There is one core truth about all the best reality competition shows: anyone has a chance to win. Whether it’s people battling it out in intense physical challenges or struggling to survive the elements (and each other) on an arid beach, viewers tune in every week knowing that any of the fierce personalities on display has the chance to clinch that grand prize in the end. The genre has offered countless innovative strategies for how these players can win their respective franchises, though few have been as complex as the ones on Big Brother. Created by John de Mol on CBS, this groundbreaking series has awed viewers for decades with its tales of “houseguests” implementing intense plans to outmaneuver one another and make it to the finale. There have been many ingenious ways over the years for how people can beat each other out and cement themselves as that season’s true Big Brother champion — as well as dozens of dumbfounding ways players have managed to cost themselves the win.
For every tale of an epic rise to power, there are many more contestants whose shoddy gameplay ended their tenure on the show early, with this current season providing another example of someone talking their way out of the ultimate cash prize. Big Brother 26 has offered many shocking moments for those watching at home, and they just received a few more this last week watching Joseph Rodriguez completely ruin his own game.
There Are Many Ways to Win ‘Big Brother’
In a Big Brother season filled with emotional outbursts and huge confrontations, Joseph has managed to keep a relatively low profile. The man has coasted along through the first few weeks in the game, forging relationships with other players like Quinn Martin but never really making a name for himself in the house. This, combined with hardcore gameplay surrounding him, left Joseph largely unnoticed as a competitive threat by both those watching at home and the others playing with him. In a genre where people are constantly fighting for screen time it may seem detrimental to present such a quiet presence, but in a show like this one, it’s actually a well-tried strategy that could have won him the game.
With so many weeks and people competing, it can’t be understated how important it is for players to keep a low profile in Big Brother. Of course, there are noticeable exceptions to this rule; many victors across the years cultivated a huge presence in the house and were able to dominate their way to the $750,000 grand prize. Yet in a setting where people are always on guard, wondering who will backstab them next, it’s those who manage a low threat level that are often left alone and allowed to forge their own path to the end. Players like Season 4 winner Jun Song showed the benefit of being a “floater” in this competition, trying to make yourself appear harmless and floating wherever the real power in the house was, always being seen as a coattail rider right until you strike. Joseph was open in the Diary Room about implementing that strategy, yet in the end, he was evicted for doing the one thing you absolutely cannot do with this gameplay style: he talked about it.
Number One ‘Big Brother’ Floater Rule? Keep Quiet
Joseph spent most of his time on the show pulling from Big Brother’s well-established playbook to carry out his floater strategy. Aside from a few notable conversations with those he really trusted, he made the effort to exclude himself from all big decisions and ensured that he was near the bottom of the house’s competitive hierarchy. He even went so far as to (allegedly) purposefully lose all the competitions he was a part of to not be seen as a physical threat. It was a historically successful approach to the game — that Joseph ruined by being too cocky. He forgot about the image he’d tried so hard to cultivate and boasted to fellow player Chelsie Baham about how he believed they were playing the same kind of game (Chelsie is currently one of this season’s strongest players). Offended, she could only sit and listen as Joseph openly discussed how he’d tried to create subtle alliances with everyone and claimed that he was one of the house’s most physically proficient members. It was an apparent attempt to show the other player why he was worth keeping around as an ally, yet all it did was inform Chelsie about some very important facts: Joseph was cocky, he was a potential threat, and he absolutely needed to go.
The set of episodes that followed saw Joseph’s misled confidence quickly come back to bite him. A promised top-two deal with current HOH Quinn — someone who multiple house members had called out as untrustworthy — didn’t stop Joseph from being put up on the Block by his so-called ally, serving as a replacement after the week’s veto was used. Pair this with the man’s lackluster performance in the AI arena, and the end of the latest episode saw him at the bottom with well-loved player Kimo Apaka. As Joseph stood up to give his last plea to stay, his low profile hurt him; while it was more strategic to keep Joseph, Kimo was a warm personality in the house that virtually every person loved. His impassioned speech was much more impactful than Joseph’s assurances that he could be an ally and, when combined with his intentional lack of connections and the way he’d been boasting to Chelsie, sent Joseph out in a 4-3 vote. Joseph was one of this season’s most under-the-radar characters and could have ridden that demure persona all the way to the end, but by making the mistake of actually discussing a strategy built on keeping silent, he managed to ruin an entire month of work in just one week.
What Can Fans Learn From This ‘Big Brother’ Player?
For all of his mistakes, Joseph Rodriguez’s eviction on Big Brother 26 was not all his own fault. He would’ve been completely safe if Quinn hadn’t put him on the block, and Chelsie’s animosity might not have played as big of a factor if she hadn’t already been annoyed with other members of their potential alliance. Yet, for all of these other issues, it’s undeniable how much Joseph did to mess up the strategy he’d been perfecting for weeks. Playing quietly has proven to work for many other players, these contestants usually not being called out until the jury portion of the game when truly everyone becomes a legitimate threat. But Joseph wasn’t able to maintain his silence, feeling so proud of himself and how much he’d achieved — throwing every challenge and hiding behind more vocal players — that he felt the need to talk about it to one of the biggest powerhouses this season. There’s a lot that future players can learn from Joseph’s downfall, but above all, there’s one key aspect he teaches about this kind of strategy: if you’re trying to be a floater, don’t let your own ego weigh you down.