User blog:Gogogadget831/Every Episode of Total Drama Reviewed: Episode 119 - Lies, Cries, and One Big Prize

My last episode blog of the summer! Let's wrap up Total Drama Pahkitew Island with...

Episode 119: Lies, Cries, and One Big Prize

Premise: Shawn and Sky are in some hot water with their loved ones in the finale of Total Drama Pahkitew Island.

Challenge: The Double Duo of Deadly Dying Death

Winner(s): Shawn; Sky

Eliminated: Shawn; Sky

My Favorite Part: Jasmine and Shawn making up

Welp, like I did with Hawaiian Punch, I'm going to look at this episode one piece at a time! This is another controversial finale in this series and I think the best way for me to explain my opinions about this episode is by looking at it one piece at a time. Alright, let's get started!

Okay, so the episode starts off pretty strong. It starts off with some good tension in the beginning with Sky getting so hyped for the finale that she can't sleep. And there's also a pretty hilarious scene where Shawn is sleeping with both eyes open and hanging from a tree and only to fall into a bush XD. Then, we have Chris wake them up with the air horn and we see that he's eager to get the finale over with and could really care less about the contestants' health. No surprise there. Then, the contestants have to randomly choose their helpers (please pick Sugar! please pick Sugar!). Shawn picks Jasmine and Sky has to put up with Dave (hooray....-___-). Then, we have Chris humiliating Sky about rejecting Dave in Hurl and Go Seek. Ugh, Chris, shut up already! She was rightfully annoyed by him and had to reject him to focus on the game. And you know what? It really paid off and it gave her moments to shine on her own! Sorry Skave fans, but I was actually pretty happy that Dave and Sky didn't hook up. Heck, I wouldn't even want to put up with Dave, considering how obnoxious and annoying he is! And also, WHAT IS UP WITH THE PEANUT GALLERY BEING LEFT OUT AGAIN?! Come on! There are so many exciting and comedic possibilities that can come with the inclusion of a peanut gallery! We could listen to some of Sugar's hilarious sayings, we could listen to Ella's beautiful voice, Scarlett doing evil things in the background and blowing up the island (ehh, I could really care less about the island since it's mechincal. But NO, you DO NOT mess with Wawanakwa. Gahhh, flashback!!), Beardo's amazing beatboxing skills, Max trying to be "eeeevil", Topher humiliating Chris, Leonard trying to redeem himself with his magic spells, Amy and Samey's resolution to their rivalry, and Rodney's awkwardness. But really? Are you guys that lazy to write characters in and give voice actors a bit extra in their paychecks?! Okay, peanut gallery rant over. Back to the episode.

Jasmine and Shawn reuniting is adorable. Jashawn forever <3. We have more annoying Dave gushing over Sky, then Chris trying to make Dave and Sky feel even worse by telling them what really happened when Sky was choosing her helper. OH MY GOD CHRIS, GOOOOO.....AWAY!! Sorry, guys. I actually thought Chris was better in this season, but in this episode (*spoilers*), he's REALLY annoying. Also, props to Jasmine for making fun of Dave. Sky and Dave's kiss was kind of cute, but mehhh, I've seen better kisses on this show. Where are Geoff and Bridgette when you really need them? Anyways, then we have Chris gossiping to himself about Dave and Sky in the confessional in a fan-girl voice. I have to admit that that scene did make me chuckle a bit. Also, how many D's are in the title of this challenge? And how many 'deaths'? Then, Sky says in the confessional, "He was brighter before, wasn't he?" Meh, all he ever did was obsess over you and act like a neat freak that was ten times more extreme than Danny Tanner from Full House. Not to mention getting irritated by a wizard and a beatbox guy. If you count that as being 'bright', well, okay then. Ughhh, where's Scarlett?? She was awesome in Scarlett Fever! Why isn't she here to do more evil stuff in this finale? But, for the millionth time in this review, I digress.

