TD:SP Ep. 5: Paddle Royale

Recap Mitch didn't want to flip his vote last minute but Elizabeth convinced him Judd falls into the pool Skylia lowkey ices Colin at the sunrise Cyrus and Skylia discuss Colin; Cyrus seems suspicious and Skylia downplays everything Chris gives out the life jackets; Aly basically bullies Byran, Karin comforts him 3 rounds of Golden Chris Head-finding under buoys in tandem kayaking challenge Byran sits out and Chef puts him in a straitjacket Elizabeth dictates which pairs are kayaking for which rounds – Mitch backs her – they come under fire until Elizabeth is revealed to be right in round 1 The episode opens with Chris sitting with sunglasses on, shirtless, on a beached ocean kayak. "Last time on Total Drama: South Pacific," Chris narrates as clips from the previous episode begin to play, "we had a good, old-fashioned volleyball showdown! The Ecstatic Eagles soared, while the Popular Pandas floundered. And when all hope seemed lost for perennial outcast Judd, Matthew managed to pitch a new plan to Elizabeth and Mitch, voting out Sean and saving himself in the process."

Chris stands up and walks up the beach. "Now, who's gonna sink and swim tonight? Find out right now on Total Drama: South Pacific!"

Due to budget cuts, the fifteen-second adaptation of the Total Drama theme song plays, before an establishing shot of the Pandas' cottage is displayed on screen.

Inside the cottage, Mitch is sitting on one of the pink couches in the main room, massaging his temples anxiously. He then appears in the confessional area.

"Elizabeth clued me in really last minute about the switch to voting for Sean." He scratches the back of his head. "At first, I didn't trust what Judd was saying at all, because...I mean, let's be honest, who would? He's one of the least intelligent people I've even heard of competing on a reality show. He fumbles nine out of ten activities he participates in, and above all, is just plain irritating." He sighs. "But...well, you see..."

Back in the Pandas' living room, as Mitch begins to get up from the pink couch, Elizabeth approaches him.

"So I take it you voted Sean?" she asks, towering above him.

"What does it look like?" Mitch stands up. "He's gone, isn't he?"

Elizabeth smirks. "Good," she says. "So that means I can trust you fully."

"Could you not before?" Mitch asks.

"I could...it's just...you know, you're a good lad and all, I see that, but I mean, like... I can really trust you now," she replies, winking.

Mitch raises an eyebrow. "I still don't get it." He stretches out his arms and looks around. "There's literally no one here, why are you talking like you've got top secret CSIS codes?"

"Oh, I'm talking about making an alliance, you dimwit!" Elizabeth says.

Mitch, in the confessional area, is laughing. "I knew what she was going for, I just wanted her to spit it out. But yeah, I've thought of working with her from day one or so. It's why I let her convince me to vote out Sean in the first place, really. I want her to think this is her idea."

Mitch smiles. "Okay, cool, thanks for dropping the whole cryptic act. I'm in."

"Brilliant," Elizabeth replies. She pats Mitch on the shoulder before walking away. "Just don't let those other girls know!" The scene cuts to the Brit appearing in the confessional area.

"Initially, last night, I was going to vote for Judd, but I was swung last minute by Matthew," she says while sipping on lemonade at the pool bar, "who, by the way, I never in a million years thought would be capable of convincing me to change my vote. But it made perfect sense to get Sean out; the man had a plan, and I'm supposed to be the woman with a plan here." She takes another sip of her drink, smacks her lips, and looks down at her glass. "You Canadians put loads of sugar in these drinks, don't you?" She begins to pour out the lemonade on the ground and walks away, tossing the glass off-screen, where it can be heard shattering. "Gosh, it's probably worse in America..."

Judd is sitting on the edge of the pool, having exchanged his jeans for swim trunks, with his lower legs and feet dangling in the water. He stares at his reflection on the water's surface before leaning too far and falling in.

"Dang it!" He splashes his hands vigorously in frustration. "Aw, shucks, I'm soakin' wet!" He then appears in the confessional area, with wet hair and a towel around his torso.

"Okay, so I might not be havin' the best time here," Judd says while shivering, "but hey, how many people can say they're on one o' the most popular shows on TV? I've gotta be, like, the ultimate underdog or somethin'. People here don't like me too much, but the facts're facts and I keep survivin' these votes. Y'all should NOT count me in!" He pauses. "I mean...you'd better count me out!" His face turns to a horrified expression. "I mean, don't count me out! Aw, man!"

As the sun rises over the Eagles' cottage the following morning, Skylia walks out the front door, followed by Colin.

"Beautiful sunrise, huh?" Colin asks.

"You know, you didn't really have to come with me for this," Skylia replies, chuckling.

Colin winks at her.

"Uh," she says, taken aback, "what was that?"

Colin raises his eyebrows. "Just, you know, a quick little sign that I like spending time with you, and stuff."

Skylia laughs. "That's nice of you." She turns around and walks towards the beach to watch the sun rise. "But really," she laughs, "you don't have to wake up early just to see this with me."

"Dude," Colin replies, "it's beautiful. Why wouldn't I?" He smirks. "Besides, it reminds me of someone else I know."

Skylia, still with her back to Colin, begins to smile while blushing, but her face quickly drops back to a neutral expression. She then appears in the confessional area.

"Okay, I do like Colin..." She sighs. "Like, sort of romantically, I guess." She shrugs. "But it's reality television. I'm sure everyone back home in Edmonton is screaming at me to get together with this cute boy, but I'm not here for a relationship..." She trails off and begins to blush. "Oh, but he is really cute." She pauses and her face drops once again. "But I'm NOT here for a boy. Count on that."

Back on the beach, Skylia turns around and makes eye contact with Colin. Colin begins to smile. Skylia, however, does not replicate, and simply blinks. "Well, we should, uh, you know, probably make sure we're ready for today's challenge." She walks past him, bumping shoulders as she walks back up the beach to the Eagles' cottage. Colin simply raises an eyebrow as she scuffles by him.

"Oh, she's definitely playing hard to get," Colin says as he appears in the confessional area, "For sure. Chicks do that all the time when they know there's something special between us." He chuckles. "You know, I'm not gonna call myself an expert, but trust me, not all hope is lost here. She's a super chillaxed girl, of course she isn't gonna be all up in my face."

