User blog:Broodje Kroket/Broodje Kroket Reviews: Total Drama Pahkitew Island

Now I know that the TDPI finale had aired a little less than 2 weeks ago, but there were some more pressing matters for me at hand back then (A plane crash that gets you more than you'd expect and having to put a pet bunny to sleep), so I'll do it now!

First I'll do the characters, on alphabetical order, and I'll rate them based on if they lived up to my expectations or not.

Then I'll review the episodes briefly and give them a rate.

And finally I review the setting and give the season a rating.

So, are you ready to let me stuff my opinion down your throat? If so, continue reading.

Contestant reviews

Amy

Amy was exactly as she was expected to be: Dominant and mean. She and Samey reflected Darwinism at its finest. While their plot was very good as long as it lasted, I felt that it was just too short and generously underdeveloped. I wanted some drama as in 'Mom always loved you more!' as I mentioned somewhere earlier. But besides that, her character was good, although she may have needed some niceness to balance it a little, even if it was just in the lines of 'No one bullies my sister but me!'. Additionally, Amy and Samey didn't have to be cheerleaders, it was never referenced in any way and probably only used for the outfits and I mean come on, would YOU wear an outfit like that? I'm asking this to both genders!

Amy gets a 7.2

Beardo It came to no surprise (Not much at least) that Beardo was just cannon fodder (How fitting), so he had no plot and was just there for the time being. But to be honest, he wasn't as annoying as I perceived him to be. Perhaps he should've talked a bit more, but the sound effects were (For 1 episode) amusing enough.

Beardo gets a 5.2.

Dave lt Dave began this season really strong personality wise, rightfully complaining about his reta- Ehrm, lesser competent teammates. His development with Sky was nice to look at as long as Dave was himself and said stupid things, which was funny and kind of relatable! But eventually, Dave slips into a Sky obsession, which demolished his Noah-like personality and reduced him to the remains of his former glory. As you can read, according to me Dave is at his best when he's nagging, which he only did for so long.

But I must say this: I like how his obsession can be interpreted possible 'Take that' to Mike X Zoey.

Dave gets a 6.2

Ella There's not awfully much I can say about Ella,. She's sweet, she sings sweetly and she always looks how she's all out of expletives to give.I didn't care really much about her before and during the show, although I understand why many of you did/do. The interaction between her, a uber-sweet girl trying to befriend Sugar, a horrible girl whose only definition of sweet relates to taste buds was watchable, not my favorite interaction, but it'll do for this season. Her entering a love triangle wasn't really necessary, she just could've sung and be eliminated without being saddened first, but luckily, she stepped out before it got out of hand, and how!

Ella gets a 6.5

Jasmine I have no problem with Jasmine's character at all. She's a character whose few bad traits nicely balance with her good traits. Jasmine's interactions were very good. Her sister-like friendship with Samey was very sweet to look at and helped them both develop, and her relationship with Shawn worked very well too because their personalities and skills matched perfectly. But everything about Jasmine could've been done just a wee bit better.

In fact, the only thing I really don't like about Jasmine is her unfitting name. Jasmine? For a survivor like her? Really?

Jasmine gets a 8.0

Leonard Leonard showed only 1 major personality trait during his 2 episode stay, and that is his incredibly warped views. He's delusional, a bit like Sierra, but while Sierra is still well aware of her surroundings, Leonard is not, and that is perhaps the biggest disappointment. He's just in too deep in his own imagination instead of being depicted as a true LARP'er. I hope he'll improve in a possible future season, but for now he's the season's worst contestant.

Leonard gets a 4.0

Max Max is clearly 1 of the big surprises this season. Everybody judged from his ever-ugly appearance that he was going to suck, and while he is indeed rather ugly (Which perhaps benefits his comedic value), he was 1 of the breakout characters this season (Goes on to prove how shallow we actually are by judging characters by their looks only)! His skill in creating snazzy devices, but incredible incompetence using them, coupled with his wannabe-evil personality made him very funny to watch. 1 of the few things he's short of getting a perfect score is a well placed remark How he was raised in Belgium.

Max gets a 8.2

Rodney Rodney is a strange case. His main plotline was of course his multiple attractions. It was a plot that was fun to watch as long as it lasted, and if it lasted any longer than it did now, it would've begun to bore. Besides that, Rodney hasn't displayed very much of his personality, which is a bit of a downer. Perhaps some consistent interaction with another male contestant would've been nice (With Topher for example, which would've benefitted him as well). But despite all of that, I can't bring myself to seriously dislike him, only to overlook him a little (Which would be hard due his large build).

P.S. The reason Rodney was eliminated for was very well thought out.