Then Chris introduces the course of this challenge. Hmm...okay. Seems okay I guess. Oh, there you are Chef! It's been a while since I've seen you! Too bad all you did in this scene was laugh. Wish you could've worn that bikini in Million Dollar Babies. Or that samurai outfit in Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen. But I'm rambling again. Then, we have Chris continuously saying that there is a chance that they're not going to make it out alive. Okay, we get it. Can we get the challenge over with already? Oh, perfect timing! Right as I was saying that, the air horn blew. Now, we get to see some cool action scenes!

Oh hey, some cool snowboarding. This is pretty entertaining. Also, why is Jasmine blue? Dave also talks about bulking up when he gets home. Nahhh, bulky Dave looks creepy, especially in Sky's dream. Also, nice innuendo, Dave. But I've heard better innuendo. Now, they're off the mountain. Well, that was fast. Then, Sky chides Dave for his "bad idea" and Dave starts whining again. Ehhhhhh. Then, there's the cat bot scene and I will admit that it was pretty funny hearing Sky sass that cute looking kitty that turns out to be a fire-breathing feline bot. And Dave gets bald. Yeah....cool.

Then, the next part of the challenge is to travel through some mud. Hmmm...okay. Yay, more Jashawn moments <3! Then, we have Chris squeeing like a fangirl over Shawn "splitting" the money with Jasmine. Ugh, I knew exactly what was going to happen after that, even watching this episode for the first time. It's not really a surprise. Then, we have a pretty humorous slapfight between Shawn and Dave, which is then broken up by Chris. And that part of the challenge just....ends. Umm...that was amusing.

Oh boy, now we come to the controversial part of the finale: the hidden footage. Yeah, instead of making this finale more of an epic conclusion, Chris feels the need to spread in some soap-opera-y drama that feels very forced. Yes, we've all seen the soap opera cliche of people hiding secrets from their loved ones and breaking their hearts. It's pretty much the same concept with no interesting twists whatsoever. In fact, the one with Shawn and Jasmine was very predictable. And I kind of figured that Chris was going to explain the "but" part of Sky's explanation, which I've been wanting to see for a long time now. I actually felt very sympathetic for Jasmine, especially after Shawn criticized her plans for the million. Also, I thought that Shawn was going to think more with his heart! Poor Jasmine :'(. Then, we come to the BIG one: Sky's boyfriend Keith. Okay, I was really trying to sympathize with Sky here, especially in the confessional since she takes responsibility for her actions and admits that she messed up. But this seems far against her character to hide a secret like this. No offense to Zoey fans, but Sky is supposed to be ten times smarter than TDAS Zoey! She should know these basic relationship concepts by now! There was such a simple solution to this and yet, she didn't take advantage of it. Sky, you're better than this. And what is up with Sky not having enough time to break up with her boyfriend?! Seriously, she has had plenty of time throughout this season to at least end things with him on LIVE TV. At least one confessional would've made sense. Also, from the beginning, why couldn't Sky just tell Dave that she had a boyfriend? On top of that, she didn't give any subtle hints that she had a boyfriend. All that she cared about was focusing on the game! This element seems way too forced and seems like a last minute effort to bring some drama into the show. Last minute drama doesn't work that well. Drama with build-up beforehand works so much better. What is up with this? And no, Chris. Fangirling is not the answer. You are AWFUL.

Then, Dave and Jasmine are given the task to HINDER their loved ones in the final stretch of the challenge. FINALLY, back to the action. Haven't seen much of it in this finale. Also, Dave, stop hating on Jasmine's idea! In fact, your idea is stupider. I'd rather get in a fight with flowers than kill the money with fire. Yeah, and Dave turns into a muderous psychopath who wants to kill Sky. Ummm, that's cool, Dave. But it's good to see that Jasmine still cares about Shawn <3. Then, we have Sky and Shawn struggle through an avalanche. Then, it's all "uphill" from here. Then, Sky throws a tantrum that sends the mountain beneath them to break. And it seems that Dave and Jasmine win the million, as Shawn and Sky have apparently perished in the avalanche. But, Shawn's hand comes out of the snow holding a flower for Jasmine. Owwww, Dave's screaming is hurting my ears. Somebody call an ambulance. It was pretty funny when Jasmine knocked down Chef with her elbow. And awwwww, Shawn and Jasmine <3.

