Big Brother Season 25 is almost over, and while this season has made me grasp how the 100-day timespan creates a major problem for the game, I have another big realization to share as well. When the Final Three Houseguests were announced ahead of the finale, many fans let out a collective sigh and started dragging the season's endgame for making it seem destined for Jag Bains to walk out with an "easy" victory, with some blaming both the producers and the format choices for that presumed outcome. But my hot take is that Jag 100% earned the right to make it to the end, and once the specific emotions tied to this season fade away, I believe he'll be remembered as one of the game's greatest players.
I've been watching Big Brother online with my Paramount+ subscription all season long, and I'm growing weary of the "the game is unfair" and "Jag was lucky" takes floating around the web. Win or lose, he's going to be etched in history as one of the game's greatest players, and I think there's ample evidence to prove that.
Jag Bains Should Be Remembered As One Of Big Brother's Most Dominant Players
Big Brother Season 15 winner Andy Herren recently said on X that Jag winning over ten competitions proved that the CBS series was "broken." The truth is that the game hasn't seen a competitive performance this dominant since Janelle Pierzina won nine competitions in Season 7. Janelle, similar to Survivor legend and Season 25 Houseguest Cirie Fields, is widely recognized as the greatest player to play Big Brother without winning it all.
The idea that Jag's 11-win success should be diminished, or that it's proof of a broken system, is laughable, since achieving such a feat takes true talent that detractors aren't willing to consider. It wasn't one season ago that Michael Bruner was praised for breaking the fifteen-year veto record for most wins in a single season. But now it's suddenly a bad thing a year later when Jag shattered it? I can't help but feel there are some upset fans whose judgment has been clouded by the fact that he's still standing where some of their favorites are not.
Jag Deserves Credit For Linking Up With And Staying Loyal To Matt
A big argument many have against Jag Bains is that he's a poor social player, so much so that he was nearly evicted unanimously in Week 4. Big Brother fans will remember, however, that Jag was saved by one of his few allies, Matt Klotz, who negated the eviction and kept Jag in the game. It begs the question, how many "allies" do you need in Big Brother to be a great social player?
For Jag, he really only needed a solid alliance with Matt, and it clearly worked out pretty well for him. Matt did his part in saving Jag, and the latter has repaid that debt tenfold by now with numerous veto competitions and HOH wins. Sure, it's not as sexy or dangerous as a multi-person alliance with shifting allegiances and blindsides, but it's way more effective.
Matt and Jag might've been alone on an island at the end, but all they needed when it mattered was each other. He might even fare better than Matt if they're at the end together, considering he doesn't have to explain any random betrayals like how his buddy did with the shocking betrayal of Cirie. I won't sit here and act like he's a master social strategist, but he played in a respectable way that benefitted his strategy.
Jag Showed His True Strength As A Competitor Right When Others Wrote Him Off
Big Brother Season 25 has been all about evicting the major threats. Hisam Goueli was targeted immediately because of his strong competitive skills, and Cameron Hardin and Jared Fields were targeted for the same reasons. How, then, did the biggest comp beast of them all slide through to the end?
The answer is more complicated than "he won back-to-back HOH weeks," as frustrating as Jag being able to compete was. He was seemingly forgotten about following his near-unanimous eviction, and Houseguests underestimated him both as a player and as a competitor. If a finger is to be pointed at anyone for the reason this season took a lopsided turn, it's the Houseguests to blame for not realizing they should've stuck to voting out Jag. In doing so, they kept him in long enough to become a factor again, which led to the streak that has him a breath away from winning Big Brother Season 25.
Big Brother Season 25 comes to an end on CBS on Thursday, November 9th at 8:00 p.m. ET. Tune in to see if Jag will end up winning the big prize money or have to settle for the consolation money Houseguests are paid.
