The Princess Pride

'''Fairy tales come to the set of Total Drama Action as a princess is crowned, causing two people to form a fierce rivalry of love. Upon fighting his way through dragons, ogres and many other creatures, a castmate finally meets his ultimate end in the game.'''

Plot
The episode opens up with Duncan hosting a burrito making contest. Courtney doesn't participate, as she is busy "strategizing." Beth and Lindsay combine their burritos with a friendship bracelet (giving the name of Burrito Friends Forever), while Harold makes one called The Lucious LeShawna. Justin makes a burrito modeled after his muscles to impress Beth and Lindsay, but Beth and Lindsay feel nothing when he starts flexing, which worries him. Duncan picks Harold's burrito to be the winner, as it is the biggest, which was the objective. Courtney then says that all of them have a Reality show disease that turns everyday tasks into challenges. Justin goes over to Courtney, compliments her strategy, then asks her how she gets through life with all of her deformities, when she says she doesn't have any, he states that she is in denial.

Chef and Chris walk in and announce the challenge. Beth, however, correctly guesses the challenge based on the glass boot Chris is carrying, which results in Chris threatening to personally kick Beth off the show. Chris says that whoever fits into the glass boot will be the challenge's princess, but he immediately rules Beth out, saying that only the winners from the last challenge can participate, which makes Beth get bitter. Lindsay takes off her boot, and turns out to have huge feet (Which are never actually seen, but the boot can just fit over her big toe). Courtney tries to put on the boot, and barely succeeds. Chef then dubs Courtney, "Princess Courtney." Courtney's boot then shoots off her foot, hitting Justin in the eye.

As Chris tells a story, the first challenge begins: Crossing a bridge with an "angry Ogre". Everybody is given a fairy tale role, complete with sight-obscuring headgear for their costumes, and it becomes apparent that they'll be crossing the bridge blindfolded. Beth and Lindsay fail, but Harold is able to run past Chef. Justin is reminded of what Courtney would do and uses his head gear to head butt Chef. Duncan (even though he cheats by moving his blindfold so that he can see through it) is able to use Chef's wig as a rope swing to get across. Even though Justin notices that Duncan can see, Chirs doesn't seem to think that's true. Beth and Lindsay get injured after they failed to get across the bridge.

The next part begins as Courtney is leveled down dressed as a princess. She starts singing, which enchants both Duncan and Justin. Justin realizes that he finds Courtney attractive and points out that he and Courtney would be "the best looking couple in the kingdom". Duncan hears this and the two get into an argument about who should be with Courtney. During Courtney's song the boys try to prove to her that they are best for her (during the song Chris advertises a CD of Courtney's song). After the song Justin compliments on Courtney's brain and beauty. Duncan just thinks he is sucking up but Courtney points out that it is nice to get compliments. She then throws her glass slipper at Justin (which hits him in the face), explaining that she has chosen him to receive an advantage in the second challenge. Chef "kidnaps" Courtney and takes her up the radio tower (designed to look like a medieval tower). The three boys are given wooden swords (Justin gets the biggest one for his advantage), and are told to use them to slay a dragon (the mechanical monster with wings taped on), and then climb the tower to rescue Princess Courtney. Justin calls a truce with Harold to get Duncan to lose, but later betrays Harold and leaves Duncan crushed by the dragon as he makes his way up. Right before Justin and Courtney kiss, Chris informs them that the challenge isn't over; the two must now duel with their swords, with the winner gaining invincibility. Out of chivalry, Justin refuses to battle, but Courtney, however, doesn't want to risk losing invincibility and knocks him off the tower, resulting in him to crash into the ground (putting him in a full body cast). Chris also advertises Princess Courtney dolls which are, "More fun and less dangerous than playing with the real Courtney."

At the award ceremony, Chris gives Courtney her Gilded Chris, before announcing that her lawyers want 80% of the profits from the merchandise, but in an attempt to avoid it, he has changed all the dolls to Princess Beth dolls (and gives her a contract that she gets no profits off the merchandise, along with her Gilded Chris). Lindsay and Harold receive Gilded Chris' too, meaning it comes down to Justin and Duncan. Chris announces that the final Gilded Chris goes to Justin, and Duncan is out of the competition. Courtney is taken aback, and loudly voices her protest, but Chris confesses the truth, saying he was only joking; Duncan is in fact safe, while Justin has been voted off. Justin bids everyone farewell, but to his surprise, none of them are sad to see him go, not even Courtney who barely acknowledges him. Courtney explains in the confessional that she had the whole thing set up to work out in her favor. She never had any feelings for Justin, and only flirted with him so that he'd give up his immunity in the late stages of the game. Justin then carefully makes his way to the Lame-o-sine with his injured body. Chris and Chef then end the episode playing with dolls as Chef has a war with the princess Beth dolls. Then Chris mentions that the target audience might be too old to play with dolls, but then demonstrates to Chef how to 'properly' play with dolls.

