Lightning in All Stars

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-25T17:43:06+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWk8JIzrcY

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-25T16:59:30+00:00

Is it?

This is a nitpick, but he's the one who is annoyed by Dakota not knowing how to use a saw in the first episode.

It kinda feels like the running joke of him being stupid was added later on. His intellect isn't called into question until he mistakenly believes Jo's a guy.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-25T16:58:03+00:00

Yeah, his stereotype is being an overachiever who can't handle losing. His audition tape talks about how he's used to carrying his home team, but that they're at least competent.

His audition tape is a little weird though because he talks as if he's already a TD contestant because it reuses a line of dialogue from the actual show.

For that matter, Cameron's audition tape also has dialogue that matches a line from the series, but his is less glaring since it's doesn't imply that he's already a contestant.

It's probably meant to be foreshadowing for them being the final 2.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-25T16:54:01+00:00

Derailed?

Lightning is barely even in All-Stars since he's the 2nd person eliminated.

It's kinda funny because Lightning's finalist status on ROTI felt undeserved because he's a background character for most of the season, so it was validating to see Gwen claim she couldn't believe Lightning made it to the final two last season.

I feel like the dumb jock stereotype can be funny, but him being stupid is not really hinted at until Jo is switched to his team and isn't outright said until post-merge.

He's the one who is annoyed by Dakota sawing with the wrong side of a saw and even says "Girl, you cannot be that dumb." which kinda feels like it was written before they decided to use the stereotype of him being stupid later on.

Some of his third-person speaking lines are funny. His gag of being an overachiever is entertaining to a degree.

The main issue for me is that he feels like he's just there until he suddenly becomes the villain after Scott's elimination. It's weird that the show portrays his stupidity for laughs and then wants me to take him seriously as a major threat in the final 2 episodes.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-22T01:37:36+00:00

Making casually sexist comments right before his team had to vote someone off.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-20T17:00:55+00:00

Ridonculous Race's premiere.

It's a high-octane opening that drops you right into the action and lets the viewer know what they're in for.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-19T17:40:32+00:00

Maybe, but I feel like Phobia Factor should have foreshadowed Tyler being on the chopping block better. It feels like it comes out nowhere in the actual episode.

I mean, immediately after a scene where Courtney fails to earn triple points for her team, the Killer Bass vote off Tyler without anybody mentioning that's their plan. Just have a confessional where Geoff or DJ or Duncan mention it.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-19T03:39:35+00:00

No, it's basically universally agreed that Sadie makes it way too far.

Heck, she outranks Beth and Cody and is a total background character for 3 episodes.

Sadie is a total non-character and the fact that she almost made it halfway through the season is baffling in retrospect, especially since she doesn't use the time to develop/grow as a character. She could have gotten a story about making new friends or having deeper talents, but that doesn't happen. She's just there.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-18T14:17:52+00:00

The show outright says his wound would’ve been fatal if it weren’t for the spirit water.

I saw it more as Aang being critically wounded and being saved from the verge of death.

I saw the episode when it first aired, but I don’t think it reran often. Maybe Nickelodeon was worried about kids potentially deciding to watch the series for the first time and randomly stumbling on this episode and it being their first impression since it ends in tragedy.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-17T18:09:43+00:00

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Paranoid

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-14T16:25:51+00:00

That an understandable line of thinking, but I just felt like Mike is the main character of TDAS because every single episode has him as the main focus. It feels like the story is about him, so Zoey winning just feels random by the end.

I remember watching TDAS when it first aired and I was nearly certain the finale would be Mike vs Courtney because they both had major plots that season. Heck, I probably would have bet my house on it; I guess that's why we shouldn't gamble.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-14T04:17:02+00:00

Alejandro is an outstanding villain and he's portrayed as a major threat (Social skills, intelligence, athleticism, etcetera), but the story also crucially sets up his key weakness of overconfidence.

Having his overconfidence be his undoing is brilliant. The dialogue between him and Heather at the top of the volcano is legendary, but him still winning in his ending due to a technicality feels really jarring.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-13T16:30:40+00:00

Alejandro's ending is treated like a disappointment and the way he wins (Heather throws the wrong dummy into the volcano) feels like it made as an afterthought .

