Big Brother 2 (U.S.)

Big Brother 2 is the second season of Seth's Big Brother, which first began in November of 2012. The season was formed after the success of the first season, which lasted for almost two full months the previous year. The second season lasted for a total of 30 days, ending on February 12, 2013. Casting began on January 9, a day before the finale of the first season. This season featured the "Coins" twist, which was first introduced in the later cancelled first season. In total, 12 HouseGuests competed to win the series. Unlike the previous edition, no intruders entered the game, and no previously evicted HouseGuests returned to the game. Big Brother 2 later earned Seth three TOGA nominations for 'Best Big Brother Group', 'Best Up and Coming', and 'Best Host'. The group later won the 'Best Big Brother' award. This made Big Brother 2 the first season to win an award, and it currently has the most nominations out of any other season thus far.

Numerous changes have been implemented to the game since the first season, based off of the positive and negative feedback that was received. This season features more live competitions than the previous season, which most featured non-live competitions. The Have-Not competition was initially going to be featured in this season, but the idea was later scrapped due to the negative reception it received in the previous season. This season also had two main groups; the first group was the main group, where competitions were held and HouseGuests could socialize amongst one another, while the second group was used for the Shop. More Diary Room sessions were used this season as well, allowing Seth to know everything occurring in the game. This season also continued the "fast game" format that began halfway through the first season. This season also introduced the "Big Brother Blueprint" to the game, in which one HouseGuest would learn what each competition was before it actually began.

Development
The second season of the series was first announced in December of 2012, though not much information was revealed. Casting for the second season was much more strict, mostly due to the controversy and criticism that revolved around the premiere season. Big Brother 1 HouseGuest Ashley supported the series, making the new logo for the season, which features dominant red, white, and blue colors. The twist for the season was initially used in the cancelled first season of the series, which Seth came up with on his own. Much like the previous season, the competitions and twists were pre-planned, with a rough outline of the season being made before the premiere. The season was initially slated to last for a total of 35 days, however, only lasted a total of 30. Seth later stated that he had planned on having to push back a few events over the course of the season, but only had to push back two events. Big Brother 2 featured three main groups being used. The first was the main group, where the game was held. There was also a Head of Household bedroom, which was used for the reigning HoH to use while discussing the game with their fellow HouseGuests. A third group was made for the Jury House, where the evicted HouseGuests from the fourth week onward stayed.

Casting
The official cast for the season was revealed on January 13, the day before the season premiere. This season features 12 HouseGuests competing to win the game, and unlike last season will not feature intruders in the game. There are six male and six female HouseGuests, unlike the previous season which was a much more male dominated cast. On January 9, 2013 a new group was made on Tengaged for the season. The first round of applications began later that night, prompting Big Brother 1 HouseGuests Dylan and Matt to post blogs encouraging user to apply for the series. The second round of auditions began the following day, however, applicants were still being accepted for the first round of auditions as well. When the first two rounds of auditions had ended, the semi-finalists were contacted and given the third and final round of auditions, which featured various information and agreements about the season. This was created to ensure an active cast, which Seth felt the first season lacked.

Schedule
The schedule for Big Brother 2 remains largely unchanged used for the schedule following the end of the first season. Most events in the game occur at 8 PM Eastern, with only a few exceptions. The time proved to be successful in terms of activity, with the majority of the HouseGuests appearing at events. Though no schedule was set for each day of the week, the season did maintain a schedule. The first night of a new week saw the eviction, followed by the Head of Household competition. The following day, the HouseGuests would participate in the nomination ceremony. The Have-Not competition, which was featured last season, was not used for this season due to a negative reception the previous year. The following day, the HouseGuests competed to win the Power of Veto, with the ceremony occurring immediately after the competition. The following day saw another eviction, followed by the Head of Household competition. This schedule rarely underwent change, however, did occasionally. The Power of Veto competition, originally set to take place on Day 9, was later moved to the tenth day. This moved the third eviction to Day 11, rather than the previous day. Seth also had to push back the second round of the final Head of Household competition due to technical issues with HouseGuest Cole.

Format
Tengaged contestants who apply for the series will be notified of whether they made the series or not. Each week, the HouseGuests took part in several compulsory challenges that determined who would win power in the House. The winner of the Head of Household competition was immune from nominations and was instructed to nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest became Head of Household he or she was ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. The winner of the Power of Veto competition won the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercised the power, the Head of Household then had to nominate another HouseGuest for eviction. On eviction night all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees voted to evict one of the two nominees. Before the voting began the nominees had the chance to say a final message to their fellow HouseGuests. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother. The last seven evictees of the season form the Jury that voted for the winner on the season finale, they were known as the jury members. None of the HouseGuests are aware of how the voting process went until after the season. Those playing the game had to abide by numerous rules to continue in the game. All competing HouseGuests were required to vote for eviction, and could be punished if they failed to do so. They were also required to post in the forums every two days, otherwise expulsion could be used as a punishment. HouseGuests were required to participate in non-live competitions, though appearing at live competitions was not required. Another rule to the game was that HouseGuests would compete in the Have-Not competition, with the losing team receiving penalties in the HoH and PoV competitions. If a HouseGuest were to be banned from Tengaged, even for the shortest amount of time, they would be expelled from the game. Showing up to evictions was not a rule, but was greatly encouraged.

