Man I love Tyler glad he wasn’t sent home today, btw keep things up ur a great fanfic writer, know how to get these fanfics right

And it's over.

Well, I can't say I didn't see Ella's win coming. I can't say I'm exactly "happy" about it since I had my share of problems with her throughout the season, but at the very least she had a well written arc or two and got her share of development. A part of me is a little salty she got the WT newbie spot by RNG and wasn't going anywhere until the endgame, when any other season wouldn't have let her get that far by default, but it is what it is. I'm not gonna like every winner of every season because that's not a realistic expectation to have, so like it I said, it is what it is. I still got to see Jo win a season in epic fashion though, which is more than enough to make up for any minor disappointment with Ella's victory. And who knows, maybe ROTI's winner will be even more amazing?

Sugar was the star of this season though. From the start she was a force of comedy, strategy, and villainy, and even if she isn't the official winner, I'm glad you gave her a good full season run when most writers just toss her out early in comp fics because they don't know what to do with her or just plain hate her character and only include her to take a big shit on her for a chapter or two. You put out a really respectable version that was true to her character with marked improvements and hopefully made some non-fans take a second look at her canon counterpart as someone with a lot of stuff to like.

Poor Al, getting 3rd place again. Always the best man; never the groom. While I don't particularly buy him losing to Ella is a brute force duel even with the mind games working against him (since I'm pretty sure he could knock her away in a couple hits if it was real life), 3rd place fits him. He was given a shot at redemption, which story-wise would have given him the boost he needed to win, but he rejected it and ended up falling short yet again. It was a really great twist on the "Season 1 villain grows more of a heart" plot from the canon season and at the end of the day, I can sleep happy with how it turned out.

Overall, while I had some issues which I've talked about before, this was the strongest of the three seasons so far in terms of scale and sheer work put into the writing, especially all those songs. Narrative-wise, Action is probably the best simply because Scarlett and Jo's rivalry and the big climax in the finale was more exciting than Ella and Sugar dunking on each other and fumbling some fruit for a few minutes. Boot order stuff is hard to talk about since it's hard to say how certain characters going far would completely change the season, but I was hoping for more pre-mergers to make it far. Staci was well executed even if she was only in the game for a handful of episodes, and Sierra and Scott had compelling pre-merge arcs, but I was hoping for more from Beardo since he was totally invisible in Action and could have used a longer stay to develop before (probably) getting shut out of All-Stars. But what I got still made for a fun season with a lot of great story lines to follow, and even if seven of these characters aren't done, I feel like most of them have reached good endings.

But speaking of All-Stars, it's about time to address that cast. Obviously I know nothing of the ROTI cast or who's even in the season to begin with, so that group could end up with a ton of heroes or a ton of villains to add to the mix. But I think I can offer up a solid list of 7 contenders from the first generation while I'm thinking about it.

Alejandro, Scarlett, Scott, Sugar, Amy, Lightning, and Jo are the Villains. Only three or four can make the cut, but I'm gonna say Al and Scarlett are locks simply because they're the main villains of the first trilogy and placed well multiple times. Scott got cut short and has more to give, so throw him in as well. Amy has beef with an obvious Hero, so add her to round out the Gen 1 Villains. Sugar and Lightning are faves of mine, but I think they've wrapped up their stories nicely as of WT and probably wouldn't make it far in All-Stars anyways. And then Jo already won, so as fun as it would be to have her back again, she's kind of "redeemed" so being a villain over some nastier people wouldn't really fit the theme. Unless she was a hero for saving everyone in Action lol... Oh wait that's gonna happen isn't it? Please let that happen.

As for our Heroes, Sammy, DJ, Dawn, Ella, Tyler, and maaaybe Bridgette fit the bill imo. Sammy is a lock in my mind, especially if Amy is there. You could have Dawn and DJ join her to fill out the 7 spots from the Gen 1 group, but having all three kind of shuts out a couple spots that could go to some other reps. Plus the only way their relationship could go is down, so maybe it's for the best if only Sammy competes. Tyler would be my next pick since he got a shitty exit in WT and needs a second chance. And then Jo would fill the Gwen role of "Why am I on this team?!"

So I'm locking it in: Alejandro, Scarlett, Amy, Scott, Sammy, Tyler, and Jo will represent the first three seasons in All-Stars.

