Teams
Superior Snowstorms – Iggy, Ben, Tony, Nicky, Tess, Ji-Soon, Winnie
Sunny Snowflakes – Lucien, Jacque, Tsu, Letty, Sasha, May
Gleeful Gingerbreads – Char, Marco, Brandon, Bonnie, Aditi, Elodie
"Last time on North Pole Showdown," Embarc started narrating previous events of the previous episode. Flashbacks occurred during her talking. "The teams entered Santa's toy shop for a fun nifty challenge. Which was finding their team's key in the vast shop and using their key to open a treasure chest at the end of the shop. Throughout the challenge the contestants faced off against many toys that went rogue, causing several to get distracted. There were some exceptions like Ji-Soon and Letty."
"Andrea finally told Bonnie the truth of how she felt which Tsu sneakily used to get rid of the elegant angel by convincing Brandon, Elodie, and Aditi to vote her off after winning for his team the Sunny Snowflakes."
The flashbacks ended. Embarc was shown sitting with her legs crossed at a pond covered in ice except for a small hole she was next to. She used a rod to try and get fish from the water.
"The teams are going to have to make a splash in order to win today's challenge," Embarc said happily to a camera. "Find out how they will do now on North Pole Showdown!"
She pulled her rod and managed to have caught a yellow fish with red fins and lips.
"You're a strange looking fish," Embarc admitted.
The fish opened its mouth to get out of the hook and then slapped Embarc's cheek with its tail before diving back into the water. Embarc rubbed her cheek, feeling slight pain.
(Intro Plays)
Three cameras pop up from their hiding spots. One from outside the igloo ceremony, another coming out of an evergreen tree with snow on it, and the last one popped up from a toilet. The camera drone showing footage flew into a window to get out of the bathroom.
Dear Mom and Dad I'm doin' fine,
The camera drone displayed Embarc in her office with papers pasted all over the walls. The papers had pictures of the contestants on them and red arrows all around for Embarc to figure out what kind of ships the hostess could do with the cast.
You guys are on my mind.
Ketch stood next to Embarc and saw the camera drone inside her office. He poked Embarc's shoulder with a finger to let her know. The hostess tried to grab it to remove the footage, but the drone evaded her and went out a window.
You asked me what I wanted to be
The drone caught Tsu hugging his Clover Warrington body pillow in the cold snowy weather. A polar bear took the body pillow from Tsu to hug it for itself.
And now I think the answer is plain to see,
Tsu demanded the polar bear give back his body pillow, but the creature roared at him. Tsu ran away while the polar bear gave chase on two feet. Iggy laughed at Tsu's predicament from a distance. He was then pelted by a snowball at the back of his head.
I wanna be famous.
The culprit who hit Iggy was revealed to be Winter who leaned on a wall of a wooden house. She turned around with a smile and noticed Jacque observing her with his arms crossed and a suspicious look on his face. The camera drone went inside the wooden house.
I wanna live close to the sun,
Elodie showed taking baked cupcakes out of an oven and placing them onto a table. Paul and Andrea sat at the table with the former wanting to swipe cupcakes for himself despite a 'Do Not Touch' sign being next to the sweets. Andrea slapped his hand away.
Go pack your bags, 'cause I've already won,
At the other side of the table, Tess painted some happy little trees on a piece of paper held by an easel while Nicky sat on a wooden chair to play her violin.
Everything to prove, nothing in my way
The two girls were startled by Dominic, Tony, and Brandon breaking a hole in the wall with each of them racing each other on a snowmobile. The camera drone followed them after the three made another hole in a different wall to leave the house.
I'll get there one day.
The three boys crashed into a giant pile of snow. Marco recorded them with a camera nearby while Lucien and May were each sleeping peacefully on a snow angel that someone must have made on the ground.
Cause, I wanna be famous!
Aditi observed penguins waddling next to her outside Santa's workshop with a snowman right by her. Bonnie came out of the snowman which prompted Aditi to run away from her. Bonnie frowned and Char came to pat her shoulder to make her feel better. Which got the redhead to grin.
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!
Winnabelle excitedly rode on Rudolph the red nose reindeer in the field of reindeer that was fenced. Ben and Letty watched Winnabelle making noise which caused the two to stop reading a book they each had in their hand. The former looked at the pageant disaster with annoyance while the latter dismally sighed.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Ji-Soon displayed one of her cosplays for Santa's elves on an outdoor wooden stage. Striking poses for delight. One of the elves took a picture of her with the camera's flash on in his hand.
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
Santa Claus dragged Sasha by the arm out of his fridge because she started eating his ice cream with a spoon. The contestant held onto a bowl of ice cream as the jolly man brought her outside in the snow with the rest of the cast sitting. The entire cast whistled as the song finished. The camera drone zoomed out to reveal the show's title on a wooden billboard.
(End Intro)
The episode started in the Gleeful Gingerbread's room. Bonnie slept on her bed with sheets covering herself.
"Psh, psh, wake up," Bonnie heard Elodie's voice.
Standing next to Bonnie's bed, Elodie had on her hands a tray with eggs, a whole wheat donut, and a mug with hot chocolate inside. Noticing Bonnie was not waking up, Elodie thought of a way to get her to wake up.
