'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Kid Nation: I Just Like the Recess Part
(S01E11) I feel manipulated. I feel used. I feel a pawn to a lesson session. I feel all I learned in childhood about doing the right thing is so much better than doing the fun thing was snatched from behind my wall of memories and plopped down in tonight's episode of Kid Nation.Why must fun always have consequences? Or, at least choosing fun over a more serious option? It doesn't always play that way in adulthood. Sometimes you can have fun without regret. Yeah, seriously.
But I'll never be a Dance Master, no matter how much fun it might be. There is something called reality which comes to mind.
It wasn't all fun and games tonight, though. Unless Greg gets some sort of odd thrill about killing chickens, that is. Yep, tonight another ten chickens bought the farm, went to market, or to be blunt -- ended up as chicken dinner for the remaining 37 (or is it 36) kids in Bonanza City.
Oh, but not the brown chickens. Nope, Taylor deemed them pretty so they just couldn't be killed. That kid is really starting to make me feel a bit queasy. According to the mind of Taylor, ugly animals should die, but not pretty onces. She even tried to put make-up on her dog so it would meet her aesthetic standards. I think back when I was young and I remember thinking some animals were so ugly they were precious. I lived around chickens at one point and didn't really think some were any prettier than others. Now, cool fancy chickens at the state fair were often pretty, but regular old domestic chickens look like um ... well ... chickens.
So it was Taylor as the executioner even though it was Greg who carried out the dirty deed. She chose the ugly chickens which would make the dinner. I certainly hope she never goes into the line of world leadership. A food crisis? Oh, kill the ugly people! They don't matter as much as the beautiful ones, right? Who would be the judge? Uh-oh. Taylor. Shades of Soylent Green.
Of course, in a way, Taylor is getting what she wants. I think she thinks she's a star. And, tonight's episode was certainly Taylor-centric. Out of the nearly 40 kids on the show, she was the little drama queen tonight. From thinking all ugly animals should die to her work ethic (or lack thereof) to her change of ways only for personal gain ... Taylor got yet another me-me-me spotlight. I don't think she cares how she's portrayed, as long as she gets face time.
The journal made its return tonight and brought up the wonders of education. Now, this is a very smart and well-studied group of kids. I was a good student, but these kids are light years ahead of where I was at their ages. It's 40 days. Must they study? Well, Taylor refuses to study, but everyone else did.
Sure enough, the showdown tonight was a pop quiz, literally, pop. The kids were asked questions from the textbooks. Each district had a bunch of lug nuts and a slingshot. Three balloons with answers would pop up and they would have to shoot the two wrong answers. Taylor would not be allowed to take part in any reward the town might earn. In the end, Green won upper class, Blue are merchants, Yellow are cooks, and the laborers are the Red District.Then it happened. Each time they've made the choice of reward, the council leaders have gone with the wise and mature decision. I think the choice was definitely Taylor-influenced tonight. They knew, as she was quite vocal about it, that she wanted them to choose a library of books over a game arcade which would be free to all. The arcade and the fact that Taylor didn't want them to choose it led this batch of leaders to make the "wrong" choice.
Oh, my. Will the sky fall, Pretty Brown Chicken Little?
It just about did. Kids wanted to play the games instead of doing tasks which had to be done. Kids ignored their jobs. Kids were gambling on the games.Even my main little man Jared fell to the spell, chucking his work aside and becoming determined to be a Dance Man. Actually, it looked like a lot of fun. As an adult, I'd have trouble tearing myself away from it, too. But the fact that I need to keep myself sheltered with food and clothes would make me leave the games behind.
The kids have no such incentive. And, let's face it. They're kids.
Not all of the kids were happy. Sophia went into her workhorse mode saying that she's a 30-year-old woman trapped in a 14-year-old girl's body. DK was freaking because his district stopped working to go play games. Hunter didn't freak, but went about working and talking about the work ethic his father had instilled in him. Yes, he played the games a bit, but he knew work had to get done.
The real surprise is the kid who washed the mound of dishes. Haven't these kids ever heard of Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Who Would Not Take the Garbage Out? (Shel Silverstein, someone these kids should know all about!)
It was Taylor. Actually, Zach (her arch nemesis) asked her nicely and respectfully to please help. And, it worked. I'm sure the thought that they'd let her in the arcade had a lot to do with her decision to take on all the dishes from the entire month -- or so it looked.So, all is sweetie pie with dear Taylor once again. Greg hugged her and carried he over the threshold of the arcade like she was a bride. Ew.
But it all continued to fall apart, even more evident at the town meeting this week. The kids all wanted to play except for the very few who thought the arcade was the downfall of civilized society. Sophia had gone as far as to build a personal library where Alex could talk about the value of pi to his heart's content. Or, to his mind's content. Me, I don't care much after 3.14. That's all I really need to know for my lifestyle.
Did you notice that the kids weren't asked if anyone wanted to go home this week? Or did I just miss it somehow? Maybe because they only have six days to go it's a given all will remain for the duration.
The editing tried to play up the suspense between Hunter and Zach as the recipient of the gold star, but they had already blown it by highlighting one throughout the episode.I like Zach, he's a pretty cool little kid. But it was Hunter who won the gold star tonight. I think he deserved it -- the kid has worked hard throughout the season and it's time it paid off in something other than exhaustion from a job well done. It sounds like his family situation might be a bit eased by striking gold although I hope they put away most of it for his college education.
Like the library the kids turned down, that would be the right thing to do.
And, after all, tonight's episode was all a big lesson about choices, education, right and wrong decisions. While all of the episodes are a bit morals-ish, I felt a bit force-fed with this one. At least I didn't eat any pretty chickens, just the ugly ones.
At least Jared sneaked back to the arcade before it became locked and controlled by Sophia for the enjoyment of only those who have finished their work. He's a Dance Man. Yay.
| Yes | |
|---|---|
| No | |
| Only if the WGA is still on strike |
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