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After a short recap of the more memorable moments, day 38 of the Kid Nation finale began with a burn. Mike, who had magically awoken pre-dawn, roamed out of his bunk and into town to find the town's team board on fire. He stood in front of the fire just staring at it (and giving the producers good footage) before running off to wake everybody up. The kids tried to put the fire out with buckets of water (or tin cups in Jared's case) but it was to no avail. The grownup gathered the kids in front of the still burning board and told them that the fire was no accident. The town is about to change in a big way. After throwing the journal into the fire, he told them that there would be no more job classes, no more money, and they can do whatever they want these final days.

Wahoo! Let's go loot the store! And that's what most of the kids did. They were absolutely mad as they stole everything they could while leaving behind a complete mess. I wasn't surprised at some of the kids who were doing this (Taylor and Laila) but I was shocked at others who were looting. Sophia, Jared, Guylan, Michael, and Laurel? DK and Zach were two of the kids that weren't participating in the madness and even began cleaning up the dry goods store because they didn't want to leave Bonanza City with the store in that kind of shape. Later at dinner, Michael announced to everybody that they were all going to pitch in and clean the mess up the next day.

Sure enough, on day 39, they began cleaning after they woke up. After that, the grownup gathered the pioneers and told them that this is usually when they'd have a showdown. There would be no showdown but there would be a reward though. He told the town council that it was time for them to award the final gold star. After a short deliberation, a crying DK told everybody the council chose to award it to Zach. Of course, Zach was speechless and began crying.

Later that night, there was a little drama going on in the yellow girls' bunk. Taylor, Leila, and Kelsey had gathered their favorite brown chickens and brought them in to the bunk to spend the night with them. Emilie came over and asked to bunk with them that night but they told her they didn't want her there. They wanted it to just be them three for the final night. A huge fight broke out between the four girls but then Migle came over to handle the situation. She managed to smooth things over and all was right in Bonanza City once again.

On day 40, the final day, the grownup gathered the kids together once again and told them that it would be a big day for them and that gold may still be in their future. He pulled out a giant gold star worth $50,000. He then told them that there were two more just like it. Before these stars can be awarded though, they would have to prepare the town for the 1st Annual Bonanza City Bonanza. They would have one hour to accomplish three tasks. If they could do that, the council would be able to award the gold stars.

Of course, they accomplished the tasks (making spaghetti, assembling picnic tables, and burying the town's trash) so now they get three stars and one party. The grownup told them that there would be special guests coming to the party and that they hadn't seen them in 39 days. Yup. Their parents run into town and everybody begins crying and hugging and hugging and crying. After they recovered, the kids gave their parents a tour of the town. Then Taylor rang the lunch bell. It would be their last meal together as a town. While everybody was eating, the grownup came out and interrupted them saying that it was time for the final town hall meeting and that there were three gold stars to give away.

The council awarded the first $50,000 gold star to Sophia, the second to Morgan, and the final star to Migle. All of them were really shocked (Morgan and Migle especially). I found it interesting that the council made up of boys gave the stars to all girls. I was also a little sad that Mike didn't get a gold star. Speaking of Mike, I thought it was wonderful that his mother stood up and told all of the kids that she was proud of them and believed in all of them. I was this close to crying when the parents stood up and gave the kids a standing ovation.

Of course, there was tons of crying and hugging when it was time for everybody to say their goodbyes. Their final sentiments seemed to be that they're not just kids and that they feel they've really built something in Bonanza City. Well, they built enough that CBS is casting for a second season of Kid Nation.

What are your thoughts on the finale? How do you feel about the show overall? Will you watch a second season?

It's day 35 in the wonderful town of Bonanza City so let's see what the future leaders of America are doing. Why, there's Sophia claiming her stake of public property in the middle of Main Street and charging people to step foot in it. (I wonder if I'd be able to claim a little plot in one of the bigger intersections in my town and charge cars to drive through it.) And there's Sophia slapping at Colton. Easy there sheriff! No manhandling of the citizens allowed.

During journal time, the council is told to take a hike. Really! The old producers settlers even provided them with a map for their journey. When the council told the town that they were leaving Sophia in charge while they were gone, it was met with much enthusiasm. Nah, not really. Most of the kids thought Sophia would be a battle-axe without the council around but it really turned out not to be the case. Yes, she made them do all of their chores before they could go to the arcade and have fun but the kids wanted to go so badly that it didn't even matter.

The town council found themselves before teepees and Pueblo Indians at the end of their hike. While sitting around a campfire, they asked the elders for advice on how to run their society and control its inhabitants. Really, this part of the show was so cheesy I think the producers and writers had to have been partaking in mescal when they came up with this idea. But let's get back to Bonanza City where Jared and Alex are off taking a walk and playing with cow bones. Did you laugh too when Jared said, "Pelvis has left the building!"

Day 36 and it's time for the showdown but there's no council! Sheriff Sophia will be making any reward decisions should it come to that. In the showdown, the districts had to move their homestead (a house, chickens, an alpaca, and a flag) from one location to another. It involved tearing them down and building them back up again and if all of the districts could do it within one hour, the grownup would let them have a reward. There was nothing mental about this showdown -- it was all physical.