"Oh my, is that Brandon in his underwear?" Elodie whispered into Bonnie's ear.
Bonnie's eyelids immediately opened, and she rose her upper body to see where Brandon is while covering her chest with the sheet. When she noticed Brandon nowhere in the room, she rubbed her eyes to see if she was still dreaming.
"Sorry for tricking you, but you slept in quite long. Embarc could be announcing a challenge at any moment," Elodie informed Bonnie before putting the tray onto the farmer's lap.
"Wait, I missed breakfast?" Bonnie asked Elodie as she stared at the food on the tray.
"I'm afraid so," Elodie confirmed while nodding. "I had to sneak into the kitchen to make a meal for you."
"Didn't expect you to be the disobedient type," Bonnie confessed while poking her whole wheat donut. "Thought Embarc didn't want you in there unless is for a challenge."
"I have to infiltrate the kitchen in order to make my explosive pastries from time to time," Elodie explained, smiling delightfully. "And don't worry about getting a sugar rush. I made sure not to add any sugar in the hot chocolate and whole wheat donuts aren't that sweet."
Bonnie broke her donut in half and began to eat one piece while staring at Elodie.
"Since you're awake I want to ask you about why you were looking sad yesterday," Elodie revealed, feeling worried for her teammate.
Bonnie swallowed her piece and then answered. "Oh, just that Andrea rejected me about having any chance of ever getting together with her. I'm mostly over that now so I won't be a huge burden in the challenge."
"Did Andrea insult you?" Elodie questioned.
"Honestly out of all the times I've been rejected she gave me the lightest," Bonnie replied sincerely. "No insults whatsoever."
"That's all I needed to hear," Elodie smiled. "I'll leave you to be eating privately. Need to do some stuff."
As Elodie left the room, Bonnie stared at her behind while eating the rest of her donut. Once Elodie was out of the room she closed the door.
"Did she finally talked about what happened yesterday?" Aditi asked, her and Brandon standing in the hallway.
"Yeah, we got to know if Tsu was telling the truth," Brandon added, concerned for Bonnie.
"Oh, well…" Elodie hesitated to answer them. "She told me that Andrea did not insult whatsoever."
"Dang it," Brandon put his hand on his forehead. "I knew I should have gone with my gut. We better confront the guy then."
"Wait, let's hold onto that," Aditi suggested. "If we confront him, he's going to go after us one by one."
"We'll just have Bonnie be with us to testify," Brandon told her. "That way Tsu will have no way…"
"For now, we should just be observers," Aditi advised. "Right Elodie?"
Aditi and Brandon noticed Elodie is no longer with them.
Confessional - Brandon - Gleeful Gingerbreads
"I don't know why Aditi doesn't want us to tell Tsu he lied to us. Might as well let the guy know we are onto him and not to pull that stunt again. If her and Elodie keep playing around with the idea I might just have to do it myself."
Confessional - Aditi - Gleeful Gingerbreads
"I'll admit I had my suspicions Tsu had ulterior motives talking to us about eliminating Andrea, but I enjoy being with my teammates, so it was hard to choose who to eliminate. The opportunity came in and I decided to roll with it. Which has me a bit conflicted, but that is not important. What is important is to continue staying on the sidelines. I don't like strategizing and I rather not deal with Tsu coming at me."
End Confessionals
Marco and Char were at the entrance doors of the toy shop. Char had his arms crossed, looking disappointed at his teammate.
"Dude I'm sorry I lost your phone," Marco apologized to Char. It looked like he has been repeating this for a bit. "I was gaming by myself in the festive lounge while using your phone to stream. I went to the bathroom inside the lounge and when I came out your phone was gone on the table where I left it."
"Why didn't you bring my phone to the bathroom?" Char questioned.
"Because my stream was on. I wasn't going to log off and log in again for a potty break," Marco explained, which did not lighten Char's mood.
Char sighed. "We'll ask around to see if any has a hold of it."
Confessional - Tsu - Sunny Snowflakes
He smirked mischievously while holding Char's phone in his hand.
"Had to hold my urine for a while but it was worth it. Got to keep painting those members of the Gleeful Gingerbreads in a bad light so they can pick off each other. That group has the best team chemistry so is better to give them despair than the Superior Snowstorms at the moment."
End Confessional
In the festive lounge, Jacque and Tony were facing each other off in the arcade hoop machines. Both were shooting and landing shots with finesse. Sasha was nearby sitting at a table reading one of her psychology books.
"Hey man," Tony said to Jacque and stopped throwing balls into the basket. He held onto one under his arm. "I've been thinking about this since we came to the competition, but why don't we have our own alliance?"
Jacque stopped throwing balls into the basket and looked at Tony dumbfounded. Meanwhile Sasha raised her book to cover her face as she heard the conversation.
"Dude," Jacque said to Tony. "Why the heck will you offer that to me now?"
"I wanted to make a guy's alliance between us, Dominic, and Brandon. Although when Dominic got eliminated, I decided not to ask until now," Tony explained. "Think about it, us three can share anything that our teammates do and plan on who to get rid of. I know you find some of my teammates annoying like me."
"I find all your teammates to be a bunch of idiots," Jacque commented. He thinks for a bit on the decision and then swiped Tony's basketball away. "But… an alliance with you doesn't sound so bad. Handshake?"