As for who I want to see on ROTI, obviously I'm hoping to see my faves like Noah, Heather, Jasmine, LeShawna, Harold, etc. The RNG Gods gave you a ton of PI and ROTI folks for these early seasons so I'm expecting a ton of OG Islanders in the next couple casts. The only ROTI people still in the running are Mike, Zoey, Brick, Anne Maria, and Cameron, none of which would rank highly with me aside from maaaybe Anne Maria on a good day. PI is a little more open with Sky, Jasmine, Max, Dave, Rodney, and Leonard still to compete... which are interesting choices. I'd hope to see a good mix of all three casts to counter how Gens 2/3 dominated the first three seasons, but whatever group shows up should be interesting. And ironically the more "normal" people will be competing on the more cartoony seasons, which will be fun too.

I'm droning on at this point, so I'm cutting the review off before I write a novel. ROTI isn't a season I really enjoy that much, but with a new cast I'm sure you can fix a lot of the issues I had with the canon edition's storytelling, theme, and other assorted stuff. Until then (which might be tonight if I can't control myself lol), Foreseer OUT! :D

So that changes things. I just assumed Ella would win the first spot, but now that she's up against Al in a tiebreaker a Sugar/Al finale is suddenly back up on the table. And after this episode really pushed their rivalry, that would be the most satisfying match up. But I still see Ella winning the season, so the tiebreaker could always change. It WAS randomly selected in canon, so I see no reason why you can't throw a bone her way with an eating or singing competition to knock Al out in third place again. There were some heavy undertones of Al being the big bad to take down throughout this episode (enough to make Sugar look heroic lol), so getting cut just short once again would be his ultimate karma.

The condor carrying Ella and Tyler to Mexico was something I called back when he didn't show up in Alberta, so it was cool to see it finally come to fruition in a pretty epic way. As terrible as Ella has been with her social awareness and strategic skills, her singing has been her ticket to the top and I have to give her some credit where it's due.

But my favorite part of the episode has to be Staci and her rage-fueled revenge against Alejandro. That stuff was epic and I'm so happy she got to shine one last time this season. I don't want to get my hopes up for a spot in All-Stars (since she's probably the gag "villain" like Zeke was in the canon episode) but if you really wanted to throw a joke option in there I would fully support it being Were-Staci, even if it's for a couple episodes.

Phew. It's hard to believe there's only one episode left. Taking my time with this season was the right move and it's made the story way more memorable since I'm not casually cramming info for 10 plus episodes in a row non-stop. You know I'm rooting for Queen Sugar, but I'm bracing for an Ella win. Al winning would shock me after this episode, but I didn't expect Shawn to win back in TSI and then he did, so maybe I've been wrong all along. Anyways, finale time!

Time to wrap this season up. That's right, I'm reading the final three episodes back to back. :D

As you said, there's not a lot of depth to this episode, but it was still a fun way to send off the cast before the new cast gets a season full of attention.

Seeing Who Ya Gonna Root For? play out without the interruptions was a little disappointing since Harold and Courtney hijacking the song in canon was the funniest thing in the episode, but with nobody really fitting those types of roles I see why you changed things up.

Scarlett being the only member of Team Sugar just proves that her opinions are objectively the best and that she should be worshiped like the Goddess she is.

I'm Winning This was a fun song too. Throwing two early boots and a sit out into the challenge was a welcome surprise, and having Al and Ella get the rewards already has me thinking about what that means for the actual final two. I'm still thinking Ella and Sugar are the finalists and Sugar not winning any advantage only makes me more confident as she's in the Heather spot. Not the winning spot of course since Ella's latest winner-vibes stuck out like a sore thumb and ending the season on a villain winning over a hero doesn't seem like your style.

But enough about that. Time to get on with the story and see how everyone actually gets to the finale. I'm going to predict Ella wins and the finale opens with a tiebreaker between Al and Sugar since I can't see Ella beating either of them in the canon tiebreaker, but we'll see.

Aaaaaaaand I was wrong again lol. I think Ella would have been the better victim of the explosion after her "I want to help Tyler win!" attitude dominated two episodes, but Tyler being a clumsy oaf fits the bill for the role as well. Now the roles are gonna be reversed with Tyler helping Ella win (probably with the help of that condor since its feathery ass never showed up this episode), which I'm kind of down for, but still firmly believing that Tyler should have been in the final three.

I'm gonna say Ella's got this season won after that scene with the fire reflecting in her eyes. Her internal flame is lit and she's the only "hero" character left against two villains, neither of which has the "lesser of two evils" thing going on. If it isn't just a big red herring and she's actually third place, I'm guessing it's another girl/girl finale since Sugar's whole plot since the team switch was getting rid of Ella. Al getting third again would feel weird and he does have history with Ella, but Sugar/Ella just feels like where things are heading. Obviously I'm rooting for Sugar since Ella's actual gameplay has been atrocious and the late game "quitter" mentality got on my nerves even if she overcame it halfway through this episode. I wouldn't hate her win, but it would definitely be the least impressive win between her, Shawn, and Jo.

