Big Brother 13

***Big Brother 13*** (also known as ***Big Brother: The Return to Retro***) is the thirteenth installment of Stardust Studios.

## Season Overview

The thirteenth installment of Stardust Studios was the dawn of the third era and for a big re-opening, I would consider it a major success. Although the thought of 20 houseguests was originally stress-inducing, it allowed for players to be more social than ever, especially during the duos phase where players HAD to be reliant on not only their social, strategic and physical abilities, but their partners too. Whilst normally excitement doesn't begin until the mid-point of the game, we immediately got a sweet taste of a shocking betrayal a WEEK into the game, with Freya and Kaito putting Austin and Tamisha up after they literally gave them safety during the first day as Fates of the Future. The shock continued as Armando and Sakura were taken out early despite having the best social relationships with the remaining houseguests. The beginning of the game saw the very quick rise and fall of Tamisha and Austin, who were capable of winning competitions, winning 3 within the first two weeks, which threatened other houseguests, resulting them in touching the block frequently during the duos phase. Jamal and Luciano's return and Diego's eviction saw the duos twist come to an end, but not before them being hit with another shockwave: a Backwards week. The houseguests were not pleased with the returning houseguests, so they decided to target Jamal and Luciano during the backwards week, with Freya winning the HOH and following the houses' desires of seeing Jamal go home. Once the house had their first taste of villainous gameplay, most of the houseguests pludged right into villainy as they headed into the Double Eviction, with the houseguests sniping Luciano straight after they evicted his best friend, Jamal. With Brook, social and physical threat, winning the DE HOH, she wasted absolutely no time to backdoor fellow threat Freya, with the whole house - including her duo partner, Kaito, and with the exception of Jace - stabbing her right in the back. Fortunately for Luciano and Freya, but unfortunately for the house, there was a second re-entry competition after it was revealed to be a Fake DE. Luciano prevailed, winning his way back in for the SECOND time, the first time to occur in Stardust Studios history... however it was a very short stay. Damien rose to power for the first time that season and gave Luciano the third and final stabbing, and he was finally evicted permanently. Now that the houseguests had entered the second half of the season, they saw the revival of three twists from previous seasons brought back as part of the Back to the Future arc. After clawing her way out of eviction during the second half of the double eviction, Estelle won her first HOH competition and did not hesitate to cut more quieter and reserved players, sending Hiromi to jury. During Week 9, Izzie won HOH and used it to target the threatening pair of Brook and Carmen. Unfortunately for her, Damien won the veto and saved Brook, his ally. Hoping to use him as a pawn to send Carmen home, she renominated Kaito... until more disaster struck as it was revealed America had awarded Carmen the first Miracle Mixtape; a secret POV. With both Brook and Carmen safe for another week, Izzie had to nominate a fourth houseguest, choosing to put up Jace, one of Carmen's closest allies. With the votes tied, Izzie sent Kaito to Jury for being a bigger threat than Jace. After Kaito was evicted came probably the biggest week during the season and one of the most backstabbing weeks in Stardust Studios history: The downfall of Brook... at the hands of the guy who just saved her the previous week, Damien. With Damien, and additionally Estelle due to the Co-HOH miracle, in the driving seat for the second time, they plotted one of the biggest moves in the game. Due to their close connection, they nominated Brook and Austin together, with Austin as a pawn. Estelle won full power, the first instance that season, pulled Austin off which gave Damien the opportunity to sit two of the hugest players in the game, Brook and Carmen, against eachother. On eviction night, most of the house saw Brook as a bigger competitive threat, cutting her from the house. As the game reached the final 7, each and every player was hungry for blood and everybody was considered a threat. Izzie's decision to cut Kaito over Jace would finally come back to haunt her as Jace won HOH and spearheaded Izzie's eviction for being an under-the-radar social threat, who was sitting too comfortably for her liking. America voted Austin for the third and final miracle: The power to eliminate two eviction votes. As he was on the block come eviction night, his blocking choices proved successful as Izzie was booted in a 2-0 vote. After being considerably quiet since the duos phase, Tamisha rose to power and tried to target Jace for putting her on the block the week prior, however Carmen's veto win and using it on Jace shot that idea down quickly. She quickly changed her plan to target the strategic Damien/Estelle for their success in planning Brook's demise. On the second Double Eviction of the season, Damien was swiftly taken out for his ever-so-growing resumé to win. Estelle bounced back from the block, winning full power with the intention of splitting Carmen and Jace up for good, using Tamisha as a pawn. With the vote coming back in a 1-1 tie, Estelle delivered the final blow on Jace, sending him to jury following Damien. At the final four, there was one duo still standing in people's way: Austin and Tamisha. Carmen won the final four HOH, which was her third one of the season. Hoping to finally cut the last remaining duo, she put Austin and Tamisha up. Unfortunately for Carmen, any chances of cutting the duo were squashed as Tamisha was victorious in the final veto, using it on herself and sealing Estelle's fate once and for all. The final three was made up of Carmen, Austin and Tamisha. Despite Carmen feeling as though she was on the outs heading into the final HOH, Austin was more loyal to Carmen than Tamisha as the two found Tamisha more threatening than eachother. Austin won Part 1, whilst Carmen won Part 2, which proved fatal to Tamisha's chances of making final two like her daughter did. Carmen blew Austin out of the water in Part 3, winning her FOURTH hoh and staying true to Austin, cutting Tamisha at the final three. During the finale, the jury were a lot more respectful and invested in Carmen's dominant physical game and only facing the vote once during the game as opposed to Austin who had a strong start in the season but fizzled out for the most part except for the usage of the miracle against Izzie. The jury delivered Carmen the win on a gold platter, receiving 7 out of 9 votes to win. Izzie, and shockingly, Brook gave their votes to Austin. This season delivered so much excitement: consistent backstabbing, a constant shift of power, some Stardust Studios firsts, new records set and so much more. Literally every player felt included in the story of this season, every player had some kind of presence or part to play that I've never seen in a season before, I could see myself bringing plenty of this cast back. Not only was it a celebration of one year of Stardust Studios, but this cast truly delivered the best season I've had in all 14 main & spin-off seasons I've done. Carmen was a truly deserving winner, there was a lot of fierce players this season and it made it so exciting to host. Our second year of this show has only just begun and I can't wait to see what happens next. In a nutshell, such a top-tier season with an ICONIC cast, twists and gameplay. I absolutely loved it.

