So, obviously, major spoilers ahead.
Now, this is my first time covering any reboot scenarios (shoutout wacky620 for the plethora of ideas and callin' me on some of my bullshit, it's been majorly appreciated bro. I'll work more on my Duncan characterization, I promise!) because I haven't really cared to yet? Idk, the seasons are so fresh and honestly I didn't care much for the first one because of all the fart jokes. The second season has been one of my favorites, but I'm a Julia and Wayne fan, so that's a biased opinion.
As always before we dive in, please leave any ideas you have and/or suggestions/comments/critiques/feedback you have. I'm very open to it and want to provide the best material I can, provided I also like the way it's heading.
Without further ado, here is Reality BE-ELP: What if Bowie and Emma reconciled in Choosin for a Bruisin?
Bowie had definitely felt better about winning a challenge. Sure, his place in the team was secure with both of the Hockey Bros and his pseudo-alliance of cheating with Julia and MK, but he couldn't help but rid his brain of Raj's words.
"You played fair! Just like you said you would!"
Poor, sweet, innocent Raj.
Bowie groaned inside the confessional. "Life was so much easier when lying was profitable and fun."
He exited the confessional and made his way towards the Mess Hall with Raj's words still on his mind. You played fair. Fair. Fair. That was fairly bullshit, and Bowie knew it. Even worse, his closest friend from last season was probably getting eliminated because of all the cheating he'd done that night. Now how is that fair? It's not. Not fair to the Rat Faces. Not fair to Raj. Not fair to Emma.
"Uh, Bowie?" Raj asked. All of the Skunk Butts were looking worriedly at Bowie. "Are you alright?"
"Yea." Bowie sadly sighed. "I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Raj asked.
"I cheated in the challenge and didn't tell you, hard to be okay." Bowie thought. He swallowed loudly. "No. I need to go find Emma."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Raj asked once more.
"I'll come to." Wayne offered. "Get in some more steps for the day."
"No, thank you. I'll go myself." Bowie smiled as he left his boyfriend and the rest of the team as he made his way towards the Rat Faces' cabin. He peered inside the girls' side when he heard shuffling, seeing Emma packing her bag. He opened the door, making her jump.
"Yeesh Bowie!" Emma yelped. "You scared me."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Bowie apologized. "Why are you packing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Emma sadly sighed. "I'm definitely going home after today. I made a fool of myself and only started helping because of Priya, and then lost us the whole game because Priya told me to trust my gut. Everyone loves her, there's no way I'm not getting eliminated."
Bowie sighed. "I'm really sorry Emma. I'm sorry for not picking you and I'm doubly sorry for your team losing the challenge."
"It's not your fault." Emma assured him. She thought back to the day's events. "Okay, it is, but I don't blame you. You didn't do anything wrong."
Bowie felt a pang of guilt in his gut and paused. "I'm going to help you stay." He blurted out.
"What?" Emma asked, stunned. "How?"
"I don't know, I'll think of something." Bowie said, clearly frazzled. "I'm not letting you getting eliminated."
"Aww, Bowie!" Emma gushed, wrapping him in a hug. "You're so sweet! Raj has a good one."
"Yea." Bowie said, returning the hug but with a sad face. "Yea he does." He finished glumly.
Emma released him and looked at her friend. "So, how are we going to do this?"
"We?" Bowie asked. "I told you I'd handle it."
"I can't have you doing everything after you did that for me all of last season." Emma countered. "Caleb has been flirting with Priya, and Damien likes Priya a lot too. I think that leaves Axel, Nichelle, and Zee."
"I see." Bowie said, scratching his chin in contemplative thought. "I got it. You go talk to Zee, make him feel guilty about throwing you off in the challenge. I'll go talk to Axel and Nichelle and see what I can do."
"Okay!" Emma nearly yelped. She wrapped Bowie in another hug. "Thank you thank you thank you bestie!"
Bowie took notice of the word immediately. "Bestie?"
"Well, yea." Emma responded, letting him go and letting her mood deflate. "You're my best friend here."
Bowie smiled back at her. "You're mine too." He paused for a second. "Behind Raj."
"Of course, silly." Emma punched him lightly in the arm and made her way towards the door. "I'm gonna go find Zee! Thanks again Bowie!"
"Anytime Emma!" Bowie waved her goodbye. Bestie. The word rang in his head for a moment before he went off to find Axel and Nichelle. Maybe he could redeem himself yet. He found Axel and Nichelle working out near the beach, competing in a push up contest. Nichelle had flopped down just before Bowie reached them, truly exhausted.
"Not bad Hollywood." Axel commented, completing another push up. "But you better bulk up if you plan to kick butt in a life or death setting."
"Don't call me Hollywood." Nichelle groggily commanded from the sand. "I disown that industry."
Bowie slowed down into a walk once he was close enough. "Hey guys, long time no see."
"We were just at the challenge a couple hours ago." Axel reminded him. She grunted as she went down again. "What do you want? Tell Ripper to stop asking for me if he knows what's good for him."
"Nothing to do with Ripper, I promise you." Bowie leant down to whisper to the survivalist. "Between you and me, he's probably the next one off the team."
Axel's face fell at this, but she let her steely resolve take back over. "Good. Whatever. I don't care."
Nichelle had picked herself up and dusted off any remaining sand. "What's up Bowie? Why are you down here?"
"Can't I just enjoy the presence of some of my friends?" Bowie asked awkwardly.
Axel stood up and stared blankly at him along with Nichelle.
"Fine, I guess that's a no." Bowie grumbled. "Look, I want to talk about who you're voting off tonight."
"Huh?" Nichelle asked. "Why do you care?"
"Because..." Bowie paused, searching for his next words carefully. "I want revenge."
"Revenge?" Axel repeated. "I can get behind that."
"On who?" Nichelle asked.
"I think it's obvious." Bowie snarkily replied. "Who else on your team would I have a vendetta against?"
"I see what you're saying." Nichelle said. "You want us to eliminate Priya."
"Please and thank you." Bowie smiled.
"And why should we?" Axel asked, though it sounded extremely threatening. "Why should we listen to you?"
"Oh, come on, think about it!" Bowie urged. "Priya made it farther than anyone last season, and I've seen how Caleb looks at her. Are you sure you want to eliminate another person and give her that dominant of a position on the team? She can get Damien and Zee into an alliance easily, and you'll be picked off just the same as Emma."
Both girls were stunned into silence for a few seconds, but Axel broke it first. "Crap. He's right."
"Fine, we'll vote off Priya tonight." Nichelle sighed.
Axel grabbed his collar. "But when we merge, you owe us big time."
"You can count on it." Bowie squirmed uncomfortably in Axel's grip. "Now, can you please put me down?"
Axel dropped him like a weight onto the ground. Not wanting Bowie to have the final word, Axel spoke once more. "If you see Ripper, tell him to stop being so awkward around me and to man up." With that, she and Nichelle walked off.
"You got it." Bowie called.
