Warning! The following contains spoilers for the finale for Big Brother: Reindeer Games. Read at your own risk!
It's gotten to a point where I feel like I've said everything positive I can say about Big Brother: Reindeer Games. After a lackluster Season 25 of the original series, I was unsure if I was on board for a spinoff. It didn't take long into the first episode for me to be shocked at how good it was, and now that the exciting finale is over, I'm sold that this series should be a new holiday tradition.
Big Brother: Reindeer Games wasn't like the standard or shortened season of the flagship, and that's completely fine. The Houseguests didn't stay in the house, and I ended up being completely okay with that because of how fun it was to watch. That's thanks partly to this finale, which showed me the beauty of this spinoff and what it can do for former players.
The Finale Competitions Had The Most Unexpected Result
Prior to this season, if you had told me that Xavier Prather and Frankie Grande would lose the competition to Taylor Hale and Nicole Franzel ahead of the final challenge, I would've laughed in your face. Don't get me wrong – Taylor and Nicole are Big Brother winners deserving of respect, but neither won their seasons due to their strength in competitions. To see them upset two guys who earned the title of "comp beast" was astounding.
I've already admitted prior to the finale that I misjudged Nicole's gameplay, but even so, I thought it was Taylor's game in the final challenge. To my surprise, the Season 18 winner pulled off the win and proved she deserved the casting spot Janelle Pierzina blasted CBS for giving her.
Why Big Brother: Reindeer Games Needs To Return Every Year
After Big Brother Season 22 was such a disappointing all-stars season, Reindeer Games might've laid out the framework for the best way to bring back returning Houseguests. It was fun to see all of the returning Houseguests from other seasons interact for the first time and seemingly have a great time and fair odds at winning the $100,000. There are some lessons Big Brother can learn from Reindeer Games, and I hope someone was taking notes ahead of Season 26.
I went into this spinoff thinking I was burnt out on Big Brother until next summer, and this series has me eager for more already. Granted, I would hate for the network to use this as justification for eliminating the live feeds, which was rumored at one point ahead of Season 25. Beyond that, though, I think this spinoff has shown that there are easy ways to incorporate veteran players that don't include making them spend 30 days or longer in the Big Brother house, making it more likely others will be available to appear. I'm a fan of this spinoff and hope to see it again next year.
Big Brother: Reindeer Games is over, but of course, it is available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription. For those who haven't watched it and somehow made it to the end of this article, it's definitely still worth checking out, especially with those looking for some holiday fun in the days before Christmas.
