Little Otter family camp has lost some clients to Richfield Lodge across the lake, can the annual mixer bring back some campers?
Mack, the camp director, is worried because her camp has been losing clientele. This fall in campers starts to take a toll on Mack. So when Cole, her right-hand man, brings in an old hot tub to camp, he asks counselors Robbie and Sarah to keep hush about it with Mack so it doesn't add to her worries.
When counselor-in-training(CIT) Kip is about to shower, he gets bombarded by camper Chloe. Chloe feels close to him after she had kissed him a few days earlier, so she decides to "expose herself" to him in the shower stall. She recites a dark, depressing, awkward poem she wrote. She thinks he and her aren't like the others at camp-- they're connected to their "dark side."
Mack sees the upcoming mixer with Richfield Lodge as an opportunity to get people interested in her camp again, her CIT son, Buzz, agrees to DJ the dance in hopes that it will impress the girls and get him some action. Mack goes across the lake to answer requests for specialty foods for the mixer by Richfield owner, Roger. She discovers that her old campers have abandoned her humble camp for the upscale lodge--maybe on account of the cellphone tower that Richfield has installed.
Back at camp, CIT Marina continues to get picked on by the "popular girls" who steal her swimsuit, leaving her to borrow one from lost and found. Their dislike towards her may be due to the fact that she and Greg, a CIT who all the girls are after, have been spending plenty of time together. Also, she is trying to snag the lifeguard position at camp, like most of the other CIT's, including the popular girls. Marina persuades Kip to try for the job as well. Despite it not being his cup of tea, seeing Marina in a bathing suit changes his mind.
Normally, Sarah would be excited about all the CITs applying for the lifeguard job, but she is still feeling indifferent about her swimming scholarship being revoked after she got caught in an alcohol and drug scandal. Unexpectedly, her old coach offers her the scholarship back if she stays clean and submits to drug tests. Although it seems like a great opportunity, Sarah can't decide if she wants to go back to swimming or if her passion for the sport has ran out. Her Summer boyfriend, Robbie, supports whatever decision she makes, but he ultimately wants the best for her.
When Mack comes back to camp, she asks her friends if she should install a cellphone tower like Richfield. In the end, she goes through with it. Cole is not pleased, but he can't complain, he brought in a dirty hot tub. He does sustain that the lack of cell service is what sets Little Otter apart from other camps. It allows campers to connect with those who are there, not those in cyberspace.
As Marina prepares for her lifeguard test, she wishes that the popular girls were in cyberspace and not at camp with her. They make fun of her bathing suit, but she gets back at them by getting Greg to completely ignore them to carefully put sunscreen on her back. Sarah is on Marina's side and leaves her a fashionable swimsuit to show off to the girls. But really it's Kip who needs help more than anyone else. As he swims for the lifeguard test, he nearly drowns. None of the other CITs try to save him, resulting in no one getting the job. The only happy one about his almost drowning is Chloe, who think Kip tried to drown himself so he could better connect with his dark side.
After the drama from the swim test, the entire camp gets ready for the mixer. Sarah gets high-quality booze for the mixer from a Richfield camper who is a famous novelist. The two have a connection that grows more each time she seems him and she tells him about her dilemma over the swimming scholarship.
Mack wants to make sure everyone has a blast to prove that she is doing a good job running Little Otter on her own since her recent divorce. However, the mixer doesn't run so well once it gets started. No one seems to enjoy Buzz's loud, techno music, especially the campers who left Little Otter for Richfield. Even Marina's time at the mixer is spoiled once the popular girls leave a sign on her back that says, "I have crabs." Kip tries to stealthily take off the sign, but she sees the sign she had been wearing all night for herself. She storms out of the recreation hall and Kip chases after her to her comfort. Kip's kind concern cheers Marina up and helps her realize that those other girls aren't worth her trouble.
Realizing the mixer isn't going well, Mack changes up the music to some Summer classics like "O.P.P." and really gets the party started with her friends . . . and some of those high-quality booze. More campers start dancing, the music keeps bumping and everyone starts to have a good time. Even Roger becomes a little jealous and wishes his camp was as fun as Little Otter. At the after party, Buzz takes credit for the success of the mixer and gets some alone time with a drunk girl in the now-working hot tub. They lean in for a kiss and then she throws up all over his trunks!
The next day, everyone is still jubilant from the night before-- and a little hungover. Marina finds out that she got the lifeguard job after all. Sarah tells Robbie that she has decided to accept the scholarship and submit to the drug tests. She thanks him for his advice and support, but it was really the writer's advice that persuaded and impacted her. And the success of the mixer has old campers reserving camp for family reunions. Mack realizes it's the spirit that Little Otter has that makes people come back, not a cellphone tower.
So she does the appropriate thing and relaxes in the hot tub with Cole as they watch the recently installed cellphone tower get torn down.
image courtesy of NBC Universal