Bowie smiled and looked out at the ocean. He'd done it. His conscious was clear! Sort of. Saving Emma was one thing, telling Raj and as collateral Wayne was a whole different story. But that was for later. Bowie turned back towards the Skunk Butts' cabins and went to rest, not running into Ripper at all.
The Rat Faces were all elimination that night, some more uncomfortable than others. Zee was just happy to be there, man.
"Rat Face!" Chris announced. "Back again, huh? Chef, let 'em have it."
"Emma." Chef pointed towards the blonde girl. "First, you trusted your gut, and that was bad. Then it was good! Then you didn't trust your gut, and it was bad again."
"Yea." Emma sadly sighed, looking down at her feet.
"Axel." Chef pointed at her.
"What?" Axel asked, bored.
"I find it weird that you like poetry, that's all." Chef said. "And finally, Priya."
"What?" Priya gasped. "Me?!"
"You messed with Emma's head, and ignored her when she told you she knew that last answer!" Chef threw his arms to the side for dramatic effect. "That was your call."
"A marshmallow means you are safe." Chris said, holding a confectionary in his hand.
"Nichelle."
"Axel."
"Damien."
"Zee."
"Caleb."
Caleb caught his with a smile, but then realized what situation Priya was now facing.
CONFESSIONAL: Caleb
"Please not Priya!" Caleb begged. "I'm just getting this alliance off the ground!"
END CONFESSIONAL
CONFESSIONAL: Priya
"No! This can't be how I go out!" Priya looked at the camera in disbelief.
END CONFESSIONAL
"The final marshmallow goes to..." Chris held the marshmallow back, letting the score build. "Emma!"
Emma caught her marshmallow with a smile. "Phew!"
CONFESSIONAL: Split between Caleb and Priya
"Noooooooooooooo!" They both shouted.
END CONFESSIONAL
"Are you guys serious?!" Priya yelled, pointing at Emma. "She cost us the challenge, and you're voting out me?!"
"Aw, Priya." Caleb sighed, looking down at her. "I'm sad to see you go."
"I'm sad to go." Priya pouted. "I like you so much and just when I thought we were really going towards a relationship this happens!"
Caleb look at her with doe eyes. "A relationship?"
"Yea!" Priya exclaimed. "We were so close!"
"Uhhh." Caleb scratched the back of his head. "I wasn't after a relationship."
Priya's face fell. "What?"
"I wanted an alliance, and I was just being kind." Caleb explained. "Did you think I was flirting?"
"You totally were!" Priya shouted. She looked around towards her teammates for help. "Right?"
Everyone avoided her gaze, except for Axel. "I don't know, love is gross."
"Hate to break the moment." Chris said, breaking the moment between Caleb and Priya. "But you've got a date with the Drone of Despair." Chris smiled at Priya.
"Fine!" Priya screamed. "I already won this show anyway, I have nothing left to prove!"
"That's the spirit." Chris said as he escorted her down to the dock. Priya held out one fist as she was whisked away by the drone. "And so concludes another episode. And no one died!"
"Testing, testing." Ripper spoke through the camp intercom.
"Is that... Ripper?" Damien asked.
"I'd like to read an original poem of love to one lucky lady person." The Rat Faces all looked at Axel, who blushed.
"Oooo this is gonna be good." Chris rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"On eagle wings and zombie brains, a pool of tears that never drains.
Even cheeks squeezed tight could not contain, a sweet smell of love, my heart's methane."
Ripper appeared in front of them at the elimination ceremony, microphone in hand.
"So I ask you, Axel, honest, true and plain.
Can I rock your world? Like a hurricane." Ripper raised a seductive eyebrow at Axel.
Axel stood up to face Ripper, her fists clenched with a white knuckle grip.
"This is gonna be bad." Damien covered his eyes with his hands, but left a gap so he could watch what would happen.
"Yea, can we show a decapitation, or is that gonna be a problem?" Chris asked someone on his phone.
Axel stared daggers into Ripper's soul. She grabbed his collar and yanked him... into a kiss?! No one would ever believe it if it wasn't on film, but they truly kissed.
"Ugh, that is an image that'll haunt my dreams!" Chris complained, turning towards the camera. "But I'll still see you next time! On Total! Drama! Island!"
Priya: 4 (Axel, Emma, Nichelle, Zee)
Emma: 3 (Caleb, Damien, Priya)
Rat Face: Axel, Caleb, Damien, Emma, Nichelle, Zee
Skunk Butt: Bowie, Julia, MK, Raj, Ripper, Wayne
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya
Caleb was scared. His entire strategy in the new season was putting all of his eggs into Priya's basket since she won the game last season. But now she's already gone! What was he going to do?! He decided that his best bet was to lay low and try and woo one of the other girls to his side, since apparently he was good at that. He opted against Axel for obvious reasons and tried going for Emma, who reciprocated rather quickly.
Before the challenge begins, Julia tells Bowie to distract the Hockey Bros so she and MK can draw a map of the challenge's maze on Ripper's stomach. While they're doing this, Damien and Nichelle run in. Damien noticed Ripper's stomach but said nothing as he watched Julia and Nichelle get into a verbal smackdown that results in Julia promising to take Nichelle down a peg. Or seven.
The challenge is to find a Chris coin within an ice vault within a giant iceberg. The teams must gather three keys to open the safe, having to complete three challenges in order to do so. Chris' hair is noticeably unkempt, which MK snickered knowingly at.
The teams set off, with Rat Face opting to do obstacle course after Emma suggested the maze. She sighed dejectedly, being comforted by both Caleb and Damien. She ignored her thoughts of self doubt and continued on with her team. Meanwhile, the Skunk Butts went for the maze in spite of the Hockey Bros' protests. Julia shut them up and Ripper informs them that they have a plan. Bowie cringes in realization and tries to think of a way to distract Raj and Wayne, but MK was a step ahead of him, giving them ice skates and telling them to go nuts.
For the Rat Faces, they were struggling. Axel, Zee, and Damien all failed their challenge. Caleb looked up and noticed a gap in the ceiling, getting Emma and Nichelle to go on his shoulders. With his help, Nichelle was able to reach the key and allow her team to cross.
Using their cheaty techniques, the Skunk Butts had already found key one, which they were thawing using Chris' hair dryer. Bowie whined, saying he was really uncomfortable with cheating. In a moment of exasperation, he asked if they were just going to melt their way through the whole maze. Julia and MK shared an evil smirk as they started doing just that, causing Bowie to get even more uncomfortable.
Back to the Rat Faces, they'd entered their second room, called "Seal Your Fate". Axel noticed the cannons immediately and warns her team to stay back since they'll be shot at. With a bit of nonchalant encouragement from Zee, the Rat Faces made their moves. They were then shot at with actual live seals that bit Axel's leg, Damien's arm, and Zee's butt. Nichelle went to draw their fire, allowing Emma the chance to turn off the cannons and retrieve the key. The team thanked her for her action and Emma gave herself a congratulations within the confines of the confessional.
