The final week of Big Brother looks nothing like its beginning. The first week, the house is bustling with new houseguests who are all getting to know each other. There's always something going on, whether it's people finding out more about each other, or conspiring with one another as they decide who the first evicted houseguest will be. The final week, however, is just three people walking around an empty house. All three houseguests just have to wait for the final HoH competition, and then hope that the jury likes them enough to give them a half million dollars. The change happens gradually as one person leaves every week, but how have things changed on Big Brother 17?
The once lively feeds have slowed to a crawl and then stopped, as only the finale episode remains. It'll be another eight months before BB18 makes its way onto television. After those long months (which can be spent catching up on past seasons of Big Brother), we'll be introduced to over a dozen new houseguests, more twists, and once again watch their numbers dwindle down to a final three and end up right back where we are now. What was different when BB17 started, and what hasn't changed at all?
Then:
Everyone was celebrating the start of the season by dancing out their excitement.
Now:
There's a whole lot of napping in the house now that there's nothing to do and only three people living there.
Then:
Vanessa started off the season by tearing up over being apart from her girlfriend.
Now:
Vanessa never really stopped crying. Forecast says there is a 100 percent chance of tears rolling from her eyes on finale night.
Then:
Liz was getting cozy with Jace before everyone realized he was an awful enough person to send home as soon as possible.
Now:
Liz is teary-eyed over the stress of the game, as well as being separated from her partner Austin. Austin, the same man who said Liz wasn't "that hot" when Jace mentioned how she looked, citing that he had a girlfriend already. Austin, who is now madly in love with her.
Then:
There were so many alliances. It got hard to keep track of at times, and many of the alliances barely lasted more than a few weeks. They still couldn't stop the seemingly undefeatable Vanessa from getting to the final three with Steve and Liz.
Now:
The only surviving alliance is the Scamper Squad, which Liz, Vanessa, and Steve were all a part of. Originally called Freaks & Geeks, the alliance was intended to be a side-alliance for Vanessa and the Austwins in case they had a falling out with Clelli and needed to abandon the Sixth Sense ship.
Then:
Sometimes the live feed cams would act up and do something odd, but this can be attributed to the fact that it was early in the season, and they were working out kinks.
Now:
On second thought, maybe the camera operators just get bored sometimes and like goofing around.
Then:
Jace was running around the house naked for no reason, which nobody asked for.
Now:
Steve runs through the house to burn the calories he would get from eating a caramel apple. Steve is running fully clothed, which is a huge improvement over Jace's technique.
Then:
There were a lot of people in the house, and all of them were ready to party. Alcohol was flowing and the celebrations were plentiful. The houseguests weren't wasting any time by being "low-key".
Now:
S'Mores! Nothing wrong with three people having a chill evening by playing cards and eating some S'mores.
The activities in the house may have calmed down, but the tension has only grown as the houseguests get closer to finding out who will win. Hopefully, they will remember their first week fondly, as some of the most fun in the house happened in that initial week during late June. Three months and 14 evicted houseguests later, the house is much different than it was when they entered, but they all knew it was going to be difficult. That's why they call Big Brother a game and not a vacation.
For more on this season of Big Brother, check out Bustle's podcast The Diary Room.
Image: Robert Voets/CBS
