"Last time on Total Drama Island" the episode opened with a recap by Chris, who was speaking to the audience at the docks, before it cut to relevant footage of the campers and their dynamics throughout Episode 1 "Twenty-two campers have signed up to spend eight weeks right here at this crummy old summer camp. They've gotten to know each other a little, know their environment a little, and are about to learn more… exciting things about the island!" He chuckled as the scene shown at that moment is the campers, standing terrified on top of the cliff.
"The games are about to begin!" He continued, building up to the conclusion "Who will take the leap into the competition? How many are gonna fall flat on their face? Find out on the second episode of Total… Drama… Island!"
This is the part where the theme song plays, but giving descriptions for every single character last time was a painful slog, I am not gonna try and describe the cinematography of something you have no way of seeing. Just imagine it in your head like last time, only with the characters that actually appeared, ok?
We cut back to Chris, now with the other campers on top of the cliff, as he presented the challenge "Okay, today's challenge is three-fold. Your first task is to jump off this one-thousand-foot high cliff, into the lake."
"Sha-easy!" bragged Lightning, as a couple of his skinnier teammates looked at him, but the host wasn't done yet as he continued with "If you look down, you will see two target areas. The wider part area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with psychotic, haha, man-eating sharks." The camera panned down to showcase said sharks, leaping out of the water or swimming in a circle "Inside that area is a safe zone. That's your target area. Which, we're pretty sure, is shark free."
This did very little to reassure some of the campers, in particular the already nervous Shawn "You're pretty sure?" but the host continued unperturbed "For each member of your team that jumps and actually…survives, there will be a crate of supplies waiting below. Inside each crate are supplies that you'll need for the second part of the challenge…"
As Chris paused for dramatic effect (and to let the editors do their job), a hot tub was then shown on screen, a large, clean hot tub with a pleasant wooden finish, against a motion graphic background that made it look like it was glowing, highlighted further by the host "Building a hot tub!"
We then cut back to reality, where Chris finishes the exposition: "The team with the best one gets to have a wicked hot tub party tonight. The losers will be sending someone home." An ominous laugh and music then punctuated the last sentence, before he faced the Killer Bass and told them "Killer Bass, you're up first."
Jasmine looked at her team, assessing the situation, seeing the twins, Dawn, Dakota, Rodney, and Leonard being very hesitant, with Sky and Lightning looking at each other.
While they were still waiting, Owen tried to reassure the team "Hey, don't sweat it guys! I heard that these shows always make the interns do the stunt first, to make sure it's survivable."
The editors, however, wanted the audience to see the truth with their own eyes, to instill greater drama in the audience, as the footage now cut to how the testing really went down, with Chris standing on top of the cliff alongside Chef, who had a life preserver and goggles in addition to swim trunks.
"We need to test the stunts first, you know that." the host told the burlier man, who rebutted with "Do I look like an intern?"
"No" replied Chris "but the ones we had are all in the hospital." after Chef kept not jumping, he began taunting him "Come on, just jump it you big chicken. Bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk!
"I don't get paid enough for this, man." the man resigned, putting on his goggles, and took the dive, screaming all the way as he landed outside of the safe zone, but once he resurfaced, he exclaimed in excitement "Hey! I made it! I made it, man. I-" he interrupted his cheering as "something just brushed by my foot! Hey Chris, man! Somethin' ain't right down here!"
The sharks were circling him as he said that last thing, but then he got pulled down into the water again, all of a sudden, before re-emerging and swimming away as fast as possible, screaming as the sharks chased him.
What was Chris' reaction from the top of the cliff? Writing down something in a notebook and dismissing everything with a "Well, that seems safe enough."
We transition back to reality, where Jasmine is once again facing her team, but Lightning and Sky now are side by side, in a starting position, ready for a sprint.
"Alright, who wants to-" "Sha-wooooh!" Jasmine was cut off by Lightning, who suddenly took a full sprint, shouting all the way, which surprised Sky, who sprinted right afterwards while reprimanding the jock "You're supposed to wait for a signaaaaaal!"
As Lightning was diving, he saw that he was deviating further and further from the middle of the safe zone, but his attempts at course correcting by swimming in mid air were too little too late, and he bounced right on top of the floaters that delineated it.
This allowed Sky to catch up and land in the middle of the safe zone right before Lightning did, much to his chagrin, but the cheering of everyone else from seeing the two making the jump in the first place.