Skylia walks through the doors of the Eagles' cottage and starts heading back to return to bed. Cyrus, who has been lying on one of the blue couches, notices her entrance and starts to get up and move towards her.

"Hey, wait up, girl," Cyrus whispers loudly.

Skylia turns towards him and smiles. "Hey, Cy, what're you up to? You weren't out here when I left to go see the sunrise."

"Oh," Cyrus says, eyes widening. "So like, I just kinda wanted to get a head check with you, see how you're feeling, you know, about...the boy."

In the confessional area, Cyrus tosses a bottle of orange juice from hand to hand. "Once Colin got up early this morning with literally no explanation, I remembered him talking about how he wanted to watch the sunrise with Skylia a couple days ago." He puts the bottle down on the counter and chuckled. "Girl, y'all at home should never underestimate me. I realized that this would be a perfect time to catch those two, you know... in the act," he says in a considerably deeper voice. "If you know what I mean. I'm worried about those two, because while as a viewer, I LOVE hot showmances like that, but while I'm in the game... no sir, no ma'am. Not today. Not on my Ecstatic Eagles team."

"The boy?" Skylia asks with a quizzical look on her face.

Cyrus laughs. "Oh, honey, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." He looks over his shoulder cautiously. "How are things with you and Colin?"

Skylia blushes. "Well...I mean, we're just friends. And I really, like, REALLY want it to stay that way... Relationships on TV are super stressful, you know? I don't wanna deal with that."

Cyrus raises his eyebrows. "Really? I'm kinda surprised, girl. I thought the two of you were two peas in the biggest frickin' pod."

Skylia laughs. "You thought so? Well, I guess we're close friends, as close as you can be after only knowing each other this long. But...that's it!"

"Good!" Cyrus smirks. "I mean, it's good that y'all are friends, and not like, mortal enemies. That's all!"

Skylia furrows her brow as Cyrus leans in to hug her. "What was that for?"

"Oh, do you not like being touched, or something? Sorry," he replies, "I'm just like, a really touchy person."

"Alright," Skylia says as she exits his platonic embrace, "I'm gonna go get ready for whatever challenge we have today."

"Girl, same here. Let's rock it today!" Cyrus says enthusiastically.

"Right," Skylia replies. In the confessional area, Skylia appears confused. "Cyrus has been acting really strange around me lately. He's being really buddy-buddy with me, which is not something I'd usually care about, but his spontaneous hug came right on the heels of making sure I'm not crushing on Colin." She snickers. "Either he's trying to flirt with me, or he's just...this way." She pauses. "I think I'd be fine with both?"

As Skylia parts with Colin and enters the girls' bedroom, Colin walks through the front door of the Eagles' cottage.

"Cyrus, bro, you're up early," he says. "Why didn't you come watch the sunrise with me and Sky?"

Cyrus' face goes red. "I was just...you know, sort of hungry and, like, groggy as well, yeah."

"Well, cool," Colin replies, "Hope you got some grub."

Cyrus laughs nervously. "Well, yeah, thanks, I did. I'm going back to bed now!" Cyrus darts off to the guys' bedroom and shuts the door.

"What's his rush?" Colin shrugs.

"Okay, wow," Cyrus says in the confessional area. "Colin really came close to watching me hug his crush, and that would have probably ended my life forever. He'd have come for my edges real fast. Anyways, as an internet sensation, I think my fans would be livid with me if I didn't interact with this season's budding Nemma. It's super vital that I interact with the hot couple a whole lot. I've been to more than enough comment sections on TD fan videos to know that showmances are super popular, and like, it's really important to me that I'm super popular as well."

Later in the day, Angie and Catelyn are lounging on the couches in the Pandas' cottage before a knock is heard on the front door.

"I'll get it!" As Angie opens the door, she is greeted by having a wet life jacket thrown at her, covering her face and eyes. "What in the world?" She finally unmasks herself to see Chris in the doorway.

"Good afternoon, contestants!" Chris' voice is heard from inside the girls' bedroom, causing an in-bed Elizabeth to sit up and start to grumble.

"Not this stupid bugger again," she says in a grouchy tone.

"You know you're gonna be seeing him close to daily, right?" the cameraman replies.

Elizabeth responds by swinging for the cameraman, who dodges the attempted hit, but runs away in the process.

In the Eagles' cottage, Aly stands at the door, unamused, holding two wet life jackets, facing an enthusiastic Chris outside. "Meet me at the beach in five!" Chris shouts before slamming the door shut.

Byran storms into the room and almost hits Aly full force. "Life jackets? Why did Chris give us life jackets? It doesn't totally make sense unless the challenge is going to involve something in the water which isn't unheard of for a tropical themed season but even then I thought volleyball was gonna be a cool shift to land based challenges but really I guess not but maybe we're swimming in deep water tanks and that ' s why we need life jackets but at the end of the day I really don't care–"

"And I don't care how you're gonna finish that sentence," Aly says dryly. She shoves the wet life jackets into Byran's arms and walks away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go dry my face off off."

"Wow," a nearby Karin says, laughing half-heartedly. "Harsh much today, Aly?"

Aly rolls her eyes. "Not really. Don't try and pretend you don't find him super irritating."

"Hey!" Byran shouts. "I'm not–"

Before he can continue his sentence, Aly covers his mouth with her hand. "Please, just stop for five minutes. Anything you say is noise pollution at this point." Byran sighs as Aly walks away.

"Hey," Karin says, approaching Byran and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel too bad. Aly's just got an icy personality. Sometimes, she's funny, and other times, she can be really cold. Don't let it get you down."

Byran looks in Karin's eyes and begins to smile. He opens his mouth to begin talking, but Karin puts her finger to his lips and shushes him. "But really, I think the best thing for you right now is to lay low and don't talk as much. It'll reduce conflict within our team, which, like, helps a lot."

In the confessional area, Karin sips a coffee cup while smiling. "I have a lot of experience with group chats, and when one person's constantly bumping it with text after text after text, soon enough, someone's making a new group chat without them, and that's just a lot of conflict I don't want for this team. See? I'm like, a total team-building expert. Someone really should hire me for this!" She giggles.

