Sundae Muddy Sundae (Total Drama All-Stars)
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 The episode that marked the nadir of character derailment in not just Total Drama, but in Canadian animation of the 2010s.
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Sundae Muddy Sundae is the eleventh episode of Total Drama All-Stars. This episode has been hated by TD fans, and it was considered to be one of the worst episodes ever created in TD history.
Plot
Chris makes the remaining five contestants race across the most dangerous areas of the island in search of ingredients to make a delicious ice cream sundae. Mal exposes Courtney's chart to everyone, straining her and Gwen's friendship and forcing her to try and survive on her own or either through an alliance. Meanwhile, Zoey tries to figure out the cryptic meaning of Alejandro's words: "The truth is in the art".
Why It's Been a Muddy Sundae Indeed
- Four words to state the most blatantly obvious problem about this episode: So much character derailment. Courtney had promised Gwen that they'd be in the finale together in "Suckers Punched", but she betrayed that trust once her chart got exposed, which had put a strain in their friendship.
- If that wasn't worse enough, the creator of the episode, Ed MacDonald, didn't put in any effort to make this episode entertaining as he had Mal ruin Courtney and Gwen's friendship as well as Courtney and Scott's relationship by showing them the chart, exposing Courtney in front of everyone.
- Gwen didn't listen when Courtney tried to explain everything to her, so the latter told her to deal with it. Is this REALLY the Courtney that we all know and love?
- Strangely enough, it wasn't revealed on how Mal even discovered the chart in the first place; prior to this episode, Courtney was shown placing the chart beneath her shirt in World Tour, which means that Mal could've snatched it from her shirt.
- Because of all of this that has happened in this episode, this has made Courtney and Gwen's friendship utterly pointless.
- What makes this episode bad as another part of a reason is that it has ruined Courtney's development, which has ruined her redemption and brought her back to square one as the antagonist.
- Courtney was supposed to win the season; to make matters worse, she was the only significant character who hasn't been in the final two, and even the haters of Courtney will admit that she could've won this season. One may believe that this episode is hated by even those who despise Courtney's guts.
- Because the episode was rushed, there were loads of errors that didn't have time to be fixed. (See "Goofs" section in "Trivia")
- There were some unfunny humor and jokes in this episode. An infamous example is where "Mike" laughed when Chris said that he forgot to feed his interns for a week, and Chris agrees that it's hilarious, when it actually isn't. In fact, if Chris's interns were dead due to starvation (see WIBAMSI#7 below), he would have gotten arrested for murder!
- When "Mike" exclaimed, "Let's rock!" while holding up a rock that he would later use to destroy the fire-breathing plant, it was a corny and cringe-worthy pun.
- Again, with Ed MacDonald, he treated Courtney as if she was the antagonist in this episode. What's worse, Courtney ended up with a disgusting sundae that had bird vomit. If that's not bad enough, Chris switched the rules so that the contestants can eat their own sundaes, which resulted in Courtney's elimination.
- Chris was at his worst since he changed the rules to everyone eating their own sundaes. This means the interns will die from starvation, therefore creating an opportunity to get Courtney eliminated.
- There have been such continuity errors, which contradicted the events of past seasons:
- Courtney claimed that 5th place was her highest finish in Total Drama, but came 4th in Action, albeit she could have stated that since she was unfairly admitted to the season because of a lawsuit that occurred in the middle of it.
- In "Chinese" Fake-Out from World Tour, Courtney demonstrated that she had a strong stomach by eating a lot of disgusting Chinese street food; in this season, however, she contradicted that demonstration by claiming that she can't eat disgusting food, like her ruined sundae, especially when it had bird puke on it.
- The fact that "Courtney is lactose-intolerant", as mentioned in Action, makes the point of this episode considerably worse. Did Chris or even Courtney forget this fact?
- Plot hole: Outside of WIBAMSI#8, Scott is seen using dirt as his chocolate, despite being gross and he would get sick from eating it.
- During the elimination ceremony, Chris informed Scott that he finished last, even though he crossed the finish line ahead of Mal.
- Courtney gets tortured even more in the exclusive clip. When she showed her disgusting sundae to the two sharks, they smell it before they both vomit all over her, leaving her in tears. While some haters would agree that she deserved that karma for betraying Gwen's trust, there are even some haters and fans who feel sorry for Courtney and blame Chris for this.
- Not to mention that this even serves as another plot hole considering in Action, Courtney had beaten up a group of one episode; here, she couldn't battle them since she was shown to be weak.
- On top of all this, this is basically a Courtney torture episode as this was made just so she could be eliminated and please her haters.