After Sky and Lightning resurfaced, a boat came by to get them to the beach, and on the short ride, the two exchanged words.
"This is what you get from jumping in blindly." Said Sky, teasing the jock a little, who groaned a little but begrudgingly admitted "Fair enough… You win this one." much to her satisfaction, before she offered her hand for a handshake "Yes, but that's just the beginning!" Lightning then took it with a smirk "Oh, you sha-said it!"
Screen goes static, we cut to Lightning in the confessional, as he commented with a hint of excitement "She got moves, y'all! Never met a girl that could keep up with the Lightning before…" his expression then became more flirtatious "Finally found the one worthy 'o this!" before he started flexing, then kissing his biceps and bobbing his eyebrows at the camera to punctuate his intentions.
It then follows a montage of other characters making the dive, Jasmine with confidence, Dawn yelling out "I trust in you, Mother Nature!" slightly worried, then Rodney doing a cannonball without opening his eyes to look, and finally Owen, screaming all the way down and making a humongous splash.
DJ however, refused to jump "Uh uh, no way man. I'm not jumpin'." to which Chris approached him, seemingly candidly and asked "Scared of heights?" to which the teen replied with equal sincerity as a sad little piano motif played "Yeah, ever since I was a kid."
"That's okay, big guy." Chris patted him on the back… before telling him the unfortunate news and whipping out a chicken hat, all sincerity gone "Unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken. So, you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day."
"Aw man, for real?" DJ felt the sting of the revelation, before Chris added onto it with a taunting "Bawk-bawk-bawk!" before pointing to an escalator, that is on the cliff for this one episode and then never again "That means the chicken's path down is that-a-way."
As DJ went down the escalator, head hung in shame, the host called out "Next?"
Which led to Leonard, who tentatively approached the cliff, took a deep breath and then took the dive, landing in the safe zone. During all of this, Dakota was watching, and she was not happy about the situation, a feeling she voiced soon after.
"Excuse me, but this is not what I signed up for!" she whined to the host "I'm here for the camera time!"
"Sorry" said Chris, not sorry at all "but to get that sweet limelight, you have to work for it." She audibly groaned upon hearing those words, which led to her stomping her feet and going "But I don't wanna jump off of a cliff to do it!" and the host promptly retorted "Then it's chicken hat for you!" as he pulled one out, to which Dakota recoiled at the sight of, looking down at the cliff for just a second.
A close up of the sharks, however, was enough to change her mind, as she grabbed the chicken hat by the dangling bits and tied them around her waist "I am not wearing this on my head, at least." which Chris shrugged at as she walked down the escalator.
The only remaining Bass were the twins, Amy and Sammy, who were looking first down the cliff, and then each other, with Sammy then asking her sister "Uhm… rock paper scissors for who goes first?" but Amy then told her in fear as she held onto her hand "No, we jump together!" though after that, she went wide eyed and seemed to have a deliberate change in attitude "C-cause, uh, I can't have you chicken out! Can't give the other team any more advantage!"
Sammy sighed, then took a deep breath, still holding onto her sister's hand, and getting into position for a running start, which Amy also did, before they both dashed off the cliff, separating hands in mid air and diving into the safe zone, to the joy of their teammates.
"Okay. So that's nine jumpers and two chickens." Count Chris before facing the other team "Screaming Gophers, if you can beat that, we'll throw in a pull-cart to put your crates on." A closeup to the pull-cart was then shown.
Duncan then raised his eyebrow and commented "That would be nifty…" before facing his teammates "Alright, who's up first?" which didn't get any response at first, most of them looking around nervously, before Heather spoke up.
"I'm sorry, there is no way I'm doing this." she said with her usual snark, though one of her teammates, Beth, questioned her "Why not?" to which she replied with "Hello, national TV? I'll get my hair wet!" as if it was common sense.
"At least wet hair does look good on me…" said Justin, mostly to himself, to which Topher nodded along at, before Zoey tried convincing her teammate.
"If you don't wanna jump, that's fine, but-" Zoey was interrupted by a quick jab from Heather "Don't wanna hear the "but", pasty! I don't want to, so I'm not gonna." but then Jo butted in, putting her hand on Heather's shoulder, to which she reacted with surprise as the jockette said "Ok, but what if…"
Jump cut to Heather, falling from the cliff and into the safe zone, screaming all the way down, stopping only after hitting the water, then we see the others on top, Jo standing proudly and smacking her hands in satisfaction, Duncan laughing along, commenting "Hah! Priceless!" before offering a high-five to Jo, which she exchanged.