Quotes
Courtney: Excuse me, I'm strategizing. Duncan: (in mock fear) Ooooooo.
 * Duncan: Ten more seconds! Biggest burrito wins! (to Courtney) Think I'd make a good reality show host?

Lindsay: Look! Beth and I are BFFs. (brings up their burritos, which are joined together by a friendship bracelet) Lindsay & Beth: Burrito Friends Forever! Duncan: Did you belt your burritos? Beth: It's a custom friendship bracelet I made. To join our two burritos for always and ever. Duncan: Weird, creepy, but big-ish. It qualifies. (to Harold) Geekwad. You manage to make yours any bigger? Harold: I give you... (brings up his burrito, which resembles LeShawna) The Luscious LeShawna. Lindsay & Beth: Aw, that's so sweet! Justin: Sweet? (brings up his burrito, which resembles a flexing arm) Check out the guns on these beans. (Lindsay and Beth don't react to Justin's charm) Justin: Nothing? You feel nothing? Beth: Not a tingle. Lindsay: Not even an ingle. Justin: Man! This scratch shnozz destroyed my looks and my life. Why?! Duncan: Harold, your pathetic portrayal of puppy love makes me want to hurl. But you did make the biggest burrito, so you win.
 * Duncan: Hey Linds, what do you got?

Justin: Who's infected?! Is it a rash?! I can't afford a rash! Courtney: You all have reality-show-itis, a disease which causes people to turn everyday tasks in to crazy challenges. Thus losing focus on the real competition, which I refuse to do!
 * Courtney: Please. I'm not coming anywhere near the infected.


 * Justin: (in confessional) When my good looks went, so did my winning edge. But Courtney is still managing to kick butt and she's not nearly good looking as I am... okay, as I was.

Courtney: Just being me! I'm glad to help. Justin: You could help more if you'd tell me your secrets... like, how do you even get through life with all your deformities? Courtney: My WHAT?! I don't have any deformities! Justin: So your answer is... denial? (Courtney glares at him) Okay.
 * Justin: (to Courtney) You know, you're the only one taking the game seriously. I just wish I knew how you did it all. It's so inspirational.

Harold: "Sir"? Someone needs an ego check. (Chris enters in costume, holding a glass boot) Beth: Oooh! That's a glass slipper! Which means today's challenge is a fairy tale movie. My favorite! Chris: (irritated) Beth, dude, if you ever steal my intro again, I'll have to personally boot you off the show. Lindsay: You can't boot Beth! Oh wait, he can, because it's a glass boot!
 * Chef Hatchet: Hear ye, and rise, for Sir Chris!


 * Beth: (in confessional) They're totally typecasting me as the ugly stepsister! But now that my braces are off, I'm absolutely princess material.

(Courtney takes the glass boot and tries to force it on her foot) Harold: I hope that's safety glass... Courtney: (struggling with the boot) Come on, come on, come on, come on... Chris: Listen Courtney, we can go to a different selection method if- Courtney: No! I'm gonna... (finally gets the boot to fit) YES! (boot begins to crack) Chris: Let's get this over with before she loses a foot and I lose another lawsuit. Chef? Chef: (in fairy costume) I dub thee "Princess Courtney". Courtney: Eat my pixie dust, commoners! (boot flies off and hits Justin in the face)
 * Chris: (To Courtney) I don't know... it doesn't look like it's gonna fit.


 * Justin: (in confessional) I've become the beast instead of the beauty. A prince turned into a frog! Did Courtney do that on purpose? No, no, she's not evil, she's just feisty. I like feisty. I like it a lot!

Beth: (wearing the big wig) But I can't see! Chris: Oh yeah, for this challenge, each knight is blind. (everyone complains) Chris: Nowhere in this story does it say "the cowardly knights complained"! So get it together, steppie, and get crossing!
 * Chris: And so the ugly stepsister approached the terrible troll.