Bowie, Julia, MK, and Ripper had reached a rope ladder that went to the center of the maze, with Julia calling Wayne and Raj back. When the bros show up, they notice the map on Ripper's stomach, getting pissed at their team for cheating. Raj especially directs his anger towards Bowie, wondering how he could go behind Raj's back like that. Bowie has no answer, simply saying he's sorry.
The Rat Faces had reached their last challenge and were ready to claim victory. One problem for them was the massive gorge separating them from their last key. They all attempted to formulate a plan, with Emma finally suggesting something once her team's discussions had stopped. They formed a human tower and fell down towards the key, getting Nichelle to land and grab the final key.
MK was just wrapping up melting the ice vault when Raj started giving Julia a piece of his mind, telling her that he and Wayne would tell Chris about her and MK cheating. Julia asks why Bowie isn't included in that list, which causes Raj to go silent. Julia brings up that he helped them cheat in the bridge challenge too, which earns Bowie another sharp glare from Raj. MK reached into the safe and threw their coin towards Ripper before seeing the other one meant for the Rat Faces. After sharing a look with Julia, MK grinned evilly and began melting the safe even more, planning to throw away the other coin.
Wayne, in a surprising act of anger, chucked a snowball at Julia's head. Julia threw one back towards Raj, nailing him in the stomach. Soon enough, they were having an all out snowball fight. MK dropped the dryer to fight, accidentally cracking the ice and the causing the Skunk Butts and Yeti alike to fall out of the room.
Team Rat Face ran in and noticed the melted safe. With little time to waste, Axel snagged the coin and leapt into the sled, urging the rest of her team to come. Emma looked down the whole and saw Bowie struggling, but was whisked away by Caleb before she could say anything.
Down in the hole, the Skunk Butts were confronted with a very real Yeti threatening them. They hauled ass outta there, leaping into their sled and racing out of the iceberg. Unfortunately for the Rat Faces, the Skunk Butts' brakes broke when they were on a direct trajectory for the Rat boat. That resulted in the Rat Faces having their boat exploded and the Skunk Butts clutching out a win.
As the Rat Faces went back to their cabins, Nichelle saw a contract on her bed and her eyes lit up. In a confessional, Julia revealed that she wasn't too keen on Nichelle's newfound strength and, add in the insult Nichelle had dished out earlier, she just had to go.
At elimination, Nichelle decided to quit, riding the Drone of Despair in style. She didn't find out the contract was fake until she returned to the mainland.
Nichelle: Quit
Rat Face: Axel, Caleb, Damien, Emma, Zee
Skunk Butt: Bowie, Julia, MK, Raj, Ripper, Wayne
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle
Chris brought the remaining 11 teens to the Mess Hall to announce that they'd all successfully made it to the merge! Early, you say? To hell with it, they're merged! In addition, there was now going to be an immunity idol in play somewhere on the island.
Emma immediately ran over to Bowie and hugged him, happy to be reunited. She tried to talk to Wayne and Raj, but they both blanked her. Bowie explained that Raj was still ticked off for something he'd done earlier. Wayne yelled and called him a cheater, which Emma immediately misinterpreted. Bowie clarified that it was only in challenge, but he still felt ashamed. Emma was still on edge, but decided to believe him.
The campers were shunted outside where they were told they had to partner up for today's challenge. Wayne and Raj naturally went together, as did Axel and Ripper, who were now free to make out. Damien went with Zee while Emma went with Bowie, leaving Caleb, Julia, and MK. However, since MK had pointed out the odd number, she was singled out by Chris, leaving Caleb and Julia to team up out of necessity.
Chris revealed to the campers that MK had been posing as an intern and was almost instantly met with a chorus of boos. They were then told to portage across the island holding canoes.
Wayne and Raj had sprinted off, running as far as their legs could take them. Bowie took the opportunity to clear the air with Emma, revealing that the main reason he decided to help her not get voted off was because he'd felt bad about all the cheating they'd done and wanted to get even with her. Emma accepted what he said as true, but told him that she wasn't who he needed to apologize to, pointing ahead at the boisterous hockey boys. Bowie said that he knew he had to, but it was really hard.
Caleb had taken to carrying Julia above his head with one arm, which Julia didn't mind one bit. He tried to keep talking with her and flirting, though she wasn't completely interested. She instead sunbathed and enjoyed the free ride while Caleb chewed on his cheek, wondering how he'd get her on his side.
Soon, the mergers had made it across the island, including an exhausted MK. Chris and Chef announced the challenge for the day would be canoe jousting against the person they'd partnered up with to carry the canoe. As another punishment for MK, she got to fight a living bear.
Ripper tried to get another partner, but Axel shoved him out quickly. Raj and Wayne enjoyed going full force at one another, managing to knock one another out at the exact same time. Caleb went easy on Julia, who was giving it her all. He tried flirting with her all the same, but she wasn't having it. Julia knocked him in the face and took Caleb out. Zee was totally chill while Damien began freaking out, using his experience from dungeons and flying lizards camp to knock Zee off his platform. Naturally, MK stood literally no chance at facing a bear. Finally, Bowie and Emma had a friendly joust, but since Bowie's head wasn't in it, Emma took a win. Caleb, seeing he was out of the running for immunity, went off to look for the idol.
The semifinals saw Damien versus Julia while Axel squared off against Emma. To make it a little harder, sharks were added to the duel. Axel swatted Emma off with ease, not even breaking a sweat. On the other end, Damien was pinning Julia down when one end of Julia's baton got sharp. With a new fire in her eyes, Julia leapt on Damien, accidentally knocking herself out in the process. She stalked back over to the sidelines and noticed Caleb's absence, going off to find him.
Out in the forest, Caleb was knee deep in a bush when Julia snuck up on him, startling him. He demanded to know what she was doing, but she quickly spun it around onto what he was doing. He tried to act like it was nothing, but Julia knew how to sniff out a lie. Julia interrogated him until he revealed he was looking for the idol, not content with wasting time in a challenge he was already eliminated from. Julia asked him if he had it, but he told her no, saying he'd combed through this whole area and had found nothing. Julia wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, so she simply gave him an "I'm watching you" signal and went back to the challenge.
Caleb soon returned to see Axel and Damien facing off in water horse jousting. Because of course they were. The two boats sped at each other and it looked like an easy win for Axel until Damien chucked his baton, smacking her in the face and giving himself immunity.
Before the vote that night, Emma urged Bowie to come clean to Raj and Wayne, if only to save himself from a potential elimination. Bowie swallowed his pride and agreed, seeking out his boyfriend and his boyfriend's boyfriend. He told the hockey boys everything about the cheating, how Julia and MK came to him and how he couldn't help himself, but he still felt extremely ashamed and had no idea about the map from last episode. He cupped Raj's face and begged for him to forgive him. Thankfully, since Raj is one of the nicest humans alive, Bowie was forgiven by the hockey boys. They hugged it out and Bowie and Raj kissed. They welcomed Emma into their group and they were looking mighty threatening.
