Ugh... let's get this travesty out of the way.
Out of all of the episodes of the show I've seen, this is the worst episode of the entire series for me. The majority of characters either made no sense, were unlikable, or did things without thinking. This is a late review which I apologize for. The truth is that this episode has sent me into a state of sadness. It betrays me on all accounts. Which is a shame since I absolutely adored the episode before this.
The episode opens up with The Heroic Hamsters eating their gruel. It's a very "gruelling" task for them.
While Cameron says something not worth caring about, he trips over, but breaks his glasses. Mike helps Cameron up. Zoey gets a shock however.
In the confessional, Zoey explains that she saw Mike break Cameron's glasses. Oh, so the rest of you are probably thinking that she should talk to Mike about this, shouldn't she? You poor, poor fools.
But luckily, we get a funny scene from Sierra where she questions her own existence. Zoey can't hear Sierra when she asks if she exists, causing Sierra to scream in Zoey's ear, making her temporarily deaf.
Zoey: What was that for?
Sierra: I thought you couldn't see me
Zoey: What?
Sierra: I thought I was invisible. Thanks, Zoey.
Zoey: What?
If only the rest of the episode was as endearing as this moment.
In the Villains mansion, Alejandro whistles as he eats, which Heather can't bear, but Alejandro shrugs her off. He reveals in the confessional that he's just throwing Heather off her game. Do you know what saved me from giving this episode an F? This subplot. It's nice to see this between Heather and Alejandro and out of all the characters, they probably shine the best and they are two of the only ones who I don't hate in the episode.
Courtney and Scott are another two characters who stopped me from giving this episode a lower grade. Courtney figures out that she misses Scott, and her mood swings towards him continues when he returns to the island.
Once Scott returns to the island, Chris announces the challenge. And this is probably one of the worst challenges in the entire show. In a nod to Season 4's buried treausre challenge, the two teams need to race through the island, and avoid strange animals affected by the blue moon. This destroys the theme of this season where the challenges are based off previous challenges. This one has nothing to do with buried treasure. And this is one of the minor problems of the episode. And now with the challenge announced, all of the problems are quickly forming.
Zoey, rather than talking to Mike, whispers in Cameron's ear what Mike did, meaning that Zoey is actually afraid of Mike. To make things worse, when Cameron does the honorable thing and actually confronts Mike about the situation, Mike tells Cameron that he doesn't remember that. However, Cameron mentions that Zoey said for him not to say anything. So not only is Zoey not confronting Mike, but she is being sneaky around him. This is not helping the balanced perspective that I made on this couple.
But at the very least, Cameron decides to help Mike with his problem. And I'm sure that this moment won't be ruined by the end of the episode, right? RIGHT?!
The moon comes out, and the ferocious animals and harmless animals have turned their opposite. But it also affects Mike in that The Malovelent One has come back while the moon is out. And the Vultures believe that it has affected Heather since she is acting sweet to her team. Heather is probably the best character in this episode. I love this side of her in the episode. It's so over-the-top and it's definitely one of my favorite moments from the show that I like to return to.
Alejandro: I've never seen Heather be so sweet and kind... and it is terrifying!
I love this line. I love Alejandro. Do I love this episode? No. And this moment is not making me give this episode a C-. It's going to get worse. Believe me.
Mike tricks Cameron into coming with him, and then throws him down a hill. Good, I hate Cameron, and I like seeing him get hurt. Although, since he's the weakest character out of all 38 contestants, I'm surprised he's even still alive.
Gwen separates herself from her team when they reach a dangerous bridge. This could've been a very dry moment between Gwen and Courtney again, but we luckily have Heather around.
Meanwhile, with Mike and Duncan, Duncan brings up how he recognizes Mike from somewhere. But before Duncan can figure out, Mike throws a bird at Duncan.
Mike: Toodles
Do we take The Malovelent One serious or not? Because that was hard to watch. I can't even tell if that was supposed to be funny or serious.
With the Villains, Scott gets attacked by a beaver, and accidentaly cuts one of the ropes off the bridge, forcing Alejandro, Heather and Courtney to walk on the side of the bridge. It's here where we discover that Heather faked the whole thing to get attention from Alejandro. Unpredictable, and pleasant to watch.
