and Jessica goes home and Jesse is back in the house.

Before I give you the houseguests reactions let me just tell you that the fans are not impressed. At least not the Twitter fans. People were disgusted. A few even threatened to stop watching. Of course they won't, but everyone is hoping that Jesse will go home even earlier than he did on BB10.

When Julie announces that the "mysterious houseguest is no stranger" everyone realizes that it is a previous houseguest. Lydia guesses that it is Jesse and Natalie hopes for Matt. The episode ends with Jesse walking into the house and everyone screaming and welcoming him. My guess is that they won't be welcoming for long when they find out how full of himself he really is!

So, Jesse is the new HOH. Who will they put up? If they are smart they'd go and start building up rapport with the Off-Beats and the Brains because pretty much anyone in those groups would be thrilled to align with an Athlete and would jump at the chance to pick the Populars off one by one. I highly doubt that Jeff or Braden or Jesse would think of that though.

So, come back on Sunday for the next episode re-cap and I'll try to fill you in with other interesting stuff in between!

You can find Danielle McGaw talking about her freelance life at her blog, A Freelance Life!

Tags: Big Brother, BB11 , Big Brother 11, season premiere, Julie Chen, The Wedgie, reality tv

Related Posts

• Pictures in an Empty Room: The Talent Show
• The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love - Episode 7
• The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love - Episode 4
• The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love - Episode 3
• Rants & Raves: The New Bachelor

Comments Posted ()