The green and red districts had no problems at all with this challenge and, respectively, took first (upper class) and second (merchants) class. With five minutes left, the blue district finally finished (cooks) so everybody was just waiting on the yellow district to finish. Three minutes, two minutes, ten seconds! Hurry up yellow! At the very last second, they placed their flag in the ground so they will indeed get a reward. What will it be though and how would Sophia make her decision?

The choices were: a Kid Nation monument on the land commemorating the show's existence or a hot air balloon ride over Bonanza City. With four days left, it was a hard decision to make. Sophia, thankfully, chose the hot air balloon ride and everybody will get their rides the next day. Until then, it was time to head to the saloon to toast to Bonanza City and their newfound friendships. I thought I was going to cry but I just had something in my eye.

The next morning, day 37, the kids awoke and ran to the most amazing thing they'd ever seen -- five hot air balloons! Everybody had a great time in the sky (even Mike who was afraid of heights) but eventually the fun must end. They spy the town council arriving and the fun is over.

At nominations, Alex was shown receiving the majority of the votes for the gold star with a couple for Migle and Jared thrown in as well. Then here comes Zach. Zach nominated himself and began crying during his speech which then caused Greg to remark about how he didn't think Zach's tears were real. The whole thing blew up into this outrageous ordeal leaving Zach roaming through the desert cursing and DK arguing with Greg. Eventually though, Zach came back to where the nominations were taking place and told them they were the most terrible people he'd ever met. Greg then apologized, they hugged, and DK called Greg a hypocrite. It was quite fascinating.

Before the gold star could be awarded at the town hall meeting, the grownup just had to mess things up and ask the kids how things were going. Some of the kids want to close the arcade because people are spending too much time playing video games and there's not enough bonding going on. I swear some of these kids are just too damned sensitive. So the town council closed down the arcade for good. I can only imagine how sappy the finale is going to be next week.

The winner of the gold star was no surprise to anybody watching the show this week. My cute little man, Alex, won it and was utterly shocked. Jared looked a little upset that he didn't get it but seemed to be fine otherwise. Alex was so cute when he said that his children and grandchildren might need that money some day and remarked on the price of gold going up on the market. That's a kid I would love to see what's going on with in 20 years.

After his talk with his mom (who told him that his microbes miss him), the arcade was locked down and the kids all sat around a campfire reminiscing about their time in Bonanza City and how much they would miss the place. It was really touching (seriously) when Anjay said that Bonanza City was the only place he felt like he fit in and then started crying. The kids plan on making the last few days the best days ever. Good ol' Jared closed the show out with him remarking on how big a scorpion was. He was hovering over it and checking it out while it crawled around and decidedly said that he wants one as a pet when he gets home. Watch out Mom!

Next week is the season finale of Kid Nation and it will have bigger challenges, bigger surprises, and bigger gold stars. At least that's what the voice-over guy said. Can the kids keep it together or will the world they built go up in smoke?

What did you think about this week's episode? Were you as happy as I was that Alex won the gold star?

What an amusing Kid Nation this week! Taylor was back to her old self again, the town found out that studying pays off, and a deserving kid finally gets a gold star.

Taylor really got the ball rolling in this latest episode which began on day 31. Her and Kelsey were playing with their favorite chickens, the brown ones, and making fun of the ugly chickens. Taylor says that all ugly animals should die and that ugly people can put on makeup and look pretty but chickens can't do that. She said she even did that to her dog before. So is she meaning her dog is ugly? Well Sophia approached Greg about killing 10 chickens for eating and when Greg when to the coop to get the chickens, he started taking the brown ones. Emilie (our little PETA activist in training) ran to get Taylor and when Taylor saw the chickens that Greg had gathered, she exploded.

Luckily, Sophia stepped in and mediated the whole matter. It was decided that Taylor and her friends could pick the 10 chickens going to slaughter. She chose to sacrifice the ugly chickens. After the killings, Taylor told her precious brown chicken that she wouldn't be eating him but would be eating his brothers and sisters. Then she yelled out in the middle of town that ugly chickens deserve to die! That girl is a mess I tell you.

Day 32 began with Alex, Jared, and Anjay discussing pi and extraterrestrial life on Mars. I'm sure they're a hoot at parties. That set up the "town council reads the journal" segment. Of course, it told them that the town should study up on the history of Bonanza City and there was even a history book for every single district! How did they know back then that they would need to leave four books for future residents? I know, I know, but it's still funny. When the council told the town that they would be having to study, it was met with quite a lack of enthusiasm. Taylor, of course, was one of the more outspoken kids yelling out that she hates school and reading. It was funny though when you heard other kids respond back to her with, "Deal with it!" Jared received another little sound bite highlight with, "Education is the root of civilization." He cracks me up.