I gotta talk about that song though, because that was a dope track. It's easily the best song of the season and I don't think you can top it simply because it's so big and encapsulates arcs from all the characters. Even if it's not as epic as Al's villain song, it still caps off a whole season of development really well and gave everyone time to shine. And you wrote it all off the top of your head, completely removed from the original song. As someone who sucks at song-writing, I always avoid having songs in my fics simply because they'd be cringey as fuck. I know you've been down on some of the songs you've written as well, but you've put out some really good ones and this is the best yet!

The final aftermath is probably one of the most forgettable and pointless episodes because nothing about it ends up mattering in the finale, but it did give us I'm Winning This which is a great song, so I'm kind of intrigued to see what you change up. I expect most people to be on Team Ella with Sugar and Al getting their help from like, I don't know. Al's only reps would be on his side because he's hot and Sugar's because they have to have someone play for her in the surfing challenge.

Even if I'm not a huge fan of where I think it's going, I'm still excited for the last three episodes and all the potentially epic moments they could bring. I should be able to get the season finished the end of the weekend since I'm not swamped by college at the moment, so keep an eye out for those reviews! :D

My schedule for today opened up unexpectedly, so I managed to sneak in this episode, and boy am I glad I did because this was a great one. Since there are only four left, I figure I'll spend some time talking about each person.

Sugar is my favorite character this season and was someone I had really high hopes for when she was confirmed to return at the end of TDA. And she has lived up to them in spades. She's been sneaky, scrappy, manipulative, all the good stuff. Seeing her win that clutch win over Ella was great even if it didn't really get her to the final three (not that I expect her to get fourth in Drumheller over Tyler or Ella). I'd love to see her win and take it home as the first villain winner of the series, and knowing how Al managed to win in his ending, it's not impossible. But since you have official winners, I feel like she's destined for second place to one of the other three.

Al has returned to his slimy nature with no regrets, and I'm glad that Al is back. His little dilemma over Ella was a good subplot, but having him be working against her for real makes him way more threatening in this endgame. I know some people thought you neutered him in the middle of the story, but I've enjoyed his run and I'd be happy if he won. His win wouldn't feel as good as Heather's because Heather was a fucking queen in WT and that finale was the perfect set up for her to win, while Al's best win is... really against anyone because he doesn't have an epic rival to beat.

Tyler's firmly in the Cody spot, but unlike Cody I can actually see him winning this against Al or Sugar. I'd rather not see a newbie win, but I'd largely prefer him over Ella for reasons I'll get into with her paragraph. While most of his story has been about Ella (okay, pretty much all of it), I liked how hard working and dedicated he was in this challenge. A lot of people forget those traits of his and just make him a dumb pain magnet, but your take on Tyler has been outstanding.

And then there's Ella. I still have huge mixed feelings on her and this episode just made them more polarized. While she was at her most interesting, she was also really annoying with all the self-doubt and "I don't deserve to be here" talk. And you know, she's kinda right. As a player, she's been a pawn in everyone's plans and didn't even really play for herself at all this season, plus she's been so out of the loop socially that it's hard to respect her more than the other three who know what's up. That being said, she managed to redeem herself by the end and get back in the groove of things (probably just in time to be eliminated in Drumheller), so I'm not out on her completely.

And then we had that great challenge and the great song. Adding some new verses to the end was a good decision and made the ending actually suspenseful. I thought it would just end with Sugar winning at the end of the song (I guess it still did lol), but having her and Ella close to placing their final eggs got me excited. And you actually used the "You can have another chance later" bit from canon that never actually mattered because it was Cody and the writers just forgot he was a thing half the time. Good stuff, good stuff.

Four episodes left. I'm gonna guess Ella goes out in Drumheller like Sierra did, only it has something to do with that ominous ending with the condors. Ella helps Tyler get to Hawaii while Al and Sugar fight it out, with... the final two being... really hard to predict because all three non-Ella players have reasons to be finalists. I feel like Tyler would be the feel-good winner, but Al vs Sugar would be the most dynamic ending with a villain/villain climax, so it's hard to say. Sugar is the most likely finalist imo and Ella is the least likely, with Tyler and Al kind of floating in the middle. Or you could do a guy/guy finale to counter last season's girl/girl finale. Either way, it should be an interesting endgame.