To little fanfare, MK was eliminated for her plot in the whole cheating scandal, since Bowie decided to tip everyone off that MK was the one gathering all the information. She was whisked off the island, but shared a hug with Julia before she went.
MK: 5 (Bowie, Caleb, Emma, Raj, Wayne)
Bowie: 2 (Julia, MK)
Julia: 2 (Axel, Ripper)
Zee: 1 (Damien)
Merge: Axel, Bowie, Caleb, Damien, Emma, Julia, Raj, Ripper, Wayne, Zee
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK
Bowie and Raj were looking utterly unstoppable together, which Julia didn't like one bit. She gathered Axel and Emma (and by extension Ripper) on the girls side to suggest a girls alliance, since they were now heavily outnumbered. Axel and Ripper both agreed, while Emma seemed hesitant to go against her friend.
Meanwhile, Julia had been out exploring the forest when Caleb came across her. Caleb asked how she was doing, which Julia promptly responded with telling him to shut up. Caleb said that while she didn't have to like him, he knew she was all alone now that MK was out. Julia told him to shove it and left. Damien was also walking through the forest when he accidentally tripped over a log. When standing up, Damien noticed the immunity idol inside the log, stuffing it in his pocket as Chris announced the challenge was upon them.
Chris announced that they were baking cakes today, and that the teams were already predetermined. Bowie's alliance all looked at one another sadly, realizing they probably wouldn't be working together. The teams were decided to be Julia, Raj, and Wayne, team two was Bowie, Damien, Emma, and Zee, while team three consisted of Axel, Caleb, and Ripper. There would also be three powerups for each team to use, one of which correlated to the winner of the original Total Drama Island, Owen! Yep, Owen was back and in the flesh, serving as a guest judge.
The teams were to sail off to a barge for ingredients first, where it turned into an all out battle. Bowie's team took off first, getting actually good cake supplies along with an earthquake powerup. Julia's team was second, though they were left with mostly weapons and Owen's powerup. It also didn't help that Wayne and Raj decided to play slowpitch softball with their eggs, leaving them hurting for ingredients. The worst was Caleb's squad though, who only were able to scrounge up a premade cake mix and were left with Chef's "help" as their powerup.
Since the boys wasted her ingredients, Julia sent them off to retrieve new ones throughout the challenge, getting them roughed up by a flock of chickens and a rhino. Caleb hadn't had much luck either, with Axel and Ripper too distracted with one another to actually help. They'd also wrecked his premade mix, making him go back to the barge and scrounge for rather poor ingredients to use. Bowie's team was actually doing great. They had chemistry and good vibes all around, especially since they were all working together. Add in the powerup they'd used to slow down their enemies, and they were rolling.
Caleb had come back from the barge and was actually making solid progress until Julia used her powerup to send Owen over to Caleb's station, distracting him and causing him to get slowed even further down.
Bowie's squad was running into one major issue: a lack of grease. They forgot to grab some on the barge and were looking for another source. They just so happened to find it, but it was in Ripper's armpit of all places. Grimacing, Bowie reluctantly look a swab of Ripper's arm grease to lube their baking pans.
The campers were down to the final minutes, told to put the finishing touches on their cakes. Julia went for an exact bust of Chris, Bowie made a bust that was overexaggerative, and Caleb's was... certainly a cake.
Bowie's team had it won until Ripper opened his mouth, shifting the win over to Julia and the Hockey Bros. They celebrated with Julia, who did not appreciate the celebration one bit.
That night at elimination, despite doing all that she could to avoid it, Julia had to watch in despair as Axel was eliminated. She tried to act nonchalant about the whole event, though Ripper was a totally different story. Dude was devastated, so much so that when Axel was on the drone home, Ripper clung to her, eliminating himself in the process.
Axel: 7 (Bowie, Caleb, Damien, Emma, Raj, Wayne, Zee)
Ripper: Quit
Raj: 3 (Axel, Julia, Ripper)
Merge: Bowie, Caleb, Damien, Emma, Julia, Raj, Wayne, Zee
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper
Damien was paranoid this morning, running to his hiding spot in the forest to make sure his idol was still in place. It thankfully was, and he calmed down a little.
However, his paranoia couldn't rival Julia's. Having been on the wrong side of the last two votes, she knew her time was coming to a close if she didn't act fast. Knowing that Caleb was desperate, Julia finally agreed to an alliance with him, though she made it known she still didn't like him or trust him, which Caleb mirrored towards her. Needing more allies, she got Zee on her side too.
The campers are called to a mountain to begin their next challenge, being crushed with giant coins before they started. The name of the game was human pinball, and they'd get their pinballs once they inserted their coins into a coin slot up top. Raj and Wayne sprinted off immediately, being followed by Bowie and a lagging Emma. Seeing Emma struggling to keep up, Julia took the opportunity with haste to catch up with her and try and get in her ear. Caleb, Damien, and Zee all continued up the mountain too, exchanging friendly bro talk.
Raj and Wayne made it up to the mountain first, with Raj insisting they wait on Bowie. Wayne decides he's gonna flip for who gets to put their coin in first, but he accidentally wanders off the mountain trying to catch it. When Bowie arrived at the top and asked where Wayne was, Raj was none the wiser, assuming he was pooping. Bowie decided that they should just continue and that Wayne would be back. Raj tried to refuse, but Bowie had to remind him they were in the merge now, which meant working on their own. Raj reluctantly put his coin in after Bowie, setting them both down on the pinball field.
Emma not being as fast as Bowie, Raj, and Wayne was paying dividends for Julia, who was able to work into her under the guise of being the only two girls left on the island. Although Emma remained firm in being loyal to Bowie, she did admit she had doubts about Raj and Wayne, along with the other guys on the island. The two reached the top, and Julia promised to Emma that she'd keep her safe if they allied together.
Meanwhile, on the Wayne show, he was sailing on a log raft, completely unaware he was going away from the island.
Zee had finally made it down into the pinball arena himself, bumping himself all to hell along with the others. Bowie and Raj had been too serious about getting points, ironically ricocheting off bumpers that were plastered with pictures of Courtney and Duncan from the first season and getting themselves eliminated. Julia had burned with determination to win the challenge, flinging herself around with reckless abandon. Emma had been gingerly getting bumped, not wanting to put herself in too much pain. That lasted for a while until Caleb came down the chute, bumping her into a few bumpers and eventually out of the arena.
Damien had come down next, getting immediately hammered by a Scary Girl cutout with a jackhammer. Since he hadn't had a helmet equipped, he accidentally stumbled out of the arena, eliminating himself. While in a woozy state, Zee stepped backwards onto a powerup, allowing himself to score more points and shoot up to the top of the leaderboard. Julia, taking note of this, stepped on another one and tossed herself around like a madwoman, racking up points at an insane rate.
Wayne finally arrived at the arena, getting eliminated immediately after. It was hilarious. Chris soon called the challenge off as Julia had gotten more points than the scoreboard permitted, earning her immunity once more.