While each of the districts were studying in their bunkhouses, Taylor and Leila decided they weren't going to study and went to be with their little brown friends in the chicken coop. The district leaders went to go and get them and told them they wouldn't get to take part in the reward if they won it. That was all Leila needed to hear before she changed her mind about studying. Taylor wasn't as receptive. She said she was going to do what she wants to do and they told her that she's out of the reward then.

At the showdown, the grownup was told that Taylor didn't study and wouldn't get any of the reward after he asked how their studying went. Poor little Taylor. The showdown is a pop quiz. He will ask them questions about things that were in their history books, they'll be presented a choice of three answers that are on balloons, the teams have to use a slingshot to pop the wrong answers, and the first team for each question to answer correctly will receive one point. The first team to three points will win upper class. To win reward, there must be enough ammo leftover from using their slingshots to fill a glass jar.

It was a pretty cool challenge and the teams seemed to have a good time with it. Migle and Hunter did really well and showed off their slingshot skills for their teams. The green team was the first team to reach three points and won upper class. Blue became the merchant class, yellow are the cooks, and the red team are the town's laborers. Time to see if they get the reward aaaannndd they got it! When presented with their choices, it was a no-brainer considering they only had eight days left. The town council had to choose between a town library or a video game arcade. They chose the arcade of course! Taylor kept hoping they would choose the library since she wouldn't be able to partake in the reward so she was upset when they picked the arcade.

On day 33, the town council told the kids that before they could go into the arcade the dishes needed to be done. Taylor was specifically told that if she started working hard then maybe she would get to play some games. The green team took off to the arcade (upper class remember?) and what a setup they were presented with. Air hockey, a pool table, tons of video games, and even cards. Sophia, ever the snob, decided to buy the remaining books in the town store and made a library in a teepee. Hmmm. The red team went to take care of the water supply but it wasn't too long before Jared and Mike left them hanging to go play in the arcade. I don't know about you, but I was kinda taken aback by that. Taylor had a change of heart and decided to conquer the mountain of dishes that needed to be washed. She seemed to have spent most of the day on them. Hunter decided not to spend his entire day in the arcade and chose to help Taylor out since he thought she was working hard. When Greg noticed the dishes that were completed, he told her she could go play and carried her into the arcade. Everybody's happy now.

When Sophia woke up on day 34, she found the town deserted. Everybody was still playing in the arcade and nobody had begun cooking breakfast. She went to go get Blaine (leader of the cooks) to tell him she needed his help cooking for 37 kids but he was busy. He had money on an important pool game that needed to be finished. Even DK began doubting their decision to choose the arcade. He said the town was abusing their privileges and he was frustrated.

At the town hall meeting, the grownup asked if everybody loved the arcade. Sophia, DK, and some other kid were the only ones that didn't like it and the town council came to the decision that they would padlock the arcade. When everybody's work was done, then it would be unlocked. Sophia was picked as the sheriff and would oversee everybody's chores. Mike wasn't very happy with that. This week, the town council decided to give the gold star to a really hard worker. Guess who. It's Hunter! He said he'd give most of the money to his dad who had lost his job a year ago and went to call his family. Of course, they were happy to hear from him and very proud of him for winning the money.

To close out the show, Jared snuck into the arcade to play one final game before it was locked up and then snuck back out. He acted like a little junkie or something. It was quite cute actually. Also cute was the clip of Taylor and Leila sitting with their chickens. Leila told Taylor that either her breath or her chicken smelled. Next week, Sophia stakes out a claim of land and the town council leaves and puts her in charge. That should be interesting.

What did you think about this week's episode? Would you be embarrassed or proud to have Taylor act the way she does? Would you have chosen the arcade over the library?

The winds of change began blowin' through Bonanza City this week on Kid Nation. Upon reading the magical journal left by long gone "settlers", some of the town council leaders felt that switching around some members of their districts would do the town good. Laurel did not want to get rid of anybody from her team though. They've won four stars and they work hard as a team and they win a lot and excuses excuses excuses. What a selfish little girl. I thought the premise of the show was to make a town that would work together to become better than any town run by grownups. Silly me.

When the council announced that there would be a change in the districts, the kids almost came unglued. Fortunately or unfortunately for them, there really wasn't much of a change that would be made. Anjay and Guylan traded Emilie and Nathan between their districts. Zach made the big score though by snatching Blaine from Anjay's team. Can you say Gregplosion? That boy went crazy about losing his best friend Blaine. He really perplexes me sometimes. He can be so nice at one moment and then be freaking crazy the next. Emilie welcomed the chance to be on a team that would appreciate her and she got to work making sure she was pulling her fair share. Nathan, on the other hand, thought his going to the red team was stupid and they didn't accept him much at all. I was glad to see Mike finally welcome him and apologize for his actions towards him earlier.

At the showdown, each team had a mining sled and a pile of rocks to work with. The object of the task was to be the first team to cross the finish line with their sled to win upper class status. To win reward for the town, the teams would have to haul a combined one ton of rocks to the finish line. The catch was that the teams could carry as much or as little of the rocks in the sled as they wanted. So would the teams work for the town or would they work for themselves?

