BB day 38...corrected

So with Victor back in the house after winning the Battle Back, Julie now reveals a new twist. What advantage that discovering the secret room will give to whoever finds it remains to be seen.



Big Brother 18 Twist: Secret Room Waiting To Be Found [PICS]
By: Matthew Boyer | July 22, 2016 at 11:00 PM EDT

As Friday’s Battle Back episode came to a close host Julie Chen revealed a brand new twist just as we were told earlier to expect more coming our way. This one is the return of something familiar from way back in Big Brother history: a hidden, secret room.

Julie Chen reveals a new twist on Big Brother 18

Julie’s announcement delivered a sneak peek at five special signs around the house which hints they could be used to unlock this secret room and gain access to what’s inside.

There’s a power inside that room capable of changing up the game but the HGs better hurry because it’s only available for a limited time! Here’s how Julie described it.

Julie Chen: The Battle Back has just shaken up the game, but another twist is about to be unleashed. Throughout the house are clues to a secret room. Any Houseguest who figures it out will unlock this room and could gain a power to change their fate in the Big Brother house. This secret room will only be in play for the next four weeks.

As Julie described the twist we saw images of travel posters (per the house’s theme) featuring these slogans:

Secret Tokyo
Departing On Quarter Hour By Ben – London
Ocho Rios – Your Dream Destination (Translation: eight rivers)
Nairobi – Your Adventure Starts NOW!
Departures (sign with listings in living room)

click images to see full-size views

bb18-epi15-secret-room-poster-01

bb18-epi15-secret-room-poster-02

bb18-epi15-secret-room-poster-03


bb18-epi15-secret-room-poster-04

bb18-epi15-secret-room-poster-05


We’re teased to check in next Thursday to see if anyone has discovered the secret room, but that’s silly because we’ll find out on the Live Feeds AND let’s start speculating right now!

In preseason exec producer Grodner said to expect the return of the room used for Pandora’s Box and the Coaches’ quarters. So right there I’d say we’ve got our secret room location. But how do they get in to it? I immediately guessed as it was revealed, so we’ll have to see if I was right.

Now nothing in Big Brother needs to be fair, but if they put the secret entrance in the HoH room, as that space is typically accessed, then it’d really restrict the chances for discovery. You know what’s on the outside of that space though? The metal phone booth. I’d wager you dial in a secret combination and bingo bango, you’ve got your secret room. I love it.

click images to see full-size views

bb18-bblf-20160719-1350-natalie-phone-booth

bb18-bblf-20160719-1349-paulie-phone-booth


In the posters we see details like “ocho” (eight), “quarter hour” (15), a suggestion of a hint in the Tokyo room, and that Departures sign is full of numbers. But how in the world are the HGs suddenly going to be motivated to search for hidden messages? I’m guessing Big Brother will prompt them with some sort of vague clue to get the ball rolling. They’ve only got four weeks to figure it out!

And if you’re wondering about when this idea was used before, it was BB6 when an extra room was discovered by Rachel Plencner. Great season and probably my favorite. You should go back and watch it on CBS All Access.

What do you think of the new Big Brother twist? Lots of fun or just too much? Who do you hope finds the power and what sort of impact could it have on the game? We’ll keep watching to discover more!

Friday, July 22, 2016
'Big Brother 18' Recap: Who Wins the Battle Back?

John Kubicek
Senior Writer, BuddyTV

Someone is coming back to Big Brother 18. For a special Friday night episode, we'll get to see four Battle Back competitions leading up to either Glenn, Jozea, Victor, Bronte or Tiffany coming back into the house to continue playing the game. The stakes couldn't be higher and I'll be here for the whole thing.

BUT FIRST...this is my Big Brother 18 live blog!

Previously on Big Brother 18: Sorry Glenn, but 50 is NOT the new 20, no matter what Jozea says.

Round 1: Glenn vs. Jozea

It's similar to the week 2 HoH competition, walking across logs to retrieve berries. But they only need to collect 20, with the same rule that if they fall, the entire column of 10 they're working on is gone. Jozea claims that since the Messiah can walk on water, he can walk on logs. There's also a Poison Berry where they can eliminate all the berries in their opponent's column.

