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Battle for Dream Island: Return of the Hang Glider (2012)
As iconic as it is... It's not very good
So, the final episode of the season one of Battle For Dream Island, is it good?
...Eh
There's a lot, and I mean A LOT of problems with this episode. The writing tanks right on the finish line, pacing feels all over the place as if I were watching 1a again.
The final vote-reading goes by WAYY too fast, the votes were revealed in a second with no suspense whatsoever, even if it was played as a joke, it fell really flat and felt really unsatisfying.
The episode, despite having the longest runtime of the series, never feels like it slows down, contestants get abducted, Dream Island gets stolen, Flower murders Bubble permanently in cold blood and the cast tries to execute Leafy before she gets saved by Firey. All of these events happen in a few minutes and the show never has time to stop and reflect on any of it.
But It's not just the pacing, a few character relationships get thrown off the rails for seemingly no reason, I think it's safe to assume the Huang brothers expected Leafy or Bubble to win, but when Firey ended up winning they decided to continue with their plan even if it did not make much sense anymore.
No, really, there is no reason for Firey to NOT let Leafy onto Dream Island, her retribution is absolutely understandable and, since the show is trying to take itself somewhat seriously in this case, it falls horribly flat. When Firey saves Leafy from execution with the hang glider he goes on a monologue about how important her friendship is and how he wouldn't give it up for anything, not even Dream Island.
That's so sweet! Well, except for the fact that 10 minutes earlier Firey did just that for no good reason.
Another thing that bothers me is that the permanent deaths of Bubble, Woody and Flower gets EXPONENTIALLY downplayed, Bubble's alliance & friends never really stop to think "Wow, our friend is dead forever, that's haunting" And mind you that no second season was planned by the time this episode released, that's seriously messed up.
Despite all of that... the episode is still decent and funny, Flower is still a good villain, and of course its a beloved & iconic episode of the series, but I feel that without the next season perhaps it wouldn't be so beloved.
Wrapping up... disappointing finale, but decent anyways.
Battle for Dream Island: Insectophobe's Nightmare 2 (2011)
Filler done right
"Insectophobe's Nightmare 2" comes without a challenge, the episode is an 11 minute long elimination where things get wacky.
This is one of the most entertaining episodes, the filler doesn't feel forced and the absurdist tone of it is not lost on Michael and Cary, it kind of reminds me of early SpongeBob humor. My favorite gag was the cast suddenly coming back after seemingly dying to the bugs and the explanation of it to be "We faked out deaths, of course" That's gold.
We have a nice little compilation of every elimination ceremony up until this point to remind us of how far this web series has left adn then Flower is promptly sent into TLC, but not without a fight.
Wrapping up... Great episode.
Battle for Dream Island: Hurtful! (2011)
Exciting
But not so much.
The Cake at Stake, besides the introduction of the other speaker boxes, was subpar, the result was obvious but the show didn't do much to build up the suspense either.
The challenge, however, was pretty cool! By this point the conflicts on the show are the most fleshed out so far, mostly centered around Bubble who, by this point, works as the "protagonist" of the show.
With a challenge this big I once again think to myself about how much this show would benefit from having a longer runtime, so that's really something to look forward to in the following seasons.
Wrapping up... very good episode.
Battle for Dream Island: Don't Pierce My Flesh (2011)
Flamin' hot
This episode is EPIC from beginning to end! In its limited time slot it managed to make both the elimination and the challenge super thrilling.
The new speaker boxes are a nice breath of fresh air after having "The Announcer" be the host for 21 episodes.
This elimination was the closest elimination in the show's history (At least up to this point) and that fact was taken advantage of, it really benefited from the music crescendo.
Flower is a really, really entertaining character, it is seriously a delight to see her interact with the rest of the otherwise pretty nice cast, the challenge was pretty intense and, even if it was decided due to the speaker boxes' biases, I don't think it really hurt the episode a lot.
Wrapping up... Excellent episode!