This season featured the "Coins" twist, first introduced in the scrapped pilot of the series. In this twist, HouseGuests earn coins each night they are in the house, and can spend them in the Shop on things such as Immunity for the following week or even a secret power. Winning the HoH or PoV competition will also gain you more coins, and the bedroom HouseGuests chose on the first night determined how many coins they received each night. The Shops were not opened until after the first eviction, allowing HouseGuests the time to gain enough coins to purchase items. The shops closed in the game after the fifth eviction, however, coins were still dispersed for a secret reward in the Final Four. Due to this, coins were given out more freely now. HouseGuests earned three coins for simply showing up to an event, and earned even more for winning an event. Whenever a HouseGuest was evicted from this point onward, they would give away their coins to the HouseGuest of their choosing, which heavily affected the amount of coins in the game. Cole was later the winner of this prize, having the most coins upon reaching the Final Four. The prize was an advantage in the final Power of Veto competition, in which he could miss two questions and still have a perfect score. Despite this, he lost the competition. A twist in the finale saw Sapphire and Wakiza's votes being replaced with the public vote, as both of them failed to cast a jury vote.

Summary
On Day 1, the new 12 HouseGuests met outside of the Big Brother house, where they learned about the Coins twist. They were also informed that the Paris bedroom would earn them three coins per night, while the Greece themed bedroom would earn them two and the Bahamas room would earn them one. They then entered the house and selected their bedrooms, with everyone who showed up to the premiere earning a spot in the Paris themed bedroom. In the backyard, the group competed in their first Head of Household competition "Don't Judge an Avatar By It's Appearance", in which an anonymous panel gave each HouseGuests avatar a stereotypical label based on their appearance. The HouseGuests had to try and guess which HouseGuest was being described by the panel, earning a point for each correct answer. GT was the eventual winner of the competition, earning five points. On Day 2, GT chose to nominate Brittany and Joel for eviction, citing them missing the premiere as part of the reasoning. On Day 3, Big Brother 1 HouseGuests Dylan and Matt returned to the game to compete in the "Blast From the Past" Veto competition, in which the new HouseGuests faced off against the two in numerous competitions from the first season. Kylie was the winner of the competition, after she narrowly beat out Joel. She then chose to use the Power of Veto on Joel, with GT naming Chloe as the replacement nominee. On Day 4, Brittany became the first HouseGuest evicted from Big Brother 2 in a vote of six to three. GT, as outgoing HoH, took her bed in the Greece Room, where he would earn 2 coins per night.

Following Brittany's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Knockout" competition, in which they faced off two at a time to see who could answer questions the fastest. The winner of each round would then select the next two HouseGuests to face off. Kylie was the eventual winner, beating out Kiki in the final round. On Day 5, the shop was officially opened for the first time this season. Cole was the first person to purchase an item, choosing to buy the Mystery Box; the box contained Immunity, meaning he was safe from eviction this week. Later that day, Kylie chose to nominate Chloe and JT for eviction, stating that the two of them had barely spoken to her in the game thus far. On Day 6, HouseGuests competed in the "BB's Magic 8 Ball", in which they had to answer questions with responses most often used in a Magic 8 Ball. The questions were predictions of events that would occur in the game, and the answers featured responses such as "Very doubtful" and "Ask again later." JT was the winner of the competition, answering four out of five questions correctly. He immediately chose to use the Power of Veto to save himself from eviction; Kylie chose to name Kiki the replacement nominee. On Day 7, Kiki was evicted in a vote of six to two.

Following Kiki's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in their first endurance competition. Lasting for nearly two and a half hours, the competition went on to become the longest endurance competition the series has seen. When it came down to GT and JT, JT ultimately dropped in favor of the "Big Brother Blueprint", allowing him to know all the upcoming competitions. On Day 8, GT chose to nominate Gil and Sapphire for eviction, stating that they failed to approach him, and therefore he felt as though he should nominate them. On Day 10, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Spender" Power of Veto competition, in which they had to sacrifice their own coins to win the Power of Veto that week. Choosing to sacrifice 35 of his coins and winning the tie-breaker against Gil and Cole, GT won the Power of Veto. This made him the first person this season to win the Power of Veto while also being HoH, and only the second person in Seth's Big Brother to do so. This also gave him his third competition win, giving him the most competition wins at this point in the game. He chose to use the Power of Veto to save Sapphire, and then chose to name Joel as the replacement nominee. On Day 11, Joel was evicted in a vote of four to three.

