Ok school has had me very busy. I'll try to find time to do my episode 9 and 10 reviews (obviously they'll be from a retrospective standpoint but it'll still be a review nonetheless, just that I will have known a bit what happens after that, but I won't make too many references).
Honestly I was pretty surprised with this final 5: Gwen, Courtney, Mike, Scott, and Zoey. This final 5 sort of reminds me of Total Drama Action which had a lot of players that had big roles in earlier parts of the season (Justin, Leshawna, Heather, Lindsay, for TDA, and Heather, Sierra, Alejandro, Duncan for TDAS) get dropped out just like that. But it certainly makes for an interesting final 5 since almost everyone left has a connection with one another and you still have the Mike vs. Mal thing going on.
This time while doing the recap Chris isn't even standing on the toilet so I don't have to wonder if he's gonna fall in or not (two more episodes guys....please make it happen! It'll be funny!) So anyway Mal is looking for the DVD Alejandro hid that had footage of him doing evil things and turns the hotel room upside down and Zoey wonders what happened which makes him look suspicious. Zoey isn't sure what's going on but thinks Mike is acting weird again. And you gotta love this confessional from Mal..."my head, his head, our head, WHATEVER". I know not everyone found it that entertaining but for some reason, I did. And now back to inside Mike's head. Mike, Chester, and Svetlana keep walking and they stumble upon a theater where we find Vito. He's doing a ventriloquist act which Chester finds funny. Mike tries to recruit Vito to defeat Mal but Vito's puppet says defeating Mal is impossible. It turns out that it was Mal saying that, instead of Vito. But Mal bangs the puppet on Vito's chain and frees him, and they keep going.
Challenge time. Gwen gets dropped off by Chef and Zoey asks her how she did on Exile. Gwen didn't struggle too much, and then Courtney takes the opportunity to buttkiss to Gwen. Courtney and Gwen reaffirm their final 2 alliance. In the confessional though, Courtney reveals that she thinks she has a better chance against Scott in the finale since Scott acts submissive towards her while Gwen would be a fierce opponent so she's planning on keeping Gwen around until the final 3 and voting Zoey off next. However, I did notice Courtney say this is the farthest she's gone on Total Drama, which is a lie since Courtney got 4th place in Total Drama Action. Seriously, the writers need to get their facts straight. I mean there's only been 5 seasons as opposed to Survivor's 27, Big Brother's 15, or American Idol's 12, so not a lot of statistics to keep track of.
So Scott flirts with Courtney so horrendously and hilariously it's almost like he took notes watching Harold hit on Leshawna, which causes Courtney and Gwen to laugh. Gwen enjoys how she and Courtney are finally friends after all the strife between them. Yeah Gwen next time make life a bit easier and kiss a boy without the girlfriend. Unless that boy is Cody because then Sierra would've been on you like, no, not a hawk, more like an enraged Sierra. Yeah, enough said. As Scott flexes his not-visible muscles in front of Mike and Zoey, Mike reveals Courtney's list to everyone, which offends Scott and Gwen. Scott isn't happy to be drawn as a rat and Gwen can't believe Courtney lied to her about their final 2 deal. If Courtney were to get voted off for this, it would be the second time she lost because SHE WRITES TOO FRICKING MUCH (Season 2, Episode 24, "Duncan was annoyed" is an understatement). In the confessional, Gwen claims Courtney is going down, Scott won't forgive Courtney....unless she really wants him too, and Courtney is confident that she's not going to be flushed next simply because the toilet doesn't suit her. Yeah, I don't think it works that way, Courtney. All in all Courtney's been pretty good this season but this episode is giving me flashbacks of when I couldn't stand her during most of seasons 2 and 3.
Chris begins to explain the challenge by mentioning he forgot to feed his interns this week, which Mike (Mal) finds hilarious. And I'm just like 1.Mal is a jerk and 2.Why can't the interns feed themselves? Well they can't be very bright if they wanted to be interns for this show. The challenge is to make them sundaes, which causes Courtney to celebrate since she used to work in the ice cream business. Yeah we know Courtney. You have as much work experience at 16 (or whatever age she is now) that most people have when they're 30. Overachiever. The ingredients are scattered across dangerous parts of Camp Wawanakwa. The ice is found on a cliff, the cherries in the swamp, the peanuts in the cafeteria, and chocolate in a pond being guarded by a fire flower (I wonder if that flower is a Super Mario reference, even though it looks nothing like the fire flower or the fire breathing piranha plant). Courtney tries to apologize to Gwen for the chart, but then Gwen burns Courtney like one of Charizard's Flamethrowers burned Ash back in the day. "Save your incredibly bad breath, Chartney" By Gwen and Total Drama's standards, I give her props for that. Courtney is upset and surprised Gwen refuses to forgive her and says it's no wonder she has a hard time keeping friends. Ok Courtney, do you REALLY wanna go there? Gwen's friends: Owen, Cody, Leshawna, Bridgette, DJ, Geoff, Cameron..... you get the picture. Courtney's friends: Scott...maybe Zoey and Bridgette.....maybe Sierra...notice how many maybes I've used for Gwen and how many I've used for Courtney, game over, Gwen wins.