Rodney gets a 5.8

Samey Alright! Without a doubt my favorite contestant this season (You're allowed to chide me for liking overrated characters as much as you like)! Samey begun as a mix of a stunt double and a best girl for Amy, but that changes (Perhaps a little too soon) after she executed a brilliant switcheroo. Samey was an underdog this season, and who doesn't love an underdog (Not counting that old dude from The Hunger Games)? However, Samey's identity theft plot would've even be better if she, for example, slowly corrupted into Amy personality-wise. Other than that, like I mentioned at her sister's review, she just stayed too short and wasn't used enough. But she's definitely among the best characters this season!

Samey gets a 9.0

Scarlett Scarlett was too a big surprise this season (Along with Max, the other half of the dastardly duo) and if no one spoiled it, then it would've been an even bigger surprise! Scarlett begun very slowly, doing nothing remarkable in the 1st episode and being Max's supporter for the following 2 episodes before doing nothing remarkable again in episode 4, but starting with (You guessed it right) episode 5, she began to be interesting, from coming up with nefarious planes to hinder the other team just for the sake of it to becoming increasingly psychotic until she hit full crazy in Scarlett Fever. Scarlett's cleverly disguised true nature and disdain for when no one understands her gives her personality nice details, but a little bit humanity injected into her crazy self would've been even nicer.

Scarlett gets a 8.4

Shawn Shawn was...Unique. He was a team player, but ditched them and ran off at the first signs of impeding zombies. He was sane, but lost it at the first signs of impeding zombies. He was crushing on someone, but...can you guess it? Yes! He lost it at the first signs of impeding zombies. Shawn has a knack with zombies as you can read, and while it is annoying now and then, it has been incorporated in his character pretty well to compensate for being slightly lackluster with other personality traits.

Shawn gets a 8.0

Sky I desperately tried not to label Sky as a Mary Sue. it was hard, but after extensive comparing, I luckily didn't have to. You see, besides her superb athleticism and leader qualities, she also has several... less charming traits. She's embarrassed of something that can be really considered embarrassing, she's a sore loser at times and she just isn't good at everything she does. Her relationship with Dave, like I mentioned on Dave's page began nicely but compared to Dave, Sky's character didn't get blown to bits. In fact, her choosing the money over a boy but still feeling guilty about it has helped making her a fairly realistic yet a little boring character. The alleged Cree heritage are, although it seems a wee bit forced once you realize that TDPI was sponsored by the Aboriginal people TV network, nice little touches that I personally like to see in other characters old or new as well.

Sky gets a 7.5

Sugar Sugar is a parody of what Honey Boo Boo would look like if she was 16, and it needs to be said that she was a very good parody! She had sayings that didn't sound like they made sense (While they did somehow), she could eat anything as long as looked even remotely edible and would get jealous really quickly if she thought someone tried to steal the limelight. Besides that she also was very treacherous and nothing short of death (Or elimination) could stop her from trying to win, which was a golden addition. That said, she's just a meaner, ballsier, female (And maybe even grosser) variant of Owen that could regularly make even me cringe, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

I mean come on, eating a live tarantula without even looking like you're hesitating?! 'Shudders'

Sugar gets a 7.7

Topher Topher was a bit like Scarlett, a late bloomer. He didn't do much in the first few episodes but when it became clear what he was trying to do, he became pretty entertaining. His interaction with Chris was good, but there you have Topher's biggest problem, he almost solely interacted with Chris! It would've been nice and a breath of fresh air if he had much more interaction with at least another contestant (Like I mentioned on Rodney's page). If Topher gets more social while at the same time gets another plot related to this one, then he'll definitely shoot up in my rankings!

Topher gets a 6.5

Episode Reviews

Episode 1: So, uh this is my team?

A solid introduction episode. How the new contestants were introduced was well thought out and the challenge was original. Some characters didn't get to shine enough though.

This episode gets a 8.0

Episode 2: I love you, grease pig!

The challenge was average and the dialogue could've been better at some points. But this episode's strongest points were definitely the interactions, which were both important to several plots and sweet to watch, but other than that felt this episode a little like a rehash from TDRI's relay race challenge, which coincidentally was the 2nd episode too.

This episode gets a 6.6

Episode 3: Twinning isn't everything

While the challenge itself sounded a little unoriginal, the way it was played greatly made up for it. What also made up for that was without a doubt the best, most surprising elimination ceremonies yet!

This episode gets a 8.7

Episode 4: I love you, I love you knots

A Truth or Scare challenge? Hm. Not very original, but I have a feeling that they're beginning to run out of challenge ideas anyhow. The dares were good, most of the truths, not so. Yet they were important in eliminating someone in yet another splendid way.