Before they left the pitch, Julia tugged on Caleb's arm. She said that she needed him to go along with what she was going to tell Emma, Raj, and Wayne, no questions asked if he wanted to survive this vote. Knowing he was at best facing a tiebreaker if he didn't go along with it, Caleb agreed.
Julia assembled the aforementioned people behind the cabins that night to talk. She told them that she knew they didn't exactly love her, but she needed to tell them all the truth about Bowie. When asked, Julia revealed that while MK had been the one getting all the information for the cheating, Bowie was the one behind it all. Naturally, Raj and Wayne didn't believe a word about this. Caleb backed Julia up, saying that he'd watched the entire first season and saw just how manipulative Bowie could be. Julia was bad, but Bowie was worse. Raj still didn't believe this, jamming his ears full and walking off. Wayne (politely) cursed out Caleb and Julia before leaving, leaving just a conflicted Emma. She said she didn't know what to believe, but she'd figure it out.
In the end, Bowie was the one going home. Raj bawled his eyes out and Wayne shared a sad fist bump with his buddy as Bowie took his loss in stride, happy his conscious was finally clear of the whole cheating scandal.
Bowie: 4 (Caleb, Damien, Julia, Zee)
Caleb: 3 (Bowie, Raj, Wayne)
Zee: 1 (Emma)
Merge: Caleb, Damien, Emma, Julia, Raj, Wayne, Zee
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper, Bowie
The Hockey Bros confronted Emma that next morning, wondering how Bowie had gone home if there were four of them not voting against them. They weren't math guys, but four to four meant overtime, not game. Emma sighed and revealed that she flipped onto Zee, wanting to throw her vote away. When asked why, she said she didn't know if she could really trust Bowie or Julia, and she just wasn't sure. Her gut told her to trust Bowie, but her gut instinct had been messing with her way too much. This wasn't a satisfying answer for the Hockey Bros, who loudly denounced her. Julia was right there with the rebound, welcoming her in with Caleb.
Wayne and Raj decided to rant about their anger at Emma and Julia to Zee, who was caught pretty off guard about the whole thing. Since he was unaware of Julia's talk with them last night, he thought they were just hating on women for no reason. Ah, poor Zee.
Chris called the campers down to the woods where they were told that they had exactly 12 minutes and 14 seconds to find the biggest item they could haul back there on the entire island. Wayne and Raj set off together, blanking Emma as she tried to apologize to them. Julia tried to be all buddy-buddy with Emma, but the latter was still really guilty about betraying the Hockey Bros.
Zee had gone off by himself, wondering what he should snag. Looking around for something that won't put unneeded pressure on his prosthetic leg, he soon settled on Chef's car.
Raj found himself a fridge, proud of his score. However, when he tried to pick it up, the thing crushed him. Wayne, proud of Raj for getting a huge score, went off to find his own thing.
Caleb had been exploring for a while, unsatisfied with all the items he was finding. He had a canoe slung over his shoulder, disgruntled at his lack of success when he stumbled across a freakin' yacht. Not one to be deterred, he grabbed a rope and tied it to his chest, pulling the ship with all his might.
Damien took a very practical approach to the game, finding a sheep and leashing it with ease.
Julia had gone for a very classic approach, cutting down a tree in front of Wayne, startling him. He ran off in fear as Emma, who'd been rolling a boulder with her, felt bad and wanted to apologize to Wayne. Julia said that that could wait, and that the challenge was more important.
Finally, Wayne himself had been spent a long time in the confessional after his run-in with Julia, first to calm himself down, and then to think of what he would bring to the challenge. After an egregiously long amount of time, he decided to bring the the outhouse itself.
With the campers regrouped in the forest, Chris revealed that the actual challenge was to destroy their items using provided tools and shove the entire object through their door's mailslot. Some campers, mostly Caleb and Zee were either pissed or shocked, while Julia and Raj both seemed confident. Wayne did too, Emma felt less than confident, and Damien was straight up mortified.
Julia smashed her tree to bits rather quickly, envisioning baristas who'd wrong her in the past. Raj was doing good at emptying the fridge out, but struggled when it came to actually dismantling the object. Wayne was struggling hilariously bad, unable to break the petrified wood of the outhouse at all. Caleb was punching his yacht with all his might, taking a long time to do so but making solid progress. The same couldn't be said of Emma, who was lamely hitting her boulder with a pickaxe. Damien had decided to shear his sheep and was now at the point of the making the creature exercise in order to get it to fit through. Yea, not too sure about that one, but okay.
Finally, Zee had heard somewhere that things get smaller when they move faster. So, he decided to reverse Chef's car all the way back and gun it towards his door. How well do you think that worked out? Genuinely, how well? It didn't, that's how well. The door smashed into pieces and Chef's car was damaged pretty bad. Zee was surprised at his failure, wondering where it went wrong.
Damien had failed to get his sheep through as well, with the sheep kicking Damien through the door and disqualifying him. Raj was also eliminated, having succumbed to food poisoning after eating all the bad food in the fridge.
The race was down to three after Wayne had knocked himself out with his own axe, leaving the running down to Caleb, Emma, and Julia. Julia looked like she had won when Emma let her rage take over, imagining the boulder was Chase's face and smashing it to rubble. She began sweeping it up as Julia similarly picked up her pace. However, Julia made the mistake of disturbing a squirrel that had lived in her tree. Unbeknownst to either woman, Caleb had finally finished up on his yacht, down to one screw himself. Julia flung the rodent off as they all scrambled to finish the challenge, though only Caleb was able to snag immunity.
Julia made a mental note about Caleb's strength before leaving to talk with her alliance mates. Zee was nowhere to be found, but Julia didn't mind. Julia suggested one of the Hockey Bros, which made Emma cringe. Caleb agreed, saying they were far too powerful to keep going, as they'd never vote for each other. Emma tried to refuse, saying they couldn't do that after Bowie just got the boot. Julia and Caleb didn't listen, saying they were targeting a Hockey Bro no matter what. Emma agreed, though soon ran off to find Wayne and Raj.
They again blanked her, but she pleaded with them to listen. She said that Julia wanted to eliminate one of them, and she'd vote with them tonight in order to save them. Unfortunately, they still refused to listen, not acknowledging her betrayal.
They should've listened, or else Raj wouldn't have to go on without Wayne. Raj was even more hurt, wondering how he'd go on without Wayner or Bowie. Wayne gave some encouragement to his fellow snow owl to kick everyone's butts, and Raj saluted him with a promise to do so.
Wayne: 3 (Caleb, Julia, Zee)
Emma: 2 (Raj, Wayne)
Julia: 2 (Damien, Emma)
Merge: Caleb, Damien, Emma, Julia, Raj, Zee
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper, Bowie, Wayne
Damien opened the episode by moving his immunity idol behind the rocks of the elimination area in order to be sure he'd keep it. Raj was also struggling big time this morning, dealing with acute food poisoning and being down his two favorite people in the world. He was glumly moaning out in pain, getting comforted by Zee.
