Total Drama
Broken Base in this series.General
- Ever since Revenge Of The Island, there's been a raging debate on whether or not the show should stick with the original cast, or have a new cast with each season. Some miss the old cast and want them to return so they can receive satisfying endings to their stories, and in some cases, redeemed. Others argue that there's not much left the writers can do with the old cast, so they might as well make new characters that they CAN do new stuff with. There's even a third camp, (No pun intended), who argues that, as the reviled All-Stars and much maligned Pahkitew Island have shown, neither approach is necessarily better than the other.
- The endless debate upon which season is the absolute worst. Is it All-Stars for further derailing returning characters, controversial writing choices, and Chris being at his worst? Or is it Pahkitew Island for its new (and debatably terrible) cast and setting, controversial writing choices, and Chris being at his worst (again)?
- Depending who you ask, Duncan/Courtney's Slap-Slap-Kiss routine is either praised or hated for its toxicity.
- The Gwen/Courtney/Duncan Love Triangle from World Tour onward is a source of massive controversy even for those who aren't biased in favor of either ship. One side loathes Gwen and Duncan for going behind Courtney's back and breaking her heart, while another side blames Courtney for her controlling behavior towards Duncan and thinks Duncan had the right to leave her, even if he cheated. There's a smaller (but growing) faction that thinks nobody in the love triangle came out looking good, but the "Gwen's side versus Courtney's side" debate rages on nevertheless.
- The series having Multiple Endings where each of the finalists in the final two has an ending where they win, a trend that is only broken by the time of the reboot. Is it better to have two endings per season, as it allows there to be more winners across the series and makes it less predictable who's going to win in each country? Or is it better to have only one ending, as it allows constant mentions of a past winner having already won (which is hard to achieve more than once in case of Multiple Endings), which can even be used as a plot point and solid strategy of targeting them for that exact reason?
Total Drama Island
- Harold rigging the votes against Courtney is divisive to this day. Was it justifiable revenge for all the crap Duncan put him through, or was Harold acting unjust by cheating and targeting Courtney?
Total Drama Action
- Who was most at fault in Gwen and Trent's breakup? Is it Gwen for spending more time with Duncan than her actual boyfriend and assuming the worst about Trent's obsessive behavior instead of talking things out with him? Or is it Trent for his clingy tendencies and said obsessive behavior towards Gwen, including throwing the game for her? This argument even splits up the fanbase In-Universe during the first Aftermath special (though by the second Aftermath, there's more unambiguous in-universe hatred for Gwen, unlike the more evenly-split real life fanbase).
- The Screaming Gaffers. Are they far more interesting than the Killer Grips due to having some of the most iconic conflicts in the whole series (such as Heather and Gwen, Heather and Leshawna, and Duncan and Harold) and, in spite of this, managing to completely wreck the Grips in victories? Or does said constant in-fighting make them extremely tedious to watch and undeserving of being Action's superior team when the Grips worked much better than them? This last point is made even worse when one takes into account DJ's illegal alliance with Chef and Trent deliberately throwing challenges for the Grips that he otherwise would have won, with this happening in Riot On Setnote and Beach Blanket Bogusnote .
- The agreed-upon winner is divisive due to the finale contestants not having an Arch-Enemy relationship, and therefore a less clear hero vs. villain dynamic than in the following seasons. Is it Beth, who is kinder, sweeter, and a better person in general, meaning she probably deserved the money more? Furthermore, is it her because the special shows she went to France with Lindsay like she promised she would if she won and there's a version which claims her prize money was used to bail the two out of jail? Or is it Duncan, who is an Anti-Hero, had the more intimate relationship with the actual Big Bad of the season, and received more focus not only in the season itself, but also in the series as a whole, meaning he actually deserved the victory more? Most of the original airings went with this ending, including the USA, Canada, and Latin America, although Beth's ending was shown in Russia and most of Europe, often without an online voting for the winner at that.
Total Drama World Tour
- Similarly to the Screaming Gaffers, Team Amazon is pretty divisive for the same reasons. Despite every member of this team having a conflict with at least another person (especially Heather, who is pretty much Hated by All), they manage to be one of, if not the most successful team in Total Drama's history, winning eight times (same as the Gaffers) and coming in last a measly four times, three of which were reward challenges and thus only losing a single member before the merge, which didn't happen until episode 16, which was the last elimination before the merge. Does this make them an extremely fun team to watch and see succeed in spite of their constant bickering? Or are they a boring Spotlight-Stealing Squad and a source of some of the most egregious cases of Plot Armor in the series?
- While it's usually agreed that Heather is the most deserving winner, the identity of the canonical winner is a point of debate: Was it Alejandro? Due to the inclusion of the Star Wars Shout-Out as part of his karma, followed by him asking for the money that he never won in Heather's ending. Plus a goof was present (Sierra not using her wheelchair), which didn't occur in the other ending. Or was it Heather? As it would have been the perfect end to her arc of Character Development from a Villain Protagonist to an Anti-Hero over the whole season. Also it has been pointed out that switching the dummy seems like a really poorly written, last-minute stint. Plus some goofs that were present (Heather's cleft chin being missing, Hawaiian men who warned the others of the effects of pineapples in volcanos disappearing), which were fixed in the other ending, implying this ending was created first. It's been also pointed out that him asking for money makes sense in either ending as he wasn't present when the winner was announced and slid down significantly further in Heather's ending (making it harder to hear the announcement of the winner), therefore not being aware who won; and that even if he knew that she won, he might have been hoping she'd share the prize with him due to her obvious crush on him.
