'Kid Nation': Laurel FINALLY gets gold

Laurel voted off the council?!?  Definitely uncalled for, but kids can be fickle.  One kid in the green district said that she was "losing her focus."  Weak excuse, and not true.  Despite her steadiness and Michael's likability, I sense a backlash coming from Laurel.  It came as she tried to cope with being "powerless," but it went quickly.

In other results: Greg easily took out Anjay. Guylan gives up his seat to DK, and Blaine beats out Zach.  Meet your new council, and be afraid.  Sophia: "I feel like somebody just won a presidential election with no background check."

Such a smarty, but maybe she and the green district are too smart?  Suddenly, the strongest district was set upon by the leaders of the other three districts for not being pro-town. We won't even talk about the stupid communication exercise that brain surgeon Blaine suggested, but suffice it to say the problems with the green group are much more due to faulty leaders  in the other districts than anything the green team did.

Former leader catch up:  Zach is feeling homesick. Guylan "feels like a train just got lifted off my chest." And Mike?  Well, he's a bit upset that Guylan took his seat only to give it up when it got too tough.

Taylor returns, or at least is back on camera.  The council decides that if she doesn't do more work the headstrong little girl won't reap the rewards of the challenge.  Ohhh . . . it doesn't seem to faze her.  Greg: "She thinks she's the princess of 'Bonanza.' "

And the challenge is moving pies (on poles) to a slide, then putting the communication devices pictured on the pie tins in historical order. Phonograph, telegraph, radio, telephone and television.  Blue team gets it right first.  They are, again, the upper class.  The group prize?  Ponies or letters from home.  Considering that the kids had been away from home for 30 days, it wasn't a real tough decision.

And the gold star?  It finally, deservedly, went to Laurel.  She's been a leader, a mom and a generally steady kid.  Too bad she had to be voted off the council to win it.

Most of the kids have probably worked hard to help the town function, but with 10 days left, there are still lots of them that never received a gold star.  I know that's life, but I wonder how and if the show will address it?  Suggestions?

Now that we've seen what the show is and is not, you can look back on the comments made by executive producer Tom Foreman: If you're a kid, this looks like a dream come true. And if you're a parent, it is some real insight into kids today and what they're thinking.

Speaking of insight . . . Dennis Chavez Elementary School teacher Laurie Vazquez takes "Kid Nation" literally and has structured  her classroom around the show's rules.  It'd be interesting to see the kids at work without cameras around.

See what TV can do?  Even if it drew only 7.42 million viewers last week, it also matters exactly who is watching and what they're getting out of it.

-- Jevon Phillips

Photos courtesy of CBS.com