Big Brother 15

***Big Brother 15*** was the fifteenth season of *Big Brother SIMulator*. It began on October 28, 2020 and ended on November 16, 2020. In-game it lasted 20 days, ending when **Tammy Kramer**won over **Ursula Reynoso** in a 5-2 vote.

## Twists

* **Immunity Competition:** In Week 1, houseguests competed in a two-part immunity competition, the first part being comprised of the men of the house and the second of the women. These groups faced off against each other in a speed competition, with the top two performers in each group receiving immunity for the week. These winners would be ineligible to compete in competitions for the remainder of the week.
* **Chain Week:** Week 3 was a Chain Week. The person evicted the week prior got to name the next week's Head of Household, who would start an immunity chain. Beginning with the HOH, each player would pick one other to give immunity to, going throughout the house until one player remained having not received immunity. That player would be evicted. No competitions would be held and no nominations would be made; on eviction night, the only event to occur would be the final person deciding which of the two remaining houseguests (the nominees for the week) they would choose to send home.
* **Modified Double Eviction:** In Week 4, a modified double eviction was held in which two HOHs were crowned, each naming two separate nominees. The HOHs were ineligible to be nominated by one another. The four nominees and two HOHs would then participate in a single veto competition, the winner of which could choose to veto any of the four nominees or leave nominations the same. The house then voted to evict one of each pair of nominees, with the nominees of the second HOH also voting in the first eviction.

## Houseguests

 **Winner**

 **Runner-Up**

 **Jury: *Ursula***

 **Jury: *Tammy***

 **Jury: *Ursula***

 **Jury: *Tammy***

 **Jury: *Tammy***

 **Jury: *Tammy***

 **Jury: *Tammy***

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

### Alliance Structure

* **The Board:** Conner, Ioan, Oliver, Ursula, Orlando (*affiliated: Winnea, Julie*)
	+ Jury stage opposition alliance: Julie, Jack, Tammy
* **The Outsiders:** Jack, Ursula, Candace (*affiliated: Tammy*)
* **The Trio:** Conner, Ioan, Oliver

### Noteworthy Pairs

* Julie and Winnea (*showmance*)
* Conner and Ursula (*showmance*)
* Orlando and Quinn (*showmance*)
* Jack and Ursula
* Ioan and Oliver

## Voting History

### Notes

* *1* In Week 1, an immunity competition was held where two male and two female winners received immunity and were unable to participate in competitions for the remainder of the week. The winners were Ioan, Orlando, Tammy and Winnea.

## Game History

### **Week 1**

In Week 1, the houseguests all participated in a speed immunity competition where two winners from each gender gained immunity for the week and therefore were ineligible to compete in competitions. The winners were Ioan, Orlando, Tammy and Winnea. In the HOH competition, Ursula beat Candace in a sitting endurance competition and decided to nominate the two 'strongest men' available, Finean and Oliver.

The social dynamics of the house began to solidify after nominations. Many of the men in the house became close, namely Conner, Ioan, Oliver, and Orlando, with Julie, Winnea and Ursula also on their side. Julie and Winnea had the beginning stages of a showmance. Ursula, Candace and Jack also had an offbeat/ outsider alliance, and Ursula and Conner formed a final two, finding themselves at the center of much of the house's strategy. Quinn was almost entirely on the outside save her relationships with Orlando and Tammy and a fake friendship from Julie. This, combined with her temper, led her to being isolated in the house.

Oliver won a singing endurance POV, forcing Ursula to name a replacement nominee. With the house turning against Quinn, she became the obvious target. In the final vote, Orlando and Tammy stayed true to their friendships with Quinn, whereas the remainder of the house voted to evict her in a 7-2 vote.

### **Week 2**

In a punching bag endurance HOH, Winnea dominated her second competition win. She decided to target outsiders in Candace and Jack, but also heavily considered nominating Tammy, who she had not been getting along with at all. However, she saw the former two as more capable competitors and therefore greater threats and decided to nominate them.

Conner edged out Ursula in a fishing variety POV, keeping the nominations the same per the wishes of his majority alliance. With Candace and Jack on the block, the house opinions were split down the middle. Ultimately, the HOH, Winnea, preferred to see Candace go, alongside enough other players that the house unanimously decided to make her the second evicted houseguest in a 8-0 vote.

This week, a majority alliance from weeks prior known as The Board solidified, containing Conner, Ioan, Oliver, Ursula, Orlando, and with Julie and Winnea as affiliates. At the center of this alliance were The Trio, Conner, Ioan, and Oliver, as well as Conner and Ursula's developing showmance. The group remained wary of Julie and Winnea, who were seen as a strong duo eventually needing to be broken up.

