User blog comment:Webkinz Mania/Project 10 - March 2017/@comment-460966-20170301051532

10 For Project 10
Each month, I will provide analysis based on the results of each month's ballot. I will list the top ten trends that stood out or fascinated me. I encourage any viewers to comment on anything that fascinates them.

February 2017

 * 1)  Lindsay goes back-to-back  - Here's the thing. Seven contestants were ineligible, since they did not compete in Total Drama Action. Lindsay's win was impressive, not just because she nearly got 500 points, but the fact that she received half of the votes for first or second place is stunning. It is worth noting that fifth place was wide open, with four characters within ten points for fith place. Any vote would have affected the runner-ups for fifth. This will be important later on.
 * 2)  The writers failed Geoff and Trent  - The writers forced change on characters like Geoff and Trent. Geoff received 16, while Trent had a larger 63 points for Worst Character in Total Drama Island. Still, both characters were in the bottom ten in that category in Total Drama Island. The change was poorly received, with both characters receiving that many points for Worst Character overall. While this season only featured fifteen contestants and the five characters, aside from Justin, that were listed as the worst in Total Drama Island, did not compete this season, it should come to no surprise that new characters (particularly these two) emerged as the worst of the season. Other characters like Bridgette, Courtney, Geoff and Owen saw big jumps in their totals from last month, while I was fascinated by the lack of traction for Leshawna, who lied to her teammates to win a day at the spa.
 * 3)  Second place was hotly contested often  - While Courtney and Duncan were the golden standard as far as couples go this season, it is the compelling race for second place that is a headline grabber. While Bridgette and Geoff received 16 votes as Best Couple, their net was -10. On the other hand, Harold and Leshawna both received 16 votes and Izzy and Owen also received 16 as Best Couple. As I said, every vote will matter for some categories and this was a prime instance.
 * 4)  When they say Total Drama Action, emphasize the Drama  - There was no competition for this category. Total Drama Action was more about the drama anyways. A tremendous amount of breakups, conflicts and overall drama compared to season one. That is why some "cool" characters like Geoff and Trent had some flaws added to them and why one friendship that was focused more than the rest took the easy victory, dominating in the polls.
 * 5)  Heather: Queen of Eliminations  - Heather's elimination gave her conflict with Leshawna some closure... for the time being. This was yet another close call with three eliminations with over one hundred points each.
 * 6)  The first half of the season was awful  - For a while, I believed the show should have cut to the chase and stop with the filler, reward challenge episodes. As I just alluded to, there was a twenty-six episode order and the producers realized some characters needed more development. This is why we had fourteen characters (plus Courtney). As soon as Courtney debuted, the only episode that did not have double-digit votes was... surprise, another Aftermath! Prior to Courtney's debut, only five episodes received ten or more ballot appearances. Of those ten, the only one that got fifteen or more was Riot On Set.
 * 7)  26 episode season, 4 Aftermaths  - The Aftermath theme was useful! The finale likely would have been Mutiny on the Soundstage if there was no Aftermath, but the other three Aftermaths did poorly, in terms of the Best Episode. Aside from the season finale, no Aftermath appeared in more than ten ballots.
 * 8)  A first place vote for Worst Episode is 10 points  - This is astonishing, given that most people just throw away votes toward the end of Project 10 and vote for the easiest options. Not only have I deleted these so-called duplicate votes (voting the same episode for both Best and Worst Episode), but the fact that only three people touched Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special is mindblowing. Three votes, four points, arguably the most beloved episode of the series, especially considering the performance in Best Episode as well. It is going to be tough to find another episode with a record this good.
 * 9)  There's definitely a point where things get better  - What I like about the graphs is that you can tell if a bad episode is a fluke or apart of a string of bad episodes. How about a bad half? The red bars are much, much higher than the blue bars in virtually every episode of the first half of the season. When Courtney debuted, the episodes gradually got positive ratings and by her third episode, there was a significant increase in terms of the quality.
 * 10)  The importance of Courtney's debut goes understated  - After her debut, there were only four episodes with a negative rating (two being Aftermaths). The number of positive episodes before Courtney's debut?  ONE!  Looking at the results this way, I think I can argue that Courtney might be equally as important to the show's success as Owen. The show really picked up after she debuted and I am fascinated to see if next season's grade as a whole is closer to Total Drama Island or this season.