Total Drama Island/Up the Creek

Up the Creek
Season 1, Episode 8
Airdate	August 19, 2007
Written by
Directed by
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Total Drama Island — Season One

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Up the Creek is the eighth episode of the first season of Total Drama Island.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

The episode starts with Chris explaining the challenge to both teams, except Beth (who came out of the bathroom just as the campers were leaving). The campers are to paddle by canoe to Boney Island, travel through a two-hour venture in the deep forests of the island and reach the other side of the island, where then they would build a bonfire (which Chris himself would judge), and afterwards race back to Camp Wawanakwa in order to win the challenge and invincibility for the winning team. Before Beth rejoins her group, Chris explains how Boney Island, their destination, has a legend in which anyone who removes an item from the island will be cursed forever. As the campers pick partners to ride in the canoe with, Gwen and Trent look to each other with the intent of going off together, but both are interrupted by Cody propositioning Gwen with the same offer (to which Gwen responds by catching him in an armbar to fend him off), while Beth and Lindsay drag Trent off to paddle with them. Upon seeing this, Gwen reluctantly concedes to partner with Cody. Geoff is shown to be eager to have Bridgette as a partner, but he is ignored in favor of Courtney. DJ offers to be Geoff's partner in her place. Geoff admits in the Confessional Can that he feels as if Bridgette is fading on him, but reassures himself that this is not the case.

While Geoff offers support for DJ, who is revealed to be aquaphobic after a horrendous diving board accident in his childhood, Bridgette confides in Courtney that Geoff left her a present in the form of a heart-shaped clay bowl with a torn group photo glued together to make herself and Geoff appear next to each other with an inscription on the back reading: "I hope you think of me whenever you drop loose change into this". Both girls find this gesture unbearably corny, as does DJ when Geoff tells him about it. Since Geoff was supportive for DJ's fear of water, DJ felt he owed it to Geoff to give him love advice so that he could more effectively woo Bridgette.

Cody attempts several times to ask Gwen out on a date while they paddle across the lake, only to get a rejection each time. He only finally understands Gwen's rejection when she hits him in the groin with her paddle. Eventually, Cody realizes that Gwen is rejecting him because she prefers Trent. Gwen's attitude towards Cody greatly improves when he offers to put in a good word for her with Trent, whom he is allegedly close to. Gwen admits she would owe Cody for doing this favor, to which Cody mentions a bet he made with Owen that he would win if Gwen would comply and give Cody one of her bras. This causes Gwen to ram her paddle into Cody's groin again, as he sees that his request was crossing the line.

The campers arrive at Boney Island, with all but Izzy spooked with the mysterious mist hovering over the water and the general morbid atmosphere of the island. Eager to get the challenge over with, the two teams hold their canoes over their heads as they race through the forest to the other side of the island. Along the way, they encounter bear-sized, carnivorous woolly beavers, which chase the campers to a swamp-like area before they finally leave the campers alone. Owen ruins his underwear, and in the midst of asking for a spare, he farts, awakening giant prehistoric birds. The campers again run for their lives as the birds give chase. Cody then has an idea, pulling a packaged loaf of bread from his pants (which was originally intended to be for a romantic picnic for himself and Gwen) and throwing it toward the birds. This distracts the birds long enough to allow everyone to flee to safety.

As the Bass take the lead, they come to a crossroads. Courtney suggests to take the left path, 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 as they see the Bass taking the right path, prompting them to take the left. Suddenly, Trent falls victim to a pit of quicksand (which was put up by Chris himself, much to his amusement). As he sinks, Lindsay resolves to save him, but only ends up getting stuck herself. Trent calls for help, to which Cody answers the call by swinging on a vine to grab Trent's hand. He fails to catch Trent and crashes into a tree instead, but the vine comes back to the quicksand area where Trent is able to grab it and pull himself and Lindsay out of the pit. Extremely grateful for his efforts, Trent and Lindsay thank Cody for his efforts. Cody explains his rope-swinging abilities come from watching several movies.

Just as the Bass have the upper-hand, Geoff becomes injured and can no longer walk on his own. The "injury" turns out to be a mere splinter in his leg, but this incident is greatly exaggerated by all members of the Bass, even with Bridgette saying the sight of Geoff's injury was worse than seeing surfers getting eaten by sharks. Geoff's incident puts the Bass behind as he must now be carried on top of the canoe held by DJ and Harold. Eventually, both teams make it to the beach to start the second part of the challenge—building a bonfire. Though the Bass are behind, they quickly catch up thanks to Duncan owning a lighter, which Chris states there is no rule against carrying one (while the Gophers are forced to start a fire the old-fashioned way, with sticks and rocks).

