“Kid Nation” ep.7 review
by V.E. on November 1st, 2007
filed under entertainment, recap/review
Official | IMDb | Wikipedia
Wednesdays @ 8 PM ET on CBS
Previous episode reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Fast Stats
Episode title: “The Root of All Evil”
Awarded the gold star: Nathan, blue team
Left town for home: no one
Episode favorite: Greg, blue team
Days elapsed this episode: 3
Total days elapsed: 22
Remaining residents: 38
Yes, my favorite for the episode is Greg, the same as last week. He’s growing on me. So, as you may have guessed, this episode involved “the root of all evil”—money. I think that saying comes from the Bible or some other ancient holy book, but it’s not actually money that is the root of all evil… It’s the love of money that is. Just to clear that up. Anyway, the council read The Book, which told them to go searching for treasure up the mountain. They did and in an “old, abandoned mining shaft” found a chest full of 375 buffalo nickels ($18.50)—something that could double each resident’s daily pay for one day. In case you don’t remember how much each class is paid, check the first review (link above). Instead of splitting it up, they decided to go on a shopping spree in the general store for “fun stuff” (baseball equipment, musical instruments, a kite, etc.) for the whole town. They were anxious (especially Laurel, green team’s council member) because they weren’t sure the residents would accept their decision well. Lucky for them, the town was quite pleased with the new fun stuff, so the council breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Jared was angry because Divad (both red team) was using the kitchen’s food to create her own snack business and was “monopolizing the small business market,” so he toppled over her stand. (She forgave him and they reconciled.) Later, he devised his own business plan that involved creating necklaces out of sticks and rope that read “Bonanza 2007″—whatever the case, his business boomed. For 10¢ each, many of the residents bought a necklace for themselves, and some even bought them for family members and friends. Jared earned close to $3 and spent it all at once in the general store on a wacky hat and coat, among other things. He said himself that the money was burning a hole in his pocket. Ah, the consumer society we live in today, right? Just lovely.
Meanwhile, Nathan (blue district) was having serious trouble washing clothing—and getting anyone else to help him out—because he wanted to get it done right. Greg (also blue) gave him a hard time about washing the clothes and dishes and hauling water, even made him cry once or twice (well, once that we as viewers witnessed, anyway). His trouble was that he’d grown up much too fast for his age—something that was repeated by other town members throughout the episode. He said in an interview that he thought for a moment about going home, but that just wasn’t him (his style) and that, of course, he’d stay. He later won the gold star over contenders Pharaoh and Divad because [1] Pharaoh had only started working hard after he learned that the gold star was worth something, while Nathan had worked really hard from day one, and [2] Divad’s stated goal was to “earn” the gold star through what looked a lot like bribery and advertising. Laurel saw through her act, too, and the serious debate ended up being between Nathan and Pharaoh. The argument was that, while Nathan had worked hard from the beginning, Pharaoh’s mom was/is a single mom and therefore she and Pharaoh needed the prize money more. I think they rightfully chose the most deserving resident over the one with the guilt trip. Not to say Pharaoh hadn’t been working hard since he learned that the gold star was worth $20,00 (real-world $$), but I tend to lean toward rewarding hard work over appeasing one’s own guilt.
Greg was my favorite this episode because, although he was really harsh and tough on Nathan at the beginning, he later sincerely apologized and then nominated him to the council for the gold star. See why he’s growing on me? I mean, he’s a jerk, but he’s not all jerk. I think I might have a “thing” for jerks who have [the potential for] sincerity and kindness in their hearts. I mean, really… look at the last two people I dated. Sheesh.
Moving on. The showdown this episode involved slinging (raw) golden eggs over a wall to the other side where team members tried to catch the eggs (without breaking them, of course) in large trampoline-like nets and then putting them into the team’s box back behind the range of fire. I can’t really explain it, but there are pictures here to give you an idea of the challenge. If the group as a whole got 48 or more eggs, they’d win a big prize. They did (thanks to the blue district), and the town council had to decide between machine washers and dryers that cost 20¢ per load (or, twice the amount of a laborer’s daily pay) OR a new set of clothes for each kid (in their team’s color, of course) and some pioneer (manually operated) washers which were, nevertheless, better than what they already had. After some thought, the council decided upon the latter of the two choices, something that my roommate said was “an obvious choice,” even though I don’t get why it was so obvious. I would’ve chosen the pioneer washers, too, probably, but it wasn’t that obvious to me. Two teams, red and green, never really got into the groove and only managed to collect 5 and 6 eggs (and therefore became laborers and cooks), respectively. Yellow got the hang of it, but only after quite a few broken eggs, and they ended up as merchants with 18 eggs in their box. (If you haven’t been counting, the entire town needed 19 more eggs after the first three teams’ eggs had been counted to get the Big Prize) The blue district managed to set up a system right from the start, and they won with 38 eggs and became the upper class—and almost earned the town’s group reward all by themselves.
I took a round-about way this review, but I think I’ve covered everything. If you’ve seen the episode and noticed that I left some glaring plot point out, let me know and I’ll consider revising.
Best. Paragraph. EVER.
by V.E. on November 1st, 2007
filed under entertainment
The last paragraph in the NY Times article, “A Boy-Band Grad’s Next Act” by Melena Ryzik, italics mine:
Mr. [Lance] Bass said he could not predict how his former bandmates would react to his memoir, but he hoped they would all read it. “It’ll take them a while because none of them like to read,” he said. “But definitely, there are people around them who’ll read it first. They’ll give them the Cliffs Notes.”
HAHAHAHAHAHA. *dies of laughter*