The scene cuts to both teams assembled on the beach, each standing on respective blue and pink mats and facing the ocean. Chris stands in front of the two groups, wearing red swim trunks with no shirt to accompany them. A red lifeguard's whistle dangles in front of his chest.

"Welcome to your fourth challenge here in the South Pacific!" Chris announces, motioning towards the sea behind him. "It's good to see you guys brought your life jackets with you." He chuckles. "You know, when you answered the door, Angie, I wasn't convinced you'd remember."

Angie, holding one of the life jackets on her shoulders, rolls her eyes.

"Anyways, for today's challenge, you'll have to scour the one hundred orange buoys floating in the water behind me to look for one of the most beautiful treasures on this planet," Chris announces, smile brimming wider than his botox likely would permit.

Byran's eyes light up. "A mermaid's treasure? Something of the sea oh wow is it the lost city of Atlantis directly under the buoys? Perhaps a key or something I'm just really wondering if that's what–"

"Nope!" Chris interrupts via a megaphone (which seemingly came out of nowhere). He puts the red device down before continuing, "It's not that. It's even better – a golden replica of my head!"

The cast groans in unison, but particularly Byran, who appears in the confessional area shortly after. "Okay, so I know it's not the most logical expectation to have us look for a key or a relic or something cool and shiny from the lost city of Atlantis which I've obsessed over for years entirely in secrecy but like okay come on this show's budget is big enough to find something like that right??"

Karin appears in the confessional area as well following Byran's segment. "It doesn't really bode super well that within minutes of me telling Byran he's got to stop talking like that, he takes up literally everyone on this island's time to discuss...the lost city of Atlantis. If our team can't mesh well for this challenge, we're gonna lose the lead we've got on the Eagles, and that would just, like, reflect really badly on me." She blinks. "I guess it would reflect badly on the team, too," she laughs. "Don't worry. I'm a little ditzy sometimes, but like, I'm not that short-sighted. Hopefully."

Back on the beach, as the cast finishes groaning, Chris chuckles before blowing his red whistle. "Bring 'em in, Chef!"

Chef Hatchet emerges from behind the two teams, carrying two tandem kayaks, colored blue and pink for the respective teams as well as two pairs of kayak paddles. He sets the boats down gently next to Chris before throwing the paddles in the directions of both teams with reckless abandon, nearly knocking over the members of either team as the boating equipment hits the sand. Chef smirks before dusting off his hands and heading back up the beach, out of view of the camera.

"Some safety training this show's got," Mitch says to an adjacent Matthew, who replies with a puzzled facial expression. "What?" Mitch continues, "There's got to be some sort of Canadian television regulations for this, right? Like, do you really mean to tell me that our entertainment industry's workplace laws don't stop producers from intentionally injuring the talent?"

"Uh, have you seen this show?" Matthew asks. "Putting others in danger is Chris McLean's entire brand."

Mitch rolls his eyes. "I guess that's fair."

"Mitch," Angie asks, "who are you talking to?"

Mitch begins to open his mouth, only to be interrupted by Chris. "No time for chit-chat right now, Pandas!" He glares especially at Matthew, who once again puts on a puzzled look, motioning towards Mitch with his thumb. Mitch shrugs.

Chris clears his throat. "You'll each be working in tandem with a teammate to paddle out to sea, look under the hundred orange buoys in the water behind me, locate a Golden Chris Head™ and bring it back to shore without having it stolen from you."

"S-stolen?" Judd asks, a shiver going down his spine at the mere thought of malicious behavior.

Chris offers a sinister laugh. "That's right, Judd, everything out here is fair game."

Judd stomps his left foot. "But that ain't fair!"

Chris rolls his eyes. "Fair, schmair. The first team to personally hand me my own shiny face twice wins. For the losers, you'll have to vote out another team member. Understood?" The thirteen contestants nod, including Judd, whose eyebrows are furrowed with such ferocity that they might just pop off his face.

"Good!" the host says, ignoring Judd, "Even though it wouldn't have mattered, I'm still tickled to see your unwavering support for Canada's hottest televised commodity, me." He turns to face the Eagles. "Ecstatic Eagles, since you have one extra team member, I'm going to have to ask you to pick one team member to willingly sit out of this challenge. Or, not willingly. Whatever gets the job done."

As the team of seven turn towards each other and begin having a group discussion, Karin winks at Byran.

Byran's brow furrows and he begins to open his mouth before Karin puts her finger to her own lips. Byran uses his hand to cover his mouth before raising his hand. The team discussion comes to an unexpected halt, with Aly especially raising a brow.

"So you're sitting out, Byran?" Chris asks. Byran, mouth still covered, nods. He then appears in the confessional area.

"So okay this totally seems like my challenge because paddling is like soooooooo upper arm strength which most people don't know but Karin who I once thought to be totally stupid is actually not an idiot at all so like–" Byran stops to catch his breath, a series first, "–she signaled that I should stop talking and sit out because she thinks it is smart and a good idea for me to be quieter which I don't completely agree with but I'll try it. Like for now." He coughs. "Can I get a glass of water, preferably cold, please no ice, I hate ice?" he asks the cameraman.

Chris chuckles. "Very well, then!" He blows his plastic whistle once more, signaling Chef Hatchet once again, who now carries a straitjacket. "Here's how we'll make sure you can't compete, Byran." Byran's eyes widen as he attempts to run away, but Chef grabs his twig-like arm with relative ease.

"You really thought you could get away from me, boy?" Chef says as he begins to restrain Byran.

"N-no sir I just really thought–" Byran begins to speak, but is slapped across the face by Chef. "Ow!" Byran loudly grunts.

"Honestly?" Aly says in the confessional area. "Keeping Byran stuck in one spot is probably the best thing that's ever happened to this team."

Chef smiles with pride as he finishes putting the straitjacket on Byran. "That should do it. No, no, he won't be moving around for a good long while."

Chris walks over to gleefully give Chef a hug. "Thanks, Chef. I can always count on you."

Chef pats Chris on the back. "I know, I know. I'm dependable. So, how about a raise?" he asks hopefully.

