User blog:Fedora Kid/Total Drama: Revenge of the Island - Expectations, Thoughts, Etc.

I figured that, rather than posting this on the TDR Talk Page where it will soon be swallowed up, enveloped by other comments, and eventually lost to the Archives (or, maybe, lost to a simple edit conflict), I'll make this as a blog post. So, here's a summary of all my thoughts and expectations for the new season, the new characters, and so on.

Warning: May be too long for some lazy people to read the entire thing and who may simply try to skip to the end, but that won't work because you have to read the whole dang thing to get my full analysis and/or evaluation and/or opinion and/or prediction about it. So if you're not going to read the whole thing, don't bother reading a portion of it, or reading any of it at all.

OK, so, as we all know, the trailer for Total Drama: Revenge of the Island has finally been released: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsMKvtfCIxw

It gives us a good, decent look at all of the new characters, plus the state of the island. Here's a good boatload of HQ images from said trailer, plus my thoughts:

Contestants
So, they've given us a good look at each of the new characters, even though only one of them actually spoke and didn't just scream. Here's my thoughts on each character, going alphabetically:

Anne Maria: The Jersey Shore Reject - Like I said before, I'm going to hate her with a fiery passion. Before we even got this trailer, she looked like the arrogant, prissy, prom queen type, holding a makeup bag and standing with that slouch, and so on. But now, she's gone and punched Brick. Yep, I'll hate her. Now, as far as my unbiased opinion, she truly does look like an anti-hero type. She will probably be annoying to some of her teammates, as she will clearly be enemies with Brick and Jo (who glares at her in the woodpecker pic, and seems shocked when she punches Brick), and will have that prom queen attitude. Somewhat like Courtney, she'll be an annoying detriment to her team, but not to the same drastic extent that Courtney was. My opinion: She'll go early or midway.

[Silent] B: The Silent Genius - He seems like a hero type. When he's not slowing his team down, he'll be a likable guy. Right off the bat, I see a combination of DJ's original design and Owen, which is probably what everyone sees in him. Like Owen was to the original cast, he'll be that guy who really stands out in a group shot. But, as a character, he may be somewhat interesting. If that description of him as a "silent genius" is true, that is. Otherwise, he looks like a pretty dumb guy. He may go about midway.

Brick: The Cadet - The military student, who may go all out on military on his team. He'll be all tough on them, but will undoubtedly be valuable in challenges, seeing as he's probably the most physically fit member of the team. He'll probably have a conflict with Cameron, being that he's the weakling of his team, and obviously has a conflict with Anne Maria. However, Jo seems more or less similar to him, so they'll probably have a friendship or alliance. He'll ultimately play that anti-hero role of the guy who won't let his team stop to take a single breath, but, nevertheless, will prove as a formiddable opponent. To me, he seems like one of the only characters in all of TDR that stands out on his own, and doesn't immediately bear a resemblance to any of the original 22, which is a big plus for him, in my opinion. Likely to go midway or long.

Cameron: The Bubble Boy - Probably the shortest contestant that Total Drama has ever had. He seems like a likable little guy, but will slow his team down for being too weak and slow. Then again, he could have some sort of hidden talent, such as brainpower. He does look like the intelligent bookworm type, anyway. Most of his team will like him out of pure sympathy for his size, except, obviously, Brick. However, his stereotype totally threw me off. Bubble Boy, obviously, is a kid who is direly afraid of germs or anything possibly that could cause sickness. So that paranoia will only add to his chances of going early. Reminds me of Cody, for size and geekiness. Likely to go fairly early or midway.

Dakota: The Famemonger - From her original design, we instantly labeled her as the "new Heather," for her stride, her posture, and that devilish look in her eyes. However, she has since been moved down on the "evil" meter, with her official stereotype as the "Famemonger," which doesn't necessarily say "evil" on it. Ultimately, I'm hoping that she'll prove to be a worthy antagonist, and not be upstaged by unworthy characters like Anne Maria. Initially reminds me of Heather, even still. Of the three girls that look pretty much the same to me (I'll cover that later on), I think the one with the red hair, flower in her hair, and two-piece outfit is Dakota. Likely to go midway or longer.

