Big Brother 18 Recap: Summer Vacation Begins

By Mark Drum
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With 12 houseguests there was bound to be some twists and turns waiting to surprise. Sure enough host, Julie Chen said there were three twists that would be announced by the end of the episode. I know I had my suspicions of twists, however I was still surprised by these new twists. As always with Big Brother, "Expect the Unexpected!" Here's my recap from last night's premiere episode of Big Brother season 18!

Meeting the new houseguests

As tradition all of the new houseguests were surprised with their house keys signifying their entry into the Big Brother house. Bronte's fun fact that only 29% of the females have won Big Brother and in her words, "when she wins she'd it would be 33%," got to love the brainiac. It was interesting to hear that Corey sleepwalks; I wonder if there will be moments that happen in the house. Michelle was a talker for her introduction and Tiffany surprised her sister via video chat that she's going to be on Big Brother. After all the introduction of the houseguests was complete, the 12 new houseguests were sent off into the Big Brother house.

Once they all got settled in, Julie drops the three twists to the new houseguests, revealing the first twist was that there were four "stowaways," in the house. The houseguests then tried to figure out who would be coming back. Jozea looked at the plates and thought that might be a clue. One showed Colorado and someone brought up that Becky from last season was from Colorado. The anticipation from the houseguests was high, but soon enough the "stowaways," would reveal themselves.

Stowaway Houseguests Return

As a Big Brother fan, knowing that only 12 new houseguests were going into the Big Brother house, there was bound to be some returning houseguests. The four returning houseguests were not past winning houseguests but some big personalities from past seasons. Two of them were past America's favorite houseguests. Here are the four returning houseguests in the order they appeared out of the luggage in the front of the Big Brother doors:

Nicole Franzel (23) - (Season 16)

Occupation: ER Nurse

Hometown & Current City: Ubly, MI

• I am excited that there is another Michigander for this season. Nicole is single and ready to focus on the game! However this will be her third chance at winning the $500K prize. In her previous season, she was voted out, and then won the opportunity to come back into the game but then was voted out again and into jury.

James Huling (32) - (Season 17)

Occupation: Staff recruiter

Hometown: Sumter, SC

Current City: Wichita Falls, TX

• Surprising that James' came back especially after just being out of the house less than nine months ago. But he's determined to redeem himself and win this game. Plus he's in it to help support his daughter and as a former America's favorite houseguest, he's sure to be back to some of his antics with this new cast.

Da'Vonne Rogers (28) - (Season 17)

Occupation: Poker Dealer

Hometown: Inglewood, CA

Current City: Lancaster, CA

• Mama Day is back in the Big Brother house! Here's hoping she doesn't get evicted in the second week. She had a lot of personality and was someone who would speak her mind. Mama Day is also doing this to support her daughter but to also redeem herself from last season.

Frank Eudy (32) - (Season 14)

Occupation: Medical Sale Rep

Hometown: Marion, AR

Current City: Charlotte, NC

• The final returning houseguest was Frank, who also was America's favorite his season and also had returning houseguests compete his season. His loyalty and competitive drive is what got him as far as he did in the game. However he's hoping this time around to be able to flex more of his social game to keep him in than having to win competition.

After all of the returning houseguests were introduced and in the house, there were a few who were not happy with the "old relics," coming back into the house. The returning houseguests know they're outnumbered but should work with their fans that are in the house. Jozea, Paul and Zakiyah seem to have formed an alliance, so we'll see how this trio will do. Paulie wanted to come clean about being Cody's brother. Which came as a surprise to Paul and was skeptic to why Paulie would announce it after the returners came back. Mama Day however was more concerned with the "mini poker player," and knew that Vanessa's sister was in the house. Julie came back to welcome the returning houseguests and announce the second twist to the houseguests.