"Handshake," Tony agreed and the two shake hands. "I'll try to convince Brandon to join."
"Good luck with that," Jacque slightly chuckled. "Now get out of here. I've already kicked your butt in basketball three times already."
"That's because I've been going easy on you," Tony informed and then left the festive lounge, passing Sasha reading her book in the process.
"Keep telling yourself that," Jacque exclaimed so Tony heard him. Once Tony was fully gone, he smirked to himself. "Done pretending on reading your book?" He asked Sasha.
Sasha put her book down on the table as she watched Jacque approach her.
"What's your game Jacque?" Sasha asked, suspicious of his strategy. "Forming an alliance when a teammate of yours in hearing distance is quite stupid, yet I know you did it on purpose."
"Sometimes you got to play street smart instead of book smart," Jacque said casually with a shrug.
"Answer my question. You know I can tell the others on our team," Sasha stated.
"Ah, but you're not going to, are you? If you paint a target on me and I get eliminated your chances of at least merging diminish," Jacque countered. He decided to take a seat as he kept speaking with the temptress. "We both know Lucien and May have been hanging out close recently and from what I've seen Tsu isn't that trustworthy."
"Being untrustworthy could apply to you as well," Sasha pointed out.
"I'm a vote you need Sasha. At least until one of the sleepers gets sent packing," Jacque said with a proudful smirk. "Is funny, you got caught up so much with Winter you didn't realize the position you'll be in now without her."
Sasha scoffed. "Don't think you're playing me like a fiddle. You're just as capable as being sent home like me. This discussion is over," She grabbed her book and stood up from her chair. Then she proceeded to leave the festive lounge.
Confessional - Jacque - Sunny Snowflakes
"Yep, she digs me," he said proudly.
End Confessional
Continuing his routine, Iggy jogged around Santa's workshop. Unlike the other times however, it appeared he was pushing himself further and further. Increasing his speed and tiring himself. After his team escaped elimination solely because the team did not get pick, he had to make sure he was ready for any challenge up ahead.
Iggy felt himself getting too tired for his own liking and decided to jog at a slower pace.
"You're overworking yourself," Lucien commented to Iggy. He was shown sitting on an air mattress next to his telescope.
Iggy decided to take a break from jogging. "What… are… you… doing there?" He asked while panting.
"Just waiting for the challenge to start so that I can wake up May," Lucien answered.
A camera shot revealed May laying down next to Lucien on the air mattress. May happily slept.
"Pfft, is not going to be a challenge when my team is unstoppable," Iggy boasted. "Especially since I'm still in the competition," He pointed both thumbs at himself.
Lucien observed Iggy's exhaustion. "I highly doubt you'll be in any condition to beat your opponents with the way you exceeded your body's limit," Lucien stated.
"Limits are meant to be broken star gazer," Iggy grinned.
Lucien rolled his eyes. "If you want to become a liability for your team, go ahead."
"Liability? Ha, fat chance. I'm not the one who sleeps during the challenges," Iggy taunted. Then he collapsed onto the snow due to tiredness.
Lucien stared at him with a bored expression. He looked at May and softly moved her head.
"Wake up, we got to bring a body into the workshop," The astronomer told the daydreamer.
May yawned. "Again? How many of Santa's elves are going to keep getting themselves hurt?" She asked Lucien.
"Fortunately, or unfortunately is not one of them. Is just Iggy," Lucien answered.
"Five more minutes please," May joked, looking up at Lucien.
"Knowing you it will be more than that," Lucien joked back.
The two got out of the air mattress and went to carry Iggy to bring him into Santa's workshop. They had trouble carrying him since neither were really athletic but pushed on.
Inside the Superior Snowstorms' room four of the members are happily enjoying their hobby. Ben sat on his while reading a sci-fi book. Winnie did the same on her bed reading a science book. Nicky played her violin and Tess painted her teammates doing their activities on paper being held by an easel.
The quietness soon vanished once Ji-Soon entered the room with a happy smile on her face.
"Hey girls," Ji-Soon said excitedly, holding a suitcase. "And Ben. Guess what I made?"
Ben continued to read his book, hoping to be ignored. Tess now tried to paint Ji-Soon entering the room.
"More cosplay?" Nicky asked once she stopped playing her violin.
"Kind of," Ji-Soon gave a so-so sign with her hand. "I made matching uniforms for our team. Check it out," She opened the suitcase she held and out comes shirts with the team's logo and color with matching pants.
Winnie closed her book and got out of her bed to check on the uniforms on the floor. She grabbed one that appeared to be her size.
"Is this why you insisted on taking our measurements," Winnie asked Ji-Soon.
"Yep," Ji-Soon confirmed sweetly. "Enjoy everyone."
"I never gave you my measurements," Ben stated after putting his book down.
"That's because I took yours while you slept," Ji-Soon replied, unaware of how creepy that sounded.
Ben blinked twice at Ji-Soon. "Yeah, I'm going to head out and get some hot chocolate."
"Okay, see you at the challenge," Ji-Soon waved goodbye to the bookworm.
When Ben left the room Tess huffs.
"Come on, I'm trying to paint a masterpiece here," Tess told her teammates.