WARNING: There is nothing else left good in the episode with what follows. Be prepared.[]
Duncan and Gwen cross paths with each other when wild animals chase the both of them. Duncan, being as unlikable as you would think, asks Gwen what Courtney has said about him. It is also obvious that Duncan is jealous of Scott. Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. Remember how I liked Duncan in Food Fright? His cake line made me feel bad about how much I hated him in TDA and TDWT. I even, to an extent, liked him in Saving Private Leechball for saving Gwen's life. It shows how caring Duncan truly is. But this part of the episode ruins that.
When the Villains finally reach the finish line, they discover that Gwen hasn't crossed it yet. Courtney is attacked by a deer, but Gwen luckily saves her life. Many people hate Courtney in this moment, due to how she says in the confessional how she would never save Gwen's life, but I'm more on Courtney's side on this. I think Courtney is simply overreacting and taking things too far. I still love her character though. Gwen is the problem. There's no reason for Gwen to keep on trying to impress Courtney. Watching Gwen trying to be nice to Courtney is like a chore. It's tiresome, tedious, and it wears off quickly.
With the moon suddenly back to normal though, Gwen and Courtney are safe from the deer, but Mike is back to normal. His team yell at him to reach the finish line, but he is confused. And thus, the Villians win, thanks to Courtney and Gwen crossing the finish line before Mike.
At the elimination ceremony, when Gwen watches the Heroes experience the elimination, she once again moans about how she wishes she was on their team. Remember how I said that I love the scene where Gwen cries in Food Fright since it makes her so likable? Here, it's worse because Gwen is just moaning at this point. And like her trying to impress Courtney, this line of hers is also tedious.
Duncan, seeing Gwen say this, kisses her, and asks once again about Courtney. I hate you, Duncan. I really do.
But not as much as I hate this moment. Rather than trying to work things out with Duncan, Gwen breaks up with him in two seconds.
Say what you will about how terrible the TDA scene is of Gwen breaking up with Trent. At least with that, there was some emotion or soul. If they had handled it the same way here, I wouldn't have been as angry. I hate the Gwuncan pairing and I knew the break-up was inevitable. But I did not think that they would rush things like this.
But it gets worse. Cameron volunteers for elimination, despite the fact that he promised to help Mike. The only reason that he quits is to get away from Sierra. That's funny, since he wanted to spare her feelings. So he betrays two of his teammates.
And another terrible thing too. Chris decides that instead of eliminating Cameron, he's sending him to the Villains team for reasons unknown. Since Cameron did nothing villainous. Sure he betrayed Mike and Sierra, but that's just because he's a puny worm who's afraid of everything. So, until Cameron is eliminated, the theme of Heroes vs. Villains is destroyed.
And thus, the episode ends... and thank goodness it is done!
This sucked. Nothing made sense, characters did things out of impulse, otherwise harmless characters were jerks, selfish characters had no level of likability, and while a lot of jokes hit their mark, it didn't make up for the horrible storyline around them. This is the worst episode of the show that I've reviewed so far. I've seen terrible episodes of this show. I've seen 3:10 to Crazytown. I've seen If You Can't Take The Heat... I've seen Rock 'n Rule. I've seen Top Dog. I've seen I See London... And more. But none of them compared to this ultimate trainwreck. i detest this episode. In fact, I'm going to pretend it doesn't exist. I'm just going to say that Chris was drunk one night, and just put Cameron on the Vultures for no reason. Gwen got drunk and broke up with Duncan. And Zoey and Cameron got drunk too and acted like backstabbing jerks.
Also, no Dawn cameo? Really? Are we ever going to get cameos from past characters aside from that semi-cameo from Cody?
The Good:
-Hilarious Jokes
-Scourtney!
-Alejandro and Heather
-Heather's Rabies
The Bad:
-Terrible challenge
-Gwen has become slightly tiresome
-Zoey and Cameron
-Cameron joins the Villians team for no reason
-Duncan is a pathetic character
-No Dawn cameo! WTH!
Overall: D
Next Time: No One Eggspects The Spanish Opposition (the episode that got me out of my depression from this episode.