Episode Summary:  Oh, why did that have to happen.  I'm basically crying buckets of tears right here.  Why did Emma have to bre...  Oh yeah, that happens later this episode.  Well, I'm sorry for the slight spoiler alert right there.  I just got so emotional when I saw what ever happens later, which doesn't involve my favorite character.  Darn, the spoilers keep coming out!

  Anyway, the episode begins where that lame double elimination happened just moments ago in New Zealand.  Thank goodness the challenge ahead won't be as lame; going up an easy path up the lush mountains to a train station nearby.  Okay, maybe I was wrong about the excitement level of the challenge, but at least there will be more time to focus on ongoing plot lines and character development.  Hey, the simpler the challenge, the better the story.

  Plot wise today, it seems the Ridonculous Race has a new couple in its ranks.  Despite initial difficulties, Noah and Emma have started going out and are deeply in love with each other.  Their love has also tightened the alliance between them teams, which Emma refers to many times over as a family.  However, everything is not as good as it sounds.  Emma and Noah's love has become so close to the point where both of their teams have difficulty completing the challenge.  Also, Emma has become over obsessive over Noah and really not in a healthy way.  It isn't Sierra bad, but it is bad enough that she is already planning her future with Noah too many years ahead.  Kitty really notices this and has to keep reminding her of focusing on her relationship in the present.  Alright, please tell me she overcomes this problem soon.  I don't want her and Noah to break up.

  Also, Dwayne again wants to act cool around his son, who he realizes is growing up.  The situation tightens as when they arrive on the train, Junior has a nice conversation with the Surfer Dudes, who he sees as cool.  Worried his son may no longer care about him, he asks the last person you would want advice from for anything; Brody.  Basically, Brody tells Dwayne to act as chill as him and just let things happen.  Sounds like good advice, until you realize Brody's definition of cool is acting like a complete goofball.  Worse, Junior decides to take advantage of his father trying to act cool, using an article from a magazine he bought back at the train junction.  Oh, this is going to end so well.

  Finally, Devin is still in the second stage of breakup, which is extreme anger.  Throughout the challenge, he rants about how everything is terrible and that Shelly cheated on him.  In the middle of this situation, Carrie tries to act as cool as possible to up her chances of dating Devin someday, but she isn't comfortable with his anger at all.  The only good thing that results from his anger is a brief hint of attraction between the two of them on the train.  Good for anyone who supports this couple (me included), but not so good for the characters near Devin.

  When all of the trains arrive at Division Junction, the site of the next Don box, the teams find out their next challenge.  It is another Either/Or with a choice between performing the terrifying but kind of goofy Maori Haka Dance, or bungee jumping off of  a bridge to receive a local fish from below.  (Sorry about the lack of information.  I don't know how to spell the names of the bridge and the fish the contestants need to catch.)  The wait for this challenge to finish isn't long though, as the sort of sidelined Ice Dancers complete the warrior dance in record time and make it to the Chill Zone quickly in first place.  Those jerks are rewarded with pampering, despite the high amounts of karma still on them, which should be coming any day from the Police Cadets.  Man, I cannot wait for that possible plot point to happen.  Maybe Josse will get her hair shaved off like Heather, while Jacques gets his hair turned white from radiation.

  Meanwhile, the other teams try to complete the second part of the challenge.  Despite the seemingly bad obstacle Devin anger seemed to be for most of the episode, he end up landing his team second place after scaring the dance instructors with his anger.  Carrie takes the win well, and thinks Devin's anger could help them win the game.  Yeah Carrie, you might want to recall your glider crashing because of Devin's anger in the last challenge before you think it is a good idea to keep him this way.  Despite Junior trying to play along with his father's strange behavior from Brody's terrible advice, he cracks after his father keeps embarrassingly botching up the warrior dance in various ways.  Junior tells him that what he is doing isn't cool, and that he is sorry for using him.  This results in a kind of nice scene as they breeze through the challenge and are safe from elimination.  Noah and Emma continue to let their love distract them from the challenge, which has now gotten on Kitty and Owen's nerves a little bit.  Knowing they'll lose if they don't do something, Kitty forces them to bungee jump for the local fish.