Ji-Soon tossed Tess her uniform and the traveling artist caught it.
"I found inspiration," Tess said, staring at the uniform in awe.
"B-b-by just looking at a shirt and pants?" Nicky became confused.
Tess did not answer her and immediately used her uniform as an object to paint.
"Anything can be an inspiration," Ji-Soon informed Nicky. "Just got to be creative with it."
The speakers throughout the workshop turn on.
"Attention teams," Embarc announced through the speakers. "Meet me at the frozen pond near Santa's workshop to start today's challenge. That is all."
"Well, better get into uniform then," Winnie told the group happily.
"I will not reduce my freedom by putting it on," Tess said to the pageant disaster.
"But you just mentioned how the uniform inspired you," Nicky pointed out.
"Yeah, inspired me to paint how despicable they are," Tess replied nicely as she continued to paint. This caused Nicky to look at her strangely.
Confessional - Ji-Soon - Superior Snowstorms
"I worked hard on those uniforms," She was slightly disappointed Tess and Ben did not want to put them on. "Oh well," She crossed her arms. "At least more than half of the team is putting them on. Could give us the boost we need to keep going without facing elimination."
End Confessional
At the pond frozen in ice, Embarc happily looked at the remaining contestants with a cheerful smile. The hole with water the hostess sat nearby at the beginning of the episode has now been patched up.
"I'm liking the uniforms Superior Snowstorms. Style suits you all," Embarc complimented.
Only Ben and Tess from the Superior Snowstorms were not wearing the uniform Ji-Soon designed. Ben could care less while Tess smiled excitedly for the challenge. Iggy appeared tired from all the extensive exercise he did, and the other members looked ready to win.
"I'm sure all of you are wondering what today's challenge is," Embarc said contently.
"Not really," Jacque joked.
Embarc gave him a side eye look before continuing on. "Today's challenge is a simple one. All I need from each team is to collect one single fish from this pond and bring it to me," She explained the instructions. "I'll be waiting here, sitting on my rocking chair and drinking hot coco," She presented a mug with a Christmas tree on it and then a different shot showed her brown wooden rocking chair.
All the contestants gave puzzle looks to her.
"I don't want to make it sound like this isn't a challenge, but this sounds relatively easy," Brandon admitted.
"That's where the twist comes in," Embarc smiled mischievously. "I won't provide nothing to help you out in this challenge. Got to use your brains for this one."
"Some of my teammates lack that but we'll see what we can do," Tony admitted truthfully. Nicky pouted at this.
"With that said, your challenge starts… now," Embarc announced. "Go, go, go!"
Confessional - Elodie - Gleeful Gingerbreads
"I have the perfect solution in winning the challenge," She smirked confidently. "Just need a bunch of gunpowder, rope, and fire."
End Confessional
"What do you mean I can't use exploding cupcakes to make a hole in the frozen pond?" Elodie questioned Char as the Gleeful Gingerbreads were deciding a plan for the challenge.
"If the hole becomes too big the others not on our team can use it," Char pointed out while speaking nicely. "It will be better to let Brandon use his tools in shaping a hole out of the ice to get to the water."
Brandon showed his dark green color toolbox with a happy smile.
"We could just use Bonnie to make sure no one else tries to get to our spot when Elodie blows it up," Marco suggested.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bonnie wondered curiously without sounding rude.
"I think he means that you are good at being a guard," Aditi answered for Marco. "Although I agree with Char that having Brandon using his tools to make a circle big enough for us to only use is better."
"I'll make sure the explosion isn't too grand," Elodie said calmly, insisting on using her idea.
"Some other time Elodie you can use your explosions," Char assured her with a smile. "But this challenge isn't really suited for that."
"Alright," Elodie was a bit disappointed but understood.
"By the way guys, have any of you seen Char's phone?" Marco asked as Brandon opened his toolbox on the ice pond.
"Don't you have it?" Aditi asked, confused as to why the streamer was asking that question.
"I lost it in the festive lounge," Marco answered, feeling guilty for losing his captain's phone.
"I saw Jacque, Tony, and Sasha entering the festive lounge while I was walking around the workshop," Aditi revealed. "Should ask them if they took Char's phone."
"Thanks," Marco appreciated Aditi's help. He started walking to the Sunny Snowflakes.
The Sunny Snowflakes were also deciding how to get a fish from the frozen pond.
"We can have Letty shoot an arrow to pierce the ice and crack it," May suggested to the team.
"Not a bad idea May," Sasha smiled at the daydreamer. "Then we'll have Jacque use his strength to break more of the ice once is cracked."
"You want me to break my hands by cracking ice?" Jacque did not believe this plan was helpful. For himself or the team. "Just have Letty keep shooting the same spot until it breaks completely."
"I can use my sewing machine and bash the crack to make a bigger hole since Mr. Fragile over here doesn't want to participate," Tsu offered.
"Sounds good to me," Lucien agreed drowsily.
"Go ahead and get your bows and arrow Letty," Sasha ordered politely.
"Right," Letty understood and ran to the workshop.
"Hey guys," Marco approached the Sunny Snowflakes. "Have any of you seen Char's phone?"
"Can't say I have," Jacque answered while wrapping an arm around Sasha.
