‘Big Brother Reindeer Games’ episode 4 recap: Final 5 players are named in fast-paced hour [LIVE BLOG]

John Benutty and Marcus James Dixon
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Following the first three evictions of Cameron Hardin (BB25), Cody Calafiore (BB16 & BB22) and Danielle Reyes (BB3 & BB7) from “Big Brother Reindeer Games,” just six contestants remained inside Santa’s lodge. The ultimate champion of this Christmas-themed mini-season will take home a cool $100,000. So who made it into the Final 5 during Monday’s fast-paced hour?

Below, read our minute-by-minute “Big Brother Reindeer Games” Season 1, Episode 4 recap/live blog to find out what happened Monday, December 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comment section about your favorite houseguests on CBS’s reality TV show, who annoys you the most and who you think will ultimately join the “Big Brother” winners list. Regular host Julie Chen Moonves is sitting out this show, and she’s replaced by fan-faves Jordan Lloyd, Derek Xiao and Tiffany Mitchell as “Santa’s Elves.”

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Here are the six remaining players: Britney Godwin (BB12 & BB14), Frankie Grande (BB16), Josh Martinez (BB19), Nicole Franzel-Arroyo (BB16, BB18 & BB22), Taylor Hale (BB24) and Xavier Prather (BB23).

SEE‘Big Brother’: America’s Favorite Houseguest Winners (All Seasons)

9:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘BB Reindeer Games’!” In the third episode, Taylor won the Naughty and Nice Challenge and gained a two-minute advantage in the next game, and also gave Josh a punishment of having his puzzle board blocked for five minutes. In the Jingle Bell Brawl gingerbread man challenge, Nicole persevered and gained the ability to determine who would be the first person to take on the hamster wheel / snow globe maze in Santa’s Showdown. Nicole chose Frankie; he won and picked Xavier; he won and named Britney; she won and sent in Danielle. Danielle was not able to complete the challenge in time, so the “BB” legend was evicted.

9:03 p.m. – At the halfway point of the game, Frankie said his game plan was to work with both Nicole and Britney while understanding that he won’t be able to float to the end of the game. Josh still felt like his best way forward was to continue to work with Xavier and Taylor, but Xavier was only concerned with not having to see Santa’s Showdown for a third straight time. The men were not aware that the women were still considering working together, but that put both Nicole and Taylor in difficult positions because they’re also closely aligned with male players.

9:05 p.m. – Derek returned to the house to present the Naughty and Nice Challenge where they had to search the lodge for clues to determine who kidnapped the character Jill Frost. The clues came in the form of gray hair around the bathrooms ink, reindeer mugshots (some of which are brown or gray), reindeer collars of different colors, and hooves prints that potentially match the reindeer mugshots as well. Xavier was the first to chime in with the guess of the reindeer Siren, then Taylor with the reindeer Lurker, Britney with Siren as well, Nicole with Stupid, Frankie with Slasher, and then Josh last with Slasher as well. Later, Derek explained the clues and announced that the correct detective was Frankie.

9:11 p.m. – As a prize for his win, Frankie earned the advantage of choosing his partner for the pair-based Jingle Bell Brawl. The disadvantage he got to hand out was giving one of the other pairs a penalty for the challenge. Knowing that Cody went home after choosing his strongest allies to be on his team, Frankie was concerned about making the same mistake with his choice.

9:16 p.m. – When Frankie got to talking to everyone, he was working under the assumption that the losing pair would go into the Santa’s Showdown against each other so he needed to not put his allies on the same team. Frankie’s decision was to pair with Taylor, much to her dismay because she was hoping he’d lose so that she could target him for the next eviction, but that just meant that she’d need to pivot to helping Frankie win. The other four were left to decide their pairs on their own. Xavier wanted to avoid pairing with Josh in case they lost so they wanted to each pair up with one of the women. Nicole and Britney weren’t of a similar mind and wanted to work together, but when the guys pushed back against the girls pairing up it was a “red flag” for them. Eventually the group settled on Xavier and Nicole teaming up and Josh and Britney pairing together.

9:24 p.m. – In the Jingle Bell Brawl, the pairs had to pack oversized sleighs with a puzzle of block gifts. The winning pair would earn safety and the right to decide who is going to compete in Santa’s Showdown. This is where Frankie got to decide to “freeze” one of the other pairs at any point in the competition, stopping them from playing for 45 seconds.

9:26 p.m. – Taylor let Frankie take the lead in their pair because she understood him to be a better puzzle solver. Nicole wanted Xavier to take the lead because she can move the pieces around the sleigh more easily, but as they advanced quickly Frankie decided to freeze them. Britney and Josh were both trying to contribute equally, but they couldn’t get on the same page. Eventually Frankie unlocked a fit for a few pieces and then from there everything else fell into place to earn the win.

9:30 p.m. – With their win, Frankie and Taylor learned that one player from each of the losing duos would go to Santa’s Showdown. Each of them would choose a player from one of the teams and to determine who picked first they drew out of a hat. Frankie got the red ornament so she had to choose between Josh and Britney and Taylor got the green ornament so she had to choose between Xavier and Nicole.

9:35 p.m. – Ahead of their decisions, Frankie and Taylor met to discuss their options. Frankie argued that what’s best for both of them is to send Josh and Xavier to the Showdown, but Taylor didn’t let on that she was considering selecting Nicole instead. Taylor was caught between two alliances in her decision and so she had to weigh it very carefully. Josh knew that Frankie would likely select him because they don’t have an alliance, but he was hoping that Taylor would spare him by sending Nicole down instead of Xavier. Meanwhile, Nicole was pitching to Taylor that she stick to the female alliance because it’d be unfair for her to have to go against Josh who easily has more strength than her. Xavier’s pitch was that last time Taylor had a decision like this she chose to keep Nicole safe so he was hoping that this time they’d work together and she’d keep him safe. He added that he’d be in the house to help her get rid of Frankie.

9:45 p.m. – To announce their decision, Taylor went first to say that she chose to send Nicole into Santa’s Showdown and then Frankie followed by naming Josh as the second competitor. Frankie was disappointed that Taylor didn’t stick to his plan and it made him worried for Nicole. Taylor pulled Nicole quickly to give her support and say that she can beat Josh. As soon as she could, Nicole retreated to the Diary Room to cry about Taylor’s decision to keep Xavier around when he’s so good at comps.

9:47 p.m. – F0r Santa’s Showdown, Josh and Nicole had to take part in the “Candy Cane Rodeo” by hanging on to a spinning candy cane longer than the other. Josh’s strategy was to use his long reach by wrapping around the candy cane while Nicole was able to get her fingers in one of the latch-holds in order to hold her grip. After an hour with both of them still in play, the candy canes started to jerk harder and more unexpectedly than before, greatly increasing the difficulty level. And then, in almost the same exact instant, both Nicole and Josh were flung from their candy canes.

9:55 p.m. – Because they fell at what appeared to be the same time, it came down to a photo finish that showed that Josh in fact hit the mat sooner than Nicole and so she was declared the winner and Josh was evicted. On his way out, Josh chose a parting present and received an ugly holiday sweater.

9:58 p.m. – The Showdown result left Nicole’s allies Britney and Frankie in the majority with the new knowledge that Taylor exposed her true alliance to Xavier by saving him. Nicole still felt like she was in “survival mode” because the female alliance fell apart with Taylor’s decision.

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