Heather then resurfaced, cursing out Jo "Ugh, Jo! You are so * dead!" to which the other girl replied "Hey, I threw you in the safe zone, didn't I?" before facing the rest of the team "Anyone else wanna drop out?" To which they all shook their heads..
"Good." she said, before lining up for a jump "I better see you down there, then!" She then took the jump into the safe zone, followed by a montage of others taking it too, first Duncan, arms crossed and falling silently, then Topher with excitement, then Shawn, diving but screaming, then Cody, who was flailing and screaming, and finally Staci, who was doing much of the same.
After all of them came Justin, however he didn't land in the safe zone, and much to the horror of his teammates on the safety boat, they saw a shark swimming towards him.
"Paddle, paddle!" said Cody, Staci and Topher, but it was too little too late, as the shark made its way to Justin… but as it emerged to take a bite, the shark took a good look at the handsome teen. As the music punctuated how smitten it was by the sheer charm and beauty on display, we cut to the shark escorting Justin on the beach, much to everyone's shock.
We cut again, back to the top of the cliff, as Beth looks down at the cliff, tries to steel herself for a jump, but ultimately turns back and grabs a chicken hat while saying "I… I can't do it. I'm too scared." and then putting it on, squeaking as it fits on her, before ending it with an addressing to her team below "I'm sorry!"
Duncan and Topher made chicken noises in a mocking fashion, meanwhile Jo mulled over this turn of events "Maybe I should have just thrown everyone…" but Zoey, back at the top of the cliff, was a lot nicer about it "It's ok Beth, you don't jump off just because others told you to!"
This attempt at consolation did work, as Beth did smile a little as she went down the escalator, chicken hat on head, and then she turned around to Mike, who was weaning a swimming shirt, unlike the rest of the teens, and was also still pretty nervous, and tried to reassure him as well.
"Hey Mike, how are you holding up?" she asked him candidly, to which Mike eased up a little and replied awkwardly with "Oh, uhm… good! Well, as good as someone about to jump off a cliff can be, hehe…" and then she gently held his hands together and told him "You can do this! Just think of the hot tub we'll get to use afterwards!"
Mike blushed at that notion, and after a few seconds, Zoey did too as she tried correcting herself "I-I meant, we as in the team! Not that you aren't, uh I mean…" "No, no, I get what you mean, it's cool-." interrupted Mike, reassuring her as well, but then Zoey pointed at the cliff and said "I'm… just gonna jump now, ok?", after which Mike answered with "Yeah, heh, fair enough!"
She then took a good run and dove off the cliff, landing in the safe zone, much to Mike's joy, as he cheered for her, but right as Mike was feeling at ease, Chris swung by with a megaphone, announding "Okay campers! There's only one person left! You guys need this jump for the win!" before turning around to Mike and chuckling to himself as he added "Hehe, no pressure, dude."
With that sentence and a dramatic music sting, all of Mike's assuredness had gone, and said pressure was really visible on him, as he paced back and forth and talked to himself really fast.
"Oh no! That's right! I-I need to jump or my team will lose! B-but it's so tall, what if I hit the rocks? What if I land outside the safe zone? But I can't let Zoey down! Ugh! Damn you Chri-" right in the middle of cursing Chris out and panicking, he stopped and took a big gasp, but after said gasp was done, something was different about Mike.
His gaze got way more intense, as he looked around himself, and off of the cliff, he then calmly and firmly took a few steps back for the run in as we then cut to other confessionals from his teammates.
"Gotta admit" first up was Duncan "I didn't think that panicky pencilneck would have it in him"
"It's like a switch flipped" said Shawn "I might have to keep an eye on him…"
We then cut back to Mike's teammates during the challenge, with Cody cheering for him "Take a good run at it, dude! You can do this!" and then Jo… encouraging him in her own way "You better jump, Gappy! Don't make me come up there!" and finally Zoey encouraged him in a less threatening way "I believe in you, Mike!"
But "Mike", on the other hand, replied in a way quiet enough to not be heard by his teammates, but loud enough for the cameras, and in a voice that was very much not Mike's. It was a much calmer voice, deeper, but with a firm edge to it, as he said "...No. He can't yet. But I can."
"Mike" then ran towards the cliff and took the jump, successfully landing in the safe zone, to the cheering of every one of his teammates, some more out loud than others like Zoey, Cody, Topher and Beth, with others like Jo, Duncan and Justin being content with just smiling.