Sasha removed his arm with annoyance and then looked at Marco. "Me either," The blonde said to Marco.
"Wait, that was Char's phone?" Tsu pretended to wonder. "I found it on one of the festive lounge tables," He took out Char's phone from his pocket. "Thought somebody forgot about it. Was going to ask around after the challenge finished," He lied.
Marco bought the lie, too caught up in relief of finding Char's phone. He took his captain's phone out of Tsu's hand quickly.
"Thanks Tsu, I owe you one," Marco told the plain cosplayer.
"I'll keep that in mind," Tsu chuckled. "Now excuse while I go get my sewing kit."
Sasha and Jacque watched Tsu leave with suspicion in their minds. Marco went back to his team to give the good news. May and Lucien were trying their best not to fall asleep.
Due to Iggy's exhaustion the captain of the Superior Snowstorms was having a hard time instructing his team what to do.
"You don't look so good Iggy," Winnie noticed, having a worried expression.
"What? Psh, I am in perfect shape," Iggy told his teammate optimistically as he felt woozy. "This challenge is simple. We just stomp on the ice hard enough until it breaks."
The rest of the Superior Snowstorms stayed silent briefly.
"Anybody else have an idea that isn't stupid?" Tony asked the team.
"My ideas are never stupid," Iggy felt insulted. "Watch," He jumped and stomped hard on the ice beneath him. The ice began to crack and then break, causing Iggy to fall into the freezing water.
Iggy came out trapped in a rectangular frozen ice block with his teeth all chattery.
"There goes the captain," Ben stated, amuse by Iggy's action.
Tony went to the ice block Iggy is trapped in and then put his foot on the ice block. Using his weight and strength he brought it down with his foot for the other half of the ice block to get out of the water. Next, he used his foot to slide the ice block towards him and quickly jumped to avoid being hit by it.
Iggy in his ice block slid across the frozen pond and stopped once hitting a tree. This caused the ice block to break into pieces but now Iggy was knocked out.
"I can paint a realistic looking fish," Tess offered to help, raising her paint brush. "We'll just…"
"Last time we did that with the cake it turned back into paint. So no," Ben stated.
"We already have the hole made thanks to Iggy," Ji-Soon pointed out. "We just need to figure out how to get the fish without getting frozen in the water in less than a second."
"Ben or Nicky can dive in," Tony suggested. "Ben already gives the cold shoulder to everyone and Nicky is Nicky."
"What does that even mean?" Nicky asked Tony.
"It means you should of think of something to help us out before I push you into the water, capisce?" Tony told Nicky half-jokingly.
Nicky nodded rapidly. "We-we-we-we," She kept on stuttering.
"Think for before speaking," Tony said to the violinist with slight annoyance.
"I have an idea," Ben said to his team. His teammates looked at him to hear what he has to say.
Confessional - Ben - Superior Snowstorms
"Might as well contribute since Iggy is out of commissioned and I don't trust Tony leading the team. Might help me stay good with my teammates. Well, some of them."
End Confessional
The Gleeful Gingerbreads watched Brandon wearing safety goggles and using an ice scraper to make a circle. Elodie was getting bored of Brandon taking his time and so she tossed a cupcake that landed next to him.
Brandon turned to see the cupcake and heard ticking coming from it. His eyes widened and he quickly dashed away just as the cupcake exploded. He was sent flying to a tree due to the blast. He hit his face on a tree and then proceeded to break several branches as he fell down. He landed onto a pile of snow.
"I'm okay," Brandon muffled weakly. He showed a thumbs up to let his teammates know not to worry.
Char and Aditi gave a disapproving look to Elodie before both ran to Brandon for his aid.
"Looking back, I could have thrown the cupcake in a different direction," Elodie realized as she walked to the hole she made. Cracks were forming around the ice next to the water hole. "But on the bright side we saved time making the hole," She added, unknowingly stepping on an ice crack that slowly began breaking.
"Hey, Elodie," Marco called out to the pastry gal. "You might want to stand on a different spot."
"Why?" Elodie asked. She got her answer when she felt the ice underneath her breaking apart. Before she could move out of the way the ice broke, and she was sent into the freezing water.
Bonnie quickly sprinted into action and dived into the cold water to rescue Elodie. Marco was surprised by her speed. He watched Bonnie swim out of the water with Elodie. Bonnie had her arm wrapped around the back of Elodie. Both skin of the girls was blue, and they shivered from the cold.
"Geez you went faster than a speed runner," Marco commented to Bonnie as he went to pull out both girls from the water hole. Now all three were on the ice.
Char and Aditi arrived at the team carrying Brandon who also had his skin blue and shivered. Aditi held Brandon by the legs while Char the armpits. Char and Aditi placed Brandon next to Bonnie and Elodie.
"There goes half the group helping out with this challenge," Aditi noticed. Char, Marco, and her saw Bonnie, Elodie, and Brandon cuddling each other for warmth.
"Marco, go get blankets to cover them," Char instructed. "Aditi and I will come up with a plan to get a fish."
"Gotcha," Marco nodded and left the scene.
Confessional - Bonnie - Gleeful Gingerbreads
"What I did was totally worth it," she said with her arms crossed and through chattering teeth. She still felt the effects of the freezing water.