 * Beth: (in confessional) Hey, how do you know if you have a concussion? Is seeing double a bad sign?


 * Justin: (in confessional) There I was, down, dirty, and deafened. And I thought, "W.W.C.D." - "What would Courtney do?" And then it came to me! She'd use her head.


 * Duncan: (to himself) Seeing? Good. Seeing Chef as a transgendered troll? Priceless!

Chris: (skeptically) How? With his x-ray vision? ... That'd be cool.
 * Justin: (notices Duncan peeking) Hey! He can see!

(Justin and Duncan gaze at her) Justin: She's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Duncan: (dreamily) Yeah... Justin: I must have been so busy seeing her as a master strategist that I didn't see her outer beauty! Wow... we'll be the best looking couple in the kingdom! Duncan: Pardon?! Justin: I saw you cheat, Duncan. You don't deserve to be her prince. Duncan: Who died and made you the decider about me and Courtney?!
 * Courtney: (singing) When I was a little girl/I'd dream of my first kiss/It would come from my perfect prince/And in my dream, it went like this...

Lindsay: Courtney is so lucky, she gets to wear that sparkly head thingy. Beth: If you smell burnt toast and everything looks like it's underwater, does that mean you have a concussion? Courtney: (singing) When we kiss, my prince will be you.
 * Courtney: (singing) My prince will be tall and handsome. (Justin puffs out his chest) My prince will be tough as nails. (Duncan breaks Harold's back over his knee) My prince will have lots of money. My prince will tame wild whales. (Duncan breaks a whale's back over his knee)

Harold: I'll take one! I'm going to listen to the beautiful love song and think of LeShawna...
 * Chris: Wasn't that song brilliant? It was so brilliant, I know everybody wishes they could hear it over and over and over again! And now they can. (snaps) Relive the magic of Courtney for only $12.99. Call 555-SELLOUT to get your authentic Princess Courtney CD before everyone else downloads it illegally!


 * Harold: (in confessional, reading a note from LeShawna) "Yo, Harold. If you play that skinny rich girl song and think of me, I'll have to kill you."

Courtney: Thank you, Sir Justin! Duncan: (scoffs) More like "Sir Suck-Up". Courtney: (to Duncan, annoyed) You know, you could learn something from Justin here. It's nice to get a compliment once in a while. Duncan: ... Well, I'm waiting. Butter me up, princess.
 * Justin: (to Courtney) After risking my life for you, I've realized how wrong I was with that "deformity" crack! (Justin grabs her hand) You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen! AND the smartest! What are the odds?


 * Duncan: (to Courtney) Come on, I was just kidding about the compliment! You're cute, okay?! I like your face, it's nice!


 * Justin: (in confessional) Falling for Courtney has been hard on the face. I think we'll have a "no shoes" policy once we're dating.

(Duncan tackles Justin; the "dragon" causes them to fall in opposite directions) Justin: (to Harold) You want Duncan to win? Harold: You're kidding, right? Justin: Then help me take him down, and I'll let you win. I don't care, I just can't let him have Courtney!
 * Duncan: (to Justin) You princess-stealing slimeball!


 * Duncan: (hitting the "dragon" with his wooden sword) Dork! Nerdling! Harold-type loser!
 * Justin: (to Harold) Well?
 * Harold: Get them both chasing you.

Justin: Princess. (Courtney and Justin are about to kiss) Chris: Wait, wait there's no kissing. Justin: What? Duncan: (under the "dragon") Yes! Chris: It says here that Prince Justin and Princess Courtney must sword fight to determine the true winner. Courtney: Which ever one of us wins the sword fight gets immunity. Chris: You're almost too smart to be a princess.
 * Chris: Want to rescue Princess Courtney too? Now you can for only $79.95! Order your very own Princess Courtney limited edition "Glass Boot" doll! Playing with the Princess Courtney doll is more fun and less dangerous than playing with the real Courtney, guaranteed!

Harold: Although a guy who's working with you is apparently fair game! Justin: I said I was sorry, Harold. I refuse to raise a sword to Courtney. I give up any chance at immunity to spare her. And now... (puckers his lips, expecting a kiss from Courtney) Courtney: Sorry, Justin. I just can't let immunity go. You understand. (pushes Justin off the tower with sword)
 * Justin: No, I am a noble gentleman, a brave knight, a handsome prince. I would never hurt a lady.

