At last the field narrows to four contenders, and the tension thickens with every passing moment. The era of Alejandro’s goofy gait fades, replaced by a darker, more calculating presence that seems to haunt the game.
THE CHALLENGE
Chris McLean has left the interns unfed this week, sending the contestants to assemble ice cream sundaes for two mysterious guests. The prize hinges on retrieving ingredients scattered across the island’s most perilous corners:
- ice cream at the crest of the diving cliff
- maraschino cherries perched on a rock deep in the swamp
- crushed peanuts in the old cafeteria of the Main Lodge
- chocolate sauce in a pool surrounding a recently planted mutant fire flower
Scott sprints up the mountain, but slick ice sends him sliding into a slow climb as he battles to catch up. Gwen and Mal, later joined by Mike, stay neck and neck for the other ingredients, braving a series of traps designed by Chris, including Snappy the alligator and the rebuilt Total Drama Machine.
Both reach the chocolate sauce first, but Mal keeps pace and waits for Zoey, letting her surge ahead so she can win and invite him to the Spa Hotel. He triggers an explosion that sabotages the chocolate sauce just as Courtney and Scott close in, changing the outcome of the race.
With Courtney far behind, a tight duel unfolds among Gwen, Zoey, Scott, and Mal. No one wants Courtney to win, yet somehow she finds a shortcut and crosses the finish line first. She proudly offers her sundae to the interns, but then a twist hits the table—each contestant must eat their own sundae. Courtney declines to eat hers, citing the chocolate coal atop it and a bird that left its mark. The rest dive in, and Zoey pushes through with determined gusto.
Zoey earns the victory. Again.
THE ELIMINATION CEREMONY
Zoey learns that the winner no longer has the privilege to invite anyone back to the Spa Hotel, a development that visibly irks Mal. In the voting, Scott and Courtney land on the chopping block, the former lacking allies and the latter earning a reputation for backstabbing. The votes clearly favor one over the other.
Courtney is eliminated.
THE DRAMA
Mal craves the DVD Alejandro stashed, hoping it proves the villain has taken over Mike. His scheme to slip back into the Spa Hotel and retrieve it backfires. He still plots to crush his rivals, but Zoey grows increasingly suspicious.
She absorbs Alejandro’s warnings about a greater evil lurking within the art and begins to doubt the outward persona. Mal slips up, chuckling at others’ misfortune in a way Mike would never do. As she spends the night in the Spa Hotel, the idea that there is more to the art festers in her mind.
Deep inside his own mind, Mike, Chester, and Svetlana cross paths with Vito, a ventriloquist dummy used by a shirtless personality. Mal possesses the dummy, vowing they will never be beaten. Mike snaps Vito free from his chains, leaving Manitoba as the lone survivor to be rescued. Mal senses the danger and grows unsettled by the loose threat.
The real drama unfolds after Courtney draws up a chart listing who must be voted out in what order for her to win. She reveals the plan to Gwen, vowing that it will be Gwen and her until the end. When Mal, hiding behind a new ploy, exposes the chart to the rest of the contestants, the room erupts in chaos.
With everyone against her, including Scott, Courtney pleads with Gwen to swing the vote. Gwen agrees, but only if Courtney votes for herself. The exact outcome remains a mystery to the audience, yet the inevitable result is clear: Courtney exits the game.