Animation Survivor- Episode Three

Key
(Stage Directions in parentheses indicate no speech is attached to them. There may be background music or sound though.)
[Stage Directions in brackets show action, with irrelevant speech associated. Screaming and other reactions may be there too.]
Italic speech indicates a one-on-one interview with the character. Shot is of that character alone unless otherwise indicated.

Episode Script:

Introduction
(Tom, is walking on the Sand Spit.)

Tom: After another three days, certain friendships have emerged that are beginning to hold a lot of power. On the Japanese side of the island, Tai and Misty’s associations with virtually everybody else in the group gives them invulnerability and a heavy sway on who leaves. Their power was demonstrated last night as hard-working Matt, despite his efforts at building a solid shelter, was the first anime character to be voted off. This leaves Ash, who had a strong bond with Matt, vulnerable unless he can associate with one of the other groups. For the Americans, Blossom and Buttercup continue to plot and plan their actions, but is drawing suspicion from the other members. Meanwhile, Bart’s friendship with Bubbles gives him a shield against any possible attacks from the girls. The PPG will need Stan and Kyle to swing the vote. Who will get voted off this time? Keep reading… er, uh, watching… and find out.

Day Seven- American Tribe
(A very beautiful sunrise is seen on the horizon, with the beach, and the campfire in the foreground. Lisa comes up and stokes the fire a little, then looks up at the sunrise and admires the view. She stops there, when Blossom comes into view.)

Blossom: Is the fire going okay?

Lisa: Yeah. Hey, look at this sunrise.

(Blossom looks up, and is impressed.)

Blossom: Wow. We never get anything like that at home.

Lisa: Us neither. Too much smog.

Lisa: I never put much thought into the little things about life on this island. They were always busy hyping the whole American vs. Japanese thing, they never told us that this would be something of a relaxing adventure. Although the competitions, Tribal Council, and simply living with what we have takes a bit out of you, it also takes you far away from the industrialized world. We can appreciate sunsets, watch exotic animals, and not worry about global disasters. It’s nice.

(Shot of Stan and Kyle, fishing on the raft.)

Kyle: You know, once we got everything set up, and we know what we’re supposed to be doing around here, I kind of like it. No school, no parents, no Cartman, it’s great.

Stan: I think those girls are really liking it here. Did you ever think about that, how tough it must be being a superhero? This is probably a relaxing vacation to them.

Kyle: Yeah, but they only had to deal with Cartman for three days.

Stan: Oh, right. Good point. And I suppose most vacations don’t involve taking out big-ass snakes. Got anything?

Kyle: Nope.

Blossom: Lisa really did me a favor by reminding me of that sunrise. I’ve been a little high-strung lately, and it was nice of her to show me little stuff like that. It’s actually pretty nice here. We don’t have to fight crime or anything. That snake perhaps, but I didn’t even break a sweat with him. But still… it’s kind of hard to appreciate this place when you’re always hungry. I just wish Stan and Kyle would catch something.

[Stan and Kyle are returning to shore. They are greeted by Blossom, Buttercup, and Bart.]

Bart: Catch anything?

Stan: Not a bite.

Blossom: Are you sure you’re in the right spot?

Kyle: I think we need better equipment. But we’ll keep trying though.

Bart: That’s about all we can do here.

Buttercup: No, we keep finding berries and stuff in the woods. If you aren’t catching anything, don’t bother, look around on the island for food.

Kyle: I’m getting a bit nervous. If we don’t catch something soon, we’re going to be right up there on that list to be voted off. Buttercup scares me, especially when she and Blossom talk in the woods like that. Point is, we’d better get some fish, or we’ll be reunited with Cartman really fast. [shudders]

(Shot of Blossom and Buttercup in the woods.)
Blossom: Are you sure you don’t want to vote for Kyle or Stan? They aren’t catching anything and we’re running out of rice fast.

Buttercup: At least they’re trying. Bart just goofs off all day. He told me yesterday he’d do the cooking and stuff. Cooking for what? We don’t have any food!

Blossom: Good point. Okay, so we’re still going Bart. But how are we going to get enough votes to throw him off?

