User blog:Gogogadget831/Every Episode of Total Drama Reviewed: Episode 34 - The Chefshank Redemption

Episode 34: The Chefshank Redemption

Premise: The contestants participate in a series of prison-themed challenges. Gwen still owes the Grips big time and a crazy contestant returns to the game

Fun Fact: Lindsay locked herself in the bathroom and drank everyone's shampoos, thinking they were magic potions.

Challenge: Prison-themed challenges. Includes: eating a gross meal, racing through prison yard in laundry cart while avoiding obstacles along the way, and digging out of prison

Winner(s): Killer Grips

Eliminated: Gwen, for being forced to throw the team's challenge from the Killer Grips and for hitting Harold upside the head with a shovel

My Favorite Part: Harold

Even though I know a lot of people who really hate this episode, I have pretty mixed feelings about this episode. Let's talk about the obvious problems here. I felt really sorry for Gwen throughout this episode. As I mentioned in my 3:10 To Crazytown review, she had a legitimate reason to break up with Trent. She did it for her own good as well as for Trent's. She didn't want him to become even more insane anymore and he was her weakness. She had to let him go and focus more on the game. And then it felt like the whole universe was out to get her, especially the Killer Grips. It seemed very out of character for Owen, who was friends with her, and especially Beth, who is nice to most people, to be treating her like this. Throughout this episode, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. This could've been another great season for her, but at the same time though, if she stayed longer, a lot of people in the game would've continued to treat her miserably. There's also a weird continuity error when Izzy claimed to be living with the praire dogs the whole time when in the last episode, we've seen her in the aftermath (LIES!). In addition, I found the first part of the challenge to be really gross, especially when Beth puts the retainer back inside her mouth (ughhhh....). I mean, shouldn't she clean that disgusting thing before putting it back into her mouth? And I found the horse lips and the hair and the other ingredients to be really over-the-top in terms of grossness. But bad aspects aside, what saves this episode from being bad? Well, the comedy. There were actually some really funny quotes in this episode. I especially loved Harold's quote: "Give a man a hole and what does he have? Nothing. But give a man a shovel and he can dig a hole to contain the nothing." I loved Harold's moment in this, which is why I mentioned above that Harold was my favorite part of the episode. He says some really odd things throughout and I can't help but crack up. He also mentioned that he was attracted to Gwen after she hit him on the head with a shovel and then he was like, "Don't tell Leshawna! Or Heather! Or Gwen!" And then in the end, when he was talking about Gwen's elimination, he mentioned that if Gwen stayed in the game, he would either have to hit a shovel over her head or fall in love with her, but neither option was feasible. It's just so odd and hilarious of him to be saying things like that. I also liked Heather's sarcasm and some of the tension between Gwen and Heather. Gwen also had some funny moments, like making fun of Heather's sleek figure and then telling Heather that the weather is "windy and cold with an eighty percent chance of barf" and putting some of Lindsay's barf on her head. Lindsay was also quite funny throughout this episode, like when she goes gusto over the Screaming Gaffers' food and says "Yay, I win!" when the Gaffers call her up for the challenge. Owen was also pretty funny too, especially when he and the guys run out of the trailer door to break it down and then Chris opens it and they all fall. I also really liked seeing DJ and Chef bond. Chef definitely wants DJ to toughen up and as a result, acts intimidating to him, but they do form a legitimate connection when Chef has some sympathy for DJ and implies that he was a softie when he was younger too. I think Chef is definitely a great character that deserves to be explored more. He's such an interesting character and the ways he acts intimidating are constantly hilarious. Also, no comment at the part when Chris flirts with Chef. So, all in all, this is a pretty mixed episode for me, with some good comedy and interactions definitely saving it from being a bad episode. So, I hope you guys will understand why I consider this episode "meh".