Zack and his new roommate Marcus wreak havoc around the ship; Cody and Bailey have a sports competition.
Once the twins moved from the hotel to the deck, we all knew something was missing. One missing piece was Maddie, played by Ashley Tisdale, and Suite Life on Deck has not yet found someone that can fill that void. By introducing a new character to the show, Marcus Little, played by Larramie (Doc) Shaw, they try to fill that void. For me, I think the show has a few other issues than just adding a character, but we will get into that.
A few different storylines going on during this episode that can be addressed. After Marcus comes on the ship, the gang starts to find him a bit familiar, and Woody does a little bit of internet sleuthing and finds out that Marcus was the Grammy winning singer, Lil Little. Don’t quote me on the spelling of his stage name, though. We find out that Marcus thinks everyone is out to use him for something, and that was actually his main reason for joining the school on the ship. He should make a good partner in crime for Zack, now that Cody has Bailey. I just do not find Bailey all that interesting with her farm background, and the fact she can beat Cody in all the games he sets out before her due to some special farm twist just seemed stale. The running gag of the show was that they kept on knocking over the ashes of a passenger’s dead husband. Not very Disney, if you ask me. The episode as an introduction to Marcus Little, though, accomplished the goal that it needed to, namely, get the audience interested in a new character to the show.
I think of the shows that I watch on the Disney Channel, this one is actually the weakest. It caters to more of the corny humor, and things can seem a bit too much. The scene with London watching the ping pong game, but really checking how well her earrings bounce, was a bit meh. Also the fact that Woody and London both play the not-socially-adept, but in two different ways, bogs down the show a bit. I like London’s character, but she needs someone to play off of, and Bailey is not Maddie. Bailey’s character seems very flat. I hope the show pushes the Zack and Marcus as girl-chasing, prank-pulling duo, and we might actually get somewhere.