Okay. So I actually read this one earlier today before school and expected to have a review out around that time, but I had to think about this episode for a little bit because man, I have some thoughts. And some of them aren't exactly positive. I didn't want to go on some longwinded rant so I let the episode sit on my mind, and I'm ready to tackle it.

But some of them are, so let's get them out of the way first. I liked Staci a lot in this episode. Her fed up attitude with all the crazy stuff going on around her was hilarious, especially her snarky bits. The twist of a baboon winning the challenge after everyone "cheated" to get the upper hand by stealing balls and sabotaging each other was another great twist on the canon events. And it led to a ridiculous 2-1-1-1 vote at the final five, which is the messiest vote possible aside from a 1-1-1-1-1 tie where everyone goes to a tiebreaker. And Ella's Sugar shirt was funny too. Even if she's a little too naive for my tastes, the image of scrawny little Ella wearing a shitty t-shirt she threw together in ten minutes through the entire challenge is amazing and I want to see fan art of that.

But I got some stuff to talk about concerning Zeke's elimination, because I am NOT sure how to feel. On second thought, yes I am. He definitely needed to go home now so the final four wouldn't have a floater with no plot, but the way he left is so... unsatisfying. I don't buy for a second that Tyler and Zeke (who have been close allies) didn't talk at all about the vote between getting on the plane and heading to the ceremony. It seems like the first thing anyone would talk about with only five people left and plans flying left and right. Having Tyler vote for Alejandro to avoid a Sugar/Zeke tiebreaker is so convenient and really not necessary when having Sugar beat Zeke in the tiebreaker would get the same ending without the convoluted Tyler vote thrown in, and it would make Sugar seem like more a threat across the board if she mopped the floor with a likeable character. It would also make Tyler more rootable going into the final four since this vote mistake is just a dumb move to hold against him.

Or you could have gone with your other plans and cut Tyler or Al which actually would have been shocking turns of events, even if it would mean a person with extremely low winner odds makes the endgame and more than likely kills some suspense at one point. But after reading your explanation, I feel like going into final four with four people who can't trust anyone else would have been the more interesting call to make. Instead, we have the same final four from canon with the OG villain, this season's villain, a likeable underdog, and his love interest, only this final four isn't as intense as it should be. What made me love the endgame of WT was the Al/Heather tension, but the closest thing we have here is a couple betrayals that probably don't lead to a whole lot of "epic finale worthy" stuff like the Al/Heather drama did, and a romance that won't lead to total disaster given how you've told that arc. I don't want to judge the season before it ends because five episodes is still enough time to really build up a killer ending like you did in TSA, but I'm not really "feeling" it after this episode, probably because the second half of the season has been consistently good and this episode was the weakest in a while. Plus I'm really tired right now and want to sleep, so that probably has something to do with it. My brain is fried lol.

I'm still enjoying the season as a whole and it's easily my favorite of the trilogy thus far, but this episode left me in an awkward place. Couple that with my excitement for a new cast in TSROTI to get away from the OG cast for a season and yeah, it's an awkward place. It wasn't a bad episode, just not one of my favorites. But I'll get on with the story and read the next episode sometime in the next couple days once I finish some school stuff. I can't say the Easter Island episode was a favorite of mine (though I share your love of Condor as a great WT song!) but I'm remaining optimistic about it. :)

I have to say, Zeke making the final five is one of the more surprising things in this series so far. It's not even like B's two deep runs where he was kept around for challenge strength (flashbacks to my intense hatred of B lol). He's floated on by because nobody hates him, he's a crucial number in potential alliances, and there were always bigger fish to fry when he went to an elimination ceremony. In a way his story is almost entirely focused on his importance to other people and their games rather than some personal goal (aside from not being eliminated super early of course). He seems like an obvious final five boot, but I thought he was an obvious final seven boot and then Dawn went home so I don't know what's happening anymore.

As for Dawn, she was a lot of fun but as you said, it wasn't like she had a super dire reason to be kept in the story. And so continues her streak of being cut soon after the merge, but at least she survived ONE vote this time instead of being the merge boot for a third time in a row, and she got a new high score even if it's only a tie for 7th with someone who only entered the game a day earlier.

Blaineley lasted exactly how long I expected, but you got to milk her for all she was worth (typing that sounded wrong but whatevs). Twisting up the cheating storyline was a smart move so the episode wouldn't play out exactly like canon, and it was nice to see Chris sticking to his rules at least once before deciding upon a double boot on the spot. That's another thing I'm liking more about this Chris: he's not throwing BS asspulls out of nowhere because he feels like it. No "This intern!" or screwing someone over in London or anything like that. Or at least he's not open about it.