"The Screaming Gophers win!" announced Chris as Mike resurfaced, taking a big gasp of air and then looking around himself, confused, as he said to himself "Huh? Wha… what just…" Zoey then extended a hand at him, from the boat, which Mike took, and as she helped him up, she told him "You did it, Mike! I knew you could do it!" and then hugged him.
Though as she hugged him, did Mike look more at ease, but also saddened as he said "Yeah… I did it…" almost emphasising the I in the sentence, almost sighing as he said that, as the scene faded to black.
Once we fade back, the Gophers are carrying crates on their multiple pull carts, very nonchalantly, and singing along "Forty-nine bottles of pop on the wall, forty-nine bottles of pop, if one of those bottles should happen to fall, forty-eight bottles of pop on the wall!"
In the meantime, the Bass were having a harder time, the twins pushing a crate along the sand together, Owen and Leonard struggling to try and do the same thing, but neither of them moving it by much, but Dawn then lended some assistance and the three of them were making some progress.
Others, however, were carrying a crate along with relative ease, Jasmine and Lightning on their own, DJ with some assistance from Sky, but Rodney especially was carrying two crates stacked on top of each other like it was nothing.
There was one last team member, Dakota, who was following along, doing nothing, except texting on her phone and telling the others "We need to get a move on! We're already behind!" which Amy didn't take well "It would be a lot easier if you, oh, I don't know, DID SOMETHING!".
"And risk getting a splinter? No, thanks!" replied the rich teen, but then Jasmine interjected and firmly told her "If you don't wanna do anything, fine, just don't be shocked when we vote you off."
At that notion, Dakota groaned and made her way to a group of people while saying "Ugh, fine, fine." and went to help Lightning carrying the crate, but he barely even registered her presence and she had to struggle to keep up with his speed.
The Gophers in the meantime… were still trucking along, singing their song "Thirty-two bottles of pop on the wall, thirty-two bottles of pop, if one of those bottles should happen to fall…"
The Bass, then, got another setback, as Dakota stopped pushing a crate, her legs closed together, looking very uncomfortable and whining to her team "Ugh, I gotta use the bathroom…" to which Jasmine replied bluntly "There ain't none here, so you'll either have to keep going or do it in the woods."
Dakota then took a look back and forth, the crate, or a bush off in the distance, and after a bit of hesitation, she went to the bush.
Cut back to the Gophers, and they kept the song going for a little bit more "…should happen to fall, twenty-eight bottles of pop on the wall!" before Beth sighted the campgrounds and announced as such to her teammates "Hey look! There are the campgrounds!"
"That was pretty easy." commented Justin, with Cody then adding "I'm pleasantly surprised!"
Back to the Bass, Dakota finally made it back, still uncomfortable with the situation.
"You good now?" asked Amy, slightly irritated that they had to stop at all, but Dakota said nothing, only scoffed, and went back to pushing the crate, still looking uncomfortable and gritting her teeth, but the camera angle was low enough to see that a small area of her legs, around her shorts, was noticeably redder.
Another cut to the Gophers, who were attempting to open the crates in a very… inconvenient way, as Chris then put it "Remember, you guys can only use your teeth to open the crates." before chuckling to the camera and confessing "I came up with that one."
Jo in particular was pulling and biting down on the rope really hard, eventually forcing open a crate, but after she did a sudden jolt of pain hit her mouth, as her tongue was singed by rope burn, to which she cursed out "Agh! Rope burn!? Son of a-"
A jump cut interrupted her cursing, showing the Bass again and, in particular, Dakota pushing a crate, her irritation in her lower area harder and harder to ignore. After a few moments, she stopped and shouted "Ah! I can't take it anymore!" and she then started scratching the red.
Some of the team looked at her with a mixture of annoyance and concern, and right at that moment, Chris pulled up on a quad, asking them "You guys are way behind the other team. Like, way behind. What's the problem?"
"I guess her butt is itchy now…" Amy commented while rolling her eyes, before Dawn came up to Dakota and asked her a question "Did you squat down when you peed in the woods?"
The rich girl was taken aback at first, but she answered "Uhm… yeah, I think I did?"
"Did you happen to notice what kind of plants you were squatting over?" asked Dawn again, as Dakota thought about what happened "They were kind of… oval-shaped and green and all over the place."
