After a summer of gruesome murders where British strangers were picked off one by one, Camp Pleasant has re-opened its grounds just in The CW’s Killer Camp. The reality series welcomes a new group of campers who compete for a handsome cash prize all while trying to avoid getting killed off by one of their own.
Unlike the slasher series’ inaugural outing which consisted exclusively of British strangers, Season 2 welcomes a mix of both British and American campers. The previous season of Killer Camp included British versions of jocks, cheerleaders, and other high school tropes, so when the show’s casting team invited a few willing Americans to come on board to fill those roles, the creators were “so excited” about the new dynamics it would bring.
Last season, the campers embarked on what they thought would be a fun-filled summer of games. Shortly after arriving at Camp Pleasant, they found out the competition had a killer twist where each night one of them would die. This time around, the players were not kept in the dark about the deadly details of the game.
“We thought it would be a really interesting change to have [the campers] coming into the show looking for the killer, so they enter with their eyes open already looking for who they can trust in the group,” Executive Producer and Showrunner Ben Wilson tells PopWire in an exclusive interview.
“We didn’t think we could get away with doing the twist again. It was a tough thing to do in the first year, so we really embraced that they knew about it and they were looking for the killer from the first second that they arrived on the show.”
At the center of it all is Camp Counselor Bobby (Comedian Bobby Mair), who is there to help the campers navigate through the whole killer campfire experience while they figure out who among them is the killer. As host of the show, even he doesn’t know the true murderer’s identity!
“If I knew who the killer was, I always worry that I would look at them longer or change my tone of voice when I speak to them or not speak to them,” Bobby Mair tells us. “So I’m playing along with the other campers and the viewers just having no idea.” He shares that during production, he “guessed wrong in the second season a lot.”
Viewers watching Killer Camp at home will have the opportunity to play detective this season, as this time, there will be an abundant amount of hints we can look out for. “I can say with a gleeful smile that there are lots of clues this year,” Wilson says. “We had a really nice time layering in clues throughout the whole season, across social media, across every episode. So yeah, there are definitely clues layered into the killer’s identity.”
Finding out the identity of the killer — who enlists Handyman Bruce to do the actual killing — is just part of the game. In each episode, the campers play games in order to win cash for the pot. The good news is that with all the games played, the cash prize can reach up to $50,000! The bad news is that in each game, the amount the campers fail to acquire will go directly to the killer’s bank. So there are lots of chances for sabotage.
Prior to each game, viewers will get to see Camp Counselor Bobby briefly demonstrate what the campers need to do. And as host, Bobby reveals that there are some times where he wishes he could join in on the fun instead of watching it all play out.
“There are some games where they have to jump into very cold water and swim very far, and even demoing that where I almost fall in the water, I hate,” Mair says. “But then other games where they get to throw axes in the first season, I totally would love to just have a day where I get to throw axes. So it depends on the game.”
After the two games are played, which are both opportunities to win money for the pot, the episodes all end at night with everyone surrounding a crackling campfire. Camp Counselor Bobby reveals the names of two players who are then sent off into “the wood” — but only one of them comes back. The other is dispatched by one of their own to be gruesomely killed off by Handyman Bruce.
The Season 1 murders were very tame — but thankfully, the big kill at the end of the Season 2 opener makes up for them in a big way. The death scene was beautifully shot and executed [pun intended] so gloriously. “I don’t want to spoil anything,” Mair says of the Season 2 kills. “All I can say is they’re disgusting and also really funny.”
For fans of the first season, the Killer Camp showrunner says you will not be disappointed. “I think we, across the board, upped the ante from Season 1,” Wilson says. “We’ve taken all the things that we thought we loved and hoped people loved about Season 1 — the mystery, the intrigue, the murders, Bobby’s stories, the games — and we’ve turned the dial up.”
As for those who have not yet experienced what goes on in Camp Pleasant, he says that viewers should tune in because it’s the perfect mix of horror and reality. “It’s a reality whodunnit slasher movie; it’s The Running Man in real life; it’s Squid Game in real life.
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“You get all the fun of the reality shows — all the arguments, all the fights, all the romance, the bromances — but when someone leaves the show, they get brutally ‘murdered.’ That’s their elimination. So that contestant gets to be the star of their own mini horror movie for 5 minutes then they’re never seen again.”
The sophomore season of Killer Camp is incredibly fun. With many laugh-out-loud moments, drama from the campers, and must-watch murders, the series is bigger, better, and bloodier than ever.
Killer Camp Season 2 premieres Friday, August 5 at 8pm on The CW.
*This story, originally posted on October 8, 2021, has been updated.
