It had 142 total episode, but only 140 were spent in the house since the final eight housemates (HMs) were flown to Albay for the finale. 26 HMs participated in this season.
The unique factors of these season were:
- The season had two parts. The first was were the HMs were composed of 11 teenagers, while the second part were 15 adults.
- This was also the first time where active HMs who haven't yet faced the finale have been allowed to live normally outside the house. These were the final four teen HMs, who exited on Day 50 and re-entered on Day 99.
- There were also two sets of winners, one for teens and one for adults. There were two big winners, and each one got a million-peso prize.
- The Power of One restriction, where viewers can only vote once per sim, had been implemented in all the voting rounds. Previous seasons used to only have this once, allowing the viewers to vote as many times as they want.
- Because this was the 10th anniversary of PBB in Philippine TV, the season was geared towards charity. Several weekly tasks were focused on earning enough money to build houses for the poor. The finale featured the houses that were built, and a P3 million donation to Habitat for Humanity.
- This was also the first time when the livesteaming was turned off. It was done due to the controversy surrounding Kenzo and Bailey's playful relationship. MTRCB even got involved.
We have a satisfying winner in Miho, whose kooky personality made the season tolerable.
It's not clear yet if Jimboy's win is as satisfying. I'd rather see second-placer Ylona win, because she also had Miho's charm and kookiness. It was also refreshing to see her IDGAF attitude towards the end of the season, when she's so homesick she does not care to play along to the house's idiosyncrasies.
But Jimboy's victory was not surprising. There is a trend where PBB's audience vote for finalists just because they need the money, even if they had no impact in their seasons. For example, Ruben Gonzaga won Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2 in 2007 even if his co-finalists Will Devaughn, Gaby dela Merced and Riza Santos had greater stories. (Gaby should have won.)
This is not to say that Jimboy did not deserve to win. He had major storylines in the show, among them his quest to provide a better life for his family. He also excelled in the weekly tasks, because he is a talented and determined kid. He was also featured in several segments where he had to run from ghosts and other ghouls, whom he is scared by.
One major problem with this season is how the stories were handled. Only a handful of the cast had major storylines. Even Franco, who placed third for the teens, didn't even have one major story during the season. He only appeared as a supporting character for the other HMs, most notably with Ylona and Bailey, whom he had conflicts with.
This was not a problem with Franco, who's not bland by any means. The show just had an obvious case of favoritism with the editing. Some events that only happened for several hours were even shown in piecemeal through several episodes. It also got worse towards the end, when major components of the show were mentioned only as an after-thought, because the show was busy with drawn out or repetitive scenes.
For example, Bailey and Ylona's tiff after the videoke were the topics of both [Episode 110](https://www.reddit.com/r/pinoybigbrother/comments/3o1sp0/episode_110_recap_and_discussion_october_7_2015/) and [Episode 111](https://www.reddit.com/r/pinoybigbrother/comments/3o30wj/episode_111_recap_and_discussion_october_8_2015/). Most of the scenes were already shown on Episode 110, and were replayed on Episode 111.
Another example was how the weekly task for October 12-16 was only mentioned on the [October 17 episode](https://www.reddit.com/r/pinoybigbrother/comments/3p81rf/episode_119120_recap_and_discussion_october_1617/). Weekly tasks are an important component of PBB, because it determines the following week's food rations.
But the worst aspects of PBB 737 are the shameless twists and manipulation that happened so that the producers can save their favorites or the show itself.
For instance, the producers tried to manipulate Jyo and Miho to be in a showmance. When Jyo volunteered to leave, the producers did the following:
These are all assumptions, of course. But it still looks fishy that PBB re-imposed BBE when its starring loveteam Tommy and Miho were on the block with Richard. Richard was evicted on [Episode 119](https://www.reddit.com/r/pinoybigbrother/comments/3p81rf/episode_119120_recap_and_discussion_october_1617/).
The worst manipulative twist, however, was the unfair eviction of three HMs on [Day 79](https://www.reddit.com/r/pinoybigbrother/comments/3k1b4v/episode_80_recap_and_discussion_september_7_2015/). Evicted were Krizia, Charlhone and Mikee, who were doing well before the eviction. In fact, Krizia had the best social game before she was evicted.
The three were then replaced with three new male HMs. Two of them, Zeus and Tommy, entered the house and quickly paired up with two of the women. Zeus tried to court Dawn, and later on admitted to her that he did this because he was following his manager's orders. Tommy courted Miho, and it is suspicious how the producers were manipulating the tasks so they can be together most of the time.
It is easy to understand why PBB's producers would go to these lengths. It is their show, so they can edit it anyway they want to increase ratings and viewership. And protecting Tommy and Miho looks like a good decision, since the fans of the two are now helping increase the viewership of the floundering It's Showtime.
These quick twists and forced stories lead me to conclude that the PBB 737 producers were making it up as they went along the season. More proof: the '737' tag is still vague even to this day. The first
'7' pointed to the seven weeks of the first segment, which featured teens. The '3' was supposed to be the three houseguests, but we only had two: Enchong Dee and Karla Estrada (the third, mariel Rodriguez, didn't stay in the house so that's forfeited). And what was '7'? It was supposed to be connected to charity, seven million pesos, or seven houses to be built, but it never materialized.
(Note: [This article](http://www.pep.ph/guide/tv/19532/pbb-big-winners-and-housemates-to-raise-p3-million-for-homeless) says it referred to seven weeks of charity, but what weeks were they?)
Overall, PBB 737 was a fun season, even if it is uneven. If ABS-CBN puts up a new season next year, I hope there is a more concrete plan, so they can avoid forced stories and sudden twists.
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