User blog comment:Freefalling Lilacs/Lilac Ranks Total Drama/@comment-1874924-20140125060434

I noted in TDI-G&S that Trent's main dramatic function was to be Gwen's love interest. In TDI, he came across as something of a cipher (an interchangeable character, for readers who didn't know that meaning of the word), although he performed competently in the challenges. The less said about his TDA persona, the better, but that's hardly unique to Trent. The fact that his love interest storyline looks to be played out, with nothing to replace it, is probably the biggest reason why he hasn't been in a third season.

As for Courtney, I've said elsewhere that I regard TDA Courtney as an impostor. Her godplaying of the invincibility challenges (which the writers tried to disguise by having her do less well in the reward challenges) led to one of that season's more irritating writer kicks, i.e., "How many ways can we almost eliminate Duncan to tick off Courtney?"