This episode gets a 6.9

Episode 5: A blast from the past

Challenge: Loved it! Interactions: Loved it! Plots: Loved them (Most of them at least)! Spontaneous return of eliminated contestant that no one could foresee: Loved it! This episode was perfect in almost every way, the only serious flaw was the somewhat poor excuse team Kinosewak had to lose and how easily Shawn was persuaded. My favorite got booted but that didn't matter! it's still among my all time favorite episodes (I have a similar thing with TDRI's Backstabbers Ahoy! I apparently have a knack for 5th episodes)!

This episode gets a 9.3

Episode 6: Mo monkey, mo problems

It sounded a bit simple on paper, it turned out to be a hella funny challenge! The writers managed to put all kinds of interesting twists in it, not just the challenge, but also in the development of the plots! the humorous aspects were pulled off very well too! And of course I shouldn't forget the slightly unfair but epic elimination!

This episode gets a 8.7

Episode 7: This is the pits!

In contrast to the previous 2 episodes, this 1 was a little...plain. The challenge was not really original itself but yet again, the way it was played made it a little more interesting. There is furthermore not much to say about this one really, as nothing seriously important happened.

This episode gets a 7.0

Episode 8: 3 zones and a baby

Again, this episode looked a little stale, but it wasn't as bad as the former, at least the twist with the babies was genius! The interactions were slightly better and the plots made nice progress. Additionally, the way Topher was eliminated was very well thought off. So the verdict goes: Like the former episode, but a little more important.

This episode gets a 7.4

Episode 9: Hurl and go seek

So we've arrived at the merge. The post-merge cast is good, there were much worse mergers in previous seasons. The 1st challenge was a wee bit too disgusting, I had to seriously hold it down at 1 point but how it was coupled with the next challenge was very good! It was an important episode with important interactions and that introduced us to a whole new side of the island, whether we liked it or not.

P.S. Whoever predicted that TDPI would get a zombie challenge, pat yourself on your shoulder, because you were right!

This episode gets a 8.2

Episode 10: Scarlett Fever

This episode was rather unorthodox. For 1 because the contestants were in REAL danger again, we saw a really malicious antagonist at work by herself (unlike | Someone else) and there was no telling what was going to wait in the next scene! Despite all of that, there were a few glaring character inconsistencies and Scarlett was defeated rather easily, but it still was a very exciting episode!

This episode gets a 8.7

Episode 11: Sky fall

Let me begin with the opinion that the working title for this episode was way better! The challenge is, since quite some episodes, again not all that original, but this time, it wasn't made much more likable as well, it was just climbing. The uneasy alliance between Sky and Sugar and Shawn's hesitation to share his money was nice as well. The biggest annoyance this episode was how Sky finished second, it was just too random.

This episode gets a 6.4

Episode 12: Pahk'd with talent

Again, a used challenge concept, but yet this time with a nice twist again! The 3 contestants got to think of their own challenges! That sounded promising! Sadly, it wasn't until the final part of the talent show that it became really fun. Shawn's armpit serenade was hilarious, as was Sugar's craptry! But other than that, there was only the Sky-Sugar hostilities that saved the episode from getting a mark below the 6.

This episode gets a 6.5

Episode 13: Lies, cries and 1 big prize

Well, luckily they say that a good beginning is half the battle and not a good ending, because this wasn't a very good ending. Apparently, the first step to a good final is letting the eliminated contestants spectate, but except for a 2, they didn't. What a shame. An addition to this finale was that those who did return could eventually try to thwart the finalists in order to win a share of the price money, that was good though, but sadly, they had to slightly derail some characters (A little more) to achieve that. other than that the final challenge just wasn't really fun to watch. It was a better finale that the previous one, but finales are slowly turning into the writers' Achilles Heel.

And the bald gag? Again? I thought we got rid of that 2 seasons ago!

This episode gets a 5.8

Setting review The season took place on a island, again. The fact that the contestants had to fend for themselves was a good addition and made it look a little more like survivor. The island itself wasn't bad at all, but it was a huge disappointment for me when it turned out to be mechanical (Too Surreal). Yet, it was dealt with pretty well.

So we had 3 island settings in a row, and that's beginning to bore a little. They should go back to the film lot, or go on another world tour (Which I want to see), or use something completely new (Yet I'm aware how hard that might be to think up)!

Final verdict Of course this season had its flaws, not every character was used properly or to its full potential, it didn't go back to the edginess of the original season (Which probably will never be equaled again, sadly), it relied a little too much on gross humor (Which, at times, was pulled off nicely) and another island wasn't all that great. But to counter that, it was well written and the other characters were nice to see. It surely was a breath of fresh air compared to last season and helped me restore a lot of faith in the TD series.

Total Drama Pahkitew Island gets a 7.8 and lands itself 3rd out of 6th place on my season rankings.

So, it took me several days and tens of copy-pastes to finish, but its finished!

Kroket for Prime Minister, I'll be back!