The most important part of this episode has to be Sugar's whole game getting blown up. There's no way that flies with the group but I don't see her leaving next, so I'm guessing she either wins immunity in Africa or convinces two people to form a truce to take out a bigger threat. With four girls leaving in a row we're due for another dude, and Zeke seems like the clear pick, but after this episode I'm not ruling out a shocking Tyler or Al boot.

I have two tests tomorrow and I'm still sick, so I might be too exhausted to get another episode read and reviewed, but if I'm feeling up to it and not like I'm on a death bed I'll get around to African Lying Safari. It should be a good one! :D

And Sammy is out. As soon as I saw Blaineley and then Sugar discussing the idea of splitting up her and Dawn, I knew she was screwed. She had a good run and there's a 99% chance she's back in All Stars, so I'm not disappointed by her performance.

But Blaineley though... I love this new strategic force you've unleashed into the season! Canon Blaineley was funny but was pretty basic comic relief, but this Blaineley is actually capable of more than dropping drama bombs and even though she's probably out next, I'm loving what she's bringing to the table.

Sugar continues to be a great villain and played this episode's vote perfectly. Getting Sammy to essentially vote herself off by wasting a vote on Zeke was great to read and the way she brute-forced Blaineley into submission was also great.

Unless you make Easter Island an elimination, we should be losing two people next. Blaineley is probably one of them, and I'm guessing Zeke is the other since he's pretty low on plot at the moment. I don't know how he'd get the votes to leave because he seems pretty tight with everyone and has no serious enemies, but having him make the final five would feel weird. The other option I'm thinking about is Dawn, who Sugar could target on account of her "vibes" threatening all her manipulation and lies, but Dawn leaving right after Sammy seems a little too soon imo.

Either way, it was a great episode and I look forward to seeing what China has in store.

So much for my Scott theory lol. I can hold out hope for a spot on the Villains team in All Stars though.

Since you sound confident in Blaineley's ability to stir the pot, I WILL trust you on this one and I look forward to seeing how she performs. I'm not expecting her to last past China, but if she does I'll be pleasantly surprised. Though if you stick with canon and put Tyler and Ella in the final four, having Blaineley there in the final five would be kind of weird since 3 "newbies" would make the endgame, which is why I see her being booted in China as per canon.

Speaking of canon, this episode was pretty similar to the actual episode with a few characters swapped out so there isn't a whole lot to comment on. The Second Chance Challenge was a lot of fun, with Amy dropping Scarlett down a hole being my favorite part. It's way funnier than when it happened to a wheelchair-bound Tyler, especially with how cocky and rude Scarlett was through the process. XD

Since we have our official merge cast, I figure it's finally time to do some rankings! These aren't really based on one criterion, but more like a general mix of stuff like who I want to win, who I'm enjoying the most as a character, who has the most going on, etc.

8. Blaineley: Look, I love Blaineley and she gave me a lot of laughs in her two episode stay in canon WT, but she's clearly not a contender to win this season and can only do so much. I'm sure she'll be fun though!

7. Zeke: Zeke's been riding pretty low-key this season, right in the Cody spot but without Sierra around to give him much to do. He's had some interesting interactions with people like Scott and Tyler, but he sticks out a lot in this group as the guy that's "just there". I like that he made the merge instead of getting shafted as pre-merge fodder, but without much plot to him I'd rather see someone like Shawn take his spot.

6. Sammy: She started out as a major character in the first half, but once DJ went home and she resolved her romance plot, she's been riding along with Alejandro's story so I expect her to get cut loose before the final four if not next. But she has been an active character who's still shaping the plot, so I'd say she earned a spot in the top eight.

5. Dawn: Like with Sammy, Dawn started out as a big (if MIA) character, and has since fallen into a bit of a lull zone. She's still active in the plot with her interference in the Al/Ella affair, but just she doesn't have the longevity to make it to the end and win. She's enjoyable to read, but there are just other characters I like more right now.

4. Ella: I have mixed feelings on Ella. I don't like her in canon because she's such an OTT cartoon of a character with an unrealistic stereotype (unless your headcanon of her is that she's super into playing a character like Leonard and is just a normal girl underneath the costume). And... I think some of that bleeds through her character here? Like, I appreciate how you've handled her, especially in the last couple episodes, but something about her just doesn't fit the "main character" role. It's hard to pin down, but it's a little distracting. I guess it's because she's played seriously and not as a joke character, but there are parts of her that work as a serious character so I don't know. I don't see her winning but if she somehow did, I wouldn't be opposed to it, just a little unsure of how to take it.

