The Date

"The Date" is the fifth episode of the first season of Total DramaRama. It first aired on Cartoon Network on 1 September 2018 alongside "Aquarium for a Dream".

Overview
When Chef is happy he orders pizza for the kids, this gives Owen & Jude the idea to create a fake secret admirer for Chef.

Synopsis
Noah is painting and Gwen and Leshawna are building a tower when Owen's stomach rumbles, interrupting them. Jude explains that Owen is suffering from a lack of pizza as Chef Hatchet, who usually gives it to them twice a week, hasn't given them any in a while. Noah tells them it's too early for pizza though Jude says there is never a bad time for pizza, singing about it with Owen. When Owen is still entranced by the idea of pizza, Gwen decides to wake him up, only to slip on his drool. Disgusted, she runs away while Leshawna tells the boys that Chef only orders pizza when he is in a good mood, which he hasn't been in two weeks. Duncan informs them that Chef was dumped by his girlfriend two weeks ago and reminisces how he saw it happened during one of his escape attempts.

Chef, cutting cabbages, begins to cry due to the break-up, and Bridgette suggests that Chef will be in a better mood if he gets a new girlfriend. Jude suggests they get Chef to believe he has a secret admirer in order to put him in a good mood so that he gives them pizza. Bridgette advises not to mess with people's personal lives though Duncan claims there is no harm. Jude decides to go through with the plan and convenes the other kids to come up with ideas.

Leshawna suggests they deliver a romantic poem and has Duncan place it outside of Chef's door. Chef immediately enters the room and tells the children of his secret admirer. He throws the cabbage shake into the sink and orders pizza, exciting them. As Leshawna writes the poems, Jude spritzes them with perfume, and Owen kisses them, Chef orders more and more pizza. The gifts become more elaborate and Macarthur delivers more pizza. Eventually, Chef tells the kids they need to clean up the daycare as his date is coming over, shocking them.

Izzy becomes excited as Chef is finally meeting his made-up girlfriend, failing to connect the situation and causing Leshawna to go on a tantrum. Jude and Owen wonder what to do when Leshawna decides to dress one of them up and place them on top of another kid to pass off as Chef's secret admirer before telling Chef that "she" went to join a Russian circus who only performs at space stations. They dress Jude up as a girl and place him on top of Owen before alerting Chef of "her" arrival. Meanwhile, Duncan and Noah decide to make a bet to see if Chef buys the ruse though Duncan loses when Chef invites his admirer outside.

There, Chef invites his admirer to have a cookie though Owen immediately passes gas. Chef says he likes a woman who can eat and Leshawna tells them to wrap up the date. Jude and Owen prepare to leave though Chef asks if he can kiss her. As he nears Jude's lips, the others are unsure on what to do and Jude jumps off Owen, revealing themselves. Chef, enraged, gives everyone time-outs. While Gwen, Leshawna, Noah, Duncan and Courtney are forced to eat vegetables, Jude and Owen are sentenced to the Naughty Corner. After seven minutes, Chef serves them a gigantic cooler filled with cabbage juice and orders them to drink.

Post credits scene
Owen traverses the vents for food when he is pursued by Chef.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3" | Non-speaking characters
 * Lilly Bartlam
 * colspan="2" | Gwen
 * Katie Crown
 * colspan="2" | Izzy
 * Cory Doran
 * colspan="2" | Noah
 * Kristin Fairlie
 * colspan="2" | Bridgette
 * Deven Mack
 * colspan="2" | Chef Hatchet
 * Scott McCord
 * colspan="2" | Owen
 * Drew Nelson
 * colspan="2" | Duncan
 * Christian Potenza
 * colspan="2" | Jude Lizowski
 * Bahia Watson
 * Leshawna
 * Drew Nelson
 * colspan="2" | Duncan
 * Christian Potenza
 * colspan="2" | Jude Lizowski
 * Bahia Watson
 * Leshawna
 * Bahia Watson
 * Leshawna
 * Leshawna
 * colspan="3" | Courtney
 * colspan="3" | Macarthur
 * colspan="3" | Macarthur
 * colspan="3" | Macarthur

General

 * This episode was one of five to air online before its premiere date ("Venthalla", "Duck Duck Juice", "Cuttin' Corners", "Germ Factory").
 * This is the first episode in which Harold doesn't appear.
 * As a result, only Chef Hatchet, Owen, Noah, Izzy and Jude have appeared and spoken in every episode so far.

Continuity

 * This is the second time Duncan traverses the vents, first doing so in "Venthalla".