This review contains mild spoilers for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. The new season premiered on Netflix Dec. 3.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous went into its fourth season on a high. It’s rare for any series — children’s or otherwise — to be able to continue to improve upon its quality three years in a row, but the writers of Camp Cretaceous were able to pull it off with strong focus on the bonds between the (now former) campers and a special kind of empathy towards the very dinosaurs that were hunting them. Regrettably, Season 4 ends that streak.
Through its tenure, Camp Cretaceous has been a way for fans of all ages to get a small dose of the Jurassic franchise between major film entries while expanding the universe initially created in Michael Crichton’s books. Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega), Sammy (Raini Rodriguez), Yasmina (Kausar Mohammed), Kenji (Ryan Potter), and Ben (Sean Giambrone) all find themselves trapped on Isla Nublar after the events of the first Jurassic World, forcing the teens to fight for their lives while trying to find common ground. The first season was basically if Jurassic Park met The Breakfast Club.
Now that we’re in Season 4, those interpersonal issues are largely gone. Friendships continue to grow, and we even get a budding relationship in this new chapter. The kids’ emotional evolution is on full display as they work their way through their new issues after escaping Isla Nublar (leaving Ben’s beloved dinosaur, Bumpy, behind). Though they attempted to make their way to Costa Rica so the Coast Guard could get them to their families, they discovered pretty quickly that they weren’t the only ones who escaped Jurassic World. The Mosasaurus capsizes their boat, forcing them ashore a new island.
The obvious move here would have been Isla Sorna, the second of the two islands originally owned by John Hammond for all of his dino-related purposes. Instead, they find themselves on an island-wide experiment run by Manta Corp where they discover both friend and foe.
Realizing they’re stuck once again after the brief hope of the yacht they nearly escaped on, we start to see cracks in the kids’ psyches. Yaz is the strongest example this season, which ends up being a highpoint in the narrative this year. As the strongest and fastest of the six friends, it’s great to see Camp Cretaceous showcasing that even the toughest among us have moments where they need help. It’s an especially exciting move when a lot of Season 4 seems to be at war with itself.
We spoke about the campers’ empathy toward the dinosaurs in the beginning of this review. It’s important to note that Season 4 has that on display more than any of the previous seasons, but it’s in that empathy that makes Camp Cretaceous seem at war with itself. It’s almost as if the series forgot that most people are here because they love dinosaurs, and they don’t need to see them being tortured to want them to be taken care of. Yet, here’s Season 4, waltzing into the picture with some unfathomable desire to be needlessly cruel to its audience.
Let’s set aside that this is a kids’ show for a hot second. Being mean to your audience can be a strong storytelling tool. Attacking viewers’ emotions helps guide them into feeling however you want them to so you can tell your tale in the most impactful way possible. But it has to be earned, and that is where Camp Cretaceous fails in ways the series never has before. First of all, it is a show for younger audiences, so its need to endlessly torture both dinosaurs and AI alike feels out of bounds from the jump. If the slow introduction of more and more cruelty to these creatures isn’t enough, there is a dinosaur-related scene in the season’s penultimate episode that is so pointlessly mean spirited that it warranted pausing and walking away for a moment. Worse still, the scene in question has absolutely no narrative purpose. It is solely there to act as a manipulative gut punch to the viewer. It’s successful, but it’s not impactful, and this season’s lack of understanding between the two is extremely frustrating given how smart it’s been in past years.
While still acknowledging those frustrations, Camp Cretaceous has always been a strong entry into the Jurassic franchise. There are a lot of moments in Season 4 worth scrunching your nose at, but that sentiment remains mostly true. We meet some new key players this season that leave a lot of intrigue for coming chapters, and there are plenty of cute new dinosaurs to fawn over. The teens’ emotional bonds remain complex and enjoyable, too. Hopefully, next year will be more of a return to form.
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