Cameron and Lightning

This article focuses on the interactions between Cameron and Lightning.

Overview
The two of them have little interactions early in the season, as they were placed on opposing teams. After the merge however, the two quickly find themselves trying to form an alliance with each other, with Lightning first trying to team up with Cameron in order to eliminate Jo, then Cameron trying to get Lightning's loyalty. However, any signs of camaraderie between the two are quickly destroyed when Cameron manages to trick Lightning into carrying him to the finish line in Eat, Puke and Be Wary, resulting in Cameron stealing the win, greatly upsetting Lightning. The two of them later move on to the final two where their conflict intensifies.

Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!
Cameron dislikes it when Lightning calls him a girl.

Eat, Puke and Be Wary
The contestants must wear tracking collars as part of the challenge, and Cameron deactivated his and Lightning's due to a deal between the two of them; they ran with each other afterwords. After a while, Cameron started to get tired and slow down both of them. He asked Lightning to carry him on his back to the flagpole, but Lightning refused, saying that he was in this for himself only. He started to run off, but Cameron jumped onto his back and held on without Lightning knowing. This allowed for Cameron to win immunity instead of Lightning when Lightning backed up against the flagpole in his celebration for making it there first, making Cameron touch it first. Lightning was noticeably angry about this, and berated Cameron for stealing "Lightning's immunity," and calling him "smart guy." In the final confessionals of the episode, Lightning vowed to get revenge on Cameron.

The Enchanted Franken-Forest
In the beginning of the episode, Lightning was practicing his hits on a punching bag modeled after Cameron, repeatedly shouting insults at it, and even continuing to beat it up in the confessional. At breakfast that day, just as Cameron commented that Lightning might eat him alive, Lightning actually took a bite out of the Cameron dummy. Before the challenge began, Cameron commented that the Venus Flytrap only eats meat, to which Lightning said that Cameron would be safe, calling him "pipe cleaner." Cameron responded by saying that it'd be too busy eating his "big, chewy head." Lightning roared and tried to attack Cameron, with Zoey fending him off. Just as Cameron was about to reach the flower inside the giant Venus Flytrap, Lightning swung in on a vine, knocked Cameron out of the way, and snatched the flower. When he saw both Zoey and Cameron being eaten by the flower, he initially considered doing something, but ultimately decided to snatch the flower up off the ground and leave them. After deciding to vote off Zoey, Lightning stated that he did it so that he could take Cameron to the finale with him and "eat him alive."

Brain vs. Brain: The Ultimate Showdown
With the elimination of Zoey, Lightning and Cameron are the final two of the season, and must battle it out against each other for the million dollars.

Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!
When Cameron was struggling to stay afloat after the yacht exploded, Lightning appeared under him and lifted him out of the water with one hand, offering to save him and beginning to head back to shore with him. However, Lightning mistakenly thought that Cameron was a little girl, which Cameron tried to correct him about.

Finders Creepers
At the end of the episode, Cameron saved Lightning, along with all of the others, from the giant spider when he attacked it out of adrenaline.

Up, Up And Away In My Pitiful Balloon
When the challenge began, Lightning quickly ran up to Cameron and asked if he could help him build a helicopter. As Cameron started listing all of the necessary components for such a machine, Cameron was taken away by Jo, who told Lightning to get his own nerd. Lightning noticed how much Jo was trying to keep Cameron and his expertise for herself, and the two of them ended up in a battle for Cameron's loyalty. Although Jo had the upper hand and complete control of Cameron throughout most of the episode, Lightning finally confronted Cameron after their vehicles had already taken flight, and told Cameron that Jo was just playing him just as she had played Lightning. This managed to convince Cameron to betray Jo, setting off an explosive in the fog machine she had stolen from him and sending her balloon crashing into the ocean. This allowed Lightning a clear shot at Heather in an attempt to win the challenge for himself, but Cameron's rocket destroyed Heather's newly-hijacked blimp and ultimately won invincibility for himself. At the Bonfire that night, both Cameron and Lightning voted Jo off, solidifying their alliance.

Eat, Puke and Be Wary
In the beginning of the episode, Cameron felt that he and Zoey had to secure Lightning's vote in order to eliminate Scott. He tried talking to Lightning while he was playing basketball, but Lightning didn't hear him. Nevertheless, they teamed up once more in the challenge, with Cameron promising to remove the tracking collars around their necks if Lightning would take him to the finish line in return, which Lightning accepted. Cameron rewired his watch to deactivate the collars, and Lightning initially fulfilled his part of the deal. However, he inadvertently helped Cameron to win by backing up against the flagpole at the finish line with Cameron on his back, thus making Cameron the first to touch it and making Cameron the winner, not Lightning.

Trivia

 * This is the first final two in Total Drama history to be of the same gender, as both are males, rather than male vs female.
 * However, despite this significant difference, this final two still retains some similarities with past final twos.
 * The final two features one tough contestant against one goofy contestant, similar to Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action.
 * The final two features members of opposite teams competing against each other, similar to Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour.
 * Both are in their own alliances a few episodes earlier, which has completely fallen apart before this episode, similar to Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour.
 * Neither of them agreed to split the money with each other, similarly to Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour.
 * They are the only two contestants in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island to win a challenge for their team and win a solo invincibility challenge for themselves.
 * Cameron won the challenges for the Mutant Maggots in Truth or Laser Shark and Backstabbers Ahoy!, then won solo invincibility in Up, Up And Away In My Pitiful Balloon and Eat, Puke and Be Wary.
 * Lightning won the challenge for the Toxic Rats in The Treasure Island of Dr. McLean and won invincibility and the choice of who to eliminate in The Enchanted Franken-Forest.
 * This conflict is similiar to Beth and Courtney's conflict as it features a naive and weaker looking contestant and a mean and competitve contestant.