It is now [b]Day 31[/b], and Taylor, Emilie, Kelsey, and Leila are hanging out in the chicken coop and talking about how some chickens are cuter than others. Meanwhile, Sophia approaches the Town Council and proposes having a chicken feast for tonight’s dinner. Not surprisingly, the guys think this is a great idea and Greg agrees to act as butcher. The feast will call for 10 chickens. Greg and Blaine go to the coop and begin selecting chickens for the feast. Unfortunately, they pick Taylor’s favorite, a Rhode Island Red– and she and the other girls go ballistic. Kelsey protests that the red chickens should be spared because they lay eggs. Greg retorts that all chickens lay eggs. Sophia hears the ruckus and tries to calm everybody down. Upon learning that Taylor and her friends have grown attached to some of the chickens, she reasonably suggests that Greg and Blaine simply take chickens they aren’t so attached to. They do, and the crisis is solved.

Elsewhere, Anjay, Alex, and Jared are competing to see which one has memorized the most decimal places of pi. Alex wins, despite being the youngest. Jared then brings up the possibility of extraterrestials having once lived in our solar system. To go by this conversation and last week’s previews, it looks like tonight’s theme is going to be education.

On [b[Day 32[/b], the idiotic, manipulative Journal resurfaces. Somehow, those “ancient” pioneers from 100 years ago know exactly how long the kids have been in Bonanza City. As the Council reads it, the Journal lectures them about the importance of book-learning. It also tells them that it’s important that the kids know a little something about Bonanza City’s history. Conveniently, there are four color-coded history books, one for each district. D.K., who is either quite savvy, or just watches [i]Survivor[/i] and similar shows, points out that the history books will probably be important in the upcoming Showdown. Blaine tells us that he might have trouble getting his district motivated for studying the history books as so many of them are 9, 10, and 11 years old.

Later, when the Council makes their announcement about studying the history books, Taylor yells, “Boring!” Another kid yells back, “Deal with it!” Sophia takes charge of the green district’s study group and has people act out scenes from the text, a teaching method apparently used at her school. The other greens seem to like this method of learning. I predict that the green district is going to do well in the Showdown. The yellow district, on the other hand, has problems called Taylor and Leila, who abscond to the chicken coop rather than take part in a group study session. Blaine and his fellow Council members confront the truants and warn them that if they don’t come study, they won’t be allowed to share in the reward. Leila backs down and agrees to join the yellow study group, but Taylor is stubborn. D.K. attempts to reason with her, at one point asking, “What do you hope to get out of this?” Taylor tells him that she doesn’t know, but DR’s that she hates people telling her what to do. Another prediction: Taylor is going to be an [b]armful[/b] when she reaches adolescence, if she’s already like this at 10. The Council eventually give up and leave her with the chickens.

The Council may have some rough edges, but give them points for foresight: They were right about the Showdown, as it does indeed have an educational them. In fact, it’s a multiple choice pop quiz. Jonathan reads the kids a question, and they have to pick which of the three answers shown is correct. These answers are emblazoned on balloons, and the kids have to use slingshots and ammo to pop the balloons with the wrong answer. The first team to get three correct answers will be the new Upper Class. Moreover, the districts have to be careful with their ammo, as they will only get their town reward if the four districts have enough left to fill a large jar.

The first question is “What Indian tribe lived in the area?”. The yellow district is the first to pop their balloons, but their answer, Pintos, is incorrect. The green district has the right answer, which is Comanches. They score the first point. Between their studying and Hunter’s superb marksmanship, they get and keep a lead. Only the blue district offers them any serious competition. The red team, by contrast, is having a hard time just hitting the balloons. In the end, the green district wins and becomes the new Upper Class. The blue district finishes next and becomes the Merchants. The yellow district winds up as the Cooks, while the hapless red district becomes the Laborers.