3. Tyler: It's amazing how Tyler entered as a newbie but totally blends in with the group. in WT, I was always kind of distracted by Sierra and Al's newbie status because they were so obviously out of place in the cast and seemed like they were from a different generation of characters. But with Shuffled mixing all the casts together, it really helps to hide that awkwardness and makes Tyler feel like he's always been in the TD series through Island and Action. I like how you've upped his character from dumb pain magnet to goofball with a heart of gold for this universe, even if Tylla isn't a ship I'm particularly invested in. It annoyed me how the writers wasted him in canon, so it's cool to see him becoming a major player with a real shot at winning.

2. Alejandro: What can I say, I like villains. Al needed to find some kind of "redemption" arc to make his story different from his Island run, and to twist that redemption into this dramatic mess that is his relationship with Ella is a good move. I didn't want to see another Heather situation, and I think you've avoided that by making most of his focus still on the game he's playing at the end of the day and having the Ella stuff as more of an obstacle for his character to deal with rather than the end-all focus of his story. I have good feelings about him making the final two, be it against Sugar, Tyler, or even Ella now that his plan to take her to the finale is exposed.

1. Sugar: I really don't have anything to say that I haven't said already. She's a great antagonist with some great lines. The way she's navigated the game's twists and turns has been a blast to read and I hope she can actually win this thing. Going by the first two seasons you don't seem to be a fan of "the villain wins" endings, but I think Sugar would be a great winner at the end of it all: coming in as an early boot from Island, controlling the pre-Jamaica boots with her cross-team alliance, throwing Scott under the bus and getting back in good with everyone, running the new Team Victory to get DJ out, and probably more stuff after the merge that I hope I get to see.

So between being sick, dealing with tests, writing papers, and doing projects, I've been swamped since the start of this week. But I'm back and ready to knock these two episodes out!

I'm happy to see the Al/Tyler/Ella triangle take a turn for sure. I was a little afraid this "Ella can't decide which dude to get with" plot would be dragged out a little longer, but you ended it at just the right time without simply tossing one of them out the plane. Now we get to see how Ella deals with realizing Alejandro was playing with her emotions, which is really interesting. We never really saw something like that in canon because all his targets were eliminated and couldn't capitalize on the plot potential.

As interesting as a shocker elimination would have been, I saw the reward challenge coming so the actual challenge didn't have the intensity it could have. Al being on the bottom and Sugar masterminding Ella's elimination were both good boot storylines but when the math almost requires this to be a non-elim episode... eh, they kind of lose their stakes. But don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed both teams this episode and the character progression is going to matter in the post-merge, so I ain't mad.

With the Second Chance Challenge coming up here in... less than an hour because I'm reading these two episodes back to back, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Scott returns to even out the gender balance and bring some old story lines back. I loved Blaineley two episode mess of a debut, but it wouldn't really offer anything new and like you said with the London returnee stuff, why not take the chance to play around with the canon a little just for kicks?

Anyways, great episode! Aftermath III, here I come!

Oh look, another iteration of one of my least favorite reality TV tropes: a character returning and then getting voted out right away. I can't say I didn't expect it, but I was really really really hoping for Staci to last at least a couple episodes because she was by far the most entertaining part of the episode. Oh well, at least she's got some appearances to make in the rest of the Shuffled canon.

One character I want to spotlight is Ella though. I wasn't feeling her up until now because she was just all saccharine sweet and naive, but when she started getting a little nasty with Staci and unsheathing her claws I was there for it. I've always wanted to see someone take Ella down a more unstable path and even if you probably aren't going that route, I liked that touch.

I'm also liking this Alejandro plot where he's feeling a little bad about manipulating Ella. It's not a total change of heart and he's not on a path of total redemption, but that line about finding a line he won't cross was great.

The Sweden episode is next and it was always one of the better reward episodes imo, so unless you pull something on me and cut another person then bring two people back at the merge, it should follow the canon episode and someone should get a hilariously suggestive bonus clip. My predictions about the post merge still stand, but I'm really intrigued to see who returns or debuts. If you stick to an even gender ratio, it almost has to be Scott because his downfall didn't feel quite... final, and he's really the only dude with plot potential left over. Or you could just toss Blaineley in, cut one of the girls like Dawn (the two time merge boot lol) or Sammy at the merge to keep it balanced, and go on from there. Either way, I'm ready to move on and get to the post merge because a ton of my favorite WT episodes were in that ending stretch. :D

Yeah, so this episode was AMAZING. Seriously, I had a smile on my face all through the last third of it and even squealed with joy at a couple parts. I haven't looked at the reviews for this one yet, but I imagine there's a mixed reception because this shit was crazy and random and surreal.

