Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous EP Scott Kreamer Explores Season 2's Biggest Twists

The new season of the Netflix animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous focuses on the group of surviving campers -- Darius, Brooklyn, Kenji, Yaz and Sammy -- as they try to stay ahead of wild dinosaurs and find a way off Isla Nublar following the explosive events of last season.

During an exclusive interview with CBR, Camp Cretaceous Executive Producer Scott Kreamer delved into some of the biggest twists and moments from Season 2 -- which takes place between the events of Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

One of the most memorable moments in the Camp Cretaceous Season 2 -- and the series as a whole -- comes during the third episode, "The Water Hole." After trying to discover the problem with their blocked water supply, Darius and Kenji discover a watering hole in the middle of the park. With the dinosaurs otherwise free to live out their lives, the watering hole has become something of a peaceful habitat for the creatures. The predators instinctually don't attack other creatures, allowing all forms of creature to use the area at once without fear of death -- including humans, as Darius and Kenji discover. It's a surprisingly moving sequence, largely dialogue-free, focusing on the two young men basking in awe at the fact that they're the first human beings to ever to experience this kind of connection with a lost part of the world's history.

The sequence was a favorite for Kreamer, who revealed that the writers, directors, artists and other executive producers -- like Aaron Hammersley -- were heavily involved in the sequence. He described how much work went into "really making that scene itself at the watering hole feel as Jurassic as we possibly could make it. And just really, just showing different sides of the different characters and different surprising aspects of their personalities [in that moment.]"

One of the big cliffhangers from the conclusion of Camp Cretaceous' first season was the disappearance of the neebish and skittish Ben, who was dragged away by dinosaurs. The second season reveals he and his companion Ankylosaurus (nicknamed Bumpy) survived and actually adapted to the island. Kreamer revealed that this wasn't always the plan for Ben, though, admitting, "There was an early version where Ben doesn't survive, which probably would have probably been too dark. We have a lot of liberties considering we're [ostensibly] a children's show. But that might've been pushing it too far."

"We knew when we started the show there was always this idea to do a survival story focusing on one of kids, ideally with as little dialogue as possible. Early on in Season 1, when [Simon] Masrani's helicopter went down, I think we had a joke. Someone said, 'Well, maybe it's okay,' that it explodes. Then when you really get into it, it's like -- this is death. And you can't be cavalier or flippant about it. These kids have just witnessed something, just like the kids who are watching the show are witnessing something. And so if it feels random, or not motivated, or just there to shock, then I don't think it gives you that same feeling that you really want to feel when you're watching something like this."

Eventually, the decision came to spare Ben -- eventually reuniting him with the main cast and giving him his own solo episode detailing how he overcame his fears and became a survivor. The episode was another highlight of the Camp Cretaceous Season 2 for Kreamer, who revealed, "It just seemed like a really interesting idea. And when it presented itself in this way that we realized, okay, well, what has Ben gone through? It felt like a natural growth... I love that episode and it was a nice furthering this evolution of Ben. Was it always the plan? No, not necessarily. But it just sort of laid out and it felt like, this feels right."

Camp Cretaceous also shifts in tone after the revelation that Mitch and Tiff -- initially presenting themselves as nature preservationists -- are actually big game hunters hoping to use the chaos on the island to hunt dinosaurs. The pair quickly prove to be surprisingly dangerous despite their sheltered lifestyles and casually cruel views, with much of the season's latter half dealing with the fallout of their plan to hunt dinosaurs. But just like any other human who has made the mistake of messing with the dinosaurs in this long-running franchise, Camp Cretaceous Season 2 ends with both Mitch and Tiff suffering gruesome fates at the hands of the creatures they were hunting.

This turn is very consistent with plot beats throughout the franchise and, according to Kreamer, "that was very much my design. We do want to, wherever we can, tip our cap or reference the films, or just to make it feel of a piece." He also addressed how the characters -- among the only actual casualties in the entire season -- had to earn such terrible fates for it to feel justified. "You want these people to feel like what happens to them, in the end, is deserved. And I think we'll agree that what happens to them, it's deserved... You don't want it to feel like a random, oh this is just a person. This is someone that you really want to feel, okay, well, they got what was coming to them.. The fact that Tiff just turns on [Mitch] like that. Yeah, that felt like a very Jurassic-moment right there."

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Colin Trevorrow, Scott Kreamer and Lane Lueras, with Zack Stentz serving as a consulting producer. The second season is now streaming on Netflix.

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