Following his eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Getting Schooled" HoH competition, in which they answered questions that were based upon subjects taught in high school. Kylie was the winner, after winning in the tie-breaker round. This gave her her second HoH win, and third win of the season. She is the second person to win two HoH competitions this season, and this win tied her with GT for the most competition wins at this point in the game. On Day 12, she chose to nominate Chloe and Wakiza for eviction. This gave Chloe her third nomination in only four weeks. On Day 13, GT won the "Blog Hunters" competition, which was first introduced in the previous season. During this competition, Cole won Immunity from the following in eviction should he survive this week. This made it the third time this season he has earned Immunity. GT chose to leave nominations the same that week. On Day 14, it was revealed that the vote had came out as a tie, and that Kylie would have to make the final decision; she chose to evict Wakiza. This made him the first Juror of the Jury of Seven, who will ultimately determine the winner at the end of the season.

Following Wakiza's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "The S'more the Merrier" HoH competition, in which they had to transport cups back and forth through the Backyard with the hopes of being the first person to fill up their bowl. Kayleigh was the winner of the competition, giving her her first competition win of the season. On Day 15, she chose to nominate Chloe and JT for eviction, making it the second time these two have been nominated against each other. On Day 16, HouseGuests competed in the "How Bad Do You Want It?" Power of Veto competition, in which they had to accept punishments to progress through the game. Ultimately, GT was the winner of the competition, having given up the right to compete in the following three Power of Veto competitions. He also had to reveal his previous eviction votes and dress as the opposite gender for ten days. He then chose to use the Power of Veto to save JT from eviction that week, with Sapphire being nominated as the replacement nominee. On Day 17, Sapphire was evicted in a vote of four to one.

Following her eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Before or After" competition, in which they had to state whether one event happened before or after another event. Ultimately GT won in the tie-breaker round. Following his win, it was revealed that the HouseGuest with the most coins in the Final 4 would receive a special prize, though it is unknown what the prize is. It was also revealed that the next eviction would be a Double Eviction, in which two HouseGuests would depart the game. That same night, he chose to nominate Cole and JT for eviction, referring to them both as "strong competitors" who had "ruffled some feathers." On Day 18, Gil won the "Voo Doo Veto" competition, and chose to save JT from eviction; Chloe was the replacement nominee. On Day 19, Cole chose to nullify Kayleigh's vote, causing the vote to come out as a two to one vote in favor of evicting Chloe. Following this, Cole won the "Battle of the Sexes" HoH competition, and chose to nominate JT and Kayleigh for eviction. When JT won the "License to Veto" PoV, he removed himself from the block and was replaced by GT. GT was subsequently evicted in a vote of two to one.

On Day 20, Gil won the "Fact or Fiction" Head of Household competition, in which HouseGuests had to state whether a scenario in regards to the game was fact or a lie. He was the only HouseGuest to get a perfect score. On Day 21, he chose to nominate Cole and JT for eviction. This made it the fourth consecutive time, and fifth time total, that JT had been nominated for eviction. On Day 22, HouseGuests competed in the "Race to the Veto" PoV competition, which required them to search numerous blogs for a secret code. Ultimately, JT won the Power of Veto, and yet again chose to remove himself from the block; he was replaced with Kylie. Minutes later, Kylie was evicted in a unanimous vote of two to zero.

Follow Kylie's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "As Days Go By" Head of Household competition, which required them to recall which days in the game that certain events occurred. Kayleigh was the winner, after she beat out Cole in a tie-breaker round. She chose to nominate Cole and JT for eviction that week, making it the third time the two had been nominated together. In the "Memory Wall" competition, Cole was given a two point advantage for having the most coins at that point in the game, meaning he could miss two questions that wouldn't count against him. Gil was the winner of the Final Power of Veto, thus nominations remained the same. On Day 24, he cast the sole vote to evict JT from the house. On Day 26, Gil won the first round of the final Head of Household competition. On Day 28, Kayleigh won the second round. In the final round, "Jury Statements", Kayleigh had the most points and thus was the final Head of Household of the season. She then cast the sole vote to evict Cole. On Day 30, Gil was crowned the winner of the series in a vote of four to three from the Jury.

Feedback
Big Brother 2, unlike the previous season, received an overwhelmingly positive reception. Since it's finale, numerous HouseGuests have came out to support the series. Eventual winner Gil stated the series was "Incredibly creative and [had] diverse competitions," and later referred to it as "The best group game [he's] ever played." Kylie referred to Seth as the "best host," and later said she loved being on the series. HouseGuest GT also said that Seth's Big Brother was his favorite Big Brother series on the site. Eventual winner Gil would later help in numerous ways for Big Brother 3, ultimately helping decide the final cast. Numerous HouseGuests from this season made appearances on Big Brother: The Big Mash-Up, where they further expressed their enjoyment of the season. Seth has since listed Big Brother 2 as his favorite season thus far, and credits the success of Big Brother 2 for deciding to continue with future installments of the series.

Accolades
On February 7, 2013, Big Brother 2 was nominated for both the 'Best Big Brother Group' and 'Best Up and Coming' awards at the 12th Tengaged Outstanding Group Awards, while Seth was again nominated for 'Best Host'. This marked his first nomination for 'Best Up and Coming', and his second nomination for both 'Best Host' and 'Best Big Brother'. During the live awards ceremony on February 9, Seth won the award for 'Best Big Brother Group', making it his first TOGA win. This made Big Brother 2 the first season to win an award, and also made it the season of Seth's Big Brother with the most nominations thus far.