Review: Camp Camp “Into Town”

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name

*sigh*

You know, maybe I’ve been a bit hard on Camp Camp. Every show has its ups and downs in its first season. The writers try to figure out how to write the characters while keeping track of what the viewership is responding to, the artists are trying to nail the animation style that could start off sloppily at the beginning but might evolve masterfully as it goes on, the voice actors try to follow the notes given while putting their own spin on the lines and injecting life into the stars, etc, etc. Point is, I’m gonna try from here on to not be so dismissive of this show as it tries to even out and find its footing, and with only five episodes left (including this one), that shouldn’t be hard to do before the season finale.

SPOILERS

After another well-intentioned camp session goes awry, David is at the end of his rope. Gwen suggests he take some time off so as to make sure he doesn’t lose his mind, but Max catches wind of this and brings Neil and Nikki along to sneak out and put the finishing touch on breaking David once and for all…which seems like a move that would’ve been easier to pull off had he let David go to prison last episo-

NO. No, Dave. You said you were gonna go easy. Be nice. *ahem*

Anyway, here’s a positive right off the bat: I’m really glad we’re back to focusing on Max’s vendetta against David. It’s something they set up at the start of the show but it’s barely been given any spotlight beyond a couple gags per episode. It’s the closest thing to a main conflict the series has, and so it makes this episode seem more involved and crucial than the other recent ones have been. Max views David as someone who is simply hiding some dark instability behind his smile and wholesome attitude (and he might right), but David only seems to be an upstanding positive dude, if a bit boring.

Once the kids hit the equally boring town, they soon lose David and begin wandering to find him. Neil gravitates his way towards an electronics store stuck in the 1950’s, Nikki begins to come down with an unknown disease, and Max wanders into shop after shop in search of his target and his weaknesses. When they DO catch up, David is seen picking up suspicious items, and Max can only fear the worst for his own fate. By the time they realize this though, David’s already seen them and takes them to what could be their final destination: …A camp site.

Camp Camp’s last episode before its next one week break is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. As said, it finally puts more focus on our principal cast instead of focusing on another one-note camp kid. It also sets up a legitimate two-parter (please?), one that may actually expand on Max and David’s seeming rivalry and develop things at least somewhat. Lastly, it establishes an area of the camp grounds that might actually be used frequently, and not one time as a joke and then never really touched upon again. In two weeks, we begin the last third, so we might just end on something strong!