End Confessional
Letty, Sasha, Jacque, and Tsu were standing on snow near the ice pond. Letty had her bow and arrow ready while Tsu held his sewing machine in his hands.
"Keep it precise Letty," Sasha told the vacant virtuoso.
"Got it," Letty understood. She shot her arrow to an empty area of the ice pond.
The arrow pierced the ice. Cracks were made around the arrow. Letty fired another arrow next to the other so more cracks can be in the ice. Then Tsu got into the ice pond and slid all the way to where the two arrows were.
Tsu used his sewing machine to crack more of the ice and managed to make a hole. The pieces of broken ice headed down the water.
"All good!" Tsu exclaimed to his teammates excitedly.
"Really thought the guy was going to sink," Jacque admitted. He walked with Sasha and Letty to where Tsu is.
Sasha stopped walking, realizing May and Lucien were not with the team. She looked behind and saw the two sleeping on a couch made out of snow. She sighed to herself before continuing on.
"The sleeping beauties are at it again?" Tsu asked Sasha.
"They are becoming a liability," Sasha stated.
"Let's get rid of one of them then," Jacque suggested. "I'm not saying we should disregard today's challenge because I definitely prefer winning, but if it comes down to it might as well."
"I mean we could just not do the challenge," Tsu shrugged. "Not like we'll receive a penalty."
"Wouldn't it be better to have more team members for the upcoming challenges?" Letty asked, opposing to the idea.
"What's the point of having more when they're going to sleep around all day?" Jacque countered.
"The issue is that it isn't a guarantee we will eliminate either of them," Letty told the shiesty dude. "One of us might side with them to vote someone else off."
"Why would I side with those who don't really participate in the challenge?" Tsu pretended to wonder. "Vote one of the sleepers off is a no brainer Letty. You're thinking too much."
"All of us are committed to eliminate May or Lucien," Sasha added softly, trying to reassure Letty this is the right play. "But if you want to try and win the challenge, I'll assist you. Can count on that."
"Alright, let's work together then," Letty said with an unsure expression. "What about you two?" She asked Jacque and Tsu.
"Knock yourself out," Jacque said casually, which made Sasha narrow her eyes at him. "I know who I am voting for whenever we lose."
"Yeah, you two can keep going with the challenge," Tsu spoke happily.
Confessional - Letty - Sunny Snowflakes
"It feels weird trying to voice my opinion on strategies like that, but Sasha has been letting me voice my reasoning since we met. Although ever since Winter told me about Sasha probably using me, I've been trying to read through her words. But it doesn't seem like it for now."
End Confessional
The Superior Snowstorms were ready to act out Ben's plan. Nicky laid on her stomach near the hole Iggy made, observing the water. Winnie had her hands gripped to Nicky's ankles, who also laid on her stomach.
"Remember the plan you two," Ben said to Winnie and Nicky as he watched them.
"I put Nicky into the water while holding onto her and bring him back up when he can't take the cold anymore," Winnie replied to Ben cheerfully.
"Is-is this r-really a good idea?" Nicky stuttered nervously as she asked Ben.
"We don't have time to make a fishing rod or get one. The Sunny Snowflakes are starting their plan to get a fish and the Gleeful Gingerbreads are not too far behind either," Ben stated.
"I can paint a fishing rod with my brush," Tess offered.
"No, no painting for you," Tony told Tess before looking at Ben. "And we're not doing your plan. I'm swimming in and getting that fish."
"But the water is freezing down there," Ji-Soon reminded Tony.
"Pfft, I'm from Brooklyn the cold got nothing on me," Tony grinned confidently. "Just let me do all the work."
"Knock yourself out then," Ben allowed. "Tried to help but I guess is whatever."
Winnie frowned when she heard Ben express himself that way. She pulled Nicky away from the water hole before Tony dived right in to get a fish.
Confessional - Winnie - Superior Snowstorms
"I think is time for Ben to partake in bonding session. Specifically, with me of course. I feel like he needs it. Just needs to warm up to someone."
End Confessional
Back with the Gleeful Gingerbreads, Marco was shown putting a blanket on his shivering teammates.
"You two came up with a plan?" Marco asked as he approached Char and Aditi.
"We have," Char answered contently. "Although it is risky," He added, glancing worryingly at Aditi.
"What you mean by that?" Marco wondered.
"There's a polar bear sleeping with a fish nearby that Char and I found. The goal is to gently take the fish away. Which I'll be doing," Aditi explained. "It goes against my view of letting things play without disturbing the wildlife, but it must be done in order to try and get our win. Rather not vote anyone else off the team."
"Ditto," Marco agreed. "Which is why I brought this fishing rod and bait with me," He pulled out a fishing rod and bucket full of bait. Then he gave it to Aditi. "Don't think my fishing skills in gaming will come in handy but you look like you can do well."
"I have gone fishing plenty of times before on my traveling expeditions," Aditi revealed while taking the fish rod and bucket. "Thanks Marco."
"No problem," Marco smiled. "Oh, and here's your phone back Char," He tossed the captain's phone.
"Sweet," Char caught his phone. "Glad you found it," he said joyfully while Aditi got ready to start her fishing.
