Comedy is a tricky thing to talk about critically. There are methods to break down jokes or gags into their component parts and explain why each is objectively funny. But unless you are writing a doctoral thesis, there is no faster way to suck all the fun right out of humor. Comedy’s power comes from the involuntary nature and immediacy of the response it can elicit. Everything about it is subjective and that’s the way it should be.
Discussing an entire season of a show all at once is also a difficult task. We’ve talked about it times but for something like the broad absurdist comedy of “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp“, which essentially plays as a four hour movie, binging might actually be a benefit. Seeds planted in early episodes can be paid off later without losing the intent of the joke resulting in even funnier punchlines. On the flip side, bits that don’t work can be easily glossed over.
There’s a lot that works and a lot that doesn’t work over the course of the first day of camp, eight weeks before (yet fifteen years later) the events of the original film. The episodes can hit the absurdist highs of Electro City and a nighttime eco-terrorism trial while still reaching the relative low of hammering the same “we’re rich, they’re poor” joke of Camp Tigerclaw over and over. What is most remarkable is how it all fits together.
The original film and the new mini-series throw everything possible at the wall, working in so many different styles and approaches. What ties it all into a cohesive whole is the commitment the cast brings. None are more committed than Janeane Garofalo in her portrayal of camp counselor Beth.
The notorious can of vegetables is back and Garofalo goes for broke when she is asked to make out with the can not once, but multiple times. The can’s backstory is tragic – camp administrator Mitch (the always hilarious H. Jon Benjamin) fell into a pool of toxic waste while holding the can of vegetables. The process fused man and can together. If this sounds funny to you, “First Day of Camp” might be your kind of show.
That toxic waste isn’t just a throwaway gag to explain a talking can, it actually serves as the major propulsive plot line of the entire series. An evil corporation is behind dumping the toxic waste and handling all of the US government’s dirty work. Somehow this also involves President Ronald Reagan (Michael Showalter) and the introduction of my favorite new character, “The Falcon” (Jon Hamm).
A prequel can often feel restrictive, typically everyone knows where the plot and characters will end up. This can lead to boring and predictable storytelling. The manic energy in nearly every scene prevents predictability from ever becoming a factor. The one place the manic energy isn’t totally present is in exploring the backstory of Katie (Marguerite Moreau) and her boyfriend over on the rich side of the lake at Camp Tigerclaw, Blake (Josh Charles).
Watching the events at Camp Firewood unfold out of context through a pair of binoculars isn’t a bad premise but the material Charles and his Camp Tigerclaw friends (Rich Sommer and Eric Nenninger) have to work with isn’t up to the same level as some of the other stories. That isn’t to say the other plot lines are perfect, they certainly aren’t, but Tigerclaw is stuck in a perpetual loop of commenting on the action rather than participating. Additionally, the other plots twist and turn so quickly, only what works best sticks out most.
The best example of the good outweighing the bad is the expanded role given to Lindsay (Elizabeth Banks). Banks wasn’t a featured player in the original film, like many, it was her first movie, but now, like many, she’s a certifiable movie star. Revealing Lindsay to not be a sixteen year old counselor but rather a twenty-four year old reporter is just the kind of ridiculous that works in this universe. Her constant calls back to her editor (Jordan Peele) grow tiresome but her “investigation” of the camp and the supposedly abandoned cabin produce some of the bigger laughs of the entire season.
The absolute biggest laughs stem from the mounting of a performance of “Electro City”, a play with a plot so outlandish it isn’t even worth going into. Show choreographer Rhonda (Michaela Watkins) would have been my favorite character of the season if it wasn’t for the inclusion of The Falcon, and the sixth episode of the season, titled “Electro/City“, is the strongest top to bottom. Despite being only about 10 hours after the events of the season premiere, the characters have started to feel comfortable in their camp personas and are acting closer to the people we know from the film. Not to mention the glimpses we get of the play itself are hysterical.
Everything, including the mostly tedious Tigerclaw plot, all lead to a great finale in “Day Is Done“. A madcap ending that features a surprisingly good showdown between The Nam vet Jonas/Gene (Christopher Meloni) and The Falcon, a full scale invasion from Camp Tigerclaw, and a game of brinksmanship with the US Government led by President Reagan. It’s a satisfying way to end the season and all makes perfect sense… That is until you stop to think about it.
To wrap the season up, Coop (Michael Showalter) offers a recap of everything the counselors went through over the course of the day. It sums up the world and why the original movie never really broke the “cult” label. The sensibility is to push things as far as possible for the sake of the joke and that can result in things becoming overly wacky. But there is also a sweetness and innocence to the characters, a quality that keeps fans, at least this fan, coming back for more.
Lindsay said it best:
“Everyone was represented at Camp Firewood and everyone was welcome – including me.”
What did you think? Did you binge the entire season? What did you find funny? What didn’t work? Do you hope we get to see another day at Camp Firewood?
