Big Brother is quite possibly the best example of how reality TV reshapes reality for viewers. Thanks to 24/7 feeds provided to the most diehard of fans, we can actually see presumably close to all of the footage captured within the house, which the editors will quickly assemble to make a TV-ready 43 minutes of drama and competition. What’s left out of the edit may as well have never happened, even if what was cut could have been consequential. That’s exactly what Big Brother fans saw happen this week regarding Jared Fields’s whole R-word fiasco.
To sum it up: after winning Head of Household, contestant Jared got into a heated discussion with fellow player Cory Wurtenberger about who to nominate for eviction should either of the two nominees win the Power of Veto. During the conversation, Jared allegedly called America Lopez the R-word — and I only say “allegedly” because footage of him saying it has yet to be found. However, footage of him apologizing to Cory for saying it shocked the Big Brother fandom over the weekend. Considering that Big Brother already evicted a houseguest for saying a slur this season, when Luke Valentine dropped the N-word, many wondered how the show would react to Jared saying the R-word. The Wednesday night episode would contain the footage surrounding, and possibly including the incident. Would Big Brother work it into the narrative?
Nope. They just ignored it. SPOILERS for Wednesday night’s episode, but it did not end with the current HoH being evicted in a shocking followthrough of the show’s code of conduct. Instead, it ended with eviction nominee Cameron Hardin winning the Power of Veto and using it on himself, and HoH Jared nominating Jag Bains as his replacement for potential eviction.
However, the episode did include the argument that Jared and Cory got into over America. Jared was determined to put America on the block simply because he knew she threw the Pressure Cooker challenge just to make a deal with Cameron (after she endured it for 14 hours, mind you). He also doesn’t like that America, if ever HoH, would potentially put Izzy, Felicia, or Cirie — his mom — up for eviction. The convo gets so intense that, after Jared walks away, Cory and Izzy Gleicher are like, “… WTF?”
It’s likely that this is around where Jared used the R-slur because immediately after that, we see a scene cut from the same footage as the apology that went viral among Big Brother fans.
Why did Big Brother ignore this plot point? We probably won’t know for sure until a tell-all book comes out, but it’s likely that they saw evicting the current HoH as too big of a disruptor to the game — especially because Jared’s eviction would have the season’s superstar, Survivor fan favorite, and mother of Jared Cirie Fields feeling some type of way. Maybe the producers saw this as potentially torpedoing all the best storylines of the season…? And that’s how reality TV editing can reshape reality.
Since it doesn’t look like Jared is going anywhere, it’s up to Jag and Red Utley. While Red was initially the target to go, Cirie has shifted the voting towards keeping Red since she sees him as a loyal ally. And since Jag was evicted last week and only saved by Matt Klotz’s temporary gift of invincibility, he’s the most likely candidate to go home next. Making matters worse for Jag: Blue Kim actually convinced Jag to accept his fate as the replacement nominee, saying that he’ll be a pawn because everyone’s definitely voting Red out.
We’ll find out who sticks to their word when Big Brother airs live tonight, Thursday, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.