Confessional - Marco - Gleeful Gingerbreads
"Man, that was crazy," he said with relief. "If I would have never gotten Char's phone back from Tsu I would be considered being voted off if my team loses. Usually, people follow the captain's orders. Happens a lot when I'm playing third player shooter with my friends."
End Confessional
Letty aimed at the water hole made for her team with her bow and arrow. Her arrow had a long rope attached to it at the end.
"Once you hit a fish, I'll grab the rope attached to the arrow from behind to pull it out," Sasha informed, standing nearby.
"Excellent thinking Sasha," Letty said with a small smile on her face.
While the two waited for the right moment to strike Jacque and Tsu conversated at a tree while looking at their working teammates. Jacque leaned his back on the tree.
"Just think about. When we lose a challenge, we and the sleepers vote off Sasha," Tsu tried to convince Jacque. "As I said she is clearly a threat that can ease her way far into the game. She. Letty and you in the palm of her hands."
"Hold up, Sasha is a hottie, but she isn't using me," Jacque said to Tsu, feeling somewhat insulted. "And from the way I see it you just want her gone because when one of the sleeping beauties leave you know you'll be in a bad position. Which makes me wonder why you even agreed in voting off one of them."
"A guy can change his mind, can't he? All I'm saying is that the filling of despair when Sasha realizes you out bested her in a competition with wits and mind will be so sweet. Besides, don't you want to be the smartest person on the team?" Tsu questioned at the end.
Jacque scoffed. "Trying to play me like a fiddle huh? Enough of this attempted wordplay. Didn't work with Winter so it ain't going to work with you."
"Fine," Tsu chuckled. "Don't be an opportunist."
Confessional - Jacque - Sunny Snowflakes
"Bunch of supposedly smartasses on my team. Only one that can even reach my level is Sasha. Not going to be tricked even though I do want to eliminate her at some point."
End Confessional
Tony rose out of the water hole Iggy made and has a fish in his hand. He coughed off some water.
"Go, take it!" Tony told his teammates. "I stole from a seal. I'll be fine. Just get the win."
"On it," Winnie took action and grabbed the fish before running off to Embarc.
Tess, Nicky, and Ji-Soon tried to pull Tony out of the hole but the seal Tony mentioned dragged the Brooklyn boss back into the water with its teeth.
Sasha noticed Winnie dashing toward Embarc. She was rather calm about it though and not worried at all.
"Have you spot a fish yet Letty?" Sasha asked. "Is okay if you haven't."
"I don't understand your reasoning for agreeing with the boys Sasha," Letty confessed. "You're being set up by Tsu."
"I know, which is why I want to eliminate him," Sasha stated casually.
"Huh?" Letty released her arrow due to being surprised and then missed her shot. She turned around to look at Sasha. "But…"
"Listen Letty, I've given you plenty of chances to express yourself and I'm enjoying the progress, but this is an opportunity to get rid of an enemy," Sasha said with a warm smile. "Just like with Winter, Tsu will also fall."
Letty watched Winnie continuing to run to Embarc and sighed. She truly believed this decision was a mistake.
"Aditi, any bite?" Char asked as he watched Winnie rushing to Embarc. "The Superior Snowstorms already got their fish."
"Nothing," Aditi answered sadly. "I guess second…"
Aditi and Char heard screaming coming from Marco. They look to where he was screaming and found the streamer running away from a polar bear while holding a fish.
"He really did that didn't he?" Char barely believed what he witnessed.
"I appreciate his dedication to winning but this can lead to disaster," Aditi spoke worryingly.
Confessional - Marco - Gleeful Gingerbreads
He had many scratches all over his body and his clothes were partially torn.
"I still feel bad for losing Char's phone, so I wanted to get the win for the team. Although I definitely regret doing it this way."
End Confessional
"Embarc catch!" Marco threw his fish at Embarc. The polar bear chasing him leaped onto him and began clawing his clothes, face, and body.
Embarc sat on her rocking chair nonchalantly. She used her free hand to catch the fish while sipping her hot coco.
"I want to let the audience know that here on the show it is a priority to maintain the safety of the contestants," Embarc said nicely with a small smile. "That is all."
Winnie arrived carrying her team's fish. "No, I'm too late," She frowned sadly.
"Not to worry Winnie because your team is the official winner of the challenge," Embarc announced.
"Huh? What?" Winnie appeared perplexed.
"The challenge was about bringing me a fish from the ice pond. Marco threw me one that belonged to a polar bear. So, your team wins," Embarc explained. "Although the Gleeful Gingerbreads get second since at least they were trying."
Embarc gave a nasty glare to the Sunny Snowflakes. Sasha, Jacque, Tsu, and Letty felt intimidated while May and Lucien arrived after they both woke up from their slumber.
"What did we miss?" Lucien asked his teammates.
Confessional - Iggy - Superior Snowstorms
He no longer was trapped in an ice block and also came back to being his usual self.
"Wow, my team actually pulled a win without me. Color me impressed. I screwed up badly but now I know I can sort of trust them to perform well. I'm not going to let what I did affect the rest of my game. Still aiming for the top. Just going to not overwork myself."
