User blog:Epic~00/Second half Review of Total Drama All-Stars Take 2

Well, with Season 6 just around the corner, I can think of no better time to review the second half and final few episodes of All-Stars Take 2. This half was pretty explosive, as there were many shocking eliminations but with some MOSTLY good quality there. With me being runner-up for the third f***ing time, let's see what is stellar, and what fails. Btw, I'll try reducing Heather bias.

Episodes
Greet It and Weep

Really amazing episode to start off the merge. For the most part, veryone was pretty good. Even Lightning spoke up more instead of hiding in the background. The episode was full of suspense, with anyone being captured by Izzy in the blink of an eye. Samey was great with people like Cameron and Tyler, I loved Tyler's lovability, Lightning was hilarious, and Heather was getting many on her side. The episode not only has some funny humor, but the setting is thrilling, and you never knew what to expect in the episode.

Final Score: 9/10

They're Jumping Around Like Kangaroos

This episode can be summed up as hilarious I'm glad I managed to create a challenge that people seemed to like. The reactions of everyone to their kangaroo outfits was funny and Chef injured people in numerous ways. The hurdle race was fun too, full of sabotage, poor exercise, or accidental injuries. Heather finally got her revenge on Katie and Katie was eliminated. Even though Katie floated and I'd prefer Anne Maria or Scarlett farther than her, this was a well built-up elimination.

Final Score: 8/10

Go Big or Go Home

For most of the episode, it was a joy to watch. Welly had a good point. Dave was bae and Milkie captured his stupidity perfectly. Like Greet It and Weep, this challenge was full of unpredictability. Dave could catch anyone at any moment and Cameron taking Dave down and heavily injuring him was the perfect karma for Dave bullying Cameron. Becausse everyone was stuck hiding in a forest, interactions were limited yet solid. The big problem with the episode however does come at the elimination; Cameron and Heather were put up. Now imo, either of these characters going would be a hefty loss. Given the fact that Alejandro was basically planned to be going someday, he'd be a safe person to put up. Welly said he chose randomly, but that's just not safe, because no matter how much a character contributes, anyone could go up. A safe bet would've been putting Alejandro up. The elimination took a long time because Izzy's vote for Cameron was screwed up, leading to an unnecessary tiebreaker and nobody likes when an elimination or any part of an episode is dragged out. Cameron was eliminated and that was just saddening, but I'll get to him later.

Final Score: 7.5/10

A Slippery Little Sucker

There was no transcript for the episode but it's very easy to remember. The challenge was pretty mediocre since everyone had to cook the same dish. There's really not much to say about the episode. Owen actually contributed to an episode for once and was roleplayed very well. However, the big thing remembered about this episode is that Tyler, one of this season's most liked characters, was eliminated. Now I have explained to Welly that Tyler went because I heard he was planning to get me out, although may have just lied that he was as a strategic move. It was a shame because at the very least Tyler should've been 4th or 3rd and had way more to offer than the two who went after him.

Final Score: 6/10

Losers in Paradise

This is quite frankly the worst time that you can't have a transcript. So much was said about the Final 5 from the eliminated contestants. It was nice to see everybody again, but... the episode was rushed horribly. When someone is in the middle of saying their thoughts, Chris will just randomly move on to the next F5 member. The TDI playa wasn't rushed like this. It even had moments where the losers talked about their time at the Playa. The scriptedness of this episode was plainly obvious. I wanted to see things like a Lightmaria reunion, or Cameron and Tyler straightening things out, or Scarlett beating Cameron to a pulp. But nope. "(Sky) ? (Heather) ? (Alejandro) ? (Samey) ? (Sadie) ?" is literally how you could sum up Chris' words. Once they all say who they want to win, we end up going all the way back to the island. Granted the insults or compliments losers made was satisfying to watch but otherwise, fairly bland. It was Samey's decision to eliminate someone and since I knew Sadie was going, I just made Heather look like she was responsible. Had I won immunity I would've handed it to Sadie but she left. Sadie is not well-liked because she's horribly OOC. Episode was hit and miss but mostly miss.