Buttercup: I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to keep working Bubbles and Lisa.

Blossom: Maybe. Also, don’t you get the feeling that they’re getting a little suspicious about us in the woods every day like this. They probably think we’re hatching an evil plan to throw them all off.

Buttercup: We probably are. I wanna win this.

Blossom: Yeah, but I think we should start hanging with some of the others, especially if we need to get them on our side.

Buttercup: We have enough slackers here, we don’t need to join them.

Blossom: Hmm… maybe we’ve been going about this the wrong way. Lisa’s confident about her brother’s ability, and Bubbles has gotten attached to Bart. But what about Kyle and Stan? You are right about them trying, maybe we should try to get them against Bart? Stan’s already been a fan of ours since we beat the…

(She looks around, nervous)

Blossom: Big-ass snake. Why don’t I go fishing with Stan tomorrow, and you take Kyle up here? That way, we’re still working, and we can socialize with the others!

Buttercup: Hmm… that sounds okay.
 

Japanese Tribe
(Shot of the camp, looking a little bit sloppy. There’s stuff lying around, and doesn’t look pleasing.)

Misty: Matt was the one to always get our butts in gear when it came to getting work done. Now that he’s gone, I guess we’ve gotten a bit lazy. We do just enough to get by. It sounds a bit depressing, but we’re having a fun and relaxing time.

(Izzy, Tracey, and Serena are playing cards on a stump.)
Izzy: So how long has Ash been on his little journey?

Tracey: I don’t know, little over a year. I guess he’s been doing okay, I haven’t been with him as long as Misty has.

Serena: Ooh, Misty and Ash alone on a journey, how romantic.

Tracey: No, no. They said they had another guy with them for a little while before I met up with them. What was name… Brock something I think. Never met him personally, but I’ve heard some crazy stories about him. Sounds like a nice enough guy though.

Izzy: Ah. (calling out) Hey Ash, need any help?

(Pan around to Ash, fixing up the shelter a bit. He appears to be struggling somewhat.)

Ash: No, no, I can handle it.

(Close up of Ash, looking for spots to modify. There’s a lot, and he doesn’t know where to start.)

Ash: (sotto) Oh, forget it.

(Ash walks up to the card players.)

Ash: Hey, deal me in.

Izzy: I don’t think any of us want to get any serious work done. I’ve been thinking up modifications for the shelter for awhile now, but even I haven’t felt like executing them. I think Ash was the last one to come around. He had a strong bond with Matt, and developed a serious work ethic from that, but now that he’s gone I think Ash wants to settle down and start making friends.

Ash: I still can’t believe they voted Matt off. He wasn’t the most popular guy, but he got a lot of work done. But still, these guys do have a point. Compared to our every-day lives, this is fairly relaxing, so we might as well live it up. Besides, almost everyone had kinda paired up with somebody else, and with Matt gone, I need another friend.

(The foursome, still playing cards.)
Izzy: Okay, Ash, we’ve all been a bit curious, and since you know Misty pretty well, we want your opinion.

Ash: On what?

Serena: Her and Tai, what do you think?

(Ash is a little surprised at the news.)

Ash: Wa?

Tracey: I don’t think it’s anything, but Serena keeps saying they’re together.

Ash: I haven’t even thought about it.

Izzy: Haven’t even thought about it? Tracey, I owe you another five dollars.

[Tai, Misty, and Sora are in the hot spring, laughing.]
Tai: She’s definitely a handful.

Sora: Oh, oh, did you tell her about Kari and the thumbtack yet?

[Tai laughs to himself.]

Tai: No, I think I gotta save that one, I’m using too much of my A-material.

Sora: You haven’t even gotten to the digital world yet, there’s enough…

Tai: Oh, yeah, there’s a few stories from that too.

Misty: Sounds pretty crazy.

(Tai puts a hand on Misty’s shoulder)

Tai: You have no idea. That was… that was… nuts.