Then, Shawn, Sky, and Jasmine are seen taking off with the million along with Chris signing off the show. He considers it a very "off" season. Hmmmm....I would consider it a very off finale, though everything else from the season was decent. And apparently, Dave is left behind with the angry robot bear. What a very unfitting way for this season to end.

Yeah.....this finale was a mess. First of all, let's talk about the elephant in the room: Dave and Sky. Yes, I'm actually kind of glad that they didn't hook up considering how annoying Dave was, but I really did not like the way that they were handled in this episode. The thing this finale really does wrong that kind of makes me mad is that it's trying to make me feel sympathetic for both of them all at once. In all honesty, it's very hard for me to be sympathetic with Dave after refusing to listen to Sky's apology and how annoying he was in past episodes. He doesn't even act like a normal teenager. He's pretty much the equivalent of a four-year old who doesn't get any candy for Halloween or presents for Christmas. Yes, I know he gets bald and is basically attacked by the robot bear in the end, but even then, it's still hard for me to sympathize with him. I really want to sympathize with Sky here and I want to feel bad about all that she's going through with Dave. But even though she does take responsibility for her actions in the confessional, she made a really dumb mistake. And that mistake is far against her character to do so. She's a very smart character and she's probably one of the most realistic characters in the series. But come on. It's basic relationship stuff. Along with that, there was such a simple solution to this mess. Hello, she's on LIVE TV. LIVE TV. Beth managed to end things with Brady in 2008: A Space Owen and clearly state to the audience that she wanted to give her and Harold a try. In addition to that, Sky said that she didn't have enough time to break up with him. Come on, she's had plenty of time to break up with him on live TV. If they were going with the boyfriend route, why not just give Sky a confessional in which she really likes Dave and says that she's ending things with Keith to give her and Sky a try. I know it would defeat the purpose of the drama, but the writers shouldn't come up with a random plotline that has such a simple solution that none of the characters ever think of. In addition to that, yes, I know it's called "Total Drama", but honestly, the drama feels much too forced and feels more like a last-minute effort. To be honest, it doesn't work well at all here nor does it invest me in. If there's build-up to it throughout the season, then it's one thing. But if it comes out of nowhere, then yeah, we have a problem. Also, Sky didn't even mention that she had a boyfriend. All she wanted to do was focus on winning over relationships.

I was pretty surprised about how unlikable most of the characters were, except for Chef and Jasmine. Jasmine is understandably upset with Shawn and she actually has a heart and shows sympathy for him. We barely see Chef, which is a shame because Chef would have made this episode much more entertaining. I also wasn't very sympathetic for Shawn in this episode, after all the pretty terrible things he said about Jasmine's ideas in Sky Fall and in this episode. He also claimed that he was going to start thinking more with his heart, but in Sky Fall, he took a step backwards in that. However, I did like that Shawn decided to change his mind, after all that Jasmine did to help him out. The moments between them were really sweet in this episode, so I will give the episode credit for that. Dave and Sky are surprisingly not the characters that angered me the most in this episode. That distinction goes to.......Chris McClean! Ugh, where do I even start with Chris in this episode? He mimics a fangirl in this episode, which was funny the first time, but certainly annoying the next few times. All he cares about is making Shawn, Sky, Dave, and Jasmine look as horrible as possible and humiliate them by all the terrible things he did in this episode. He also shows no sympathy for the contestants and could really care less about whether or not they die. Chris was incredibly frustrating to watch and this is probably his second worst episode (with his worst episode being The Final Wreck-ening and third worst being The Treasure Island of Dr. McClean). He spends a solid portion of this episode making the contestants look as terrible as possible on live TV and keeping on bragging that they weren't going to make it out alive in this challenge. The sad thing is that I actually thought Chris was better in this season than TDAS and TDROTI, but in this episode and Hurl and Go Seek, he was OBNOXIOUS. I legit wanted to jump right into the show and punch him in the face. That is how annoying he was. He was the biggest problem in this episode for me and I was angered at how he wouldn't just shut up and get on with the challenge.