The blue team was out of the starting gate first and while they were maneuvering the obstacle course with their sled and load of rocks, the yellow team began hauling their own load. There really was no competition for first place however. The blue district won it by a mile and became the new upper class. The yellow district (thanks to Blaine) came in second and would be the merchant class. The green team came in third and would be the cooks while the red team brought up the rear and would be the laborers. But how many pounds of rock did the teams haul? Would they have enough for reward?

Needing an average of 500 pounds per team for the whole ton, the teams came up short. The blue team hauled 480 pounds; yellow hauled 460 pounds; green hauled 420 pounds; and the red team needing to have hauled 640 pounds hauled 485 pounds. After finding out that his team hauled the most rocks, Guylan accused the other teams of being more concerned with their status than the good of the town. Sophia didn't take too kindly to that little remark and called him some kind of nasty name that was bleeped and blurred out. Whatever it was, the kids cheered her on while Guylan just wanted to crawl into a hole. The girls on the green team are some pretty pieces of work aren't they?

The nominations for the gold star really only came down to being between Hunter and Blaine. Hunter was a new kid that was introduced this week. He's a religious little fellow that seems to work hard for the town and has been overshadowed by the other green winners (according to Laurel). Blaine, now out of Greg's shadow, has stepped up into a leadership role within his new yellow team and has worked hard to get them all on track.

At the town hall meeting, Blaine voiced to the others that he was happy about the switch while Greg said he was still unhappy about it. Greg went so far as to call out Anjay for what he thought was a poor decision by saying Mallory was more of a man than Anjay was. Ouch. Laurel was called shallow for not changing her green team up and then Anjay and Laurel went at it between themselves. A lot of hard feelings in Bonanza City going on. When the grownup asked if any of the kids wanted to leave, a little blonde girl named Randi raised her hand. She missed her family and animals and left -- much to Taylor's displeasure. See, she had been one of Taylor's little worshipers. Sorry Taylor! You have one less princess in your court.

Finally, it was announced. Blaine gets the gold star. He was all excited and wanted to call his parents but first the grownup asked the kids if any of them approved of the job the council had done so far. Only one kid raised his hand -- Blaine. When he was the only one to raise his hand, I literally laughed out loud. The grownup tells them it's time for another election (woohoo!) and asked who wanted to run for their district's leader position. DK will be running against Guylan; Blaine against Zach; Greg against Anjay; and, in a shocker, Michael will be running against Laurel.

Personally, I'm ready for all new leaders so I hope they all win. I can't wait for the drama in Bonanza City next week!

I hope last night wasn't the first time you watched Kid Nation. If it was, I apologize for CBS. The show is usually better than what you witnessed. It really is. But even I was starved for entertainment by the time the show ended.

The theme of Kid Nation this week was that the kids are bored in Bonanza City. They want something fun to do to get their mind off of the toil that has become their life. I suppose the toys and games they received last week (only a couple of days ago in Bonanza life) have already been thrown to the wayside. That's why I never buy expensive gifts for children but I digress.

"The book" tells the town council that the town probably needs some entertainment to fight off the boredom. The town council thought either a play or a talent show would do the trick and ultimately settled on the talent show. The kids were all thrilled to have something to do to fill their time and went to work practicing for what would be one really weird show.

While all of that was going on, Savannah was feeling homesick. Little Alex (he's so cute) tried to talk her out of leaving. Kennedy (her new best friend) also tried to convince her to stay. But Savannah was so confused and didn't know what to do. She missed her family in Kentucky.

The showdown this week was easily the best part of the show. The kids in each district were given quarters to run and fetch bubblegum in assorted colors out of a bubblegum machine. Then they had to chew the gum to make it all nice and gooey so that their district leader could take it and stick it up on a paint-by-numbers canvas. Guylan was so grossed out by the whole thing he almost started dry heaving. It was funny. The grownup told them they had an hour to finish their "paintings" and if all of the teams completed their works of art they would all get a reward.

They came close to getting the reward but unfortunately Zach's yellow district chewed their gum a tad too much. They wouldn't stick to the canvas because they were too slobbery. Somebody actually spit on their gum and wanted to hand it to him. Ewww! The green district won and became the upper class for the first time, the blue district came in second and are the merchant class, the red district came in third and are the cooks, and because they came in last the yellow district are the laborers.

The talent show was held in the saloon and some of the kids had some skills: Kelsey could play the piano, Eric sang while playing the piano, and Olivia's stand-up comedy wasn't that bad. Greg and Blaine's "Romeo" skit was funny but only because Blaine was wearing a dress. Jared's monologue from Shakespeare's King Henry V was different. Kennedy's weird rap/dance act brought the house down though. Enough so that Savannah went to the stage to make an announcement: she would be staying in Bonanza. Good for you Savannah.

