TDPI Episode 2: 'I Love You, Grease Pig!' Review!

Last time, "So Uhh, This Is My Team?" proved to be a great start to the season. Now, it's time to finally review Episode 2! Sorry that it's so late. I'm at a summer program right now and I watched the episode, but I haven't had too much time to finish up this episode review. Like I said before, these episode reviews take time, so I plan on doing one at a
time. But I hope to get caught up as soon as I can. Without further to do, let's start this episode review!!

My Favorite Parts: Max's helmet of evil, Scarlett's sarcasm to Max, Topher mimicking Chris before he calls for a commercial break, Chris yelling at Ella that there is no singing on the show, Sugar being protective of her beloved grease pig, Leonard failing his magic trick in the end, Chris doing a magic trick right on time to blast Leonard from the Cannon of Shame.

Thoughts on the Characters (Good, Meh, Bad):

1. Jasmine: She is once again on the GOOD character list. I really liked the way that she developed a budding friendship with Samey and encouraged her to stand up for herself. I also admired her assertive leadership and passion for adventure. Sometimes, I wish I was more like her...
2. Dave: After a few minutes of thinking, I have to put him in the MEH pile this episode. Although it is kind of cute seeing him be a Debby Downer, he didn't really do that much to contribute to the episode. All he pretty much did was fall for Sky and was OCD about his hygiene. And the way he swept Shawn's cave almost reminded me of Danny Tanner from
Full House. I didn't hate him in this episode, but he was pretty MEH.
3. Leonard: I'd hate to say it, but this character fell from the MEH pile right into the BAD pile. Honestly, he was much more annoying than this episode. The way he kept on rambling on and on about his "magical life" and his world of fantasy almost reminded me of Staci from Revenge of the Island (except Staci is much cooler and funnier than that
weirdo). I get that the writers wanted to try and create a different character and try writing about a LARPer, but this so-called LARPer can't even distinguish between fantasy and reality, which is kind of offensive to the overall LARPer stereotype. All I can say is, I'm really glad that he left in this episode.
4. Rodney: I'm sorry Rodney fans, but Rodney still remains in the BAD character pile. Honestly, this character seems to be getting more and more annoying as episodes pass by. I mean, all he really did in this episode was rant about how he should be paired up with Jasmine and then just "breaking up" with Jasmine before moving onto Amy. I really liked Jasmine's confusion by Rodney's behavior. Because that's the exact reaction that ANY girl would have. Aside from this, Rodney did absolutely nothing to contribute to the episode.
5. Sugar: I still love her and she's still my favorite character in the season. U mad bro? Haha anyways, she had some really good moments in this episode. I found it kind of weird, but pretty funny when she just randomly fell for Leonard and when she practically cried over his elimination (it's for your own good and the show's good, Sugar...). It was also pretty entertaining watching her cling on to the grease pig and when she was getting pissed at Ella and her singing. I'm still very excited to see more of her thing season. She's a GOOD character.
6.  Ella: I actually really liked her in this episode. I mean sure her singing can be over the top. But I really like how passionate she is about it. She has such a good heart and her singing throughout the episode does get a lot of good laughs. Plus, it was pretty funny how Chris and Sugar got irritated with her singing. Not too much to say, but I think she's a good character.
7. Samey: I really liked her in this episode as well. I liked her newly formed friendship with Jasmine and the way she attempted to stand up against Amy. I honestly felt sorry for her when she got all that abuse from Amy. Heck, even Chris didn't show that much sympathy for her, but that doesn't surprise me, lol. I'm really looking forward to seeing her finally getting her revenge against Amy and I hope the Samey cruelty eases up a bit in the future.
8.  Amy: Even though she was really cruel in this episode, I thought she was still GOOD. I mean there was nothing about her in this episode that would put her in the MEH or BAD pile. Although her character seems to be a bit flat with her only being mean to her sister and some of the other contestants, her interesting conflict with Samey was just enough for me to call her a GOOD character. Her design is also really good as well. Needless to say that I'm very interested in where this conflict is going to go.
9.  Sky: Sky proved to be a GOOD character in this episode. I mean sure she spent most of the episode emphasizing the importance of teamwork and the game and stuff, but she proved that she was not a Zoey 2.0. I know that she has at least some feelings for Dave, but she's not letting that get in the way of her game. That is definitely not Zoey-like. Although I like Zoey for guilty pleasure, she has a very serious flaw: her character mainly revolves around Mike and as a result, she came off as a bland, one-dimensional character throughout the series. Sky seems to be the opposite as of now and in this way, I think she's a good, unique character.
10. Scarlett: She's still going in the MEH pile as of now. I mean, it was pretty funny when she showed sarcasm towards Max's evil plans, but aside from that, she didn't do anything else. I mean don't get me wrong. I like her, but she just didn't do anything exceptional in this episode. But I'm still curious as to where her interactions with Max will go.
11. Max: Max haters, have a heart! This guy is hilarious! From his attempts at evil laughter to his evil cap surprisingly working, he had a lot of good laughs in this episode. Even though he says the word 'evil' a lot, I have to say that this guy was entertaining to watch from beginning to end. With that
said, he's a GOOD character.
12. Topher: Once again, this guy was hilarious in this episode. It was just too funny when he cheered for the torture that Chris had in store for the other contestants and I nearly died of laughter when he attempted to take over Chris's role in announcing the commercial break and imitated the way he said "Total...Drama...Pahkitew Island!" Oh my gosh, what else do I have to say? He's a GOOD character!
13. Shawn: This guy still is a GOOD character. The main reason is that he is a really interesting character. One side of his character shows that he's paranoid and scared of zombies, and then another side shows that he's smart and has some really good survival tactics, and another side shows that he can be really sweet and shy. Unlike such characters like Mike and Zoey, this character has a lot to his personality and many different dimensions as well. So, that makes him even more interesting. So, there is no surprise that I think he's a great character and I'm interested to see what will happen with him next!