Sora: Serena tells me that Tai and Misty have something for each other. I personally don’t know. He is acting a little differently, but he’s been that way since we got here, and he’s not really directing anything at just Misty. It’s interesting; it’s one of those things where you just have to wait, watch… and make a bet with Izzy.

Ash: As far as Misty and Tai are concerned, it’s mostly Serena who thinks they have anything…which doesn’t help the argument much. I don’t see anything different between her and Tai as I do between her and me, so I doubt there’s any real connection. Still, if anything did happen, it wouldn’t bother me that much. Tai’s a nice guy, someone I could be good friends with.

(Shot of the campfire. Tracey and Tai are cooking rice.)
Tai: How many bags do we have left after this?

Tracey: After this… I think we’ve only got two left.

Tai: That’s not going to last very long, we need to start rationing or find some other way to get food.

Tracey: I think we’re a little bit concerned on the food issue. We’ve been living on rice mostly, and our supply is dwindling a bit. We also could use some protein, some of us have been losing a lot of weight.

Izzy: Nobody’s been out fishing in awhile. We didn’t see much last time we went out though. I don’t think it would be very productive.

(Campfire, Tai, Izzy, Ash, and Tracey are eating.)
Izzy: There’s got to be a way to get meat.

Tai: There isn’t much out in the woods, besides the rats.

Tracey: And those aren’t as big as the ones I’m used to.

Izzy: Still, I think we may be left with no other choice. They are edible, and there’s enough to go around.

Ash: Yeah, Brock taught me a great recipe for Rattata.

(Tai, Izzy and Tracey stare at Ash. Ash backpedals with his hand-to-back-of-neck move.)

Ash: Well yeah, we were lost in the woods, and had nothing else to eat, so we went with Rattata. It gave whole new meaning to the term "catching Pokémon."

Izzy: It may sound bad, but we may have no other alternative. I’ll see if I can design some sort of rat trap we can use.

(Tai and Tracey still look apprehensive.)
 

Day Eight- American Tribe

Stan: For some reason, Blossom felt like going with me fishing today. Kyle was a little weary about going into the woods with Buttercup, but it seemed nice enough.

(Stan and Blossom are on the raft fishing.)
Blossom: Not even a nibble?

Stan: No, we haven’t had any luck fishing, it makes us wonder why we even bother trying.

Blossom: Don’t say that, we’ll catch something someday.

Stan: So why did you want to go out fishing today?

Blossom: Well, it’s a lot of things. It got kinda boring out there every day with Buttercup. And besides, being alone all the time with her might make you guys think we were plotting against you or something.

[Stan laughs politely.]

Stan: I’ll admit that Bart and Kyle were getting suspicious.

Blossom: Yeah. (pause) So… just out of curiosity, who do you think you’re gonna vote for next time?

Stan: I don’t know. I like everybody here, we make a pretty good team without Cartman. It’s gonna be hard making a decision. How about you?

Blossom: Well… I was thinking about Bart.

Stan: That’s what I heard.

Blossom: Yeah, he does help a little, but compared to all the rest of us, I think he does the least.

Stan: I suppose. He doesn’t try to get food or anything.

Blossom: I don’t mind his attitude, but I figure that if we have to choose somebody, it should be him. It’s a really tough choice.

Stan: Yeah, I guess you’re right. That and he keeps going on against Buttercup, when she’s the one that keeps going into the woods everyday. (changing the subject) Well, better get back to shore, looks like another dead day.

Stan: Blossom really opened my eyes about Bart. She’s right, he does do the least around here. I like everybody here, but since he doesn’t help much, the girls are probably right in thinking he should be the next to go. Hey, as long as it isn’t me, I’m fine with that judgment.

Kyle: Man, today with Buttercup really sucked. All she wanted to talk about was Bart. How he’s not working, how he’s annoying, how everything. I don’t really care anymore, I just wanted to get out of there. If she isn’t the next to leave… I want to be.

[Bubbles is going to the tree-mail, and she finds something. She smiles, and shoots back to camp at light speed.]

[Bart, Blossom, and Stan are watching Bubbles flying back.]
Bart: What’s she so excited about?

[She zooms right past them, handing the note off to Bart.]

