"Brazilian Pain Forest" Episode Review

Episode Summary:    With Don just being freshly beat up by the Vegans (in my mind the Omnivores), the remaining fifteen teams board two military jets to their next destination.  The highest ranking six teams originally are given a two hour lead, but that is botched up thanks to Dwayne's klutzy dropping of his fossil from the previous challenge.  Thus, the lower ranking teams from the last challenge in Iceland are undeservingly given the lead instead, and head to Brazil.  Nice move, Dwayne!  Now the higher ranking teams might rank lower in Brazil thanks to you.

  When the other military plane, full of various forms of life stock, arrives in Brazil, the other nine teams are forced to place one of their hands in a dangerous glove full of poisonous bullet ants to get their first tip.  While some teams end up with swollen hands, others end up with swollen heads.  That "honor" goes to Laurie of the Vegans (Omnivores), who was pushed backwards into the glove accidently by Adversity team member, Mickey.  Well, Mickey, you might want to change your team's name to the Accident Prone twins.  Not only do you have multiple allergies that have harmed you in various challenges, but you also hurt other people while trying to avoid such accidents.

  After that is done, teams then must get to the other side of a large cliff by swinging on some vines.  Most of the teams easily make it through, but the Vegans and strangely the Lovers end up falling down into the river below.  Once the teams pass the cliff, they must break open coconuts in order to get their next tip.  Just don't eat them like some idiots and then have to wait eight hours to find out if a tip was in there!  When the teams find the tip, the next part of the challenge is revealed.  Using feathers, sparkles, and glue, teams must make outfits fit for Carnival, which must be approved by a local.  When the teams' outfits are approved, they must use gliders in order to get to the Chill Zone below.

  While making their costumes, the Sisters out of pure pity create a trial alliance with the Adversity Twins, only for it to end immediately after accidentally harming each other while gliding down to the Chill Zone.  Well, that was kind of pointless, maybe.  Tragedy strikes the Vegans (Omnivores) as they are given a thirty minute penalty and ultimately lose the challenge again.  Instead of being given immunity like the last time, the Vegans are kicked off of the race, kind of unfairly if you ask me.  The episode then ends, without Don being beat up by the Vegans (Omnivores) this time around.  (Maybe I was pushing it too much with the Omnivore joke.)

Positive Aspects:    Despite the episode having a B+ rating like "Bjorken Telephone", it is slightly better than that episode.  However, there are reasons why the episode didn't quite get a higher rating, which I'll explain once I get to the negative aspects of this episode.  Just know that in my opinion, this episode was still more enjoyable than the last one.

  The reason for my enjoyment of this episode mostly has to do with the humor, a positive aspect I speak about constantly in my Ridonculous Race reviews.  In this episode, every single joke worked, and was quite memorable to say the least.  Such jokes that I recall the most are the "brutal" murder of Owen's teddy bear, Beary, (he was killed due to stress eating), and Miles wanting to form a group for vegans who have "lost their way" by eating meat, such as her partner Laurie.  Also, some of the jokes smartly were incorporated into the plot, usually after one team was using the confessional.  One example of this was when Laurie's face became swelled up from bullet ants thanks to a misplaced high five by the Adversity Twins. 

  Additionally, there were hints of strong character development with certain characters.  Two examples of this are with the Lovers and the Mother and Daughter team.  The Lovers seem to be having a rift in their relationship, which has only gotten stronger since the last episode.  Stephanie pushed Ryan too far a few moments in this episode, especially when they were trying to cross the cliff that leads to the river below.  Due to Stephanie pushing poor Ryan too far again, they both end up falling into the river and this kind of pisses off Ryan.  There is a very strong chance now that they will break up within the next few episodes, probably in an over the top way this show is known for.  Also, Kelly is starting to notice her daughter Taylor's bratty behavior, and almost says something a few times in this episode.  It isn't much, but it is at least noticeable.

  Overall, don't take this episode too seriously.  Instead, just take it as a comedy filled episode with a few charms to its humor.

Negative Aspects:    The reason this episode didn't get a higher grade was because of one simple thing; a lack of sub-plots.  Although every character has at least one moment of glory in this episode, none of them really have a plotline.  Sure, there is the Adversity Twins' alliance with the Sisters, but that plot ends right when it was getting started.  To me, giving these characters plotlines makes the Total Drama franchise stick out from other cartoons.  Most of them are really well developed, relatable, and just extremely entertaining to watch.  Without them, you just have another funny generic cartoon.

  Another minor problem I have with this episode is the elimination of the Vegans.  The last minute penalty put on them, ended up causing their exit from the game, just as they were becoming interesting characters.  The only positive thing about this elimination is that it was at least well built up, and you knew it was going to happen from the beginning.  Other than that, there is nothing good about this elimination at all.