Zoey asks Mike why he exposed Courtney, and Mal tells Courtney that he needed to do that to prevent Scott, Gwen, and Courtney from outnumbering them and that he did it to help Zoey win. Zoey is still confused (I know, every time I say that I feel like Captain Obvious) but then she recalls what Alejandro said about "a greater evil lurking" and "the truth is in the art" but doesn't understand what that means. The contestants head up the snow covered cliff. Scott is up first but slides past it and is hanging on to an icicle on the edge of the cliff. Gwen gets the ice cream in her bowl first, and Zoey and Courtney start to slip down as they and Mike make their way up. Mal decides to go on without Zoey since he needs to stay in the Spa Hotel to find the DVD Alejandro hid. Courtney tries to form an alliance with Zoey, but this time Zoey proves to be not naive enough to fall for it and declines. Courtney then taunts Scott. Mike is in 2nd place while Courtney and Zoey follow him. Scott's clumsiness angers a bear, and screams really loud, but in the confessional Scott claims he only screamed to confuse it. Really Scott? You've told better lies before, dude.
Gwen is still in the lead as she reaches the cherries, but right as she was about to be attacked by Snappy the alligator, Mal jumps on it to save her, but then Mal distracts Gwen to get his cherry and take the lead. Gwen thinks Mike is either really brave, really bananas, or really both. From Gwen's standpoint that's a fair observation. Zoey has trouble in the swamp but Courtney breezes by since she's riding a log, and she's getting very cocky. "I have three types of ice cream and a cherry but all I can taste is victory!". I don't think you'd know what victory tastes like. Zoey narrowly escapes being attacked by snappy by flinging mud at it (yeah, not even Zoey is above that) and then Scott comes in and attracts the bear which leads to an epic fight between the bear and snappy. Zoey gets her cherry but Scott is too exhausted from his bear encounter to move. At the cafeteria, the contestant have to get past the rebuilt Total Drama Machine. Mal gets his peanuts first and manipulates the robot to attack Gwen, but Gwen manages to get past it. She runs into Courtney and Gwen finally accepts her apology and tells Courtney that she'll vote off Scott next instead of her, but Courtney has to vote for herself to regain her trust. Courtney reluctantly agrees. Interesting Gwen brought that up considering she's been forced to vote herself off before (Season 2, Episode 7). Both Courtney and Zoey struggle against the robot. By the time Scott gets there, it seems Courtney and Zoey were done there, and once it finally looks like Scott gets a break, he gets pounded by that robot. Yeah this episode makes it clear to see that Scott is this season's Trent/Harold/Tyler/Brick haha.
Gwen and Mal enter the chocolate fire zone where Gwen manages to retake the lead. Mal helps Zoey get her chocolate but then he uses a rock to cause the fire plant to blow up which destroys the chocolate and puts Scott and Courtney out of the running for immunity. Scott thinks Mike did that on purpose and admits that it was clever. I guess whatever it takes to remind us he's a villain. Scott decides to use dirt and Courtney has to settle with burnt chocolate and bird vomit. So I guess they're not through yet. Way to be creative? Meh. Anyway it seems too close to call but Courtney is the first one to arrive. Ok I know Courtney is athletic, but since when did she turn into Cristiano Ronaldo and manage to outpace all of them? Chris changes it up by saying first contestant to eat their own sundae wins immunity. Before I continue, I just want to let the interns know how bad I feel for them. We need to donate to the needy, which would be them. But they're also just cartoons so it's kinda hard.
Courtney refuses to eat her sundae, Gwen gets a brain freeze while Scott laughs and Gwen comments on how Scott lacks a brain to be frozen. Zoey finishes hers first and wins immunity. But Chris still forces everyone to eat their own sundae. Courtney protests and claims that Mike ruined the chocolate on purpose. She should've just skipped the chocolate sauce. Tough luck Courtney. Funny how you expect things to go your way but they never do. At the elimination ceremony, Courtney, who still hasn't eaten her sundae, hopes Gwen won't vote for her, but Courtney still has to live up to her end of the deal of voting herself off. Scott is still offended by Courtney's chart, saying that he's always been told he looks as handsome as a mule. If that's the case, you should be thanking Courtney for the flattering drawing, dude. And the votes are tallied and Courtney is voted off with 3 votes to 2. I guess voting herself off did the trick. Whether or not Gwen meant it is unknown but I doubt anyone will really miss her. I'm guessing Mal voted Courtney off since Gwen mentioned convincing Zoey but not Mike. Anyway, Courtney takes the flush of shame and Scott admits she wasn't all bad. So Scourtney fans, there's still hope. Possibly not much more hope as there is for Scawn fans, but still. Hope is hope. Chris also announces that winners can no longer pick someone to go with them to the Spa Hotel (although at the final 4 in TDWT, they still got to pick). Zoey apologizes to Mike, but Mal doesn't take it so well behind her back, giving us a nasty face that looks like he could really use a trip to the bathroom. The episode ends with Zoey being wierded out by all the new Chris portraits and the real Chris popping out of one. Haha it seemed like Zoey was afraid she was gonna get raped or something. That was just too funny.
