User blog:Bigez620/"Evil Dread" Review

Welcome back to another review. Well, with the fifty other reviews going on right now, you're probably wondering whose is the best. Ryan's? TDF's? Fedora's? N3's? TDN's? Or mine? Obviously mine... Nah, just Jocan. But seriously, I invented that. Jocan™ is copyrighted material.

Anyway, we're onto episode two. In many respects, this episode does succeed over episode one. It does explore more interactions and different plots. However, since the challenge was a pretty lame one, it sort of ends up in a misfire.

So we begin a typical recap of last episode. For some reason, Chris doesn't use the season until the end. Also, why is Chef randomly standing next to Chris? Is he checking him out? Oh well, I like Chef. So after that, we start out with a pretty lame opening. Mostly just Mike's personas changing through his sleep (why did Svetlana sound so different?), Cameron doing nothing, per usual, and a bug sucking Sam's blood. Was it mutated or just thirsty?

Then we enter the girls' cabin, where Sierra's taking pictures of Courtney sleeping. I don't know, everyone hates Sierra this season, but I think she's at least comedic enough. She isn't just a blob of bland perplexity. And I lol'd at the picture of Cody naked on her phone.

"Zoey's even sweeter than she is on TV!"

Yeah, and more annoying! So Chef throws fecal matters on the girls and we thankfully cut over to the Villains. Scott is progressively becoming one of the better of the RI bunch. He's becoming less of a slapstick gag and more of an actual character. And hey, no Fang! Anyway, Gwen's sulking some more, and we cut over to Lightning on Boney Island.

"Haha, fish, you've been struck by Lightning!"

While I loved Lightning last season, he's easily one of my favorite characters in TD. Top 10 or 5 without a doubt. Anyway, we cut back to the Villains where Scott acts more like an actual person again. Then we get some AleHeather, which is moderately funny. Did Heather just assume that Alejandro was dead? Don't you think like, Dateline would have a story about how Alejandro went missing? And does Heather really have hair on her upper lip? And so we're introduced to the challenge, which in retrospect, is a lame one. They could've included another past challenge, but it's only focusing on one.

"No big thing for Ligh-to-ning!"

Ugh, make love to me. The Vultures are clearly the more interesting team again. The only thing going on with the Hamsters is that Sam is dying. And that we have to have a front-view group huddle. Also, why does Courtney lack expression in the confession?

"What's with all the lovin'? It's called Total Drama, not Total Friendship!"

Voice of reason, everyone.

I’m really digging the Jo-Heather conflict. If anything, Jo is more like Heather than Eva. The only similarities between the two is their physical strength. Also, Lightning digging in water was hysterical.

"Does he ever sha-shut up!?"

I like that line as well. See? Gwen can be likable. Well done, writers. Unfortunately, we have to pan over to Cameron. There’s a pretty cheap gag about Chef’s laundry and, OF COURSE, THERE JUST HAPPENS TO BE A FEDORA LYING AROUND.

"Here, we could use some of Manitoba Smith’s treasure hunting skills right about now."

Can you go back to having two lines per episode? Also, isn’t literally messed up that Cameron forces one of Mike’s personas on him? It’s like “lol who cares about Mike. Bring on your actually useful personalities, you brand Cody redesign.” So Manitoba Godplay helps them retrieve an artifact from underground. And since Zoey and Mike OBVIOUSLY aren’t seen together enough, we have to get a pick up line from Manitoba Smith. At least I hope that was a pick up line and he’s not going to force anything upon her. Maybe that TV-PG is fitting. This scene kinda takes me off of the Total Drama-feel and brings me back to the Revenge of the Island phase. It’s a shame, because TDRI had some great contestants to offer, but it focused a lot on the terrible ones. But since I could go on all day about how severely the Mike-Cameron-Zoey friendship causes diabetes, I’ll move on.

So we get more arguing about Jo and Heather as they discuss a dead horse. At least they aren’t beating it like the writers are with that Ezekiel joke. Then… in an… odd scene… Alejandro flirts with Gwen. And she falls for it.

"I know he’s evil but… oof, those eyes."

Auuuuuugh. Honestly, I don’t know what direction this is going in, but if it ends up in breaking DxG apart, I’ll be annoyed. It’s not because it’s my favorite couple, but can’t anyone on this show uphold a decent relationship? It’s getting a bit annoying to keep mixing things up. Also, I was a little hard on Alex House in my last review, but he’s really not that bad at all. To be fair, “WAKEY WAKEY” wouldn’t have sounded right coming out of Marco’s mouth either.

