Ika Wong steps into the Big Brother Canada backyard, blithely unaware she’s about to become an icon. She finds two tables laid with objects of immense value in the Big Brother house. The one to the left has a huge sign that says “Letters from Home.” On the other table is an oversized cheque, made out to Wong, for the sum of $5,000. Beside the cheque sits a black shredder.
Wong and her eleven housemates have been cooped up in a mansion in Toronto for the past month, their every move filmed by hidden cameras and livestreamed on the internet. They have not spoken with their loved ones or had any contact with the world outside the house. They have been busy plotting each other’s demise, hoping to vote out their housemates before they themselves are voted out. Big Brother Canada (BBCAN ) is a zero-sum game requiring social acrobatics—making people like you, persuading them you’re not a threat, and then turning on them when it best suits you. The last person standing will win $100,000.