So that's it. Even though at times I did like Courtney this season, I'm glad she wasn't likeable in the episode she was voted off in. Nonetheless, she's proven once again she's a solid competitor with a third straight final 7 appearance. The only other contestant to have made it that far three times was Duncan. So in the final 4 Gwen is the last original contestant standing against Zoey, Scott, and Mal/Mike. The obvious vote off would be to get rid of Scott but considering how many irregular eliminations we've had this season and the point of the game we're at, it really is anyone's game. Even Scott. I mean if Lightning was able to win Total Drama Revenge of the Island, why can't Scott end up winning this season? I still don't want him to. My pick is still Zoey but I have to give Gwen props for being pretty solid most of the season. And Mal/Mike hasn't been bad either.
Unless Scott gets farther than Zoey, Zoey will boast the best record out of the TDROTI players with 3rd place in TDROTI and anywhere from 1st to 4th in TDAS. This group of 4 doesn't seem as explicitly tension heavy as the quartets of TDWT or TDROTI, but more like the original final 4 from TDI with 4 solid competitors that can make for a good end of the season depending on how things pan out in these last few episodes.
Thank you for reading!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
TDAS Episode 8 Review: You Regatta Be Kidding Me
Well at least this week I started the review on Thursday. Anywho we are down to 8 players. After that last shock elimination saw Sierra get eliminated and likely cued the biggest off-screen celebration from Cameron, we are even in terms of ORIGINAL Heroes and Villains (Cameron, Courtney, Mike, and Zoey of the original Heroic Hamsters, and Alejandro, Duncan, Gwen, and Scott of the original Villainous Vultures). At the end of last episode Chris said the teams were NOT merging....but I don't know about that....
The episode begins with the Villains at the Spa Hotel, with Gwen saying something no one would've thought she'd ever say. "I just dreamed I was riding a fluffy unicorn across clouds made of marshmallows". Ok Duncan can use being switched to the Heroes team as an excuse as to why he's gone soft, but I wonder what excuse Gwen has up her sleeve. Sure maybe she's just glad she was in the Spa Hotel or friends with Courtney again, but she was never that excited about the Hotel before, and Gwen was never like that when she was friends with other players like Owen, Geoff, Bridgette, or Leshawna, to name a few. Courtney and Gwen enjoy in another friendship moment and tell each other that they hope they make the finale together and that if one of them don't win the million, they hope the other does. Courtney even puts Gwen ahead of Scott in her priorities, which is really big of Courtney. Meanwhile Scott tries to eavesdrop on their conversation but the walls are too thick or something. You really should stick to eavesdropping on confessionals (Season 4, Episode 5). Cameron is in a much better mood than Scott since Sierra is out, but Scott warns him that that doesn't mean he's safe. Cameron is a bit unnerved by Scott saying that, even though Cameron was successful in voting off Scott before (Season 4, Episode 11). Well that's a different set of circumstances but I'm pretty sure if people had to choose between voting off Scott and Cameron, they'd rather go for Scott (unless Courtney is a bit too overprotective of him and tries to sway the votes towards Cameron), but it doesn't seem like Courtney is completely head-over-heels over Scott, especially since she prefers to play the game with Gwen. Scott is not liking the situation he's in, thinking he and Alejandro are the only true villains left on his team (not that Scott has been quite as villainous as in Episode 4, but he's still right). Duncan is getting sick of his hero status and goes on a "rampage" (for lack of a better word) to prove he's a villain. If only Duncan knew the meaning of the word "antihero". Maybe he'd get some sleep at night. Duncan tries to spray paint some skull and crossbones, using the 1980's method of proving he's a bad boy, but Zoey thinks it looks like a bunny. It took me a few times of watching this episode to see some resemblance to a bunny but Zoey is not completely stupid for thinking it looks like one haha. Next on Duncan's agenda is to drive Chef's jeep into the ocean, but he needs to fix it first. Chris informs the contestants to meet outside the Spa Hotel, which doesn't give enough time for Duncan to pull that prank off. Chef thanks Duncan for his help and calls him a good kid, which pushes Duncan that much further into snapping....a chopstick in half. Lol cuz he's not a bad boy right now so he wouldn't snap anything harder :P.