Is Alejandro just going to walk around his hands for like, the rest of the season? Or is his Uncle Reverdez a world renowned foot healer? Heather dropped a thing on Jo's foot, which is one of the better slapstick scenes in this episode. The funniest moment of the episode has to go to Chris.

"An hour has passed, and the teams are still at one-all, which raises a pertinent question... WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?"

And followed by the hilarious exchange by Lightning.

"I'M AMAZING."

So in a very pointless scene, Cameron is launched into Scott's hands. The two look gazingly into each others eyes and share a final kiss.

Okay, that didn't happen. But Scott tries something villainous, which is annoying, since he's better as a pathetic wimp. Gwen... laughs at Duncan. WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU?

"Nuts?"

As predictable and overdone as that joke is, I laughed.

"Too small for Lightnin'!"

... I'm above that joke. I love Lightning throwing the artifact at Jo, though. A decent amount of physical humor in this episode. Anyway, Manitoba tries to get Zoey to sleep with him, while Gwen ends up washed up. Like that didn't happen already!!!!!!!!

"Aren't you beautiful? Look at gorgeous you. SEXY BEAST!"

AHAHAHAHA I LOVE YOU. Scott hits Mike in the face with a shovel, and we get to see his alternate personas play cards. Okay. So I guess Manitoba dies or something, and we're introduced to... EVIL MIKE? WHA????????????

THIS IS ACTUALLY A THING. THAT GLITCH WAS TRUE. THE PROPHECY IS TRUE?!!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I'm just assuming the writers stalk the wiki. Afterall, that is how Ezekiel and Anne Maria ended up together. As weird as this introduction was, I'm sort of intrigued by this new persona. However, this could end up badly, so it has to go one of two ways: make him a really old-timey villain with a mustache, or make him an actual badass.

"Cha-cha-cha! Suuuurprise!"

Alejandro is alpha this season. Sierra's alpha too. I don't know why, but I'm starting to like Sam too. He's not as bad as most of the Hamsters, and he does have some funny lines. Okay, I guess Mike laughing at Sam is a villainous deed. Shame on you, Mike. You'll likely rot at Hell, along with the loon that laughed at Heather's tacky shoes.

"Well, no one else was gonna pee on me..."

Why is all the low-brow humor is this episode so funny?

"A book, a crown... what the heck are we supposed to be building?"

Maybe it's a likable character, Cam. At this point, it seems the elimination is pretty obvious, which upset me. Man, Sam is fat. Also, I refuse to believe that Zoey tossed the last piece onto the statue. How does that work?!?! Sierra lifting Cameron up was alpha, too. So Sam's sent to Exile Island on... the Boat of Losers. Ugh, I miss you. A trash bag is launched at Gwen and, of course, she accidentally hits it toward Courtney. This running gag is moderately amusing, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it has to offer. I really do feel bad for Gwen at this point. I guess it isn't bad writing if I actually do feel something for her. She's at least trying to regain Courtney's trust. I'M ROOTING FOR YOU, GWEN. THE WHOLE WORLD IS. Well, non Courtney fanatics, that is.

"One by one, they will all fall."

Is this persona evil or emo? I don't think it's clear enough.

"Lightning cost us the challenge but Jo's annoying. Tough call"

Duncan dislikes Jo now? YOU'VE GOTTA BE JOCAN ME. This is a pretty funny line, nonetheless. God, is Chef's only purpose in this episode to check Chris out? And... unfortunately... Lightning goes. My favorite character of the season is gone, so who am I left to like?



AUUUUUGH.

Anyways, this episode is another decent entry. It's definitely full of better jokes, but the writing suffers when focusing on such a forgettable challenge. And maybe if Evil Mike was handled in a different way, it would be more appreciated. And the elimination is another predictable one, which is another loss. I do like the interactions we focused on, though. Heather and Jo are one of the better ones so far, and I kinda hope we develop more on the Gwen and Courtney conflict. Lightning, Sierra, Heather, and Alejandro were definitely the best of the episode, while the others had their fair share of decency. I'm just hoping we can get rid of Cameron and Zoey already. Maybe Evil Mike will do that for the good of us. Overall, a decent episode, with the one before it definitely triumphing.

'''FINAL RATING: 7.2

+ Great interactions

+ Good humor

+ Some interest in where Evil Mike is going

- Boring and forgettable challenge

- Predictable and unfortunately sudden elimination

- Inconsistent focus