(S01E12) Oh, my. The time is really getting down there for the kiddie pioneers of Kid Nation. Next week is the season finale. So many deserving kids, so many kids who are mere faces in the crowd. Who will get the last few gold stars? Brains? Brawn? Need? Greed? What will be the criteria?Well, they're kids, so it's hard to say. But one thing is for sure, they'll be steered by the invisible adults in the background all the way to the decision. For me, that's been the nagging flaw of the show -- the amount of adult intervention. But the most enjoyable aspect of the show is getting to know the children themselves.
The little kids are the ones I enjoy the most. Jared, with his crooked glasses and often odd headgear, spouting Shakespeare and quantum theories. Alex with his snaggly tooth and more knowledge of science than I had as a college senior. Even Zach, only ten years old, yet compassionate and wise beyond his years. Heck, even tonight Taylor showed a bit of maturity. Maybe there's hope after all, eh?
Last week the district leaders asked (or told) Sophia that they'd like her to be in charge of the free arcade. Since the arcade was drawing all the kids away from their jobs, something had to be done and she's just the woman for the job.With this week's journal entry, the district leaders had to leave town, thus leaving Sophia totally in charge of the entire town. How convenient was that appointment last week, I ask? I know I've harped on it in the past and I know I'll probably mention it again in next week's finale review, but darn it. A little less obvious adult manipulation of these kids is in order here.
As the district leaders went off to what turned out to be a meeting with some Pueblos, we saw Sophia truly get a chance to shine. No, she wasn't the dictator everyone thought she would become. Yeah, she did make a patch of land "hers" in some sort of bizarre test of the other kids. And, yes ... the kids all of a sudden had to be on that patch. But she went right in being fair, respectful of the others as she got them to do their work, and by setting a good example.
Oh. That's exactly the same thing the Pueblos were teaching Michael, Greg, DK, and Blaine, wasn't it?
Despite the worries of the other kids, the work got completed without issues and the arcade opened for all to enjoy.The kids actually seem to think a lot more of Sophia's leadership than they do of the boys on the town council. One kid mentioned how noisy the boys are and how much they curse. Taylor worked well for Sophia and told her that she hoped Greg got lost and eaten by coyotes.
Now, this was the Greg who carried Taylor over the arcade threshold last week and who feels he's the guiding older brother to all. But the kids can see Greg's mood swings. I think Sophia's consistency and respect for the others was her ace in the hole.
I got a kick out of Jared and Alex with the bones of the dead cow. When I was young, my brother and I used to visit some cattle bones up in the woods by my grandparents' house. I was about the same age as Alex and Jared. But beside the skull, ribs, and spine .... I couldn't tell a femur from a mandible at that age. I never could have come up with Jared's classic Jared line of the night. "Pelvis has left the building," Jared said as they hauled some of the bones away.
When showdown time came, the four district leaders -- the brawn of the town -- were still away. So, it just had to be a physical challenge. Of course, make those little guys grunt and sweat.
I wasn't too surprised that Jared rattled the basics of the Homestead Act on which the showdown was loosely based. Or was it Alex? Both of those kids are quirky cutie geniuses.Each district had to dismantle a "house." Then they carried the pieces across a field to rebuild it. Next they had to retrieve their animals -- chickens and an alpaca for each district.
The yellow district is all smaller kids without Blaine, so they had a really rough go of it. But all of the kids gave it their all as if to prove they don't need the bigger kids to do the job well.
Green won upper class (good, they deserve it after so many times as laborers). Red will be the merchants, blue the cooks, and yellow laborers. Oh, gee. Let's see if Taylor will work for her last days in Bonanza City!
What surprised me was that Sophia went for the fun reward rather than the more meaningful one. Hmm. Well, since the monument has already been made, it surely will exist somewhere. I didn't see them bring in a wrecking ball and kill it, did you?
When the district leaders came back to the hot air balloons, I think they had to be surprised at Sophia's choice, too. It's too bad the show didn't give them a chance to take a ride in them even though they didn't partake in the showdown.
From the editing of the show tonight, it was pretty evident that either Alex or Jared would win this week's gold star. But I had forgotten that Zach, a hard worker and outright good kid, hasn't received one yet. I was happy that he went back to confront Greg about laughing at him, and just as pleased that DK spoke up against Greg. Now, Greg has his tender moments, but he should have listened more to the Pueblos. Or, he could just watch Sophia in action when she has power.
I hope there is more than one gold star left in the show. But if there's just one more, I think Zach is probably the most deserving to win it. This week, it wasn't in the cards. It was an Alex win.Jared had put his own name in for it, but seemed happy for his friend. "Maybe I'll win a Nobel Prize. That's gotta be worth five gold stars." Even Zach seemed to support the Alex win.
But who wouldn't be happy for the kid?
The town council decided to shut down the arcade and just spend some time with each other as they get down to the last few days. I was touched when Anjay said the town was the only place he ever seemed to fit in. Aww.