Cameron is impressed with Alejandro being able to survive Boney Island without a scratch (dude if you can get through a night of Boney Island without any trouble, I don't think it would be that hard for Alejandro to do the same. You're not superman, Cameron). Alejandro pretty much flirted with all the animals (how'd he know if they were dudes or chicks? lol) and turned them against each other. Actually pretty smart I guess. Chris is tired of hearing Al talk and announces that the teams are being merged! I guess Chris can be pretty quick to change his mind or something. Or he was trying to catch them off guard. But anyway, everyone's familiar with the merge procedures because they've all made the merge before (Aside from Courtney, 3rd, and Duncan, 4th, this is everyone's 2nd time making it to the merge. However, Gwen is the only one from that group that has been in more than 2 seasons. Duncan has now been at the merge more times than anyone else with 4. Courtney and Owen are next best with 3 each.). In fact, everyone in the season had made the merge before except Sam. Enough with the merged related trivia. Cameron and Zoey rekindle their "Friendship Finale" alliance (Season 3, Episode 12) but include Mike in it, although Cameron is a bit reluctant since, as far as he knows, Mike has been acting weird lately. And after talking about it for like the last 3 or 4 episodes and probably making a lot of viewers find out what the firetruck tarot cards are (along with me realizing there's actually two "t's" in tarot), Zoey finally gets Yugioh, I mean, tarot cards. (imagine if Zoey ordered tarot cards but she got Yugioh cards instead. Wait a minute....is the Dark Magician one of Mike's alternate personalities, or is Mike really the Dark Magician? And would that make me the Dark Magician Girl?) Turns out she made those cards up. Yeah, thanks for wasting our time Zoey. Leave the psychic/aura stuff to Dawn. Mal then states how easy it is to imitate Mike.
Then we take a trip into Mike's brain where he's still chained to a boulder, he notices a weird tower, and uses a random floating question mark (reminds me of the Pokemon Unown) to cut the chain and set him free. Well he's no longer chained to the boulder but he's still stuck in his mind. One step at a time I guess. And for the first time in 6 episodes, we see one of Mike's OTHER personalities: Chester! Mike sets him free from his post as a skateboard seller (who's he gonna sell them to? Svetlana? Vito? Manitoba? Sometimes I just don't get Mal....) And it looks like Zoey isn't the only one using words hardly anyone in middle class North America says: regatta! Thanks a lot for the vocabulary lesson, Total Drama writers! This time it's Chris, who says the challenge is a regatta (boat race) around the island, which conpuzzles Duncan a bit. The first person to circumnavigate the island wins immunity and stays at the hotel. And the contestants can expect some obstacles from Chef Hatchet. Always a fun time with that guy.
The challenge begins and Duncan tries to form an alliance with new besties and his exes Courtney and Gwen. They wonder why Duncan wants to align with them, and says that he needs allies and he'll protect them against players like Mike, although neither Courtney or Gwen see Mike as a threat (well Mike is pretty likeable and athletic so those are some threatening characteristics, that is, when he's Mike). Duncan explains that he knew Mike from juvey which only makes Gwen and Courtney laugh. Gwen considers Duncan "1million" on the lame scale for thinking Mike is a threat. Wow Gwen. It's weird seeing this side of her. Super nice to Courtney but super catty behind Duncan's back. I respect her being cool with Courtney but she's a bit too mean with Duncan. But I guess I've heard worse from other exgirlfriends talking behind their exboyfriend behind their backs, so Gwen's still cool. Alejandro takes the lead and gets the first boat. Courtney and Gwen share a boat even though only one person can win immunity, which Chris finds interesting. Mal sabotages all the other boats besides his and the raft, and ditches Cameron and Zoey. Cameron, Zoey, Scott, and Duncan end up working together on the raft.
Alejandro's engine stalls, and Alejandro thinks flirting with it will fix the problem. So sad, dude. I mean seriously, what would Heather say about that? Just ridiculous. And Mike takes the lead and heads to "Coconut Alley", which is Chef raining coconuts down on the contestants. Courtney and Gwen find themselves there next. Chef's barrage of coconuts nearly causes Courtney to fall off the boat but Gwen saves her in the nick of time. Way to go Gwen, you saved Courtney....'s hair? That's what Courtney was most concerned about, getting her hair wet? Wow, that's just, wow....and then Gwen and Courtney complement each other on their hair I'm sure some Season 1 diehard fanboys worship, and then I'd have to agree on Chris when he says "BORING!". I mean that's great you guys are friends and all, but whether in real life or TV, it gets pretty old pretty fast when all girls talk about is their hair. Alejandro gets his motor running again after Chef blows up part of Courtney and Gwen's boat's engine. Cameron comes up with an idea for them to go faster, which requires Scott to be used as sharkbait (Hoo Ha Ha! Finding Nemo <3), so Cameron pushes Scott into the water and fang comes out, and Scott is freaking out as Cameron makes one of the most obvious statements of the season: Fang has a bit of an obsession with Scott. I'm pretty sure everyone knew that already, especially after last episode's challenge. In the confessional, Duncan notes that even Cameron is more of a "bad boy" than him. That's true. Cameron's pushing people near sharks that hate them, while Duncan's painting pictures of bunnies and fixing jeeps. So naturally Duncan tries to get in on this and holds up the pole that Scott is hanging from to attract Fang. Zoey thinks this idea is crazy (again, what happened to all the Scott and Zoey mutual hate from last season? I guess Zoey used up all her hate energy back then. Commando Zoey would be great right now). Duncan calls Cameron's plan great and villainous, which concerns Cameron since he's not trying to be a villain. (Trust me Cameron, no one thinks you're a villain). So Mike is in the lead, Alejandro 2nd, the raft team in 3rd, and Courtney and Gwen in last. Courtney behaves completely in character and is throwing a fit while Gwen tries to paddle the boat.
