Bunk'd (seasons 3-7)
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"Everything we've come to know about the show is either gone, or will be gone and knowing that this show was once a JESSIE spin-off, this show's popularity will keep it from ending, thus making it destined to loop like this for all eternity. In conclusion, Bunk'd, a once decent show coming off of the heels of a once-decent series has gone so far down the drain that it has passed the event horizon of any dignity this franchise has had. Season 6 better be the last season. I don't even care if they barely acknowledge the previous 5 seasons in some mastermind way. This show will likely go out with its head submerged under water as it tries to intake one final grasp for breath. I have no clue what happened to Xander, Tiffany, Griff, Jorge, Matteo, Ava, Finn, or even the rest of the OG cast, but I'd rather watch a spin-off with all of them than this, and I can only hope that they had a far better adventure outside of Camp Kikiwaka and New York City than the one we're forced to watch."
— Mr.Kay-27 on Bunk'd fandom
Bunk'd (titled Bunk'd: Learning the Ropes for the last two seasons) is an American comedy television series created by Pamela Eells O'Connell that premiered on Disney Channel on July 31, 2015. The series is a spin-off of Jessie and for the first three seasons includes returning stars Peyton List, Karan Brar, and Skai Jackson, as well as Miranda May who has starred over the series' entire run. On December 29, 2023, it was announced that the series would be ending after seven seasons and the season got an extra two episodes, bringing the total episode count to 22 episodes.
Season 3 premiered on June 18, 2018, with "We Can't Bear It!" and ended on September 21, 2018, with "Up, Up, and Away". It consists of 16 episodes. Season 4 premiered on June 20, 2019, with "Who da Boss? Lou da Boss!" and ended on July 24, 2020, with "Raven About Bunk'd". It consists of 30 episodes. Season 5 premiered on January 15, 2021, with "Lou's Still the Boss, But Now There's a Ross" and ended on August 6th, 2021 with "Frien'ds Forever". Season 6 premiered on June 10, 2022, with ''Learning the Ropes'' and ended on May 21, 2023 with "Desperate Treasures". Season 7 premiered on July 23, 2023 with "Cursed Day of Camp". On May 2, 2023, production was suspended on Season 7 due to the Writer's Guild of America Strike. On September 27, 2023, the WGA strike had ended, on November 9, 2023, the SAG-AFTRA strike had ended.
While the first two seasons (2015-2017) were mostly well-received, the same cannot be the same for the last five seasons (2018-present) which garnered negative reception and are considered non-canon due to the highly radical changes.
Plot
Season 3
Emma, Ravi and Zuri Ross eagerly return to Camp Kikiwaka ready to forge new friendships and memories as counselors, only to discover the Woodchuck and Grizzly cabins were never rebuilt after the fire and previous owner Gladys has fled with the insurance money. With hopes of building a bigger and better camp solely operated by kids, the Ross siblings convince their parents to buy Kikiwaka and put them in charge. Just as the Ross siblings relied on each other their first year at camp, a new trio of first-time campers instantly bond and manage to stir up a ton of hijinks and adventure at every turn for their newfound leaders. Matteo Silva, a cautious kid who can find danger in any situation, would rather not be at camp; Finn Sawyer, an energetic boy and cousin of camp counselor Lou, has realized his dream of attending Camp Kikiwaka; and Destiny Baker, a young girl who has spent her childhood on the pageant circuit, is accustomed to getting things her way. No matter the situation, Emma, Ravi, Zuri and Lou stick together to try and create summer magic for their younger peers and a Camp Kikiwaka fueled by teamwork, friendship and family fun.
Season 4
After purchasing Camp Kikiwaka—for one dollar—from the Ross siblings, the always cheerful Lou is adjusting to her new duties as camp director with her usual brand of over-the-top enthusiasm. She’s thrilled to be reunited with campers Destiny, Finn and Matteo, who have returned for another exciting summer full of fun and friendship. Lou also welcomes some new faces, including camp counselor Noah, an upbeat and enthusiastic actor from Hollywood; Ava, a tenacious counselor from the big city; and Gwen, an eccentric new camper who has spent her entire life living off the grid.