"Maybe someday, Chef," Chris says. The two separate and Chef, visibly somewhat displeased by Chris shooting him down, departs once again.

In response to these events, Raechel turns to Skylia and whispers, "Who's Jeff? Is he on our team?" Skylia sighs.

"At least she knows she's on a team," Skylia says in the confessional area. "Last I checked, she thought this was a couples' dating show."

"Right," Chris says, now having re-assumed his position in front of the two teams, "so, discuss amongst yourselves and let me know who's kayaking first for round one!" Both teams turn towards each other and begin group discussions amongst themselves.

"Look," Colin says in the Eagles' huddle, "not to be like, sexist, or anything, 'cause like, I'm totally not, but I think it would be a super good idea if we put a strong bro like me in the back each round. Just 'cause, you know, we just need some good power in the back. And things like that. Like an engine type thing."

"Sure, girl, whatever you wanna do," Cyrus says. "I can take round two if you want to take round one?" He then appears in the confessional area. "I know my fans are gonna absolutely die when they see me third wheeling this showmance, so I'm just gonna enable whatever that cute surfer boy feels like doing right now. Even if it doesn't make sense!" Cyrus adjusts his glasses. "Like, sis, look around. You want a 'strong bro' in the back of every kayak? You're the only 'strong bro' on this team."

"Alright, awesome," Colin says. "You know, Skylia, if you wouldn't mind, wanna paddle with me this round?"

Aly rolls her eyes at Colin's invitation, but Skylia smiles and nods. "Sure!" she says.

In the Pandas' huddle, the conversation is not going as smoothly.

"So, who wants to go kayaking with who?" Angie asks the team.

"I can go with whoever," Catelyn says. "I'm pretty strong, so if anyone doesn't feel comfortable–"

"Great idea, Cates, and I think you should row with Judd," Elizabeth interrupts. "Here's the deal. The kid swims like dynamite," she begins to glare at Judd, "no matter how irritating he can be, and you're a bang-on swimmer as well. What I think you've got to do is once two of you find a Chris Head, hop out of the kayak so you can swim back on your own. You know, not mess with that stupid boat."

"I love it!" Judd exclaims. "Thanks for recognizin' my talent! It's about time." Catelyn cautiously nods in agreement and makes quick eye contact with Angie. The tall vlogger smiles nervously at Angie, who sighs.

"Hey, Liz, sorry, but I'm not sure if Catelyn seems comfortable with this," Angie says to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth rolls her eyes. "That's real cute of you to act concerned, Ang, but we'll be fine. I personally know that I know best."

"Look," Mitch says, "I know where you're coming from because I really don't trust a lot of decisions this team makes, but I'm sure Elizabeth is on to something here." He winks at Elizabeth, who smiles approvingly.

Angie shrugs and looks towards Catelyn. "I tried," she whispers.

"I don't love the swimming plan," Catelyn says in the confessional area, "but I'm used to Elizabeth going on power trips like this." She sighs. "I just know that at some point, she's gonna mess up royally, and if this is it, Angie and I can convince the team to vote her out because of it. I'm playing the long con here, like a snake in the grass, like a deadly crab in the sand beneath the beach." She laughs. "She won't see me coming."

"Look," Mitch says in the confessional area, "I know what I'm doing here, strategically. Elizabeth is the most domineering voice on this team, especially following her proven success from the sandcastles challenge. I'm probably catching a lot of heat from the other girls, but as long as Elizabeth's a fan of me, I'm a fan of her. It's how an alliance works."

Angie appears in the confessional area and groans. "If everyone's just going to submit to Queen Elizabeth, why am I even here?"

"Okay," Chris announces to both teams, "who's going out this round?"

"Me!" Judd shouts, startling some of the other Pandas. "It's me and Catelyn."

"Okay," Chris says as he turns to the Eagles. "Who's going out on the water for your team?"

"I'm going out with Skylia," Colin says.

Suddenly, Raechel squeals and hugs Colin. "You and Skylia are finally going out? OMG, congrats. I totally saw this coming. It's like we're on Are We the Two! I love dating shows!" Karin sighs in response before burying her face in her hands.

Chris chuckles. "Okay, Skylia and Colin, Judd and Catelyn, get in your kayaks and push them out to sea. You can start searching once both of you are on the water. Don't forget to grab your paddles before you head out. Go!"

The two pairs, equipped with life jackets matching their team colors, grab their kayak paddles before racing towards the ocean kayaks.

"Okay, Judd," Catelyn calls, "you grab the back end and push it out to the water while I pull, okay?"

"Nah," Judd replies. "I got this." He picks up the kayak single handedly and starts running towards the water, impressing Catelyn, whose eyebrows raise.

"What do you know?" Angie says to Mitch back on their team's mat. "He can do something right." Matthew overhears this and smiles.

"Good work, Judd!" Catelyn shouts to Judd, who is about to enter the ocean. Suddenly, Judd trips and falls, dropping the kayak on his feet. He screams in agony.

"Catelyn!" Judd whines. "Come help me!"

She groans as she runs up behind him. "How'd you even trip? You're running on sand."

"Well, maybe I'd have been fine had you been carrying the boat with me," Judd says.

Catelyn rolls her eyes. "You're ridiculous." She shoves the boat out on the water and hands Judd a paddle. "Get on, let's go."

"Good job, Colin!" Skylia says as Colin, who has been carrying both the kayak and both paddles singlehandedly, puts the paddles down and begins to position the kayak for paddling out.

"It's no problem," Colin responds. "What do you want to do from here?"

Skylia blinks. "What do you mean?" She picks up a paddle and starts to sit in the front seat of the kayak. "We only have one thing to do here. Let's go!"

Colin smiles. "Whatever you say."

Skylia furrows her brow as he takes his seat in the back of the kayak. The pair scoot out onto the water.

"Which way should we go first?" Colin asks.

Skylia responds with a confused look. "What do you mean, which way?" She gives a lighthearted chuckle. "The buoys are directly ahead of us."

Colin smiles. "Cool, so let's go that way. Which area should we start looking in first? Bottom right? Top left? Up to you."

"I don't know if we need, like, a super set plan," Skylia says. "Maybe just go with the flow?"