Emma tried comforting Raj but he groggily shooed her away. Emma tried not to take it to heart, but she still felt miserable about the whole ordeal.
Chris assembled the contestants in a clearing and provided them with tablets and a large monitor, being told to match faces to squares or face punishments from their Punishment Pods. Both Damien and Julia were confident in the challenge, due to brainpower and vengeance alike. Emma felt confident initially, but gave a confessional talking about her nervousness about having a good memory. She acknowledged that it wasn't the same as knowing people in particular, but it was similar. Raj and Zee were both excited but not confident, their lack of brainpower definitely being a potential hindrance.
The first three rounds left Caleb, Damien, and Julia tied with two points a piece, Raj and Zee in second with a lucky one point, and Emma in dead last with zero. Emma tried to remain confident, but she was faltering big time. Damien and Julia had gotten into a big spat during the challenge, sabotaging one another because they thought the other person was cheating off them. The next round escalated their conflict as Julia basically assaulted Damien with his tablet, getting him eliminated from the challenge as a swarm of bees carried him away.
Caleb gave a confessional saying he didn't know how well this alliance thing would work out with Julia if she kept putting such a big target on her back, making him scratch his chin and wonder who else he could possibly buddy up with.
Chris announced a rule change, saying that the winner would be able to give one other contestant immunity. Emma tried to tell Raj she'd pick him, but the hockey boy continued to blank her. Zee cheered up a deflated Emma, telling her he'd pick him if he won. Julia yanked on Caleb's shirt and demanded that he pick her if he won, which Caleb begrudgingly agreed to, giving another confessional saying he was done with Julia.
After a hilariously paintacular montage, the scores had Julia at nine, Caleb at seven, Emma at six, Raj with three, and Zee still only with one. Since the contestants were taking forever, Chris decided that the next point would win, excluding Raj and Zee who he eliminated for being so far behind the rest of the pack.
The final face was, who else, but Bowie. Caleb had guessed and then "accidentally" walked into Julia, making her drop the tablet. She yelled at him for screwing her up, noticing the several selections that were now appearing on her tablet and hoping that they were all Bowie. Emma had been recklessly biting her fingernails, trying to figure out which one could be Bowie. She took a breath and made her guess.
Man, Emma is lucky. Her answer was the only correct one, netting her a victory. True to her word, she chose Raj to receive immunity along with her, which the hockey boy appreciated big time.
Before the elimination, Julia had assembled Caleb at the elimination area and tried to get Emma to join her, but Emma refused, saying she could go on without her. Caleb asked what she wanted and Julia expressed interest in taking down Damien that night, still incensed at him screwing her over earlier that day. Caleb refused, saying Damien was cool and tried to get her to boot Zee instead. Julia insulted him, saying that Zee was better to keep around because of how stupid he was. Caleb rolled his eyes and left, saying that he was done with Julia. Julia threw a huge tantrum, freaking out until she accidentally stumbled across the immunity idol. Stuffing it in her back pocket, she set off to vote without a care that night.
Raj had come to Emma prior to the elimination as well to thank her for sharing her immunity, which Emma told him was not a big deal. Emma asked if they were good now which Raj agreed with, apologizing for blanking her the last couple challenges and for voting for her last night.
It was looking like Julia was finally cooked until she whipped out her immunity idol, saving her for one more challenge. With all the votes against her nullified, who was left to eliminate? That would be Caleb, who had finally ally-hopped too far. Damien also screamed at Julia for stealing his idol, but she said she found it fair and square at the elimination ceremony earlier, and that it couldn't have been her fault that he put it in such a bad spot.
Julia: 4 (Caleb, Damien, Emma, Raj) [Null]
Caleb: 2 (Julia, Zee)
Merge: Damien, Emma, Julia, Raj, Zee
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper, Bowie, Wayne, Caleb
With Caleb gone, Julia was down to just Zee, and the less said about his standing as an ally, the better. She was also dealing with some major flack from Damien after the whole idol stealing incident, which had made Zee stray just a little further from Julia. Add in Emma and Raj wanting her gone, and it was looking like a very tough road ahead for the influencer.
Speaking of Emma and Raj, Raj had fully forgiven Emma for the whole Bowie situation and held no grudge for Wayne getting eliminated, especially since she didn't even have anything to do with it. Emma thanked him for being so kind and prepped the two for their next challenge.
Chris introduced the Final Five to their next challenge with help from special guest Master Sergeant Valentina MacArthur. That's right, MacArthur from the Ridonculous Race was on TDI, holding five aggressive dogs with leashes. Their challenge was pretty simple: Hide from their attack dog and don't get dragged back to the circle three times, or they were out. The last camper standing would earn immunity and a trip to the Final Four. The campers were initially given a two minute headstart, but Chris decided that after ten seconds, he was ready for the campers to start getting chased.
Emma and Raj ran off together, getting chased by their two dogs. Raj had the brilliant idea of eating their socks, which Emma physically recoiled at. She asked Raj why not just chuck their socks instead, which Raj agreed was a much better alternative. They chucked their socks but didn't account for the dogs being hot on their tail. The two were dragged back to the starting line quickly, losing a life.
Julia had some great foresight and decided to hide in the cabins, assuming dogs couldn't open doors. She was right, but didn't account for the dog stealing her phone. Julia screamed as her dog dragged her away too, losing her a life.
Damien and Zee had been running up the diving cliff being pursued by one dog. Damien tried to tell Zee to leave, confident that the dog was only chasing him and not Zee. However, Zee wouldn't budge, not content with leaving Damien's side. However, once cornered by the dog, Damien decided the best course of action was to jump off the cliff away from the dog. Not wanting to have anything bad happen to him, Zee jumped off too. Once down on the beach, a tiny little chihuahua approached Zee. Zee tried to pet it but it bit his hand, dragging him down and away from Damien.
The eliminated campers ran off once more and Julia had the bright idea to jump in the waters of Wawanakwa to evade her dog, forgetting dogs can swim. Average intelligence of this group ain't real high.
Back in the forest, Raj spotted a tree and suggested he and Emma climb up. Impressed with the good idea, Emma agreed. Raj, the gentleman he is, offered to give Emma a boost up. She leapt up into the tree while Raj, without any time to escape the dogs, ran off into a shed to hide. Emma smirked at her dog, taunting it and asking how it'd manage to get her down. That's when it started biting into the tree at an obscenely fast pace, startling Emma. She looked down and noticed a lower branch, making her way down from the tree.
Raj had reached the shed, as had his dog that was scratching at the door. In a moment of desperation, he stripped down to just his boxers and covered a nearby mannequin in all his clothes.
Julia had just finished getting dragged back, as had Zee. Julia said they needed to work harder if one of them was going to get immunity for their alliance, where Zee decided to let loose that he didn't really want to be in an alliance anymore. Incensed at his rebellion, Julia shoved him into a bush before taking off and before Chris released the hounds once more, eliminating Zee.
Emma had reached the shed that Raj was inside and was confused to see Raj's clothes being worn by a decimated mannequin. Raj snuck back in and explained his idea, which Emma complimented him on, appreciating his quick thinking. The two were then jumpscared by their dogs, losing another life.
