Fifteen years after the original Total Drama Island aired, a reboot has been greenlit and sixteen new teenage competitors arrive on a mysteriously restored Camp Wawanakwa to compete for the million dollars.
Tropes:
- Animation Bump: The season has the brighter colors, subtler outlines and more fluid movements of Total DramaRama as opposed to the original series.
- Calculator Spelling: Ripper's mugshot board number is "5318008", or when upside-down, "BOOBIES". Ripper is smiling immaturely while holding the board up, clearly aware of this.
- The Cameo:
- One of Axel's zombie cardboard cutouts is a zombified Shawn.
- Gwen's parents, in their Total DramaRama designs, are the victims of MK's pickpocketing.
- Priya's dad dresses up as Owen as part of her training for Total Drama.
- Brightly, the guide from the Total DramaRama episode "Cartoon Realism", is one of Damien's friends.
- Celebrity Star: Emma, Chase, and Julia are all social media stars with a sizable following. Nichelle outstrips them all as a famous teen actress immediately recognized by most of the cast.
- Clean, Pretty Childbirth: Priya was forced to bungee jump with her umbilical cord after being born in the frozen mountains, but apart from the cord nothing explicit is shown.
- Continuity Nod:
- Ripper asking if the cabins are co-ed is similar to Heather asking the same question in "Not So Happy Campers - Part 1" after Duncan requested a bunk under her. Same with Axel dropping her heavy luggage on Ripper's feet like Eva did with Cody in that episode.
- Verbal Backspace described below was also how Chris started announcing the cast in "Heroes vs. Villains".
- Chase's friend from home eating a bull's testicles and its crying reaction to it are a reference to "Brunch of Disgustingness" where the first dish were beef testicles and a bull's reaction to it being announced was shown.
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Axel's luggage has everything she needs in case of a zombie outbreak.
- Priya has been prepared for every possible challenge she could face in Total Drama since she was a baby.
- Didn't See That Coming: Caleb and Emma are blindsided when the former is voted off with little foreshadowing.
- Didn't Think This Through: Ripper rips off his shirt as soon as he arrives on the pier. It was his only shirt, since he brought no luggage.
- Don't Look At Me: Scary Girl says as much to Chris when she steps onto the island. Faced with her perpetual wide grin and shrunken irises, Chris quickly complies.
- Driver Faces Passenger: The intern driving Caleb to the island ends up crashing into the dock because she was staring at him the whole time.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The Ferocious Trout had mostly great teamwork in this episode and they ended up significantly surpassing the Frogs of Death. In the other episodes before the merge, the Trouts are often at odds with each other, while the Frogs have better teamwork and do better in the challenges, which they either win (episode 2, episode 4) or would have won if one member (Nichelle in episode 3, Julia in episode 6) hadn't screwed up at the last minute.
- Establishing Character Moment: All of the new cast gets a moment to shine in their introductions. Unlike before, parts of their audition tapes are shown to set them up as characters.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Priya's parents began training her for Total Drama from the moment she was born. Her first bungee jump was with her umbilical cord, and it only got worse from there.
- Insane Troll Logic: Running forward on Millie's direction, Ripper and Chase go right instead of left because "Her left is our right!" Millie is behind them, by the way.
- Lame Comeback: When Ripper and Chase underestimate the depth of a mud puddle, Chris jabs with "Unlike Julia's social media posts, that was deep!" Julia can only say "You're like, really funny." in response.
- The Load: Nichelle is unable to keep up with Wayne's athletics while they're tied together, getting dragged along whenever he speeds up. Eventually, he resorts to carrying her across the field.
- Maniac Monkeys: According to Chris, the new writing team consists of angry monkeys who want humanity to fall. As he speaks, a monkey presses a Big Red Button that launches nuclear missiles...
- Mirror-Cracking Ugly: Ripper mooning the cast causes Bowie's heart-shaped shades to shatter. They remain that way for the rest of the season.
- Naïve Newcomer: Damien has never heard of Total Drama before, and made his audition tape on a dare. Chris is gleeful; Chef pities him for the horror he's signed himself up for.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Priya claims her parents were Total Drama fans before she was even born, meaning that Comic-Book Time is no longer in effect and we'll likely never see the first three generations again.
- Primp of Contempt: Upon Nichelle’s arrival, Priya screams how much she loves her and Nichelle simply replies with “M’kay” while looking at her nails.
- Rake Take: There's a few rakes scattered along the obstacle course. Ripper and Wayne both end up stepping on one.
- Retcon: Camp Wawanakwa and the island where the camp rests return again after the whole island sank in the season 5 finale, meaning that the sinking was retconned. No explanation has been given to this.
- Rump Roast: Happens to Nichelle when Wayne accidentally drops her on the hot coals.
- Self-Serving Memory: Chase claims Emma dumped him out of nowhere. In reality, she dumped him after he cut the brakes on her car, caused her to crash into a pet store, and laughed about it.
- Share the Male Pain: Bowie and Chris wince when Wayne runs crotch-first into a pole, but he was wearing a cup.
- Shout-Out: The challenge, which featured two blindfolded contestants having to be guided by their teammates yelling directions to them, is a reference to the popular Survivor challenge "Blind Leading the Blind" challenge.
- Time Skip: It's confirmed it's been fifteen years since the original Total Drama Island, meaning also twelve since Pahkitew Island and The Ridonculous Race.
- Title Drop: Before the campers arrive, Chris says "Now let's meet the victims".
- Traitor Shot: As Caleb is getting droned off the island, Bowie emerges from some bushes, smirking deviously. He then uses the confessional to explain how he convinced the others to vote Caleb off for appearing to be too strong.
- Unexplained Recovery: Camp Wawanakwa sank into the lake at the end of All-Stars, necessitating the need to build Pahkitew Island for the following season. It's back with no explanation for the reboot.
- Verbal Backspace: This line from Chris: "Now let's meet the victims— *laughs* I mean campers!"
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: After Julia surrenders three phones, Chris uses a metal detector to find a fourth one in her cleavage. It turns out even that wasn't enough, as MK lifts another phone from her when they're in the cabins.
- Where It All Began: The show returns to Camp Wawanakwa for the fourth time for a brand-new season.
- Wicked Wasps: Part of the obstacle course has a line of murder hornet nests. Wayne and Nichelle are unfortunate enough to agitate them.
- Working with the Ex: Much to Emma's horror, her ex-boyfriend Chase is also a contestant. Chris all but says he accepted them both on purpose.