"Sounds awesome," Colin replies.

Catelyn and Judd are checking buoys. "Nope," Catelyn says as she turns one over, "that one's a dud, too. Ugh."

"Yeah," Judd says, overturning a buoy in each hand. "Nothin' here." He picks up his paddle, which had been resting in his lap, and accidentally smacks Catelyn in the side with it as he attempts to start paddling again.

"Nice going," Catelyn says, loudly.

"Sorry!" Judd shouts. "Real sorry. Didn't mean to do that."

Catelyn sighs. "I know." She then appears in the confessional area. "I'm not exactly having, like, a banner day here. I get shoehorned into some scheme that Elizabeth wants us to pull, paired up with Judd, and now I've got a bruise on my right side to deal with for who knows how long. Not to sound so self centered, but I just don't know how my fans are gonna feel about this...I can't come off like a complete loser on national television, can I? Is that a survivable career move?"

Skylia and Colin are gliding through the sea of buoys. Colin is continuously paddling while Skylia is attempting to check buoys for a Chris Head. However, the ocean kayak is moving too quickly, and Skylia isn't able to check very many.

"Hey, Colin..." Skylia asks.

"Yeah?" he replies.

"Would you mind maybe slowing down or stopping? Just so we can start looking more effectively," she explains.

Colin smiles and immediately stops rowing. "Whatever you say. Do you want me to look, too?"

Skylia appears mildly irritated, but manages to keep a calm tone of voice. "We should both be looking, shouldn't we? Seems like a bit of a no brainer."

Colin nods and places his paddle in his lap. He taps Skylia on the shoulder and points to an orange buoy to his left. "Should I try this one, dude?"

Skylia grabs it and turns it over – nothing's underneath – and places it back down. "Colin, I know you're not necessarily the most driven person, but please, let's try to win this challenge, okay?"

"You want me to just turn over any buoy I can find?" Colin asks.

Skylia smiles, although it seems a bit forced. "Yes. Just try to win as hard as you can."

"Awesome!" the swim-bro says. He starts searching at Skylia's exact pace – for every buoy Skylia flips, Colin flips one, too.

On the shore, Aly and Cyrus sit together and discuss the visible tension building between Colin and Skylia.

"Looks like all might not be well in paradise over there," Aly remarks to Cyrus.

Cyrus blinks. "What do you mean?"

Aly points towards the blue ocean kayak. "Look at how often Skylia has to stop and tell Colin to do something different, or do something new, or to tell him to search faster."

Cyrus laughs. "I guess I didn't notice it before, but, dang, girl, you've got an eye for drama. We should talk more!"

Aly scoots a bit away from Cyrus. "Maybe."

Cyrus scoots a bit closer to Aly in response. "If their whole flirt-mance thing doesn't work out, I'd totally try hooking up with Colin. That is, if guys were his thing."

After a brief pause, Aly cracks a half-hearted smile. "I mean, hey," she says, "if Skylia wouldn't date him, when he's so clearly into her, maybe I'd date him."

Cyrus' jaw drops. "Really? You? Not that you're not a skinny legend, sis, but you don't seem like the relationship-on-reality-TV type."

Aly chuckles. "Maybe not, but out of the show, I'd totally try and date him...if he weren't a total future frat boy."

"Amen, girl, can't have any of that." Cyrus puts his hand up for a high-five, but Aly doesn't budge. He puts his hand down, not seeming upset at all.

Back out on the water, Catelyn is still having no luck finding a Chris Head.

"Are there literally any Chris Heads out here? Is the whole challenge actually just to decapitate Chris and use that as our head?" Catelyn says, irritably.

"Whoa, whoa, that's a lil' extreme, don'tcha think?" Judd says. His paddle has been once again resting in his lap; he picks it up and swings it around, accidentally hitting a couple of buoys. Suddenly, a Chris Head floats to the surface.

"Hey!" Judd shouts. "I got one!" He grabs it out of the water, keeping one hand on his paddle, and puts it in his lap. "Let's go!"

Catelyn raises her eyebrows. "Dang, that was lucky!" She and Judd, as previously planned, jump off the kayak and start swimming to the shore at a breakneck pace. Colin and Skylia notice this, look at each other and sigh, shrug, and start paddling back.

"I can't believe we didn't think of swimming back to shore," Karin says to Cyrus, who is gearing up to go out for round two. "Colin's literally a swimmer, like, wow, we dropped the ball there."

"He is?" Cyrus replies.

Karin laughs. "You mean you didn't know? Or notice?"

Cyrus blinks. "Guess not. Maybe you're just an attentive queen and I'm not."

"Maybe so." Karin smirks.

The Pandas start cheering as Catelyn and Judd run up the beach and hand Chris their token. Colin and Skylia pull their kayak up the beach behind them, empty-handed.

"The Pandas win the first round!" Chris confirms. He turns out towards the sea. "But you're gonna have to go back and get that kayak."

Elizabeth, satisfied with her team's success but annoyed at this wrinkle in her plan, looks at Judd. "I mean, the best swimmer on our team should have no problem going back out."

"No problem!" he says. "I'm full of energy t'day."

The Brit smiles confidently. "That's what I love to hear."

Angie stands at a distance from Elizabeth, arms crossed, biting her lip anxiously. "Oh God, she's a literal dictator!" she whispers to herself before shaking her head. "And I can't believe I have to work with her."

The Eagles begin hypothesizing who they should send out in the second round.

"Okay," Karin says, "Colin, I know you said you wanted a strong guy going out each round, but the reality is that we can't afford to tire you or Cyrus out too much by having either of you compete twice. I'm good to go with Aly unless anyone has objections?" No one raises a concern. "Okay, cool."

As the discussion disperses, Colin and Skylia walk off together.

"So much for my plan," Colin says under his breath to Skylia.

"I thought you said you weren't being sexist?" Skylia replies playfully.

Colin smiles. "I'm not. Just realizing this team's, like, not following my plan. But it's totally chill."

The scene shifts to Angie suiting up to kayak with Elizabeth.

Catelyn taps Angie on the shoulder as the blonde puts a life jacket on. "Good luck with that living power trip. Just keep your mind focused on winning, okay?"

