Big Brother 26 has just ended its latest twist, in which the houseguests had to live in the backyard during week 9 in a carnival called Jankie World, and it was the worst twist in the show’s history. During Big Brother 26 week 9, Ainsley left the eight remaining houseguests with another A.I. entity named Jankie, which stood for Junior Artificial Neuro-Kinetic Intelligence Entity. The houseguests who experienced Jankie World were Angela Murray, Cam Sullivan-Brown, Chelsie Baham, Kimo Apaka, Leah Peters, Makensy Manbeck, Rubina Bernabe, and T’kor Clottey. Jankie World was, as Kimo described it, like “being held hostage by a toddler from hell.”
In the Big Brother 26 Jankie World, the houseguests were subject to a never-ending carnival, in which the houseguests could only eat pizza and ice cream. They were also forced to participate in singing and dancing parties whenever Jankie wanted them to, no matter what was happening. They were stuck outside for a week in the heat, with only cots to sleep on and portable toilets to use. Although it at first seemed as though Jankie World might be a fun twist, it was actually the worst one in Big Brother history.
1
Jankie World Didn’t Really Fit The Big Brother 26 A.I. Theme
The Jankie World Carnival Seemed Out Of Place
Big Brother 26 has an A.I. theme, so it made sense that a junior intelligence entity such as Jankie took over the week. However, the A.I. twists stopped there. Other Big Brother 26 weeks included A.I. technology, which was thrilling to see. Quinn Martin took over Angela’s Head of Household (HOH) reign with his Deepfake HOH upgrade, in which he controlled an A.I. avatar of Angela and made his nominations as her. In addition, Tucker Des Lauriers used the avatars to send messages when he was the A.I. Instigator.
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The Jankie World carnival seemed very out-of-place with its old-fashioned games and lack of technology. Although Jankie was there, he was the only thing that connected to the A.I. theme. It was a strange break from the Big Brother 26 theme, which interrupted the flow of the game.
2
Jankie World Served No Real Purpose Except Pushing The Houseguests To The Brink
The Twist Didn’t Accomplish Anything
Unlike the Big Brother 24 Split House twist, which separated the houseguests by forcing some of them to live inside and some to live outside of the house, the Jankie World twist didn’t really accomplish anything gamewise. It didn’t break apart alliances by placing them in separate living quarters or force people to work together like in the Big Brother 24 Festie Bestie twist. All it did was push the houseguests to their breaking points.
The Jankie World twist is one of the worst ever because it was so inconsequential. While it culminated in frontrunner T’kor Clottey’s eviction, it wasn’t really that shocking considering that the majority of the houseguests wanted to break up the trio of Rubina, Kimo, and T’kor. It would’ve been better to skip this twist, and allow the houseguests to continue to play traditional Big Brother with their normal secret strategizing.
3
Jankie World Prevented The Houseguests From Strategizing
They All Lived Outside Together For The Week
Because the Big Brother 26 houseguests were trapped outside in the backyard for a week, they didn’t have the ability to sneak off into the different rooms of the house and strategize together. This made scheming very difficult for them. Jankie World disrupted the normal flow of strategy talk, which made the live feeds boring to watch. Privacy is needed in order for Big Brother to be played properly.
The Jankie World twist made for one of the most tame weeks strategy-wise in the history of the game. It would’ve been impossible for the blindsides and backdoors of the past to happen in Jankie World because there was really no place to hide. Suspicions would be raised if the houseguests teamed up with people with whom they didn’t normally interact. Jankie World made playing the traditional game of Big Brother nearly impossible.
4
Jankie World Was Torturous For Live Feeders & Viewers
The Jankie World Song Was Especially Taxing To Listen To Repeatedly
While it was entertaining and somewhat funny at first to see the houseguests singing the Jankie World song (“J-A-N-K-I-E/Jankie, Jankie you love me!/J-A-N-K-I-E/Jankie, Jankie, let’s party!”) and being forced to have dance parties, and later their expletive-filled reactions to having to sing and dance on command, after a while it was hard to watch. The Jankie World song was repetitive and drove the houseguests and viewers crazy.
It’s hard to believe that making the Big Brother 26 houseguests sing and dance on command was the best the producers could think of for a twist. It felt very lazy and thrown-together. It definitely didn’t live up to the standards of some of the best Big Brother twists. The Jankie song was just another example of how the Jankie World twist was one of the worst in the history of the show because its only purpose was to torture the houseguests. Perhaps if it later became part of a competition, such as counting how many times it was sung, or memorizing the new lyrics, it would’ve been better.
5
It Was Hard To Watch The Houseguests Suffer In Jankie World
The Houseguests Were Subject To Many Harsh Conditions
In Jankie World, the Big Brother 26 houseguests had to deal with some very harsh conditions. They were only allowed to eat pizza and ice cream, which left Leah begging for vegetables. They were baking in the sun, and they had nowhere to go if they wanted to be alone. The nonstop punishments were not only taxing on the houseguests’ mental health, but they were hard for viewers to watch on both the live feeds and the CBS episodes.