- Given how much character development Courtney has had over the seasons including All-Stars, it is dismal that this episode that has derailed her character has had to be her last physical appearance in the series until her cameo on one of the obstacles for the pinball challenge in the 2023 revival's season 2 episode "Haulin' and Baulin'" alongside her ex-boyfriend Duncan. Because she only appeared as a silhouette in a balloon in "The Final Wreck-ening", this also means not only her relationships with Scott, Gwen, and Zoey are shattered forever, but it means that Courtney has departed the show without money, fame, friends, and her reputation being permanently damaged forever.
Qualities That Aren't Muddy
- The overall hilarious joke was a gag where Scott is a rat on Courtney's chart.
- Although there may have been errors, at least the animation is still great as always.
- The voice acting is still amazing as always.
- The haters of Courtney who all hate her due to her mean-spirited and unbearable attitude will probably enjoy that episode since Courtney finally gets the karma she deserves for being a horrible friend to Gwen and being rude and bossy to everyone.
- Scott offering to eat Courtney's sundae for her was a nice moment, despite the fact that he wasn't perfect.
Trivia
General
- It is revealed in this episode that Courtney had a job at an ice cream shop for three weeks before being fired for throwing a scoop of ice cream at a client who was bothering her while she was on her break.
- While Mal is looking for the DVD in the spa hotel, a Gilded Chris Award and the Chris bobblehead from the Total Drama Jumbo Jet can be seen beneath Chris's photo on the right side of the screen.
- This episode marks the first and only time where Courtney did not promise to sue the show after getting eliminated.
Continuity
- During the recap Chris calls Alejandro "Ale-jerk-o", a nickname Geoff called him in "Aftermath: Revenge of the Telethon."
- As of this episode, Gwen is the final first-generation cast member remaining in the competition.
- This marks the first time since "Basic Straining" where Courtney is not eliminated with another contestant.
- In "Top Dog" (Action), she was eliminated, followed by Owen, forcing them to take the Lame-o-sine together.
- In "Chinese Fake-Out" (World Tour), Blaineley and herself tied with three votes each, and Chris had to eliminate them both due to budget constraints.
- This is the second episode of the season where no one gets exiled to Boney Island, with the first being "You Regatta Be Kidding Me." This episode also marks the end of exile duty overall.
- This is the second time a challenge involves preparing food for designated judges, only for it to be changed so the competitors have to eat what they prepared themselves.
- In both episodes, one contestant's food is too disgusting for them to eat.
- Both episodes coincidentally takes place at the eleventh episode of a season.
- This marks the second time that Gwen (in Total Drama Island), and Scott and Zoey (in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island) make it to the final four of a season.
- As of this episode, all of the final four contestants in Total Drama Island have been in the final four twice.
- This episode marks the first time the main lodge has appeared in this season.
- This marks the first time in the series where the final four are composed of two members of each team. In previous seasons, it is always three members of one team and one from the other.
- However, the "three against one" pattern repeats in a different matter, since it's three contestants from the second generation and one from the first generation.
- This is the first time since "Heroes vs. Villains" where the Drama Machine makes an appearance.
- The way Courtney and Gwen's friendship is destroyed in this episode is similar to what happened in "Greece's Pieces" (albeit reversed). In both cases, one of them did something unfaithful and their betrayal is revealed to the other by the season's antagonist.
- The beach in the background of the exclusive clip resembles the beach movie set in "Monster Cash."
References
- This episode title is a reference to the popular song by U2 "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
- A line during Chris's intro references the phrase "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Goofs
- Gwen's eyes vanish for a split second when Courtney hugs her.
- The Mal puppet's hair is over its right eye when Vito is holding it, even though this is untrue to Mal himself. After the dummy becomes possessed, the hair changes to cover the correct eye.
- Courtney states that the final five is the farthest she's ever gone on Total Drama. However, she came in fourth place in Total Drama Action.
- Courtney states that she can't stomach gross foods like the others. However, in "Chinese Fake-Out," she claims that she has "a very strong stomach" and manages to help Alejandro during the eating challenge.
- Courtney also is shown eating ice cream despite the fact she stated that she is lactose intolerant in "Dial M for Merger."
- Courtney's loose strand of hair is missing when the bird vomits on her sundae.
- When Scott is hit by the Drama Machine, some of his ice cream is seen on the hammer as if it were getting squashed; however, in the next scene, his bowl of ice cream is full.
- When Mal is furious about not getting into the McLean Spa Hotel, the gap in his front teeth is missing.
- During the elimination ceremony, Chris tells Scott that he came in last place despite the fact that he crossed the finish line before Mike.
- When the final five is shown at the beginning of the Campfire Ceremony, Scott is sitting in the second row, behind everyone else. However, when the bottom two is shown, he is sitting next to Courtney.
- In the exclusive clip, a part of the beach in the background is cut off.
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