As predicted, Were-Staci is in fact a thing and she's back in the game! I really don't expect her to last longer than a couple votes, but for the time being I'm hoping she makes the merge and gets some much needed character development. The little hint you gave about the werewolf thing ("or so she believes...") has me stumped, since the wagging tail, enhanced strength, and fur all sounds like a legit werewolf situation and not some makeup trick. But no matter what comes of it, I'm so relieved she kept her humanity and characterization through the "transformation". Even if I'm not a hater of the feral Zeke stuff, Staci didn't deserve to be ruined for the sake of a running gag like he was, and I still can't believe the writers never course corrected that shit when the fans raged about it.

The other big development is a NEW love triangle which I never could have seen coming. If you told me after the first episode that Tyler would be caught in a love triangle between a princess he loves and a werewolf that loves him, I would have rolled my eyes. But damn it, this actually fucking happened and I'm laughing my ass off right now. It's sooooo random and bizarre but you know what, it works for me. It's probably because the Gwuncan incident was played for serious drama while this is clearly being played at a more comedic angle, plus the idea of Tyler/Werewolf!Staci is the ultimate crack ship and I'm actually more supportive of that one than Tylla/Eller, if only because it's a funny image. So yeah, count me in for this sub plot.

And so we say goodbye to Shawn once again. He didn't really offer much this season aside from some pretty solid jokes, but a previous winner is probably not winning again so I never expected him to do a whole lot in the first place. I also noticed the last three boots have all been the last three members of Team Chris, so that bunch is officially wiped out.

Sammy's dilemma was another part of the episode I can't ignore, since it probably leads to something huge in next few episodes. Her decision to vote with Alejandro to avoid being seen as a backstabber is a little weak since I doubt anyone would hold it against her to vote out the biggest villain in the cast, but I doubt she'll stick with him forever, be it through his elimination or hers. This is one of the times where playing a loyal game really doesn't benefit her, as working with Shawn and Dawn seems like a safer option since it unites three people against Staci if Universe loses again, and since Shawn was clearly open to it I'm surprised she didn't take it. Now it means Alejandro could vote with Staci, force a tie, and potentially betray Sammy if he thinks she might eventually waver from their alliance. But I get it, she wants to play her own style and has a lot of insecurity about how she's perceived based on her actions in the game. I just hope she takes things into her own hands and turns the tables on him at some point.

Now it's time for some predictions. If you have eight people at the merge, either nobody returns in the Aftermath and we get two non-elims back to back... or one more person leaves. Since you have more girls than guys, I expect a girl to leave next, which means Staci is in major trouble. Ella has newbie plot armor, Sugar is the villain, Sammy is roped up in Alejandro's plans, and Dawn just got back after missing out on 1/4th of the season. However, if you give gender balances a middle finger and boot another dude, it's either Zeke, who really doesn't have much to do, or Alejandro, who could be taken out right before the merge as a shock boot. But I lean towards Zeke on that one by a wide margin. I don't really care about gender balance like some people do (seriously, some people lose their shit if it isn't near even), mostly because sticking to gender balances makes some boots more predictable, so I'd be cool with cutting Zeke and then switching Blaineley out for a male returnee like Scott to shake things up and spark more drama on the plane.

Beyond that, I do have some endgame predictions. Tyler and Ella will most likely make the final four as per their newbie status, plus their relationship plot is starting to heat up just in time to carry them that far. Throw in Sugar as well since she's the big villain of the season. I'm gonna rule out Dawn, Staci, and the potential Aftermath winner because a returnee winning (especially the first boot turned werewolf) would be cheap and they don't have any winner-level stories going on. Zeke is a side character with no big plots, so he's out. That leaves Sammy or Al for that final spot in the top four. Al seems like the obvious choice since he has a connection to Ella and could fill the Heather role as the "lesser of two evils" against Sugar. Sammy could fit in, but since the OT3 became official and DJ was booted, she's become more of an accessory to Al's story, so I'm guessing she gets cut before then. That leaves my final four prediction as Tyler, Sugar, Alejandro, and Ella. Out of that group, I see Ella getting the Sierra treatment and helping Tyler make it to Hawaii where either him or Al make it to the finals against Sugar. Obviously I'd be rooting for Sugar, but I feel like Tyler or Al would take the win to have the "happy" ending be canon.