At the town hall meeting, DK stood up and asked Laurel to sing. She sang 'Amazing Grace' and was actually very good. I guess she wasn't allowed to compete in the talent show because she's a district leader. When the grownup asked the kids if any of them wanted to leave none of them stood up. Don't you love how the camera also shoots to the kid who had been pondering an exit? Zach, on behalf of the town council, awarded the gold star to Kennedy because she's funny and keeps everybody in good spirits. She was shocked she won it but I wasn't. You could tell she'd be winning it because she had been featured throughout this episode. Kennedy's mom could barely contain herself when Kennedy called to give her the good news. Get it together Mom!

Little Divad was upset she didn't get the gold star (she had nominated herself again this week) and thinks it should go to somebody who works hard. After she said that she muttered you can't always judge people and then rolled her eyes. Nice Divad. Nice.

Next week, it seems there will be a district shakeup. Yay! I'm so ready for these kids to be jumbled up.

Did you think this week's Kid Nation was as awful as I did? Did you have a favorite part? What did you think about the talent show?

This week's Kid Nation was all about the buffalo nickel. Earning, spending, discovering, and even reaching into fake vomit -- money was the focus.

A couple of the kids explored their entrepreneurial sides. Divad, who we've only glimpsed in previous episodes, decided to try her hand at selling fried potato treats along Main Street. Good idea but still fairly tacky taking food from the kitchen that the kids could eat for free. One of my favorite kids of the show, Jared, decided that it wasn't fair for her to be making money like that so he dumped her tables over. Yeah, it was over-the-top but I laughed.

Jared eventually came up with his own money-making scheme and it was brilliant. They showed him burning wood with a magnifying glass in front of one of the bunkhouses and the first thing that popped into my mind was that he was trying to burn the place down. Really, though, he was burning names and symbols into little pieces of wood he'd gathered and was making necklaces with them. The other kids loved them and soon Jared was the Bill Gates of Bonanza City. He earned so much money that he was able to pimp himself out with some new duds. It was priceless when he was strutting down Main Street and then went over to gloat to Divad. That's my boy.

Meanwhile, thanks to "the book" and an entry in it from April 20, 1885, the town council went on a little treasure hunt. With map and lanterns in hand, they entered a mine in search of a treasure chest. I don't know about you but I'm not sure I could have handled the bats that were hanging out down there. Eventually they found the chest and opened that baby up. 370 shiny buffalo nickels greeted their little bright eyes and ideas of how to spend the fortune spewed from their mouths. They quickly settled on buying goods in the store that all of the kids in town could enjoy: baseball bats, musical instruments, jump ropes, and even a kite. I think that was definitely the best decision they could have made and luckily all of the kids in town had a great time playing with all of it.

We met a couple of new kids this week that we'd never seen before -- Pharaoh and Nathan. Pharaoh seems like a cool kid but his telling Zach that he needed the gold star because of his family's situation rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. Nathan is a kid I wish we'd seen more of prior to this episode. On his bio he said one of the things he'd get rid of in his neighborhood are the bullies. That's sad especially because it appeared Greg has spent some of his time picking on Nathan even though the little guy has been working his butt off in town. But then we know how Greg is don't we?

Divad got more airtime this week than ever. I remember only a couple of snippets with her before this episode and I'm thinking I'll be fine with only seeing snippets of her in future episodes. She irks me for some reason and the way she acted after not getting the gold star didn't make it any better. She'll just have to show people how hard she works? Doing what? Frying up taters and making campaign posters? She needs a clue.

The showdown was pretty interesting and it was nice to see the blue team work together so well catching their golden eggs. I couldn't believe how many they got -- 38! Crikey! The red and green districts performed horribly though. How could they have only caught five and six eggs in all of 15 minutes? Thanks to the efforts of the blue team, the entire town got their reward though. Their choices were: a laundromat with modern coin-operated washers and dryers (20 cents per load) or new outfits for each of them and four pioneer-era washing machines that were free to operate. How smart of them to choose the second option; not to mention some of them kids really needed some different clothes to wear! I think most of them were wearing the same thing day after day.

At the town hall meeting, when the grownup asked if any of the kids wanted to go home none of them to chose to leave Bonanza City. Too bad Taylor didn't raise her hand. Speaking of her, did you notice she only had two (I think that was all) tiny speaking scenes? It sure was nice to have a break from her because I was really tired of all of the episodes revolving around the little princess so much. But anyway, the council decided to give the gold star to Nathan (kudos to Greg for nominating him) because he'd been a hard worker since the first day and wasn't doing it just for the money (they're talking about you Divad and Pharaoh). Even better than Nathan's speechless reaction to getting the gold star was the look on Divad's and Pharaoh's faces at the news. Serves them right!

I don't know if I liked the look of next week's episode. Bored kids and a talent show with a possible gold star on the line? Something just doesn't sound right about that.

Did you have any favorite scenes from this week's episode?

The kids of Kid Nation are dirty little stinkers aren't they? The mission of last night's show: to clean up Bonanza City. It's what the book said to do; along with those pesky grownups hovering about behind the scenes.