The rafters pass by what I think is Playa De Losers but it seems to just be where Chris lives this season. You can see the lightbulb go off in Duncan's head and he holds a stick of dynamite that he intercepted and deactivated from Chef. Duncan gets off the raft in what seems to be another attempt to regain his reputation, leaving Zoey, Cameron, and Scott to deal with the piranhas ahead. They avoid the piranhas and start catching up to Mike/Mal. In order to assure it's Mike and not Mal, Zoey tries to put herself in danger. I know Cameron is a smart kid who's trying to make helpful suggestions, but I hope I'm not the only one noticing how eager he is to put other players' lives on the line. Well, like Sandra Diaz-Twine always said, "As long as it ain't me". Zoey's screams trigger Mike to temporarily regain control of himself. Mal is sent back to the brain alongside Chester. It's funny how Chester covers up his eyes as if "I can't see him so he can't see me", you know, that kind of thing. Mike doesn't know he's in a challenge so Alejandro takes the lead and tries to help Zoey, but Mal quickly regains control again. Nice to see Mal vulnerable this early. It will make things more interesting. With Mal back in control, he initially ignores Zoey's cries for help, but once Cameron tries to get his attention, Mal decides to save Zoey so that he doesn't blow his cover. And Zoey's completely sold that Mike is in control, while Mal laughs behind her back, calling her gullible. (I like Zoey, but gullible is definitely a good word to describe her).
Courtney is still complaining about the boat not working, leaving Gwen to do all the rowing, but then the boat starts working again. The boat race is near its end and Alejandro's engine stalls, leaving him close to the finish line but not close enough. Cameron is struggling to hold Scott up and Zoey tries to get Mike to help Cameron, but Mal ignores her. Fang finally gets a bite at Scott but Scott survives and learns a valuable lesson: "Never make enemies with a critter with more teeth than your entire family combined". Yeah, life is a lot easier without those kinds of enemies. You should've known better, Scott. Scott pushes Cameron into the water but Fang ignores him. "I guess he wanted a meal, not a snack". Good point. Courtney and Gwen mock Alejandro since his engine died while Alejandro struggles to get anything going. Alejandro finally comes up with an idea he should've came up with a while ago. He walks up and puts his head past the finish line just in time to win immunity. Gwen and Courtney finish in 2nd, Mike and Zoey 3rd, Cameron and Scott last. And Chris's reaction to that one line by Scott...a little too much, but funny, nonetheless. After doing a head count, Chris was missing one Mohawk. And then came the explosion which Duncan caused. He blew up Chris's cottage (Courtney: THAT WAS A MANSION!). Whatever Courtney, don't care. A brokenhearted Chris tells Alejandro he wins immunity and can bring one person with him to the spa hotel. Alejandro politely declines to pick since he doesn't want to pick favorites. Very smooth Alejandro. You do realize if you don't have immunity, you're a target? So you need all the help you can get. Speaking of help, Mike and Alejandro end up forming an alliance.
Chris announces that no one will be sent to Boney Island as a prize for making it to the merge. Chris then mourns the loss of FIVE statues he had in that "cottage". Courtney urges Chris to get on with the voting, but first Chris gives Duncan a surprise visit from the police. Duncan gets arrested for the stunt he pulled. So congratulations Duncan, you're a bad boy, and you're arrested....again. But Duncan is looking forward to juvey, until Chris announces that since he destroyed a major piece of private property, he's going to the real deal jail. And Duncan is not nearly as excited for that. Be careful what you wish for Duncan. Well it's too late now. "Ah, snuggle muffins!". The perfect way for Duncan to bid farewell after his 4th season of Total Drama. So anyway, the votes are tallied. After the events of the challenge, Scott and Cameron vote each other off. But in a unanimous decision, Cameron is voted off. But since Cameron and Zoey confirmed they didn't vote Cameron off, there had to be a mistake. And Mal tries to act as surprised as possible. This would've been the perfect double elimination opportunity, but for whatever reason they decide to keep Cameron once again. Cameron's like a cat with nine lives this season. Every time he's supposed to go, he stays in. And Cameron is even more nervous than he was before after this. After Chris lets everyone know that he thinks Cameron is going next, he signs off.
Well that was an interesting merged episode. A lot of stuff to take in. Duncan literally went out with a bang. Mal is the real deal, he's definitely working some dark magic this season, but for how much longer.
Predictions
7.Cameron
6.Alejandro
5.Gwen
4.Courtney
3.Scott
2.Mike
1.Zoey
-I honestly don't know. In TDWT, Sierra was saved one episode but then eliminated the very next, so I guess I'm counting on the same thing to happen to Cameron. Besides, what's stopping Mal from doing what he did again?