Julia had been running past the Mess Hall when she saw Chef's dumpster and, thinking quickly, jumped into the dumpster. Gross, yes, but Julia's scent was now masked to her dog, who was none the wiser. Knowing that Damien had no strikes and still wanting him gone, she went on a mission to destroy him, taking a bucket of Chef's kitchen grease with her.
Damien, who'd been on top of the roof of the Mess Hall, was soon victim to a surprise greasing by Julia. He slipped off and into his dog's muzzle, giving him his first strike. He ran away, intent on putting as much distance between him and Julia as he could. He'd ran into Emma and Raj, who'd ran into their cabin to try and stay safe. When asked if they were followed by any dogs, they both denied it. They were soon victimized by their dogs when Julia threw a chew toy through the window, attracting the dogs once more.
Emma and Raj were both knocked out, leaving it down to Damien and Julia, who were both on their last life. Damien was not content to just sit down and take his loss, booking it away from the vicious dogs as fast as his legs could carry him. While he was doing that, Julia found the raptor she'd insulted from the previous season. She asked it to help her distract a dog, but the raptor was having none of it. It roared at her just as her dog appeared, grabbing her and dragging her back to the circle.
It was looking like Julia would finally be undone when Chris pointed out that Damien was also being dragged back by his dog. Chef said that it would be a close one, but Julia had other plans. She dug into the ground with her nails, halting her momentum enough for Damien to be dragged back first. Chris awarded Julia immunity once again that night, much to the chagrin of the others.
Julia had tried to pull Zee aside for the vote that night, but so did Damien. They both pleaded for him to vote off Damien and Raj respectively, so much so that his head was left spinning. To soothe himself, Zee decided the best course of action was to vote himself off.
Combine that with Emma and Raj's votes, and Zee was done like dinner. All the contestants wished him well while Chris congratulated Julia on a consecutive Final Four appearance, wondering if she could actually put it together this time.
Zee: 3 (Emma, Raj, Zee)
Damien: 1 (Julia)
Raj: 1 (Damien)
Merge: Damien, Emma, Julia, Raj
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper, Bowie, Wayne, Caleb, Zee
Emma and Raj had managed to recruit Damien into their anti-Julia hate train to little opposition, leaving Julia to grind by herself in the final challenge.
Chris called the Final Four to their challenge locale for the final challenge before the finale, noting that a win today secured their spot in tomorrow's challenge for the million.
Their challenge involved being strapped in with a harness that had a hook slot along with being given a hook themselves, where the name of the game was hooking their enemies into their own Tanks of Terror, where they'd have to face their deepest fear. The contestants were not allowed out of their tanks until they faced their fear, and the last member left outside of the tank would win immunity.
Damien, Emma, and Raj all made their plan very simple: target Julia and then duke it out between the three of them. Julia herself had decided the best way to go about the challenge was to whether the storm and hope for a moment where she could hook the last person standing between her and immunity. It was highly unlikely, but she really had no other options since it was clear none of them would partner with her.
The horn blew and immediately the three charged Julia. She took a defensive stance and jumped past a bullrushing Raj. She managed to hook Emma on her way over the top, but Damien also hooked Julia. Damien and Raj both agreed that there would be no hard feelings as they started sparring.
Meanwhile, Emma was dropped into her tank to face her fear, which was pressing a series of buttons based only on her gut instinct to get the door open. The only way the door would open was if she was confident in her answers. She stumbled at first, nervously selecting a few of the buttons and getting hit with a blaringly loud incorrect buzzer, but she soon recuperated. She breathed deeply and began pressing buttons with minimal apprehension, getting a ding for her efforts. With a newfound confidence, she began pressing buttons left and right, getting a multitude of dings in the process.
Julia's fear was, funnily enough, marmalade. It wasn't marmalade itself that Julia was scared of, but it was the old people that were in the marmalade. The Tennis Rivals made a cameo as Julia swam up to the top of the hatch in fear.
Julia made it back out first and, seeing Damien and Raj involved in a swordfight, she took hold of her hook and waited. Raj had let his aggression take over again and had gotten sidestepped by Damien, who took the opportunity to hook the lone hockey boy. Raj was yanked away and Damien started celebrating, unaware that Julia was coming in hot from up top to hook him too.
Julia started prematurely celebrating her victory as Damien and Raj were both dragged towards their tanks, but that's when Emma came out of hers. Damien and Raj were both dropped into their tubes as Emma and Julia went at it.
Raj's tank saw him have to face a bear wearing an orange hockey jersey, which he revealed wasn't his fear. When the bear flipped down its Wayne mask, Raj started shrieking, since his biggest fear was Wayne playing for another team. After he calmed down, he realized that it had to happen sooner or later. He hugged the bear and ran back out to the field.
In Damien's tank, he was confronted by a backwards Lauren, a.k.a. Scary Girl, in the flesh. She flipped her neck around 180 degrees and welcomed Damien to his worst nightmare. A monitor appeared with Chris on it telling Damien that all he had to do to get out of there was hug Scary Girl. Damien screamed at the monitor asking Chris if he was nuts, to which Chris laughed and told him that of course he was nuts. The monitor flickered off and Damien was left shrieking.
Emma had just gotten Julia yanked away and assumed she'd won when Raj came back out onto the field. Emma complained, saying she was two seconds away from victory. Raj apologized and they started sparring once more, accidentally hooking each other in the process. The field was empty as Emma, Julia, and Raj were all dumped into their tanks, leaving Chris and Chef in agonizing suspense over who would come out first.
Inside her tank, Emma was confronted with a new fear: Chase with a new girl. Despite seemingly having moved on from the YouTuber after the events of the last couple seasons, Emma was watching in horror as Chase was falling for a new girl. Emma tried to get him to stop and remember all the good times, bringing up incident after incident that slowly made her realize that maybe her and Chase weren't meant to be. She thought to herself about whether that really meant they were in love if Chase could do all that stuff to her without remorse, and realized that it probably wasn't so. She glumly watched on until it turned to boredom and acceptance, walking out of her tank with a newfound drive.
Meanwhile, Raj's new fear was having to deal with the Snow Owl mascot that was filled with poisonous spiders. He ran around in fear and accidentally knocked himself and the intern inside the costume down in a panic. He helped the intern out of the costume and put bandages on her bites, hoping that she was okay.
Finally, Damien's vocal cords had finally gone hoarse at that point, unable to scream any longer. Combine that with a lack of energy from screaming the whole time, and he soon found himself exhausted and at Scary Girl's mercy. She stalked up to him, her head facing the right direction now, and stared into his eyes, commenting on how beautiful his screams were. Despite the overwhelming feeling of fear, Damien stood up and hugged her, screaming as much as his weakened voice would let him. His tank opened and he booked it back onto the field.