Jasmine's eyes shot wide open, and a mixture of concern and amusement appeared on her face, as she joined in the questioning "Were they low to the ground? About this big?" as she gestured to try and guess the size of the plant, Dakota nodding all the way, she came to her conclusion.
Between a yeesh and a chuckle, she then exclaimed "Crikey! You squatted on poison ivy!" and upon this revelation, the blonde girl's eyes also shot wide open, and her pain seemed to amplify, as she started shouting and dragging her butt across the sand to cover more area than her painted nails could cover, with Chris laughing while it was going down "No way, that's awesome! Ahahahah!"
As the host's laughter and Dakota's shouts dominated the scene, a jump cut brings us back to the Gophers, where Mike got a crate open and unveiled the contents of it "Hey, check it out! I got wood!" with Topher not long afterwards taking out the contents from his "I've got some tools here, and what looks like a pool liner."
While Jo was taking stuff out of her own crate, Heather approached her without hostility and said "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about calling you a mannish jock wannabe earlier today. Plus, the other team would have won if not for you, so thanks for that."
Jo smirked at this comment, turned around to face her and replied "Damn right! Sorry about throwing you off. Next time, speak up before I do that." to which Heather replied, with a little twitch in her eye "No worries... Truce?" she extended a hand towards Jo, which she firmly shook as the two locked eyes for a moment.
Cut to a confessional from Heather, villainous music playing as she talks.
"Did I mean what I just said?" she asked the camera, rhetorically, before answering with a scoff "Ugh, no! She's going down! But I won't get far if I make that obvious. So I'll play nice… for a while. Once she lets her guard down, I'll make my move, and then enjoy watching her walk down that pier." she then let out a chuckle before finishing with a "Assuming it won't come down under her weight first."
Cut to a confessional from Jo looking very confident, villainous music still playing.
"Hah! That brat's nowhere near as clever as she thinks!" she said "Her type's not the one to fold so easily. Fine by me, a little competition always gets the blood pumping! I'll relish in watching her pouting and screaming all the way to the boat." she punctuated her intentions by lightly punching her hand, before footage cuts back to reality.
The Gophers are hard at work on their tub, all the while the Bass finally reach the camp grounds, dragging their boxes with them, some of them tired out by the task, with Leonard wheezing out a "Finally…" before collapsing on the ground.
Jo immediately heckled them "Aw, you're early! I thought you were gonna show up after the hot tub was finished! Maybe if you beg real nice, we might let you near ours!" but Lightning was quick to reply "Oh yeah? Well, we gonna finish ours so fast you'll be like… which way is up?"
The tepid zinger caused Jo to raise an eyebrow, same as the rest of the team, but the short,awkward silence was cut by Topher, who wondered "Hey aren't you missing the rich girl?"
"Oh, she's…" replied Amy, taking a little pause to chuckle "cooling off."
Quick cut to show Dakota's situation, sitting in the sea, soothing her pain, all the while pouting in embarrassment "This is so humiliating…" before getting really flustered and complaining some more when she noticed the camera "H-hey! This is NOT what I meant when I said I wanted camera time! Go away!"
The cameraman obliged and we cut back to the Bass, some of them opening the crates and doing their work, with Owen, Leonard, DJ, Amy, Sammy and Dawn sitting in defeat on the steps of their cabin.
"Hey y'all!" shouted Lightning at the people on the steps "Get yo butts down here and do some work!" but Amy rebutted with a "We lost, man! They have too much of a lead, how are we gonna catch up!?"
At this statement Jasmine, Jasmine took a deep breath, stood tall next to the crates, attempted to rally the others with a "Alright, mates! I know the situation seems dire, but I have no doubt that if each and every one of you works your damndest, we'll make a comeback! Besides, even if we do lose, wouldn't you rather lose knowing you tried?"
Sammy then spoke up, standing up from where she was sitting "S-she's right! I would rather go down trying! Wouldn't you guys?" but while the remaining teammates agreed or cheered, Amy scoffed under her breath at that statement "Tch, hypocrite much…"
Shortly after, though, she stood up and conceded "Fine, ok, let's do this." before Lightning got one last word in "Girl, you gotta work on your cheering!" but Amy just glared at him before getting to work.
Dakota then walked back on camera right after with a "Hey all! Figured this is where the cameras would be! What did I miss?" with Owen, his cheer and gusto back in full swing telling her "We're making a hot tub!" and Dakota's eyes lit up "Oh! I haven't been in one in a week! Tell me when you're done! I wanna try it!"