Season 5
Back for another exciting summer at the sometimes-struggling Camp Kikiwaka in rural Maine are the enthusiastic camp owner/director Lou, counselors Ava and Noah, and returning campers Destiny, Matteo and Finn, who are all ready to tackle new and hilarious adventures. As the new camp season begins, they are thrilled to welcome former counselor-turned-fashion-designer Emma Ross, who pays a surprise visit to her old stomping grounds. They also welcome witty and charming Parker Preston, who arrives to stake his 15% claim to the camp and brings his own over-the-top ideas that don’t necessarily mesh with Lou’s, much to her consternation. Meanwhile, Destiny takes on more responsibilities while she pursues her newly discovered passion for protecting the environment. Matteo impresses his fellow campers with his professor-level scientific expertise and Finn continues to charge fearlessly into adventures. Although Ava and Noah have gained confidence in their second year as counselors, Lou soon presents them with a daunting challenge: supervising the new “PeeWeeWaka” day campers, a fast-moving pack of energetic eight-year-olds who always keep them on their toes.
Season 6
Lou, Parker, Destiny and Noah arrive at the soon-to-be Kikiwaka Ranch in Dusty Tush, Wyoming, where Lou must convince the surly owner, aka ‘The Marshal’ to officially sell the property to her. In the meantime, counselors Noah and Destiny have their hands full with the newly arrived campers, including Bill, a no-nonsense descendant of famous cowboy Bill Pickett who prefers roping cattle to hanging out with friends; Winnie, a fearless girl who’s earned the nickname ‘Wild Winnie’ by breaking the rules and occasionally blowing things up; and Jake, a laid-back, easy-going boy who also happens to be a video-gaming fanatic.
Season 7
The hijinks conclude at Kikiwaka Ranch with Lou, her right-hand man Parker, plus counselors Destiny and Noah along for the ride. Cowboy Bill, daredevil Winnie and gamer Jake are also back for another summer full of excitement and new adventures.
Why These Seasons Can't Learn The Ropes
Overall
- The main problem with these seasons is that the majority of the characters from the first two seasons, such as Xander, Tiffany, Jorge, Griff, Gladys, and Hazel (however, she makes a guest appearance in "Inn Trouble") are nowhere to be found. No explanation is given as to what happened to them (except for Gladys, whose absence is explained) and they aren't even mentioned by the other characters, like they never even existed in the first place!
- Executive Meddling: It wasn't even the original cast members decision to leave the show as Disney Channel kicked them off to introduce new characters, which shows how expendable the cast is to Disney.
- To make matters worse, they are now replaced with three new characters: Destiny, Matteo, and Finn. They're not bad characters, but the three are rehashed versions of former or current characters.
- Destiny is a rehash of Emma since both are into beauty and fashion (the difference between them is that Emma is not a show-off).
- Matteo is a rehash of both Ravi and Tiffany. He's smart like the former and overly cautious like the latter.
- Finn is a rehash of Jorge since both are slobs who don't care about personal hygiene.
- The final few episodes of season two showed a lot of promising storylines that we could've seen in these seasons for instance:
- Griff and Zuri started dating in the Season 2 finale. In Season 3, the writers could've focused more on their relationship.
- They could've developed the brother ship between Griff and Xander.
- Hazel, who had been demoted to a CIT at the end of Season 2, could've gotten some character development during season 3.
- Xander and Emma could've had more time to develop their relationship.
- These seasons is a disgrace to the Jessie franchise.
- It lacks many of the same charm as the first two seasons.
- Unlike the first two seasons, only the final verse of the theme song is used, making it significantly shorter.