Confessional - Brandon - Gleeful Gingerbreads
He had a glazed donut in his hand and seemed happy. "Man, it really wasn't cool what Elodie did. But at least she made me some sweets as forgiveness. And they're really good so I can't be too hard on her. Plus, I… kind of liked warming up with Bonnie and her," He smiled more at the end.
Confessional - May - Sunny Snowflakes
"From first to last already? Something doesn't add up. I know I began to daydream and fell asleep during the challenge, but our team is pretty much all brain. I at least contributed in the beginning."
End Confessionals
At the igloo ceremony, each Sunny Snowflake sat on a stump. In the front row were Sasha, Jacque and Letty. In the back May, Lucien, and Tsu sat. Their team's symbol appeared on screen. Embarc stood near the campfire holding five candy canes in her hands. The hostess did not look happy one bit.
"Is one thing to not perform well in a challenge but is another thing to deliberately try and not compete in a show that is about competition," Embarc said, clearly irritated. "I don't care how much you hate your teammates. The primary goal is to win. You all can congratulate yourselves on getting a disadvantage in the next challenge and if I catch anyone of you trying to intentionally lose again the whole team is eliminated, got that?"
"Yes Embarc," The Sunny Snowflakes replied fearfully.
"Good, now get to voting," Embarc ordered.
Confessional - Tsu - Sunny Snowflakes
"I'm voting for Sasha. I already convinced Lucien and May to vote her off. Now counting on Jacque to flip and get her out of here. I want to see the hopelessness in Sasha's eyes. The ones who think they are so clever are always the ones who put on a great show," He smirked at the end.
Confessional - Sasha - Sunny Snowflakes
"I put in consideration Embarc reacting like that but still getting rid of Tsu and having the majority vote on the team is suitable for me. I already convinced May and Lucien to vote him off. Tsu thinks he is smart, but I can read through him like a book. His maneuvers are obvious. Even Caleb from Carnival Calamity did a better job hiding his motives. Not like that is worth complimenting either."
End Confessionals
"And the contestants that received no votes are Jacque, Lucien, May, and Letty," Embarc announced, tossing each competitor a candy cane after she said their name. "Meaning Sasha is once again in the bottom two along with Tsu. Both of you have reasons for being in this situation. Question is who is going to keep playing and who is going home without winning the prize?"
Sasha smirked confidently. She has been in this position before and has come out on top once.
Tsu meanwhile narrowed his eyes at the last candy cane in Embarc's hand. Whether Sasha or he gets eliminated someone is leaving with despair.
"The last candy can goes to…"
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Tsu," Embarc finished and tossed the last candy cane to Tsu.
"Huh?" Sasha was dumbfounded and surprised as Tsu caught his candy cane. "There must be a miscalculation. I shouldn't be going home."
"There's no miscalculation. You received four votes and Tsu received two," Embarc revealed. "The chimney of shame awaits."
Sasha stood up from her stump in frustration. "Even though I calculated Lucien and May siding with Tsu the result should ended up in a tie," She exclaimed before looking at Jacque. "Why did you vote me off? Your position in the game is worse now."
"Nah, I'll manage," Jacque assured her, smirking triumphantly. "Voting Winter off was the right play at the moment but I know keeping you for the long game would have hurt my chances more. I'll win this for us don't you worry about that."
"Us?" I…" Sasha's cheeks blushed momentarily. "Whatever, just do it."
The remaining Sunny Snowflakes watched Sasha leave to the chimney of shame. Letty frowned at seeing her friend head out the igloo. Lucien and May waved goodbye out of respect while Tsu was hoping Sasha blew more of a fuse. At least it was satisfying her reaction in his eyes.
"You are all are safe for now," Embarc told the Sunny Snowflakes. "Just remember never to pull this stunt again."
"Trust us, we won't forget," Letty guaranteed, narrowing her eyes at Jacque and Tsu.
Sasha approached the chimney of shame and decided to give her final thoughts on her run in the competition.
"While this was certainly a disappointment for me, I fully believed I could have at least merge. It was guaranteed for a big part of the game, but unfortunately, I underestimated my fellow teammates. The risk did not pay off. Yet at least I got something out of this," She smiled a bit at the end, thinking of Jacque.
"I'm sure you're going to enjoy Winter's company again," Embarc spoke, now being next to the chimney of shame.
"Just had to ruin my moment of happiness," Sasha stated with a blank look to Embarc.
"For not playing the game you deserve it," Embarc replied bluntly.
Sasha did not answer back and simply went into the chimney of shame.
Embarc formed a smile and looked at a camera to end the episode. "The numbers are dwindling, and the game keeps going. Will the Sunny Snowflakes manage to actually be a team now that they're in a disadvantage? Can Tsu continue being responsible for eliminations? Can the Superior Snowstorms go back into a winning streak? What kind of surprises the Gleeful Gingerbreads might have in store? Find out next time on North Pole Showdown!"
Teams
Superior Snowstorms – Iggy, Ben, Tony, Nicky, Tess, Ji-Soon, Winnie
Sunny Snowflakes – Lucien, Jacque, Tsu, Letty, May
Gleeful Gingerbreads – Char, Marco, Brandon, Bonnie, Aditi, Elodie
Placements
24th - Paul
23rd - Ketch
22nd - Dominic
21st - Winter
20th - Andrea
19th - Sasha