#viewers guide

[donttakemehome]

Cheat Sheet for People Starting to Watch The Untamed

I made this lil cheat sheet for my friend and I thought I'd pop it up here. It's not meant to be exhaustive or super accurate -- it's meant to be helpful and NON SPOILERY. It applies to the early flashback episodes (episode 3 and on).

I'm also keeping it in Google Slides form here in case I need to fix stuff.

[vox]

This is Gokul Ventakatachalam, arguably the top contender at the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He placed third in 2014, just behind the tied co-champions, after misspelling the word Kierkegaardian (he forgot the first "e." These things happen.). 

Here’s who else to keep an eye on:

The Katniss: Vanya Shivashankar, like Gokul, is another top contender. She comes from a winning bloodline, as her her older sister, Kavya, was the 2009 champion.  But 2014 was a rough year for Vanya. She didn't even make it to finals — a huge upset, given that she took 5th place in 2013. And lately, she's  been throwing some shade at the vocabulary sections of the Bee that lead to her 2014 elimination.

"Lots of people would like to see people going up and spelling words and seeing how they used to do it, just to spell until everyone drops," Vanya told Fox News. "I'm fine with anything, but spelling till you drop is kind of cool."

The Baby: Cameron Keith is the only 3rd grade student in the competition.  He is basically a zygote. He can probably spell better than you. We watched him spell "Kabuki" Wednesday afternoon and it was freaking adorable. He is also a Colorado native who, per his official biography, enjoys fantasy novels.

The legacy: Jiaram Jagadeesh Hathwar, a.k.a., Speller 153, is the younger brother of Spelling Bee 2014 co-champion Sriram Hathwar. As a 12-year-old making his first appearance at the Bee, victory is unlikely. But his brother did make five appearances — so we'll probably see him again in 2016 regardless of his showing this year. In his free time, Jiaram enjoys playing saxophone in the middle school jazz band.

The crowd pleaser: Christine Sturgill, an 11-year-old who hails from Missouri, has already made some waves at this year's competition. Christine's older brother, Jacob, participated in the National Bee in 2013. In her free time, she enjoys riding horses.

The hardest-to-spell name: Debrinna-Meggie Saleutogi Alaia Su'a has, hands down, the best name in this year's Bee. We're not sure whether that's helped hone her spelling abilities but, in any case, she represents American Samoa, is 12 years old, and says her favorite activity is sleeping. We're rooting for you, Debrinna-Meggie.

For more on this year’s Bee, check out a viewer’s guide.

[seriando]