The purpose of Big Brother isn’t to push people to their breaking point and challenge their resolve, but rather to have them strategize in a game that requires physical, mental, emotional, and social strength. It’s not Survivor or Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. While being a Have Not has been part of the game for many years, those conditions are nothing compared to what the houseguests endured in Jankie World. It seemed completely unnecessary to put the houseguests through something so mentally taxing, especially when it didn’t seem to serve any purpose.
6
Jankie World Caused Unnecessary Drama
The Close Quarters Made It Hard For The Houseguests To Deal With Each Other
Because of the fact that the houseguests all had to live together in the backyard, there was no escaping each other. One example of how this negatively affected them was when Chelsie became upset with Cam for moving his cot closer to Makensy’s. Chelsie has a crush on Cam, which has caused her to have some emotional reactions to his interactions with the other women.
In the past, when Chelsie was angry with Cam, she simply left the room, but there was no way for her to fully get away from the situation in Jankie World. Cam was confused about why Chelsie was upset, and it turned into a very dramatic situation that didn’t need happen. This kind of drama might work on shows such as The Bachelor, but it’s out of place on a reality competition show like Big Brother. The houseguests should’ve been able to focus on their games without being forced to stay in situations that made them uncomfortable.
7
Jankie World Needed Prizes & Punishments
There Was No Incentive For The Houseguests
Jankie World might’ve been more exciting if it had more incentives for the houseguests to survive it. There could’ve been a luxury competition that awarded a houseguest with a fantastic prize or even money. Luxury prizes force houseguests to make tough decisions about whether they should win them or not, as sometimes they make them targets for eviction because they’ve already won something. However, after everything the houseguests suffered through, it would’ve made it worth it.
In addition, there didn’t seem to be any punishments for houseguests who weren’t as enthusiastic about Jankie’s demands. Knowing that they might be subject to some sort of negative consequence might’ve encouraged them to participate more, rather than just go through the motions at the end of the week. It would’ve made Jankie World more bearable to watch if the stakes were higher for the Big Brother 26 houseguests.
8
Leah Peters Didn’t Get The Perks Of Her HOH Reign In Jankie World
Leah Didn’t Get An HOH Room
When Leah won the Jankie World HOH competition, she was disappointed when she found out that she wouldn’t have her HOH room. Instead, she received a basket to take out to the backyard with her. This also meant that Leah couldn’t have private one-on-one conversations in the HOH room, nor could she watch the houseguests on the HOH bedroom screen.
The Jankie World twist would’ve put the HOH at a disadvantage no matter who it was, but it was especially sad to see it happen to Leah. It was her first HOH win, and she didn’t get the chance to fully experience it. One could argue that it’s part of the game, but, again, the Jankie World twist didn’t feel like the game. Instead, it felt like an unnecessary experience for all of the houseguests, but especially Leah.
9
The Jankie Veto Fell Flat
Leah Didn’t Win The Game To Decide To Activate It
When the Jankie Veto was revealed on the Big Brother 26 live feeds, there was a lot of excitement about a new power being introduced into the game. Angela had won the Golden Power of Veto by fitting candy-shaped puzzle pieces into a circle, while Leah had won the Jankie Veto by coming in second in the competition. However, Leah couldn’t even decide whether she wanted to use it because she had to win a classic carnival game in which she had to knock down milk bottles with a ball in order to earn that privilege. Leah didn’t win the game, so the Jankie Veto went to waste.
Leah’s loss made it impossible for her to even decide to use the Jankie Veto, which took the excitement out of the power. After Quinn’s Deepfake HOH was spoiled because he didn’t keep it a secret, and Tucker’s A.I. Instigator power was a bust because he didn’t reveal much through his fellow houseguests’ avatars, it was intriguing that another power was introduced into the game. However, the rules for the Jankie Veto made it harder to use. Imagine the disappointment if one of the nominees had won it, but then didn’t win the game to use it. This is what proves that it was a failure.
10
Jankie World Slowed Down The Game
Jankie World Was Too Janky
Much like the Big Brother 25 Zombie Week twist, in which gameplay was halted in order for Cameron Hardin and Jared Fields to try to win their way back into the house, Jankie World slowed down Big Brother 26. It somewhat stopped the houseguests from really playing the game because they were all stuck together in a small area. Big Brother can’t be properly played in a backyard with everybody watching everyone else.
The Jankie World twist was too “janky,” which is a word that means “of extremely poor or unreliable quality.” It prevented the houseguests from strategizing and challenged them too much both physically and emotionally. Even though parts of it were fun, it took a lot out of the houseguests, and it was sometimes hard to watch. Jankie took Big Brother’s motto “expect the unexpected” way too far when he took over for Ainsley. Hopefully, Jankie World is closed forever.
Big Brother season 26 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT and Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Sources: Big Brother/Instagram, Big Brother/Instagram, BigBrotherJunkie/X