Angie nods. "Girl, this is gonna be hard. Wish me luck." Angie walks over to stand next to Elizabeth by the pink Pandas kayak and grabs a paddle.

"Ready, blondie?" Elizabeth asks.

Angie, straight-faced, replies, "Call me Angie."

"Aly, Karin," Chris starts, "are you ready?" The two nod. "Angie, Elizabeth?" The two nod, but Angie shoots Elizabeth a quick glare.

"The score is 1-0, Eagles leading. Aly, Karin, if you don't win this round and bring me the first Chris Head, your entire team loses this challenge." Chris smiles. "And it's all your fault. But, no pressure!"

"Hey," Karin whispers to Aly, "this is our challenge to lose. No way Angie and Elizabeth work together well." Aly nods.

"On your marks," Chris says, "get set," he brings his red whistle to his mouth, "go!"

The two pairs begin pushing their respective ocean kayaks out to sea. Aly and Karin hit the water first and paddle out together before Angie and Elizabeth get on their kayak, visibly upsetting Catelyn.

"Okay," Catelyn says in the confessional area, holding a glass of water. "I know we weren't losing by the beginning of round two, but it just felt so disheartening to see the other team succeeding. I mean, what does it say about me that somehow freaking Judd was the guy that found the Chris Head during the first round and not me?" She takes a sip of water. "So I figured out how I'm gonna stay relevant on this show."

"Go, Aly!" Cyrus shouts. "You got this, girl! Karin, you're a legend! Kill it!"

Catelyn approaches Cyrus as he cheers on his teammates.

"You're an enthusiastic guy, aren't you?" Catelyn says to him.

Cyrus gives her a quizzical look. "You could say that. What brings you across enemy lines?"

"Just curiosity," she replies. "Because I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

Cyrus' eyes widen. "Really? That's interesting. I wonder...why that is..."

Catelyn laughs. "Me too." She appears again in the confessional area, still holding her water. "And my plan is to implicate myself in Cyrus' life in this game, because if I can befriend him and form some sort of a...cross-team alliance, let's say, then not only do I put myself in a good position, his fans can become my fans. And then we're good. Genius, right?" She smiles wide as she mixes around the ice cubes in her drink. "They don't call me a social influencer for nothing, you know. I'm about to socially influence the heck out of this game."

"Are you an actor or something?" Catelyn asks Cyrus. "Have you done any commercials or anything? Or like, maybe you model?"

Cyrus is visibly stressed, wringing his hands and trying to pay attention to Aly and Karin's efforts in the challenge. "Uh, no, sis, never, like, this is the first time I've really ever been in front of a camera. For TV. Or for anything, I guess. But, uh, thanks for the compliment...sis."

Catelyn smiles. "Okay, then. Weird, though, you just...I feel like I might have seen you on the internet somewhere. But if you insist I haven't...then I guess I really haven't." Cyrus pensively nods in response.

"So," Cyrus says in the confessional area, "all of a sudden, Catelyn from the Pandas team starts questioning me about, you know, am I an actor, am I famous, where has she seen me before... and it's like, oh, girl, dear God, no. I was hoping no one would recognize me so that no one could vote me out for being a true celebrity, but I guess being relevant and talented and having five hundred thousand MyTube followers all have their drawbacks. Although I'm flattered to have one of my fans on this show, it's just not cute for me right now."

Colin and Skylia are together on the beach, separated from the rest of the contestants. Skylia is lying on one of her yoga mats as Colin does push-ups next to her.

"So, Sky," Colin asks, out of breath, "you like working out at all?"

Skylia is mindlessly playing with a grain of sand between her thumb and index finger.

"Skylia?" Colin asks.

She drops the grain of sand and looks up at a tired and sweaty Colin. "Hm?"

"I, uh, was asking if you liked working out." Colin takes a deep breath. "Just, 'cause, you know, I like working out with people and things like that. Helps, like, morale, and things like that."

"Oh," Skylia says, blushing, looking down at her yoga mat. "I like yoga, as you can probably see. Pilates is great, too."

Colin sits down on the sand, takes his shirt off and uses it to wipe sweat off his face. "That's cool, dude. Never heard of Pilates. Wanna show me sometime?"

Skylia shrugs. "Maybe, I've been tired lately. Especially after that challenge, I don't know how or why you're doing push-ups after that like...intense kayaking."

Colin smirks. "Bro, the grind never stops. No breaks. I stay hustling."

Skylia just gives him a blank stare before appearing in the confessional area. "Okay, I feel bad, but, like, Colin's not that interesting as I used to think he was. Sure, he's cute, but, like...I don't know. Okay, yeah, sure, I was into him. But maybe I'm just not that into him anymore."

Back on the beach, Cyrus and Raechel cheer as Aly and Karin are return with a Golden Chris Head.

"The Eagles score!" Chris announces.

"You're bloody JOKING," Elizabeth can be heard yelling from the water.

The scene cuts to Angie and Elizabeth bringing their kayak in. They both throw their paddles to the ground, toss their life jackets to Matthew and Mitch respectively, and walk away.

"Ooh," Chris says. "Tension's high on the Pandas team. You guys might wanna work that out. Or not."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Angie says, seemingly close to tears.

"Oh, no, girl!" Catelyn says, giving Angie a hug and pulling her to the side. "What's wrong? Was Elizabeth mean to you? Did she bully you like she bullies Judd?"

Angie sobs. "No..."

Catelyn appears even more worried. "Did she hurt you? Or anything?"

Angie sniffles. "Not really...it's just..."

Catelyn pats her shoulders. "Do I need to go fight her for you?"

Angie laughs. "No... we barely talked, I just... I couldn't take that amount of...silence from her or anyone. I really don't think she likes me."

Catelyn chuckles. "Don't worry about it. You're strong. You're better than she is."

"I know," Angie says, wiping a tear from her left eye. "I just don't wanna deal with her anymore."

"Well, you know what?" Catelyn says. "If we lose another challenge, you might not have to deal with her anymore. Okay?" Angie smiled and nodded through tears.

The scene shifts to the beginning of round three.

