Thread:TdrrTom/@comment-26428297-20150911042455/@comment-26967945-20150911052921

For TRR, based on what we've gotten so far, my current top 5 would probably be (in no particular order) Crimson/Ennui, Tom/Jen, Laurie/Miles, Owen/Noah, and then it's kind of a toss-up between teams. Episode 6 expands on some more teams, and switches my opinions up a tad, so I'll have to hold off for a degree until tomorrow. But Crimson and Ennui have been comically deadpan, and have the same kind of sarcastic edge that made Noah so popular in TDWT. Speaking of Noah, he makes my top 4 for his team (I've never been much of an Owen fan, I was content with him winning season 1, but his return to TDA felt unnecessary and *way* too late in the game, which left a sour taste in my mouth back in the day. I haven't had problems with him this go-around though, and his interactions with Noah represents one of the better, if not surprising, friendships of the series). If Tom and Cody had a child that had Kitty's selfie obsession, I would be the result, so yeah, I'm a bit biased when it comes to Tom. I mentioned in one of my reviews that I'm gay, and I get a bit of a chuckle when Tom does or says something that fits the stereotype. He and Jen play well off of each other, and even though I don't see them going far (I can see them being the Dawn or Amy/Samey of this season, where people expect them to go far, but they don't even make the top half), I hope that they get more great jokes in the time that they *do* have. As for Laurie and Miles, they're sweet-hearts, I personally like their designs (even if people have given the creators flack for Laurie, since she's not a person-of-color), and they've proven themselves to be a team with fierce determination. They're vegans, and they actually *did the meat-eating* challenge if it meant they could stay in the game. It seems like it was played off as a joke, but if this was real-life, that would be a pretty big moment/decision. Laurie's blow-ups in episode 5 were some of my favorite moments from the series so far. The exaggerated anger scenes always get me in a series like this, and Laurie is the only one that's gotten one through the first five episodes. I have an opinion regarding the Vegans for episode 6 (spoiled myself earlier in the week) that I'm excited to share, so be sure to check out my blog tomorrow!

As for Total Drama as a whole, I'll pick maybe 3 from each generation (until later comments, because, yeah, I ranted just like I knew I would).

Gen 1, I love Noah, Cody, and Sierra. I already gave Noah some mention, but his snark has always been classic, and his performance in TDWT was pretty darn legendary - enough for Alejandro to see him as a major threat *before they even got to the merge* and get him kicked. Cody pretty much represented my teenage years of trying way too hard, and yet still being lovable, so I'm biased to him the same way I was biased toward Tom. And I personally loved Sierra in World Tour - she provided a lot of the humor of the season, between overreactions, sheer craziness, or her Cody-based shenanigans. Although she had some negative moments, she was someone to root for, and felt like a good guy, especially in a final 7 that included Courtney/Duncan/Heather/Alejandro. Her treatment in All-Stars was a major disappointment to me, as I felt that they derailed her character. With Cody out of the picture, it was an opportunity for her to use her knowlege of the show to an advantage - she could have easily flown under the radar as someone with knowlege of *every* other contestant. Instead, she went back to crazy town *and then some, * and got (what I felt was) the most contrived elimination of that season.

Gen 2, I liked Dakota, Dawn, and B. Honestly, I didn't like a lot of the characters that made it far in TDROTI - Jo was unlikable until All-Stars, and Lightning pretty much picked up where she left off when it was down to the final 4. The friendship trio didn't have much character or development outside of their friendships, relationships, and Mike's MPD, which made them too boring. Scott was a mega-jerk until All-Stars, and his strategy really *shouldn't* have worked as well as it did. I give him credit for charisma, but his teammates also seemed *really* easy to fool. Dawn was cute, and her aura-reading gimmick could have been really interesting if she had been on All-Stars. B was a god-player, which most people didn't like, but I appreciated how clever he was. But his antics and creations made him unpredictable and enjoyable, which is something that the end-game characters lacked. Dakota was probably my favorite character of the season (so you can imagine how I felt at the end of 'The Treasure Island of Dr McClean'), because I felt that she was given one of the most subtle, but relatable character arcs - she was the girl that came in for the attention, blew off the challenges, got the boot, returned to work *for* the show, learned a bit about life because of it, felt truly appreciated by another person for the first time ever, and ended up developing an unlikely friendship that ultimately blossomed into a relationship. She felt like the butt of the joke a lot of the time, but had a behind-the-scenes story that felt genuine. And I liked that little touch in a season that felt so unrealistic.

As for Gen 3...oh boy...Samey is a definite. But at the end of the day, same story, I didn't care a lot for any of the late-game characters. Skave was brought down by the finale, on both sides of the relationship. Jashawn (I've never actually seen their ship name now that I think about it, so I was going to type Shawmine, until I realized that Jashawn seemed more fitting) was sweet, and their relationship felt real, but Shawn was too much of a gimmick with the zombie thing for me to truly appreciate him - he seemed to lack depth, although he definitely improved as things with Jasmine came into play. I liked Scarlett because she had that silent-but-deadly bite, but the reveal was both a wonderful and terrible thing for her character. It was a moment of drama that the season needed, but it ended *way* too quickly. If they had had the reveal, but kept her until the final 4, I think it would have been more effective. ELLA. She was there. And I loved her. Her sendoff song pretty much answers any questions as to why - even in *defeat,* she was constantly optimistic, which is an admirable trait in my book. I can talk about Samey now - she seemed like an early protagonist, with her lack of self-esteem becoming a key plot-point in the first few episodes. She was a character for the fans to root for, and although I give her points for sticking it to her sister, the way she did so ensured that she would go home early. In the end, I don't think there was much she could do while Amy was around, but her time on the show was still effective. Kind of by default, Jasmine would probably make my top 3, except I'd throw pre-reveal Scarlett up there too. Out of the final 4, I was most rooting for Jasmine, but she had the curse of being a part of the most focused relationship, which, based on my current opinions on Devin/Carrie, isn't one of my favorite things (since they tend to play out in the same kind of ways).

I can definitely expand on more characters as time goes on, but I feel like I just wrote a college essay (ugh, nightmares) on like... 10% of the cast. Whoops. I'm slowly realizing that being concise isn't one of my strong points. :P