Camp Cretaceous Episode 1×01 Recap: Camp Cretaceous

I started a blog for pop culture spoilers, but haven’t contributed to it much. Truth is, I want to talk about TV shows I watch and love — not just share the spoilers. And I don’t want to focus on building a whole other blog just because I feel like my main blog can’t contain multitudes.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!

Jurassic World

A red radar graph trills and beeps. A man speaks of an emergency over the radio. A woman replies that help is on the way. Velociraptors run across a field of trees. The man looks at the camera, saying they can’t stop there. The man stops behind a rock and looks around. Thinking they’re safe, he relaxes. A velociraptor chases them both. The man is eaten by velociraptors, and the player is eaten by a T-Rex.

The game ends.

Darius’s brother, Brand, aggravates him and tries to convince him that gaming all the time in hopes of winning a trip to Jurassic World — even though it was their dad’s dream — isn’t worth it. Darius never leaves his room anymore. Brand convinces him to at least take a shower.

Darius goes to bed. He awakes with the idea to use a dinosaur skull as a whistle, which helps him successfully win the game — and thus a trip to Jurassic World, i.e. Camp Cretaceous.

Campers at the dock

Dave welcomes the campers on the dock. Ben vomits into the ocean. Dave calls himself the “head honcho” right before Roxie arrives and introduces herself as head counselor of Camp Cretaceous. Dave says it’s a “co-head counselor situation”. Roxie’s reaction implies this is not true.

The camp counselors explain to the campers that they’ll be receiving five-star treatment. Brooklyn asks them to repeat themselves and shorten their messaging for her footage.

Dave redirects the six of them to camp, but there’s only five of them. A helicopter lands on the beach, and Kenji exits. He drops his duffel bag into Roxie’s arms. She throws it at him.

Trip to camp

The campers load into the Jeep Gladiator. Brooklyn takes selfies. Ben is nervous. Brooklyn records her and the campers for her “Brooklanders”. Sammy introduced herself as one of her 27 million followers. The only reason Brooklyn gets to keep her cell phone is because of her fame.

Kenji claims they’re meant to be. Ben vomits over the side of the jeep. A dinosaur skitters by, and the jeep stops. Dave and Roxie look around with taser sticks.

At 11:07, the foliage on the left side of the path in the middle looks like a velociraptor.

The campers remain in the vehicle. A compsognathus, or Compy, jumps on Darius. Brooklyn hides behind a tire. Roxie catches it with a blanket, saying they’re always escaping their enclosures.

Welcome to Camp Cretaceous

The campers arrive at camp. Brooklyn tries to record Yasmina, who isn’t a fan of people or cameras. The campground is large enough to house 500 kids and 150 staff.

Curfew is 8pm and lights out at 9pm sharp, for safety purposes due to a dinosaur-filled jungle.

Darius wanted to look at the Compy more, not choose a bunk.

The day is not over, buddy

The campers watch staff herd dinosaurs into their night enclosures from a tower. Darius names several dinosaurs, earning him a compliment from Brooklyn. Kenji names a brontosaurus, but Darius says it’s a common mistake — Jurassic World doesn’t have those.

Ben is pushed down the zipline first, taking them from the tower to their camp.

Going rogue

Kenji catches Darius sneaking out. Brooklyn also catches them and agrees to “go rogue”.

The three go to an enclosure, seeking Compies. Kenji plays tug of war with Brooklyn’s phone, which falls into the pen. Kenji drops down into it.

Blue, the velociraptor, approaches him. The camera flashes in her face, and she attacks. Brooklyn presses the button to open the gate, but it opens the one inside the enclosure.

Darius hopes the steam will keep them busy after he drops down into the pen with Kenji, but more velociraptors arrive.

Jane’s thoughts

This is one of my favorite animated pilots to date — which means it’s also one of my top TV pilots of all time, as I mostly watch animation. ✨

Camp Cretaceous shares all the campers’ stories, but focuses on Darius for the personal flashbacks. I do love this decision and favor Darius quite a bit. He’s intelligent and somewhat the odd one out, considering he’s the only one with no personal connection to Jurassic World.