#td analysis

I threw this together in an hour because I actively hate being a fan of both of these characters sometimes. The nuances of them are often just pushed aside for the sake of 'Harold deserved the bullying' or 'Duncan is a one-note jerk'.

Duncan and Harold are great rivals because they have a lot in common beneath the surface, and often times are these similarities contrasting with one another. Duncan is predominantly cool, quippy, yet has a hidden nerdy, dorkish side that he would rather die than show. Harold is a geeky loser who plans to live in his mom's basement, yet has a select few moments his bite matches his bark. Even in design, they both wear undershirts while having facial hair, with Duncan's being well-kempt while Harold's isn't.

What's doubly interesting is how their main connecting trait is their arrogance. Duncan backs it up more often, but they're both exceedingly arrogant people who often put their own foot in their mouth. They both have a sense of 'I'm so awesome' and it's why they're often used as punching bags for the show's slapstick. They aren't perfect, pristine people and are notably flawed, yet also aren't quite the level of characters like Alejandro or Heather. Even lesser villains like Justin and Scott are arguably worse people than these two, because despite Duncan and Harold both being arrogant; they're also genuinely good people at heart who like to help others.

Harold is the only person to ever reach out and help Heather. This might've been due to his main character sydrome, but he went out of his way to help a fellow outcast just because he didn't like seeing her sad. Similarly, Duncan goes out of his way to get a new pet Bunnie for DJ, simply because he doesn't want his friend to go through the same thing. Harold often finds the best in bad people, while Duncan often socializes with exceedingly good people.

Even in how they interact with each other, they parallel. Duncan gets the upper hand usually, with Harold occassionally dunking on him and turning the tables. They both think the other is a total idiot, but they're willing to put aside differences for the sake of the team. Some of Duncan's confessionals even imply that he believes that his bullying of Harold will make him actually toughen up, which makes sense when you factor in how Duncan is in-and-out of juvie constantly. It's probably how he ended up being so untrusting of everyone and sees enemies everywhere.

The thing is, you know approximately when the merge is. (halfway through the game.) You also would know how long your season would be, since thats easily obtainable information IRL.

In the absolute beginning of the game (say, 0-33% completion), vote of your team's weakest members. Either people that stir up conflict like Eva, or just generally inept people. I'd say it doesn't matter if someone bombs 1 challenge, their expected performance in future challenges is more important.

Throwing challenges at this point is a stupid idea, since a lot of times, overall numbers is an advantage. It also makes you look like you should get voted off, which you can't risk. Overall, I'd aim to look good but not too good (maybe third most useful on the team), but winning the most challenges is realistically more important.

Then, once you've hit one-third mark, your strategy should turn on a dime. Don't actively throw challenges, but half-ass them. If it comes time to vote someone off, try to convince some friends to vote for the most useful people on your team. Because your half-assing challenges, it won't be you.