All four competitors were back on the pitch, ready for a final showdown. Like it was rehearsed, they all booked it towards Julia. Having learned from her experience last time, Julia hooked the sprinting Raj and then slid under Damien and Emma's legs, grabbing Raj's hook as he was thrown back into his tank. Emma charged at Julia again, getting hooked in the process. Julia went to do her slide under Damien's legs again but Damien had learned from the first time, hooking her when she down and securing himself immunity as the other three were dropped into the tank.
Now facing a real elimination ceremony, Julia tried to go to both Emma and Raj separately, hoping they'd vote for one another and she'd be able to send home her loser of choice. However, Julia couldn't account for how close Emma and Raj had grown over the last couple days, and could do nothing as she was finally picked off.
Julia: 3 (Damien, Emma, Raj)
Raj: 1 (Julia)
Merge: Damien, Emma, Raj
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper, Bowie, Wayne, Caleb, Zee, Julia
The three finalists woke up that morning determined. Damien, Emma, and Raj were ready to kick some ass. Damien and Raj got into some friendly trash talk with one another while Emma displayed some dorky confidence.
Before the challenge could get underway, Chris brought back all the formerly eliminated contestants to choose who they'd support in the finale.
Damien's team consisted of Caleb, Lauren, Priya, and Zee. Damien was noticeably uncomfortable having Lauren that close to him, but she didn't mind one bit.
Emma was supported by Julia, Millie, MK, and Nichelle. Emma was surprised to see Julia cheering her on, but Julia said that she needed her to kick those two dunces into the dirt.
Raj was backed by Axel, Bowie, Chase, Ripper, and Wayne. Raj was nervous that Wayne wouldn't pick him for a moment, to which Chris made a comment wondering how he could possibly think otherwise.
The finalists are then brought to their finale location, where it's revealed that they'll have to compete in a three-headed challenge in order to win the million. The first challenge is wheeling their team wagon with all their supporters up a mountain, then to cross a tightrope over a gorge, and finally hang glide to the Dock of Shame, with the first person finishing the challenge being the winner of TDI 2024.
Damien and Emma both grimaced at having to wheel their entire support group up the mountain while avoiding the distractions Chris planted, but Raj wasn't that nervous. Chris blew his airhorn and they were off.
Raj got off to an early lead but Chef made him stop before he could get too far, saying he needed his entire group in the cart before continuing. Bowie looked around, wondering who wasn't in the cart, and noticed that Wayne had stopped to eat some pizza. Raj too ran over to eat with Wayne, getting a facepalm out of Bowie.
Julia and MK were basically bullying their way into making Emma reach the top first, which did end up working. She was brought to the tight rope and started on her way over the chasm just as a struggling Damien finally caught up to the top. He collapsed but was brought right back up by Priya who demanded he run and overtake Emma. MK, who was handling a t-shirt cannon, was approached by Lauren, who asked to take the gun from her. MK complied and Lauren took the gun and shot Emma in the back of the head, knocking her off.
Damien gets started as his team armed themselves with t-shirt cannons, shooting at Emma's helpers when they started shooting at Damien. Raj pulled up on the scene, exhausted and horrified at the massive fight going on. After both teams realized he was there and turned their guns towards him, Raj started booking it down the tightrope, bumping into Damien and knocking them both off.
Emma was able to get up and try again, this time steadying herself from the brunt of the attacks. She had almost made it across when Caleb yelled that Chase had something to say to her. He didn't, but the distraction was long enough for Caleb to land a shot and take her down.
Damien and Raj were both up and agreed to a truce to get over the tightrope together. Both their sides also agreed not to knock the other one down, but Emma was still down in the water. Plus, why would Julia be nice to anyone here? Julia and the rest of Emma's helpers all fired wildly at both Damien and Raj, though Damien was able to leap to the other side and make it to part three of the challenge.
On the other side of the gorge, Damien was met with no hang gliders. Confused, he asked Chris how he was supposed to glide to the dock without a gliding mechanism. Naturally, Chris' solution was to put him in a flying squirrel costume. Damien freaked out at this, wondering if the suits would even work. Chris said maybe with a shrug, leaving Damien to his own devices. He spent a minute trying to decide what to do, but when Emma came running into view, he knew what he had to do.
Both Damien and Emma strapped into their flying squirrel costumes and leapt to start flying, though they were massively unexperienced and lacked the proper athleticism and coordination that comes with successfully piloting a flying squirrel costume. Emma, who was above Damien, accidentally dropped down onto him, causing the both of them to crash into a tree below. After recovering from their pain, they both started booking it towards the dock.
Without anyone to hit him off, Raj was able to make it across the tight rope with ease. Well, his "easy" method was to pole vault, landing on his crotch and turning the wire into a bungee cord that launched him all the way to the starting location of the third challenge. Ignoring the immense pain he was in, Bowie told him he had to get up and go if he wanted any chance at catching up to Damien and Emma. Raj nodded and strapped in his flying squirrel suit.
The Peanut Gallery was assembled at the dock to watch their finalist of choice make it towards the finish line. Axel called out that Damien and Emma were coming from the forest in a foot race just as Raj appeared above them in his suit. Ripper made a comment that Raj wasn't going fast enough, but Wayne told him not to worry, that Raj knew what he was doing. As if on cue, Raj folded his wings and started plummeting towards the dock in a ball of fire.
None of the finalists were letting up, and it was looking like a photo finish was going to be in store. Damien and Emma finally stepped onto the dock as Raj kept diving, all making a last ditch play for the million. Only one of them could finish though. That person was...
...
...
... Raj!
That's right, Raj won season two! He crashed into the dock and was pulled up by Bowie, being rewarded with a big kiss for winning the finals. Wayne also started celebrating him and telling him how proud he was of his Rajjie as the rest of the cast cheered, reluctantly or joyfully, for Raj's win. The only exceptions were Julia and MK, though no one particularly cared.
Raj was awarded the final marshmallow that night at the bonfire ceremony as he and the rest of the cast celebrated his victory.
Winner: Raj
Runners Up: Damien, Emma
Eliminated: Lauren, Chase, Millie, Priya, Nichelle, MK, Axel, Ripper, Bowie, Wayne, Caleb, Zee, Julia
And there you have it! First reboot what if in the book, and I don't think it's too shabby if you ask me. I think the biggest change is that if Bowie is to reconcile with Emma, he has to be feeling more guilty about the cheating than he initially let on. I also think that would mean the Hockey Bros take it more to heart, which is why Raj goes with Wayne during the first merge challenge and not Bowie.
As much as I didn't want to boot her, I couldn't think of anyone other than MK would get booted in the first merge episode especially when Chris made a point of calling her out for being the one to gather all the information to cheat for the Skunk Butts.
Shameless reminder to please review with comments/critiques/recommendations/any what if's you'd like to see, every single one is appreciated and put into consideration! Will add that I don't exactly care to do PI scenarios unfortunately, hence why the Amy/Sammy one is taking so long. Also working on Tyler with Lightning's challenge skills and the non-sexist Ezekiel continuation into Action. Keep 'em comin!
Until next time, shuppyer out.