### **Week 3**

This week was a chain week, meaning that beginning with the HOH every player would save one other houseguest in order, leaving one remaining houseguest to be evicted. The HOH winner was determined by the previous evicted houseguest, Candace, who gave the HOH to Jack.

Jack had a difficult decision to make, understanding his position on the outside of the majority of the house. He considered starting the chain by selecting Tammy, someone else clearly on the outside. However, he hoped to ingratiate himself better into the power structure by selecting a member of it, Ursula, who he had a prior relationship from the dissolved Outsiders alliance.

Ursula had the easy decision of picking her showmance, Conner, who went on to select Oliver, who selected Ioan. Ioan decided to select Winnea, which made Orlando paranoid as a member of the major alliance yet to be chosen. However, this solidified trust between Winnea and Julie and The Board. Winnea chose her showmance partner Julie and Julie chose the last remaining member of The Board not to be picked, Orlando, leaving Tammy and Finean as nominees for the week. While neither seemed to have any social capital whatsoever, Tammy was viewed as less of a threat, ultimately leading Orlando to bring her to the next week and eliminating Finean just short of the jury house.

### **Week 4**

The week began with the announcement that it would be a modified double eviction, meaning two HOHs would be crowned and each would have to name two separate nominees. The two HOHs and four nominees would then participate in the POV, where only one person would win and have the opportunity to veto a nominee. In a drink quality HOH, Ursula and Julie won with Tammy coming up just short. Since Ursula got first place she had the first pick of nominees, nominating house pawn Tammy and making the risky decision to put up Winnea, Julie's showmance and a member of the power structure of The Board with the hope of cutting Julie and Winnea's power. Julie was outraged but made safe decisions in Jack and Board outsider Orlando for her nominations.

Jack went on to win the POV, taking himself off the block. It became clear the house was planning on evicting Winnea, and in her anger Julie decided to put up and target Conner, Ursula's showmance. When it came time to vote, everyone but Julie voted to evict Winnea, sending her out the door in a 5-1 vote and making her the first member of the jury. For the second vote, the house was much more split. Jack and Tammy recognized their low-ranking position in the house and tried to side with Julie to flip the house and take a frontrunner, Conner, out. Additionally, out of all of the members of The Board Orlando had been most willing to work outside his alliance, evinced by his relationship with Quinn and his voting to keep her against the wishes of the majority. However, at that point the power structure of The Board had become too strong, and with Oliver, Ioan and Ursula as the remaining votes Orlando needed, chances were slim. Since Orlando had already been on the outs of The Board, the eviction came in handy and he was sent to home in a 3-2 vote, becoming the second juror.

### **Week 5**

The house was flipped upside down when a mutual house target, Tammy, won a stargazing HOH. She and Jack, who had been on the bottom, celebrated, and pulled Julie, who had recognized her fragile position in the week prior, to target the main alliance in the house. Tammy nominated the showmance of Ursula and Conner who were perceived as running the game due to their comp wins, leaving major strategist Oliver and his loyal ally Ioan off the block.

In the POV, Ioan won his first competition in a bonsai speed POV. This led to in-depth discussions, as The Board was scared of who would be named a replacement nominee. They decided to talk to Tammy about nominating Julie, someone she was loosely working with but who had been her opponent alongside Winnea all season long. They tried to convince her that she could ingratiate herself better into their power structure and that Julie was still a threat to her game. Ioan used the POV on Conner and, after discussing with Jack and deciding that Julie was also a risk, Tammy made the decision to put Julie on the block. This was a costly decision, as it stood to put The Board further into its majority and control. The house unanimously evicted Julie in a 4-0 vote, making her the third member of the jury.

### **Week 6**

With Tammy and Jack on the outside of Ursula, Conner, Ioan and Oliver, it became crucial for the minority that Jack win HOH, and crucial for the majority that anyone but Jack win HOH. However, in a roller rink speed competition Jack pulled out the win and, this time, decided to focus on the big targets and not the smaller targets like in the week prior; had Jack not won this HOH, he and Tammy would have been in serious danger this week. Ioan and Oliver discussed with Jack the value of putting the showmance of Conner and Ursula on the block, and they had been on Jack and Tammy's radar in the weeks prior. However, Jack had maintained a close relationship with Ursula from the beginning due to their ill-fated Outsiders alliance, and decided that Oliver was a bigger strategic threat, nominating him alongside Conner.

