'BB17' Houseguests Shouldn't Worry About Buyback

For the past few weeks now, the houseguests have been nervous and anxious about who will return to Big Brother from the jury. In keeping with the same formula from Seasons 15 and 16, the first four jury members in Season 17 get to compete for a spot back in the BB house, what some fans call the "buyback." It's tough to say why the houseguests are so concerned, however, when Big Brother history has yet to see a juror come back in the game and go on to win either the $50,000 or $500,000.

In Season 15, the re-entry and HOH competitions were one and the same. All active houseguests (minus the outgoing HOH) and the four jury members participated in "Off the Wall," a competition that required them to stand on platforms and catch balls thrown at them. According to the rules of the game, the first person to catch 10 balls or the one to stay on the platform the longest would become HOH, and the last juror to fall off the platform would re-enter the BB game. Judd performed the best out of the jury members and returned to the game. He did manage to survive another three evictions before being re-evicted in Week 11.

In Season 16, there was a separate competition to determine which of the four jury members would come back into the game. In a game of chance, "Comeback Fight," Nicole beat out Zach, Jocasta, and her showmance Hayden to re-enter the game. She survived two evictions, being nominated both times, until she was eventually re-evicted in Week 10.

Taking a look at Season 17's jurors, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about in the BB house. Sure, one could argue that this season has stronger players in the jury, but it seems to be a lot of paranoia amongst the houseguests for no reason.

Currently in the Jury House are Shelli, Jackie, and Becky, with either Steve or John joining them after tonight's eviction. As far as I can see, any one of these players is too split between the current houseguests to make much of a difference in the game. Shelli and Jackie seemed to be going after Vanessa when they were evicted, but Becky might change their mind when she points out the danger of keeping AusTwins around much longer. Meanwhile, Jackie is the only person who could re-enter with more than just one true ally (Meg and James). By the time the returning houseguest figures out who to align with, he or she will likely be on the block, especially because everyone in the house has more or less agreed to promptly re-evict the returning juror.

Of course, I'm still holding out hope that Shelli returns and wins the whole thing, but even I realize that's quite a stretch of the imagination.

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