Battle for Dream Island: The Glistening (2011)
One of them is SO AT STAKE!
Another excellent serving of classic BFDI, this episode probably has the best Cake at Stake so far (between the eliminated contestants) and it's all also pretty darn funny
Flower adds a very necessary evil the show very clearly lacked in the last episodes, I'm glad she's back to cause ruckus among the remaining contestants.
Really, this episode is mostly vote-reading, but it's very entertaining to watch when you're 21 episodes deep, you're already rooting for your favorites, I wish i wasn't in my rewatch and remembered each elimination.
The challenge itself isn't super thrilling, but that's alright, the value of this episode resides within the elimination and rejoin, I believe it makes it a special occasion.
Wrapping up... Great episode, again!
Battle for Dream Island: Gardening Hero (2011)
The title of this review has been removed due to budget cuts
"Gardening Hero" is one of the funniest, most exciting episodes of the show so far.
The premise actually shakes things up quite a bit, the deaths are funny, the running gag "budget cuts" truly begins here. The relationships between the surviving contestants are getting interesting as well especially among Firey, Leafy and Bubble.
It's nice to see the TLC contestants again, it always makes an episode feel more special.
The new Cake at Stake intro is considered the best CaS intro of the entire franchise, it's a beautiful intro and it gets introduced this episode.
Space actually looks quite nice to look at, especially in the Vortex scene.
Wrapping up... Just a great episode.
Battle for Dream Island: Rescission (2011)
May get people mad
So the elimination in this episode is quite polarizing among BFDI fans, i think it might be the most unfair of the season so I understand why people would not like this episode.
In general it's probably one of the weakest eliminations in the show, looking past the unfairness, it's not too suspenseful either.
But besides that, it's just another very solid serving of BFDI, the animation has improved yet again, quite a few of the death scenes were funny, David is terribly random but in a good way but it's obvious he's not gonna last.
It wasn't as good as previous episodes such as Vomitaco, Crybaby or Half a Loaf, but it's up there!
Wrapping up... very good.
Battle for Dream Island: Reveal Novum (2011)
They made a staring contest entertaining
They made a staring contest entertaining, How much more can I add?
Well, quite a bit actually, the elimination was tragic, but it made sense. The recommended character vote was very one-sided in favor of the two character that had already been featured in the show but it was a really cool addition regardless.
The challenge... they made a STARING CONTEST entertaining for god's sake! The matches are very entertaining and funny (Plus I'm a fan of tournament brackets) the little side plot with the TLC characters was fun to watch as well and it was a good "B-plot" to watch during the staring contests' lowest points.
I'm not a fan of what they did to the scoreboard and it all kinda defeated the purpose of doing the challenge in the first place, it was a pretty frustrating thing to watch, especially knowing how things end up in the next episode. I believe this is what brings it down from 9 to 8.
Wrapping up... Very good episode, unfortunate it had to be muddied by the scoreboard problem.
Battle for Dream Island: The Reveal (2011)
Another fun, classic serving of BFDI
This episode absolutely RADIATES Battle For Dream Island energy, fast paced yet never too fast, a tense and decently dramatic elimination and a challenge riddled with gags.
I believe this episode contains one of the funniest jokes in the entire show, the entire challenge Leafy spends her time recovering Ice Cube as time is running out for their team to gain points and it all builds up to a sequence that only last 3 seconds but that manages to send me into laughter every time.
This episode also contains the iconic "Recommended Characters Auditions" which has been edited, remixed and replayed thousands upon thousands of times and, of course, it's all very surreal to see knowing what's coming for all of the characters that auditioned.
Wrapping up... really good episode.
Battle for Dream Island: Bowling, Now with Explosions! (2011)
Not that crazy
A bit of a slower, less crazy episode.
The highlight absolutely has to be the April Fools joke at the beginning, its surrealist humor will make you laugh, but besides that not much happened.
