“Kid Nation” — To Kill Or Not To Kill?
MURDERER! MURDERER!
Well, those crazy kids are at it again, and the book (the book!) not so gracefully guided them to a life and death decision — for a chicken. The kids, fed up eating mush for a week a straight, were told (by that damn book) it would be OK if they maybe wanted to kinda sorta kill one of their many chickens… to eat. Cue: PETA press-releases. More after the jump…
Jared, the twitching little quote machine that he is, put everything in perspective: “We sped up the natural cycle of life and death!â€
Most of the camp voted to have two chickens axed, with a few holdouts. Emilie was adamantly on the “I say we let’m go” team. She went to great lengths to save those chickens lives (like locking herself in their coop, which I’m still trying to figure out) though ultimately folded like a an origami crane. I see how it is, Emilie, just as long as you don’t have to get your hands dirty, then everything is OK? What happened to the cause? When the moment finally came the sight of the death was for too much for young, impressionable Emilie to take. She fled back to the cabins, ruing the day.
Greg killed the chickens. Greg was pretty proficient at this. Actually, very proficient. Greg now has a special purpose: killing fowl. It should also be noted that when it came time to gut and butcher the poor birds it seemed to me like there were a few sparks flying between Greg and Sophia. Do I see doves? No, just dead chickens? Fair enough.
In the less murderous parts of the show this week, we learn that wee Taylor, the southern pageant girl who inexplicably sits on the town council, does absolutely no work and just lays in bed all morning and drinks sodas all afternoon while everyone else is slaving away. Zach confronts her about this, but she tells him, “Pageant girls don’t scrape off old food, we use dish washers.” Take that Zach! We are also informed (indirectly) that apparently they’re shooting this show in the Alaskan part of New Mexico, as it appears to be the dead of winter one minute and then sunny, temperate desert the next.
TO THE SHOWDOWN!
This weeks competition required the teams to lay some pipe. PVC pipe, to be exact. The goal was to run water from the pump though a series of obstacles and ultimately on top of a water wheel. If all the teams completed this task in an hour they would get a giant water slide in the town (exactly what you want when it’s 20-degrees outside). Honestly, this has to be one of the cruelest tasks to could ask of a bunch of kids in parka and sweaters. Before the showdown starts Greg tells us he and Blane apparently have both done a lot of PVC work. Who are these kids? What happened to playing Nintendo and chasing girls?
Blue District won the challenge and was bumped up to upper class. Red finished second and captured the merchant class. Michael (Mr. Obama) again said what everyone wanted to hear, “I think we need to just slow down and start thinking.†Well said, Michael. Yellow finished third and remained the cooks. Green had a major leak that slowed them down, and did not get the wheel to spin. Cue: sad music. Green remained the laborers and kept the town from getting the water slide (or the alternate prize of lots of water pumps). The town gave them a consolation hug, regardless. Everyone is a winner in Kid Nation!
In one of the episodes cuter moments we learn that eight-year-old Mallory has started a pet day care. Adorable, right?
Back at the council, the gang is trying to decide who should get the gold star. Mike is suspicious of Greg’s new work ethic. (Just for the money? Whaa? Not in our great Utopian kid society?) The council is split two-two between the great Michael and the suspicious Greg. Of course before the town hall Michael continues to say the right thing ulimately resulting in him taking home the prize. Natch. “You all have the potential!” he says again and again. When asked what he’s going to do with the money Michael inexplicably says he’s going to give it to his parents. “They deserve it.” Really? Your parents? The ones who abandoned you in the middle of the desert? Dude, buy a car! Or a giant pile of Legos or something.
At the town hall Taylor reminds us that she is a princess and can do no wrong. This after being called our for the second straight time by Sophia for doing nothing. Hell, even lovable Michael agreed. Taylor is in a gots-ta-go situation, though there isn’t a sufficient enough uprising to make this happen. It does seem inevitable though. Enjoy the post life Taylor, your days are numbered!
Speaking of, no one, not even young, impressionable Emilie, decided to leave the camp. The number remains at 39.
As the last thing in the episode we’re reminded that Greg is a sore loser. He felt he should have gotten the gold star. After all, he’s the one with blood on his hands, and dammit, he’s gonna do something about it! Stay tuned…
September 27th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
The journal entry was slightly ridiculous. What is next weeks entry going to suggest, that since they have no toys, perhaps they should play with eachother? I hope that Sophia makes like the council and picks Michael over Greg to give her gold star. Also, Taylor needs to be kicked off the council, and be sent back to a life of fake tans and vaseline smiles.
PS- im looking at Zach for an upcoming gold star, the kids got the goods!