User blog:Stryzzar/Amy or Samey - comparison

'Note: This is not a voting blog, or a recently banned list blog. Neither is this intended to be one of the inferior spawns of Phoenix's comparison blog, as I am actually going to analyse rather than just throw two names out there. This is also something I have been wondering myself for a while.'

The Pahkitew twins have stirred up a lot of commotion in the past few months, and their early departure have made them ensemble darkhorses in a manner of speaking. However most don’t view the two sisters in equal light. From what I’ve gathered, many fans love one and hate the other. Let's take a look why that is.

First we have Amy the "Evil Twin", bearing the villain-type of "Big Sister Bully". Before TDPI aired, every seemed to be rooting for her, as it seemed like she was going to be this season’s antagonist and drama-starter. In fact she sort of was … for 3 episodes. However after she came on screen, she turned out to be a little different. I bet some of you were expecting Amy to be cunning and manipulative, with Samey acting as her minion, and the two of them wrecking havoc across the start. Not quite what we ended up getting. Turns out she was sort of a cross between Heather’s bossiness and Courtney’s abhorrent whininess, resulting in an obnoxious, childish, slave-driver who’s dedicated to making her sister’s life a living hell.

Lots of people love cruel characters, and if that's what you’re after, Amy certainly delivers. Though the problem that a lot of people have with her is, even as a villain, she crosses the line far too often. Unlike most villains, her cruelty towards Samey is so excessive it's lost any humour it may have originally intended to have. Many also aren't fans of the whiny language she uses either. However many still thought she could’ve easily been a second Heather, and still pledge for her return.

Now let's take a look at Sammy (yeah that's what I call her), the "Nice Twin". When people first saw her, immediately a deeming light seemed to be cast upon her. With her nice twin label, she felt as though she was going to be a boring one-track character, slipped into Lindsay's stereotype. Though come TDPI, she proved we couldn't be more wrong.

She was anything but a Lindsay clone, as unlike Lovable Dumb Princess who was oblivious to her slave-driver’s true nature, Sammy was aware of her sister’s evil nature from the very beginning, actually coming on to Total Drama to get away from her sister. Far from the one-track nice girl we originally thought she was. In fact what makes their conflict so interesting is it began long before to of them went on TD, and was the very why both of them were there in the first place. As we saw from her first confessional, Sammy was straightaway painted as an insecure girl who thought little of herself, and accustomed to being in her sister's shadow. Almost immediately we were positioned to side with her, and feel sympathy for this amicable, but grief-stricken girl. I don't think I’ve ever seen a character as relatable and protagonistic since Bridgette.

However what makes Sammy so special, and sets her so far from the expectations she was originally set was her phenomenal character development. TD has been fairly good at developing characters, with Sammy being one of the most exceptional examples. Episode-by-episode we saw her grow: Starting as Amy's long suffering obedient slave, to being openly annoyed at the way her sister treats her, before finally (with some encouragement from Jasmine) we get a cunning badass Sammy who betrays her sister in the most brilliant example of Backstabbing the Alpha B****. TD seems to really love that trope, with every bossy female in the show always getting their comeuppance at the hands of their former minion. We've had Beth and Lindsay locking Heather in the fridge in TDI, before Beth betrays Heather by shooting her with the paintball gun. Beth (again) turning on Courtney in TDA. And who could forget what Cameron did to Jo after she treated him like garbage for a whole episode. Characters who pull this off get my instant respect, but the trophy has to go to Sammy for pulling off the best one ever! You said it Jas.

But I'm analysing character here, so I can't be biased and need to bring out both sides. Despite Sammy's immense positive reception, I have also come across some criticism. For one, her character seems to only have achieved such success by revolving around Amy's, and without her mean big sister she would be a "boring" character. While there is some cred behind this claim, I still disagree. Even without Amy's presence it's already established that Sammy is insecure and uncertain of herself. She's just a character who's waiting to be manipulated. If Sammy auditioned for Total Drama Island, she would instantly be No. 1 on Heather’s list of potential alliance members (along with Lindsay and Beth). Furthermore, we know what sets Sammy aside is she a very smart, adaptable girl. If it wasn't Amy there giving her trouble, then someone or something else would be there to serve that role, maybe perhaps Sugar could've easily substituted that role. However I grant, Sammy would not have been as phenomenal if Amy wasn't there. Sammy would've been great on her own, but Amy only made her better.

Personally I'm quite fond of both characters. I would love to see Sammy return and how she would make the most of new problems that present itself, and I also see potential of Amy as a proper villain. I'm no fan of how incessantly cruel Amy treats her sister, and would much prefer to see her channel all that antagonism else where. One thing I'm fairly certain of is, even if these characters don't need to revolve around each other to be amazing, most likely they will keep doing so. And I will always be waiting for where their conflict goes to next.

That's my take on these the twins, which I’ve tried to back up with unbiased analysis. So what do you think? And another reminder, this is not a voting blog. If you’re going to leaving a comment, plz try to make it longer than a one-worded answer.