- Since there is little to no connection to the first two seasons, these seasons appear to be almost non-canon to those seasons.
- Quantity Over Quality: Much like The Loud House, Family Guy and The Fairly OddParents, it's going for way too long, having a total of 7 seasons, span 9 years with 151 episodes. The fact that it's rare for Disney Channel shows to surpass 4 seasons makes it worse.
- It will often jump the shark due to the fact that the writers constantly keep replacing old characters and bringing in new characters every season. The show was originally going to end after Season 3, but due to an increase in popularity, it was renewed for more seasons.
- Also, there’s other Disney Channel shows that could’ve run for more seasons, like Andi Mack or Girl Meets World, since they had potential for extra storylines. But, unfortunately, they only lasted for three seasons.
- These seasons are very clichéd as they use the same formula as other bad live-action Disney Channel sitcoms.
- Since Lou is connected to all of these seasons, she seemingly unaffected by these absences, which is a huge step down to her character because they were so thoroughly connected to others. You would think that Xander being gone would dampen her confidence as they practically grew up together. However, the writers, despite their good intentions, fail to execute as the show goes on.
- Disney never airs the older episodes anymore as they air the crappy episodes instead.
- Since Xander and Hazel are no longer on the show, these seasons killed the Xander-Emma-Hazel love triangle, which was an insult to many fans
- Speaking of which, it has never been confirmed if Xander and Emma are still together, or if they broke up.
- Unlike the first two seasons, there are no guest appearances from any Jessie characters, not even Luke. To add insult to injury, Jessie never made a guest appearance.
- The writing quality at this point began to decline, even more so than the first two seasons, resulting in a lot of bad episodes.
- Weak, unfunny, forced, and stale humor. Speaking of which, these seasons have even more gross-out and toilet jokes than the first two seasons did.
- As this series progress is supposed to take place during summer vacation, but the summer camp setting ends up taking the place of a High School anyway.
- Most overnight camps are very regimented with the campers doing specific activities at specific times with only certain times of free play. However, most of the time both the campers and counselors are just messing around.
- The announcement that season 6 would switch locations from the camp to a ranch got a mixed reaction, with some thinking it's a refreshing change of pace and that the show had gotten all the mileage it could out of the summer camp premise so the change in location was needed. While others think it's straying too far from the original premise of the show and aren't happy with the introduction of yet more new main characters, especially after the last introductions of new main characters already had some pushback.
- Because of all the changes made to the show in these seasons, it doesn't even feel like Bunk'd anymore. Instead, it feels like a Camp Lazlo rip-off or another generic summer camp show.
- This is one of the prime examples of Executive Meddling in TV standards much like later seasons of The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, Family Guy, The Fairly OddParents, Odd Squad, and Winx Club (2011 revival).
Season 3 (2018)
- There are only 3 counselors and one camper (Zuri), who only interact with 3 campers. So that means nobody is watching the other 30-some campers!
- Speaking of counselors, Lou was supposed to be an administer in this season, as in the Season 2 finale, she and Xander both become administers.
- In "We Can't Bear It!", Emma doesn't allow Timmy to come to camp when he tries to sneak in. This is very unfair because Gladys is no longer the owner of the camp (she banned Timmy from coming to camp back when she was the owner). Since the Ross Kids are now the owners, Timmy should be allowed to come to camp.
- This episode didn't premiere until 1 year after the Season 2 finale, which is awfully late since most Disney Channel season premieres normally premiere a few months or so after a season finale.
- The Ross kids have too many responsibilities that could've been given to other adults.
- For instance, Ravi is part owner, camp cook, and Grizzly cabin counselor. This is an issue in one episode when he realizes Finn and Matteo need constant supervision (as you would expect in a kids' camp), but has issues dealing with them when he is in the kitchen.
- There’s barely any chemistry between the 4 remaining original characters and 3 new characters compared to the first two seasons with the original characters.