Courtney: WHAT?! This is an outrage! Justin should be going home! Chris: Yeah, you're right. I was just kidding. Justin's actually the one who's been eliminated! Duncan: (to Courtney, smirking) An "outrage", huh? Courtney: (in confessional) All I meant was that Justin deserved to go home. I worked really hard at getting him to fall for me. It's called "strategy"? My feelings had nothing to do with Duncan getting voted off. As if I care about that. (scoffs and then pauses) ... I don't!
 * Chris: And the last Gilded Chris goes to... Justin! Duncan, you're out.

Lindsay: Princess Beth is so cute! Justin: Is no one going to miss me? Duncan: Ciao. Harold: See you in the funny papers! Farewell! Auf Wiedersehen! Don't let the door hit you in the- Justin: Okay, stop already! I'm going! But you'll regret it. With me gone, this competition just got eighty percent less handsome. (bumps into Lame-O-Sine) Alright, seventy-nine!
 * Justin: (as he's leaving) Courtney? Beth? Lindsay?

Chef: (playing with the Beth dolls in camo and with a cannon.) Princesses... ATTACK! (cannon fires and two of the Beth dolls are blown away)
 * Chris: (To Chef) Marketing says our target audience is too old for dolls. They just aren't selling.

Trivia

 * Title Reference: This episode's title is a reference to The Princess Bride.
 * This is the second episode in which Chris attempts to sell things to the audience, the first was in Search and Do Not Destroy in which he attempted to sell "Cleaver" cologne and in this episode he attempted to sell Princess Courtney dolls and a Princess Courtney CD.
 * The same horse used in 3:10 to Crazytown re-appears in this episode.
 * The same monster used in Monster Cash re-appears in this episode.
 * Similar to Heather, Justin had a major downfall before elimination.
 * He took much physical abuse, similar to Heather taking so many dares.
 * His entire body was put in a full body cast, similar to how Heather's hair was shaved off.
 * He thought he was safe from elimination only to learn it wasn't true, similar to how Heather thought she was safe because Chef shaved her head.
 * In this episode, Courtney displaces Justin as the antagonist of Total Drama Action. The antagonist for the first half of the season, Justin, essentially "passed the torch" to Courtney in this episode as she beat him at his own game.
 * Courtney sings for the first time in the series. Notably, Courtney's voice actress Emilie-Claire Barlow is actually a famed Canadian singer.
 * Like Courtney, Harold sings for the first time in the series as well.
 * Courtney's princess outfit looks just like the dress worn by Cinderella in the the Disney movie Cinderella. The only difference is the color.
 * Coincidentally, Chef's troll outfit resembles that worn by Shrek in the Dreamworks Movie Shrek. The only difference is the color and that Chef wears a beard that Shrek doesn't.
 * There were some hints for a relationship between Courtney and Justin, which ended up being a conflict.
 * Running Gags:
 * Justin gets hurt repeatably.
 * He gets hit in the eye by a glass boot (twice).
 * Betsy, the horse, kicked him in the face.
 * He fell off the tower, and hit his chin several times on the way down (courtesy of Courtney).
 * Beth saying "Does this mean I have a concussion?"
 * Chris attempted to sell three products during this episode.
 * The "Princess Courtney CD" (which Harold buys)
 * The "Princess Courtney Limited-Edition Glass Boot Doll" (which Lindsay and Beth buy) (However, Courtney's lawyers demanded 80% of sales, so they decided to market "Princess Beth" dolls instead.)
 * This is the first time ever that Chris has given false information about who is eliminated.
 * With Justin's elimination, all three males that were on the Killer Grips have left the studio. However, Owen returns two episodes later.
 * With Justin's elimination, the pattern of canon couples being eliminated consecutively ends. (LeShawna was the previous contestant eliminated but Harold still remains.
 * This is the first time the cast is contacted outside of the competition.
 * This episode contains more injuries than any other episodes (not counting TDA Aftermath episodes in which injuries are highlighted). With the exception of Courtney, Duncan, and Harold, all the castmates were shown to be seriously injured by the end of this episode. However, all of the cast got physically hurt at least mildly in this episode.
 * Duncan was crushed by the "dragon".
 * Justin pushed Harold off the "dragon" and Duncan broke Harold's back.
 * Beth and Lindsay both fell off the bridge in the first challenge.
 * Justin fell off the tower, got a black eye from the glass boot twice, and the horse kicked him in the face.
 * Courtney hurt her back at the Awards Ceremony, apparently due to Lindsay and Beth using the Princess Courtney dolls as voodoo dolls.
 * It can be noted that all Screaming Gophers got seriously hurt (Justin, Lindsay, Beth) while all Killer Bass (Duncan, Harold, Courtney) were not.
 * This is the second episode in the series where a contestant gets eliminated while severely injured. The first time this happened was in Total Drama Island, in Paintball Deer Hunter, where another contestant was eliminated due to being severely injured.
 * The disguises that the competitors wore:
 * Courtney as a Princess.
 * Justin as the Frog Prince.
 * Beth as the Ugly Stepsister.
 * Lindsay as Sleeping Beauty.
 * Harold as the Eighth Dwarf of the Seven Dwarfs.
 * Duncan as Little Red Riding Hood (changed to "Little Red Riding Hoodlum" by request of Duncan). He was also called Captain Hood.
 * Coincidentally, with Justin's elimination, only female Killer Grips and male Screaming Gaffers remain.
 * It's surprising that Harold is cast as the eighth dwarf of the seven dwarfs, as at this point in the game he is the tallest remaining contestant.
 * This is the first episode in the series in which more than one contestant is wearing a cast.
 * The frog in this episode is similar to the one LeShawna had to catch in Wawanakwa Gone Wild!.
 * Justin falling off the tower and hitting many objects on the way down is a reference to Hook, Line, and Screamer!, where Owen fell off the cliff and hit many objects on the way down.
 * Coincidentally, both episodes are the 19th episode of their respective season.
 * The bunny that appears in Courtney's song resembles DJ's Bunny.
 * The tiara that Courtney uses in this episode is similar to the one that Izzy uses in her second audition tape.
 * This is the second time a contestant has sung in Total Drama Action, the first being Trent in the second Aftermath.
 * This is the first episode written by Heather Jackson.
 * The crown Courtney received in her crowing is the same Izzy is wearing in her 2nd audition tape.