Dawn: The Moonchild - Looking at her, she reminds me of Ezekiel and Gwen. Ezekiel for the ghostly paleness, and Gwen for that subtle, quiet look she has (and also the pale skin). However, I have a feeling that she'll stay quiet, and won't be a strong, likable character like Gwen was. Nor will she be an outcast like Ezekiel. I think she'll be one of the characters who's just there. Likely to go early or midway.

Jo: The Jockette - Looks to me like a cross between Eva and Heather. The tracksuit has "physical/body-building girl" plastered all over it, as does her title, and she'll likely have the same tough, go-get-'em attitude that Brick will have, which might form some sort of alliance between them. Similarly, she seems like a bit of an anti-hero, but may not be as obvious about it as Anne Maria or Brick, so she may have more popularity with the others. Likely to go long.

Lightning: The Athletic Overachiever - Putting aside the obvious resemblance to DJ, he looks like an interesting character. He seems like the obviously very tough and physically capable contestant, similar to Brick and Jo. He could be one of the biggest threats in the game, but, once again, won't be an all-out anti-hero. He will likely go long.

Mike: The Multiple Personality - From the first design of him, he seemed to have the enthusiastic, party attitude of Geoff. However, going forward, he has lost that initial persona and no longer seems as happy or laid-back. He is labeled as a "multiple personality," which could be very interesting. He seems fairly capable of most tasks, and may still be pretty likable. He's the one who I think will win the season, personally. Reminds me of Geoff (still) and Harold for his unusual skininess. Likely to go midway or long.

Sam: The Nice Guy-Gamer - With obvious resemblance to Beth and Harold, and...wouldn't you know it? Harold himself is voicing him! He seems like the sweet, lovable guy that Owen was, despite his nerdy appearance. While he may not be too physically capable, he'll be a well-liked member of his team. Nevertheless, the weakest link will be picked off sooner or later, perhaps sooner. Likely to go early or midway.

Scott: The Devious One - To me, another one of the most interesting and stand-alone characters this season, besides the slight resemblance to Geoff in body shape. He has that look in his eyes, he has that stance, and he has since been labeled as "The Devious One." Yep, this guy has "Season's Main Antagonist" labeled all over him, and I think I'll really enjoy this guy. He will likely go very long.

Staci: The Compulsive Liar - While she bears a resemblance to Owen, I never particularly liked her. She seems like another one of the there characters, with no interesting feature. And her new stereotype has only made her even less interesting. If she's a constant liar, then she'll obviously earn the dislike of her team, and is likely to go early.

Zoey: The Indie Chick - She seemes like a cheerfuly, happy girl who will try to get along with everyone else. She may not do particularly well in challenges, and may prove slightly annoying at times. But, she'll ultimately just stay under the radar and is likely to go midway.

Cast Evaluation
Here's my evaluation of the new cast. Some of them seem quite interesting, but the one thing that pretty much all of them have in common is that they bear some sort of resemblance to one, or even two, of the original 22 contestants. And I highly doubt that it's just sheer coincidence. It's either the writers/creators trying to cash in on the success of the original cast by creating "crossovers" of two of the originals, or by relying too much on the originals and afraid (or unable) to create completely new characters. Plus, all of their outfits play a big role, especially in huge group shots, in their color and texture. To me, all of their outfits have extremely pale tones to them, and there aren't any that really stand out with brightness to save us from the pale. Unlike with the originals, which had quite a few colorful members (to name a few: Owen, Geoff, Tyler, Justin), this cast seems dominated by characters who all just fall into a big blend in groups rather than stand out on there own.