Despite the adult intervention, this is a special lot of kids. I think, for most of them, they have made lifelong friends and will treasure their memories. Me? I'd like to see Jared go for that Nobel Prize!
TV Squad Ten: Cartoon women who should have Playboy centerfolds
Six Mad Men characters who are in limbo after the finale
Fact or Fiction: Big Bang, Brothers & Sisters and CSI
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-06-2007 @ 12:07AM
Jacob said...
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that it was Jared that rattled the basics of the Homestead Act. Kids these days learn way too much in school (or is it just the fact that the school system sucked when I went through it?)
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 12:46AM
laffy4k said...
Yes, it was Jared with the Homestead Act.
As I was reading this post, I had the thought that perhaps for the finale next week Jonathan will give a gold star to every kid who hasn't already gotten one? Sort of as a congratulations for making it all the way through the show. Or maybe they'll get a smaller reward, like a, um... maybe a silver star?
Does anyone else think that may happen?
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 8:10AM
Jeff said...
I do think something may happen where they each get a little money although I think it is pretty safe to say that every child was paid to participate in the program. I really hope that there will be some kind of reunion show to see how the experience affected their lives and how they thought they were protrayed on TV. Great show! I hear the producers are asking new applicants to have Visas ready for a foreign location since their was so much controversy in the beginning.
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 8:58AM
Larry Hamilton said...
the previews for next week showed they had multiple gold stars out and at least one huge gold star. Maybe a 5lb one. So it will be interesting to see who that goes to.
As far as Taylor being more mature, her maturity is the same as Greg's, it comes and goes with violent variation. Neither of them deserve the gold star and someone should strip Greg's from him.
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 9:09AM
Larry Warner said...
It is obvious to me that Sophia and Laurel are head and shoulders above the rest of the kids in terms of maturity and common sense. I would hope that either of these young ladies receives the giant gold star during the finale.
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 9:15AM
RC said...
I think the most off putting part for me was listening to Alex call his parents. Was he raised by robots? It was like there was no emotion in their conversation whatsoever compared to the other kids who were crying and their parents were crying. When I was that age I was never away from home for over a month but I would hope my family would be a little more excited to talk to me!
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 9:35AM
ORKMommy said...
They were being filmed talking to their son! The whole family strikes me as a bit "nerdy" and I'm sure they were very nervous about being on TV. Give the poor people a break! They're raising a great son so there has to be some love in that home!
12-06-2007 @ 9:36AM
Steve said...
Pelvis Presley?
cmon the producers are definately feeding this kid lines.
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 10:40AM
CoryB said...
From the previews of next week it is clear that there will be at least one final star worth significantly more than the weekly ones. It almost looked like there were three on each table suggesting that each district might get one.
That said, regardless of the number of stars, if this is a reward worth more than the previous gold stars Sophia deserves it more than any other person on the show. She is worked consistently from day one through to the end and has tried her best to keep everyone on task even when she wasn't sherif. She also did not resort to the same sometimes gruff approach as Greg.
I sort of doubt the kids will award someone a second star though so my second choice would be Zach. He has made efforts to try and salvage the yellow team that Taylor put together which has been a big contributing factor to their difficulties.
The other thing to keep in mind going into next week is that 5 kids were on council and have not received gold stars Anjay, Taylor, Mike, Zach and Guylan. I had said it before and it would still not surprise me if those five all end up with a star before the show is done.
Since we have not seen Divad nominating herself for a few weeks or otherwise being featured I think it is pretty safe assumption that she is not getting a gold star.
Finally, it would not surprise me by any strech to see Campbell and Savannah, the only two green without gold stars, each pick one up next week.
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 11:39AM
mugsy said...
"Hey, it's an igloo"
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 12:03PM
Holmes! said...
It was heartbreaking when Anjay said he fit in the most at Bonanza City, considering what jerks the other kids have been to him... The kids at home must be even worse!
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 2:56PM
Deb said...
The TV Guide comments on next week's show states that there will be 3 reward challenges which result in 3 gold stars, but these stars are worth $50,000!!!
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 3:17PM
KNFan said...
I thought last night's show was a great show -- with all of the principals, in my opinion, highlighted. If you will, I think I would dub that show "The Eggheads! "
* Sofia's funny and a beautiful young lady. Even though she already believes she's a "30-year-old trapped in a 14-year-old's body," I believe she would be quite a credit to society in years to come if she had the chance to spout her wisdom.
*Jared, what can I say -- hilarious !! He's a brilliant little boy. I think his one-liners are truly his own and not contrived, as some suspicious minds may believe.
*Alex. What a braniac ! So glad he found his match in Jared. I sure hope they would both be able to contribute to science in the future. But teleporting? Not sure about that, Greg. By the way, I sure hope Little Al's parents are won't to fix his teeth. If nothing else, that $20,000 could sure go to that little project.
