User blog:Fedora Kid/No One Eggspects The Spanish Opposition Review

Pros (5): The opening, once again, was pretty good (at least it did a good job setting up all the major story lines of the episode, from Cameron on the Villains, to Alejandro and Heather...sigh...to Sierra); the Mike/Zoey interaction, which was pretty good at times, from Zoey's serious confessional to the scene where they, quite literally, run into each other; the moment between Courtney and Gwen (which sets up a possible resolution of their conflict AT LAST, though it was handled, once again, very fast and very sloppily); Heather (in this episode, she was at her absolute best, just as Sam was in Food Fright; she was spreading lies about Alejandro to get rid of him, doing well in the challenge, she found the hidden immunity idol, and her plan would've worked had it not been for Alehandstand. She was most like Survivor legend Russell Hantz in this episode, and she was just as entertaining); the new gimmick with The Malevolent One, in addition to having the new nickname "Mal," constantly whistling In the Hall of Mountain King as his calling card, if you will. It's very ominous and a clever, sophisticated new way to be able to tell when it's him (since apparently now, he's more in control than before, and may try to remove the dark circles so as to look more like Mike)

Cons (5): The setting of this challenge, which was a major offset to the awesome setting of the previous challenge (after all, WRITERS, there was a REASON that the radioactivity, mutated creatures, and overall weirdness from TDR was removed for this season - we didn't like it, at all. So why bring it back for this episode? Although having it on Boney Island was a bit clever...); the extreme letdown of the TV summary that promised a bonding between Cameron and Gwen (which was nonexistent save for her fixing his glasses); Sierra (once again, being as freaky as ever); Courtney (for her evilly teasing poor Cameron in the beginning, and ONCE AGAIN, she had the chance to be awesome and save Scott, especially after that touching moment between them with the hand-holding, and what does she do? Blindly and stupidly beats him over the head with a stick, gets the egg, and then leaves him. Ugh. Duncan in TDDDDI all over again); MAJOR CON EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT WORTHY OF BEING A MAIN ASPECT = The handling of Alejandro/Heather in this episode (seriously? I mean, yes, it makes total sense for Alejandro to want revenge, I can see that...but they seriously could've handled it a lot better. Especially considering that at this point, just as it was through most of TDWT, it's Alejandro who's attracted to Heather, not the other way around. Maybe he could've kept the idol but showed it to Heather prior to the elimination ceremony, and force her to maintain an alliance with him and retcon all the votes she had set up for him, in return for keeping her around? I don't know, just something. One of the best couples in the series, and its resolution/possible breakup is handled this badly? First Duncan/Gwen, now this? Ugh)

Main Aspect (Neither and Pro): First, is Duncan. How ironic that, while he was absolutely terrible in the last episode, he was surprisingly much funnier in this episode. His dilemma with slowly becoming a hero is surprisingly intriguing and handled in a very funny way, and even a serious one at times (seriously, that scene with Duncan taking the bird's egg, and then crying when he sees it crying, was another moment that almost had me crying, after Sam finding out his game was broken). Him getting hurt and accidentally finding an egg was also pretty funny. Even that confessional were he rants and uses lame curse words. At first, I thought: "Oh, geez. Did CN take over the censors again?" But then he acknowledges how lame the cursing was, and that made it perfectly OK (maybe that was Teletoon's subtle jab at CN for their previous edits? Nice one). But at the same time, something that royally bothered me was his little rant about being "a lone wolf." SERIOUSLY? I said this numerous times prior to Episode 5; I was hoping that, in the progression of the Love Triangle story, he'd take the initiative and dump Gwen because he couldn't handle the drama, and decided that he'd be better off as a lone wolf (I do believe I used that exact same phrase in describing my prediction/hopes). But now, after it's the opposite with Gwen dumping him, and he's completely, stupidly oblivious to why or how, it's now when he decides that he's better off single. Ugh. That moment really bothered me, but again, for the most part, he was fun to watch in this episode. ESPECIALLY that ominous confessional at the end. The second aspect, once again, is the elimination. Truth be told, it wasn't too shocking. I thought that Heather would simply, quite easily be voted off due to blowing the challenge. But when it turned out that her plan worked and Alejandro would've gone home, and then Alejandro turned around and got rid of her with the idol...that was a dramatic ceremony, and a very serious moment between the two when she realized what it meant for her. Although I was kind of hoping that, after she knocked him into the water, he would be forced to reveal that he could use his legs after all, and that would put an end to that stupid gimmick. But nope. He'll still be Alehandstand until the episode of his elimination.

Overall, once again, I'd say this episode is very similar to Food Fright, in the sense that it's great with setting up future story lines, from the possible Cameron/Gwen friendship, to the possible resolution of Courtney/Gwen, to, once again, Mal as the main antagonist, but it doesn't actually focus on them in the now. It makes you feel giddy with all this buildup/setup, but it doesn't actually focus on them, it just establishes them. The only thing this episode handled directly was Alejandro/Heather, and although Heather was at her absolute best in this episode, the relationship itself was handled very badly. Despite my initial expectation for the episode's cons being bad (due to the revelation of the mutated freaks returning) and the equal expectations for the pros being high (a possible Cameron/Gwen friendship), this episode ultimately wasn't as bad or as good as I thought it'd be. It gets me excited for future stories, though at this point, I wonder if TMO/Mal will ever actually be a good antagonist. He's by far the most built-up antagonist in TD history, but for all this build-up, the payoff had better be good. I mean, crazy good. Otherwise, we'll look back on how stupid and pointless this buildup was to a wasted potential antagonist. I'm sad to see Heather go, but again, like Sam in Food Fright, she was at her absolute best in this episode, so she definitely went out with a bang.

With 6 Pros and 5 Cons, this episode is a 7/10.