Bart: Oh.

(Bart reads the letter to himself.)

Blossom: Aren’t you going to read it out loud?

Bart: I’m previewing it, just in case it only applies to one of us… (finishes skimming) and it doesn’t. It’s another challenge. Looks like it’s just for a reward or something. Involves swimming and stuff.

Stan: Well, it’s a good thing we got rid of Cartman then. Whatever the reward is, it’s probably important.

Blossom: Yeah, we gotta win this one.

(Tai, Ash, and Izzy are reading the note.)
Ash: We’re going to kick some butt here!

Izzy: A reward challenge featuring swimming and diving. With Sora and Misty, this one’s in the bag.

Tai: And besides, it’s not like it’s for immunity, so there’s no pressure.

Tai: A nice little reward challenge to throw our weight around, that’s just what we need. We’ve been getting a bit lazy lately, and this is a nice light event to get us back into the swing of things. We shouldn’t have much trouble beating the Americans at swimming- we have an older team, and more powerful legs, Sora has a great breaststroke, and Ash says Misty is a good swimmer, so this should be really fun!

(The entire Japanese team is on a raft at sea. Misty turns to Ash.)

Misty: Say, Ash, I was wondering…

Ash: Yeah?

Misty: You keep telling everybody that I’m a great swimmer, but do you really know that?

Ash: Well, I assume that because…

Misty: That because I specialize in water Pokémon automatically means that I am a skilled swimmer?

Ash: Well, um… aren’t you?

Misty: (smiling) Yes, but that’s not the point.

[Tai, Tracey, and Izzy laugh.]

(That sandspit again. Same place where the challenge from the first episode took place. The Japanese team is there, psyched for the event. The Americans arrive shortly afterwards, fairly serious. Tom greets them.)
Tom: Greetings. Now, I’m sure you are somewhat relieved that this event has nothing to do with immunity. The losers don’t have to go to Tribal Council; this isn’t about that. This is a reward challenge. The winning team gets a special prize, which is sure to help them out. Japanese tribe, you’ve been having food problems as of late, starting to run out of rice and so forth. American tribe, especially Stan and Kyle, you’ve had no luck catching any source of protein. That’s where this reward comes in.

Serena: Food!

Tom: No. And don’t spoil next week’s challenge for everybody else. You know that old saying about giving a man a fish versus teaching a man to fish…

Stan: Dude, we already know how to fish!

Kyle: Yeah, we’re open to handouts.

Tom: Well, I mean… um… (angry) It’s a bunch of fishing gear for crying out loud!!

Kyle & Stan: Ohhh….

Kyle: We’re still open to handouts.

Tom: (angry) That’s next week!!

[He feels his head throbbing.]

Tom: Manny! I’m having one of those moments, fill in for me.

(Manny comes in out of nowhere)

Manny: The rules are simple. Fifty yards at sea are two sunken chests. Each team has to swim out to the buoys. Once every member of your team reaches the buoy, you can dive down and move the chest along the surface towards the sandbar. The chest has to stay on the surface. First team to put their chest on their specified platform on the sand spit and have each member with a hand on the chest wins. If you’re ready, take your positions. And… GO!

[Both teams take off from their platforms and go nuts. They arrive in the following order:
1) Blossom, Buttercup
2) Bubbles, Sora
3) Misty
4) Bart, Stan, Ash, Tai
5) Kyle, Lisa, Tracey
6) Serena & Izzy

[The Americans therefore dive down first. They use a strategy ensuring that one PPG is down there at all times, with two down total. The PPG alternate on one cycle (where one comes up for air as another goes down) and Stan, Kyle, Lisa, and Bart alternate on another. The Japanese, slightly behind already, use a similar technique, but somewhat less organized. They do manage to catch up somewhat, even though Sora becomes tired and falls behind. Tai falls back to help her out. With the 7-5 advantage, coupled with Sora and Tai behind everybody, the Americans get the win… and celebrate like crazy.]

Manny: Congratulations, Americans. Open your chest and see what you got.