Complete with obligatory rat footage, we saw exactly how filthy Bonanza City has gotten to be in the last 17 days. Rotting food, empty cans, and miscellaneous scraps of wood (where did that come from?) were taking over the trash bins and it was time to take care of it. How cute that Anjay wanted to blow it all up with gunpowder! Unfortunately, Zach took the more intelligent approach and decided they should bury it far away from town.

Deciding who they would recruit to help in this little project was super easy. You choose all of the strong kids and hard workers and throw in a little bit of Taylor and Leila for drama. Taylor and Leila took it exactly the way you knew they would - not well. Those precious little beauty queens don't clean up trash. They only make it. Taylor and Leila outright refused to have anything to do with it and they ran away back to town. Meanwhile, new red district leader Guylan was trying his hardest to dig the hole the trash was to be buried in. He kinda sucked at using the shovel and decided to just give up and go pout underneath the cart away from the sun while watching the others finish the job.

But let's get back to the princesses. Miss Runner Up, Leila, changed her mind and went back to help the others with the trash. She tried to talk Taylor into going with her but Taylor wasn't having any of that. No way.

Later, once everybody was back in town, the clean-up continued. Guess which one thing is pretty vital when it comes to cleaning. Water. The tank was completely empty though and they needed somebody to fill it up. As punishment, that task was given to Taylor. Did Taylor do it? Absolutely not. She first threw down the bucket they gave her and just plain refused. Then she told them she would do it but when she was coming back with water she dumped the buckets out on purpose and ran to her bunkhouse crying about dictatorship. When Anjay and Zach go to try to get her and make her finish her job, she tries to get away from them. But they hold the door shut so she can't get out, she then kicks Anjay, and Laurel then steps in and tells Anjay to let her go. She walks off crying again and says she's going home. Well, I guess we know who wins Miss Congeniality tonight!

At the showdown, the grownup tells them it's all about pollution and recycling. There's a giant frying pan filled with 1600 gallons of pork and beans. But, the pork is alive! In the oinking dish are colored cans for each of the teams and they have to retrieve as many of them as they can in 15 minutes. If the teams bring a combined 75 cans back to the recycling bins, they'll get their reward. And can you believe it? Even though Taylor was afraid of the pigs she didn't have a problem getting down and dirty. Kudos to her on that. I felt sad for little Alex though because he got a can and was getting out of the frying pan just as time ran out and wasn't able to put it in their recycling bin. Poor kid.

The blue district wound up with 17 cans (laborers), red with 24 (upper class), yellow with 19 (cooks), and the green district with 20 (merchant). So yes, they got their reward. What will they pick? Mother Earth or fossil fuels? Fruits and vegetables galore or two gasoline-powered dune buggies with all the gas they need to run them? Mother Earth won out and the kids started gorging on the food. Taylor was still pissed though because she wanted the buggies. The poor girl even told Zach she'd hate him the rest of her life. Easy there killer.

The next day, Taylor and Leila continued their bratty behavior by refusing to do their jobs and instead going off to cook fruit salad for everybody. I loved it when Zach told them they're not going to get paid then since they're not doing what they're supposed to. Laurel loved it too.

At the town council meeting, it was all about DK. DK and the tears. DK had basically had enough of everybody's attitude and all of the fighting and wanted to go home. I can't say that I blame him. He'd been taking care of everybody's problems it seemed in the last few days. The kid had to have been worn out. Luckily, Guylan was able to take him aside and convince him to stay. The town needed him. DK came back to town hall to tell all of the bawling kids in town (I'm crying too by the way) that he's decided to stay.

Guess who gets the gold star? Why DK of course! By a unanimous vote too! He's utterly shocked and so excited that now he'll be able to go to college. His mother was thrilled and it was so sweet when she told him that he didn't need that gold star because he was already a star. How precious!

Back in the saloon, DK thanks everybody but gives extra credit to Guylan. It sure seems to me that Guylan and DK could be friends for a really long time. They're just so cute together.

Next week, the town council hunts for treasure and the kids in town learn that money changes everything. Hmmm. Can't wait!

Raise your hand if you loved watching the town council find out there were going to be elections. Raise your hand if you thought Anjay and Olivia were going to rumble. Now raise your hand if you believe Zach has a future in politics. Same here.

One thing I was surprised about was that nobody on the Green team wanted to run against Laurel in the district elections. Yes, she's been doing a good job but I figured at least one of them would want her leadership position.

How did you like the presidential-themed competition? It was funny watching them smashing the pinatas (especially little Alex and Mallory) and then even funnier watching the district leaders try to put their presidents in order. How fitting was it that Taylor knew nothing at all about the presidents and Zach had to tell her what order they went in? I was giggling like a little schoolgirl at that. But hey, you have to give them their due. The Yellow team won and became upper class again while Green came in second and became the merchants.

With five minutes left to win the reward (the teams were given 30 minutes), the Blue and Red teams were still working feverishly to even get their president cards. Finally, the Red team got theirs and finished in third place to become the cooks. With 15 seconds remaining, Anjay (the Blue team's leader) finished placing their presidential cards in order so that all of Bonanza City could win a reward.

