Page 8 of House of Deceit

Not only do contestants suffer from physical stress of the competition, emotional stress of being cut off from friends and family for twelve weeks, but there is also the psychological warfare from the deceiver, the contestant tasked for the week to make their housemates’ lives more miserable.

The wrangler that was managing him never recovered from the guilt of not giving him enough attention as the game continued and he grew more erratic.

Following that season, it went from three wranglers to twenty.

Initially, wranglers were assigned randomly until Sheila noticed that the women assigned to male wranglers were less likely to express when they needed something. From a new swimsuit if theirs broke, extra blankets at night, or even tampons if they ran out. They also weren’t as forthcoming when being interviewed for their confessionals, eroding the entertainment value with the audience.

Our entire job boils down to making sure contestants have what they need to live and participate on the show and keeping them in the game mentally. With this objective in mind, it was determined that female wranglers would be assigned to the women; and male wranglers to the men.

That wasn’t the only change, though. Now, as our contestants are eliminated, so are we. This elimination style of employment has led to a competition of our own between wranglers, leading the show runners to give us the ability to select the contestant we would like to be paired with.

It takes a few months to sort through the thousands of applications we receive and pick the one person we believe has the best shot at winning. We aren’t allowed to help them with the game; we act more like their confidant. Sometimes, we’ll tell them stories from our lives, real or not, about things that have happened to us. Maybe it’s a way a sibling played a trick on us or something that really aggravated us. Little seeds to plant for them to work on breaking down their opponents. Small things to make them believe they are not alone in an environment that is unlike anything they’ve ever encountered before.

“Now, besides the cash bonus, this year there is an additional incentive,” Bradley continues. “As you all know, we have a new show coming up in the fall called If Ever There Was. As a special bonus, the wrangler of the person who wins will have the opportunity to join the department of their choice on that show.”

I look up at that, my interest piqued.

Being a wrangler offers you a chance to learn all about casting, managing talent, and so on, which is great for those who wish to go into the casting side. Or even those who have their eye on a producer track. But what it doesn’t prepare you for is the hundreds of other jobs on a set. Jobs that can take years to get a foot in the door.

“I don’t need to tell you how huge of an opportunity this is,” Bradley continues, “but I will. In an industry where the best way to move up is to know someone who knows someone, this is a chance to go directly into the department you want. Now, I’m not saying that you’ll be the lead sound person out of the gate, for example, but it can be a chance to broaden your horizons and learn from some of the best. It can be a way to gain some credits that mean the difference between making it in this town and going back to Hicksville, USA. Just like the winner of our show, it’s a chance to change your life. So go out there and help us put on the best season this network has ever seen!”

The cheers are immediate and everyone's excitement is palpable. But they are going to have to get through me to win that opportunity.

“Now, here’s your favorite boss, Sheila, with some updates.” He cedes the floor to Sheila, who steps up and commands the room.

“Thanks, Brad. We are finalizing the contract with the new company for facial recognition software this week and will be doing training sessions next week on how to review clips in your queue. Please attend one. This will mean less footage for you to watch, so hopefully that will help with the late nights. Alec will be leading the trainings, so get with him.

“It has been determined that wranglers will not stay on property this year. There is a nearby motel that we have rented for the duration of the show. I will send out emails today with room assignments.” I mentally send up a prayer for being high-ranking enough that Sheila determined I could have my own room. “There is a small wing that we will use for our offices. Whoever is your room partner will be your office partner, so get comfortable.”

There is a chorus of groans, but she continues. They’ll be fine once they get settled in.

“For those that are new, Alec has some tips. Alec?”

I stand from my chair and face the room, settling into my element.

“There is not a single applicant who can win me this competition,” I say from my stool at the kitchen island. The higher stakes have made me irritable as I comb through application after application, sorting them into my various piles as I weigh each one.

My best friend, Tank, is watching tape and taking notes for football practice in the morning. Papers are spread out around him on the couch and on the coffee table. He is a six foot, eight inch bruiser of a man. In elementary school, he was tiny as can be and frequently picked on for his long hair and hand-me-down clothes, so I took pity on him and stood up for him. Until he hit his growth spurt in high school.

From the time we were fifteen, no one messed with him. He bulked up and began playing football. I think the coach cried at his tryout when he could outrun and bulldoze anyone in his path. Now, men wear their hair like his. He’s since cut the long hair—too annoying inside the helmet, apparently—but it hasn’t lessened his attractiveness. His three-day stubble, strong jaw, and light blue eyes would make him an immediate yes on any show in the country. I tried to get him to agree to a dating show in the off season for a few years, but he wouldn’t have it. And now that he’s dating my sister, I’m glad it never worked out.

“You say that every year,” he says, writing something down in his notebook, “but your contestant always does well.”

“Making it to the final three doesn’t matter this year. If I don’t find the winner, that’s it for me. I can’t keep wrangling. I’m losing my mind doing the same thing year after year. I thought I would do this for a season and then be able to move on.” I sort another application into the "no" pile, which stands higher than the others by a landslide.

Sensing my uncharacteristic anxiety, he pauses the tape and gives me his full attention.

“Who are the ones that you keep thinking about? It might be small, but I see some in your possibles pile.”

“Well, there’s one named Cain Murphy. His personality test shows he has the killer drive needed to be a contender, but I wonder if he’s not a bit too intense. Listen to this. When asked, ‘What would you be willing to do to win?’ he responded, ‘Anything, so long as I wasn’t caught.’ If that doesn’t sound like a serial killer in the making, I don’t know what does.”

“Yeah, that one seems a little iffy. Anyone else?”

“There’s this guy, Charles Price. He had some interesting answers. At least, the ones that I could understand.”

“Give me an example.”

“Okay. When asked, ‘How would you do with sleep or food deprivation?’ he responded with ‘Sounds like a normal Tuesday to me.’”

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