User blog:Epic~00/Why Courtney Hasn't Been A Finalist Yet

So having just recently finished TDAS through a series rewatch I've been doing, one episode in particular that had interested me was Sundae Muddy Sundae. In said episode it turns out that Courtney's decided to plan to cut all ties with Gwen and Scott nearing the finale, planning to get rid of Gwen in the Final 3 and planning out that Scott would go easy on her if they were the last 2 left. For a large number of people, (which can be proven here) this was seen as some kind of terrible step with Courtney, that she was on some kind of route to becoming a more consistently nicer and selfless person only for this episode to suddenly stop that dead in its tracks, revert her right back to her domineering and pushy self who'd crush anyone to get to the top, and her ending up eliminated in the same episode. But apart from me not thinking this episode is even that bad to begin with, to think that Courtney would end up becoming a nice person in only the fifth season, when two more aired after that and with another airing the next year just seems frivalous for me and I really don't think she should be a finalist yet.

I'll start with Courtney's development since it's a pretty big factor to why she hasn't been a finalist/won yet like so many want her to (including her haters). She was all nice and caring in the first episode to people but the second episode shows her more selfish and belligerent side, refusing to jump off the cliff because she has "a condition that prevents her from jumping off cliffs" and taking a calculated risk in completely underestimating the Screaming Gophers capabilities and not thinking they stand a shot at winning. She's then proven wrong by being one of the very few who didn't jump, and a bee sting, being continuously bossy and being blamed for her team's loss only for Ezekiel's latent sexism to hop in last minute and save her. While in the first season, her more aggravated side increases with passing episodes, though still has some sanity to her. Along the way she has a love-hate feud with Duncan but their stark differences fuel them to be together. But meanwhile Harold has been relentlessly picked on by Duncan and his friends through "pranks" and decides to commit a prank of his own; rigging the votes to get Courtney eliminated over him in an attempt against Duncan of "let's see how you like it when someone messes with your love life ". She's unceremoniously and unfairly eliminated from the show and as a result is way more hostile and bitter about this, completely resentful to the show.

After not managing to get a spot in Total Drama Action despite being as aggressive and unkind as possible in the special, she vows "if they thought they were in trouble before, they're in HUGE trouble now!!!" suing the producers into getting her back on the show, having ridiculously high-maintenance requirements, being at her most unabashedly cruel to others, stepping on anyone's toes to get to the top and just generally being nasty. After managing to survive a number of eliminations by virtue of her skill in challenges, Courtney ends up shafted in the third last episode, betrayed by an ally she held to a low standard like Beth and a boyfriend she was emotionally and physically abusive to into fitting all her regimes in Duncan.

Although she initially took a back seat in World Tour, Courtney gets shocked and relieved that Duncan ends up returning but her prissy and uptight attitude in trying to change him to fit her image all culminates in him cheating on her with Gwen. This brings her back to her TDA roots once again, swearing vengeance against Gwen for again, something unfair happening to Courtney. This involved trying to cost as many challenges as possibly and aggressively antagonizing Gwen to various degrees before finally beating her at a tiebreaker vote.

Finally in All-Stars she keeps this grudge against Gwen firmly and it gradually takes Gwen time to gain Courtney's trust back, Courtney joining the villains team halfway into the merge and starting to treat Gwen more earnestly. Along the way she starts to get feelings for Scott and forms a relationship with him. This is broken swiftly by Mal and Cameron scheming against both of them by Cameron kissing Courtney and lying that she kissed him. It's solved however by her reforming her relationship with Scott by ordering him to get back with her ("I love me a bossy lady!!!") but then in Sundae Muddy Sundae she decides to make a list planning how the rest of the Final 5 will go, bringing Scott to the finale so he'll let her win, getting rid of Gwen second-last, wanting Zoey out as soon as possible, and Mike being her wildcard. Mal finds this list and shows it to everyone, making her completely lose ties she made with Gwen and Scott and both turning their backs on her.

She tries her hardest to get Gwen back on her good side and Gwen promises not to vote her IF Courtney votes for herself. Courtney doesn't want to gamble this way and plays ruthlessly at the challenge to try and win, predicting she'd be voted off otherwise. She gradually fails through numerous unfair bad luck happening to her, Gwen sticking by asking Courtney to vote herself, and Courtney ultimately being voted off with 3 votes, which in fact proves she didn't vote for herself and voted off Scott with Gwen.

A number of people, including Courtney's fans, criticize this side of her as being her always jumping back to square one and never coming out on top but I can't see it this way at all. Her goal since the first season was to be successful in life and to rise to the very summit in achievements. So for her to achieve that goal in All-Stars would've just concluded what her arc as a character was altogether and there wouldn't really be much more you could do with her.

The four other prominent characters within the TD universe along with Courtney, being Owen, Gwen, Heather, and Duncan, all have made it to the finale in different seasons so I could just make this argument with them too. But they're in a much different boat to Courtney. Gwen did have only a one-season goal which ended in the first season, but she still had & has a bunch of relationship drama to overcome in seasons following. And she was the first protagonist so it's not like she can just make it to the end and never come back, which is why there was such a big gap between the two times she actually got to the end-game. Duncan has went through a large variety of different roles before and after TDA, so him being a finalist so early on doesn't really affect the basis of the role his character has considering his versatility. Heather was an antagonist who went through a three-season storyline of learning to not be so pushy and demanding, and the difference between her in TDI and her two seasons following is very noticeable, but the same season she reached the end in was the same one she formed a relationship in so there was still more left to do with her and might even be more now. And Owen never had any goals :D

But while Courtney has been through several personality changes throughout the show, the actual core of who she is of wanting to be the very best like no one ever was has always been her storyline and the most basic way to do it with a reality contestant. So if she achieved that dream in All-Stars like many predicted/wanted her to it would conclude a huge vital part of her personality and who she is. Even if you had more stuff to do with her after she became a finalist the motive behind her actions would be completely lost and she'd have to rely on other people more than herself. And no she wasn't "out of character" in Sundae Muddy Sundae. The fact she got friends only to hold prizes over them is completely in-character for her to do when she's so close to the end and feels like she can win the whole thing. And be honest with yourself, including you Courtney haters; does someone who's such a big character as her deserve to make the finale of a 13-episode season and also the season that gets the most negative feedback? No, a character as objectively bold and big of a personality as Courtney deserves better, regardless of your opinion on her.

And whether or not the writers ever finally come to the conclusion "Okay, this time we're making Courtney last to the end" the truth of the matter is that she hasn't needed it yet. Not against it happening but if you wanted to know why it hasn't yet, there's your answer.