User blog comment:TDFan4Ever/If you could change 1 elimination/@comment-31556666-20141020183446

I've read more of the comments and realized I've been doing this wrong. At first I thought it was just to point out the illogical problems with certain eliminations, but most people are switching people around so I'll do the same.

TDI: Replace Duncan with Lindsay. Duncan's plot was kind of done after a while in TDI. Not counting the guys alliance, Duncan just wasn't doing as much. In fact, with Bridgette eliminated instead of him, Duncan was already a prime target for elimination. Sure, the following episode was more of a last person to the finish line elimination challenge, but that even furthers the point because either Duncan or Owen would've crossed the finish line. Lindsay on the other hand had plenty of storyline left in her. She was slowly deducing Heather's cruelness, and realized it in the episode that she was eliminated in. Lindsay being 4th and Duncan being 9th would've made so much more sense.

TDA: It's hard to choose one, because the majority of merge eliminations up to the finale were pretty ridiculous. For starters, I'd switch Duncan with Lindsay again. Her voting for herself was such a useless plot device. If Duncan had been eliminated, it would also fuel Courtney to be more confident in winning invincibility, intimidating the other contestants, and making the season more dramatic than it actually was. Also, what kind of person who get Bottom 2 THREE TIMES IN A ROW deserves to be a finalist after escaping so easily?! Duncan's only real storylines were his interactions with Courtney and Harold, and they were just starting to get repetitive with not much progression. It's different in the case of Lindsay and her interactions with people such as Beth and Courtney. She would also be a much more likable and supportive finalist than Duncan.

Another TDA elimination that I would switch would be Harold with Owen. Even though Harold is my favorite character overall, I found it completely incoherent that after finding out about Owen's horrible tactics, Harold didn't just go and tell another contestant. What was stopping him? That stupid gag about Owen's farts? In this very episode, Beth was already overly oddly attracted towards Harold so she'd be easy to get on his side, as would Courtney since she didn't like that Owen returned. And you give us all this bull**** about Owen "feeling bad about his actions." Owen is not likable in this kind of role. Even if Harold got the two votes that resulted in his elimination, do you realize how much better writing it would be for Owen to just quit right there and then since he was also semi-responsible for Harold's elimination? I thought DJ was much better in this kind of alliance role because he felt worse about his actions and felt way more likable. Instead we just get Owen saying "Harold's onto me, I just know it!" And not even counting all that, by the time Owen returned, he had already overstayed his welcome after just 2-3 episodes, no longer being the likable character he was in TDI.

In addition, that only leaves the Final 4 to be Harold, Lindsay, Courtney, and Beth. Courtney's fine at 4th. I know I switched Harold with Owen, but really, Harold felt like a protagonist after finding out about Owen. He deserved to be in the finale more than Duncan against Lindsay or Beth.

TDWT: I guess I'd have to switch Blaineley with Duncan. Compared to the rest of the Final 5, Duncan just didn't have as much left in him at that point. Blaineley entered the competition, and like that, was eliminated. She had so much wasted potential in her! An extra episode or two could've been okay for her.

TDROTI: Anne Maria with Lightning. I may like Lightning and find him a very entertaining and funny jerk, but he really didn't deserve to be a finalist. He got this far out of pure luck, due to Scott having the choice of getting rid of Mike, Jo having 2 votes against her, and Scott being taken out by Zoey. The only time where Lightning earned being so good in the competition was when he won invincibility in the Final 3, which was, again, complete luck since Zoey went back to help Cameron. The only real plot I remember Lightning having was his conflicts with Cameron and Jo, and those were fairly minor, not to mention being close to the finale.

Now let's examine Anne Maria. She had way more of a storyline from the start, unlike Lightning, who happened to get one in the merge. She was part of a, for once, semi-one-sided love triangle. She was also one of the only interesting things about Mike and Zoey. In addition to this, she makes sense planning wise in the season. What do I mean? Let's think for a moment about this:

Zoey has become completely Commando and has fiendishly taken out Scott. Lightning was kind of just a random target for her since she barely interacted with him. Anne Maria on the other hand, can fuel Zoey even more to go after others with malicious intent. And let's not forget an important thing they never said about poor Anne Maria - it's never specified how she feels about Mike after his elimination. This just leaves things way too open for a character that was pretty interesting up until their abrubt elimination. Apart from Zoey, there's also Dakotazoid. Anne Maria actually seemed to have a fairly interesting minor conflict with Dakota in Bigger Badder Brutal-er. Can you imagine Anne Maria's much wittier and funnier reactions to Dakotazoid? And then you may be thinking why she should even belong as a finalist. The Brain vs Brawn thing is kind of out of the window, so I suppose it's Brain vs Beauty, I guess...? Apart from that, Anne Maria is a much more likable anti-hero to be in a finale. In fact, if Cameron saved her in the finale the same way he saved everyone else, it would further the point of Cameron being a likable protagonist, with Anne Maria being standard neutral ground.

TDAS: Oh my god! Where to start? Just about every elimination is messed up. I suppose I'd have to switch Courtney and Zoey. The season was so unbelievably bad, but towards the conclusion was where it seriously loses momentum. Courtney is just a deserving winner after all the hard work she does. Zoey was a complete pawn and it would've made much more sense storyline wise for Mal to be the cause of her elimination. When I watched the season every week not knowing the result, I was just really expecting them to build up to this. The longer Zoey stayed, the dumber she was getting because she was still trusting Mal. Courtney vs Mike would've been a better finale. And plus, Zoey Final 3 two seasons in a row?! Are we just going to start getting another Duncan or something?

TDPI: Samey and Topher. Do I even need to ellaborate? This is one of the most popular switches. Whether you like Samey or not, most fans of her are aware of how completely sudden her elimination was.