issue 22 // vol 44

arts // no. 7

New ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ entertains
but players ultimately fall short

> Exciting first season hopefully paves the way for future success

Lauren Kelly
Graphics Manager

 

he very exciting and very short
first season of Celebrity Big Brother
US concluded February 25 after
lasting only 26 days. The 11 celebrities
competing included singers, actors,
athletes, and reality TV personalities,
some more currently recognizable
than others, but all there to play the
game. The celebrities made alliances,
backstabbed, and competed much
harder than most players have the in
last few seasons of regular BBUS.
There were a few stand-out players,
along with a few disappointments.
American Pie actress and BB superfan
Shannon Elizabeth was both. She
built up an alliance and won the
first two competitions, including
a Spelling Search veto win where
she spelled the longest word in
the history of the competition:
“responsibilities.” Of course, this put a
huge target on her and eventually got
her sent out the door—something she
is sadly still very bitter about, if recent
interviews are anything to go by.
Another stand-out, but largely more
positive, was Ross Mathews. Known as
Ross the Intern during his time on The
Tonight Show With Jay Leno, he was
also a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race in
2015. He came into the house planning

to play Andy Herren’s (BB15 winner)
game, gaining trust from everyone
in the house, gathering information,
and moving between alliances when
necessary—a strategy he largely
succeeded in using. His closest ally was
Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray!), and
the two worked together the entire game.
Some pleasant surprises were the
fast friends and allies Brandi Glanville
(Real Housewives of Beverly Hills)
and Ariadna Gutiérrez (Runner Up
for Miss Universe 2015). They made a
strong final four with Mathews and
Winokur and were the ones to come
up with the plan to take out Elizabeth,
a previous ally. They also brought the
entertainment. Glanville, known for
drinking and speaking her mind, did
just that, resulting in some solid drama
and big slipups. Gutiérrez was sweet but
calculated, and knew that it was only a
game, so she felt comfortable making the
big, necessary moves. Their friendship
was charming and their gameplay
impressive for two non-fans of the show.
The two big disappointments of
the season were Keshia Knight Pulliam
(The Cosby Show actress) and Metta
World Peace (retired NBA player).
Both chose to quit the show by asking
their housemates to put them on the
block and vote them out of the house,
rendering two live evictions completely
anticlimactic. The only positives are

that World Peace brought plenty of
entertainment with his spacey attitude
and general lack of understanding
of Big Brother, and Knight Pulliam
gifted us with her eviction plea of “My
breast milk is continuing to deplete.”
Of course, who can forget about
Omarosa Manigault? The Apprentice
villain and ex-White House staffer
played an impressive game for someone
with her reputation. Omarosa was
a delight, stirring up drama by
painting targets on others through
lies, manipulation, and one large wink
during a nomination ceremony. She
played hard and made an ally of anyone
who would work with her, keeping
herself safe as often as she could with
deals. Every episode also featured her
dishing on some aspect of politics, most
famously when she sadly told Mathews
that “[America] will not be okay.”
But what’s a game show without
a winner? The finale was a rushed two
hours that started with five houseguests:
Omarosa, Mathews, Gutiérrez, Winokur,
and Mark McGrath (lead singer of Sugar
Ray). Omarosa was eliminated first, and
a final Head of Household competition
was held that gave the last HoH an
immense amount of power: They would
eliminate two houseguests on the spot
and choose the person who would
come with them to the final two. Ina
shocking twist, as she had not yet won

a competition at that point, Winokur
took it and chose Mathews to bring to
the finale. This felt like the nail in her
coffin until it became clear just how
bitter the ex-houseguests who formed
the jury were. Seemingly influenced by
Elizabeth’s attitude towards Mathews for
planning her eliminations and going on
a shared desire to have the more “honest
player” win the game, the jury awarded
Winokur the victory with a vote of 6-3.
We leave CBB after a sad ending to a
mostly-great season. There are definitely
some takeaways going forward. First,
the much older age range seemed to
result in better gameplay, as there were
only two players in their twenties, while
six were in their forties. In fact, at 45,
Winokur is now the oldest houseguest
to ever win Big Brother. Next, something
will need to be done to avoid having
houseguests who want to quit. This
could be cured by sending eliminatees
to a jury house like a normal season,
instead of letting them return home.
Sequestering them would also solve the
bitterness brought on by houseguests
being able to watch the show from
home and see all the behind the scenes
backstabbing that lead to their evictions.
Whether they fix this or not,
I’m looking forward to next year’s
CBB. But for now, we have Big
Brother Canada starting March 7.
You know you want to watch!

