‘Big Brother 18’ episode 36 review: If only MacGyver could fix James and Natalie…

James -

Tonight, “Big Brother” gave us a halfway-decent Veto Competition, a little bit of drama, and by the end of the night, a ho-hum Veto Ceremony. There’s really not a whole lot to go with for this show given that a lot of best parts of this week happened after the timeline for this episode.

With that, let’s get the obligatory product-placement underway! Could CBS have really come up with a better promotional platform for “MacGyver” than a cheap banner that looked made up for someone’s birthday? We like the idea of an escape room just because we really want to go and do some of these, but we really do think that the show should’ve put a little bit more in the budget for this. Corey won it, and the most entertaining part of the episode was seeming him completely bungle his victory speech in the Diary Room.

Now, we get to Natalie and James, the showmance that CBS has painted with an idealistic brush over the course of the season. In a way, we do get the motivation for doing this: Jeff and Jordan remain one of the most popular showmances in the show’s history, and they have a similar sort of sweetness. However, at the same time feed viewers realize that there is something just off about the dynamic between the two; they’ve played up hard for the cameras, but where’s the passion between the two of them? We do think that the two like each other very much, even if it’s not always romantic, but we wish the show would at least tried to make things more complex before tonight. Thanks to that, this all felt a little rushed.

Yes, Corey did not use the Veto, and James / Natalie are on the rocks. In the end, this was kind of a boring end to what was a weird, but occasionally entertaining, episode. Grade: B-.

If you want to get some other news when it comes to “Big Brother,” including some more updates from the live feeds, be sure to head over to the link here! Also, sign up over here to score some other TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!