i have quite honestly been waiting for the day that you'd write this up ever since i first started trying to get you to watch i-land so!!! i'm feeling EXTREMELY gratified right now. also i have to admit you totally lost me in the latter half with the tinhatting and all (i respect it but txtha is not the tinhatting hill for me personally to die on) so all these thoughts will probably be about the other stuff. apologies in advance <3
ur point about trainee voting—YEAH that is hands-down why i think i-land is worth watching as a survival show even though all of the songs and stages suck. the bbbisms of it all, and also the ridiculous amount of politics/camera play that went on! i seriously felt like i was watching the hunger games at some points. especially when you take into account how k/heeseung/seon were basically the ones controlling all of i-land? like. i have no clue how seon got everyone to "like" him (in quotes because i have no clue if they actually liked him. it's really hard to tell. they (the trainees younger than him) all definitely thought he was IMPORTANT somehow, since he never got voted out despite being super sub-par comparatively. anyway i'm also obsessed with the fact that he got paired with k a lot, who was like the BIGGEST critic of the talent over age/experience thing. i talked about it in my own i-land posts but he was easily the most fascinating to watch because of just how bad he was at navigating inter-team dynamics/did not bother to have an idolsona that was likeable.
and then heeseung... i truly don't get the hype but i will respect your taste anyway. I'M GLAD THAT YOU LIKE DANIEL! he was seriously soooo endearing and eager and like. such a kid LOL. but in a really sweet way honestly :') i feel like because he was so tall and had such a serious face it was easy to forget that he was the maknae but then you see him hang around the i-land hyungs in part two and it's like omg.... cute. also i think he's pretty disposed to leadership! obviously he never really got there because i-land had their fair share of leader potentials (k, heeseung, jay, etc) but i think he really shone during ground because of that. and also when niki got heated about how bad everyone else was at dancing (or something trite like that) and daniel was like "whoaaa... chill" seriously cracked me up.
also glad that niki is climbing up ur list again :') THOUGH I CAN'T BELIEVE JUNGWON IS SO LOW... i know it's not fair to disparage you for ur taste because it is all subjective but like. i am still doing it <3
about hanbin: he definitely shines a lot more later on in part 2. i think he just never got enough screentime even though he's fairly capable? and he's relentlessly kind, even in spite of all the politics going on. i think that's what endears him most to ifans (who are the ones on reddit and all) so what ur seeing of his popularity is definitely disproportionate to what it actually is. i rooted for him out of obligation (underdog, and all) but to be honest i just had other trainees i liked more.
rip ej was pretty much dead to me after he voted daniel out. I REALLY THINK DANIEL COULD'VE BEEN IN I-LAND ALL ALONG... CMON!!!
and yeah i feel like in any survival show the lower ranking trainees are always more fun to watch, so ground was definitely better for the heart and all. i-land was just like "u guys are all marginally more/less talented than each other in literally every area ever so why are you being so passive-aggressive when the same three people are going to get the best parts every time???????"
about ur favorite pairings: i've already said this to you but i'm obsessed with the sunghoon/jake/sunoo triangulation, especially after the kitchen moment. it is the only time that i willingly think about jake. also for jay/heeseung—i think there's more of them later on in part two? i can't quite remember but i think they get along quite well because jay's a way better leader and heeseung's like "oh thank god." definitely in part because he's more approachable! heeseung already had so much on his plate that he was only ever leader out of obligation, and i feel like because everyone knew he was doing so much they never really asked him for help because they'd be bothering him in the process. jay is a lot more easygoing and down-to-earth so it makes sense that people approach him more. also he's dramatic and funny... that's kind of like. ideal against the politics backdrop of the show.
and because i am me, i have to say that i too love that jungwon was the favorite of pretty much every older i-lander ever :')
again, not many thoughts about the tinhattery section because i feel like i've already told you all my thoughts on everything mentioned but if you ever have more i am open to it.
thank u shakti for writing this up this was such a fun read!!! and please keep talking to me as you watch more <333
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ur point about trainee voting—YEAH that is hands-down why i think i-land is worth watching as a survival show even though all of the songs and stages suck. the bbbisms of it all, and also the ridiculous amount of politics/camera play that went on! i seriously felt like i was watching the hunger games at some points. especially when you take into account how k/heeseung/seon were basically the ones controlling all of i-land? like. i have no clue how seon got everyone to "like" him (in quotes because i have no clue if they actually liked him. it's really hard to tell. they (the trainees younger than him) all definitely thought he was IMPORTANT somehow, since he never got voted out despite being super sub-par comparatively. anyway i'm also obsessed with the fact that he got paired with k a lot, who was like the BIGGEST critic of the talent over age/experience thing. i talked about it in my own i-land posts but he was easily the most fascinating to watch because of just how bad he was at navigating inter-team dynamics/did not bother to have an idolsona that was likeable.
and then heeseung... i truly don't get the hype but i will respect your taste anyway. I'M GLAD THAT YOU LIKE DANIEL! he was seriously soooo endearing and eager and like. such a kid LOL. but in a really sweet way honestly :') i feel like because he was so tall and had such a serious face it was easy to forget that he was the maknae but then you see him hang around the i-land hyungs in part two and it's like omg.... cute. also i think he's pretty disposed to leadership! obviously he never really got there because i-land had their fair share of leader potentials (k, heeseung, jay, etc) but i think he really shone during ground because of that. and also when niki got heated about how bad everyone else was at dancing (or something trite like that) and daniel was like "whoaaa... chill" seriously cracked me up.
also glad that niki is climbing up ur list again :') THOUGH I CAN'T BELIEVE JUNGWON IS SO LOW... i know it's not fair to disparage you for ur taste because it is all subjective but like. i am still doing it <3
about hanbin: he definitely shines a lot more later on in part 2. i think he just never got enough screentime even though he's fairly capable? and he's relentlessly kind, even in spite of all the politics going on. i think that's what endears him most to ifans (who are the ones on reddit and all) so what ur seeing of his popularity is definitely disproportionate to what it actually is. i rooted for him out of obligation (underdog, and all) but to be honest i just had other trainees i liked more.
rip ej was pretty much dead to me after he voted daniel out. I REALLY THINK DANIEL COULD'VE BEEN IN I-LAND ALL ALONG... CMON!!!
and yeah i feel like in any survival show the lower ranking trainees are always more fun to watch, so ground was definitely better for the heart and all. i-land was just like "u guys are all marginally more/less talented than each other in literally every area ever so why are you being so passive-aggressive when the same three people are going to get the best parts every time???????"
about ur favorite pairings: i've already said this to you but i'm obsessed with the sunghoon/jake/sunoo triangulation, especially after the kitchen moment. it is the only time that i willingly think about jake. also for jay/heeseung—i think there's more of them later on in part two? i can't quite remember but i think they get along quite well because jay's a way better leader and heeseung's like "oh thank god." definitely in part because he's more approachable! heeseung already had so much on his plate that he was only ever leader out of obligation, and i feel like because everyone knew he was doing so much they never really asked him for help because they'd be bothering him in the process. jay is a lot more easygoing and down-to-earth so it makes sense that people approach him more. also he's dramatic and funny... that's kind of like. ideal against the politics backdrop of the show.
and because i am me, i have to say that i too love that jungwon was the favorite of pretty much every older i-lander ever :')
again, not many thoughts about the tinhattery section because i feel like i've already told you all my thoughts on everything mentioned but if you ever have more i am open to it.
thank u shakti for writing this up this was such a fun read!!! and please keep talking to me as you watch more <333