Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Big Brother live feeds as of Thursday, August 3rd. Read at your own risk!
Everything is happening out of order in the Big Brother house. Season 25 promised to be unlike anything fans have seen, and we've already seen a lot of interesting developments. This includes the arrival of legendary Survivor player Cirie Fields as the seventeenth Houseguest and the activation of the "Scramble-verse." Due to the twist, nominees happened before the Head of Household was ever crowned. That has set up a major headache for the new HOH, who was crowned on Thursday.
Currently, Jared Fields, Kirsten Elwin, Felicia Cannon, and Cory Wurtenberger are up for nomination after losing the opening challenges on premiere night. Now, the house finally has an HOH to answer to, whose week could get really messy if the right number of events go wrong for them.
Reilly Smedley Is The Week 1 HOH, And Will Have A Unique Power
Live feed viewers watching Big Brother Season 25 online with a Paramount+ subscription saw the feeds return and Reilly Smedley with the keys to the HOH room around her neck. She's the big winner this week, and thanks to the twist with the Scramble-verse, she'll do a bit more than the average HOH does in a normal week of the game.
Reilly will need to choose two of the four nominees to take down off the block. The remaining two she doesn't pick will be up for nomination, and then the veto competition will be played. It sets the stage for a nightmare scenario for Reilly, who will have a hard time trying to keep blood off her hands in this opening week.
Reilly Has Almost Zero Options To Keep Everyone Happy
Reilly will have to save two out of Jared, Felicia, Cory, and Kirsten and leave the remaining people on the block. Currently, it feels like the only person who everyone in the Big Brother house would be fine with staying on the block is Kirsten. Felicia did pitch Kirsten as a "do not save" option, and Reilly seemed receptive to the idea.
Even with a guaranteed target, Reilly will make an enemy by having to leave another person on the block. Then, should Kirsten, or whoever is the target this week, win the veto, that's another person Reilly will make angry. And then after that, who knows who all that person is connected to and will also be gunning for Reilly once her HOH is up? She's in a position where she's likely going to make someone mad no matter what.
Did Reilly Make A Mistake Winning The First HOH?
In previous seasons of Big Brother, winning the first Head of Household was typically seen as an advantage, and even some past winners like Cody Calafiore won the first HOH. Houseguests usually flocked to the HOH and forged the first majority alliance, which would often grant them safety in Week 2 as long as they didn't fly off the handle.
Something I've noticed in Season 25 is there are many alliances forming in the first days, and Reilly isn't actively involved in many despite being included in a couple of them. Perhaps it's the Scramble-verse effect considering a bulk of the Houseguests aren't worried about ending up on the block this week, but even the people who are allegedly in her two alliances aren't really talking game with her. Time will tell if she messed up winning this competition or I'm just overreacting.
Big Brother Season 25 airs on CBS on Sundays and Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET and on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Of course, check out the live feeds on Paramount+ or for a free ad-supported version on Pluto TV.