* Greg is definitely bi-polar, in my opinion. A screw's loose with that kid. He has a mean streak and has to constantly be checked to get him to see his own inconsistency with his behavior. I sure hope that when they do this show again, they will have a lower age cut-off too. I think Greg was far too threatening in brawn and in other ways.
*DK -- Love that kid. SHe too is wise beyond his years. I'm so glad he was convinced to stay in Bonanza. He, like Sofia, I feel, keeps the moral compass of the community of Bonanza. I mean, I could only imagine how that council would be without DK there to keep those two badasses Greg and his buddy Blaine in check.
* Taylor -- Again, I'm scared of that little girl. I mean, the things that come out of her mouth ! Condoning the killings of "ugly" animals but not the "pretty" ones?. Wishing a coyote would come and eat Greg? And he's the one who has been the leader of giving her second and third chances and rejoicing when she made her forced breakthroughs ! She needs to get checked real bad when she gets back to reality -- home, that is. Yeah, I'd like to see a reunion show soon with these kids. But I'd really like to so a reunion show 10 years from now to see how they all turned out -- especially Taylor !!
*Guylan -- Love this kid. He sure must've led an interesting life in his young years already. I mean, both his parents were elephant trainers? And he lived in a zoo? No wonder he was home schooled. By the way, anyone know what his ethnicity is? I kind of think he may be part or full Native American. In that case, it really would have been nice to have seen him interact with the Pueblos last night.
*Anyone see that kid giving Sofia so much grief last night? I forgot his name. The weird one, who is a hard worker and won the Gold Star a couple of episodes ago but who sings in his sleep? Well, I swear, to me, he seriously looked just like Charlie Brown or whoever that character is in CB cartoons who hunches his back with his head down. Case in point -- that moment after Sofia announced the arcade was open to enjoy, all the kids scattered and ran with glee at the news. But in true Charlie Brown fashion, this kid just stood there with his head downi and shoulders hunched, as if he was being admonished. Weird.
Well, that's my take on last night's eppy with my favorite Angels with Dirty Faces. I sure hope the producers have a heart and end up giving all of the kids a gold star worth something because I feel they all certainly deserve it in some way to have made it through to the end.
-- KNFan
Reply
12-06-2007 @ 3:53PM
Jacki said...
I did not see Greg laughing at Zach. I saw him smile, which is probably a normal reaction for a 15 year when seeing another boy get emotional. I thought D.K. was wrong for taking Greg to task, especially after Greg told Zach that he did respect him for telling them what he felt.
I personally would find it hard to give a gold star to anyone who nominated themselves.
Reply
12-07-2007 @ 2:07PM
ORKMommy said...
Greg not only laughed, he told the other Council members that Zach's tears were fake. The kid is a bully!
12-07-2007 @ 1:49PM
CCL said...
I love this show! These kids are great! Last night was fun to watch Jared is so funny and him and Alex make a great match! Both very intellagent! Sad you don't get to know all the other kids, but there are 40 of them so it would be hard to show all of them.
The boy that someone reffered to as Charlie Brown that is Nathan! I like Nathan, he is a very sweet and shy boy, you can tell he is not use to being in large group. I was happy they gave him a gold star, he was a very hard worker.
Zach, what can you say!! Wonderful young man, My daughter just loves him, said she wished he were her brother..LOL When he got upset about Greg laughing at him for crying and went back in confronted him I thought that was great. He didn't in such a way that I was proud of him, his parents should be so proud of him they raised a respectful son. He could have just as well started yelling and throwing things, like Greg would have done. Love you Zack!
Its so hard to point out all the kids you fall in love with watching the show.
I'm sad this is the last week and it will be over, but I wish them all of life time of successes. They all deserve a gold star.
Reply
12-09-2007 @ 3:31PM
(: said...
Taylor and her little friends are annoying brats. They're the only ones who don't deserve a gold star.
Reply
12-31-2007 @ 1:28AM
Jon said...
Hey I Absolutily Looove This Show I Love The Kids In It
I Love The Hole Idea Of This Show Because It Shows That Kids Can Be Responsible And Work Together even Though That They Don't Know Each Other. And I Love How Anyone From Different Raceas Can Be There And work Together. And be Happy And Not Fight I just Wish I Could Be Apart Of It Q. Umm How can I Be Apart Of The Show I Really Wanna Be Apart Of It Q. #2 If people Do Get Accepted How Do They Get They're Dose The Show Fly Them Out To Bananza Q. #3 If They Do, Do That Where DO I Sign Up lol well I have To Say Is I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOObe This Show.
Reply
12-31-2007 @ 2:22AM
Jon said...
My Fav Kid's On The Show Are Zach And Alex. I Like Zach Cause' Hes A hard Worker Hes Kool And Nice and i would reall y Love To Have Him As A Friend . And I like Alex Cause' he is Just So Cute lol I like His Buck Tooth And Hes SUCH A Hard Worker (But Not As Much AS Zach lol) aND hES SO SMARTand i reall would love to have him as a friend
Reply