During the fire-building competition, Trent and Cody have a brief talk about Gwen. Cody follows through on his promise to Gwen and informs Trent that she has a crush on him. Trent is initially not impressed by this and warns Cody that he'll beat him up if he is lying to him, but seems relieved when Cody assures him that he is telling the truth. Before Cody can give Trent advice on how to handle the situation, Heather interrupts the two, reminding them that they are in the middle of a challenge. While looking for wood, Beth stumbles upon a Tiki idol. Since she was in the bathroom while Chris warned the campers to not take anything from the island, Beth was unaware of the potential curse she would bring about to herself and her team, and she secretly takes it as a souvenir. Meanwhile, Geoff is dragging himself with all of his strength to contribute to the Bass' fire. Following through on his promise, DJ encourages Bridgette to examine Geoff closely in case he has developed something serious, as she has first-aid training.

Courtney is dissatisfied with the size of the fire and orders her teammates to find more wood. In a panic, Harold grabs all of the paddles from their canoes and throws them into the fire, leaving horrified faces on his teammates as Bridgette angrily asks Harold how they would get home without them. On the Gophers' end, Izzy creates a home-made fire-starter made of tree sap and other assorted ingredients. She warns everyone to stand back as she tosses the ball into their fire pit, which triggers off a massive explosion (large and tall enough to nearly hit Chris in his helicopter). When Heather asks where Izzy learned this technique, she explains she spent a summer training with the Reserves and accidentally blew up the kitchen in a similar incident. She reveals that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been searching for her since then, proclaiming herself "so totally AWOL". Chris declares the Gophers the winners of the fire-building contest, thus starting the final leg of the challenge—paddling their way back to home base. Before taking off, 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 for this.

The Bass are left helpless with their paddles burnt in the fire. While paddling away, Izzy suggests someone flutter-kick all of the canoes together from behind. She is cut off by an angry Leshawna for giving the opposing team help, but the Bass do consider Izzy's idea. DJ is chosen to be the swimmer, being the only one strong enough to push all of the canoes at once. Geoff argues against it, knowing full well of DJ's aquaphobia. He volunteers to do it instead, but is not permitted to do so due to his "injury". DJ finally steps up to the plate and says he will do the deed for the sake of his team. With his teammates rooting for him, DJ manages to out-swim every Gopher canoe and make a wipe-out finish at home base, giving the Killer Bass the win and invincibility. Leshawna assures Izzy that she will be the one voted off tonight, since she was the one who gave the opposing team advice that ultimately helped them win. Izzy seems not to be concerned about the danger she has put herself in, but is quickly chased off by Leshawna with a paddle.

During the campfire ceremony, the final marshmallow was set to either go to Izzy (who looks quite confident) or Lindsay (who is playing with her hair, seemingly not paying attention). However, before the call can be made, the RCMP abruptly make an appearance from a helicopter, shining their spotlight down on Izzy. Being the notorious liar she is, Izzy is asked by Leshawna if all the crazy stories she told were actually true. Izzy says that only the RCMP part was true, bids the group farewell, and screams at the RCMP that they would never get her alive. With that, she runs off into the distance, laughing maniacally while everyone else looks on in utter shock. Chris is the only one apparently nonchalant about the situation, and ends the ceremony then and there.

Later that night at the Gophers cabin, Cody finds a black bra under his pillow; Gwen rewarded Cody for following through on his promise. He shows it off to Owen, and tells him to enjoy doing his dishes for the rest of the competition as per their bet rules. Gwen and Trent are then seen down at the dock, enjoying each other's company in the moonlight by the lake. Meanwhile at the Bass cabin, the clay change dish Geoff made for Bridgette falls and breaks, and as Bridgette picks up the pieces, Courtney suggests to her that it would be a waste of time to fix it, but Bridgette feels otherwise as she picks up the photos of herself and Geoff and smiles. Back at the Gophers cabin, Beth is then seen reading on her own with her tiki doll securely next to her. Ominous lightning strikes as the cursed object is focused on, and the episode ends.