(Image via max.com)
Editor: Vivian Galindo
Email: bgalindo@umassd.edu
If you were like me as a kid, odds are that you watched Total Drama Island when it first aired. The show was an animated spoof of reality shows like Survivor, starring twenty-two plucky teenage kids based on some sort of teenage stereotype.
Believe it or not, the first season aired over fifteen years ago in 2008.
The first season was soon followed by a few more seasons, each one donning a new title: Total Drama Action, where all the challenges were based on movies; Total Drama World Tour, where the cast rode around the world in a plane; and even Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, each of which introduced a new set of campers for both of their runs.
Then, in 2021, it was announced that Total Drama Island would be returning under its original title for two seasons. The promotional image seemed to imply that old characters would return. What did these new seasons have in store?
Well, the promotional image was just that: promotion. They used existing assets and later announced that the seasons would introduce a new set of campers who would engage in new, more modern challenges.
Some claimed that the more modern approach was cringe-inducing, saying that new challenges would include things such as drag racing and making Tik Toks.
So, are the new seasons any good?
I’m going to try not to spoil too much, but yes! So far, only the first season has been released in America and can be watached on MAX in full.
For starters, I’ll explain a bit of the context. In the canon of the show, fifteen years have passed since the original season of Total Drama Island. That means a lot of the characters have already watched the show and understand its intricacies.
The show supposedly takes place at Camp Wawanakwa, the location of the original season of Total Drama Island, though this is technically impossible. Producer Terry McGurrin confirmed that it was a different island, as the original one sank in the finale of Total Drama All-Stars.
If that’s a spoiler for you… that season came out in 2013, over ten years ago. Get over it.
Along with the new island, there are sixteen new contestants, and boy, are they fascinating.
Lauren, AKA “Scary Girl,” is a goth girl with clown makeup, and her whole schtick is that she’s pretty creepy. In all honesty, she’s not that creepy, just pretty funny and takes on a chaotic role similar to characters like Izzy or Max.
Wayne and Raj are two hockey-playing best friends who collectively share one brain cell. They’re both super kind, and Raj ends up getting very close to another camper… no spoilers though!
Priya is a bit of a try-hard who was quite literally raised to be the ultimate Total Drama Island contestant. Her introduction shows her practicing against someone dressed up as Owen, one of the original finalists.
Julia starts out as a sort of crunchy influencer type, calling herself a “proud citizen of mother Earth” with “warrior goddess energy.” As the show goes on, she begins to drop the facade and settle into another role, one more akin to Heather in the original Total Drama Island or Courtney in Total Drama Action.
Finally, there’s Bowie. Bowie is stated within his introduction as being the “first openly gay contestant.” Among talks of Tik Toks and drag races, the first openly gay Total Drama character had been teased throughout all of the promotion for the new seasons.
With all the hype leading up to his introduction, Bowie absolutely does not disappoint.
The characters in the show are supposed to be stereotypes, and while Bowie does behave in a somewhat stereotypically gay way, there’s so much more to him. He’s one of the best players in the new cast, winning challenges, making alliances, all while making a few friends along the way.
Season two is set to air in the U.S. during 2025, and after how good season one was, I’m definitely going to keep watching!