  Things start to get worse after the Reality TV Pros and the Sisters race to the Chill Zone.  Emma creepily names the fish she caught after her ex-boyfriend Jake, and tries to take a lock of Noah's hair.  (I can only imagine what she would want to do with it.)  Kitty spots this and tells Emma if she continues to act this way, she'll lose the game.  Not only that, but she'll lose Noah's love as well.  Not thinking strait from the shock of the realization, Emma forces Kitty to rush with her to the Chill Zone, leaving the Reality TV Pros to finish last.  Worse, Emma decides to end things with Noah until the race is over, in the most heartbreaking scene all season.  This causes Noah t-t-o break apart, g-g-going into a-a-a possibly end-less coma-tose st-st-sta...  Okay this scene is too sad to write about!  This was the freaking scene I was talking about in the beginning.  You know, the one that made me cry. 

  However, the Reality TV Pros are safe from elimination this challenge, as it was a non-elimination.  This would be good news if Noah was still mentally there, which he is not.  Sure, we still have Owen, but seeing him trying to cheer up Noah with complete failure hurts almost as much as Emma ending things with Noah.  Well, at least the episode ends with a kind of funny scene with Dwayne getting a Maori tattoo to look cool, only to find out it is a woman's tattoo.  That is something, right?

  Positive Aspects:  As once said in The Kite Runner, whenever something makes you burst into tears, the writers are doing a good job putting on a show for the audience.  Emma's break-up with Noah was that effective, to the point where I actually cried in real life for a few minutes.  It isn't often that the Total Drama series creates such heartbreaking scenes as this, but when they are done, it is very effective.  One such example was the song "Oh, My Izzy" back in Total Drama: World Tour, which back until now was the saddest thing I'd seen in this franchise.  Noah breaking apart from Emma ending things with him was upsetting for me.  One, he is my favorite Total Drama character, and seeing him break down like this possibly forever is heartbreaking for the fangirl part of me.  Two, Noah is the last person who would get upset in these kind
of situations.  He is always the one to say something sarcastic during these times or brush it off completely.  So a mental breakdown from him is a very big surprise.  I don't like seeing Noah upset, but the writers outdid themselves with the scene.

  Also, I liked how Dwayne and Junior's plot line was handled this episode.  The writers did not go for the usual dumb dad acting cool cliche, and played around with it quite a lot.  In fact, the writers used it to make Dwayne and Junior become closer than ever before, in a way that was very maturely done.  Yeah, there were no jokes during the scene where Dwayne realized he was overdoing things and Junior apologized for using him while he was trying to impress him.  This scene could've easily gone wrong if Junior didn't  apologize or if some type of last minute gag was added in.  However, it didn't and the episode is stronger for that reason.

  Finally, there is the side plot where Carrie has to deal with an angry Devin.  Although it is not as good as the other two emotional filled plots, it is still entertaining to see the Best Friends win despite Devin's anger and Carrie trying to put a not so convincing face on.  The best part of the plot by far was the hint of character development for Devin when he looked into Carrie's eyes romantically for those few seconds.  I really hope these two get together real soon, as their plot line has been really interesting for the last few episodes. 

  Overall, the writers can give themselves a pat in the back for this episode.  It was absolutely perfect, and brought me to actual tears.  If there are more episodes like this in the Ridonculous Race, I'll have to state this as my favorite Total Drama season.  Yeah, the Ridonculous Race is good competition against Total Drama Island, which was one of the best things of my early childhood.  Both seasons are very well written and are beloved by fans and critics alike.  I look forward to future episodes of the Ridonculous Race now, as I want to see if it can beat Total Drama Island.