Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Big Brother Season 26 live feeds as of Tuesday, August 13th. Stream the feeds with a Paramount+ subscription or on Pluto TV, and read at your own risk!
We're well into Big Brother Season 26, and I don't think I've ever seen the audience more polarized over a Houseguest than what we've seen with Angela Murray. There have been some calling for her to be ejected from the game solely for her nasty behavior, with others saying she's the much-needed breath of fresh air the modern seasons have lacked for a while now. I was indeed a hater at first, but four weeks in and....okay, I can say it...I think I'm a fan of Angela now.
I'm a viewer who tends to get behind those I think will win Big Brother, though my predictions are often wrong. In those terms, I think Angela is making all the wrong moves of a Houseguest who wants to win BB. However, she's just so captivating to watch, I'm not sure that I care. As a former Angela hater, here's why I'm encouraging others to give her another shot.
Angela's Chaotic First HOH Set The Tone For The Season
Big Brother Season 26 has been chaotic, and it all started with Angela. Her Head of Household win in Week 1 was a complete disaster. She ran the house like a paranoid tyrant and effectively killed every alliance she built after her blow-up on Matt Hardeman. By the end of her week, she had ruined her game, and it seemed all but inevitable she would be out of the house soon enough.
Strangely enough, that hasn't happened. It seems that Angela's chaos has impacted the rest of the Houseguests and that she has managed to survive as other power players disregard her in order to take out other rivals they believe are bigger threats. Meanwhile, Angela has managed to have a veto used on her despite not having any super-tight alliances and became the Week 4 Head of Household. It's still chaos a month in, and it's largely because of her setting the tone.
She's An Objectively Bad Game Player, But Sometimes That Works Out
It's hard to argue that Angela is bad at competitions, considering she's on her second HOH, but the Big Brother Houseguest has floundered in other big competitions so far when it mattered. Fortunately, she has comp beasts like Tucker Laruriers as allies to shield her and occasionally even take her off the block.
Unfortunately, Angela's social game does not compensate for her lack of gameplay. She's overly paranoid, ready to burn any bridge at a moment's notice, and cannot be relied on when the going gets tough. At the same time, she still keeps finding groups to join, like recently when she joined an alliance after eavesdropping on their conversation by lying on the floor:
I'm sorry but Big Ang is back to being cracked and I'm absolutely here for it 😭 #BB26 pic.twitter.com/FX9j14C8nKAugust 13, 2024
Do you know how long I've waited to see a Houseguest actively sneak around the house and listen in on conversations? It's such a wild and risky strategy, but she doesn't care. Hell, her efforts landed her in an alliance with Tucker, Rubina Bernabe, T'Kor Clottey, and Kimo Apaka! Sure, she's at the bottom of the food chain, but it's looking like she's keeping a target off her back yet again heading into Week 5. Sometimes, it pays to be the worst player in the house.
She's Emotional And Vulnerable In A Way Most Modern Houseguests Aren't
Big Brother is a show where Houseguests are on display for several hours a day for close to three months. While the CBS reality series used to be famous for the amount of chaos that unfolded, a majority of Houseguests now definitely monitor themselves knowing their actions in the house could impact their jobs, family, and overall reputation back in the real world.
Angela is seemingly unafraid to mock, argue, and go after her fellow Houseguests. It's important to distinguish she doesn't do this in a way that is overtly offensive by attacking race or something of that matter, she's just rude and a bit obnoxious. It's nice to see someone like that in the game again who isn't trying to angle their gameplay toward a future career as an influencer or something like that.
For those reasons, I have no choice but to respect Angela and admit she's the type of player I've waited for in a long time. To be clear, I think she has zero shot of winning Big Brother, but I don't think Season 26 would be nearly as entertaining without her. Credit to the casting department for picking her up and bringing her in to stir the pot as long as it lasts.
Big Brother airs on CBS on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET and on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Tune in to see what Angela might do next, as we're guaranteed at least a few more episodes with her in the next week!
