S01.E04: Big Brother: Reindeer Games

[Guest]

3 down.  1 more to go.

[Thalia]

Frankie really is good in this game.  He's good at the comps and seems to be thinking clearly with his decisions.  AND he was wise to pitch it to Taylor as them making a "joint" decision where they can share the burden when the people they choose get angry. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Thalia

[Thalia]

[SHERMDOG]

Ok. I'm sure I'm in the minority but....I'm pissed at Taylor...why wouldn't she put X up!?? She has a way better chance on beating Brittney/Nicole than him...heck I don't know...just thot it was weird

[choclatechip45]

Frankie is playing the best game and he seems less annoying. 

[30 Helens]

EVERYONE is less annoying, which is the big surprise to me. I guess this is what happens when you focus on competitions vs. interpersonal drama. I admit part of me is disappointed, because opportunities for snark are few and far between, but the other part is really enjoying these dumb reindeer games. (Shhh, don’t tell anyone.)

I thought that twirling challenge was unfair, because the pole width should have been proportional to body size OR they should have been instructed to use handholds only. Josh’s double arm grasp was a big advantage over Nicole’s stubby little arms that barely met on the other side. So big respect to her for pulling out the win anyway. 

Still, I agree that, overall, the challenges are far superior to the BB norm. (Hell, even Survivor could take a note.) I would love the regular game to incorporate some of this, but who are we kidding. The producers have the attention span of the kitchen ants.

[mojoween]

Hey did you know that Nicole is a mom?  The only mom in the whole wide world, apparently.

I resent the show for making me root for Josh, and I really resent the show for making me sad that he lost.  Never again!  But he did cry, so some things are as regular as the sun.

If I had to guess, Taylor wasn’t thinking about competing against Xavier, she just likes him more than Nicole.  Taylor hanging with the boys more than the girls was once a whole big thing, heh.

Frankie’s over-acting was dialed up to super extra extra.  Stop that.

Frankie should have had to figure out on his own who was doing best in the puzzle.  The way they presented it, Derek said that Xavier and Nicole were leading, and then bam, Frankie freezes them.  Anyone could have seen that coming.

[Lady Calypso]

10 hours ago, SHERMDOG said:

Ok. I'm sure I'm in the minority but....I'm pissed at Taylor...why wouldn't she put X up!?? She has a way better chance on beating Brittney/Nicole than him...heck I don't know...just thot it was weird

So, how I see it is that Taylor was in no true winning position. Nicole and Xavier both felt like they were close to Taylor and deserved to be saved by her. 

I think what the difference was, in this case, is outside stuff. Taylor's closer to Xavier outside of the game while she's likely to not talk to Nicole outside of Big Brother-related events (that Nicole doesn't attend, anyway). Taylor already pissed off Xavier once before; if she did it again, I think she knew Xavier would turn on her, probably join Frankie, and potentially Nicole/Britney had he beaten Josh, and Taylor would have been a target anyway.

Now, if Taylor had put Xavier down in the Showdown and he won, I think Nicole/Britney might have still stuck with Taylor. There's definitely a chance things would have worked out better, game-wise. Nicole isn't wrong; putting her in instead of X was a bad game move. That's why I think it was more personally-driven, since Taylor still will run into Xavier more than Nicole out of the game, and Xavier has shown that he probably can hold a grudge. He was already pissed off at Taylor at the team decision two episodes ago, and that was a team decision. Had she done it again, that relationship would have likely been severed. Xavier's a terrible player, so holding a grudge for a game move seems pretty on par with him. But Taylor would have to face the consequences outside of the show, which I don't think she wanted to do.

I do think it could have been a bad decision, but I don't think it was a fatal one. I do think Taylor can beat Xavier should they be thrown into the last Santa's Showdown, and Xavier isn't as great with challenges as people make him out to be. He's good, sure, but he can be beaten. She already missed her shot in taking out Frankie; the most she can hope for is pushing for Frankie to be put into Santa's Showdown next because of how well he's been doing in comps. She will have to face Nicole's wrath, which could get tricky, and Britney is also not happy with her, but Taylor was pissing people off anyway. I think, for Taylor's outside connections, it was the right move. In game, it might have cost her.

[Cherry Styles]

You know what's nice? NO yelling in the DR!! 

Bye Josh! 

[iMonrey]

I don't want to live in a world where Frankie is right, about anything, but sending Josh and Xavier to the showdown was the right move, and Taylor totally biffed it. I agree with @Lady Calypso's assessment of her probable reasoning but she made an enemy out of Britney, Nicole and Frankie. 

I realize at this point I'm rooting for either Britney or Nicole to win. Hell I'd even prefer Frankie over Taylor or Xavier at this point.

What is on Nicole's forehead? Is it just a big ole zit?

I believe someone already speculated about this in the first episode, but I have my doubts they're really spending the night in the "house." We haven't even seen the bedrooms, have we? They seem to have been repurposed as wrapping rooms, offices, etc.

[30 Helens]

I’m definitely rooting for Britney, even though she’s lost the snarky edge that made me love her in the first place. Damn this pleasant house!

Did they ever say the contestants are living there? Because clearly they’re not. Given the brevity of the season, I assume this was filmed over the course of 2-3 days. They probably have rooms at a nearby La Quinta. Complimentary stale danishes in the lobby between 7 and 10 am.

I am amused by the one-on-one strategy sessions that are staged like HoH meetings, if the HoH room doubled as Santa’s decoration warehouse.

[After7Only]

I think Taylor took a calculated risk in not putting up X.   It really does depend on how strongly she thought the all girls alliance would have been.   

• If she put up X and Josh and X wins, then he's still in the competition but no longer an ally.   Meanwhile Nicole Britney and Frankie will likely target her and X.    But there was a chance she could convince the girls to target Frankie/X
• If she put up X and Josh wins, Josh would still work with her.  But they probably wouldn't be able to beat Frankie.   Also the chances of Josh beating X was small.   Britany/Nicole might target her and Josh or maybe Josh/Frankie.  
• If she puts up Nicole and Josh wins - would be her ideal situation.   She would have 2 allies to get Frankie.  Britany would be more likely to target X/Josh/Frankie than her.   
• If she puts up Nicole and Nicole wins was the risk she took.   She still has X as an ally.   She's still in the same scenario as point one.   But it's less likely that she convince the girls to target Frankie/X.   

So it comes down to which alliance she felt was most likely to keep her safe.      

[argrow]

I agree with her reasoning too. She needs to chip away at Frankie's allies, and if she puts X up with Josh, it means she will definitely be losing someone that is not allied with Frankie.

Frankie still sucks and I am worried he was heading for a win.

Edited December 20, 2023 by argrow