"Bup, bup, bup. Susie, can I read you a poem I wrote for you?"
--
Hey, so it's been a minute since I last wrote about Summer Camp Island,
or a lot of other shows for that matter. I've been busy with a lot of
endeavors, and sadly, a lot of the shows got pushed to the wayside because of
it. With Season 5 of SCI coming tomorrow, though, my completionist
brain decided that it would be worth it to at least blast through a couple
mini-reviews in preparation! Plus, if this is well-received, I might try to
embrace this sort of writing style more—it definitely takes a lot less out of
me to write more nonchalantly.
With that out of the way: let's take a look at the last three episodes of
Season 4!
"Hark the Gerald Sings": We've been getting a lot of Oscar
exploration these past few seasons, with this current one feeling like it's
approaching the point of a fevered pitch. Heck, the fact that this is the second
episode in this season alone to place specific aim on Oscar's anxieties
(following up on the great
"Oscar & His Demon") makes it feel even more disproportionate. But it's easy to see why Oscar has
become such a target of
SCI's writing: he embodies the show's naivete,
and he's at the heart of its childlike sense of spirit, which just so happens to
mean that he'll often be a target of the sort of ideas that the
SCI likes
to explore.
To "Gerald's" credit, too, it does a lot to differentiate itself from how "His
Demon" presents itself, taking a more traditional route with very direct
interpretation. Whereas "His Demon" is strongly internalized, stripped of
dialogue so that we can focus on how Oscar interacts with the world
organically and sans dialogue, "Gerald" allows his anxieties to more
explicitly manifest and be patiently interacted with. This episode also gets a
nice boost from Hedgehog's involvement, helping her bestie brave the storm
when his breakfast superstitions threaten to overtake his well-being. (I do
think there could've been more done about how the superstition transfers over
to her, which the episode seems to gloss over, but I suppose it has places to
be.)
It's Gerald who really allows the focus of the episode to become more
carefully-honed as the physical manifestation of Oscar's superstitions. You can
tell that how the episode progresses comes from a place of sincerity from the
writers, people who have had to reconcile with anxieties of their own; it
reminds me a lot of the video where
Bill Hader talks about treating his anxieties as a living create worthy of
acknowledging rather than obstructing, something which has had a profound impact on how I reconcile with my own
issues. Oscar reaches the same conclusion: we have anxieties to protect us from
fears, rational or not, and it's foolish to try to make them disappear. It's
better to just keep them in check, to "let the scary and the not-scary live
together, as long as [they] understand each other." While the episode itself is
rather rudimentary, I have to appreciate the simplicity and profoundness of such
a lesson, yet another reminder that
SCI is the sort of show that we'd all
have been lucky to have when we were younger.
"Hall of Mooms": A Hedgehog episode! I always love to see it,
which is a shame given how infrequent they feel. For a while, it really felt
like she was being pampered to become the show's center; she's certainly
more involved than Oscar and possesses a stronger overarching narrative in
the form of her witch training. An episode like "Hall of Mooms" subsequently
feels like more of a treat than it probably should, though that perhaps
plays to its benefit—it's a bit too gentle and uninvolved of an episode
otherwise.
What "Hall of Mooms" lacks in narrative complexity, it makes up for in its
efforts to expand the show's mythology. It's all about Hedgehog being fitted
for her broom, but when she discovers that she has a strange, fearful impulse
the clutch her broom when she attempts to ride it, she has to take a journey
to the titular Hall of Mooms and trace the superstition down her lineage of
moms. It's a chance for
SCI to take a more meditative approach, but
it's almost
too meditative—for as engaging as the setpiece is, it
belies a general lack of stakes, merely sending Hedgehog along from one mom to
the next in search of an answer that presents no real challenge beyond working
down the list. (Oscar, always a reliable support, ends up doing more to
progress the plot along than Hedgehog.)
Ultimately, this episode just ends up being something of an exercise in
pleasantness, with the added bonus of pushing Hedgehog's journey forward
just a little bit. I just would've liked this entry to be a bit more
involved for her, and the fact that such episodes feel so uncommon means
that it's hard to see this outing as an outing of much significance. Even
though none of the scheduled arcs for next season seem to place any emphasis
on Hedgehog—a bit of a head-scratching bummer for me, in all honesty—I hope
we can see her step more into the narrative than the past season has allowed
her to. Whether or not it felt like the biggest success, episodes like this
are shots well worth taking.
"Pepper and the Fog": What a sweet, unique way to end the season
on! This is the exact sort of thing I like to see from
SCI—a tender
touch but an adventurous spirit, all guided by the show's trademark eye for
magical realism. "Pepper and the Fog" perhaps one of the show's most abstract
episodes, but I appreciate the incredibly dreamy nature of it all, something
that unsurprisingly fits the show's sensibilities like a nice glove. Instead
of concentrating on a conventional narrative, it's more about evoking a sense
of atmosphere, casting us under a spell as it progresses into even more
imaginative places... and I will
always be here for that.
The plot is as eventful as it is simple: as Pepper navigates his way to
Susie's house on a foggy day, eager to read her a poem he wrote, he bumps
into all manner of strange folks across every corner of the map—a yeti, a
talking foghorn, and a sea siren eager for commercial jingle work, just to
name a few. It's a nice reminder that Summer Camp Island takes
place on, well, an island. There are so many strange things to
do and see, and while I feel like the later seasons have focused less on
these sorts of day trips, episodes like "Pepper and the Fog" speak to the
mystery of our setting, and all of the potential there is to exploring the
island's strangest corners.
There's also a lot to love about the episode being centered on Pepper,
everyone's favorite sleepy panda camper. Something I feel like I mention a lot
when talking about the show is that it has an amazing cast; every camper teems
with personality and potential, and while that means it's always fun seeing
them interact with our usual protagonists, that also makes me yearn to see
them carrying more of the show on their own. The success of a solo outing like
"Pepper and the Fog" further proves that excitement to be earned. Sure, Oscar
could've arguably carried this episode, but Pepper offers such a different and
specific brand of charming naivete that I couldn't really see it any other
way. (Who else could've sold that line delivery of "I'm a cloud!" anywhere
near as well?) There are so many different eyes that we can see the world
through, and although it's unlikely that Pepper will get as much of a moment
in the spotlight again, I hope that such an episode can embolden
SCI to
take more chances with its more underutilized characters. As it stands, this
one's a real winner.
FINAL GRADES:
"Hark the Gerald Sings": B.
"Hall of Mooms":
B-.
"Pepper and the Fog": A+.
For my last reviews of "Shave a Little Off the Wheel" and "He's Just Not
Here Right Now," CLICK HERE.
If you like my stuff, be sure to follow me on Twitter @Matt_a_la_mode.
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