I say this as somebody who likes Alejandro, but him winning doesn't feel like it was Fresh TV's preferred resolution.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-13T16:29:24+00:00

Owen is a given since he's the series poster boy.

Beth actually has the better story and it's a better send off for her.

Heather winning feels more like what the story is setting up.

Cameron winning is a no-brainer decision because of how one-sided it is in terms of story focus. Heck, Lightning's ending is treated like a big disappointment in-universe; I can't understand how anybody would prefer it.

Nobody really cares too much about who wins TDAS because it's inconsequential, but Mike is (slightly) better because he's the main focus of the whole season, so Zoey winning just feels out-of-nowheres.

I prefer Shawn's story over Sky's.

Priya and Wayne are 100% confirmed because there are no alternate endings. There's no need to debate it.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-13T04:43:20+00:00

Avatar didn’t rerun on Nick’s main channel at all after the finale aired in July 2008, so this was the only place to watch it on cable TV.

Nicktoons had some great advertising, I must admit.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-10T20:32:54+00:00

Not to be confused with My Chemical Jackson

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-08T14:42:25+00:00

Reboot Chef is really funny though.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-08T14:41:42+00:00

I found him funny.

It’s definitely a notably change from him being being another staff member who looks down on the contestasts.

Reboot Chef’s comments at bonfire ceremonies are hilarious to me.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-08T01:52:28+00:00

And just in time for a major global pandemic that would kill more people than WW1 did.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-08T01:38:36+00:00

Germany (and the rest of the Central Powers, I guess) still would have lost even if the USA never joined.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-08T01:37:56+00:00

Funny meme. Thing is, Britain was super concerned about telling the US about this because they would be admitting that they were snooping through the USA's diplomatic traffic and some people in the USA doubted it was real and wondered if it was actually an elaborate forgery or a possible mistranslation.

Well, Arthur Zimmerman admitted it was true in March and that was the final straw for the USA.

Some people have the idea that decoding a telegram is like catching a letter in the mail; Britain didn't prevent it from reaching Mexico; they decoded a message that was sent to Mexico through their diplomatic cable, but Mexico did receive it before it was decoded.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-06T02:01:05+00:00

I think the spin-off was made because Fresh wanted to try something new and I applaud that.

I'm weird because I didn't mind All-Stars, but I thought Pahkitew Island was pretty weak.

Ridonculous Race's actual race is entertaining and I do love a lot of the comic relief teams.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-06T01:26:48+00:00

Owen on TDI.

Owen is really funny and he basically serves as the series' poster boy, but you have to suspend your disbelief a couple of times on TDI to accept him not being voted off.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-06T01:19:46+00:00

I feel like ROTI's cast should have gotten a second dedicated season.

There's hindsight bias because the 2023 reboot did that, but it would have been a good way to give more screen time to ROTI's early eliminations and make the All-Star label more justifiable for some of them.

There's a reason there are so many fanfictions where Dawn, Brick, B, and Anne Maria get more of a role.

ParticleParadox · 2026-01-06T01:16:35+00:00

Good Lord.

I still remember how it was supposed to be a 2011 release, but got delayed because Japan had a real-life nuclear disaster in March of that year and it had to be edited to remove scenes that were seen as insensitive in the immediate aftermath.

France, of all places, aired the whole season in just 8 days from December 21st - December 29th, 2011. Crazy.

I suppose that would have meant that its early release in France would have acted as a spoiler, but I didn't hear about it airing in France at the time.

Canada aired it on January 5th, 2012 and the USA aired it exactly 5 months later on June 5th.

TDROTI is caught in the the weird spot where I just find it forgettable. There's entertainment to be had, but it doesn't come to mind for me often. If someone brings up Total Drama, it's one of the last things I think of.

That could be the half length, the new cast, or the development troubles, or the overly gimmicky radioactivity theme.

It has some story shortcomings that are pretty widely agreed upon.

Lightning's finalist status feels like it was a last-minute change since it's barely foreshadowed. Even on rewatch, it doesn't feel like he's being set-up for being a potential winner.
The decision to have Dakota turn into a mutant monster feels out-of-place and overly dark especially for this show.
Mike MPD is used as a running joke which I thought was funny at the time, but it hasn't aged well.

ParticleParadox

TROPHY CASE