Final Score: 5.5/10

Do You Think You Can Drama?

Ugh, another one with no transcripts. Like A Slippery Little Sucker though, this episode is easy to remember, but in a good way. This was a dare kind of episode and while the stuff that the contestants had to endure was gross-inducing, each dare was unique and funny in its own right. Granted, not much drama happens throughout the episode, but no real major problems here. Alejandro went and I liked how Aleheather proved itself to be healthier than people give it credit for with Alejandro not doing a dare of kissing Sky and sacrificing himself for Heather. Sure he should've went a little bit earlier but his elimination happened in a solid way.

Final Score: 7/10

Opposites The Way

It was hard to really form a proper opinion of this episode. Now the start of it was very decent. It was nice to see Cameron, Scarlett, and Tyler come back and compete for one challenge. The reunions between the pairs were very lovely to see. Heather shown some fantastic development in learning to be a teensy bit nicer after learning of her misunderstanding with Alejandro. Sky and Cameron were a flop pair who sucked at every challenge but it was nice to see them try. And Samey and Tyler was.... ehhh, well mostly good I guess. But the challenge is where the episode sorely fails. First you had a big carriage race and even though Heather and Scarlett were the clear winners (Because Cameron is too weak to push and Tyler got hurt), there was no actual winner announced. Then came the regatta and like Episode 4, it had horrible godplaying (except for the realistic Heather and Scarlett). How could Samey and Tyler have crossed the finish line first when they had some clear mishaps? And the big problem came when, at first, Heather and Scarlett couldn't compete in a tiebreaker whereas Cameron and Sky did despite failing both challenges. It took some convincing to change that but it was ultimately unnecessary and dragged things horribly. Because of the other RP having to exist, we had to rush the episode. The challenge seemed promising with it being the "best" challenges from the season, but... we went with only TWO challenges and those two were both really lackluster, especially the regatta. Samey took ridiculously long in sending someone home so that dragged the episode out needlessly once again and Sky went. At that point, I barely cared what was going on and just wanted the dissapointing episode to end.

Final Score: 4/10

The Season's Seizing

This made up for the mediocrity or dissapointment of the 3 episodes before it in a major way. I have no idea where anyone else stands on this episode but I loved it so much. Granted, it did drag and I was partly to blame, but it's definitely 2nd favorite episode next to Gladiatorial Finale. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much from the episode. I mean there was no challenge, so where would the action be? But the action, oddly enough, lied in people talking. Unlike the Playa episode, this episode introduced the losers much better. Not only did the jury attend but so did everybody. Before questions even started, it was a buncha fun to see everyone's consensus on each of the Final 2. The jury who asked in the first half all had pretty great questions. Who had the best question? Well even though he didn't vote Heather because I would've given a completely different answer to what was given, it was Lightning. He asked a question that was perfectly in-character for him and was hilarious. He was surprisingly fair too and it's a good start to see someone ask a simple question of if people want to work out, followed by much more serious questions. The only fault I really have with the episode is Samey's slight OOCness. The real Samey always is hard on herself and thinks she's not worthy of anything but this Samey takes credit for all of Heather's hard work and Samey's answers were pretty corny. Other than that, perf. episode.

Final Score: 10/10

It Is My Time

Well a Part 2 had to happen the next day cause of the other RP. And sadly, Part 2 and the final episode of the season was a poor wrap-up of the season. Sadie was a big fault, as her question has some poor logic to it, like how she thinks Heather was allied with Sky. Heather gave Sadie a clear answer to a question but Samey didn't and Sadie voted for Samey to win. What? Where did that come about? Why did Sadie even do that? The real problem came in the actual conclusion. We spend a good 18 episodes on developing Samey into a likable character but when she wins, she proceeds to... punch an emotional Heather in the face. Wow, what a sadist. It's even worse that Samey is not even apologetic for punching a person for literally no reason and the real killer blow is her not inviting Heather to a party. The ending just rushes it self because of this and this wasn't helped by the fact that another extremely vital vote for something was screwed up, leading to an episode being dragged out. The big slap in the face towards the end is when Derpy randomly without asking any admin, cuts to a party scene. It was no surprise that a few users ragequitted when this stupid party came on. Also, Freddie, CAMERON IS NOT DEAD.

