We open with Riley announcing that the Boy Scouts were having a campout that night before introducing the band for "Hello Again"note ; with Kid trying to put up a front of being ready for the campout - until Riley brings up the following issues: he would be sleeping in a tent outside; have to carry his own supplies and there are no restrooms in the woods. The realization causes Kid to become so dazed that Mickey has to bring him back on stage for "Our Lips Are Sealed".
Kid's attempts at trying to put up a good front were as successful as the others' attempts to get him to go; with Stacy (who earlier suggested her best friend just "grin and bear it") then attempting to hypnotize him into being brave enough to go on the camping trip by using a Boy George pendant as the "crystal". How'd it work? It caused Kid to fall asleep ("I'm Not Frightened"). Once Kid wakes up, the others try more conventional attempts (Mickey mentions famous Boy Scouts {seen below}; with Kid perking up somewhat after the reference to the Jacksons while Gloria references her attempt to audition for Kids Incorporated) - leading to "I'm Still Standing".
Ultimately, Kid decides to go on the trip (by sheer happenstance, he leaves after the closing song); and as a reward for overcoming his fears his bandmates give him a portable Singing Machine complete with a cartridge of the songs except for the part where the Kid would sing (which he briefly tries out by singing part of Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy"note ) before going to closing song "Freeze Frame".
Songs performed in this episode:
- “Hello Again“ (The Cars cover; lead vocals by Mickey)
- “Our Lips Are Sealed” (The Go-Go's cover; lead vocals by Gloria)
- “I'm Not Frightened" (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Kid)
- “I'm Still Standing” (Elton John covernote ; lead vocals by Kid)
- “Freeze Frame“ (The J. Geils Band cover; lead vocals by Mickey)
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Call-Back: In her attempt to convince Kid to go on the camping trip; Gloria references her fears of auditioning for the band in the pilot episode. Also, Kid wears the same trenchcoat for "I'm Still Standing" that he wore trying to escape from Casmire in "The Bully" earlier in the season.
- Camping Episode: First of two such episodes for the series.
- Dream Sequence: Setting of "I'm Not Frightened"
- Face Your Fears: Early appearance of a common moral in the series.
- Hypno Pendulum: Stacy's attempt to get Kid to go on the camping trip involved having him look into her "crystal" - a Boy George pendant. The effort ends with Kid falling asleep.
- Imagine Spot: Setting of "I'm Still Standing"
- Product Placement: As a gift for Kid working up the courage to join his Boy Scout troop on their camping trip; the others get him a Singing Machine with cartridges that allowed him to sing with the others. The Singing Machine is a karaoke equipment manufacturer that was a sponsor of the series during the early seasons.
- Scout-Out: Both Kid and Mickey are members of the Boy Scouts; Riley is a former Scout and in an attempt to get Kid to face his fears over camping out at night; Mickey name-drops a number of famous Boy Scouts such as baseball great Hank Aaron; Steven Spielberg; the two most recent former Presidents at the time: Gerald Fordnote and Jimmy Carter and "all the Jacksons".
