On one hand, for Big Brother fans, it's well worth celebrating that the CBS reality series returned with improved ratings this year. On the other hand, the bump in numbers may encourage CBS to split the premiere episode in half again next year. I don't love that. But if improved premiere ratings mean a better shot at Season 17 happening, we can hardly complain.
According to EW says Part 2 brought in 6.6 million viewers with a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49, which is pretty much what it did the night before when the first part of the Season 16 premiere aired. That's up 10% from last year, which might encourage CBS to repeat this two-part premiere next season, assuming the series is renewed.
If you hadn't noticed, I didn't love the way CBS rolled out this season of Big Brother, not only by keeping viewers in the dark about how a major twist would work after the first episode aired, but also keeping the feeds off until Part 2 aired. But let's move on from that, because it's old news at this point. Both episodes have aired, and we now have a better idea of how there will be two Heads of Household each week, and how the Battle of the Block factors into that. Though there are still questions to be answered, like how the nominations work. Do the two Heads of Household confer with one another to decide who each will nominate? Does one pick first and the other has to decide their nominees based on the remaining keys? Is the Veto still in play? That question seems to have been answered by the live feeds, as the upcoming Veto competition has been referenced by houseguests.
That brings us to the Live Feed Update portion of this article! If you don't want to be spoiled with information that has not yet been revealed in the episodes, read no further!
The feeds came on last night with the houseguests seated around the living room, attempting to sit frozen in place, though they were too giggly to pull it off and Frankie finally jumped up and announced the start of the feeds. From there, it was house chaos, with everyone chattering at once for a while, Joey streaking topless (in a thong) and Hayden wandering through the house completely naked, with his hat pressed over his business asking everyone if the feeds were live (he was joking).
From what's been implied, it sounds like the Battle of the Block competition has taken place. From a conversation Frankie had in private with Zach -- it looks like these two are in a secret Final 2 alliance with each other -- it sounds like Frankie's nominees won Battle of the Block. Not sure why they were, but there was some talk (and reports) about Donny and Paola currently being on the block, and since they're in the Crazy Eights, I'm going to guess that they're Caleb's nominees. Frankie also mentioned something about Caleb letting him sleep in the Head of Household room (that implies that Frankie technically doesn't have access to the room on his own merit) and that Frankie won't have blood on his hands this week. So it sounds like Frankie's been dethroned, and though it's unverified, PaoPao and Donny may be on the block right now.
The Veto competition has yet to be played.
Elsewhere around the house, Devin seems to be annoyed with how messy the kitchen is. And Christine seems annoyed by Devin's complaints and bullying (as she puts it). It also looks like Christine and Nicole may have formed a friendship, which I love, as they're at the top of my list of favorite females in the house right now.
If there are showmances happening, I didn't see anything, but the feeds came on really late last night and I'm on east coast time so I only saw parts. In other news, the Have Not room is open for business and it's chilly! Looks like the inside of a freezer...
The houseguests have hard-looking ice cube beds and annoyingly crinkly mylar blankets.
I'm thinking we'll get to see the Battle of the Block competition and find out exactly how nominations work when Sunday night's Big Brother episode airs. In the meantime, read our breakdown of Thursday night's episode here.
