Review: Camp Camp “Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper”

I’m 90% sure Samboy is Cameron Campbell.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The kids put together lanyards for the day’s activity, along with their new fellow camper, Samboy Kidwell, who most everyone can tell is actually Cameron Campbell in a cheap disguise. Even the usually naïve David sees through this but figures it’s more of an “undercover boss” situation with Cameron just checking David’s job performance. In reality, he’s actually there to find a way to get David to mistakenly confess to crimes that will get Cameron out of Super Guantanamo, being guided by Ered’s two agent dads.

He gets close with Preston’s improvised Improv Seminar, but is thwarted. He then tries to start a rumor, like the one of how Cameron Campbell has an eight pack, to get the kids to turn on David. This predictably goes poorly. But after the rain comes the rainbow, as he sets his sights on using Max’s manipulation skills to turn on David, promising freedom and independence. This turns out to be the worst move possible, as Max uses all of the other unknown misdemeanors and crimes to dig Cameron further in a hole. David overhears this and is visibly disappointed, leading Cameron to run into the woods naked.

OUR TAKE

Really? Are we doing this NOW? After a double-length episode about a dance, we have two “plot” episodes before and after which have to stick to the same twelve-minute length? One was about a slowly uncovered mystery surrounding an actual dead camper from David’s past and ends with David accepting that he needs to move on. The other is David’s former mentor trying to frame him for their own crimes, as well as David finally confronting his misplaced adoration of that mentor. And both are clearly connected since the former has a set up for the latter. But the DANCE was the one that earned the extra time? For two seemingly important plots revolving around important people to David, he seems to not have much in the way of involvement in either story and whatever development he gets is just shrugging and moving on without any struggle.

And once again, this episode seemed like it would be far better served happening towards the end of the season, not only because of David having to accept Cameron’s true nature (KIND OF A BIG DEAL, considering it’s only been THE BASIS FOR HIS ENTIRE CHEERY WORLDVIEW AND INITIAL REASON FOR RUNNING THE CAMP), but also in how Cameron tries to manipulate Max. Come with me back to Season 1, when Max was hell-bent on escaping the camp as soon as possible and would do anything it took to leave and/or get it to shut down. As far as Cameron knows, Max probably still wants that, and could probably at least get on Max’s level about how cynically they both view the world. We could’ve gotten a clear and meaningful sign that Max has developed and changed since the show started. You could say that we got that to an extent with what actually happened, but I think we could’ve gotten more.

Although, despite further enraging me more by slightly referencing the foreign campers who are still inexplicably gone, we’ve never really gotten an episode where Cameron Campbell was arguably the protagonist. In his more prominent appearances before this, he was usually the instigator or just someone who was there to react to wacky shenanigans, but he drives the plot here. It’s more Travis Willingham, and he’s almost always great in everything, so that’s nice, though I do have to wonder what we have left to look forward to now that the revenge plot from the end of last season is been brushed aside so easily.