- Ravi is still the butt-monkey of the jokes which gets annoying.
- The campers in this season dosen’t give respect towards Ravi.
- Wasted talents of Peyton List, Karan Brar, Skai Jackson, and Miranda May.
- The rebuilt cabins (while cool-looking) don't look anything like cabins. Instead, they look more like miniature houses that don't belong in a rustic summer camp like Camp Kikiwaka.
- Steals some episode plots from the first two seasons. For example, "Bungle in the Jungle" is a rehash of "Xander Says Goodbye", because Lou's disagreement with her mom does echo Xander's argument with his dad in Xander Says Goodbye.
- The bear in the "We Can't Bear It!" and the Kikiwaka in "Up, Up and Away" both have cheap and unconvincing costume designs (even for Disney Channel standards).
Season 4 (2019-2020)
- This season was completely unnecessary, because season 3 had a good way to end the show with its finale.
- Speaking of unnecessary, the Ross kids should’ve still been in these seasons, because "A Whole Lotta Lobsta" shows them at camp for a few more years. However, this wasn't the case due to Peyton List, Karan Brar, and Skai Jackson leaving the series after season 3.
- The creator and original executive producers had no involvement in the making of this season. Instead, executive producers from Andi Mack another live-action Disney Channel sitcom) took over. At least season 3 had the involvement of the creator and original executive producers.
- Emma, Ravi, and Zuri have been removed from the series, but with an explanation. This completely ruins the series because they were the core main characters; taking them out just changes everything. With so many of the original characters being written out, Lou is the only one left.
- Destiny, Matteo and Finn return in this season and are just as annoying and rehashed as ever.
- Ava is seen as a Mary Sue, as well as Noah being seen as a Gary-Stu, they are also rehash of the Ross Kids.
- Gwen, one of the new characters, is a rehash of Timmy and Tiffany because she lives in the woods like Timmy and lacks knowledge of the outside world like the latter.
- In the premiere episode, there is a very stupid and nonsensical explanation as to why the camp has been remodeled: A sinkhole swallowed the camp, which was followed by a mudslide.
- This season is the worst of the bunch, as it worsened the problems that season 3 started.
- To make matters worse, this season and the next ones aren't even considered part of the Jessie franchise. Starting in this season, Bunk'd is now considered its own separate show.
Season 5 (2021)
- It only exists to add even more big bucks to Disney's giant room of money.
- The show jumped the shark in this season by removing Gwen without any explanation.
- However, she did make a guest appearance in the episode "Crushin' It
- Parker Preston is an annoying and unlikable character who's a rip-off of Xander and Jorge.
- He's a spoiled brat who wants to make Camp Kikiwaka more "modern", which fails.
- The ages are very odd because Finn is supposed to be 11 in Season 5, but Finn's actor in the season is 14 years old.
- "Raucous Science" showed how big of a jerk Matteo can be.
- There were no guest appearances from any characters from the first two seasons (except for one Jessie character, Emma Ross, who returned in "Lou's Still the Boss, But Now There's a Ross").
- "Dancin' Up a Storm" has a stupid subplot about Destiny and Ava trying to kill a fly.
Season 6 (2022-2023)
- It's another season that fans didn't want or ask for, as Disney keeps milking the show when it should've ended after season 3.
- Once again, the new characters in this season are rehashes of the previous characters.
- Both Winnie and Jake are a rehash of Finn. Winnie is reckless like him, and Jake, is gross and not intelligent.
- Bill is a rehash of Matteo, as both of them didn't want any friends, but eventually warmed up to them by the end of the first episode. Speaking of him, Bill dosen't have much of a personality other then being a cowboy.
- Not only are Finn, Matteo, and Ava are gone, Camp Kikiwaka has also been removed which is pointless since it was the main setting of the show.
- Some characters are pretty bland and annoying at times such as: Winnie, Jake, and The Marshall.
- Its running gags are also stale and repetitive such as Jake who's obsessed with video games.
