Kid Nation - Episode 12

Day 35.

At the end of the last episode Sophia was appointed sheriff by the town council and charged with enforcing the council’s edict that the arcade not be opened each day until all chores are done. This status makes the strange start to episode 12 even odder. Remember when Sophia busked for spare change by dancing in the street? Remember when she lay down in the middle of the street and stayed there, just to break the boredom? Well, she’s back.

Using pegs and twine, Sophia stakes out a square about the size of a double bed in the middle of the main intersection, claims it as hers and announces there is a five cent charge for using her space. Now, I’ve been a big fan of Sophia since episode 1. She’s far and away the most mature kid in the nation, and has an infectious bemusement with human behavior. But with this stunt she shows an uncharacteristic and rather fundamental misunderstanding.

“My theory,” she tells the camera, “was as soon as I claimed it as my own, everyone would want it.” Uh, no. Wanting what belongs to someone else is one thing, Sophia: taking what belongs to others, as you are doing here, is something quite different.

The kids refuse to accept her claim (the town council is oddly absent) and gather round what becomes her self-made cell, taunting. She eventually screams, “You should all be ashamed of your selves.” When Sophia watches this sequence on the tapes her parents are undoubtedly making back home, will her maturity allow her to admit she got this one wrong? I hope so.

Cut to the council entering the church to consult the pioneer manual. With 5 days to go, they are advised to explore the area around Bonanza City. More than that, they are given a map and told they will “meet some folks who came here centuries before us. They can surely teach you how to build a society that lasts.”

I hate this kind of smarmy condescension. The council is being sent out to meet some aboriginals. Of all the things to be learned from New World aboriginals, how to build a society that lasts is not among them. If it were, the sentence, “I live on a…,” could not be completed with the word “reservation.”

At the town meeting the unseen, unsubtle hand of the producers is evidenced by the councilors’ backpacks (where did they get the notion it was only they and not the town as a whole that should head out on the hike?) and the announcement that they will be gone overnight.

The council puts Sophia in charge in their abscence, with the power to “make you work all day, if she wants,” and to decide what reward will be chosen at the completion of the challenge. Nathan, who had earlier protested Sophia’s unilateral appropriation of public land on the grounds that only the elected council had the power to dispose of public property, speaks up immediately.

“You’re giving Sophia a lot of power. We didn’t elect her.” The councilors’ inelegant response? “Too bad.” Catcalls follow them as they head out: “That’s not fair, “I thought we were all equal.”

But again, Sophia demonstrates the maturity that has made her such a stand out. She gently supervises the various districts in their chores, offering only encouragement and a positive attitude. The kids in turn respond to her and all find the town a kinder, gentler and generally happier place with the older boys out of the picture. There’s a lesson here for all of us in how we raise our boys.

There’s another lesson in how the kids respond when chores are done to Sophia’s satisfaction and she opens the arcade. She announces the arcade is open (addressing the street from a second floor balcony in a visual so telling you have to wonder if the producers told her to do it) and everyone runs off, squealing with joy – except Nathan. He hangs his head; embarrassed to be among people grateful for crumbs from the dictator’s table. Hey, Nathan: you rock.

Meanwhile the councilors, after a long hike, come over a hilltop and spy their destination – two teepees and a sweat lodge. Greg says, “Igloos.” What seems to be an extended family of 4 or 5 adults and a couple of children greet them. The leader says, “The Pueblo people are happy you finally made it.” The boys show great respect. Myself, I just feel bad for the Pueblo people.

Back in town, prodigies Alex and Jared head out to do some exploring on their own. They are a natural fit, and watching them pick over the bones of a long dead steer is hilarious. Jared places the pelvic bone over his head, the hip holes serving as eyes in a grotesque mask. When they head back he takes it with him as a souvenir, saying, “Pelvis has left the building.” In an aside to the camera Jared says he would like Alex for a best friend or a brother, and you sense the loneliness of the gifted. During the visit with the Pueblos, the chief (? – don’t actually know what if any status he had. We never even learned his name. He looked like a Marvin, or maybe a Steve.) and a female (his wife? If the producers had so much respect for these people, why didn’t they at least introduce us?) told the boys that the most important thing with younger children is to show them support. This got the council thinking that maybe they should give a gold star to Alex or Jared as an investment in the future. After seeing Alex and Jared together, I hope one wins and spends it all on visiting the other.

The challenge is held on the morning of Day 36, before the 4 oldest, strongest males return. It’s a physical one, involving assembling a small house out of heavy prefab walls that must be carried some distance across uneven ground to fenced yards that are supposed to be homesteads. A cage of chickens and an alpaca (a cross between a giraffe and a sheep, according to Sophia) must also be brought to the yard. It is all supposed to be connected to the settling of the west under the terms of the Homestead Act, which marked the end of free range alpaca herds and that quintessential American hero, the alpaca boy.

During the challenge we learn that Guylan is the child of elephant trainers and has lived in zoos. I’m jealous.

Green wins Upper Class, Red are Merchants, Blue are Cooks and Yellow are the Laborers. The prize is a choice between hot air balloon rides or the permanent placement of a large stone monument bearing the Kid Nation logo and these words:

“On this site, in 2007, young pioneers came together to do what their forefathers could not: build a better world. They worked together, sacrificed together and cried together. But most importantly, they succeeded together. This monument commemorates their efforts and will forever stand, here in Bonanza City, the world’s first Kid Nation.”

With the exception of the unnecessary shot at the forefathers who were the true pioneers, the monument seems important to me and I think of the kids returning, years from now, to show it to their kids and share memories and lessons with them.

Boy, am I wrong. Sophia chooses the balloon ride. No freakin’ way should this decision have been left up to a single, unelected person.

The council returns, maybe wiser. The gold star goes to Alex. When he calls home his family is spectacularly unimpressed and you realize his amazing intelligence and calmness – his centeredness – comes from somewhere.

Next week is the final episode. I hope Zack gets the star he so richly deserves at the final town council meeting.