[Stan does so, and smiles at the fishing spear, underwater mask, goggles, flippers, and snorkel, and other trinkets. He, Kyle, and Bart seem the most excited.]

[Shot of Tai helping Sora back to shore. She is visibly ill. Brief shot of Ash, looking extremely disappointed, and Izzy, who begins to take that look before seeing Sora, at which point he goes to help her. Aerial shot of the spit, and everything going on.]

Japanese Tribe
Ash: That one really felt bad. I know we don’t have Tribal Council, but losing to those Americans felt even worse the second time. I think some of us got over-confident, while some of us worked too hard, like Sora. I feel sorry for her, she hauled butt over there, then swallowed a bit too much water moving the chest. I just hope she’s okay.

Tai: Losing doesn’t really bother me, I’m just kinda relieved that Sora’s okay. It seemed like she was in a lot of trouble back there, and she’s been sick ever since, but it’s nothing she won’t recover from. I know her, she’s tough.

(Silent shot of Tai and Izzy, kneeling down over Sora, laying ill outside the shelter. Misty is standing, overlooking them. Tai gets up and starts walking away, slightly relieved. Misty puts a comforting hand on his shoulder and they walk away.)

Tracey: Although our concern immediately went to Sora after the challenge, we also began to realize that we still don’t have a decent way to get food. Fortunately, that’s where Izzy and I come in.

[Montage of Izzy and Tracey building a rat trap. Tracey, with sketchpad is seen drawing schematics while Izzy rants off details. They are also seen putting the trap together and setting it near the woods.]

Serena: There is no way that that kooky thing is going to work, and there’s definitely no way I’m going to eat dead rats, but it sure has brought Izzy and Tracey together.

[Almost sunset. Izzy and Tracey are running to the campfire, Tracey holding the trap- and its victims. They are a tad cocky, but the others take it with good humor.]

[Shot of Tracey cooking the rats over the campfire. He’s struggling. Ash, Izzy, and Serena can all be seen nearby.]

Tracey: (self-demeaning, to Ash) Boy, I bet Brock would be better at this.

Ash: No arguments here.

(Tracey is cutting up a piece of rat.)

Serena: Ew, is this all we have to eat?

Tracey: Well, it shouldn’t be that bad. Here, try a piece.

(He hands a piece to Serena.)

Izzy: Don’t tell me you’re grossed out, Serena, remember that you ate a live bug two days ago.

Tracey: Yeah, what’s a little Rattata compared to that?

Izzy: You know, you can stop calling it Rattata. It’s a simple rat, all the Rattata are probably on the other side of the island. In fact, here’s a simpler way to do it… why don’t we just start calling them mice? There’s no Mouse Pokémon, is there?

Tracey: Hmm… you know I heard that roast Pikachu isn’t bad. It’s very spicy, has kind of a jalap…

(He looks at Ash, who cuts him an evil stare.)

Tracey: I think I’ll be quiet now.

Serena: Mmm.

Izzy: Is that a good "mmm" or a bad "mmm?"

Serena: It doesn’t taste like rat, it isn’t half-bad…

Ash: Really?

(Ash is handed a piece and eats it.)

Ash: Not bad. I’d rather have steak, but it’ll work.

Izzy: Well, that crisis is averted. They don’t taste fantastic, but they’ll definitely work for protein. There are plenty of rats out there, and the trap Tracey and I designed works great. We’re just moving on up.

(Shot of whole group eating by the campfire at night. Sora still looks bad.)

Day Nine- American Tribe
[Kyle and Stan are walking towards the tree-mail. Kyle is talking to Stan, who is oblivious.]

Kyle: I mean, she just kept going on and on against Bart, it’s like we had nothing else to talk about. She’s totally nuts. I can’t believe that all they wanted to do was talk to us individually and turn us against Bart!

Stan: Well, they had a couple good points- hear me out.

Kyle: Hey, we got something.

(Kyle pulls down the message on the tree and reads it.)

Kyle: Interesting.

Stan: What?

Kyle: We have to build a stretcher, and use it to rescue somebody from our team.

(They start walking back)

Stan: Who’s it gonna be?

