Total Drama: Action
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Total Drama Action |
| Abbreviation(s): | TDA |
| Creator: | Fresh TV; Teletoon |
| Date(s): | 11 January - 10 December 2009 (CAN) |
| Medium: | Cartoon |
| Country of Origin: | Canada |
| External Links: | Total Drama Action on Total Drama Wiki |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Total Drama: Action is the second season of Total Drama. It stars 15 contestants returning from Island (2007) and two hosts. Cody, Eva, Ezekiel, Katie, Noah, Sadie and Tyler appear for some episodes but do not compete.
Listed alphabetically, the contestants are Beth, Bridgette, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Geoff, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Izzy, Justin, Leshawna, Lindsay, Owen and Trent. Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet host.
Billy the Intern also appeared for the first time during this season.
Shipping
See List of Total Drama Relationship Names for more ship information.
The most popular pairing for contestants who compete in Total Drama Action is Courtney/Duncan. Other popular ships are Bridgette/Geoff, Gwen/Trent, Harold/Leshawna and Izzy/Owen, all of which were also popular in Island.
Total Drama Action gave further development to existing relationships, but didn't add many new ones. Justin/Trent, Beth&Lindsay and Duncan/Gwen made their primary fanac debuts this season, though. Duncan/Harold shippers were provided with more scene-fuel for their fires while Heather/Leshawna shippers were given an in-universe friendship between the two contestants, only for World Tour to take that away in 2010. Chef/Chris is worth mentioning as well.
Friend-groups commonly found in fanworks for Action and further seasons include include The Drama Brothers, consisting of Trent, Justin, Harold and Cody, as well as Team E-Scope, consisting of Eva, Izzy and Noah.
Fan Opinions
As Total Drama Island was written with no guarantee for a second season, many of its pairings were written as having their stories "finished" by the final episode. With the series' popularity, Island was renewed for a second season and had to shake up many once set-in-stone canonical couples with new tension. This was seen as forced by some fans. One example is with Trent's, "derailment," and the show's depiction of OCD, as well as fan reactions to this sudden development, as discussed on Trent's page.
In other aspects, the season felt underwhelming to some fans, especially after the release of season three, World Tour.
Yes, characters like Leshawna and Trent were derailed. But, one key reason why this season is not liked as much is due to its overall blandness. The challenges lacked intrigue, the plotline felt underwhelming, the drama was lacking, the season had more episodes than necessary for its plotlines, and the antagonists were not well-established.Justin's portrayal as an antagonist fell short of expectations. They tried to make him the antagonist and failed. Courtney helped in the latter part of the season, but there were moments where her character felt underwhelming. Her traits could have been exaggerated in episodes where she didn't play the antagonist role as much.
Perhaps the weakest aspect of the season was its finale. Beth and Duncan lacked the substantial character dynamic needed for an engaging finale. Comparing Action's finale to those of Island and World Tour highlights the disparity. Beth's status as a finalist garnered some hate from fans, and Duncan's limited involvement throughout the season didn't justify his place in the finale. I think a finale with Courtney facing off against either Lindsay or Harold would have been far more compelling.
In my personal ranking, I'd place this season just above All Stars and Pahkitew Island. The presence of the original cast contributes to why Action doesn't get as much hate as it otherwise would.[1]
Example/Notable Fanac
Fanart
- TDA screenshot redraws amazing for ur health by citrusacidic, Archived version, a screenshot redraw of a still-frame of Action featuring Justin, Duncan and Harold.
- team escope (extended) by changanomaly, Archived version, fanart of Emma, Izzy, Eva, Noah and Owen as Team E-Scope. Rare example of Emma, a character from the spin-off The Ridonculous Race, being included in the group.
Fancomics
- Zeke in Action AU by slimeys0daa, Archived version, an English canon-divergence AU where Ezekiel was eligible for Action. The comic is spread out over several TikTok and Tumblr, Archived version posts. Eventual Ezekiel/Justin. This AU has produced recursive fanworks itself, mainly in Ezekiel/Justin tags on various social media sites.
Fanfic
- A TDA Love Triangle with Betty, Cody, and Gwenny by Rufus T. Serenity, an English abandoned longfic where there's a love triangle between Bridgette, Cody and Gwen during Action. Rated T and its genre is Romance/Drama. Rufus was an early BNF in Total Drama fandom.
Meta
- I highly approve of your stance on Harold by lawyer-apocalypse and haroldmcgrady, Archived version, meta praising the rivalry in Action between Duncan and Harold.
Other Total Drama Seasons on Fanlore
- Total Drama: Island (2007)
- Total Drama: Action
- Total Drama: World Tour
- Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
- Total Drama: All-Stars
- Total Drama: Pahkitew Island
- The Ridonculous Race
- Total Dramarama
- Total Drama: Island (2023)
- Total Drama: Island (2024)
References/Further Reading
- ^ Sapotis's meta, Archived version posted to Reddit September 13, 2023