With Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Netflix introduced us to six teens left behind during the evacuation of the eponymous theme park in Jurassic World. Intrepid Darius, farm girl Sammy, neurotic Ben, influencer Brooklynn, rich kid Kenji and athletic Yaz, survived a year (49 episodes and an interactive special) on Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna by relying on each other’s skills and talents.
But that was six years ago.
Now, the “Nublar Six” have reached (young) adulthood in a world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric megafauna co-exist with humans. But it looks like one of them isn’t going any further than that. Brooklynn, who became an investigative journalist, was taken out by an Allosaurus, and the rest are dealing with fallout.
Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams, Westworld) had joined the Department of Prehistoric Wildlife (an agency created to protect people from dinosaurs and vice versa) but left when he was unable to prevent Brooklynn’s attack. Kenji, who was taken in by Darius’ family after the events of Camp Cretaceous, hasn’t talked to him since. Sammy (Raini Rodriguez of Paul Blart: Mall Cop) and Yaz (Kausar Mohammed, Appendage) are dealing with the strains of a long-distance relationship. Ben (The Goldbergs’ Sean Giambrone) went through a major growth spurt but has grown paranoid after spending time tracking conspiracies about Brooklynn’s death, one of which may not be so far-fetched after all.
The series is thus far very faithful to the first one. It’s clean, but it’s not dialed down for kids all that much. There’s mortal danger. We see blood, even if the cause is usually off screen. The Nublar Six are dealing with real issues in their personal lives. Kenji isn’t rich anymore. Darius has survivor’s guilt. Sammy’s feeling isolated since her parents aren’t talking to her much and her girlfriend is at college.
While some things, like the animation style and quality, remain the same, others have… evolved. They’re still writing family-friendly but they’re not writing about kids anymore. Original Brooklynn and Kenji voice actors (Jenna Ortega and Ryan Potter, respectively) have been replaced with singer Kiersten Kelly, and Never Have I Ever’s Darren Barnet.
While the Jurassic film franchise currently seeks their next billion-dollar trilogy, the Nublar Six and their search for the truth will more than fill the gap for audiences, from dinosaur-obsessed kids to this writer’s mother, who hasn’t willingly watched any non-Disney movie animation since Captain Kangaroo was on the air.
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory is now streaming in Netflix.