And after that long ass review, I need some lunch. Next stop: Greece, where I'm sure the Tyler/Were-Staci stuff won't come out at all and nothing dramatic will happen as a result of Ella spilling the beans. Nope. Definitely nothing like that. I'm sure it'll be a nice, peaceful, and totally pleasant challenge. :D

So much for the one episode a day thing lol. I was going to save this one for tomorrow, but I have a ton of schoolwork to do in the next couple days and I wanted to go ahead and get ahead on my reading so I could focus on other matters.

First of all, that mix-up was perfect. I'm loving this new Team Victory and the new Team Universe should be interesting if they ever lose. The best swaps are the ones that test alliances and tempt people into making bold plays, and Sugar really owned it this time by pulling in the original Victory boys and blindsiding DJ. I would have rather seen Ella go home in a shocking vote and then cut DJ afterwards, but DJ was, as they said, literally dating half the other team and had so many good connections to get him to the finals. Since Ella has an unseen pre-merge immunity in the form of plot armor and newbie status, I'm guessing that the next boot will be from Team Universe, meaning Shawn is in a lot of trouble with the Sammy/Al/Dawn block. We could lose Alejandro though, so it's definitely down to the two boys unless Al and Shawn team up against the girls... for some reason or another. Either way, I'm interested to see how it unfolds.

It took three seasons to get there, but the love triangle plot is finally over and it ended happily. No petty drama, no mean-spirited BS, no random character assassinations, nothing like that at all. I'm liking the poly representation since very few TD comp fics ever think about going that route, usually because a three way relationship doesn't leave much room for the easy to write drama of something like Gwuncney. I'm sure a couple of them if not all three will be back for All Stars though since they're the main characters of the original trilogy at this point, so hopefully nothing too terrible happens between now and then.

Since London is next and we need a Jack to rip these people up, this sounds like a good time to drop Were-Staci into the season, be it as a cameo or a returning player. The latter would be hilarious and as a big Staci fan, something I would really enjoy. But with three more competition episodes left, two of them could be non-eliminations with another boot episode in there somewhere, followed by Blaineley (or someone else) entering in Niagara Brawls. So my hopes for Were-Staci slaying everyone's faves are kinda low. I have to say, if it turns out she was just wearing a wolf costume in that clip and you were trolling the whole time to make us think we were getting another feral Zeke situation, that would be a good one. I imagine a lot of people would be pissed if she ended up getting that kind of fate, but I think werewolves are awesome so I wouldn't mind it as long as she kept her humanity amidst the fur, ears, and tail.

Even though I said I would take a breather to work on actual school stuff tomorrow, I'll probably end up reading another episode because I have no self control and this season is getting really damn good. Either way, London awaits and I'll get to it when I get to it.

(I totally called the astral projection though. :D)

Well that explains why Scarlett stuck around, and man was it worth it. Since Scarlett Fever can't happen in this universe, this was a good substitute (if Action's finale wasn't already filling that role) and really used the Area 51 location perfectly.

But as expected, Dawn is back and I'm sure there won't be any drama from this whatsoever. Nope, definitely nothing bad. 100%. Seriously though, I'm glad she's finally back in the game. I kind of wish she was stuck on Team Chris instead of going right back to Team Universe, but she'd probably be an easy boot on the other two teams if they lost and we can't have her going right back out that soon.

And also as expected, Sierra bit the dust. And as Sugar's latest victim nonetheless. I'm glad to see her stepping up and causing some eliminations on her own because I was a little worried she'd play it cool for a little bit. But since Sierra was really her only true obstacle at the time, taking her out was the smartest thing to do. It sucks that she never made the merge in three straight seasons, but I guess she can hang her hat on this being the longest she's lasted out of the three tries (and probably the longest she'd ever last since she doesn't really fit into All Stars imo).

Since you didn't merge any of the teams together or swap things around, I guess they might be staying as three teams to the merge provided a two-member team doesn't go on a losing streak in the next four challenges and gets decimated. I looked at the upcoming locations and it's not hard to see how they could be changed to fit three groups, but I really want a switch up just to spark some life into the dynamics, especially on Team Chris because DJ and Shawn don't really have much chemistry compared to the other two teams.

Anyways, great chapter! Lots of fun stuff happened and more fun stuff is on the way I'm sure. :D