It’s summer which means it must be time for a new season of Big Brother. I’m excited about this season because it’s all newbies and no veterans. It will be a refreshing change from the past couple seasons.

The first eight houseguests we meet are Samantha, the welder with a thick accent. Tyler, the beach lifeguard who knows his intelligence won’t be his strength. Bayleigh, the flight attendant who is already annoying. Steve, the retired NYPD detective posing as a mechanic. Smart move. Ask Derrick from BB16.

Kaitlyn, the life coach who I could also see annoying me. Winston, the medical device sales rep who is a supporter of Amendment 2 and loves his dog. Angela, the fitness model who I might already have a crush on. JC, the professional dancer who is part of the LGBT community and has a strong personality.

The second eight houseguests we meet are Rachel, the Las Vegas performer who is a BB super-fan. Swaggy C is a day trader. Rockstar is the unique one who said she was a witch? Brett is the “bro” who is also a cybersecurity engineer. Kaycee is a women’s professional football player. Scott is the ultimate nerd who has never been kissed. Haleigh is the college student from Texas A&M and Faysal is the former college football player.

I like this cast so far. The HG all meet each other and do the usual meet & greet. I always enjoy the first few moments everyone is in the house because they are all getting to know each other but also feeling each other out. Winston, Angela, Steve, Swaggy C and Brett are some of my early favorites.

Julie calls the HG into the living room for the first meeting. She talks about how technology is going to play a huge part in the game this season: “High tech twists.”

The HG go outside for the first competition called BB Super Computer. The winner has the ability to reprogram the game. It separates the house by putting 8 HG (4 girls and 4 guys) on each side. They are quickly split up as the first group of eight is sent to the “trash folder.” They must search through the dark and find a folder. You find the escape and play you advance to the finals. You don’t find a folder at all, you lose and will receive a punishment.

Tyler, Bayleigh, Brett and Rachel find the first four folders. Angela finds the fifth folder and it’s the escape and play. She is moving on to the finals. JC and Winston find the final two folders which means Kaycee will be the one receiving the punishment from this group.      

The other eight HG are playing in the “cybersecurity zone.” This competition requires the HG to search through the letter blocks to spell out the word houseguest. The last person will lose and also receive a punishment. Swaggy C is the winner and will face Angela in the final round of the competition. The rest of the HG continue spelling and it comes down to Rockstar, Sam and Haleigh as the last 3. Sam ends up being the last one and will join Kaycee in the “losers bracket.”

Angela and Swaggy C come to an agreement before the final round. The winner will keep their platform group safe. Swaggy C’s ultimate plan is to win everything week 1 and then lay low. They enter the final round of the competition called BB Web. It is an endurance competition where the last one remaining on their surfboard will win the power to reprogram the game. Both of these HG will be competition beasts and Swaggy C outlasts Angela to win the power. He will have to choose two of the four groups of HG that came in that he wants to keep safe.

The entire house all do their part in trying to convince Swaggy C to keep them safe. He is obviously going to keep himself and his group (Rachel, Rockstar and Brett) safe for the week. He promised to keep Angela safe but it’s still early and he could always change his mind. He knows that this choice could impact his long-term game. Kaycee and Sam both return to the game with punishments. Kaycee has the pinwheel of doom, which means she will be stuck in rooms for extended periods of time while Sam has to switch between being a human and a robot. Interesting. Both punishments last until the 1st live eviction.

Time to find out Swaggy C’s decision. His first decision is to keep his group safe including himself, Brett, Rockstar and Rachel. He decides to keep the second group of 8 that came in together. This includes Scottie, Haleigh, Kaycee and Faysal. Interesting choice. I really thought he was going to pick Angela’s group. America can also impact the game by voting to get HG trending. The most popular one gets a reward while the least trending HG will receive a punishment.

We eavesdrop on the HG talking about how poor of a choice they think Swaggy C made. I think it’s hilarious that he was listening by the pantry door.

I think this is going to be an exciting season of Big Brother!

Big Brother airs Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays only on CBS.