It seems likely that the kids won this week’s reward, for when Michael pours the green district’s remaining ammo into Jonathan’s jar, he fills it halfway. The blue and yellow districts also make significant contributions, filling it almost to the top. D.K. teases the pioneers a little by dropping in just one nut– and then pours in the rest, filling the jar to overflowing. The town has won their reward.

As usual, two rewards are offered. The first is a library, and the second is a full-blown video arcade. Taylor, mindful of the fact that she can’t use the reward, hopes the Council will choose the library, as she hates reading. Michael also wants the library, but the other three guys want the arcade. D.K. points out that the dry goods store does sell books, so those who want books can buy them. The Council chooses the arcade and bans Taylor from using it. D.K. DRs that previous Councils had always picked the serious or practical reward, and that he wanted to pick a fun reward, as they would have only a week left to enjoy it.

It’s [b]Day 33[/b], and Michael gives the green district leave to use the arcade. They’re the Upper Class, so none of them have to work unless they want to. Most of them troop over to the arcade to enjoy video games, air hockey, and a dance machine, but Sophia decides to set up an open-air library instead. She installs a teepee in the Town Square and buys books from the dry goods store and the Bonanza City town library is now open. D.K., meantime, is finding that the arcade is going to cause him problems. He’s decided that the first thing the Laborers need to do is fill up the town water tank– and nobody wants to. D.K. tells them that if everybody makes five or six trips apiece, the job will be done, and then people can go play. Mike and Jared, however, slip off to play at the arcade. When D.K. confronts them there, they ignore him. Hunter, however, soon tires of the arcade and decides to help clean up the town. As he does, he DR’s about his father, who’d taught him the importance of a strong work ethic.

Zach goes to the chicken coop and tries to talk Leila and Taylor into washing the dishes– and there is a [b]huge[/b] pile of dishes that need washing. They both refuse, but Taylor later reconsiders– and begins washing the dishes. She DR’s that she wants both access to the arcade and to be respected. Greg walks by, sees Taylor washing dishes– and his jaw drops open. He’s totally amazed. Taylor doesn’t have to wash the dishes by herself for long, though, as the workaholic Hunter joins her. As the sun sets, they’ve cleaned most of the dishes. Blaine and Greg then tell Taylor that she now has arcade privileges and Greg goes so far as to carry her to the arcade.

On [b[Day 34[/b], Sophia notices the town seems deserted. She also decides to cook breakfast. Partway through this, she gets annoyed and decides to track down the yellow district, as it’s their job to fix breakfast. She finds them and practically everybody else in the arcade. Sophia sees Blaine playing pool and demands why his district isn’t fixing breakfast. Blaine tells her that he needs to finish his game first, as he has a bet on the outcome. Sophia tells him that he’s setting a bad example by gambling when he’s supposed to be working and leaves the arcade in disgust. D.K. tells us that he thinks the arcade is being abused. Well, yeah, but we’ve already seen that Bonanza City’s recreation facilities are lacking. After being there for a month, most of the kids are probably desperate for modern entetainment. Besides, the video games are all free, and the kids are not going to let that opportunity slide by.

At the Town Hall Meeting, both Sophia and D.K. complain about the arcade and its effect on people’s work ethics. The chores are not getting done. D.K. suggests locking the arcade and keeping it locked until the chores are done. (I have my own idea: Lock it in the morning, and then unlock it sometime in the afternoon.) The Council agree that this is a good idea and appoint Sophia to help enforce the rules. Sophia gets up and announces, “Guys, I’m the new town sherriff.” She DR’s, “Clint Eastwood, eat your heart out!” Mike DR’s that he’s not happy about Sophia being a leader. The next order of business is to award the Gold Star to somebody, and this time it’s Hunter, who tells the town that he’ll give most of the money to his father, who has just been laid off. He then calls his parents with the golden good news.

After the meeting has dispersed, Jared sneaks to the arcade before the Council can lock it. He plays a few games and then leaves. The previews for next week show Sophia beginning her career as the new sheriff and the Town Council going off somewhere.