Cody tries to get Gwen into the canoe with him, but Gwen fights back.
The episode opens with Chris explaining the week's challenge to theteams (except Beth, who is in the bathroom). To win the challenge and invincibility, the campers must paddle their canoes to Boney Island, portage their canoes for two hours through the island's deep woods, reach the other side of the island, build a "rescue" fire that Chris himself will judge, and then race back to Camp Wawanakwa. Chris explains that Boney Island, their destination, has a legend that anyone who removes an item from the island will be cursed forever, and then dismisses the campers to begin the challenge. Soon after, Beth returns from the bathroom, having been absent during the explanation, and asks what she missed. Chris sums up the entire challenge as "canoes", omitting his warning about the curse.
Chris told us to pick a paddling partner. It was time for me to make my move. If I could just get Gwen alone for five minutes, I knew I could woo her with my manly charms.
”
As the campers pick their partners to ride in the canoe with, GwenandTrent look to each other with the intent of going across the lake together, but they are interrupted by Cody who proposes Gwen the same offer Trent was giving. Irritated by his interference, Gwen responds by angrily injuring him by putting him in a armlock.
Cody? He's like an annoying brother. A really annoying little brother. So much for hooking up with Trent.
”
Meanwhile, Beth and Lindsay drag Trent off to paddle with them. Seeing this, Gwen reluctantly allows Cody to partner with her on the trip. Geoff is shown to be eager to have Bridgette as his canoe partner, but he is ignored as she chooses to partner with her friendCourtney. DJ offers to be Geoff's partner in her place.
Man, I thought Bridge and I were tight, but suddenly, I don't know, it's like she's fadin' on me. Nah! It's all good!
”
Duncan forces Harold and Sadie to join his canoe group while Owen teams with Heather. Leshawna teams up with Izzy, who tells Leshawna that she is "1/87th Cherokee," and that the tribe could claim her at any time. Leshawna hopes it will happen today.
Meanwhile, DJ is worried about the canoe tipping over. This prompts Geoff to reassure DJ that it will be fine as long as the water is not rough.
When I was eight, my brothers dared me to jump off the high-dive platform at the pool. I was scared, but I jumped. I wasn't gonna let them call me chicken. I landed on my butt. Sounds better than a belly flop, right? Wrong. My trunks went so far up my butt, I had to go to the hospital and get them removed. They invented a new word for what I did. The wedgie flop. I've been afraid of water ever since.
”
Owen happily throws Heather into the canoe and pushes it into the water. Cody also tries to help Gwen by pulling the canoe into the water, but fails. Once all the canoes are in the water, Chris fires a gun to signal the start of the challenge, but accidentally shoots an eagle. Bridgette tells Courtney that Geoff left her a gift that morning in the form of a heart-shaped clay bowl with a torn group photo of herself and Geoff glued together to appear next to each other and an inscription on the back that reads, "I hope you think of me whenever you drop loose change into this." Both girls find this gesture unbearably cheesy, as does DJ when Geoff tells him about it. Since Geoff has been supportive of DJ's fear of water, or aquaphobia, DJ felt he owed it to Geoff to give him some love advice to help him win Bridgette over more effectively.
Cody tries several times to ask Gwen out on a date as they paddle across the lake, only to be rebuffed each time. He only gives up when she hits him in the groin with her paddle.
Okay, maybe she wasn't quite ready for the Code-meister.
”
Eventually, Cody realizes that Gwen is rejecting him because she prefers Trent. Gwen's attitude toward Cody improves greatly when he offers to put in a good word for her with Trent, with whom he is supposedly close. Gwen admits that she would owe Cody for the favor. Cody is then reminded of a bet he made with Owen that he would win if Gwen would agree to give Cody one of her bras. This causes Gwen to ram her paddle into Cody's groin again, and he realizes that his request has crossed the line.
The campers get their first good look at Boney Island.
The campers arrive at Boney Island, where everyone but Izzy is frightened by the strange mist floating over the water and the general morbid atmosphere of the island. The two teams sprint through the forest to the other side of the island, holding their canoes over their heads, eager to meet the challenge. Along the way, they encounter carnivorous woolly beavers, who chase the campers into a swamp-like area before abandoning them.
A remnant of the Pleistocene Era, the woolly beaver is a day-active rodent indigenous to Boney Island. Oh, yeah, and they're meat eaters!
”
Owen ruins his underwear, and in the midst of asking for a replacement, he farts, waking up giant geese. The campers run for their lives again. Cody then has an idea and pulls a wrapped loaf of bread from his pants — intended for a romantic picnic for him and Gwen — and throws it at the geese, temporarily diverting their attention and allowing everyone to flee to safety.
As the Bass take the lead, they come to a crossroads. Courtney suggests they take the left, but Geoff says to go right, which Bridgette agrees with. Geoff looks back and smiles at her, provoking Bridgette to ask what he's looking at. The Gophers are not far behind when they see the Bass taking the right path, prompting them to take the left. Suddenly, Trent falls into a pit of quicksand that Chris himself has made, much to his amusement.