-This time Alejandro fails to win immunity and he has enough enemies at this point to vote him off. Besides, the other villains can take it from her.
-The Gwen and Courtney friendship makes them both big threats but since Scott likes Courtney, he sways the votes towards Gwen.
-I'd like to see the other 3 in the finale more than Courtney and with Gwen gone, Courtney could easily be an outsider and Scott isn't above backstabbing, even his potential girlfriend.
-Maybe Zoey wins immunity and eliminates Scott, thinking she trusts Mal more
-A Mike/Mal vs. Zoey finale would be pretty epic! And of course I'd like to see Zoey come out on top.
So with 7 players left in the game and a very special episode coming up next, I'm definitely enjoying this season. Next episode has a Zeke cameo and celebrates the 100th Total Drama episode, which is a great accomplishment! I'm really happy as a fan of Total Drama for 5 years. I'm pretty stoked and I've enjoyed this season for what it's been.
-Vaporterra
The episode begins with the Villains at the Spa Hotel, with Gwen saying something no one would've thought she'd ever say. "I just dreamed I was riding a fluffy unicorn across clouds made of marshmallows". Ok Duncan can use being switched to the Heroes team as an excuse as to why he's gone soft, but I wonder what excuse Gwen has up her sleeve. Sure maybe she's just glad she was in the Spa Hotel or friends with Courtney again, but she was never that excited about the Hotel before, and Gwen was never like that when she was friends with other players like Owen, Geoff, Bridgette, or Leshawna, to name a few. Courtney and Gwen enjoy in another friendship moment and tell each other that they hope they make the finale together and that if one of them don't win the million, they hope the other does. Courtney even puts Gwen ahead of Scott in her priorities, which is really big of Courtney. Meanwhile Scott tries to eavesdrop on their conversation but the walls are too thick or something. You really should stick to eavesdropping on confessionals (Season 4, Episode 5). Cameron is in a much better mood than Scott since Sierra is out, but Scott warns him that that doesn't mean he's safe. Cameron is a bit unnerved by Scott saying that, even though Cameron was successful in voting off Scott before (Season 4, Episode 11). Well that's a different set of circumstances but I'm pretty sure if people had to choose between voting off Scott and Cameron, they'd rather go for Scott (unless Courtney is a bit too overprotective of him and tries to sway the votes towards Cameron), but it doesn't seem like Courtney is completely head-over-heels over Scott, especially since she prefers to play the game with Gwen. Scott is not liking the situation he's in, thinking he and Alejandro are the only true villains left on his team (not that Scott has been quite as villainous as in Episode 4, but he's still right). Duncan is getting sick of his hero status and goes on a "rampage" (for lack of a better word) to prove he's a villain. If only Duncan knew the meaning of the word "antihero". Maybe he'd get some sleep at night. Duncan tries to spray paint some skull and crossbones, using the 1980's method of proving he's a bad boy, but Zoey thinks it looks like a bunny. It took me a few times of watching this episode to see some resemblance to a bunny but Zoey is not completely stupid for thinking it looks like one haha. Next on Duncan's agenda is to drive Chef's jeep into the ocean, but he needs to fix it first. Chris informs the contestants to meet outside the Spa Hotel, which doesn't give enough time for Duncan to pull that prank off. Chef thanks Duncan for his help and calls him a good kid, which pushes Duncan that much further into snapping....a chopstick in half. Lol cuz he's not a bad boy right now so he wouldn't snap anything harder :P.
Cameron is impressed with Alejandro being able to survive Boney Island without a scratch (dude if you can get through a night of Boney Island without any trouble, I don't think it would be that hard for Alejandro to do the same. You're not superman, Cameron). Alejandro pretty much flirted with all the animals (how'd he know if they were dudes or chicks? lol) and turned them against each other. Actually pretty smart I guess. Chris is tired of hearing Al talk and announces that the teams are being merged! I guess Chris can be pretty quick to change his mind or something. Or he was trying to catch them off guard. But anyway, everyone's familiar with the merge procedures because they've all made the merge before (Aside from Courtney, 3rd, and Duncan, 4th, this is everyone's 2nd time making it to the merge. However, Gwen is the only one from that group that has been in more than 2 seasons. Duncan has now been at the merge more times than anyone else with 4. Courtney and Owen are next best with 3 each.). In fact, everyone in the season had made the merge before except Sam. Enough with the merged related trivia. Cameron and Zoey rekindle their "Friendship Finale" alliance (Season 3, Episode 12) but include Mike in it, although Cameron is a bit reluctant since, as far as he knows, Mike has been acting weird lately. And after talking about it for like the last 3 or 4 episodes and probably making a lot of viewers find out what the firetruck tarot cards are (along with me realizing there's actually two "t's" in tarot), Zoey finally gets Yugioh, I mean, tarot cards. (imagine if Zoey ordered tarot cards but she got Yugioh cards instead. Wait a minute....is the Dark Magician one of Mike's alternate personalities, or is Mike really the Dark Magician? And would that make me the Dark Magician Girl?) Turns out she made those cards up. Yeah, thanks for wasting our time Zoey. Leave the psychic/aura stuff to Dawn. Mal then states how easy it is to imitate Mike.