- The first episode (while decent) is similar to the first two episodes of the 3rd season ("We Can't Bear It!" and "Let's Bounce!"), because in both episodes, the campers are put in harm's way.
- Despite Destiny still being as tolerable as she was in seasons 4 and 5 and having received more character development, she's still a bland and annoying character.
- Destiny should've been a CIT instead, due to the fact she has low experience of teaching campers, she could've have mentor. Apparently, Lou ended the CIT program since taking over the camp, as the position of CIT has not been mentioned since season 3.
Season 7 (2023-2024)
- Scout is an unnecessary character and is a rip-off of Gwen.
- Some episodes still feels average.
- It shares the same problems with season 6.
- Sadly we won't see any of the original characters in the series finale, since there's leak images of just the season 4 cast.
Redeeming Qualities
Overall
- Even from the new cast, the acting is still decent.
- It was a much better show during its first two seasons.
- The set designs are still great.
- Some heartwarming and funny moments.
- Even though Xander is no longer a part of the show, his voice can still be heard in the theme song.
- Thankfully, none of the original characters (from seasons 1-2) have been flanderized in these seasons (specifically the Ross kids and Lou).
- Lou is still likable like she was in the first two seasons, being a blessing in disguise as the only original character.
- While that doesn't excuse much of being rehashed versions of former or current characters, Destiny, Matteo, and Finn also didn't get flanderized.
- Miranda May stayed in the whole series and was not taken out at all.
- Even though it is played more frequently than the first two seasons, the laugh track is still used appropriately.
- There are some good episodes, such as:
- "O Sister, Where Art Thou?"
- "Finder's Keepers, Lou's a Weeper"
- "Up, Up and Away" (which ended season 3 on a high note and would've made a good series finale had the show not been renewed for season 4)
- "Inn Trouble"
- "Raven About Bunk'd" (which concluded season 4 with a bang)
- "Lou's Still the Boss, But Now There's a Ross" (which positively started season 5)
- "Crushin' It
- "Frien'ds Forever" (which is a good send of to season 5, and would potentially have also made a good finale had Disney not renew it for season 6)
- ''Finn It to Win It"
- The new credits song that is introduced in these seasons is catchy.
- It was pretty cool that Disney renewed a show more then four seasons along with Raven's Home.
Season 3 (2018)
- This is the least bad of these seasons as the original creator and executive producers are involved and it still features the Ross Kids.
- It is the last season to hold the charm from the previous seasons, despite its flaws.
- Unlike the other former characters, Gladys absence is explained. The reason is that she ran off with the camp's insurance money.
- Finn is a likable character, despite him being a rehash of Jorge from the first two seasons.
- Lou, Emma, Ravi and Zuri are still a part of the cast.
- The season finale is an improvement over the season as a whole.
- It's nice to see the Ross kids one last time since they don't return in Season 4.
- They're also still pretty likable and as mentioned before, none of them are flanderized.
Season 4 (2019-2020)
- After being absent in Season 3, Hazel finally returns in the episode, "Inn Trouble".
- Xander, and Gladys is mentioned in said episode.
- It's pretty nice to see Lou become the protagonist.
- Once season 4 premiered she did a great job running the camp.
- At least there is an explanation as to why the Ross Kids left the show. The reason was that they went to pursue their dreams.
- Also, they were mentioned in the premiere episode.
- Noticeable improvement in the lighting.
- The cabins are back to the way they originally were in seasons 1 & 2.
- Noah, Gwen, and Ava are pretty tolerable & likable characters.
- Gwen can come across as a cool kid. Even though, as mentioned above, she's a rehash of Timmy and Tiffany.
- It had a crossover with Raven's Home titled "Raven About Bunk'd" which was decent since fans of both spin-offs of their original shows may enjoy this crossover, despite Emma, Ravi, and Zuri being absent during that season.
