- When Calvin is
forced to go camping without Mom, Socrates is accidentally brought along. And as if things can't get worse, there's a mountain lion loose on the lsland.
Dad's bringing Calvin along with him for yet another Horrible Camping Trip, but his mom is preparing dinner for his boss, so she can't come. While Calvin explains this to his friends, Socrates sneaks in the hypercube, intrigued by a whole week of misery for Calvin. However, he never said they were going camping...
When they arrive, Calvin and Hobbes immediately start unpacking, but they end up taking out Socrates, who shortly winds up thrown out of the tent. He shortly panics when he sees his location, claiming his upper-class nature is not meant for the outdoors. Eventually, they set up a sound barrier and duct tape the zipper shut, ignoring both Dad and Socrates.
Later, a mountain lion happens upon a sleeping and mumbling Socrates, whose Shout-Out-laden babbling bamboozles the lion. Three days later, things are pretty peaceful. Socrates ends up electrocuted thanks to the electro-shield Calvin put around the canoe. His attempt to swim for it fails, as Calvin put another one around the whole island. Socrates finally makes peace with the two, but the mountain lion interrupts their movie.
Calvin throws Socrates out to do it, and he find a tan tail. In his attempt to prank it, he finds out it was the lion, who starts mauling him. His efforts to reason and evade it prove unsuccessful, and soon Calvin ends up involved as well. The latter eventually uses the hypercube to capture him, and he shortly uses it to get Dad to end the trip early.
Tropes:
- Batman Gambit: Dad gets Calvin to get in the canoe by hooking Hobbes on his fishing pole, knowing that he'd instantly go after him.
- Circling Birdies: Socrates sees stars and checkers and little pink elephants with umbrellas after getting thrown at a tree by the lion.
- Continuity Nod: The narrative describes the island as "Itchy Island, home of the Nuclear Mosquitoes", exactly what Calvin had described in the original strip. There are also a lot of references to the last camping trip.
- Dinner with the Boss: It's never shown, but Calvin's mom does this with her husband's boss.
- Duct Tape for Everything: Calvin uses it to close his tent's zipper.
- Irony: Socrates' prank on the mountain lion (which he didn't know about): "BANZAI! LOOK OUT FOR THE MOUNTAIN LION!"
- Shout-Out:Calvin: (describing where they're going) Well, you've heard of Dante's Inferno, right?
(Andy and Socrates nod)
Calvin: Well, that's where we're going.- Socrates' Talking In His Sleep is Reference Overdosed in itself:
"ZZZ-SMICK-NIGGLE-FRAKENBERRY-ZZZ! ZZZ-REGIS-KATIE-AL-ZZZ! ZZZ-DREW, LEWIS, KELLIE, OSWALD, MIMI-ZZZ! ZZZ-JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE, RINGO-ZZZ! ZZZ-GREG, WAYNE, COLIN, RYAN, KATHY, CHIP, BRAD, DREW-ZZZ! ZZZ-GARFIELD, ODIE, JON, ARLENE, NERMAL, LIZ, POOKY-ZZZ! ZZZ-ERIC, DONNA, KELSO, HYDE, JACKIE, FEZ, RED AND KITTY-ZZZ! ZZZ-JON, ROB, ED, STEPHEN, SAM, JASON, DAN, NATE, STEVE-ZZZ! ZZZ-DICK, SALLY, HARRY, TOMMY, MARY, NINA, DON, DUBCECK-ZZZ!"- "Who's up for the What About Bob? movie?" "I AM!"
