A lot happened last season. We started with Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), a kid obsessed with dinosaurs and, just as much so, the Willie Wonka-esque VR game that could get him an invite to Jurassic World’s new youth camp. We ended with corporate espionage, hurt feelings, one kid seemingly falling to their death, and the Jurassic franchise’s tradition of running and screaming as the teens are abandoned on Isla Nubar when it gets evacuated. Based on that alone, where we go from there should at least have us curious.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 2 gets rolled into two parts. In the beginning, the kids are trying to find some avenue of survival. The abandoned gift shops and food court have a few distractions and frozen food options, but they’re not the only hungry ones trying to scavenge. The established structures and resources are either inoperable or compromised by roaming dinosaurs. But, even after recreating their treehouse dorm, the kids still have to deal with what happened and what is still happening to them.
When anxiety-ridden Ben (Sean Giambrone, The Goldbergs) fell from the monorail, he was holding onto Darius who is having trouble dealing with it and separating it from the death of his father. World-class athlete, Yasmina (Kausar Mohammed, What Men Want), finds that her ankle injury has made her temporarily reliant on others (which forces her to socialize and even be in physical contact with them). Ben, revealed to have survived his fall at the end of last season, has been Robinson Crusoe-ing in the middle of the wilderness with his imprinted ankylosaur, Bumpy, and is now perhaps the most capable member of the group. Pink-haired vlogger, Brooklyn (Jenny Ortega, You), has started to obsess over any rabbit hole that leads her to the secret research that was being done on the island and why. There’s even a moral dilemma or two parents and kids can talk about, like when rancher, Sammy (Raini Rodriguez, Austin & Ally), argues with Darius to release predators from starving in the holding pens along with the herbivores, despite the later danger they could pose.
The second half of the season revolves around the arrival of a young couple of “eco-tourists” and their grim wilderness guide, none of whom are exactly as suspected. How the group deals with this new dynamic and the prospect of getting off the island will reveal more and more of Jurassic World’s intrigue and some of the darkest and most dramatic moments in the series thus far.
My kids love it. My two-year-old nephew loves it. But it should be noted that every single parent I know who has watched it with their kids has said that they make sure to watch every new episode with their kids, just in anticipation of the moment that gets too intense and may make them stop watching.
