Kid Nation

Previously on Kid Nation: elections were held for the Town Council, and while Laurel and Anjay retained their positions, Mike and Taylor were replaced by Guylan and Zach. Greg finally won a Gold Star.

Tonight's Kid Nation should be interesting. How will the new Town Council be different from the old one? How will Mike and especially Taylor react to no longer being in power? Who will win the Gold Star, seeing as how all the major players who deserve one already have one? And why, oh why, didn't we get to see more of Jared last week?

Laurel lays down the law to the new Town Council members about waking up early.  Zach and Guylan have plenty of ideas, like any new idealistic leaders.  Taylor has no intention of taking this quietly, yelling at Zach and trying to make his life miserable.  Taylor does the hilarious "my butt" comeback, and it leaves Zach speechless.  Meanwhile, the kids are noticing a huge trash pile-up in an alley that is becoming a serious problem.  Sorry Kid Nation, there may be many fascinating facets in creating a new society, but sanitation maintenance is not one of them.  What's next week, zoning regulations?  Infrastructure subsidies?

Zach is excited to read the Magic Journal.  They're told to clean out the garbage.  Anjay wants to blow it up with gun powder, which is an awesome idea.  Zach suggests taking it far away and burying it.  They each pick members of their districts to help out, and Greg and Blaine are, of course, enlisted to do the physical labor.  DK, Mike, Sophia and Meg are also chosen, and for some reason, they also force beauty queens Taylor and Leila to help out.  Those two don't want to, so Laurel tells them to "Deal with it!"  They don't, instead choosing to run away and sit down.  Laurel accepts this, and goes off to do the work, promising a punishment later on.

In Jared Land, the philosopher moppet is wearing a great tie-dyed shirt and laments the problems caused by man's pollution of the environment, and he questions what his generation can do.

At the garbage dig, they give Guylan a chance, but he's not so good at using the shovel.  Greg gets impatient and goes in, because he can.  How do you like them apples, Greg-haters?  He won a Gold Star and is STILL helping.  Anjay is kind of an obnoxious twit the whole time, and it seems his confidence was boosted from defeating Olivia in the election.  Leila, scared of the looming punishment, comes to help, but Taylor still refuses.  Taylor's punishment is to haul water and fill up the empty tank.  So for refusing to do physical labor, her punishment is different physical labor?  Not the most well thought-out punishment.  Taylor starts to carry two buckets of water, then drops them, kicks them over, and says, "Oops, my bad" before leaving.  That was...totally expected.

The Town Council confront Taylor in her bunk, and block off every door as she tries to escape.  She threatens to kick Anjay, and when Laurel finally lets her walk it off, Taylor promises to go home.  With the water tank empty, DK rallies the troops to work together.  Gee, I wonder who will win this week's Gold Star.  Mike, now a "civilian" as Sophia calls him, has to start over, and he begins by learning how to peel some potatoes.  In preparation for the challenge, Guylan admits to being a terrible speaker, so he lets DK pump up the troops.

Kid Nation Showdown!  A giant frying pan contains tons of beans, and live pigs.  Zach snarks that it's not kosher, which makes me like him even more.  They must retrieve as many of their colored cans from the pan in 15 minutes, and the reward is if the four teams combine for 75 cans.  During the showdown, Guylan, I believe, says that he lived at a zoo, so he's been around pigs before.  There are many questions I have stemming from that statement, the biggest one being: what zoo has pigs?  The red district shines, while Anjay is pretty terrible.  Zach takes a distinct pleasure in watching Taylor wade through the beans.  To make up for his slow blue teammates, Greg does a header straight into the pan.  I say he deserves a second Gold Star, just because he's working just as hard after his win.

The blue team got 17 cans.  The red team got 24 cans.  The yellow team got 19 cans.  The green team got 20 cans.  They win the reward, and somehow, Taylor is on cook duty again.  The nerdy blue team gets the labor class, because even though Greg and Blaine rule, their brute force is tempered by a bunch of weaker kids.

The reward choice: fruits and vegetables vs. two gas-powered dune buggies.  Taylor wants the dune buggies, which is odd because when she was on the Town Council, she routinely took joy in crushing the hopes and desires of the town by going for the sensible choice, like dental care over a barbecue.  They wisely pick fruits and vegetables, and Taylor vows to hate Zach for the rest of her life.  Yeah, I'm sure he'll be losing sleep over that one.  Parents around the country rejoice to see kids actually happy to be eating their fruits and vegetables.

As cooks, Taylor is offended when Zach puts her in charge of washing dishes.  If I remember correctly, she previously said that the boys could do the cooking and wake up early, while Taylor and the girls would do the dishes.  Zach says Taylor and her follower, Lelia, will never win a Gold Star, and Laurel compliments him on that move.

Emilie and some other kid (I think it's Brett) are horsing around with a water fight, and he trips and hurts himself,  DK yells at these kids to stop acting like idiots and contribute something to the society.  Tha night, he begins to question why he's here instead of back home with his loving family.

Kid Nation Town Hall Meeting!  Beforehand at the Gold Star deliberation, DK is the only choice, and they think he needs it.  There's something fishy about the editors making it look so obvious.  Taylor is glad to be off the council so now she can just do work like a normal kid.  Everyone laughs, and they get her to admit she doesn't do any work.  The town gangs up on Taylor, and it's the most frustrating screaming match ever because she will never change no matter how many times she vows to "try."  DK orders them to hush, so he tells them not to be so mean to her.  When the host asks if anyone wants to go home, DK raises his hand.  Now that's a twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan.

The kids all try to convince DK to change his mind, so Guylan takes him aside and gets him to stay.  Well, now the Gold Star is going to look like a bribe for him to stay.  What kind of message is it if the Gold Star goes to someone who wanted to be a quitter?  He promises the $20,000 will help his six brothers and sisters get an education.  In the phone call, his mom is 17 kinds of awesome, doubting him because her son is a joker, then saying he's already a "star" in her eyes.  I'd love to see a documentary about the parents of these kids.

Next week on Kid Nation: the kids hunt for treasure in a cave filled with bats.  I wonder if Bonanza City has a rabies vaccine.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)