So, just watched episode 17 of Camp Camp...
Again, bit of a spoiler here if y'all haven't seen it. I kinda just wanna address a few things so hopefully this won't be as long as last time's rant lol.
First: the production. I want to say that not every episode will be perfect. Not every episode is going to instill awe inspiring feelings into you, nor will every single episode be absolutely perfect. I get that this episode may have seemed a little rush, and yeah, the thing at the end where everyone reverted back to their "old selves" may have been a little badly done, but you have to remember that sometimes shows have their bad episodes. Maybe today was Camp Camps. In any case, if you view the entire episode badly, you're gonna percieve the message badly. And that brings me to the second thing I want to talk about.
The message. At the end, Max spelled it out clearly, if a little blunt. Basically, change happens, whether you like it or not, and perhaps for the better. It could be for a reason or not. I saw someone say maybe Space Kid didn't want to confide to his familys' legacy and pressure. I saw someone say Harrison had been ignored just like Max. Erid joined Nerris for being bored, and she enjoyed just having fun with her. Max said changes happen, and it's scary for it to happen. He said whether or not it did, they were still friends. Max, the one who at first was a mean, I-hate-you-and-life kid, the one who refused to believe he liked anyone, admits they were friends. I think this was the biggest change, and why he admits it was so scary to him. "Not all change is bad." Is a big development from what this kid used to be. I think that, although it was a little poorly shown for other characters, this message was to show us about how much they've all changed from the beginning, especially Max. And it's why they immediently go back to their "old selves". Not because they haven't changed, but because they're bringing back what they learned from this change into a comfortable form. A huge moment of this is when Max and Nurf go to blow up Space Kid's car. Max hears Space Kid saying how his change was different, but felt good to him. And Max doesn't go through with his plan. I bet you in the beginning, Max wouldn't hesitate to do anything to anyone, especially if it would bring back what he was first comfortable with - being distant and mean. But he sees Space Kid, and thinks Wow, if I do this, it'll make everything that changed different again. It'll make Space Kid change out of what now makes him feel happy with. Does he want to undo all this change? Does he want to undo this change that makes Space Kid happy, just to change everything back? Would it make him happy to do just that?
Absolutely not. This is the message. Max doesn't want to do this mean act that was the beginning of summer. That's the change in him, showing us that even though he's scared of it, and even though he doesn't like it, it might be for the better. As long as they're still friends, as long as it doesn't change for the bad, Max can handle it. That's the change. It's a change, a good change, that Max feels like he can deal with.
This ended up longer than I wanted it to. But I just wanted to make sure people took a good light to this message, even if it wasn't proposed the best.