Okay, so I’m late! Sorry, PopWatchers, it being a holiday and all, I got a little behind. But! There is decent news: Because it’s a holiday, I’m at home with the family, which means that for the first time ever I watched Kid Nation with actual kids! My brothers Christopher (14) and Nicholas (12) have never seen the Nation before (I know! It’s so cute!), nor have they ever read these posts (I know! I feel so defeated!), so they’ll provide unbiased, unfiltered commentary.
Mainly Nicholas wants to know things like “Why is it called Bonanza City?” (Me: “I don’t know.”) Or “How much does the stuff in the stores cost?” (Me: “Why does that matter?!”) “Well, if you sell stuff in the stores do you get the money, plus your salary? Because then why would you want to be upper class if you could just get the money from the stuff you sell? Because you could make more that way.” (Me: “What? No, you can’t keep the money, that’s the store’s profit, you only get the…[insert boring 40-second lecture on capitalism here.]) [Insert brother’s and-why-are-we-related-again? stare here.]
Christopher, on the other hand, is more of an acerbic, almost snarky, viewer of the scene. (I have NO IDEA where he gets that from.) He sat silent as Guylan made his best decision yet, asking the red district to vote him off the Council, then watched as the rest of the incumbents — including Good Laurel Hunting — went with him. But when Greg opened his mouth (“I know half you guys are thinking, ‘Oh my God, Bonanza City is gonna burn”), Christopher did the same: “That’s what I think. These kids are out of their minds.”
Kinda yes, little brother! That’s the beauty of the Nation! It’s a place where the normally solid Laurel spazzes after her election loss, and suddenly reveals she has serious control issues. This is a town where the government — or at least the militant wing known as Greg and Blaine — spies on its citizens, then uses the ill-gotten intel as a big stick against the very people they’re meant to represent. (Heyyyy, that sounds eerily familiar). It’s a land where there are new bosses every couple of weeks, and they all have insane, unworkable ideas about how to communicate with their plebes. (Again with the uncomfortable sense of recognition.) It’s the sort of “authentic” “Old West” experience into which my brother can parachute, check out Blaine and Greg for half an episode, then ask in utter befuddlement, “How did THEY get gold stars?!” I have no words, my brother. I have no words.
By the end, Christopher and Nicholas — along with the new Council — had lost all innocence. They’d seen what a problem the Pageant Princess still was. They could not believe how off the Council leaders were in putting together their communication timelines (Christopher: “Did that Greg guy just put television first??”). They even soured on love. Because when Good Laurel Hunting took home the Most Inevitable and Well-Deserved Gold Star Win in the History of Bonanza City, and Greg wanted a little squeeze, Nicholas popped up to offer his heartfelt benediction: “Oh sure, hug for the cameras.”
Awww… we are related!
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Awww…we are related!
Huh???
Hi Alynda:
Your two brothers made more sense about what’s going on in Bonanza City, just watching the program for an hour, than I have for the last few months. It appears that our world, with Greg and Blaine, i.e. Big Brother, spying on us and punishing us for free speech, will continue.
at the end of the episode nicholas said something acerbic and snarky (“Oh sure, hug for the cameras”) like his big brother and sister. that’s when alynda ‘knew that they were related.’
I honestly believe Taylor was doing something worth while in the kitchen, it just that she answer her leaders with a rude sarcastic response. She just got pick because of her characteristics
I laugh and saw so real world complications and I enjoy the challenge with seeing the former leaders show again taken charge and wonder if this was another change for the sake of change
Thanks for the mini-watch even if it was belated. I have to work today and it perked up my day a little bit to read your recap.
As predicted, the new “boys” swept into power as the new town council. Right away, I knew they would use their newfound authority in inappropriate ways, which was proven with the telephone contest. Boo.
I thought the challenge was intriguing as it posed an interesting contrast between brains and brawn among the new council members. Blaine, Greg, and DK, (except for Mike) all had problems dealing with the communication timeline puzzle. They aren’t the brightest bulbs in the group. Mike, Anjay, and Greg had to tell them which was the right order. The better the new council leaders listened to their smarter predecessors, the faster they got their new order (DK being the most reluctant).
I guess it’s natural in the “competition town setting” to have brawn rise to the council, and get recognition by winning the gold star for their physical hard work. If it was a different setting (like our current society) where intellectual and organizational challenges are the norm, then probably the “brains” rise to the top. How we elected George Bush (probably one of the dimmest presidents in U.S. history) though as president twice in the past eight years is beyond me. Maybe we have a country filled with “kids” as well, striving for “upper class” and willing to recognize popularity and brawn with fame and fortune, over the moderate wisdom of the “brains.”
Oh, and this 1000 character word cap on these comments are brutal. It’s barely 4-5 sentences! Shame on you EW, TVguide.com and other websites don’t have such strict word counts. It really hampers any interesting or meaningful comments on this page. Booo.
I think your brother makes a great pointabout the store’s profits. Where does the money go from the purchases? You made a quick reference to capitalism, but have we seen that money go to the town’s taxes? Do they have an accounting system in place? Are they purchasing more goods from a distributor, or making renovations with the revenue? Or is the money just sitting in the register? The salaries come from an outside source. The merchants don’t receive compensation based on how well or not well the stores are doing. If one team manages to increase profits dramatically, shouldn’t they be able to reap the rewards?
I JUST realized like a week ago that Guylan was actually a GUY! I soooo thought he was a girl.
Seeing the kids eat the pies during the relay was pretty funny (It’s good!) but I’d cut them slack on not knowing what past technologies were invented when you realize none of them were alive pre-1990. Didn’t understand DK, Greg and Blaine acting like punks. I was hoping Green would go secessionist The “communication” game was so lame. What consultant did they learn that from?
This was my favorite episode so far! Blane and Greg in charge! Muahahah! Let the chaos begin!
Those Bonanza kids must be pretty dumb to elect both of them to council and expect things to be better. Zach was a great leader. Guylan was lame for voting himself out. Like a kid who got tired of playing with shiny toy.
Olivia is still a B*
Laurel dissapoints me.
Michael is awesome for standing up for green. (the whole spy business and street confrontation was spectacular TV, folks!)
It would have been sooooo wrong to keep Taylor’s letters from her. (which is why part of me kinda wanted them to…) But I love that she’s still a brat!
All in all, Voting out the old leaders wasn’t smart. (Change for change’s sake, Alynda.) I really want this show to return next year!
This is my favorite show on TV right now. I can’t wait for this Wed night. Taylor is up to her old tricks. I hope one of the other little girls slaps some sense into her. She is going to have a hard time when this show is over. I think her time as a pagent princess over.
I thought DK was a nice kid up till now. He’s a sheep now following Greg and Blaine around. Not a good choice.