## Twists

* **1-Year Anniversary**: To celebrate 1 year of Stardust Studios, some additions/changes were put in place to mark the occasion
	+ **Increased Cast Size**: Instead of the usual 16 houseguests, the cast size was bumped up to 20.
	+ **Lineage for Life**: The cast was comprised of parents of former Stardust Studios alumni.
* **Power Pairings**: Houseguests were put into pre-determined pairings prior to the season, and for the first few weeks, houseguests won in pairings, were nominated in pairings and went home in pairings.
* **Fates of the Future**: It was announced on Week 1 that a pairing would be evicted within the first 48 hours, by a Hit The Road competition. Each pairing would compete in a FOTF competition, with the winners responsible for saving 4 other pairings. The pairings not saved would then compete in a HTR competition, where two pairings would then win to save themselves. The 3 remaining pairs would be nominated for eviction and one pair would be evicted.
* **Bonus Life**: For winning the Fates of the Future competition, Austin & Tamisha won the Bonus Life power. If they were one of the first four pairings evicted, they would immediately return to the game. If not, it would trigger comebacks for the first four evicted pairings. Austin & Tamisha were not evicted. Jamal & Luciano returned to the game.
* **Slasher**: On Week 5, the evicted pairing would mark the beginning of the solo game. The house would vote once more to determine who out of the pairing would leave.
* **Retro Reversal**: - At the Final 13, a Backwards week would take place. In Backwards Week, the week is played out in reverse. Meaning that a house vote will first decide the two nominees for eviction, then the Veto competition is played. If the Veto was used, a second house vote will determine the replacement nominee. Finally, the houseguests (excluding the outgoing HOH and the nominees) played in the HOH competition. The HOH then has the sole vote to evict a nominee.
* **Back to the Future**: 3 previous twists would return to the game as a nod to the past.
	+ **Fake Double Eviction**: Returning from *Big Brother 4*, On Week 6, the week concluded with a Fake Double Eviction, with the two evicted houseguests of the night facing off in a head to head Re-Entry Competition, where one would immediately return to the game, while the other was permanently evicted, all in one night. Luciano defeated Freya, meaning he returned to the game for the second time this season.
	+ **Synth Swap**: Returning from *Big Brother 6*, On Weeks 7 & 8, America would vote to give on houseguest immunity in exchange for their vote, allowing for America to control who that houseguest would evict on Eviction Night. Tamisha won the first Synth Swap, whilst Damien won the second.
	+ **Miracle Mixtapes**: Returning from *Big Brother 9*, On Weeks 9, 10 & 11, America would vote for which houseguest would receive the "Miracle Mixtape" carepackage that week. Carmen won the first carepackage, a Secret POV. Estelle won the second carepackage, Co-HOH. Austin won the final carepackage, Eliminate 2 eviction votes.

