Monster Cash

'''After ending in a fourteen-way tie for the million dollars, fourteen castmates are brought to the set of season two. Their first challenge will be one of monstrous proportions, and the winner gets to pick the trailer for his fellow males.'''

Plot
The episode opens by showing the castmates who qualified for season two - Owen, Gwen, Heather, Duncan, Leshawna, Geoff, DJ, Lindsay, Bridgette, Trent, Harold, Beth, Izzy, and Justin - being dropped off by a bus to the set of Total Drama Action, after ending in a fourteen-way-tie for the million dollar prize Chris offered in the previous episode. The castmates engage in some conversation, including praising Beth for getting her braces off, commenting that she looks much more attractive. Chris picks them up in a tram and gives them a tour of their temporary new home. It is revealed that the losing castmates will tale the Walk of Shame into the Lame-o-sine.As they are driving around the set, Chris begins to tell a story about how this was once a set for a monster movie, until the star had some "problems". As it turns out, the star is not an actress, as Lindsay assumes, but rather a mechanical monster resembling a dinosaur. Chef, wearing a motion-sensitive suit, controls the monster, as Chris explains that the first challenge is to race to a set of trailers before the monster can catch them. Everyone, except DJ (who fainted upon seeing the monster), races off the cart and hurries toward the trailers with the monster in hot pursuit.

One by one, each castmate is deposited into a moon bounce when the monster catches them in short order. Soon, only Owen is left. When Chef finally locates him, the monster attempts to pick him up to put him in the moon bounce. However, Owen is too heavy to pick up, so the monster breaks down, leaving Owen safe to find the trailers. Owen, in the confessional, states that being 'big' has its advantages, but can only name this one incident as one of them. Ten hours later, Owen finds the other castmates and releases them from the moon bounce by puncturing it with a sharp needle.

The castmates, after complaining about him taking so long to free them, move on to the second challenge.As each castmate enters the new mess hall, Chris explains how the castmates will be divided into teams of boys versus girls. They then see a delicious-looking feast that is set upon some tables. Owen erupts into a feeding frenzy, thinking the food is for an eating contest and eats everything on the table. Chris, amused, reveals that the food is made from plastic, foam-core, sawdust, and silicone, and that the actual challenge is to find the key hidden inside the "food". Then, Owen burps up the key, and wins the challenge for his fellow males. Owen is now starting to suffer because of the prop food and is offered medical attention, which he initially refuses. For winning the reward, Owen gets to choose from two trailers where the boys will bunk and where the girls will bunk. As it turns out, one of the trailers had been crushed under the monster's feet during the first challenge, and the guys assume that Owen will choose the unharmed trailer. Instead, Owen chooses the crushed one, as he claims that "it had more character".

The guys begin to yell at Owen until Chef makes the now repaired monster crush the other trailer as well. Later, the trailers are repaired by Chef and the castmates must figure out where they'll bunk. The boys decide with relative ease, with Duncan sharing a bunk with Justin, Harold calling a bunk,

Geoff calling the one under his, and Trent and Owen splitting one, leaving DJ alone. No one wants to share a bunk bed with Heather, so the girls draw makeup brushes (since there were no straws) to see who will bunk where. Lindsay and Beth share a bunk, Gwen and Bridgette share, and Leshawna and Izzy share a bunk, leaving Heather with two bunks of her own due to a mathematical error, to which Gwen responds, "Yeah, we really need to work on our math". Later, early in the morning, Chris yells into a megaphone to wake the castmates up, and asks what will be in store for the castmates in the next episode. As the closing line, he says, "McLean out!". Off-screen, the monster roars and Chris asks, "Will someone please put a wrap on that monster?".

Exclusive clip
In the confessional, Justin talks about how he was voted out early last time and plans to be a fierce competitor "this year." He says that while he's the pretty boy in the outside, he's filled with rage to win in the inside. He states he'll make sure no one will stand in his way. At the end, he is given a mirror. He promptly checks his looks and describes himself as perfection.