The contest lasted for about 20 seconds and the rest was spent on the contestants subtracting a bunch of points from each other. I believe way too many points were at play in this challenge, Firey got to remove 300 points total, and in this particular case the show is not being zany or anything like that so the harsh point subtractions actually do feel unfair.
Not a single joke or gag happened during the point subtraction scene, but it was interesting to see each character explain their thought process on how they made their decisions, so it's not like it was boring.
Wrapping up... alright episode.
Battle for Dream Island: Vomitaco (2011)
Another high point
"Vomitaco" brings us another solid serving of BFDI, this episode is a STAPLE of the entire franchise, it's pretty much as BFDI-y as it gets!
The Huang Brothers are getting pretty good at writing suspenseful eliminations, the usage of graphs and a simple drum roll is super effective when it comes to counting votes of this magnitude.
The episode features two challenges in one episode, both pretty funny each to their own degree, it's crazy how they fit it all in such a short time span without it feeling rushed at all.
One thing I've noticed is that the animation is not as good as it was a few episodes ago, but considering how consistently these are coming out and how much better the writing is getting, It doesn't really bother.
Wrapping up... Excellent episode, still think Half a Loaf is just a tad better.
Battle for Dream Island: Half a Loaf Is Better Than None (2011)
Hit the sweet spot
SPECTACULAR EPISODE.
The elimination is solid, suspenseful, and its consequences were actually felt, which doesn't happen too often.
The rejoin challenge already ups the stakes five-fold, the challenge is really good, tense and overall it's just really nice to see the eliminated contestants compete again, the bread-drowning running gag is hilarious and it all comes with an underdog win too!
And as if that wasn't good enough there's a challenge on top of all of that! And it's hilarious, the visual gags are an all-time high for the show and the final obstacle in the course made me laugh out loud at how absurd it was.
Wrapping up... Excellent episode, strongest one so far.
Battle for Dream Island: Don't Lose Your Marbles (2011)
Absurd moments, solid watch
Another very solid episode, it doesn't exactly have you at the edge of your seat because of how the challenge is structured... but it's decently funny.
I think the reason why BFDI pulls of absurd challenge wrap-ups and solutions compared to other similar shows like Total Drama is because it never really takes itself seriously, that works heavily on its favor, it's also why you don't feel upset when the contestants turn up maroon balls and get rejected.
The challenge, unlike last time, had a good amount of time to be fleshed out, too bad the challenge itself wasn't really good and didn't leave room for suspense, if this little detail was addressed, merge phase would be a lot more enjoyable.
Wrapping up... Very good, not much else to add.
Battle for Dream Island: A Leg Up in the Race (2010)
Slacks off a bit, but still good
Unlike the past few episodes, this one felt quite weaker, most of the time is spent on the elimination (One of the most suspenseful yet) and introducing the new point system.
The challenge literally lasts for 30 seconds this episode, it really shows that BFDI really needs an extended runtime to work even better, too much was crammed into the 7 minutes this episode lasts for. Of course, one of these came out every month, so it is still impressive, but it doesn't really negate the fact that it could use a larger runtime.
No jokes necessarily sent me spiraling in laughter, perhaps a chuckle, it was still a fun watch, but there's better episodes than this one.
Wrapping up... good, but the stakes for this show are higher as the show goes on.
Battle for Dream Island: Lofty (2010)
Another great, iconic episode!
Although the elimination for this episode has aged somewhat poorly, it still doesn't take away from the fact this episode is very good.
The challenge is solid, the gags are as good as ever, I really don't have much to add, It's a very good episode, but alas I have to pad this out to reach the character requirement.
Have I mentioned in my past reviews how much the voice acting improved? There's 18 speaking characters that are all voiced by two 13 year-olds, it's amazing how good they got at their job from January to November!
Wrapping up... very funny episode with very silly solutions for the challenge, very good episode!
Battle for Dream Island: Crybaby! (2010)
Tears of Gold
This episode is spectacular! Production as good as ever too, I don't know why it got such a low rating...
