Rory: I am relatively conflicted about how I feel about Rory as a character, potential winner and person in general. As a character, he provided entertainment there is no doubt about that, even if you hated him. From the get-go to the finale, he was key to storylines, drama and most of the relationships highlighted in the daily shows. He, like Nobbi, was at the top of the hierarchy in the early days of the show and judging by the “danger zone” shown every daily show, plus the cheers from the crowd, he was an early favourite amongst the teens. It just so happened that each weekend he’d end up in the bottom three, but that didn’t matter as his position in the house was so optimal, he probably survives in any single configuration of nominees. His back-and-forth arguments with Brigitte were fun, his relationship with people like Travis and Terri were fun to watch develop over time as well. I don’t care for showmances, but I guess he offered content, especially for Big Mouth. And look, he was hot, he had sex appeal. I’m not even gonna pretend I don’t think that. His G-string moments were fun, his shower scenes were fun, let’s not kid ourselves.
As for his personality, he isn’t exactly someone I’d say I would get along with very well, in the early weeks at least. I saw some standard traits I’d expect from guys his age, a bit arrogant, stubborn, oversells accomplishments (whether that be inside or outside of the bedroom) and thought very highly of his morals. I will say he does cool down once Nobbi leaves. Like many any other previous housemate of his archetype, he tended to stick around with the boys and was largely uninvolved with the women. But he did change later on. He did form bonds with Terri, Bianca and in a way Brigitte. Yes, he was cocky at times and yes, he probably tried to overplay the “working-class Aussie battler” thing a bit too hard. But by the end, I didn’t totally dislike him. I found him humorous from time to time and he did bounce off the cast fairly well. But, like Nobbi and Ben, the bullying of Travis was something I can’t ignore. Rory displayed examples of ignorance especially towards LGBT stereotypes when grilling Travis on his sexuality. It’s something I could do without, but he did slightly redeem himself by the end. Like many of the cast members, he does lack a level of complexity and substance. It was a lot of the same Rory every episode with sprinkles of character development, but not too much to stand out (maybe his relationship with Travis is an exception, maybe). His claim to substance was mainly his opinions on general life as well as his fellow housemates. He was a tad too old school for my liking to some degree but, I do think under the surface there did exist a nice guy within the hard exterior.
In terms of his win equity, he does face a rough patch where it was highly possible, he could have gone, but thanks to the voting audience consisting of teenage girls he lucked out narrowly. When I look at this cast as a whole, it is so hard to single out a winner candidate. There is no Sara-Marie or a Reggie or even a Tim Dormer. There is a case for several people, but no one stood out as a clear deserving winner to me. Brigitte may have, but she was never going to actually win. If I was to pick someone who was a plausible option, I probably lean towards Rory and Terri (reluctantly). I think I have decided I would have preferred a Rory win, and he was leading in the vote. Much like Estelle who came to follow, he was literally robbed of the money. He was leading. He had achieved the necessary requirement of winning, which was to be the favourable option to the voting public. But like Estelle, he wasn’t the desired winner from the producer’s point of view. I am the last person to stand up for this archetype, but he was literally going to win, and it was taken away from him. I guess he really should have won, he did slightly win me over towards the end and I am glad he managed to survive. My opinions are mixed, but I do think overall, he was better than the edit made out at times, particularly early on. Honestly, maybe it’s because he’s from Geelong that I feel like I need to support him, but I do think he would have been a more palatable winner than most of the others on this cast, and probably Terri in all honesty.
Terri: And now to discuss BB08’s chosen one from months before she even set foot in the Dreamworld house. What is there to really say that hasn’t already been said? She was told she was evicted on night one with no chance of returning to the house, just for Big Brother to stomp his foot in rage and bring her back as he does not like “predictable outcomes”. She is then asked to babysit Australia’s biggest juvenile delinquent as a way to excuse her return. She is told she must put him to bed at a specific time in order to pass her mission, she quickly fails. Once her disobedient dependant refuses to evict two of the new housemates, the task is predictably handed over to her in order to reinstate her as a Big Brother housemate. Does it stop there? No. Every single live show Kyle and Jackie O have to painfully pretend like they aren’t trying to persuade the audience to jump on Nana’s bandwagon and vote to keep her in the house. Every Friday Night Live Mike, Bree and Fitzy need to constantly remind everyone that nana must remain in the house for the sake of entertainment.
And what happens when the show spins around back to its initial format? Whenever Terri is nominated, she is shown so positively in order to prevent her initial impending exit. They then proceed to emphasise her friendship with fan favourite Brigitte and further set up a storyline of the negative nana becoming a positive presence in the house, who is there to run amuck with the modern youth. Whenever a conversation about winning occurred, it involved someone discussing why they think Terri should win. I don’t mean to take away from that, I am sure they all meant it, but they never show the same conversations being said about the others unless Terri pops up. The edit massively hides her racial undertones, and any time she was caught saying something politically incorrect it was played off as a joke. Her edit was ridiculously positive towards the end, the entire last week especially was all about the housemates wanting to give her the care packages. And then the finale. Do I even need to explain any more than I have already? She didn’t win that money; she was gifted it.
As for a character, she was fine-ish. I can see the appeal to some viewers out there about watching a nana on TV, and in theory, I could get behind that idea. But she didn’t exactly represent the idea all too well. For a 52-year-old she was well edging close to fucking 80. I don’t know anyone of that age who presents themselves as a senior citizen as much as she did. My mum is only four years younger than Terri was when she was in the house, and she is NOTHING like that. How many women in their early fifties fucking knit? Obviously, this played into why she was cast, but it paints a horribly false picture of how people her age act. I am sure there are people her age now and her age then who wouldn't like to be looked at like they’re a few short years off receiving their pension and wheeling around in a nursing home. Her narrative however is, unfortunately, one of the more complex ones, and also airtime dense. Initially, she is the next to go, she was a goner any time she was nominated in that first month, but lucky nana got by just fine.
There needs to be credit given although, she did manage to create bonds with the majority of the housemates and manage to feel more comfortable in the environment. Terrence also did wonders for her perception amongst the other housemates; he was the annoying one and she was the more popular option to socialise with. I don’t think Terri was a hateful person, I think she was mostly uneducated, sheltered and lacked a broad social setting. She had some pretty backward opinions which I would say are wrong, but she doesn’t seem like she’s had an opportunity to educate herself on her ignorance. Nor did she seem interested either. I didn’t see her as hateable, just not someone I wanted to barrack for. I am left unimpressed by her win largely because of how it happened. Although she was one of the more complex characters within the season, she was more so a winner candidate because of her being the nana, and also because the producers wanted her to.