Commentary: Season Nine, Project Four

I love where this season is going.

I'm just going to say this right now. Were about half way through the list of projects we have lined up, and already I can tell that this cast is really delivering. There have of course been a few sad events, such as MickeyMania dropping out and Basketbuddy getting caught up in his own schedule, but going into the big Portal project, I think the important thing we have to look at is that now we've got three VERY distinctive teams, each with devoted members who have varied backstories and have ALL taken various steps to get to where they are right now. That is what I'm most excited about. I'm excited about that, and I'm also really excited about the fact that exactly one project from now, we will have a complete merged team. That's right, Team Coats, Team Baxter, and two members from Team Bluth are all coming together to form one team of seven that will last all the way until the semi-finals. It will provide yet another layer of inner-dynamics to be worked through. Before we get to that, let's look at the three teams currently in play.

First, we have Team Baxter. The interesting thing about thee guys is that they're all complete...dare I say it...wild cards. Well, not so much Wild Cards, they just all ended up on Team Baxter by chance. Even Imagineer2017 only ended up as the Team Leader once AdvBlueDude opened Walt's Vault and got sent to Outcast Island. Then we had Monkey, who came over from Team Coats and really led the team to a great victory in the ThatGuyWithTheGlasses project. And now, Disneyson is also in the mix from the dissolve of Team Davinson. The big question mark with Disneyson at the start of this project was if he was going to be able to operate in this game now that he doesn't have the title of Team Leader. I shouldn't say it's an IF question, it's more of a...how will he work this type question. Well, I think he and Imagineer really went hand in hand with the in-attraction dining project, and they both contributed an even amount of ideas. Now that we've come to the Portal project though, and it's a subject that Disneyson is OBSESSED with, will he, dare I say it...perhaps pull a Mouseketeercole one us? By that I mean, will he be able to use the other team members input equally while he himself has such clear and passionate ideas about the project. Honestly, this type of social situation is the type of stuff I like to see in the game, NOT back and forth malicious PM wars. Monkey, meanwhile, took a back seat this project with the PoMVP in his possession from his performance in project three. Monkey better be careful, because Imagineer and Disneyson are both HUGE personalities, and now he's dealing with a subject I have no idea if he knows anything about. Then again, Portal IS largely based on comedy, which we all know is Monkey's specialty. Should be an interesting round for everyone's favorite simian.

Team Coats is pretty much the exact opposite of Team Baxter. The three way trio of ManEatingWreath, Hack, and Futureimagineer has proved to be a powerful one. One of the dynamics I found really interesting this time around was DWorld and his interactions with this already established "unit". DWorld is a contestant that I really have my eye on. He stood up to me when I called him out on being "just there", and he also used the "s" word. S as in "strategy"...Perhaps he is one of those players that is just laying low for now. Now that he's on Outcast Island, however, he's going to HAVE to get noticed. Not much new to say about MEW this time around. (Hey, that rymthes!) He still continues to be a modest yet very powerful presence in the game. He took the somewhat low score the project received very well. ManEatingWreath doesn't want to pretend he's something he's not...or maybe...he's more than he's putting off. Who knows? All I know is that his storyline is yet another captivating storylines. Speaking of storylines...Hack is seriously on a roll here, and now he's got a whole project based on one of his all time favorite subjects. And then, you have Futureimagineer, who at this point is probably the most memorable new personality in the game. On paper, Futureimagineer is basically everything we want in a contestant. He contributes a lot of interesting ideas, he thinks outside the box, he's known for being strategic, and he won't just sit there and take a bad score. Rather the latter two are good or bad are up for debate, but they definitely make him a more interesting overall player. I'd say at this point, he's already earned a place among the "All Stars".

And lastly, there's Team Bluth. First of all, I have to say hats off to AdvBlueDude for sticking it through all this craziness. He's been really patient with the Outcast Island twist, and now, what do you know? He's actually got a strong team going on over at Team Bluth. DWorld and Thrill are both memorable Festival of Imagination personalities who have a lot to prove, but fortunately for them Outcast Island happens to be the perfect place to prove yourself. CostaFreak is just being CostaFreak, as always. He admits that he always falls into a chain of being gone for one day every season and that screwing him over. Again, Outcast Island might be his salvation. One thing I have to point out about Outcast Island and why going there does have some sort of cool merit to it is the fact that getting sent there means you're going to be directly involved in Strat's story. At the moment, we've got five very distinct personalities, and were also about to unleash the Outsiders into the story as characters, so I really think you guys are going to enjoy where the audiosodes are going. The thing on everyone's mind right now is...who is going to come back from Outcast Island, and what kind of an effect are they going to have on everyone's game? Time will tell. I can't wait to see what you guys do with the Portal project, and I'm even more excited to see what becomes of the merged team. This season is just a test drive for what's to come, but it's a really fun and unpredictable (if a bit bumpy...) test drive at that.