- Alejandro's karma is controversial. Even some of his haters felt having him get grievously injured by lava from an erupting volcano and then being put into a robot suit to recover was excessively harsh and needlessly cruel, while others (usually his haters) believe he deserved every last bit of it after all the malicious manipulating, backstabbing, and womanizing he engaged in, as well as for being the most evil jerkass contestant on the show at the time.
Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
- Continuing with the trend of superior teams being base breakers, there are the Mutant Maggots. Once again, despite this team's members being at each others' throats for most of the pre-merge episodes, Scott's Team Killer strategy on the Toxic Rats manages to keep the Maggots on a big winning streak in spite of some of their victories feeling undeserved (with special mention going to the premiere episode, as they did lose but were spared due to Chris bending the rules in their favor), not to mention having the very divisive Cameron-Mike-Zoey friendship on the team. Are they more interesting to watch than the Rats getting massacred by Scott and generally being Too Dumb to Live? Or just another boring team with little reason to root for when fan-favorite characters like Dawn and B are on the other team?
- Scott's karma where he ends up in a trauma chair after being brutally mauled by Fang in "Eat, Puke and Be Wary". Even his haters thought that it was way too harsh and uncalled for, while others felt that it was very well justified especially after his actions in "Grand Chef Auto".[[note]]The episode where he blackmails Mike with his MPD and even goes as far as clubbing him on the head.
- The run-on, dragged out Cameron VS Lightning finale debate. While the finale's plot was fairly well-received, there's still quite a bit of conflict over which finalist deserved to win. Should Dork Knight nerdling Cameron who was unexpectedly resourceful and developed phenomenally rightfully deserve to triumph against brainless, Jerk Jock Lightning who had done almost nothing important and was irrelevant until the last few episodes? Or is the Thunder Man the far more hilarious, interesting character, who was clearly the better choice over the whiny screenhogging Bubble Boy who godplayed his way through the finale? Despite Cameron having the better personality, Lightning's implied Daddy Issues gained him enough sympathy for a fair chance, to the point his crying in the former's ending can be seen as a Tearjerker.
Total Drama: All-Stars
- Given how polarizing they are amongst the fans, how Mal treated the four remaining Villainous Vultures could either be seen as pure, unadulterated Catharsis Factor, some of the lowest points in the series cementing Mal as a
Black Hole Sue, a surprise case of Alas, Poor Scrappy, or some mixture of the three.
Total Drama: Pahkitew Island
- Who is the true Big Bad? Is it Scarlett, Sugar, or both of them? Some even factor Max and Amy into the debate. Confirmation from Word of God hasn't succeeded in easing this debate.
- Samey getting Amy eliminated in her place and the fallout from it. Was it good because it was shocking and epic or awful because the show had to insult their audience's intelligence for it to work? Explanation Another section holds Chris knew what was happening and said nothing for the drama and the others in Samey's team didn't notice or care. Explanation
- The entire plotline regarding Dave and Sky's ultimately failed relationship. Some thought it was great because it was unique and different on top of being a subversion of the couples trope by not having them get together by the end. While others (specifically the minority of fans who actually hated Pahkitew Island) thought it was terrible for being a very weak attempt to subvert said couples trope resulting in the franchise once again shooting itself in the foot for needless drama as well as rendering most of the season pointless similarly to the Gwen and Courtney plotline in All-Stars.
- Who was at fault for wrecking Dave and Sky's relationship? Was it Dave's clinginess annoying Sky, Sky playing his feelings for her own selfish cause or Chris showing Sky's audition to Dave? Some people blame all three of them for the reasons mentioned above, but they put the most blame onto Chris.
The Ridonculous Race
- Once Total Drama got a new host for its spinoff Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, fans were all over the place about it. Most of them were very upset that the hilarious, colorful, and charismatic Chris McLean got replaced with the bland, generic, and uninteresting Don and wish Chris had remained in charge, while many others loved how the caring, upright, and likeable Don has replaced the immoral, sadistic, and sociopathic Chris and hope that Don remains in charge permanently.
Total Drama Island (2023) Part 1
- The 2023 soft reboot of the series introducing a new cast has also divided the fandom. Those in favor of getting new casts are excited to see some new faces on the show, while those opposed are very much attached to the older characters and want to see their plotlines receive satisfying endings. The fact that a decent amount of time (since Chris says that the show began 15 years ago and Pahkitew Island and The Ridonculous Race were revealed by Word of God to take place 3 years after Island) has implied to have passed from Pahkitew Island to the new season does not help at all.
- The new cast have had their designs talked about. Some find their designs boring and too average, while others embrace them as unlike Pahkitew, they're portrayed as relatable and normal.
- The fact that the entire new cast would be returning for the following season also divided the fanbase. Some really enjoy the new cast and want to see more of them, while others are already sick of them, and would rather see the old cast return, or have some more new characters added.
- Who should've won the finale? It's agreed there was no wrong winner in the final 2 having possibly the most deserving final 2 of the entire franchise, but who was more deserving is far more contentious. Many fans think Priya is the rightful winner for having the most well-rounded gameplay all the while having worked the hardest for it. The fact it made what her parents put her through worth it and having a great use for the money also works in her favor. Bowie however proved to be a strategic mastermind the whole season who had been playing the game from day one and some feel him winning would've been Laser-Guided Karma to Priya's Abusive Parents.