Elimination is thrilling, may be the best elimination so far, having the contestants pick for a player to eliminate too scales its "Epic factor" up a notch, even though a lot of people find the elimination in this episode unfair, I think it makes sense within the context of the show.
I feel like the Huang brothers are the best at writing funny jokes and gags for challenges that seem... well, more challenging to write (Like Episode 3 & 4) The pacing is perfect, Golf Ball's tear scene is hilarious, this episode is just a good laugh.
Wrapping up... Great episode!
Battle for Dream Island: Insectophobe's Nightmare (2010)
It clicked!
It took a few episodes of gradual improvement, but "Insectophobe's Nightmare" is the episode where everything finally clicks together.
If you've read my other reviews I'm gonna start sounding like a broken record but the production has never been better, the animation in this episode upgraded from charming web-series to genuinely awesome (Especially the scenes Michael animated), new assets and silky smooth animation, the characters feel more expressive, I honestly had forgotten it got THIS good!
The humor and gags are getting back on track, it's genuinely a fun watch, perhaps the episode goes by a bit too fast, it could definitely use up more minutes, the challenges don't end up lasting a lot and the eliminations take up too much runtime out of already pretty short episodes, although the ending of this episode was really good, everyone loves a good underdog win.
I wish the show embraced its silliness and zaniness as much as it did in the beginning then it will become something truly amazing.
Wrapping up... REALLY good, it remains an 8, but it's like... a higher 8, y'know, 8,7 or something, IMDb doesn't have decimals.
Battle for Dream Island: Cycle of Life (2010)
It's all coming together
A really well-rounded episode!
The challenge is decently tense and fun to watch, the humor is not at the show's peak but it got some pretty good laughs, production (Music, SFX, Animation) as good as ever... Yeah.
Blocky showing up for that intermission shows to us all that he still is the funniest character even a few episodes after he's eliminated. The delivery & overall awkwardness of the Ice Cube prank scene is among the show's best.
But that isn't even the best scene in the episode, right after the vote screen, there's a 2 minute-long scene of Ice Cube dying over and over again to Blocky's prank, it's an absolutely delightful montage even if it has no higher purpose than being just that, it's absolutely iconic too and it doesn't really messes with the episode's pacing because it's at the end of the episode.
Wrapping up... Really good! Best episode so far.
Battle for Dream Island: Puzzling Mysteries (2010)
I guess...
Production is as good as ever, but the episode wasn't very well paced, not much happened, no team went up for elimination and the challenge ended very, very quickly.
The elimination previous to the challenge was probably the best elimination yet, but that doesn't save the rest from just being a bit dull, I find the TLC having a capacity at all to be a bit weird and pointless narrative-wise, it just helps one team get exponentially more powerful than the other.
It doesn't surprise me that this has the lowest score of the series on IMDB so far, I still think 1a is way worse, but this wasn't exactly thrilling either, the jokes were a bit funny though.
Wrapping up... decent, but the show has absolutely found its footing.
Battle for Dream Island: Power of Three (2010)
The Huangs have found the missing ingredient
If Sweet Tooth was the silliest, funniest episode of the show yet severely lacked in the production department, then "Power of Three" is the antithesis.
This episode really steps up in a lot of aspects, this is the most intense challenge so far, the music and SFX choices are great, the animation is snappy and makes everything work, the stakes on this challenge were absolutely higher than in previous episodes.
This episode, however, lacked in the funnies department, don't get me wrong, there were good jokes here and there (Mostly Snowball-centered) but overall it was pretty weak.
Production value was the missing ingredient, it's just a matter of combining both of these to make a truly great episode.
Wrapping up... for now, it remains a 7. Good.
Battle for Dream Island: Bridge Crossing (2010)
VERYNICEEPISODE (No spaces, all caps)
I think it was a bit worse than Sweet Tooth, however it felt like a much more sound episode, BFDI is absolutely finding its footing by now and I think this episode solidifies that.