Then we take a trip into Mike's brain where he's still chained to a boulder, he notices a weird tower, and uses a random floating question mark (reminds me of the Pokemon Unown) to cut the chain and set him free. Well he's no longer chained to the boulder but he's still stuck in his mind. One step at a time I guess. And for the first time in 6 episodes, we see one of Mike's OTHER personalities: Chester! Mike sets him free from his post as a skateboard seller (who's he gonna sell them to? Svetlana? Vito? Manitoba? Sometimes I just don't get Mal....) And it looks like Zoey isn't the only one using words hardly anyone in middle class North America says: regatta! Thanks a lot for the vocabulary lesson, Total Drama writers! This time it's Chris, who says the challenge is a regatta (boat race) around the island, which conpuzzles Duncan a bit. The first person to circumnavigate the island wins immunity and stays at the hotel. And the contestants can expect some obstacles from Chef Hatchet. Always a fun time with that guy.
The challenge begins and Duncan tries to form an alliance with new besties and his exes Courtney and Gwen. They wonder why Duncan wants to align with them, and says that he needs allies and he'll protect them against players like Mike, although neither Courtney or Gwen see Mike as a threat (well Mike is pretty likeable and athletic so those are some threatening characteristics, that is, when he's Mike). Duncan explains that he knew Mike from juvey which only makes Gwen and Courtney laugh. Gwen considers Duncan "1million" on the lame scale for thinking Mike is a threat. Wow Gwen. It's weird seeing this side of her. Super nice to Courtney but super catty behind Duncan's back. I respect her being cool with Courtney but she's a bit too mean with Duncan. But I guess I've heard worse from other exgirlfriends talking behind their exboyfriend behind their backs, so Gwen's still cool. Alejandro takes the lead and gets the first boat. Courtney and Gwen share a boat even though only one person can win immunity, which Chris finds interesting. Mal sabotages all the other boats besides his and the raft, and ditches Cameron and Zoey. Cameron, Zoey, Scott, and Duncan end up working together on the raft.
Alejandro's engine stalls, and Alejandro thinks flirting with it will fix the problem. So sad, dude. I mean seriously, what would Heather say about that? Just ridiculous. And Mike takes the lead and heads to "Coconut Alley", which is Chef raining coconuts down on the contestants. Courtney and Gwen find themselves there next. Chef's barrage of coconuts nearly causes Courtney to fall off the boat but Gwen saves her in the nick of time. Way to go Gwen, you saved Courtney....'s hair? That's what Courtney was most concerned about, getting her hair wet? Wow, that's just, wow....and then Gwen and Courtney complement each other on their hair I'm sure some Season 1 diehard fanboys worship, and then I'd have to agree on Chris when he says "BORING!". I mean that's great you guys are friends and all, but whether in real life or TV, it gets pretty old pretty fast when all girls talk about is their hair. Alejandro gets his motor running again after Chef blows up part of Courtney and Gwen's boat's engine. Cameron comes up with an idea for them to go faster, which requires Scott to be used as sharkbait (Hoo Ha Ha! Finding Nemo <3), so Cameron pushes Scott into the water and fang comes out, and Scott is freaking out as Cameron makes one of the most obvious statements of the season: Fang has a bit of an obsession with Scott. I'm pretty sure everyone knew that already, especially after last episode's challenge. In the confessional, Duncan notes that even Cameron is more of a "bad boy" than him. That's true. Cameron's pushing people near sharks that hate them, while Duncan's painting pictures of bunnies and fixing jeeps. So naturally Duncan tries to get in on this and holds up the pole that Scott is hanging from to attract Fang. Zoey thinks this idea is crazy (again, what happened to all the Scott and Zoey mutual hate from last season? I guess Zoey used up all her hate energy back then. Commando Zoey would be great right now). Duncan calls Cameron's plan great and villainous, which concerns Cameron since he's not trying to be a villain. (Trust me Cameron, no one thinks you're a villain). So Mike is in the lead, Alejandro 2nd, the raft team in 3rd, and Courtney and Gwen in last. Courtney behaves completely in character and is throwing a fit while Gwen tries to paddle the boat.
