In the first season finale of Camp Camp, David examines his love of Camp Campbell and tries to bring back a ritual from his days at the camp as a kid in the 1990s. However, no matter how hard David tries, he can’t manage to please the camp kids and his co-counselor Gwen.
David tells the children that whoever proves to be a good person and respect nature the most will win a prize. This leads to a funny sequence of events where the children try their hardest to be good and respect nature, but inevitably fail as they are just as dysfunctional as they always have been.
Things go haywire when the prize is revealed, leaving Max to decide what he is going to do to David. The entire first season was the season of Max, as he made friends and navigated camp life. His arch was leading up to this episode, and it was concluded in the most satisfying way possible while still being true to Max's character.
The thing I appreciate the most about "The Order of the Sparrow" is that it takes racism head-on. It tackles a practice that was common in camps and even showed up in many beloved films that took place in an American summer camp in the 20th century. David has Gwen and the quartermaster dress up as “Indians” with faux-indigenous feather-adorned bands on their heads. David wears a band with many feathers and claims he is the chief, going so far as to make the inauthentic battle cry sound that was common in many forms of entertainment but was not authentic in the slightest.
I love how the children immediately view it as racist and point it out. Neil immediately points out that calling indigenous people Indians isn’t correct and notes that Max is the true Indian as his parents came from India, then points out the overt racism of David’s offensive attempt at a battle cry.
The children act as the viewer surrogate here, as looking back at camp rituals where white Americans wore inauthentic headgear and made sounds that were never uttered by indigenous people is no longer viewed as harmless fun. It makes the children rightfully cringe at David’s antics.
I love how the children immediately view it as racist and point it out. Neil immediately points out that calling indigenous people Indians isn’t correct and notes that Max is the true Indian as his parents came from India, then points out the overt racism of David’s offensive attempt at a battle cry.
The children act as the viewer surrogate here, as looking back at camp rituals where white Americans wore inauthentic headgear and made sounds that were never uttered by indigenous people is no longer viewed as harmless fun. It makes the children rightfully cringe at David’s antics.
This is something I’m glad the show dealt with. Like its adult animated comedy predecessor, South Park, Camp Camp is never afraid of tackling tough subjects. Also like South Park, it occasionally misses the mark but gets it right more often than not. This episode is definitely one of the latter.
The season was originally slated for ten episodes, but it was extended to twelve. The extra two definitely weren't squandered. It allowed episode nine and ten to flesh out the personality of some of the background characters while leaving episodes eleven and twelve as the conclusion. The way it was written and executed even feels like it could have worked as a series finale, but thankfully Rooster Teeth opted to create more episodes. It also works great as a season finale, as "The Order of the Sparrow" is executed beautifully. It deals with the evolution of Max in a satisfying, and heartwarming, way.
Final Verdict:
5 out of 5
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