[laughing] Can you believe they fell for that?! Haha, I set it up, but I didn't think anyone would walk into it! Haha, that's just great!
”
As he sinks, Lindsay decides to save him, but ends up getting stuck herself. Trent calls for help, and Cody responds by swinging on a vine to grab Trent's hand. He fails to catch Trent and crashes into a tree instead, but the vine returns to the quicksand area where Trent is able to grab it and pull himself and Lindsay out of the pit. Extremely grateful, Trent and Lindsay thank Cody for his efforts. Cody explains that his rope swinging skills come from watching several movies.
Just as the Bass are gaining the upper hand, Geoff is injured and unable to walk by himself. The "injury" turns out to be a simple splinter in his leg, but everyone in the Bass (except maybe Courtney) exaggerates the incident.
Geoff's incident puts the Bass behind, as it now has to be carried on the canoe held by DJ and Harold. Eventually, both teams make it to the beach to begin the second part of the challenge: building a bonfire. Although the Bass are behind, they quickly catch up thanks to Duncan's possession of a lighter, to which Chris points out that there is no rule against carrying one, while the Gophers are forced to build a fire the old-fashioned way, with sticks and rocks.
Beth finds the cursed tiki idol and considers it her new lucky charm.
While looking for wood, Beth stumbles upon a tiki idol. Because she was in the bathroom while Chris warned the campers not to take anything from the island, Beth is unaware of Chris' warning about the Boney Island curse on her and her team, and she secretly takes it as a souvenir. During the fire-building competition, Trent and Cody have a brief conversation about Gwen. Cody keeps his promise to Gwen and tells Trent that she has a crush on him. Trent is reluctant to believe this at first, but seems relieved when Cody assures him that he is telling the truth. Before Cody can give Trent any advice on how to handle the situation, Heather interrupts to remind them that they are in the middle of a challenge. Meanwhile, Geoff pulls himself together to contribute to the Bass' fire. Making good on his promise, DJ encourages Bridgette to examine Geoff in case he has developed something serious, since she has first aid training.
I owed Geoff big time. He helped me get over my fear of water. When I saw him drowning with the ladies, I had to help the dude out.
”
Izzy's hand-made fire-starter was more effective than her team expected.
Courtney is unhappy with the size of the fire and orders her teammates to find more wood. In a panic, Harold grabs all the paddles from their canoes and throws them into the fire, frightening and angering his teammates, while Bridgette angrily asks how they will get home without them. On the Gophers' side, Izzy creates a handmade and salvaged fire starter out of tree sap and other miscellaneous ingredients. She warns everyone to stay back as she tosses the ball into their fire pit, causing a massive explosion that surprises everyone. When Heather asks where Izzy learned this technique, she explains that she spent a summer training with the reserves and accidentally blew up the kitchen in a similar incident. She reveals that the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) are still looking for her because of this, declaring herself "like, so totally AWOL." Chris declares the Gophers the winners of the fire-building competition, thus beginning the final leg of the challenge: paddling back to home base. Before leaving, Cody uses the quicksand incident as an excuse to switch places with Trent so that he can ride with Gwen while Cody rides with Lindsay and Beth on the way back. Both Trent and Gwen are grateful.
The Bass are left helpless with their paddles burned. Izzy suggests that someone flutter-kick all the canoes together from behind as they paddle away. An angry Leshawna cuts her off for helping the opposing team, but the Bass take Izzy's suggestion. DJ is chosen as the swimmer because he is the only one strong enough to push all the canoes at once. Geoff argues against this, knowing DJ's hydrophobia. He volunteers to do it instead, but is unable to due to his "injury." DJ finally steps up to the plate and says he will do the deed for the sake of his team.
It was all up to me. I needed to swim like a Killer Bass should, and no wedgie flop is gonna stand in my way!
”
With his teammates cheering him on, DJ outswims every Gopher canoe and finishes with a wipeout at home base, giving the Killer Bass victory and invincibility. Since Izzy was the one who gave the opposing team the advice that ultimately helped them win, Leshawna tells Izzy that she will be the one voted out tonight. Izzy seems unconcerned about the danger she has put herself in, but Leshawna angrily chases her away with a paddle.
"You'll never get me alive!!!"
—Izzy, before she escapes the RCMP . . . again.
During the campfire ceremony, Chris gives the marshmallows to Beth, Trent, Gwen, Cody, Owen, Heather, and Leshawna. The last marshmallow should go to either Izzy (who looks quite confident) or Lindsay (who is playing with her hair and apparently not paying attention). However, before the decision can be made, the RCMP suddenly appear from a helicopter, shining their spotlight on Izzy. Being the notorious liar that she is, Leshawna asks Izzy if all the crazy stories she has been telling are true. Izzy says that only the RCMP part was true, bids the group farewell, and yells at the RCMP that they will never take her alive. With that, she runs off into the distance, laughing maniacally, while everyone else looks on in utter shock or amusement. Chris is the only one who seems nonchalant about the situation and ends the ceremony tight then and there.
