So one of the things that I love about this season of Camp Camp, is that while it’s still pretty whimsical and hilarious, it’s shown some real character development in Max and David.
Let’s face it, this kid was a die hard troublemaker and a fucking asshole all stuffed inside a tiny ten year old’s body.
Before now, you couldn’t pay him enough to enjoy anything, especially any of David’s crazy camp activities. Hell, he spent a majority of the first season either trying to escape, or trying to figure out how to destroy the camp from the inside. And he got close sometimes, it all could’ve been over when the FBI tried to arrest David for the stuff Max was looking up on his phone. But the small part of him that said what he was doing was going too far made him speak up and exonerate David. And when he thought he had gone to far in his mischievous act that David actually wanted to kill him, he was legitimately afraid and wanted to take back his actions, unlike when he was in the forest with the Quartermaster where it was more likely for him to be murdered and just accepted his fate.
And more importantly, Max was unwilling to accept that people like David existed anymore, and was willing to go to great lengths to break him. And he did. It took twelve episodes but in the end, Max won. David was utterly defeated.
And then Max had to learn the harsh lesson that sure, while life can sometimes be a piece of shit, people can choose too not look past it, but to live with it and still find the good in what’s left. Max was just too jaded by things we know not of, and so was David, and he still found the strength to be himself every day because if he didn’t, Camp Campbell would be even more miserable than Max already thought it was. And because of that, Max decided to help him just for the sake of preserving this optimism.
And now, Max has learned to kind of go with the flow. He’s no longer trying to escape or sabotage David’s every action, he’s just kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying the show.
More so, when Daniel invaded the camp, Max actually sought out David’s help rather than trying to figure out how to get rid of him on his own. And when nothing he did convinced David of Daniel’s murderous intentions, he entered the Purification Sauna, knowing full well he’d be hypnotized into loving Daniel, but had enough faith in David to remove his rose tinted glasses, finally see the truth, and save all the campers from certain death.
And when David got his heart broken by Bonquisha, he and the rest of the children went to great lengths to try and get them back together so he would stop being so depressed all the time.
That’s a lot of character development for a kid.
As for David, his transition has been a lot more subtle.
This happy go-lucky camp counselor is still pretty much the same, while at the same time completely different. The David of first season was optimistic to a fault. He out right refused to see the bad in people, especially Cameron Campbell, got bullied by the kids into leaving the camp for a day, had no clue how to discipline children, and had an unhealthy obsession with being the best camp counselor. And it killed him every day when he couldn’t figure out why none of the kids loved Camp Camp(bell) as much as he did.
There were even some points in the show where his mask slipped and he looked actually angry for once before going back to Happy David.
Until he was pushed to the edge by Max in the season finale of season one and he finally laid all of his cards on the table. He knew perfectly well that not everything was sunshine and roses all the time, but he had a choice. He could be like Max, pessimistic and down right bitter about the world, or he could try to see the good in the world every day and be the best version of himself he could be.
But he also learned a valuable lesson that day. It was okay to not be himself all the time. Sure, he could still be overly enthusiastic about everything, but he could still let go every now and again. Be it wanting to kick out the psycho cult leader you almost hired and may or may not have been after your job-
or sometimes fucking up and saying the wrong thing-
or being openly disappointed in the decisions other people make-
or admitting that you made a mistake that started off with good intentions-
or getting your heart broken-
needing to cry for days on end (even when it’s super awkward)-
and beating the shit out of some guy for something that wasn’t really their fault but only because you’re insanely jealous because they’re banging your babe now.
So in the end, sure, they’re still pretty similar to how they started off in the show.
But the two of them have grown so much, I can’t wait to see where this show is going to take us next.