 

v

Marvel fan theories that just may

be ridiculous enough to be true

> Some wild theories regarding the fate of our favourite heroes

Veronnica MacKillop
Senior Columnist

 

ith the April 25 release of

Avengers: Infinity War quickly
approaching, there are some silly
theories floating around about the
fate of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
(MCU). Warning: Potential spoilers
ahead, especially for Black Panther.

Location of the Soul Stone

Black Panther was released on February
16 as the last MCU movie before Infinity
War. Fans were expecting to see the
final Infinity Stone, but it never showed
up. Some speculate that the Soul Stone
is with Heimdall, former guard of the
Bifrost Bridge in Asgard, and will be
taken from him by Thanos. Plus, at the
end of Ragnarok, the fleeing Asgardians
are approached by Thanos’s ship. There’s
also speculation that the stone is still in
Wakanda, since that’s where the battle
in the Infinity War trailer takes place.

Tony’s vision comes true (kind of)

 

In Age of Ultron, Scarlet Witch makes

Tony see a vision of all the original
Avengers dead. This could have just
been a manifestation of his greatest
fear, but if Thanos does obtain all the
Infinity Stones, it seems likely that he
could defeat many Avengers. The theory
here is that Tony somehow obtains
the Soul Stone, which is then used to
bring the heroes back to life. Another
theory is that Doctor Strange brings
them back using the Time Stone.

Anew Captain

In the comics, Steve dies and there are
two different story lines: One where
Bucky becomes the next Captain
America, and one where Sam does.
The franchise seems to be setting it
up to be Bucky, and the actor seems
to think so too. We know Bucky is
currently in Wakanda, probably
getting a shiny new Vibranium-based
arm, and we know he’s going to be
fighting alongside the Avengers in
Infinity War, so he'll definitely have

a large role to play in the film.

Rebirth of dead villains

If Thanos does obtain all of the stones,
which he probably will some point, he
could use the gauntlet to bring back
old villains who have died in past
films, such as Red Skull or Ronan.
This would be pretty cool to see, but it
might not happen until Avengers Four.

Bruce uses the Hulkbuster

Credit to Nerdist for this theory. We all
remember the Hulkbuster from Age of
Ultron, the suit that Tony made to keep
Bruce under control in case he “Hulks
out.” The Hulkbuster—the perfect
solution for the problem of Bruce being
unable to transform back—is seen in
the trailer for Infinity War, and ina
recent LEGO set. We know that Bruce
does fight as the Hulk in that battle clip
we saw, but he may use the Hulkbuster
so that he can safely fight with the
Avengers in the first half of the movie.

Thor’s new weapon

Speaking of LEGO sets spoiling things,
one of them shows the God of Thunder
sporting his new weapon (which is
actually his old weapon), Jarnbjorn—

the battle axe that he used before he
could lift Mjolnir. There’s also a chance
that the hammer will be fixed, possibly
using Vibranium, but seeing Jarnbjorn
would be pretty cool too. Fans speculate
that Thor may be going on a quest with
the Guardians to get a new weapon,
since none of them seem to be in any

of the Earth scenes in Infinity War.

Skrulls

Have some of Earth’s heroes been
secretly taken over by a shapeshifting
race of evil aliens? Possibly. We already
know that in the Captain Marvel
movie, set to release in 2019, the titular
heroine’s main antagonists are Skrulls,
and since that film will take place in
the ’gos, it could affect the heroes of
today. Perhaps the yet-to-be-revealed
title of Avengers Four will be Avengers:
Secret Invasion, a film based on the
Skrull comic arc, Secret Invasion.

In the end, theories are just that—
theoretical. It’s always fun to speculate,
but we'll have to wait until the upcoming
Infinity War, and another year for
Avengers Four, to see if they pan out.

 

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