Post by treasuredguardian on Apr 27, 2024 21:55:49 GMT
He's one of my FAVORITE CHARACTERS... And apparently a fan favorite among the fanbase. Despite that however, I never really see any discussions revolving around his story beyond the drama with Journal. Even then, it's not really on Treasure Chest's behalf.
In terms of the competition side(and teams in general), I've had interest in Team Captains who mean well, but their actions ultimately cause the undoing of their team in some shape or form. The cases that were in object shows... Well. Some ended up getting their time cut short because of Viewer Voting. Others didn't really go anywhere. And some were... Executed pretty poorly.
Treasure Chest feels like one of the better and more compelling examples of this. He strongly believes in doing the right thing. A lot of his motives revolve around that and being a great team captain who does what's best for the team. It's even reflected in his role and design in episode 12's tabletop campaign. Initially, it does seem like he has a decent grip on making strategies for his team to follow. Even with the winning streak his team has, he continues to put effort into doing so. Compared to other teams at the time, his team proved to be the most stable.
Once faced with conflict, this ends up falling apart. As team captain, Treasure Chest felt a sense of responsibility for his own teammates. This leads to him feeling that ANYTHING that goes wrong with his team is HIS fault, and HE should be the one to fix it. He will even take drastic measures if he sees it being the solution for his team. This is why he was so insistent on making amends with Chainsaw and Journal. Even when it was very apparent that their intentions were elsewhere. He only stops when it's clear that he can't change their minds. In the case of Chainsaw, he literally had to beat it over his head to get the message.
It is also why he thought using the Immunity Token would help his teammates out. He felt responsible for his team's loss, and any other losses that would be made without his guidance. That being granted a second chance would help get his team back on track, and therefore making it up to them. Not taking into account how his teammates would feel about the choice.
In terms of the competition side(and teams in general), I've had interest in Team Captains who mean well, but their actions ultimately cause the undoing of their team in some shape or form. The cases that were in object shows... Well. Some ended up getting their time cut short because of Viewer Voting. Others didn't really go anywhere. And some were... Executed pretty poorly.
Treasure Chest feels like one of the better and more compelling examples of this. He strongly believes in doing the right thing. A lot of his motives revolve around that and being a great team captain who does what's best for the team. It's even reflected in his role and design in episode 12's tabletop campaign. Initially, it does seem like he has a decent grip on making strategies for his team to follow. Even with the winning streak his team has, he continues to put effort into doing so. Compared to other teams at the time, his team proved to be the most stable.
Once faced with conflict, this ends up falling apart. As team captain, Treasure Chest felt a sense of responsibility for his own teammates. This leads to him feeling that ANYTHING that goes wrong with his team is HIS fault, and HE should be the one to fix it. He will even take drastic measures if he sees it being the solution for his team. This is why he was so insistent on making amends with Chainsaw and Journal. Even when it was very apparent that their intentions were elsewhere. He only stops when it's clear that he can't change their minds. In the case of Chainsaw, he literally had to beat it over his head to get the message.
It is also why he thought using the Immunity Token would help his teammates out. He felt responsible for his team's loss, and any other losses that would be made without his guidance. That being granted a second chance would help get his team back on track, and therefore making it up to them. Not taking into account how his teammates would feel about the choice.
This also results in him having difficulty trying to see the perspective of others, even when he DOES make efforts to do so. This is most apparent with how he handled Journal's situation. When he does finally do a heart-to-heart at the end of "Dungeons and Dimwits" he's very dismissive of Mr. Hand, and just tells the book to stop stressing over him for the sake of everyone's concern. Not registering that real or not, Mr. Hand has stressed Journal out enough to warrant a full on panic attack.
It's no wonder that Journal perceived him as a self-centered person who thinks that the world revolves around him. While he was clearly not in the best state of mind... Journal DOES have a point. Treasure Chest is very much a well-intentioned guy who does show genuine care for his teammates. His methods at handling rough situations wind up doing more harm than good. And often, they don't take how the (former) contestants feel in mind. Obviously, this doesn't justify how Journal and Chainsaw treated him. You can understand why the former felt hurt by these actions, even with Treasure Chest insisting that he would do anything to make things right and that it's the best for everyone.
Ultimately, Treasure Chest's attempts at keeping his team together ends up leading to it's demise instead. Attempting to get the Brackets to rejoin ends up souring things, leading to Team 47's first loss. Him pulling out the immunity token disillusions Journal. Their arguing ends up being used by the Brackets to get Ukulele to leave the team. Treasure Chest attempt to talk things out with Journal only makes him hate him even more. It already doesn't help that the other 2 teams saw Treasure Chest as a threat. In fact, THEY are the reason why Team 47 split up in the first place! It furthers isolate Treasure Chest from everyone else, and because he never witnessed the full extent of Chainsaw's ghastliness, leads to a situation that could have at least gone much differently. As Team H and ? began to learn how to get along, Team 47 only fell more and more into disarray. Until only one person was left
Being a leader isn't just about making plans. It's about a lot of other things. It's about communicating with your team, and understanding their concerns. It's about handling stressful situations, and adapting to unexpected ones. Treasure Chest, despite being a kind, well mannered individual, struggled with these key components. With circumstances in and out of his control, the results end up having long lasting ramifications for everyone involved.
If there's one thing I want going forward, it's for Treasure Chest to win the game. I have already explained this here. Personally, I would have his beliefs continue to be challenged constantly by the game. Whether it be dealing with Bottle's issues, or even attempting to win the favor of the remaining Team H members. Just have him struggle much more now that his rival has a stronghold on the game. It would be a missed opportunity if the show DIDN'T bring up the fact that Team H and ? are indirectly responsible for Team 47's downfall.
And that's why I love Treasure Chest as a character. He messed up a lot sure, but those flaws are exactly why I find him so compelling. It's a shame that he's overshadowed by Journal. When you have a grounded, less fanart-worthy conflict and butt heads with 2 large fan favorites, it's bound to happen.
What do you think?