(They stop and look at each other. The answer is obvious.)

(Back at camp, Lisa is looking somewhat peeved.)
Lisa: (sotto) Why does it always have to be me?

(The others are looking at her.)

Buttercup: Duh, you’re the lightest.

(Lisa looks down on Buttercup. Lisa has a good 12 inches on her.)

Buttercup: …well, that doesn’t have super-strength.

Bart: Besides, it’s just a coincidence that we have to rescue you again.

Kyle: Yeah, it’s not our fault the big-ass snake had the same judgment as we do.

Lisa: (giving up) All right… (sotto) Is this going to be my entire role on the team?

[Shot of the team designing a stretcher, using Lisa frequently for measurements. Eventually, they get a good design, and Lisa fits comfortably on it.]
 

Japanese Tribe
[Izzy and Misty are putting the finishing touches on the stretcher. Tracey is holding a sheet of paper, making sure the design is accurate. Off screen, however, is where the real action is going on.]

Tai: Yes!

Sora: No!

Tai: Yes!

Sora: No!

(Shot of Tai and Sora, arguing.)

Tai: You’re still out of it from the last one, you need to sit this out!

Sora: But I can do it! I have to!

Tai: No you don’t, I’m sure Serena’s just as qualified as you are for this.

Sora: Maybe, but she’s still feeling a bit sick, I don’t think she can live up to the challenge.

Tai: She’s getting better, and she’s a lot healthier than you are.

(Serena walks into the picture)

Serena: Tai, let Sora carry, she’ll be fine. I’m sure she can step up. Remember, this is for immunity.

Sora: (to Tai) Look, I know you like making decisions, but some of the others may still be after Serena, and since she has more chance of getting voted off than you do, I think she should make the decision. It’s only fair.

Tai: Oh… alright.

(Tai walks away)

Serena: Hoo… load off my mind. Thanks.

Sora: No problem. I feel fine anyway…

(She suddenly feels ill and collapses in Serena’s arms.)

Serena: Yep, fit as a fiddle.

Izzy: I think we got over-confident last time, and since this one’s for immunity, it’s really vital that we win. Problem is, the last leader we had proved to be unpopular, and was voted off. I fear the same fate if I try the same thing. Fortunately, there’s someone here who agrees with me completely, and is risking his neck to make sure we win this time.

[Shot of the team, in a half circle. Ash is at the center.]

Ash: Now, we’ve gotten really close in the last couple days, and I don’t want to have to vote somebody off again. We’re better than those Americans; we’re older, we’re stronger, and we’re more mature.

(Misty chuckles to herself.)

Ash: I said compared to them! We need to be focused for this challenge, and if you want to win, this is where it starts. If you’re in, step up.

(Ash walks up to the circle, and puts a fist in the middle.)

Ash: Satoshi!

(Izzy smiles and follows suit.)

Izzy: Koushiro!

Tracey: (putting fist in) Kenji!

Serena: (putting fist in) Usagi!

Tai: (putting fist in) Taichi!

Misty: (putting fist in) Kasumi!

Sora: (slowly putting fist in, sick) Um… Sora?

(All but Tai and Izzy look up at her. Tai and Izzy smile.)

Serena: (to Sora) Lucky stiff.

(South Beach. The Japanese team, psyched but minus Serena, is standing with Tom and the Americans, minus Lisa. Both teams have homemade stretchers.)

Tom: Well, I see you both have your stretchers, and I hope they’ll hold for you as you rescue your fellow tribe members. Both were parachuting and got stuck up in trees.

Bart: Lisa doesn’t…

Tom: Any more glib comments from any of you and I vote you off! Okay, there’s a trail marked on trees you can follow to Lisa and Serena. They are at an equal distance apart, so it’s all fair. Whoever gets their lazy-ass injured tribesman on the stretcher and gets it over to the first aid tent...

(pan over to the tent, where Manny is pounding his fists.)

Manny: Nurse Manny’s gotcher anesthetic right here!

(back to Tom)

Tom: Again, all members must keep a hand on the stretcher. And if you are ready…

(the teams get ready.)