For a season that had some blunders but some big gems, this was a poor way to end things off sadly.

Final Score: 4/10

Eliminees
For the first half of the season, Lightning was fairly bland. He really shown that no screenhogginess could ever top this. In some episodes I don't even recall him having more than five lines. In his only merge episode though, he redeemed himself. Lightning vs Sadie is a pretty bad conflict but Lightning made it pretty hilarious in his last few moments. Lightmaria is also nice.

Katie was fairly mediocre. She sure was an improvement over WW but was nothing special. Whenever Fiz played Katie she had about 5 lines maximum. Lego did a great job with Katie but what was her purpose anyways? Katie and Sadie is a horrible interaction in this RP, so why didn't Courtney take Katie's place?

Cameron was amazing. Sure his storyline was cutted off early by a freaking randomizer, but he was one of the most to offer to this season. It was nice to see him get a backbone and learn to be meaner and him going in a title "Go Big or Go Home" is great because I've never seen such an eliminee give such a roast, even if it was an undeserving one to Tyler. His friendship with Samey and conflict with Heather were both fantastic to watch and who could forget Cameron of all people taking out Scarlett?

Welly bae. Even though Tyler could've lasted just a tad bit longer, he really made up for his TB mediocrity. From his lovable niceness to unwillingly having antagonistic situations befall him, this was easily Tyler's best season. It's hard to really explain, but he shined better than any other season. Looking forward to HvV.

Sadie was OOC and the same old same old for a third season. Katie competing was the perfect opportunity to show Sadie's cheerful personality. For no reason whatsoever, Sadie ignores Katie and plans to get her out. Why?!?! I mean it has been argued that this is because they haven't seen each other in a while, but aren't they sisters? When Sadie finishes a season doesn't she return home and see her family? Why wouldn't she reunite with Katie regularily? The fact that Sadie doesn't develop in the slightest or have any traits of her original personality besides lusting after many boys means that she sort of floated a little.

While Alejandro did last longer than people expected him to, he was a very entertaining character. Aleheather had some great development with one reason being because of him and his elimination was one of the best of the season. Granted he does have a flaw of only truly developing in his final episode competing but other than that, solid.

I liked Sky in this season. Don't get me wrong. Her interactions were fairly stellar and she proved that she's still a strong competitor. Heather vs Sky is a wonderful conflict:

Heather: Who do you think you are?

Sky: I am an athlete.

Besides this though, Sky was an obvious screenhogger. I mean she has the exact same placements as TD Owen and Scarlett or Tyler in her 3rd place could've been a little better. Nothing bad with Sky, but nothing too amazing either. Wild West is still her wild best.

Do I even need to explain this? I mean I touched on her development and my reasoning for her over-the-top meanness. I mean if anyone has any questions about her I can answer them easily. H.eather <3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Undeserving winner. Now during the merge, Samey was amazing but when you look at the season as a whole, what much did she really do non-merge? Not really too much to talk about in that case. Her ending is a horrible one that involves no karma for her horirble lies in jury questions along with punching a person for no reason and not inviting them to a party. Now I did like Samey but she decreased by about 4 places in my rankings because of her OOCness and frankly, derailment.

Thoughts on the Season as a Whole
Well the second half's quality is, imo, equal to the first half. There were some fantastic episodes, poor episodes, and mediocre episodes, adding up to my second favorite season. For a season with no newcomers, I failed to see when things could ever be getting stale. Most eliminations were pretty unpredictable and it was a breath of fresh air to see an improvement over TB. In fact, every problem with TB is the opposite in this season. Most people found this season pretty good too.

First-half Total: 60/90

Second-half Total: 60/90

Final Season Score Total: 120/180

Please comment. This shizz took a while.