Now this is where I knew for sure that the town council was crazy. They could have chosen between a BBQ feast (ribs, chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs) or dental health products (toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss). Honestly, how would you have chosen if you had been there? I would have chosen BBQ and that's what the kids wanted but noooo. They chose dental health. That wasn't a popular decision to make during election time.

After the competition, Zach went to Taylor to get paid and Taylor not so politely informs Zach that she has all of the girls' votes so she's going to win. Then the Taylor crew made up posters with Taylor's cute little slogan "Deal with it" on them. While I don't condone destruction of property, I certainly laughed out loud when Markelle (who's not even on the Yellow team) tore her posters down and began jumping up and down on them with his pogo stick.

At the town hall meeting, the grownup didn't even ask if anybody wanted to go home. He started them right off with awarding the gold star. It had been between Greg and Zach earlier when they got together so it's time to find out who they settled on. Greg finally got the gold star! He tells them all that it means so much to him because now he'll be able to go to college.

Now it's time for the election to be held. Laurel automatically keeps her Green team's council seat because nobody ran against her. Guylan ran against Mike on the Red team, Olivia ran against Anjay on the Blue team, and Zach ran against Taylor on the Yellow team.

The grownup reading the votes made me think of Survivor. Anybody else? In the end, Anjay won and kept his Blue team's seat. Guylan won the Red's teams seat almost unanimously - Mike was the only one that voted for Mike. Teehee. The Yellow team? Zach found a traitor in one of the girls and won the Yellow's seat on the town council. "Vivia la Revolucion!" Taylor was quite nice about the whole thing though. At least, she was much nicer about it than I thought she would have been.

Greg made his phone call to his mother and older sister(?) and they're thrilled for him of course.

Next week on Kid Nation, there seems to be some sort of environmental crisis and new leaders and old leaders get into it. Did I see Taylor kick Anjay? Whoa. Stay tuned!

Kid Nation was interesting. Religious wars. Cute kids. Drinking to escape depression.

What one thing isn't like the others? Oh wait. They were all a part of the most recent episode.

The show begins on their day 11 and the council members are reading the 'journal' from April 11, 1885. The original settlers of Bonanza City recommend them feeding themselves. Not with hot pizza. Not with cold biscuits. With religion. The original long gone settlers believe it would be good if the new settlers prayed. I doubt they could have foreseen the Jew Crew (don't stone me - the kids said it I didn't) or high-fiving while yelling "Christians rule!"

The council members think it would be best if there was one religious service that covered the religions represented among the town; Christian, Jewish, Muslim. That suggestion didn't really go over that well. Olivia thought there should be separate services as did Divad. Alex, the cute little nine-year-old, thought one service was a good idea. Regardless, the council decides there will be one service and too bad if not all of the kids don't like it.

Guess what? It came time for the service and nobody showed. Little Savannah was used to going to Pentecostal services and didn't want to be in the same service with Jews. Cody decided he didn't want to be part of any kind of conflict and decided against the whole thing. Greg didn't think there should be a set service and Morgan was afraid that this would tear the town apart. She didn't want that to happen. Oh how cute.

However, Morgan wasn't afraid of getting together a little prayer service before bedtime that night. She spread the word and all who wanted to come were invited. Several of the kids led the others in prayer and Zach even sang a Jewish prayer and later said he thought that Morgan deserved the gold star for bringing all of them together regardless of their religious affiliations.

It's now Day 12 and it's time for a showdown. Playing on the religious theme of the night's show, the competition is a modern kid version of a steeplechase. Each district (yellow, green, blue, and red) has to put together a puzzle in the shape of a church steeple. After doing that, the kids need to turn a wheel in charge of a pulley that will raise their steeple upright. The first district to do that and cross the finish line will win first place and become the upper class. This week, if all of the teams accomplish their raising within 30 minutes, they will win a reward.

The blue and red districts were really the only ones in contention for the win. The yellow and green teams just couldn't get it together (thank goodness). The blue district won and are the new upper class. The red district came in second place and are the merchants. The yellow district finished third (cooks again) and the green team came in last (laborers). Of course, all of them finished within the 30 minutes and Bonanza City will receive one of two rewards.

The choices? One setup of a complete round of miniature golf or a library of holy books. The council decided not to make the decision for everybody this week and let the town vote on it. The holy books won. No, really.

Later that evening, Cody is depressed and reading over a letter he received from his girlfriend Ashley. She's been his girlfriend since the third grade and he misses her. He decided to go to the soda saloon and drink a root beer to get missing her off his mind. I'm sorry but that kid listens to too much country music and his parents really need to have a talk with him. I can only imagine how things will be with him in a few years. Forgive me. I strayed off subject.

Now it's day 13 and the kids wake up to snow falling. It's Christmas except it's not December and there are no presents. Well, except for one lucky gold star winner later that day.