Tom: Go!

[Drastic, dramatic shots of each team taking their stretcher into the woods.]

(Shot of Lisa, hanging from a tree. Serena is in the same spot, at a distance.)

Lisa: Don’t you think this reinforces the old "save the damsel in distress" guise that a competition like this should be straining to eliminate?

(Serena casts an empty stare back)

Lisa: Never mind.

[More dramatic shots of each team. We can’t determine which has a lead, until the Americans arrive first to untie Lisa. Blossom scoots up and frees Lisa, and Buttercup and Blossom ease her down onto the stretcher. By this time, the Japanese team has done the same, but are still behind.]

Tai: C'mon guys!

[They really hustle, while Serena lays low on the stretcher.]

[Both teams emerge from the woods at around the same time. The longer Japanese legs become the key, as they simply outrun the Americans to the first aid tent, winning by mere seconds. They are excited, but relieved and proud better fits the desciption. The Japanese congratulate each other on a job well done. Most notably are Tai and Misty congratulating Sora while Ash and Izzy hook up. The other side is mostly exhausted, but Bart, while wandering near the opposite side of the tent, shakes hands politely with Tracey. Essentially, nobody was really at fault for the American loss, but they are still disappointed.]

American Tribe
(Bart is physically exhausted, but pan up as he looks around. Everybody else is talking privately with somebody else. Stan with Kyle, Bubbles with Buttercup, and Lisa with Blossom. Bart lays back down.)

Bart: Here we go, rally the troops to kick your least favorite person off. It’s bad enough that we have to go through with it again, but everybody’s forming these secret alliances and stuff. You don’t know who’s your friend, who’s your enemy, or who’s just pretending to be your friend or enemy. That’s not what I thought this was about.

Buttercup: We figure that it’s going to be me, Blossom, and Stan against Bart, Lisa, and Kyle. Bubbles tends to favor Bart’s side, but she’s not going to cast a vote against her own sisters, so we consider her neutral. It’s all gonna come down to talking to the other side, and how unified the other side is. I figure we got a good chance.

Lisa: Quite simply, I don’t know who to vote for. I know Blossom and them are going after Bart, but does that really mean that I have to go after them? Isn’t that just as bad?

(Shot of the group gathering their things (including torches) and headin’ on out.)

Tribal Council
(Tom is on the set, yakking.)

Tom: Last time, Eric Cartman was voted off by the American tribe, with general agreement that he was the weakest link. This time, though, the tribe is split, based on their feelings towards Bart’s contributions towards the team. Will he be the next voted off, or will his supporters prevail and elect somebody else off the island?

(The team arrives, puts their torches in place, and sits down.)

Tom: Hello, welcome back. It’s been six days since you were here last, and I’m sure the situation has changed a little bit. Success has struck here and there, including both a reward and an immunity challenge. Now, we can see exactly what has gone on with your tribe, and I’m going to respect that and tiptoe around it with the discussion. Only two questions, both directed at Kyle and Stan. First off, do you feel that the lack of food, and your lack of success bringing in fish makes either of you two a candidate for being voted off?

Kyle: Quite simply, no. We try, and I think they know we try, and we get more respect for that than others here.

Tom: Alright. Second question- and this does deal with the partisan nature of the tribe. You have only two left from your show now that Eric’s gone. This usually leads to those two sticking together, but it seems as though you each have taken different sides of this big debate. Is that a problem?

Kyle: Well, we do stick together, we prefer each other’s company and I don’t think we’re going to vote each other off any time soon. But as for the different sides of the issue, it happens all the time with friends, and just like he hopes that I see it his way, I hope that he’ll see it mine. In the end, it’s our own decision, and since this is a private vote, we won’t know which side we take.

Tom: Alright… Kyle lead us off.

(Kyle heads to the voting booth, voter’s shot as he writes down "BUTTERCUP")
Kyle: I just can’t stand her. Besides, we still have two more superheroes.

(He leaves. Fade to aerial shot of Stan, then Blossom voting. Fade to voter’s shot of Buttercup holding "BART")
Buttercup: Same reasons as last time, plus he is now officially the weakest link.