"We are building a hot tub." emphasised Sky "You have to do your part too!" with Dakota groaning and walking away "Ugh, no thanks. I'll just make sure the cameras have something actually interesting to look at!" she then struck a pose at said camera.
A montage then ensued, a montage where the Gophers worked together at a very lackadaisical pace, their hot tub looking very fine, and then the Bass working much, much harder and with a lot of spirit, their tub looking a little scuffle due to the rushing, but very much solidly holding together.
This montage, however, also featured Dakota striking poses and having pictures taken on camera, sometimes covering up the teammates that were doing work, much to their collective chagrin.
Once the time was up and the time came for Chris to evaluate their tubs, the Gophers' worked perfectly, the water was steaming, there were no leaks, and it was overall picture-perfect, which the host highlighted with the comment "Chris: This… is an awesome hot tub!"
As the whole team was cheering, Justin and Topher called out at the same time "I call dibs!" they then looked at each other with a smirk then they attempted to "Jinx!" the other, but they still said at the same time, which they then laughed off.
The Basses' hot tub, in the meantime, was looking a little shaky, but the one noticeable flaw in it was the lack of steam coming off of it, and after Chris put his finger in it to check the temperature, he concluded with a "Well, this sure is a tub. Too bad it's not a hot tub."
He then announced, as he faced the victors "The Screaming Gophers win!" and after one round of cheering on their side, he then added "Not only are you safe from elimination, you get to rock this awesome hot tub for the rest of the summer! Bonus!" which caused an even bigger uproar of cheers.
"Killer Bass, what can I say?" the host then faced the losing team "Sucks to be you right now. I'll see your sorry butts at the bonfire tonight. At least you have a cold tub to enjoy, hehe" he walked away with a chuckle, which caused a collective groan, and then Dakota started complaining some more "Ugh! This blows! We don't even get a hot tub! Whatever, at least I have two waiting for me at home."
All her team then glared at her as she walked off, with Amy commenting "Oh good, then you'll get a hot tub bath real soon." before we jump cut to the mess hall, with Dakota nowhere to be seen.
"So, uh…" DJ asked the rest of the team "Any idea where Dakota went?" to which Sky then replied with a groan "She said she didn't want to eat "slop meant for people who don't have money", ugh."
An awkward silence then fell while they were eating their slop meant for people who don't have money, before Leonard broke it and asked the team "Would it be mean to say that Dakota should be voted off?" Every single one of their teammates agreed, some more enthusiastically than others, with Amy commenting "Oh, absolutely!" and Sammy going "I'd feel worse about it if she didn't have all the money she could ask for anyway…" and Jasmine telling plainly "That girl needs a reality check."
Rodney was the only one who didn't really speak up at all, which the other teammates did notice, leading to Jasmine asking "Is something wrong, Rodney?" to which the big teen only stammered a little in response "W-well… I-I, uh…" but Dawn intervened and tried to calm him down, right as panic was beginning to take him "It's ok, just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and speak your mind."
Rodney did just that, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and finally speaking in a more coherent way "I-I agree, but I just… don't feel good about talking badly about a girl… even if she wasn't that helpful…" the other girls on his team, whereas before they looked at him oddly, now softened up a little.
"Don't worry, it's not personal." commented Sky "She didn't pull her own weight, so she's going home. Simple as that." to which Rodney added, eyes still closed as he faced Sky "Y-yeah, 'pa did teach me that pulling your own weight's important. Though I think he was being literal, we did a lot of lifting." which caused Sky to chuckle in amusement.
Lightning, upon seeing this, immediately got antagonistic and attempted to goad the farmer "Sha-please! I bet I can out-lift 'ya! We can use the other big guy as the benchmark!" he pointed at Owen, to which he replied with enthusiasm "Hahaha! Yes! Going high without flying!" and Sky then felt more ready to comment "Now that I'd like to see!"
"Bring it!" Lightning stretched his hand towards the now confused Rodney, who awkwardly shook his hand but still looked around in confusion, Dawn sighed, DJ looked on the scene concerned and everyone else either chuckled or looked actually interested to see this through.
That would be for another time, however, as we fade out to the first campfire ceremony for the season. Night has fallen, tense music fills the air, the light of the campfire and torches illuminating the area, with the Killer Bass sitting on stumps facing the host, who was carrying a tray of marshmallows.