## Houseguests

 **Winner**

 **Runner-Up**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 ***Jury:* Austin**

 ***Jury:* Austin**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 ***Jury:* Carmen**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

 **Evicted**

## Game History

### Week 1

#### Round 1

 **Fates of the Future**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

 **Fates of the Future**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

#### Round 2

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Post-Veto Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted4 Votes**

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Post-Veto Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted4 Votes**

### Week 2

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

### Week 3

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Post-Veto Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Post-Veto Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

### Week 4

#### Round 1

 **Re-EnteredImmune**

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Post-Veto Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

 **Re-EnteredImmune**

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Post-Veto Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

#### Round 2 (Reset)

 **HOH**

 **HOH**

 **Nominee3 Votes**

 **Evicted7 Votes**

### Week 5 (Backwards Week)

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **7 Votes to NominatePre-Veto Nominee**

 **4 Votes to NominatePost-Veto Nominee0 Votes**

 **8 Votes to NominateEvicted1 Vote**

### Week 6

#### Round 1

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Post-Veto Nominee1 Vote**

 **Fake Evicted8 Votes**

#### Round 2

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Nominee1 Vote**

 **Post-Veto NomineeFake Evicted7 Votes**

#### Round 3

 **Re-Entered**

 **Evicted**

### Week 7

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Nominee1 Vote**

 **Post-Veto NomineeEvicted7 Votes**

### Week 8

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Post-Veto Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted5 Votes**

### Week 9

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Pre-Veto NomineeSPOV**

 **Post-Secret Veto Nominee3 Votes**

**Jace**

 **Post-Veto NomineeEvicted4 Votes**

### Week 10

 **Co-HOH**

 **Co-HOHPOV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Post-Veto Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

### Week 11

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Post-Veto NomineeEvicted2 Votes**

### Week 12

#### Round 1

 **HOH**

 **POV**

 **Pre-Veto Nominee**

 **Post-Veto Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted2 Votes**

#### Round 2

 **HOHPOV**

 **Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted2 Votes**

### Week 13

 **HOH**

 **Pre-Veto NomineePOV**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Post-Veto NomineeEvicted1 Vote**

### Week 14

 **HOH Pt. 2 WinnerHOH Pt. 3 Winner**

 **HOH Pt. 1 WinnerNominee0 Votes**

 **Evicted1 Vote**

### Finale

 **Winner7 Votes**

 **Runner-Up2 Votes**

#### Jury

 **Carmen**

 **Carmen**

 **Carmen**

 **Austin**

 **Austin**

 **Carmen**

 **Carmen**

 **Carmen**

 **Carmen**