Later that night, Cody finds a bra under his pillow; Gwen rewarded Cody for keeping his promise. He shows it to Owen and tells him to enjoy doing his dishes for the rest of the competition, according to their betting rules. As Gwen and Trent sit on the docks, the sound of breaking glass is heard as the scene cuts to the girls' side of the Bass cabin to see pieces of Geoff's change bowl he made for Bridgette all over the floor. Bridgette has a change of heart and thinks it is cute after all. Despite Courtney's objections that no one will want to fix it, she asks Courtney for some glue to fix it, which Bridgette says she can do. Beth is then seen reading alone, with her tiki doll secured next to her. Ominous lightning strikes as the camera pans to the cursed idol, and several cameras zoom out in a split second to reveal the entirety of Camp Wawanakwa.
During the episode, Lindsay's clothes are different from her regular outfit. She wears blue shorts instead of her orange skirt and a short red top, while her longer red top and brown vest are missing.
Comparison between the original scene and the alternate scene.
When Bridgette asks Courtney to be her canoe partner, the camera is quite far away from Bridgette, and she waves her right hand at Courtney. In the remastered version of the episode, the camera is much closer to Bridgette and she waves with her left hand.
Continuity[]
This episode marks the first time in the show's history that a camper was eliminated irregularly without being voted out.
Water is the third phobia that DJ admits to having. In previousepisodes, he has stated that he is afraid of heights and snakes.
This is the first episode in the series that doesn't feature Chef Hatchet.
References[]
This episode title is a reference to the phrase "Up the creek without a paddle."
Owen's line "If this canoe's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'" may be a reference to the Stevie Ray Vaughan song "The House Is Rockin'," which includes the lyrics "If the house is a-rockin', don't bother knockin'."
It's also possible that Boney Island is a parody of the exile island featured in Survivor: Panama, which aired in early 2006, when Total Drama Island was in production.
Cody helping Gwen in getting together with Trent in exchange for her bra is a reference to a storyline in the 1984 movie Sixteen Candles that used panties instead of a bra.
Izzy says that her "licence to kill is currently expired", a reference to the 1989 James Bond movie Licence to Kill.
Goofs[]
The moment when Lindsay's bikini bottom can be seen through her shorts.
At the beginning of the episode, Lindsay is shown wearing half of her bikini bottoms and half of her shorts, although in the next scene it changes back to just her shorts.
This is fixed in the DVD and iTunes versions.
Two of the campers are shown in their swimwear for only one scene.
When Owen approaches Heather to be her canoe partner, he is wearing his swim trunks. However, when they approach their canoe, he is back in his regular outfit.
DJ is in his swim trunks and missing his cap when he and Geoff approach their canoe. But in the very next scene he is in his regular outfit.
In the HD remastered version of the episode, DJ and Owen now correctly wear their normal clothes.
After Trent and Lindsay escape the quicksand, Cody walks across the quicksand without sinking into it.
When the campers listen to Chris in the beginning, Gwen has bags under her eyes, but they disappear in the next scene.
This is fixed in the DVD and iTunes versions.
The Killer Bass emblem replaces the Screaming Gophers emblem when Izzy is seen talking to Leshawna about killing a koala bear.
When the Killer Bass pass the Gophers after they escape from the giant geese, Bridgette and Courtney are absent from the scene.
When one of the woolly beavers scares Leshawna and Izzy, Duncan, Harold, and Sadie are in the background, even though they are on the Killer Bass.
Lindsay wears her usual outfit instead of the one she wears in this episode.
In several scenes, Lindsay wore her usual outfit instead of the one she wears in this episode:
When Lindsay stands up to hug Cody, her bikini top is the same color as her regular top.
While the Gophers watch their fire, Lindsay wears her casual outfit.
When Lindsay is braiding her hair during the elimination ceremony, she is wearing her regular outfit instead of the one she was wearing, and it switches back in the next shot.
At the beginning of the campfire ceremony, Heather's hair is in a ponytail, but the next time she is seen, it is down.
After Harold throws the oars into the fire, Duncan is seen with his eyebrow ring on the wrong side.
The Netflix synopsis for this episode says that Geoff's injury was a "sliver in his hand," when his injury was actually to his leg.
Speaking of Geoff, the status of his injury varies in certain scenes. Sometimes it was seen as a massive splinter resembling a porcupine quill, other times it was barely there or not there at all.
Before the scene with Courtney and Bridgette in the Bass cabin, the exterior of the Gopher cabin is shown instead.
Izzy's bracelet is on her left wrist instead of her right when the Screaming Gophers are running away from the giant geese.
When Izzy runs from the RCMP, she is heard laughing, but her lips don't move.
