Airheaded and Abombinable: A look at Inanimate Insanityâs Balloon
Many things can be said about Balloon. Heâs controversial among contestants and fans alike, and surprisingly enough, made a comeback and ended up in all three seasons. Heâs widely disliked for his actions in season one, which had a devastating effect on his reputation for the following seasons.
What is this characterâs role?
Balloon is one of the many II characters whose role changes constantly depending on his relationships with his fellow contestants, which is why his title changed from The Manipulative to The Forgivable.
In season 1, Balloon carries the title âThe Manipulativeâ with an iron grip. Heâs the Team Chickenleg captain and doesnât let up on his teammates at all. Even in the first episode, his overconfidence in the first challenge is extremely easy to see, and quickly annoys his soon-to-be teammates. He then gets annoyed when team-choosing is to be in the next episode and demands a prize. Balloon - yes, that same Balloon that cried when his baking was critiqued - was also the first in the entire series to curse, and it was within the first three episodes. He then proceeded to be a huge prick for the next half a season, forming an alliance with Bomb and OJ and defining it as âbeing friendsâ to manipulate them into forming a barely tactful alliance with him.
Starting in the second season, one of the first things he does is vandalise OJâs hotel and then tell OJ he had no choice in whether he stayed or not. Once he starts saying actual stuff again, itâs clear that most of his attitude has completely washed away, and he almost completely depends on Suitcase advocating for him near the beginning. (And all throughout the season, letâs be honest.) He stuck by her for most of the season, including in âLet âEr R.I.P.â, in which Suitcase quickly turned on Balloon when she noticed Bowâs ghost was messing with them. He explains when accused of being a manipulator that [he] âwas horrible at that, how could I be managing this?â (S2E6 Let âEr R.I.P.). He also defends himself by saying that thatâs who he thought everyone expected him to be, or who he needed to be to win. This is brought up on multiple occasions throughout his seasons, indicating that thereâs less than a chance it was a lie to get out of that conversation. He also questioned Suitcaseâs unfair elimination in the next episode, so itâs even more abundantly clear how attached he is to her.
Moving along through season 2 (weâre not touching the armless alliance until the next section), Balloonâs interactions with OJ at the hotel prove even further how much of an attempt heâs made to change, although it didn't have much of an effect on OJ. (He was let inside the hotel, though, so that must mean something.)
Finally moving onto season 3, there is one sort of unimportant - but still interesting - detail Iâd like to draw attention to. In âBest Served Coldâ, Candleâs aura readings are held at the beginning of the episode. When MePhone enters, Cabby hands her file on all the auras to him, and itâs shown Balloon has a teal aura. Teal is a colour that can be represented differently depending on the shade, so I want to start by breaking it down a bit. A blue aura represents mindfulness and calm, but can also be a double-edged sword in representing emotion and overwhelm. A green aura is also a symbol of duality, as it can represent a benevolent and balanced soul as well as envy and hatred within itself. While both of these colours have overwhelmingly positive meanings, itâs important to pay attention to the negatives as well. Balloonâs teal aura suggests that while he radiates calm and friendly energy, he also has a tendency to get possessive (as seen with Suitcase) or even downright jealous if given reason.
How does Balloon interact with his alliances?
The obvious choice when deciding primary focuses with the armless alliance (tht he wasnât technically a part of but come on.) was season 2's "Mazed and Confused". Specifically starting after Lightbulb and Fanâs cheating escapade, when the alliance is choosing a direction, Balloonâs role in the episode is extremely crucial. He decides to follow whatever Suitcase does, causing an issue with Nickel who blows up at Suitcase whenever she takes his comment about Balloon being team leader seriously. The team follows him blindly to the most dangerous path, and when heâs basically kicked out, Nickel talks mad junk about him and makes a point that he wants to ditch Balloon, which starts yet another issue, this time with Suitcase - justice for Baseball here, by the way, that poor guy :( - who, for the first time she wasnât 100% composed as she usually seems to be, combatted Nickel every time he made a point. Once Balloon was shown to have heard everything, he immediately pointed all his frustration towards Nickel, saying that âwhen you jump to conclusions, it ruins our chances of winning, or at least getting along. We donât have to be friends, but I thought we could at least find some common ground.â
This changes a lot in season 3, with the remaining Sinkers alliance of Balloon and Nickel. Focusing once again on âBest Served Coldâ (for now), Balloonâs mood and general disposition changed quickly when he was separated from Nickel and placed on the Pinkers. (Although, most of it was deserved because Silver was being a prick.) On a more lighthearted note, Balloon and Bowbotâs conversation about their colours showed that he wasnât as upset about the team split as he acted like he was when Nickel was present. On Nickelâs side of the alliance, he wants to protect Balloon. On Balloonâs side, as shown later, he doesn't exactly *want* to be protected; or, at least, he doesn't think it was necessary. He made a point that Test Tubeâs âprotectionâ was ineffective and, frankly, overbearing.
Throughout the season, and now in the most recent episode, Nickelâs attachment to Balloon is heavy and visible. (In my opinion, they Apple and Marshmallowâd them.) He says that âhe can speak for himself, he doesn't need defendingâ (S3E17 The Show Must Go On).
It's then revealed that he still talks to Tea Kettle, but mostly about Nickel. His returned attachment is obvious, but at least he makes a viable attempt to cover it up. His later decision to âblindsideâ Nickel - and Nickelâs acceptance of it - is actually extremely significant. This not only shows his newfound confidence in himself, but in Nickel as well.
- Balloon writes poetry! He's shown to take pride in his work, and Nickel even calls him his "favourite poet" in his exit interview.
- While he's incredibly intelligent, one of Balloon's only issues is....flour. Not once, not twice, but three times throughout the show, Balloon has mistaken flour for flowers, even when it's written.
- He gets worked up quickly over his colour, making it an important point that he's not pink, he's salmon. (....Fish.)
- While he has definitely developed over the course of his seasons, it's important to note he still holds a few of his judgmental tendencies, but this time with good reason.
- His absolute confusion and devastation when OJ kicked him out of the hotel and when he said the attendee list would be RADICALLY different. That is all.
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