Speaking of the challenge, it wasn't deadly at all. There was no struggle, there were no twists, there were no cool action scenes. There was NOTHING. In fact, I was really surprised at how little the challenge was focused on in this episode. The first part of the challenge was only about two minutes long, the second part wasn't even a minute, and the third part was only about one and a half minutes. That was about it. So, the finale was pretty poorly structured in that department too, much like Saving Private Leechball. There really wasn't anything epic or special about it. Say what you want about the Total Drama Action finale, but at least there were things going on. It had great comedy, pretty cool challenges made up by the contestans, clips of past episodes, A PEANUT GALLERY, and it managed to end on a good note. Also, even though I was kind of disappointed by the TDWT finale, at least it felt like an actual finale episode and at least it had sort of an epic tone to it. In this episode, it doesn't even feel that epic. Even taking out the obnoxious nature of the characters, this episode is really dull. The challenge isn't exciting, the atmosphere isn't epic, there isn't any intriguing drama, and there isn't even an attempt at making any good jokes. I was also really angered that the writers chose to leave out the peanut gallery AGAIN. But at least it wasn't like last season. I was angered by this because the writers were given an OPPORTUNITY that they didn't even bother taking advantage of. Are you serious? You could do SO much with a peanut gallery! Scarlett is a fantastic character who could have done so many evil things to get back at Chris. What if she stole the million dollars and the contestants went chasing after her in the sunset? That would have been so much better! You could have Sugar crack jokes, you could have Ella sing, you could have Max try to be evil again. You could do so much! I'm really disappointed that the writers didn't take advantage of that opportunity.

I know I'm going to get some flak for this, but I'm sorry. I really did not like this episode. It tried too hard to make me sympathize with both Dave and Sky to the point that it made me sympathize with no one, this was one of Chris's most obnoxious appearances, the challenge was very bland and badly structured with the finale, there weren't any redeemable moments in this episode (aside from Jasmine and Shawn's moments and someone actually getting the million dollars), there was no investing drama nor that much comedy, and I was very disappointed that the writers didn't take advantage of many creative opportunities to make it episode great. Even taking out all the annoying aspects out, this episode is a very stale experience. It's a real shame because for a season that was actually pretty decent, it ended on a very sour note. Sorry, Lies, Cries and One Big Prize, but you have officially earned the #3 spot in my Bottom 5 episodes. If you disagree with me, then hey, no problems here. This was another difficult episode to talk about that honestly, I just had to go with my gut. With that being said though, Dave and Sky's next meeting will be rather interesting.

And that is Every Episode of Total Drama Pahkitew Island as well as Every Episode of Total Drama Reviewed! I'll see you all soon with my seasonal review! Also, for those of you who are curious, here are my Top 5 and Bottom 5 episodes of the series. My Bottom 5 list was relatively easy to make since there were barely any episodes that I downright despised. My Top 5 list was much harder because there are so many episodes in the series that were really fantastic. So, here they are:

Bottom 5:

5. Zeek and Ye Shall Find

4. The Bold and the Booty-ful

3. Lies, Cries, and One Big Prize

2. Sundae Muddy Sundae

1. The Final Wreck-ening

Top 5:

5. Million Dollar Babies

4. Planes, Trains, and Hot Air Mobiles

3. Hook, Line, and Screamer

2. Trial by Tri-armed Triathlon

1. I Triple Dog Dare You! (to no one's surprise) 