And, of course, another issue with the cast that is probably the most-discussed of them all: The issue of the three lookalike girls. Tom McGillis made it clear that, with the original cast, they created each and every character to be completely unique, not just in personality and looks, but in body shape and size. He described it as wanting it to be so that, if any of the characters were just a dark silhouette, a person could instantly recognize them on the spot based on their shape. With this cast, they ultimately failed to achieve that. Credited, some stand out, such as Silent B, Brick, and Mike. However, the main identity crisis focuses on three of the girls. While Anne Maria, Jo, and Staci all stand out quite well, the other three - Zoey, Dawn, and Dakota - do not. While it's pretty much confirmed who Dakota is (the girl with the red hair, two-piece outfit, etc.), there is still a huge debate on which girl is Dawn and which is Zoey. Personally, I believe that the pale girl with blonde hair and a green outfit is Dawn. Her stereotype is "Moonchild." To me, it probably means pale like the moon, seeing as how she is so abnormally pale, even more so than Zeke and Gwen were. However, we haven't seen a single bit of the new Zoey, with the exception of that very last group shot, where she seems to look like Dawn. But the argument has been on-going on the TDR Talk Page, and it gets some tempers up too high. I just wish that the creators would've been more creative, and come up with ways to distinguish each of these three girls better.

Now that part's out of the way, I'll focus on the island itself. Obviously, as we all know, it's radioactive. This seems like a rather odd choice for a new set, and is a very peculiar way for the creators to go with the series. However, the trailer has greatly heightened, if not confirmed, my fear of overkill. They will so dramatically overuse this radioactive theme to the point that they'll ruin the novelty of Camp Wawanakwa, and it will become just plain weird, annoying, and even, at some points, disgusting and disturbing. They'll undoubtedly incorporate it into every challenge, which will only make it worse and be more in-your-face with it.

Chris and Chef...Well, we haven't seen Chef at all, save for the Couch Pic. And Chris really doesn't seem that different at all. So I guess those rumors of him having white hair and a ponytail can be put to rest.

Truthfully, I'm disappointed by this. I was looking forward to Chris having a different appearance. The white hair, while undoubtedly caused by the radiation, would still look really cool, as would the suit and shades. But, sadly, it's same old, same old with our host. And, most likely, co-host too.

The Trailer
To me, it was very well-executed. When it wasn't over-focusing on the radioactive aspects of the island, it did pretty much have at least one moment featuring each and every one of the new characters. Also, it didn't have too many of them speaking. Initially, that sounds bad, since what we really want is to hear their voices. However, it actually makes it fairer. If they had some of them speak, but some didn't, then some fans would undoubtedly be disappointed and be, "Oh, my fave character didn't speak!" With this trailer, they all kept quiet, save for screaming and Dakota's one word. I also think they did a nice job of managing the group shots. As we all know, the first four eliminations of Total Drama World Tour were spoiled for us by that very first trailer that Teletoon released. Way too often, they had group shots that lacked Duncan, Ezekiel, Harold, and Bridgette. Thus, pretty much everyone agreed that they'd be the first four off. And, sure enough, they were. And, even beyond that, they showed a few group shots where four people were absent, implying a different first four eliminated. But some of the four who were missing were still the same, thus confirming them to be eliminated early even more. Such was the case with Duncan and Ezekiel.

Here, however, they showed only two major group shots:

Finally, Teletoon shows some brilliance and DOESN'T ruin everything with their trailer. Now, they have provided two completely different

To me, Scott simply cannot go early, because he'll be the main antagonist. He has it written all over him, and it would be a waste to eliminate him early. Zoey, I can understand. Same with Dawn. Staci, on the other hand, has been absent from quite a few group shots. Many have speculated that she will be the first member of her team, if not the first contestant overall, to go. One main source is this image (sorry for the huge size; I couldn't get a smaller version):

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110215155846/totaldramaisland/images/8/88/Ep4.png

A storyboard that clearly shows the two teams. Here is a more-thoroughly analyzed version (not done by me):



This, combined with her dislikable personality and obvious physical disadvantage, only further implies that she will go very early.

Conclusion
My overall summary of the new season is this: It's attempting to take Total Drama in a whole new direction, but already seems like that new direction will only be a dead end. The new cast, while some seem interesting and original, ultimately still banks on the original cast and failed to be their own new concept. The radioactive aspects will be overly-focused on, which will get annoying after a while. I'm still trying to remain optimistic towards the season, and, of course, I still highly anticipate it and will still watch it. But I have a feeling that it won't do too well. In my mind, it will easily be better than Total Drama Action, and may be better than Total Drama World Tour. While it's trying to be like Total Drama Island in setting and initial concept, it's trying to modify the format of that season. In other words, it's going back to that same concept, but drastically changing it. It probably won't be better than Total Drama Island, but only time will tell.