In a social point POV, Conner just beat out Tammy going for the win, enabling him to take himself off the block. This left Jack to decide between Tammy, Ursula, and Ioan. Due to his close relationships with the former two, he decided to put up Ioan against Oliver, breaking up The Trio once and for all. While Jack and Tammy campaigned to get Oliver, a major strategic threat, out of the game, Ursula and Conner had maintained greater trust with him and felt Ioan was merely a number who offered little in the long-run. This over loyalty of Ursula and Conner towards Oliver led them to vote to keep him whereas Tammy voted to evict him, ultimately leading Ioan to be evicted in a close 2-1 vote. Ioan then became the fourth member of the jury.

### **Week 7**

In a house seemingly split 2-3 with Oliver wavering in the middle, the HOH competition was more contested than ever. A pressure cooker HOH led to a showdown between Tammy and Ursula, with Ursula ultimately pulling out the win and putting up the remaining members of the opposing side, Jack and Tammy.

When Oliver won a book value POV, Ursula and Conner assumed they had the week in the bag, as having a member of their side win ensured all three Board members would move into the next week. However, Oliver had been wary of continuing further with a showmance as he knew they would cut him, and he particularly saw Conner as well-liked and a threat to win the game. Without telling any other houseguests, he made the decision to veto one of Ursula's nominations, Jack, forcing her to nominate the only remaining houseguest, her own showmance partner, Conner. During the vote, Jack eagerly made the obvious decision to keep Tammy, and Oliver followed through on his plan to cut his own ally, sending Conner home in a 2-0 vote and making him the fifth member of the jury.

### **Week 8**

Another highly sought-after HOH occurred in the wake of Conner's eviction, and Oliver narrowly secured himself an easy position in the week by winning the final four HOH, a swimming endurance competition. Understanding the futility of initial nominations, he put up Jack and Ursula, who he viewed as bigger threats than Tammy. Ursula was still enraged with Oliver, her own ally who had sent home her showmance, another of his allies.

In a painting value POV, Ursula beat out Oliver, preventing her own eviction by taking herself off of the block. This led Oliver to have to nominate Tammy, and left Ursula as the sole decider of who would go home. Despite her close relationship with Jack and his pleas for her to keep him, Ursula saw Jack as the greater strategic threat and decided to cut him then and there, making him the sixth member of the jury.

### **Week 9**

In a three-part final HOH Oliver won a speed challenge first, followed by Tammy winning part two in a painting speed challenge. The final challenge was a fishing variety competition, which Tammy ultimately won, crowning her as the final HOH of the season. Oliver and Ursula both saw themselves as capable of beating Tammy, and eagerly campaigned for her to keep them. Ultimately, despite the anger the jury might have towards Oliver, Tammy figured he was the stronger player and chose to evict him, making him the seventh and final member of the jury.

### **Week 10**

At finale night it was immediately apparent that the jury was very bitter towards the final three. There was a lot of excitement at seeing Oliver join them as the final member. Entering the voting, some votes were already locked. Conner had decided he would vote for his showmance and close ally, Ursula, whereas Jack knew he wanted to see his ally, Tammy, win the season. Winnea and Julie voted together as a block, and due to their maintained anger towards Ursula, who had nominated them and backstabbed them by being the first to target their showmance from The Board, they voted for Tammy to win. This was in spite of the fact that Tammy and Winnea had frequently fought at the start of the season. Further, Orlando was also irritated with the majority alliance in the house for seeing him as expendable, and had found Tammy as a very personable person he wanted to see win the season, voting for her over Ursula. Ioan was very angry with Ursula, who he saw as a flip-flopper and with whom he had maintained anger over his eviction. Perhaps Oliver would have been able to reason with him, but given his late entry into the jury they never were able to have a conversation, and Ioan voted bitterly and chose to give his vote to Tammy. Lastly, although he had had a conflict with Conner and Ursula throughout the end of the season as he attempted to evict the both of them, Oliver respected Ursula's strategic foresight and strong gameplay over Tammy's more passive and survival-focused approach to the game. Ultimately, he cast his vote for Ursula to win.

This meant that Tammy won the season over Ursula in a 5-2 vote. On finale night, the Fan Favorite prize was revealed. Julie Jarold won, with Conner Rosenberg and Jack Ocampo as runner-ups.

## Trivia

* The post-season gameplay rankings went as follows, from best to worst: Oliver, Jack, Ursula, Conner, Julie, Orlando, Tammy, Ioan, Winnea, Finean, Candace, Quinn.