Picking Teams For Safety

The second twist revealed to the houseguests was that they would all be competing in teams this summer. During an interview when Executive Producer Alison Grodner said Battle of the Block wasn't coming back but a new competition was being introduced now makes sense. The first competition had the houseguests holding on to a giant rocket to guarantee safety for not just one but two evictions. Each of the returning houseguests was then separated to then choose their first member of their team. However the person they chose had to be of the opposite gender then that person would choose the next person. Mama Day already confused two houseguests Paul & Paulie, while Frank chose Michelle because she was a fan of his.

Once the teams were chosen they all had to get on their rockets to start the competition and after each team was eliminated would land at a destination, which would have rewards and/or a punishment. Glenn had some trouble getting on, which stressed Nicole out. However Glenn wasn't the first one off the rocket when the competition started it was his teammate Tiffany who fell off. One by one houseguests started to fall after being hit with water, the rocket moving around and hit with bird poop. The first team to be eliminated and the first have nots were Da'Vonne, Jozea, Paul & Zakiyah, which were sent to Notburgh. Nearing the end each team had one person left which were Paulie, Victor and Corey. In the end Victor came out victorious for his team and sent his team to Safevile. The team consisted of James, Bronte and Natalie. While Paulie landed his team to Mysteryland that would be a punishment later to be revealed, Corey landed in Cash City and his team would split $10,000 which mean each gets $2,500.

Introducing Category 4, Big Sister, Freakazoids & Team Unicorn is safe

The teams then had to think of a team name. It took Team Unicorn a bit of time to think of their name, they were safe from two evictions after winning the first competition. Meanwhile Category 4 (Frank, Bridgette, Michelle & Paulie), Big Sister (Da'Vonne, Jozea, Paul & Zakiyah) and Freakazoids (Nicole, Corey, Glenn & Tiffany) all had to compete in the second competition for safety. Ranking the teams, Team Unicorn would be on top currently since they're safe for two evictions. Meanwhile the other three teams have to prove themselves and to ensure their own safety.

Balancing & Building Sandcastles

The second competition consisted of the houseguests balancing and building a pyramid sandcastle. The team who wins this competition would be safe from the first eviction. Which Julie revealed would be by the end of the first day, which means by the end of the first week two houseguests would be evicted. So Team Unicorn's safety would only be for one week. The Freakazoids looked to have had the lead, struggling to get their final piece balanced. For team Big Sister, they struggled with communication between Da'Vonne and Paul. However the win came to Category 4, which meant they were safe from the first eviction. While Big Sister and Freakazoids had to compete in the third competition to guarantee their safety.

Similar to the second competition, Big Sister and Freakazoids had to build a sandcastle however instead of balancing them they had to solve a puzzle of building blocks. There were also some decoy blocks, so the houseguests would need to be focused and attention to detail. Communication was key because they all needed to work together. Glenn was struggling letting his team know that they needed to switch out some blocks at the foundation. Paul was controlling Big Sister and Da'Vonne was trying to put him in his place. It was neck and neck and Freakazoids were first to hit their buzzer to see if they were correct. However they were not and had to figure out what pieces were incorrect. For the viewers we could see Glenn was correct about the foundation. This gave team Big Sister the opportunity to win the competition and guarantee themselves safety from the first eviction. Leaving Nicole, Corey, Glenn and Tiffany all having to compete now against each other in the final competition for the night. This was the cliffhanger to the two-night premiere.

Prediction for Eviction & First person in power

Let's hope that our Michigander and returner Nicole isn't evicted. Since the Freakazoids are now competing as individuals for safety in this final competition, it is anyone's own to win or lose. I predict however Vanessa's sister Tiffany will be the first houseguest to be evicted. But again it's anyone's competition to win or lose. Tune in tonight to see who's evicted then from whom in Team Freakazoids will be the first in power. If Nicole survives I can see her getting the power. Watch what happens on CBS Detroit at 9 p.m.!

Mark Drum is a Farmington Hills, MI native and Big Brother fan since 2000. Mark is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Theatre Arts.