Goofs

 * While Lindsay was shown to have very large feet in this episode, in past episodes she was shown to have normal-sized feet (though they may have been swollen). In fact, out of all the characters, she is shown to have one of the smallest feet.
 * Again, like in, Dial M for Merger, Justin's swollen eye disappears and reappears throughout the episode.
 * In the first challenge, Lindsay broke the bridge, but it's still there for when Duncan and Justin are up for the challenge.
 * For some reason, after the bridge was broken and Chef had fallen, he appeared on the bridge in the next scene.
 * Beth said she couldn't scream in The Sand Witch Project, but she screamed when she found out that they were going sell Beth dolls. (Though she may of faked it or caused by inconsistencies on Total Drama Island/Total Drama Action.)
 * This goof is also present in 3:10 to Crazytown, Monster Cash, and Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island.


 * In the caption when Duncan says "My granny can run better than you", the closed captioning says that Justin said the line.
 * When Beth falls over after grabbing a Beth doll, she appears back in her seat when Lindsay gets a Gilded Chris.
 * The Princess Courtney dolls have their hair in a ponytail wearing Courtney's original outfit, but Courtney only wears her hair in a ponytail with her bathing suit and her pajamas. It is possible that it was set up like this as an advertisement to those who bought the dolls to show they could make it into a ponytail.
 * The episode is TV-PG, but after commercial break, the rating was TV-PG D. Many believe it was a glitch in the rating system.
 * While Courtney was singing Duncan pulled out a whale and broke its back, although there is no possibility he could have gotten a whale at the time, due to it's large stature and the fact that they were on dry land.
 * Chris' plate of cookies kept refilling itself, but an intern may have have just replaced the cookies Chris had used up.
 * Total Drama Action is supposed to be a reality show, but Courtney's kisses were seen to float down to Harold, Justin, and Duncan. This may however be some special effects added by Chris or the staff.
 * When Chef is acting like a troll and puts marker on his teeth to look like he lost them, there are certain times when Chef's teeth are actually missing and you can see the back of his mouth.
 * Harold states that 12 kilometers is equal to 3.3 meters. 12 kilometers is actually 12,000 meters; most likely he meant to say "miles".
 * At the awards ceremony, Chris says Golden Chris instead of Gilded Chris.
 * Harold gets a note from LeShawna saying that she heard Courtney's song and didn't want Harold to listen to it, but that would mean she had already seen the episode.
 * When Justin falls from the Castle Tower and lands, his left hand only has 3 fingers.