The Middleton cheer squad (along with the Mad Dog mascot and Mr. Barkin) are heading toward a competition one night. The bus breaks down, though, and the team ends up stranded at Camp Wannaweep. Between the poisonous plants, ravenous squirrels and cruel campers, the experience was less than a pleasant one for Ron, something he makes clear throughout the night. The memories still haunt him, much like the creature lurking in the shadows, watching...waiting...
Ooh, very scary stuff, huh, kids? Sorry, wrong show. Anyway, "Sink or Swim" is a delight. It's less an adventure-driven episode than a horror story, something that writers Julie DuFine and Amanda Schwartz wisely play to its hilt. Campers wonder about strange noises, people disappear and at the center of the madness is a disgusting creature.
This creature turns out to be a fellow camper of Ron's named...Gil - no, wait, that should be Gill! (a favorite moment of mine). It turns out that Lake Wannaweep, which Gil spent much time in all those summers ago, was contaminated with chemicals from a nearby science camp. Unsurprisingly, Gill holds a grudge against Ron for this (even then, Ron noticed that something was a bit...unusual about the water and refused to set foot in it, opting instead for Gil's arts and crafts time) and sets out to capture him, spewing mutating, toxic muck along the way.
The episode's mixture of comedy and suspense gets stronger as it goes along, with Ron and Rufus trying to work out a plan to stop Gill. All I can say here is that they're gonna need a bigger boat. Gill makes for an unusual change-of-pace, mainly because, unlike so many other villains with dreams of taking over the world, he seeks vengeance. In fact, he's so interesting that it's truly a shame that his only other episode ("Return to Wannaweep") ended up so very, very, very dreary.
"Sink or Swim" is just a great episode.
***.5/****
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