Episode 88: The Treasure Island of Dr. McClean
Premise: The contestants have to save Gwen and Sam, who are in a treasure chest underground. Dakota also comes back to the game, but turns into a large, mutant monster. Cameron also tries to help Mike with his MPD.
Challenge: Swim to shore, save Gwen and Sam
Cameo(s): Gwen
Winner(s): Toxic Rats
Eliminated: Dakota, because of Zoey voting her off for their friendship being too hazardous for her health
My Favorite Part: Jo hitting the squid, but accidentally hitting Lightning instead.
Yoooooo....I didn't like this one. There is a lot wrong with this episode, starting with the elephant in the room: Dakota's mutation. Writers, mutating people is NOT funny! You guys should know that by now, considering how badly you derailed Zeke! Dakota's mutation is damaging to her character, offensive to her fans, and just feels way too unrealistic for the show that is supposed to be a parody of a REALITY SHOW. I understand it's a cartoon and all, but come on, you can do better than this. And to make matters worse, Chris doesn't even care that that happened and he manages to get out scot-free, which is very infuriating, considering all the terrible things that he's done to the contestants, including keeping them in a dangerous dump that can potentially kill them. Honestly, if you thought Chris was mildly annoying last season, he is full on OBNOXIOUS in this season. But we'll talk more about him when we get to the seasonal review. Back to the episode. In addition, YET AGAIN, Gwen is put through even more torture and misery by being buried alive in a treasure chest, which is her biggest fear. And the fart jokes from Sam definitely don't help. Not to mention she is literally thrown away by Dakotazoid. Come on, the poor girl has been through so much torture in TDA and TDWT. She does not need anymore. Give her a break already. There are other problems too, like some of the other OOC moments from characters like Cameron and Zoey. Cameron wasn't that bad in this episode. In fact, it's nice of him to help Mike out with his MPD, but then at the end of the episode, he STUPIDLY tells Scott about Mike's condition, which is some "good" foreshadowing to Scott manipulating and torturing Mike in the next episode. Not to mention that Zoey's main purpose in the season was to make friends and she votes off Dakota, who was at least "friend-ish" to her, claiming that their friendship was "hazardous to her health". NOT AN EXCUSE. And last but not least, this episode is really not that funny nor that investing. There are a few moments that I liked, like Dakota getting mad at Chris, Jo trying to attack the squid, but actually attacking Lightning, Dakota and Sam bonding, Lightning snoring and repeatedly saying that he wins the superbowl, some of Mike's personalities' appearances (like the song Vito sings in the shower and Chester complaining about the rocks), Jo and Lightning bickering, and Lightning being chased away by alligators. And I did like Zoey and Dakota being friend-ish; that is until Zoey votes her off. But aside from that, there are a number of problems with this episode and it doesn't have enough going for it to deserve a spot in the good pile. So, I'm putting it in the BAD pile.
I also do hope that next time Dakotazoid makes a cameo, she eats Chris. I actually made a fanfiction about my alternate ending of Total Drama All Stars that had a scene like that!