Did I look too much into this at 3 am? Probably.
After the newest episodes, I’m really hoping the season finale or an episode will be about Max. After constantly getting called out on his selfishness, there has to be a reason he acts that way. In this essay, I will-
In ‘Foreign Exchange Camper’, he got punished for abandoning his friends for treats, but besides sayin getting thrown into the saw was fair, he didn’t necessarily show remorse, as he was still asking for ice cream.
In ‘Nikki’s last day on earth’, he showed remorse, even giving up his pride to apologize. And him denying her dying was his way of not wanting a good friend of his to die, which is sweet, in its own way. He just doesn’t know how to correlate actions with how he’s feeling sometimes, such as in the season one finale, Max tried to hide how he was trying to make up for what he did to David, and was trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal to round up everyone to do the bonfire.
(If I were honest, Nerris/Preston made me laugh so hard with how they scripted him. DRAG THE BOY.)
In ‘Something Fishy’, Max didn’t like the change, so he stopped listening to Gwen when it was convenient for him. In the beginning of the episode, they both let each other say they were different from the other people at the camp. Later on, after Max was being selfish, She called him out on it, and even though he was silent, it was clear he got the message.
In the newest episode, The Candy Kingpin, really topped it off. Max uses Dolf openly, and really took the cake of little shit for the week. Dolf was admittedly too much a few times, watching Max while he was asleep, and moving into the tent without permission. For a child, it was probably an easy way to justify Max’s actions to himself. But insulting the painting was a bit much. Max didn’t understand the work that went into it, and I’m glad Dolf thought it was a joke, because my heart wouldn’t be able to take it. Max, thankfully, tried to make up for his actions by ratting himself out. But, Max only did it when Dolf was in danger and missing, and needed David to find Dolf. Max trying to make up for it still had an underlying working only for himself, which Dolf understood.
Why is Max still defending himself? Being selfish and pushing these people away is something he is doing for a subconscious reason. He never leaves himself vulnerable. Did he purposefully walk away from his friends in the foreign exchange episode?
My theory is that Max is realizing that summer will eventually end, and the happiness he had here, will inevitably fade away the second he steps back on that bus. He’s scared about his friends and family he made at the camp leaving him like his parents abandoned him at the camp. Max seems to be withdrawing on himself, and it looks like the development he had made is losing traction. He thinks of the camp as a new home, which is why he isn’t trying to run away, and even went to lengths to save it, in season 3 episode one, starting a fundraiser, and the episode with Campbell “infiltrating” the camp, when he helped protect David from getting sent to Super Guantanamo. That episode, he even said he was more than cut out for the camp. It’s obvious the development in his character, he doesn’t want to leave. He doesn’t want to go home.
What I want to see is Max being on his worst behavior, like the season two finale. We know more about everyone else’s parents, because seeing the parents themselves and seeing them interact with their children really mirrors how they are treated. I want to see the extent of his parents abuse. I desperately want to know more about Max’s home life. We have no clue what Max is really going through, besides neglect. What are we missing?
Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.
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