‘Big Brother Reindeer Games’ is unexpectedly better than a regular season of ‘Big Brother.’ It is more exciting, and less predictable
Big Brother Reindeer Games premiered on Monday, December 11. It is the first Big Brother spin-off show of its kind, and has already shaken up the Big Brother world. Despite fans fearing the show would be a let-down because the format is much different than what they are typically used to, it has already proved to be much better than a regular season of Big Brother.
Big Brother Reindeer Games was announced by longtime Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves at the conclusion of season 25. The difference from the regular season of Big Brother, Big Brother Reindeer Games is only airing for two weeks, consisting of a total of six episodes. Each episode is 120 minutes long, which is longer than a usual episode of the show.
Instead of casting brand-new players to compete in this holiday version of the game, nine Big Brother legends have returned to the famous house for some holiday fun, or so they thought. While the show was pitched as a laid-back holiday game, it has quickly turned into an extra-grueling version of Big Brother. With one player being eliminated at the conclusion of every episode, the players felt the extra holiday stress every day of competing in the game.
‘Big Brother Reindeer Games’ Is Less Predictable and More Exciting
Despite it being a much shorter version of Big Brother, Big Brother Reindeer Games is arguably better than any regular season of Big Brother. The episode format of Big Brother Reindeer Games is much different than that of a regular season. Each episode consists of three different competitions, which is much more than in a regular season. Usually there is only one competition per episode. There are even times when there is an episode that does not feature any competition. If there are not a lot of exciting conversations taking place among the houseguests, it can make a season drag or become boring quite quickly; however, this is not the case for Big Brother Reindeer Games.
Because each episode features three separate competitions, there is never a dull moment in an episode of Big Brother Reindeer Games. The competitions are also very different. First, the houseguests take on a mental competition inside the house. The winner of this “Naughty or Nice” challenge earns an advantage for the second competition. Additionally, they also get to give another player a disadvantage. This means within the first few moments of playing Big Brother Reindeer Games, players already have to start getting blood on their hands without an easy way out of it. In a normal season of Big Brother, the winner of the first competition, which is usually a Head of Household competition, can nominate the players that came in last place to avoid getting blood on their hands. In Big Brother Reindeer Games, the first winner of the first competition did not have this option when putting someone on Santa’s naughty list.
The second competition, the “Jingle Bell Brawl”, is similar to what a Head of Household competition would be in a regular season. The main difference is that there is no vote to evict. Instead, the winner chooses which players will compete for safety in Santa’s Showdown. Oftentimes, Big Brother can become very predictable because the houseguests’ votes to evict are usually all the same. They typically will stick to what the Head of Household wants to do that week. This is not the case in Big Brother Reindeer Games. Because the two nominees fight it out for safety rather than leaving it up to the other houseguests, the initial target may not necessarily go home. This can be very risky for the winner of the Jingle Bell Brawl. Additionally, it makes it much more of an individual game, because players don’t have to pitch about why they should stay over the other nominee. Instead, their fate is in their own hands.
With so much unfolding in just one episode, there is never a dull moment. Nearly every episode so far has ended in a nail-biter. Each task is much more achievable for every player, despite their physique, whereas in a normal season, the more athletic players are more likely to excel in physical competitions. Not only does this make Big Brother Reindeer Games much less predictable, it also makes it a fairer game for all the players. Even Brittney Haynes was able to succeed in a grueling physical competition despite thinking she couldn’t because of her small physique.
Fans Get to See Past ‘Big Brother’ Winners Compete
The best part of the entire holiday-filled Big Brother spin-off show is that the cast is full of fans’ favorites and past winners. With it being such a short series, there would be no time for viewers to get to know a brand-new cast. Instead, they get to watch legends compete inside the famous house once again. Like fans, they are also learning new twists to this game. While these past players may have done well in the Big Brother format, they are now competing in a brand-new version of it. Because of this, players who were expected to make it to the end of the game were some of the first to be eliminated.
The only downfall of Big Brother Reindeer Games is that, because it was prerecorded, and the players do not live in the famous house, there are no 24/7 live feeds. Because of this, viewers only see a limited amount of game-talk between the players. This is the only one-up that a regular season has on this spin-off show. When it comes to predicting who will become the first winner of Big Brother Reindeer Games, it truly will be anyone’s game.
The finale of Big Brother Reindeer Games will air on Thursday, December 21, 2023, on CBS. Past seasons of the mothership series can be streamed on Paramount+.