The animation, I believe, finished its transition from "Bad & cheap-looking" to "Nice, internet web-series charm" it is a lot more pleasant to look at.
The audio also had a lot of work since the beginning, it makes the show feel much more dynamic (Especially compared to the previous episode, which didn't even have no music) so although the episode is not as funny, these factors push it above.
Also love the occasional inappropriate jokes this show makes, it works really well in contrast to its family-friendly looking cover.
Wrapping up... decently good, I'm anticipating the "hinge moment" episode that will make everything click and will catapult this show from decent fun to an absolute blast.
Battle for Dream Island: Sweet Tooth (2010)
Two Metal Balls
As silly and zany as ever, probably the best pacing and humor of the season so far, I really shouldn't list every joke that made me at least giggle because it was pretty much all of them, from start to finish this is a genuinely funny episode and, if my memory ain't lying, I know it gets even funnier as this show goes on.
The way the contestants get their cakes judged so unfairly is really funny, making one of the challenge judges a literal die? That's already funny by itself but both the gags they made with it were absolutely hilarious, this is genuinely a solid episode.
Oh, and the way the contest is settled in like 20 seconds at the end may upset some people, but I also found that funny.
Only a little problem... Why is there no music? I feel like this episode could really use some music, it feels so awkward without it. The lack of music shined through in a scene where Needle was putting too much Yeast on her cake, it has no dialogue and it lasts for a few seconds, it's just... absolute silence, it's weird.
Wrapping up... good!
Battle for Dream Island: Are You Smarter Than a Snowball? (2010)
It's funny how hard everything goes wrong
This is an episode about the contestants doing a test. It's truly worthy of the mind of two 12 year-olds to make such a premise as entertaining as it was here.
The pacing was a bit too fast for my taste but it's not terrible, i think the elimination ended a tad too fast. The animation, once again, improved in comparison to the last episode. The jokes were also funnier (Snowball's "Your Name" joke is hilarious), the montage of Pencil's doodle was just fun and it oozed with old Internet energy.
But if we're gonna talk about humor then it is increasingly obvious to me that Blocky is by far the funniest character on the show (At least up to this episode) the way Michael delivers his lines just makes him inherently funny, he also had a couple great scenes (Especially the one with Ice Cube and the fire, that was just perfect)
If the Huang brothers worked with a better premise, this would've already reached a 7, yes, we're getting there.
Wrapping up... Decent, almost good.
Battle for Dream Island: Barriers and Pitfalls (2010)
Worse than I remembered
I remember this being way more thrilling so I was surprised to find out I liked it less than Take The Plunge part 2.
Pacing is about the same quality if not a little bit worse, everything is happening way too fast, the small group that went out to search for Blocky was a bit pointless.
You can tell animation is starting to become better even though the Huang brothers have only made two episodes before this one, but the jokes didn't land as well this time around.
The random ad in the middle of the episode was sure silly, but the jokes there didn't land either... well, except when the ad announcer tells you to call the number on-screen, a lone 2, that probably got the best laugh out of this episode.
Wrapping up... meh.
Battle for Dream Island: Take the Plunge: Part 2 (2010)
Okay!
1b is far, FAR better than 1a.
I gotta admit that in these styles of shows, for whatever reason, I'm a sucker for team-picking, I feel like it's a far better way of introducing the characters of the show to the audience than whatever 1a did.
Unlike 1a, jokes/gag landed, it may not work for some people but the delivery of some lines, intentional or not, it's absolutely hilarious, I found myself laughing out loud at Blocky's silly face when he says "Did you just SAY that?") I think that's a prefect example of how 1b finds its footing and embraces zaniness and silliness.
Pacing is much, MUCH better than last episode, it's still has times when it's a bit off, but the episode was much more sound in that regard, the climax was much better done than last time.
In general it's crazy how much of a leap in quality this episode is, obviously there's a lot to improve, it all still looks very cheap and the voice acting is still subpar... but the Huang brothers are just getting started.
Wrapping up... decent!