He's Just Not Here Right Now is the 10th episode of Season 4 of Summer Camp Island and the 82nd episode overall.
Synopsis
Oscar and Hedgehog encounter New Jersey's most famous piece of folklore.
Plot
Oscar, Hedgehog, Pepper, Lucy, and Max are getting ready to go on a hike exploring the island. Hedgehog asks if they're ready and Oscar checks his supplies, which includes 14 rolls of toilet paper. He looks at HH expectantly and she grudgingly asks "what's everyone else going to use?" seeming embarrassed. The group decides to hike in some nearby pine barrens, but find Susie, Betsy, and Alice there. The witches are planning on clearing the barrens to build Susie a new spa since the Jersey Devil, who the barrens were created to house, hasn't been seen and is presumed lost to the withdrawal of magic. This upsets Oscar and HH especially, since the barrens remind them of a similar wood back home in New Jersey. They set to change Susie's mind by telling her of their own brush with the Devil when they were children. The story goes:
Oscar and Hedgehog were 6 and on a camping trip with Mr.Peltzer. It is revealed that the extra toilet paper started as an inside joke between Oscar and HH on this trip, and that Oscar always thought it was funnier than HH did. When Oscar is upset at having to sit in the middle of the canoe instead of paddling, his dad starts to tell him and Hedgehog about the legend of the Jersey Devil and the three telltale signs he's near. First, the air around you gets cold, then you get a tickle in your throat. Finally, you hear a terrible, inhuman tummy grumble. Later their boat capsizes and their waterlogged tent is out of commission, so they have to sleep out under the stars. The kids are scared and can't sleep. They feel cold, but that could just be from sleeping outside. Oscar has a cough, but that could just be his tree bark allergy. They hear terrible tummy grumbles, but they didn't eat dinner as they had to hang their sandwiches out to dry after the capsizing. Even after rationalizing everything, the two are still terrified and barely sleep. In the morning, the sandwiches are gone. Mr.Peltzer assumes Oscar and Hedgehog ate them, but they didn't. They believe the Jersey Devil ate them to this day.
Back at camp, Susie is unimpressed with this story. She says they never saw him and no one ever will because he's "the best hider in the magical world" and Hedgehog points out that if that's true, Susie couldn't prove he wasn't in the barrens somewhere. He's just not here right now. Susie has to admit it's true and says she'll just stick to her old spa. Oscar leaves a sandwich for the Jersey Devil when they leave.
Characters
Trivia
- Oscar taking an inordinate amount of toilet paper with him is possibly a reference to the toilet paper shortages from about a year before the airing of the episode.
Production Notes
- Although this episode premiered on HBO Max on June 17, 2021, it was actually produced in 2020 according to the credits.
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