In the town council meeting, the grownup (can never remember his name and does it really matter?) asks for a show of hands among the children concerning their approval of the council. Many of them don't approve and I'm shocked. Not really. The next question is the good ol' wanting to know if any of them want to leave Bonanza City. Oh Cody. Cody wants to go home because he misses his family. His BFF Campbell has a really hard time with it and is crying (along with Cody) and they hug each other before Cody leaves the building. Finally, it's time to find out who will be awarded the gold star.

The council had been considering Morgan, Zach, and Greg (did we even see Greg in this show for longer than a second?) for the honor. And the winner is *drum roll* Morgan. She wins $20,000 and is super excited about getting to call her parents. Of course, they're proud of her. They'd better be!

Sadly, the show ends with Campbell drowning his sorrows in the saloon with a drink in honor of his good friend Cody. He vowed to stick it out just for him.

Next week? It's finally time to elect new council members. Toodles Taylor!

Awww. They're getting along so well at the saloon in Bonanza City on Kid Nation. The older kids are even doing double shots. How precious. Thanks to the red and green teams for helping to put up the money for this little shindig by the way.

And now the show begins. It's Day 8 and it's time to wake up. Greg is acting like a jerk banging pot lids against each other in the cabins to wake everybody up. Remind you of anybody? Meanwhile, the council members are having their 'reading a made up journal' meeting. Oh no! It's time for a curfew. This should go over well. Little Taylor says they'll just have to "deal with it" for the first of a thousand times. They settle on 9:30 (yes PM) while the rest of the their city is up in arms over being mauled, physically and mentally, by Greg after awakening. Little 8-year-old Mallory doesn't appreciate all of this hullaballoo and is scared after hearing the cursing coming out of Greg's mouth while he's being confronted by his fellow citizens concerning his 'waking up' methods.

When all of the kids are assembled and Mike tells them about the curfew many of the kids are upset about it. Deal with it! Colton, introduced to us for the first time, helps to bring order to everything by saying that he thinks it's a good idea. Then we got to watch a cute little Colton segment of him scaring the cows. The bull doesn't scare so easily at first though. Colton continues to walk up on the bull and finally the bull give in and runs off as well. What a cute little cowboy!

Could you believe the flour fight in the kitchen? I was appalled. I would have snatched those kids up by the ears and given them a good talking to. Taylor finally begins breakfast, brunch I mean, for everybody and when it's done the kids don't like it. And what was up with the way it was served? They stuck their hands in the pot and grabbed a handful of whatever it was and handed it off to whoever wanted some chow. Do you know what it was? I couldn't tell. Deal with it!

The showdown was cute I thought. A bunch of sheep running around with playing cards around their necks and names painted on their backs. Awww. The first team to collect the three aces from the selected sheep on their provided 'Wanted' poster wins and will become the upper class. And if all of the teams get their aces in under five minutes the town will receive a reward (oooh). The blue and yellow teams stayed neck and neck throughout the challenge but the yellow team actually won out! Wow. The youngest kids are now the upper class. The blue came in second (merchant class), green in third (cooks), and the red team came in last place (laborers).

The teams all finished in under five minutes. Supposedly. Anybody else other than me question the clock here? Anyway, the council gets to choose between a pioneer microwave using electricity and a barrel of cocoa or 40 hot pizzas. Most of the kids are screaming for pizza but the council decides on the microwave. Some of the kids didn't like this too much. Deal with it! During another party at the saloon that evening, Mike has to bust things up. Time for curfew!

Day 9 begins with the kids assuming their new duties and Taylor being even bossier than normal. The laborers are cleaning the outhouses well enough and her butt's not shiny. Not quite sure what to say on that one. Oh no! It's a twister! Not really. It was one helluva windstorm though. All of the outhouses tipped over spilled. YUCK! When the storm winds down, the older kids bring the outhouses back upright. Better them than me.

Later, the entire town lines up outside the town hall and each kid goes in to nominate one kid for the gold star to the town council. Greg votes for himself. Interesting. Morgan says that everybody deserves a gold star. Classy. Olivia nominates her little sister Mallory because she keeps a smile on everybody's face, runs the store good, and because it will be her birthday.

Day 10 and it's time for the town hall meeting. Taylor is acting like a diva and the kids are sick of it. They're also sick of her telling them to deal with it. Taylor's feelings are hurt and she begins crying in front of them all. The kids want a re-election! Taylor nips that in the bud real quick by telling everybody she's sorry and that her yellow team will start helping from now on.

Anybody want to go home? Nope.

Gold star time. And the star goes to *drum roll* now nine-year-old Mallory. Mallory is shocked and thankful. Morgan and Greg looked disappointed. Greg thinks the gold star should be given out based on hard work and that she only got it because it was her birthday. Gee Greg, you should really check your attitude.

Mallory goes to call her parents and she's so excited. Her parents are too and you could tell they really miss both their little girls being home. Awww, her dad calls her 'little bit'. After the phone call, Mallory joins the other kids in the saloon where they're drowning in mugs of root beer. Cheers!

Next week it seems we'll have some religious differences concerning services, snow, and Taylor & Zach battle it out. Sounds like fun!