"Okay, the score is 1-1," Chris explains to the teams. Mitch and Matthew are suited up and ready to go by the Pandas' pink kayak while Cyrus and Raechel are prepared to kayak for the Eagles. "One round left, winners take all, losers lose it for their whole team."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Mitch retorts. "Like, dude, no offense, but losing's basically a team effort."

Chris frowns. "Well," he starts, "if you lose this round, you just so happen to lose the whole thing for the entire team."

Mitch shrugs.

"Okay," Chris continues, "with that out of the way... you guys can take off anytime!"

"Remember the plan!" Elizabeth shouts as the two pairs take off down the beach. "Jump off! Get your legs ready!"

Matthew rolls his eyes as he and Mitch mount the ocean kayak. "We're not really gonna swim back, are we?"

"Depends on if we even find a Chris Head," Mitch says, scooting the pink kayak out to sea. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Cyrus is dragging the blue Eagles kayak by himself.

"Raech, this chall is a team effort," he says. "Girl, you gotta help me here."

Raechel, who is carrying the two paddles and leisurely walking to the water, drops the paddles and furrows her brow at Cyrus. "I am helping, though. I'm carrying the paddles."

"Sis," Cyrus continues, walking over to Raechel, "it's a competition. We can't waste time." Cyrus takes the paddles from Raechel and throws them onto the kayak. "Help me carry this out to sea, if you're so inclined."

"Oh," Raechel says. "If this is your way of trying to win me over, you're not doing a very good job. We're not the two."

Cyrus blinks. "Raechel, this is a do-or-die competition for you right now. You're gonna get voted off this team if we lose, you know."

Raechel's jaw drops. "Voted off? People don't get voted off of Are We the Two, silly!"

Cyrus raises his eyebrows. "Oh, girl."

Matthew and Mitch are paddling out together and drift into the field of buoys.

"Okay, start looking," Mitch says from the front of the kayak. He looks back at the shore, where Cyrus and Raechel are barely just getting on the water. "Just because we've got a head start doesn't mean we can waste time."

"I wasn't planning on wasting time," Matthew says.

"Good," Mitch says. "Nice to hear." He overturns a couple of buoys. "Nothing here."

Matthew puts a buoy down after coming up empty. "Nothing."

"All right," Mitch says, "pick up your paddle. Let's keep going."

Matthew obliges. "Will do." He then appears in the confessional area. "I feel like Mitch and I are like minded people. You know? Even if I'm not the most important person to this team, he's gonna do what he has to do to get far in this competition, and that involves working with me to win this challenge. It's cool that someone here actually wants to, you know, work with me at all."

"So, like..." Matthew says to Mitch as they search under more buoys. "Just a question."

"Yeah?" Mitch replies unenthusiastically.

"I know Elizabeth is like, the leader of this team, I guess, de facto," Matthew starts. "But why do we all just submit to her rule? Namely, you?"

Mitch is silent for a few seconds, and Matthew sighs. Mitch shrugs. "If I give her enough respect, she'll take me far. And I'm not trying to lose this game by having her dislike me." He picks up his paddle and starts paddling the kayak forward. "She likes you, you know."

Matthew appears shocked. "What? No, she doesn't. No way."

"Yeah, way," Mitch replies dryly. "She only really dislikes Angie and Catelyn. I don't think she gets along well with other girls."

"Huh," Matthew says. "Interesting." He turns over an orange buoy with his left hand and a Golden Chris Head floats to the surface. "Hey, Mitch! Stop paddling!"

"Yeah?" Mitch turns around. "Oh, shoot! Grab that now!"

"Are we swimming?" Matthew asks.

Mitch clenches his jaw. "Ugh, I know you don't want to, but we should."

"Just because her royal highness wants us to?" Matthew replies. "Paddling would be faster, honestly."

Mitch grunts out of frustration. "Just..." He jumps in the water. "Let's go." Matthew shrugs and jumps in the water.

Cyrus and Raechel, who are finally paddling towards the buoys, notice Matthew and Mitch swimming to shore.

"Raech!" Cyrus calls.

"Yeah?" Raechel replies.

Cyrus jumps in the water. "Get in the water!"

"Why?" Raechel says, jumping in the water as well, holding her paddle.

"Let go of that paddle," Cyrus says. "We're gonna steal that Chris Head from the Pandas."

"Steal?" Raechel asks. "Chris Head? I'm sorry, what? I thought this was a kayak date?"

"It's a competition for money, sister," Cyrus says, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards Matthew and Mitch. "Let's go!"

"What are they doing with my kayaks?!" Chris shouts, distressed, from the shore. "They're gonna float away! Forever!"

Skylia pats Chris on the shoulder. "I think it's time to let go."

"Let go?!" Chris exclaims. "Those are rentals!"

"I think you should try yoga, or meditation," Skylia replies. "Very soothing. You don't want to get worry lines."

Chris glares at Skylia. "I'd stop talking if I were you. Wouldn't want the votes to...you know... unexplainably fall your way." Skylia agrees, and slides out of view.

As Matthew and Mitch quickly approach the shore, Cyrus seems to be positioned to intercept them. Raechel, on the other hand, is a few meters behind Cyrus.

"Raechel, hurry, we've gotta stop them both!" Cyrus shouts.

"Trying," Raechel says. "Swimming is hard! I didn't think I'd have to do this on this show!"

"What show do you think you're on, babe?" Cyrus says. "Wait, what?"

As Cyrus was shouting towards Raechel, Matthew and Mitch had already swum past him.

"Are you kidding me?" Cyrus shouts. He violently splashes in the water, which, comedically, does nothing to assist him.

Back on shore, Matthew and Mitch hand the Chris Head to the host as the Pandas cheer loudly.

"The Pandas win the challenge!" Chris exclaims.

"I knew my strategy would work!" Elizabeth says, holding her head above everyone else on her team. Catelyn and Angie exchange a look, as do Matthew and Mitch.

The Eagles, dejected, stand somewhat separated from each other as Chris walks towards them.

"Eagles," he starts, "man, you guys look depressed." He turns towards a wet Cyrus, who still has his life jacket on. "Especially you, Cyrus, you look like you just drowned in your own tears."

"I might as well have," Cyrus says.

"Well, you're all gonna have to vote someone out tonight," Chris confirms. "Your team's going from seven to six. See you guys at the Poolside." He walks away.