The rafters pass by what I think is Playa De Losers but it seems to just be where Chris lives this season. You can see the lightbulb go off in Duncan's head and he holds a stick of dynamite that he intercepted and deactivated from Chef. Duncan gets off the raft in what seems to be another attempt to regain his reputation, leaving Zoey, Cameron, and Scott to deal with the piranhas ahead. They avoid the piranhas and start catching up to Mike/Mal. In order to assure it's Mike and not Mal, Zoey tries to put herself in danger. I know Cameron is a smart kid who's trying to make helpful suggestions, but I hope I'm not the only one noticing how eager he is to put other players' lives on the line. Well, like Sandra Diaz-Twine always said, "As long as it ain't me". Zoey's screams trigger Mike to temporarily regain control of himself. Mal is sent back to the brain alongside Chester. It's funny how Chester covers up his eyes as if "I can't see him so he can't see me", you know, that kind of thing. Mike doesn't know he's in a challenge so Alejandro takes the lead and tries to help Zoey, but Mal quickly regains control again. Nice to see Mal vulnerable this early. It will make things more interesting. With Mal back in control, he initially ignores Zoey's cries for help, but once Cameron tries to get his attention, Mal decides to save Zoey so that he doesn't blow his cover. And Zoey's completely sold that Mike is in control, while Mal laughs behind her back, calling her gullible. (I like Zoey, but gullible is definitely a good word to describe her).
Courtney is still complaining about the boat not working, leaving Gwen to do all the rowing, but then the boat starts working again. The boat race is near its end and Alejandro's engine stalls, leaving him close to the finish line but not close enough. Cameron is struggling to hold Scott up and Zoey tries to get Mike to help Cameron, but Mal ignores her. Fang finally gets a bite at Scott but Scott survives and learns a valuable lesson: "Never make enemies with a critter with more teeth than your entire family combined". Yeah, life is a lot easier without those kinds of enemies. You should've known better, Scott. Scott pushes Cameron into the water but Fang ignores him. "I guess he wanted a meal, not a snack". Good point. Courtney and Gwen mock Alejandro since his engine died while Alejandro struggles to get anything going. Alejandro finally comes up with an idea he should've came up with a while ago. He walks up and puts his head past the finish line just in time to win immunity. Gwen and Courtney finish in 2nd, Mike and Zoey 3rd, Cameron and Scott last. And Chris's reaction to that one line by Scott...a little too much, but funny, nonetheless. After doing a head count, Chris was missing one Mohawk. And then came the explosion which Duncan caused. He blew up Chris's cottage (Courtney: THAT WAS A MANSION!). Whatever Courtney, don't care. A brokenhearted Chris tells Alejandro he wins immunity and can bring one person with him to the spa hotel. Alejandro politely declines to pick since he doesn't want to pick favorites. Very smooth Alejandro. You do realize if you don't have immunity, you're a target? So you need all the help you can get. Speaking of help, Mike and Alejandro end up forming an alliance.
Chris announces that no one will be sent to Boney Island as a prize for making it to the merge. Chris then mourns the loss of FIVE statues he had in that "cottage". Courtney urges Chris to get on with the voting, but first Chris gives Duncan a surprise visit from the police. Duncan gets arrested for the stunt he pulled. So congratulations Duncan, you're a bad boy, and you're arrested....again. But Duncan is looking forward to juvey, until Chris announces that since he destroyed a major piece of private property, he's going to the real deal jail. And Duncan is not nearly as excited for that. Be careful what you wish for Duncan. Well it's too late now. "Ah, snuggle muffins!". The perfect way for Duncan to bid farewell after his 4th season of Total Drama. So anyway, the votes are tallied. After the events of the challenge, Scott and Cameron vote each other off. But in a unanimous decision, Cameron is voted off. But since Cameron and Zoey confirmed they didn't vote Cameron off, there had to be a mistake. And Mal tries to act as surprised as possible. This would've been the perfect double elimination opportunity, but for whatever reason they decide to keep Cameron once again. Cameron's like a cat with nine lives this season. Every time he's supposed to go, he stays in. And Cameron is even more nervous than he was before after this. After Chris lets everyone know that he thinks Cameron is going next, he signs off.
Well that was an interesting merged episode. A lot of stuff to take in. Duncan literally went out with a bang. Mal is the real deal, he's definitely working some dark magic this season, but for how much longer.
Predictions
7.Cameron
6.Alejandro
5.Gwen
4.Courtney
3.Scott
2.Mike
1.Zoey
-I honestly don't know. In TDWT, Sierra was saved one episode but then eliminated the very next, so I guess I'm counting on the same thing to happen to Cameron. Besides, what's stopping Mal from doing what he did again?
-This time Alejandro fails to win immunity and he has enough enemies at this point to vote him off. Besides, the other villains can take it from her.
-The Gwen and Courtney friendship makes them both big threats but since Scott likes Courtney, he sways the votes towards Gwen.
-I'd like to see the other 3 in the finale more than Courtney and with Gwen gone, Courtney could easily be an outsider and Scott isn't above backstabbing, even his potential girlfriend.
-Maybe Zoey wins immunity and eliminates Scott, thinking she trusts Mal more
-A Mike/Mal vs. Zoey finale would be pretty epic! And of course I'd like to see Zoey come out on top.
So with 7 players left in the game and a very special episode coming up next, I'm definitely enjoying this season. Next episode has a Zeke cameo and celebrates the 100th Total Drama episode, which is a great accomplishment! I'm really happy as a fan of Total Drama for 5 years. I'm pretty stoked and I've enjoyed this season for what it's been.
-Vaporterra
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