Jozea thinks the harder path is easy because he's a dancer with great balance. He calls Glenn a slow turtle, and he's right because Glenn decides to take the long path. After Jozea slips twice, he goes for the longer path because he thinks he's faster than Glenn. Indeed, Jozea quickly passes Glenn, but then Glenn goes for his Poison Berry. However, Jozea fills his entire first column right before Glenn gets it. Ouch, what a waste. Then Jozea fights dirty by getting his Poison Berry, destroying Glenn. It's over.

Jozea wins Round 1! Sorry Glenn, you're done. Jozea promises to come after everyone, including Paulie, Frank, Nicole, etc.

Round 2: Jozea vs. Victor

These two close allies compete in a variation of the week 3 HoH competition with the tennis rackets. They must bounce balls to knock down five targets of each others' faces, one at a time. There are jokes about balls in faces. They only have three balls, so they must run to retrieve them.

Victor gets the first target and then Jozea gets one. Next, Victor gets two more targets. Then Jozea gets two to tie it up again. Victor gets his fourth and he's one away, but it's the smallest one. Victor finally gets it.

Victor wins Round 2! Thank God, the spoiler about Jozea winning the whole thing were false! The Messiah has left the building.

Round 3: Victor vs. Bronte

He's disappointed to see Bronte and she tells him that no one in the house likes him. It's like the week 4 HoH, where they are behind booths. They are shown a series of photos on three different monitors with different photos. In each of six booths, they must answer questions and ring in with all six correct.

This is really complex and difficult, so kudos to the competition designer. There is a lot of guessing because the photos are going so fast. Victor buzzes in first, but he only has three right. Then Bronte buzzes in and has five wrong, only one right. Victor tries again, but still has one wrong and starts speaking in Spanish. Bronte's second guess still has three wrong, then tries again with two wrong. She's just randomly guessing at this point. Victor actually tries to get the right answer and he does.

Victor wins Round 3! As I predicted, he's a competition beast. He's now won 4 out of 6 comps he's played in, which is an amazing win ratio. She warns him not to trust anyone.

Round 4: Victor vs. Tiffany

Now this is the final round we deserve, with two HGs who've both won Road Kill competitions inside the house. They have glowing cuffs on their wrists and ankles. They must dig through bins to find puzzle pieces to build a giant poster, but they must listen to clues to get the order correct. Tiffany starts at the bottom and she's a puzzle master, but Victor is starting at the top. Once they get clues, Tiffany goes straight for the special answers and Victor ignores them. She also thinks there might be a design at the top, so Victor could be wrong.

Tiffany's strategy seems brilliant while Victor is all over the place. He eventually realizes that he spelled BB Electric Festival wrong at the top. He also figures out he needs to move all of his pieces up. However, Tiffany was wrong about the words not going on the top. Uh-oh, she's screwed.

Victor wins Round 4! Oh no, sorry Tiffany. Victor is back in the game. He's a competition beast, so maybe he can do something. She advises him to trust Frank and not Da'Vonne.

Victor wins the Battle Back!

He could definitely be an immediate target since he's so damn good at competitions. Seriously, he's now at 5 of 7 wins. And he really has no friends in the house, except maybe Paul, who has gone over to Paulie's side.

The HGs Learn About the Battle Back

Julie Chen informs the 11 remaining HGs that there's a pre-jury buyback. No one seems happy about it. She describes the Battle Back, explaining that they were all sequestered separately. Paul does NOT want this to happen.

Nicole thinks it's Jozea. Frank thinks it's Bronte or Tiffany. Then Victor walks in! Everyone claps, but there's some disbelief.

A New Twist

There are clues on the posters on the walls that could lead the HGs to a secret room in the house that will be open for the next four weeks. If anyone finds it, they get a special power. It sounds like we might be getting a Diamond Power of Veto or maybe even a Coup d'Etat.