Colin and Skylia approach Cyrus.

"Hey," Skylia says to the dejected vlogger, "don't worry. No one wants to vote you out tonight."

"Yeah, bro," Colin agrees. "Besides, like, Raechel totally screwed you over."

Cyrus wipes tears from his eyes. "I know...I just didn't want to lose ever again."

Colin pats him on the shoulder. "At least the vote's, like, obvious."

Cyrus looks up at Colin. "Really? Who?"

Colin laughs. "Are you kidding me? Raechel. Duh."

Skylia nods alongside Colin before appearing in the confessional area. "I never wanted to vote anyone out, either. It's just not in my nature, but... if Colin's going to do whatever I say, if I tell him that I think Raechel should be voted out for a greater sense of team unity, he's going to do the campaigning for me." She plays with a lock of her red hair. "I wouldn't say I'm manipulative, just resourceful."

Cyrus is seen talking to Karin, who is drying off a soaking wet Raechel with a blue towel.

"Okay, y'all," Cyrus says. "Remember our little alliance deal from a few days ago?"

Karin hands Raechel the towel she had been using. "I wouldn't forget that for the world, you know." She then appears in the confessional area. "Full disclosure, I did forget. He hasn't brought it up for, like, three rounds now. But Cyrus can't know that."

"Colin and Skylia want to vote Raechel out," Cyrus says to Karin. Upon hearing this, Raechel perks up.

"Vote for me?" Raechel says. "For what? An award? Am I winning? Are we the two, Karin?" Raechel hugs her socially-inclined friend before being gently pushed away.

"Raechel," Karin explains, "if you get voted out, you'll have to leave the competition. That's not a great thing, okay?" Raechel nods. "Do we have a counter plan?"

Cyrus looks off into the distance at Colin and Skylia. "I think there's someone on this team offering way less than Raech does."

"Who?" Karin asks anxiously.

Cyrus bites his lip. "Sis, it's gonna depend on one girl's vote. Because we're gonna need four."

"Aly?" Karin says, smiling. Cyrus nods. "I'll work on that. Help dry Raechel off."

Cyrus appears in the confessional area. He sighs. "Look, y'all, I don't love Raechel. She lost us this challenge! But an alliance is an alliance. And girl, I'm a super fan of Total Drama. You can't just dump your close allies the first chance you get. I don't mess around. I'm a skinny legend, after all."

Still on the beach in a straitjacket, Byran is watching his team leave the beach. "Hello????? Is anyone gonna let me out???"

Later that day, Karin approaches Aly in the girls' bedroom of the Eagles' cottage.

"Hey," Karin says.

Aly offers one quick look at Karin. "Let me guess, you want to know who I'm voting out."

Karin smiles. "Yeah. No use in hiding that."

Aly sighs. She sits down on her bed. "The only name I've heard is Raechel's. And, honestly, she's so blind to anything happening around her that I don't feel bad about it at all."

"I'd be surprised if you felt bad about anything," Karin says.

"Touché," Aly replies. "Do you know who you're voting for?"

Karin smirks. "Well, it's not Raechel. Because there's someone else here that's not offering anything to the team...offering less than Raechel does, anyways."

Aly raises her eyebrows, although her facial expression does not seem too impressed. "Tell me more. I'm open to anything." She then appears in the confessional area. "I'm not against voting anyone out. It's a game, everyone but me has to go, it's simple as that. I just don't know if I can take Raechel any longer."

The iconic elimination ceremony theme plays, again, as the exact same shots of the pool at nighttime are shown as last episode.

Another camera angle shows the seven remaining Eagles sitting in the seven poolside lounge chairs as well as Chris' assumed position in the lifeguard's chair. Byran remains in a straitjacket.

"Welcome back!" Chris announces. "Hope six of you guys are thirsty, because only six of you are going to get these bottles of orange soda. If I call your name, it means that no one put a knife through your picture when you voted just now at the pool bar. I'll throw you a bottle of soda and that's that. If you don't get a bottle of orange soda, you'll have to leave and board the Sampan of Shame and never, ever come back to the island. Okay?"

Aly rolls her eyes. "Hope I'm safe," she says sarcastically.

Chris lobs an orange bottle at Aly, which nearly hits her in the face. "What the heck, dude?" she asks.

The host laughs. "You are safe! And so are Karin, Skylia and Cyrus."

Raechel begins to look worried, her furrowed brow visible in the light of the cheap tiki torches behind her. Colin appears confident. Byran's mouth is shut with duct tape.

"I've only got two sodas left," Chris announces. "And the loser is...

...Byran!" Chris tosses bottles of soda to both Colin and Raechel. "And I'm so happy we're not getting his unfiltered response."

"Wait, dude, what?" Colin replies, catching his soda in his hands. "What do you mean, Raechel's, like, safe?"

"I said what I said," Chris says. "The votes don't lie, bro. Sorry if you don't like it."

Skylia's face goes pale as she turns to look at Colin. The two both shrug uncomfortably.

A tear begins streaming down Byran's face, but he can't talk. His former teammates apathetically stand up and walk back towards the Eagles' cottage.

"Bye, dude," Aly says, waving to Byran on her way out of the pool area. "Please get your vocal cords removed soon."

"Is anyone gonna help him?" Chris asks.

Karin sighs. "I'll do it."

"What a good Samaritan," Chris replies. "I really do pride our casting team in casting great people."

Karin laughs. "You think we're all great people?" She waits until everyone but Chris and Byran has vacated the vicinity. "I'm about to help Byran into the Sampan of Shame after I'm the reason he's outta here in the first place."

Byran's eyes widen as another tear streams down his face.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," Karin continues. "But I did vote for you."

Chris laughs sinisterly. "Harsh!"

The scene shifts to Chris drinking out of a coconut at the pool bar. "This cast getting rid of another weirdo? It's more likely than you think." He takes a sip of his drink. "Things should be a little quieter around here from here on out. Savage move on Cyrus and Karin's part. I guess their alliance is finally rearing its ugly head. What's gonna happen next time? I can't wait to find out – so stay tuned on Total...Drama... South Pacific!" The episode fades to black.