Review: Camp Camp “Welcome Back, Campers!”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

After months apart, Max returns to Camp Campbell to both get away from his apparently awful life, but also see his friends who he is sure have all stayed the same! Except…they HAVE all changed, some in small ways, like Erid cutting her hair short, and some in bigger ones, like Harrison’s new interest in Social Engineering! Enraged by this, Max storms off, but gets a heart to heart with the new counselor, CJ, a Manosphere-type dudebro who is revealed to be Cameron Campbell’s son. He tells Max to try and embrace change, so Max reconciles with his friends by completing the obstacle course they need to complete in order to eat! Also, Gwen’s back!

OUR TAKE

Camp Camp is officially back with a new season! Well, more like it’s back for four episodes, but it kinda evens out considering that last season was extra long! And as per my unholy contract with Ulthar the Elder God, I am obligated to review every odd-numbered season of this show. Though to be perfectly honest, the show does kinda feel like it’s in a weird, precarious place right now. When it unceremoniously went on hiatus at the end of 2019, it seemed like that was all we were going to get. Then last year, in celebration of Rooster Teeth’s 20th Anniversary, brought us a surprise new episode that could work as a possible series finale if need be, but was quickly followed up with an announcement that more episodes were coming the following year. This was definitely a breath of fresh air for fans who wanted more of the show, but also likely a much needed shot in the arm for RT, who have definitely had a concerning past year and are probably glad they have something they can give animators to work on. Plus, while it’s only four episodes for now, perhaps it will be enough to generate enough interest for more and give the show just a little bit more life! So, after last year’s special closed the book on the first summer at Camp Campbell, how does this truncated season begin the second?

Well, it’s got plenty of what people loved! But also, some new stuff! So, it’s different, but mostly…the same? It’s kind of an odd mix. All the regular campers and adults are back, but some have minor tweaks to acknowledge that time has indeed passed, like Erid cutting her hair, Nerf having some peach fuzz, and so on, but they’re all still virtually the same characters. The other big noticeable change is the addition of CJ, a new counselor who is also Mr. Campbell’s son. As mentioned, he seems like a send-up of Andrew Tate style grifters much like Gwen played into aimless jaded millennials, so that could be fun and lead to unique hijinks, but it’s also an unfortunate reminder that we’re probably not going to see Mr. Campbell (neither Travis Willingham OR Ian Sinclair!). Or the Wood Scouts. Or the Flower Scouts. Or most of the other recurring characters that added flavor to the setting. It’s probably due to budget restraints since production of the show is clearly a bit more restrained, especially given the episode count, but it does unfortunately leave this feeling that things are more limited than open to play around in.

Though what’s probably more odd is how they handled what is essentially a soft reboot of the series. There were a lot of places they could’ve gone after that last special, given it seemed to end so conclusively for that iteration of the show. I was almost expecting it to jump much farther ahead and make Max an adult acting as a counselor under David’s tutelage to a bunch of new kids, but obviously they didn’t go that route, nor is it necessarily a bad thing that they didn’t. What they DID do is go a safer route, with much of the show basically intact with some smaller and mostly inconsequential changes, and that’s fine. With things as they are, they probably deemed it too risky to change the show too much when they’re just trying to get it back up and running. But what’s weird to me about it is that it kinda undercuts Max’s growth from the special, mainly in that he already basically learned to accept that change can be good there but now learns that…again. I feel like this could’ve been remedied if one of the new characters was a new camper, whom Max could share some of his cynical wisdom with, instead of having it told to him by the new counselor? Overall, a solid enough start, but just kinda redundant. Believe it or not, Camp Camp is actually my favorite Rooster Teeth original show, so I’m eager to see how it makes use of this chance to grow. Guess we’ll see where the other three episodes take us!