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'Survivor' winner John Cochran on this week's 'Big Brother'
by John Cochran on Aug 19, 2013 at 1:17PM
Storytelling on Big Brother – that is, the process by which the show’s editors and producers sift through thousands of hours of footage and assemble something resembling a coherent, satisfying narrative for every episode – really fascinates me. Most comparable reality shows, including Survivor and The Amazing Race, are filmed months in advance of being broadcast, with the outcome of the competition already known by production staff long before concrete storyboarding for the season takes place. Producers and editors of Big Brother are afforded no such luxury. Because Big Brother episodes are edited and put together contemporaneously with the filming of the show, BB production can’t be confident that the hero they present week one won’t be gone by week two, or that the villain they’ve shown in episode five won’t have transformed into a frontrunner by episode eleven. The result is a form of storytelling that can be frustrating, inconsistent, exciting, and dynamic, all at the same time.
I mean, at the beginning of this season, who would have predicted that McCrae – the lanky, goofy guy who fretted about not fitting in with the house – would be a part of the cast’s most enduring and powerful showmance? Or that Aaryn – the insensitive, hate-spewing outcast – would become a legitimate challenge beast and member of the dominant majority alliance? Or that Helen – who once seemed to be the only voice of reason and competent strategist – would turn out to be a tragically oblivious punchline? And let’s not forget GinaMarie, who’s courageously transitioned from referring to her housemates as “cock-a-roaches” to now calling them “Chihuahuas.”
Read more at Despite Helen’s obsequious flattery of Aaryn and Elissa’s flubbed attempt at reconciliation (sometimes a girl just needs a yoga mat, y’all), the inevitable ultimately ends up happening: Helen and Elissa are nominated. There would have been a time when these nominations would’ve upset me, but Helen lost my support when she changed from level-headed game-player to delusional “mastermind,” and Elissa lost me during the whole one-piece bathing suit debacle with Amanda. That said, if there is anything the storytelling of BB15 has taught me, it’s that outsiders can become insiders overnight, and that the people we once loved to hate can become people we hate ourselves for loving. It’s good to be back! ew.com
Shut the flippin' front door! ~~ Do you think you were born awesome, or just grew up badass? 
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'Survivor' winner John Cochran on this week's 'Big Brother'