Interactions:

1. Shawn and Jasmine: I really like this interaction a lot. It's not as forced as Scott and Courtney. They actually take some time to develop their friendship and realize all the things that they have in common. It's a very genuine friendship and I'm very excited to watch it develop in the future.
2. Leonard and Sugar: Simply heartbreaking...lol jk! If Leonard stuck around any longer, then he would probably flanderize Sugar's character and just make some of the parts of the show painful to watch. Not much to say here.
3. Dave and Sky: I was thinking that they would be the next Mike and Zoey. Though they share signs of attraction early in the game like Zoke, I actually realized that they are much different than Zoke since Dave wants to form a relationship with her while Sky just wants to focus on the game rather than Dave. It's a whole different approach
and I'm very interested to see where this will go.
4. Amy and Samey: Not too much to say here, but I'm very excited to see if Samey will finally get her revenge against Amy after getting that advice from Jasmine. Go get 'er, Samey!
5. Samey and Jasmine: I really liked this friendship as well and I really liked how Jasmine gave Samey advice for standing up against Amy. Can't wait to see Samey's character get better from there.
6. Max and Scarlett: It was pretty funny when Scarlett showed sarcasm for Max's evil plan, but regardless, they seemed to get along just fine. Interested to see how their interactions will develop in the future.
7. Sugar and Ella: Pretty hilarious seeing Sugar get mad at Ella for pretty much everything and Ella still being giddy and happy about it. Wonder how this interaction will go in the future.

Challenge: GOOD. The amount of grease in this episode almost reminded me of the horrid Spongebob episode, Greasy Buffoons. Sooo, I was a bit worried. But actually, the challenge was not that bad. It was actually pretty unique with the grease covered obstacle course and stuff. I don't have too much to say about it, but it was a good challenge.

Elimination: GOOD. I found it perfectly satisfying and I was really happy that Leonard was gone. Hope we don't have to see him again for the rest of the season.

Overall Episode Ranking: Sooo, is this episode awesome or does it stink more than the under side of a pig?? Well, all I can say is that it's another GREAT episode. I thought the character development was much better than in the previous episode. Most of the characters were interesting, their interactions were interesting, the challenge was unique, the elimination was great, the drama was right on track, and the comedy had me laughing hard (which is why I have so many favorite parts in this episode). Needless to say, this episode managed to keep me on the edge of my feet and it did its job really better. I think it could possibly stand as one of the best episodes of the season. I'm pretty excited for the next one...oh wait...it's an Ed MacDonald episode....NOOOOOO! Hide your children away from this guy's apocalypse of bad writing! Hurricane Ed MacDonald has struck!! But....I
digress. I'm still optimistic...I think...