General

 * The various mini-teams formed among the castmates in this episode are:
 * Geoff and Bridgette.
 * Harold and Leshawna.
 * Owen and Duncan.
 * Beth, DJ, Trent, and Gwen.
 * Heather, Izzy, Justin, and Lindsay are all by themselves.
 * Originally, Duncan is partnered with Trent and Gwen. However, he eventually teams up with Owen while Trent and Gwen join DJ and Beth.
 * Izzy is seen with Owen, moments before getting captured, but isn't really working with him.
 * The eating part is set up similar to the Brunch of Disgustingness, as it has boys versus girls, and Owen winning it for the boys. It also features the same montage song.
 * According to the Total Drama Production Blog, while on the table Owen was originally supposed to tell everyone he's fine. However, Scott McCord (who voices Owen and Trent) improvised the line, "Nope. Call 911". The production crew found it so funny that they kept it for the episode.
 * This episode first premiered on Teletoon's website on January 8, 2009. It was available to everyone, even those outside of Canada. However, on the next day, Teletoon blocked all non-Canadians from watching any videos on their website.
 * In the girls' trailer, the girls sleep in the bunks sharing with somebody:
 * Beth and Lindsay (Beth on the bottom and Lindsay on the top)
 * Bridgette and Gwen (Bridgette on the bottom and Gwen on the top)
 * Leshawna and Izzy (Leshawna on the bottom and Izzy on the top)
 * Heather alone
 * Interestingly enough, when the couples were captured, the guy would say something before falling. If both the girl and the boy said something, the boy would say something right before the drop, except in Harold and Leshawna's case when they bounced again and Leshawna responded to Harold's declaration of love.
 * This is the only episode (aside from the aftermaths, and Super Hero-ld) of Total Drama Action not to have its title be a spoof of a movie's.
 * This is currently the only first episode of a season in which the teams are not formed, as it is instead a free-for-all challenge.
 * This is the only premiere episode of a season to begin with a recap of the previous season.

Continuity

 * The first three cast members that were taken by the monster are to be the first three eliminated.
 * This episode features two people in the confessional for the first time in the season.
 * This is the first time this season, and fifth time overall, that Chris has mentioned the episode's title. The others are in Phobia Factor, Brunch of Disgustingness, No Pain, No Game, and I Triple Dog Dare You!.

Goofs

 * There were multiple instances in this episode in which Heather is seen with highlights in her solid colored wig, which denote a goof as her still having her real hair. These instances occur:
 * When Heather tries getting off the bus and collides with Gwen.
 * When Chef is chasing the raccoon out of the tent.
 * When Trent throws Heather out of his way, it also appears to look like her real hair.
 * When everyone is sleeping in the holding pin, Heather's hair is seen. However, it changes back to her regular wig after she wakes up.
 * During the eating challenge when the screen goes from Owen and Chef Hatchet to all the other cast members.
 * When Heather gets off the bus, she is missing her eyebrows.
 * When the monster is dropping Justin into the "cage", the shapes of Gwen and Trent are visible on the right side, but it is supposed to be Bridgette and Geoff there, as shown in the next shot, where everyone is staring at Justin. This also happens when Harold and Leshawna are put in.
 * In the blow-up house while everyone is asleep waiting for Owen, Trent is not seen until he confronts Owen about his slowness later on.
 * When the monster looks at Justin, its eyes are clearly red, but when it is seen with Owen, and Duncan its eyes are black.
 * When the castmates wake up in the bounce house after waiting for Owen, the iconic skull logo on Duncan's shirt is missing.
 * During the zoom-out of the cart, Harold is seen going left instead of right.
 * When the monster appears, Duncan is standing next to Bridgette. In the next scene, Geoff is standing between Duncan and Bridgette.
 * Several times, the letter "O" on Owen's back is missing.
 * In the preview for Total Drama Action, DJ is seen running with the other castmates at the beach, however, in this episode, DJ is never seen running with them.
 * Izzy is seen sitting on her luggage when the bus pulls away, but when Owen tells her to get on the trailer (and she is seen whistling), the luggage is nowhere to be seen.
 * Though Owen wins the challenge because the monster could not pick him up, the monster had picked up Beth, DJ, Gwen, and Trent together in one hand without a problem. These castmates' (particularly DJ's) combined weight would certainly outweigh Owen's 296 pounds. However, it could be possible that Owen had gained more pounds prior to this episode or that lifting so many people had a cumulative effect on the monster's ability to lift.