In Monday night’s episode of Huge, “Spirit Quest,” the campers take a little trip into the woods to, with any luck, uncover some inner truth about themselves or reach a better understanding of their peers. Dr. Rand claims the journey is to push them out of their comfort zone because nothing ever changes unless you shake things up.

Unfortunately, Huge’s attempt to shake things up for viewers came off as forced and a little dull. Even though George and Amber shared a kiss in the woods, the buildup to the moment was sort of an arduous journey for us. Most of the episode relied heavily on obvious plot-devices to keep the larger Huge narrative progressing forward.

Poppy decides to choose the buddy pairings at camp, putting the most unlikely matches together: Will and Amber, Trent and Alistair, and Chloe and Becca. These pairs gave the episode a good chance for some real tension, but the episode fell short of those expectations.

It was sad to see Becca remembering her once great friendship with Chloe, and to see how much Chloe has changed since last summer. Wearing glasses (the universal sign for nerd) and carrying a little more weight, Chloe seemed much friendly, carefree (at least when boys weren’t around), and happier with Becca than with Amber. It makes her outright dismissal of Becca this summer even harsher.

Alistair’s unusual behavior made tent-sharing awkward for Trent. Especially disturbed by Alistair’s choice of Athena as his second name (classic Alistair!), Trent would have definitely preferred to be bunking with Ian because, as Will remarks, “He totally wants a bromance with you.”

Oddly, Trent spends his time looking for a magic mushroom in the forest.

Alistair finds a regular mushroom in the camp cooler, a strange item to bring on a camping trip, and uses this second contrived plot device to befriend Trent during his placebo-induced trip. The bond that grows between the two, mostly formed through their mutual connection to Chloe and a desire to avoid labels like jock or effeminate was a cute development for the characters.

Will and Amber’s pairing causes less drama than one would have expected, before they get lost in the woods. Mostly, they are just annoyed with each other, but things don’t get ugly until Amber tries to use a compass to find their way back to camp. Having broken hers, Ian gave Amber his compass, which bothers Will so much that she tosses it into the forest.

An overreaction to be sure, but we are kind of used to these actions from Will. In fact, the characters even seem conscious of (and annoyed by) Will’s predictable behavior. As Becca explains the point of the spirit quest, Ian remarks, “Don’t bother. She already decided that it sucked.”

A hilarious quip, and pretty truthful as well. However, when faced with the ultimate temptation (a donut in a dumpster?), Will sees a sign. Actually, it’s a carton of Signet Farm’s milk and she doesn’t eat the donut. Perhaps she has committed to the weight-loss camp or to having a sip of the milk-of-human-kindness that she so often mocks.

It would be a good direction for her, but how authentic is her resistance?

George struggled with being in charge of the spirit quest, a job he only received because of his Native American grandfather and Shay’s convenient family emergency. He and Poppy argued over the proper way to lead the adventure, with Poppy wanting more spiritual connection and George looking for more of physical activity.

When he loses two campers, George’s self-doubt about his leadership causes him to pray for guidance. He sees a vision of a wolf in the woods, perhaps a link to his now-deceased grandfather, and runs into Amber who just separated from Will.  Taking this a sign (although not a milk-related one), George responds to Amber’s brief kiss by inciting a deeper, more passionate kiss.

However, he seems to take his actions more seriously than Amber does. While she smiles knowingly and writes fervently about the event in her journal, George looks mostly somber and uncomfortable. There may not be much of a future for these two, which would be heart-breaking for Amber.

Back at Camp Victory, Rand tries to smooth things over with Wayne when he returns to finish the fence. He isn’t really receptive after last week’s rejection, but Poppa Joe comes to the rescue. He explains that his daughter is most likely still affected by being deserted by her father at age 11. Joe motivates Wayne to try again, which he does quite successfully. Rand has a sweet date with Wayne, and seems relaxed for the first time since the show started. This was a nice beginning to a hopefully long-term relationship.

What did you think of the episode? Comment and discuss below!