Season 5 (2021)
- Emma Ross, who starred in the first three seasons, makes her final appearance in the debut episode "Lou's Still the Boss, But There's a Ross."
- Although it's a mean spirited out of character moment for Lou, she had a good reason to not like Parker in the first place.
- Matteo grew more bearable than he was in seasons 3 and 4.
- Gwen made a guest appearance in the episode "Crushin' It."
- "Frien'ds Forever" had the characters sing the full theme song from the first two seasons.
Season 6 (2022-2023)
- The idea of Camp Kikiwaka becoming Kikiwaka Ranch was pretty interesting.
- The removal of Finn, Matteo, and Ava is explained in the season.
- Finn had a guest appearance in the episode "Finn it to Win it".
- Despite still being short, the new country-revamped theme song is pretty good.
- The new logo is nice.
- Destiny becomes more likable in this season then she was in previous seasons.
- As of season 6, Parker is starting to improve a bit.
- Despite the rehash, Jake, Winnie, Bill are tolerable characters.
- Since Wizards of Waverly Place, this is the only Disney Channel sitcom to have more than 100 episodes.
- "Desperate Treasures" had Winnie singing a revamp version of the Kikiwaka song which has new lyrics, (too bad it wasn't used for the theme song in this season).
Season 7 (2023-2024)
- There are still some funny moments in this season.
- Some episodes are still worth watching.
- Gwen, Finn, Matteo, and Ava are coming back in the series finale.
Episodes With Their Pages
Reception
The last five seasons of Bunk'd garnered mixed to negative reception from fans, with many criticizing them for removing Xander, Tiffany, Jorge, Griff, Gladys and Hazel, and replacing them with Destiny, Matteo, Finn. Another criticism from fans was the theme song being altered and shortened. Some fans have completely turned away from the show because of these seasons. Other fans, continued watching it but heavily criticized its recent direction.
The show rating currently has a 5.4/10 on IMDb.
Trivia
- The show was originally supposed to end after Season 3 but got renewed for more seasons due to its popularity.
- Tessa Netting made a youtube video about her time on Bunk'd.
- Karan Brar and Shelby Simmons (two of the actors from the series) later start together in the Disney+ original movie Stargirl as their characters, Kevin Singh and Hillary Kimble.
- Scarlett Estevez, actress of Gwen Flores will not make an appearance till her working on the Disney Channel Original Movie, Christmas Again is finished. Gwen won't be the main character in season 5. She did make a guest appearance in the episode "Crushin' It".
- Season 4 originally had 32 episodes planned but episodes 431 and 432 were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Trevor Tordjman, the actor who played Parker Preston, spoke up with J-14 Magazine, stated that he wanted some co-stars from the Disney Channel Original Movie, Zombies 2 to make guest appearances in the series. He didn't show up in the Season 5 premiere episode because Peyton List already did a guest appearance as Emma Ross.
- Matteo, Finn, and Destiny’s names were originally going to be Kyle, Tyler, and Anastasia but they changed their names, according to the Bunk'd Wiki on FANDOM.
- Erin Dunlap returns as executive producer and sole showrunner for Season 6. David Booth, Valerie Ahern, Eric Schaar, and star Miranda May serve as executive producers this season.
- The last two seasons is renamed to Bunk'd: Learning the Ropes. It is the sixth live-action Disney series to have a name change after Hannah Montana Forever, Jonas L.A., Lab Rats: Bionic Island, Liv and Maddie: Cali Style and Kirby Buckets: Warped.
- Raphael Alejandro, Will Buie Jr, and Shelby Simmons leave the show, with three new campers replacing them. This marks the 4th time where a new set of characters replace the old characters in a new season (the first is Kevin, Nathan and Nina being replaced by Mallory, Raphael and Will; the second is Peyton, Karan and Skai being replaced by Shelby, Scarlett and Israel; and the third is Scarlett being replaced by Trevor).
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