(She leaves. Aerial shot of Bubbles voting, then Lisa voting. Voter’s shot of Bart, holding "BUTTERCUP")
Bart: Maybe it’s because she can’t work with the rest of the team, maybe it’s because she’s going after me… and maybe it’s because she didn’t listen to my warning.

(He leaves, back to Tribal Council as Tom takes the box.)

Tom: You remember the drill, once the votes are tallied, the loser’s gotta go. And that’s the bottom line, ‘cause Stone Cold said so.

(He reaches in)

Tom: The first vote is for Buttercup.

(Shot of Buttercup, only slightly ticked.)

Tom: Next vote is for Buttercup. After that, Bart.

(Shot of Bart, looking down.)

Tom: Another for Buttercup… and another for Bart. That makes three for Buttercup, two for Bart. The next vote… is for Buttercup. The final vote doesn’t matter. Buttercup, hand me your torch.

(Buttercup sighs in silent, sad, anger, and takes her torch to Tom.)

Tom: Buttercup… the tribe has spoken.

(Her flame is extinguished.)

Tom: Time to go.

(Buttercup silently walks away. After she’s gone…)

Tom: Well, although we aren’t supposed to do this, we can’t help but wonder how the factions did overall, so…

(He reaches into the box and pulls out the final card.)

Tom: The final vote… was also for Buttercup. That should give you something to think about on the road back to camp.

(Shot of the group collectively taking their torches away and leaving)

Confession
Buttercup: I’m not going to say that I’m not partly angry with this. I just can’t believe they didn’t see how invaluable Bart was to the team. I tried to point this out and wham! I’m the one that gets voted off. I gotta say I don’t think justice was done here. Another thing that bugs me is how I got four votes. It’s bad enough that Bart got Lisa and Kyle to vote against me, but that fourth vote means that either Bubbles or Stan voted against me too. Either way, I’m not happy.

Preview of Next Week’s Show
Tom: Okay, Lisa, remember that you have your 50/50 lifeline left for this million dollar question! Which of these three events is going to have the most impact on next week’s episode?

*The whole Tai & Misty thing is raising serious eyebrows, but will Ash try to come between them?
*With Blossom’s co-conspirator gone, Blossom realizes that she will need to become much friendlier with the other Americans in order to stay alive.
*Serena’s illness is fading… does that mean she’s actually going to do work?

Author’s Notes:
So was it Bubbles or Stan that voted against Buttercup? Actually, it was both!

The big question that remains here then is how Bubbles and Stan end up voting against Buttercup. The answer… will be revealed in the next episode. That’s why we have it. Bubbles’s reason is actually somewhat valid, but revealing it while she was voting would have ruined the suspense.

Okay, okay, you’re probably starting to sweat regarding this whole Tai and Misty thing and are starting to wonder how far I’ll go with them. I can’t say wait until next episode, because that doesn’t fully explain it; they are a topic until one of them gets voted off. Ironically, though, this series will provide my take on both the Ash/Misty and Tai/Sora relationships. Although neither occur in the series, this sheds some light on what I think the situation is, and what each side needs to do for anything to happen (both pairings come very close to fruition). Still, a romance will occur in the series, but it’s a crossover. That’s all I’m saying.

Finally, although this episode covers Tracey a bit better than the first two, and gets his thoughts on Brock, you may still be wondering why I chose the mid-season replacement over the beloved love-starved sidekick. The answer lies in the fact that I am not a die-hard Pokémon fan, and enjoy watching the anime for what it is- a quirksome, entertaining show, with kitsch value, fun meta-humor, and interesting character interaction. I’ve seen enough of it to know the characters, and feel that Brock has been done to death. His persona has been fully mapped out, and it wouldn’t be exciting to see what changes this scenario would bring. Tracey, on the other hand, is a clean slate, and I can take him places I couldn’t go with Brock, yet still within the reaches of his character. Tracey will make an impact on the series, and believe me- you wouldn’t want Brock in his shoes.

That’s it for now, next week- why I chose Serena!