User blog comment:AlphaBeta25/Total Drama Worlds Collide Episode 4: Roughin' It (Repost)/@comment-28967746-20180520010007

Welcome! This is the second in-depth review I've written, following "Mark Takes the Dive", the eighth episode of Total Drama Champions and Attackin's first episode. Hope y'all enjoy!

Section #1: Major plots.

Plots are the key to any good OC season. Writers need to develop interactions that keep the readers doing what they do best, reading their season. To keep readers around, plots have to be well-fleshed out and interesting. One of the biggest issues with this episode is that most of the plots didn't really hold up to these standards in this episode. The notable plots that were developed were Coral/Evan/Liam, Abbey/James, Thorin/James and Toronto/Richard.

The first plot, Toronto and Richard, had the most interesting and overall solid interaction, but that isn't really saying much. Unfortunately, Richard seems to be developed as a whiny brat that complains when things don't go his way, which is the opposite of what he really should be, a ghost. Toronto takes up this role in the beginning, being a jerk for literally no reason. It was really messy. This plot really should be fine-tuned, as it seems like it would be a lot of fun to read about.

The second plot, Coral, Evan and Liam, was just very random. The three come from having no interactions with each other to forming an alliance to get out the big guns? This wasn't that touched up on so I don't entirely mind it, but good alliances need to have a purpose, and this is exactly what this new alliance is missing.

The third plot, Abbey and James, once again came out of the blue. Abbey seems to be falling a little for James, however, he seems to realize this and sees it as an opportunity for another ally. I, like the other plots, have a few problems with this. First of all, it needs to be developed more. Nothing that could've been changed, all plots have to start somewhere. Second, Abbey is way smarter than this. Abbey's whole character is (now I am completely aware that most OCs don't stick to their original character design) that she is a detective. She uses her clever wit to gain an edge over the competition. Falling in love with a contestant after a few days isn't exactly clever or witty. I saw this plot as really unnecessary, we already got the Sasha/Jim/Lorelei plot, tossing in Abbey/James just isn't needed.

The final major plot that caught my attention was Thorin and James. At first, it developed as a simple friendship. I could get behind that, any new/returnee friendships are really needed. This all takes a turn for the worst at the end of their first set of interactions, in the form of confessionals. Thorin states that he doesn't exactly want to trust James, by quoting Toronto who stated: "Keep your eye out for uh people." (On a side note, I find this to be a terrible quote, it's just so basic and the added "uh" was so out-of-place. A better quote would've been "Watch your back, everyone has a second side to them." or something else more mystical sounding.) James confirms his suspicions in the confessional directly following this, saying "I'm gonna stick with Thorin until the merge, then I'll dump him like the loser he is...", followed by a few insults. What was the point of this interaction then?! Both of them clearly don't trust the other. Why drag Thorin to a miserable defeat at the hands of James? Speaking of him...

Section #2: James.

Okay, I'll be completely honest. I've heard a ton about the wonders of Talent. Before I really began to work on the OC realm, (okay that sounds cringy, but what else could I call it? The OCU?) I actually read most of it. Since I didn't have an OC in it, it's pretty much drifted from my memory. When James reappeared in WC, I was at first confused. (What, do I now have to consider it canon?) Then I was really interested. James sounded like a really cool contestant! I was hyped to see how he would be developed. After this episode, I'm really not looking forward to a James Central Station season. Similar to Jim in SS, James is rising as the new threat in town, and he clearly isn't going any time soon. Two of the four major plots, being with Thorin and Abbey, are centered around James. Abbey is crushing on him while Thorin is suspicious. (Blah blah blah, just covered this.) I don't like the power he received in this episode. His horrible lines like "Oh ho ho, when I'm done with him, he's gonna be done like a Thanksgiving Turkey." are so pathetically bad and just hard to read, and dear lord. Why sabotage? I think sabotage is just the lamest way to make a team lose/eliminate a contestant. Most of the weakest moments in seasons contain sabotage, such as James' vote riggings on Jessica and apparently Dawn (Champions), Alexis being straight-up beaten (World Domination), Jim taking Thorin's idol and using it (Super Slamdown), the list just goes on. When the Nobodies get sabotaged by James, I just felt so defeated. Out of all the ways they could've gone, it was just because of him? James is once again a tiring antagonist that just can't be stopped.

Section #3: The elimination.

So if you didn't read the episode just as it was released, Richard was the original contestant eliminated, which made sense in terms of the episode. He threw a fit and made his team lose, simple as that. All of what lead to his elimination was just flat-out bad. Since when was Richard's character "The Spoiled Crybaby"? I was really disappointed with how this turned out. All of the final four was left standing, and losing one of the two other returnees, after already losing a returnee with potential? This was later changed how the episode currently is: Colin being eliminated, (btw Colin had his name misspelled in every episode, being Collin) which was a lot better, yet left behind a trail of poor continuity. I understand why Colin would go. He was a crabby a-hole that only cared for himself. The real question is, what was the Nobodies' motivation to vote out Colin? Sure, he was a jerk, but he was fantastic at physical challenges which would've lead to more possible victories. From what I imagine, Richard's probably really scrawny and just plain bad at physical acts. Combined with the fact that Richard was the one who literally made them lose (discounting James' sabotage), there shouldn't have been a doubt that Colin would've stayed. Now I completely understand what happened here. The flip to Colin only was altered in the final act rather than having to practically rewrite the second half so it all makes sense.

Section #4: Every other contestant.

Every contestant that didn't have a main plot circulating didn't really do that much. Melody, Kylie, Callista, Jessica, Logan, Nathan and Lorelei were practically all invisible. Outside of the alliance, Coral, Liam and Evan didn't do much either. Right there we have half our cast doing literally nothing of importance. If you really analyze the episode, you do find that every contestant did have a minor arc. Brianna hates Colin, Logan and Nathan are still bonding yet somewhat of enemies. Lorelei is growing suspicious of Sasha, blah blah the list just goes on. I understand that you can't make every contestant the star, then nobody would have the spotlight. Paired with the fact that you still have 22 contestants competing, it was no easy feat to create plots with every contestant. This is what I applaud. While this episode isn't near perfect, it was great in terms of development. More invisible characters are now making names for themselves while returnees are taking the back burner for once. It's just a shame that with such an outstanding cast, not every contestant can get their moment to shine. I'm positive that every plot developed, while not that good now, will flesh out as the season continues until we have gems of arcs that will always be amazing on re-reads.

Final words.

"Roughin' It" certainly isn't perfection, but that's okay. Compared to Alpha's pre-merge, it certainly shows that he's been making many improvements. Future episodes will continue to strengthen. This was just one episode that wasn't to my taste. In the end, this season is not at all about me. It's about the writers. When a writer's passion for writing is gone, then there's no reason to write anything for anyone. It's clear that Alpha has lots of passion for writing, and I'm so happy for him. This was not meant to tear down moral and spirit, but so I could express my personal thoughts. Just in case I write more of these, I want to start a chart for episode rankings, which I'll release soon. That's it for now. Thanks for reading, WreakerOfClash, out!