Dakota was there, and as she took her place she commented "Can we move this along? If I don't get my beauty sleep, I'll lose it!" none on her team acknowledged her, save for a few groans and eye rollers, but Chris then started his speech.
"Killer Bass" he spoke dramatically, but also uncharacteristically solemnly "at camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life. You've all cast your votes and made your decision. There are only ten marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow."
After a small pause to have us see Owen's reaction, as he salivated over the marshmallows before DJ nudged at him to get him to recompose himself, Chris started to speak again.
"The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the Dock of Shame, to catch the Boat of Losers. That means you're out of the contest, and you can't come back… ever."
A second dramatic pause and a music sting accompanied that "ever", punctuating its direness in the minds of the campers, before the host started to call out names.
"The first marshmallow goes to… Rodney." The farmer, a smile on his face, walked up to Chris and had his marshmallow skewered on a stick
"Lightning." the host called as the jock jumped up and took the marshmallow with a "Sha-sweet!"
More names were then called "Sky. Amy. DJ. Leonard. Dawn. Owen" as they all took their own, skewering it on their stick, except for Owen, who immediately popped it in his mouth.
As the last two campers, Jasmine and Dakota, awaited, fear and panic suddenly washed over the rich girl as she realized she was the last one… and that Jasmine wasn't concerned in the slightest.
"Campers" Chris stopped Dakota before she could speak "This is the last marshmallow for the night. And it will go to…" He then took a very long dramatic pause, with the camera taking every second of Dakota's tension, her eyes darting back and forth, hands constantly changing place, first close to the mouth, then in her hair, then clenched.
Jasmine in the meantime, grew more and more exasperated at Chris' theatrics, as he really did take his sweet time calling out the final name, which without any background music to accompany it, would have been very, very tedious to live through.
When the host finally called out "Jasmine", she got up with a sigh and took her marshmallow, leaving Dakota in shock, to which Chris told her frankly "Can't say I'm shocked, you really didn't contribute much."
"B-but I…" Dakota stuttered as she tried to get a response out "I can't be the first one out!"
"Sorry, but you are, them's the rules." said Chris, not sorry at all, much to the girl's dismay, as she barked back with renewed, spoiled brat anger "My dad is gonna fry you alive for this! This isn't over!" before stomping across the pier and into the boat.
Chris was a little taken aback "Yeesh, touchy…" but he then recomposed himself as he faced the other campers and said "The rest of you, enjoy your marshmallows. You're all safe… for tonight."
We cut to Dakota's boat ride, a scowl on her face as it sails away, the rest of her team looking on, with Amy getting a comment after she was far gone "...So, about that lifting Owen competition, is that still happening?"
"Might as well." said Sky, much to Owen and Lightning's excitement and Rodney's shrugs, and as this group of teens all go off to carry that out, we cut to a different group of teens, the Gophers, who have been living up their victory in their hot tub.
Heather, Mike, Zoey, Cody, Justin and Topher were all inside, and the latter started a toast with a glass of soda- oh, sorry, "pop", in hand, as he exclaimed "To the Screaming Gophers!" which every other team member in said tub returned with equal gusto.
After the toast, the teens devolved into chatter, with special focus given to Mike and Zoey, as the two of them talk, we get to hear a piece of their conversation, with Zoey saying "No way! You live so close to my town! As soon as the competition's over, I gotta take you to this indie theatre we have!" with Mike replying with excitement "Sure! That sounds fun! I've never been to a theatre before!"
As the two chatted on, getting closer and more comfortable, with Cody, giving Mike a smile and a thumbs up from out of Zoey's sight, the camera pans up to Jo, out of the tub and away from the group.
After a satisfied exhale, she then looked into the camera and said "Isn't that nice? I almost feel bad about having to beat them all…" she stopped for a second, only to let out a sinister chuckle, before ending it with a "Almost." and walking up to the group again, presumably to enjoy the reward as well.
Now that is much better, don't you think? Things actually happening. Total Drama fans may have caught on some details and... interesting changes to characters, mostly from the newer gens (if you can call characters hailing from seasons released 12 and 10 years ago respectively "newer", but they are to a fossil like me). This is just the beginning, and while I am taking any liberty I feel like taking, they are rooted in concepts and ideas from their OG seasons. Also, feel free to provide some feedback on anything you just read through, hopefully you've enjoyed it.
Thanks again for your time and I will see you in Episode 3.
ELIMINATION ORDER
Dakota (The Fame-Monger)
