Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Season 4: Why [SPOILER] Was Saved From Death, According To EP Scott Kreamer [Interview]

Warning: spoilers for Jurassic World: Chaos Theory’s final season are out of the pen for this interview.

I’m still in shock that Netflix’s Jurassic World: Chaos Theory has ended its run. Part of that disbelief comes from just how close to the edge the DreamWorks Animation series brings the Camp Fam to the great beyond. Co-showrunner Scott Kreamer and the rest of the team certainly have experience with pushing the limits of Y7 rated storytelling; but even Chaos Theory Season 4 broke some new ground.

Luckily enough, I was able to speak with Mr. Kreamer, and pick his brain on that one specific death we thought was coming in the last few episodes. So if you haven’t caught up on the conclusion of the Chaos Theory storyline, consider this your final warning. It’s time to open the gates, and talk about the Grim Reaper’s round of playtime with one very special character. 

The Last-ish Temptation Of Ben Pincus

Oh how crazy it is to look back on DreamWorks Animation‘s Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and see how Ben Pincus (Sean Giambrone) went from germophobic worrywart to emboldened dino dad. Chaos Theory made that transformation more pronounced by giving the grown-up Ben a glow up, an Italian girlfriend, and a dangerous conspiracy to foil.

So seeing poor Ben stabbed in the gut seemed like a sign that this eventual tough guy was going to go extinct. I asked Scott Kreamer about this, during our interview for That Hashtag Show, and even I was surprised by how close Mr. Pincus came to death’s door. Especially when that calculus came with the following story: 

I’ll be honest with you, when we started writing Season 4, we didn’t know if Ben was gonna make it. And Bethany [Armstrong Johnson] and I had many conversations, going back and forth. It’s a hard one, because we pushed it. … He got close: I dropped him off a monorail in Camp Cretaceous, and you know, that Ben – he’s resilient as all heck. Can’t keep him down.

The scene in question comes in Season 4’s sixth episode “Fire,” which found Mr. Pincus with a broken thagomizer in his stomach. It’s because of that wound that we see the young crusader flirting with the afterlife throughout Jurassic World: Chaos Theory’s final episodes.

One episode even ends with a 24 style silent credits sequence and black background, ready to convince us that dear Ben has wrangled his last dino. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there was apparently a scene where the emotional trauma could have been way worse.

Apparently Ben’s Chaos Theory Injury Had To Be Dialed Down

The tension in Jurassic World: Chaos Theory‘s final season is only boosted by how Season 4 plays out during Jurassic World Dominion‘s Biosyn Valley disaster. Ben Pincus’ gradual hallucinations of his entry into the hereafter turn up the heat on the narrative, whilst massive fires rage around our characters. A sick part of me wishes we could see outtakes from production, which is thanks to this praise from Scott Kreamer; in which he revealed that The Goldbergs veteran may have handled the moment a little too well: 

We dialed down some of the intensity in spots, because we pushed it even farther than what you’re seeing on screen. Especially with Ben, in that scene after the injury. … Sean [Giambrone] gave a tour de force performance, but we had to take some of it out, because it was just too intense of Ben in pain.

The scene in question comes in Season 4’s sixth episode “Fire,” which found Mr. Pincus with a broken thagomizer in his stomach. It’s because of that wound that we see the young crusader flirting with the afterlife throughout Jurassic World: Chaos Theory’s final episodes. There’s even a starry valley that looks super tranquil, and perfect for naps with a friendly dinosaur or two.

Admittedly, the peaceful nature only registers after processing the pain of a Chaos Theory lead character actually going through it. Considering the places they do take Chaos Theory Season 4’s big death plotline, the sort of screaming described above would have made the big fake outs later on even more traumatic. However, Ben Pincus and the rest of the Jurassic World Camp Fam get to walk out with their lives; and Scott Kreamer had an interesting take on that subject as well.

Why Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Spared Ben Pincus, And The Rest Of The Camp Fam

In a previous interview I’d conducted for CinemaBlend, I spoke with Scott Kreamer about Camp Cretaceous’ formula for family friendly violence and terror. Right until the end, Kreamer and the Jurassic World animated story were never cruel to their characters just for the plot. You’ll find no greater proof of that than this final statement, where he shares how Ben Pincus ended up surviving – and the fun loophole Bethany Armstrong Johnson included:  

At the end of the day, I just felt like these kids deserved a happy ending. Perhaps if it was just solely an adult animated show, maybe Ben doesn’t make it. And of course, Bethany smartly put in that Ben ‘died’ on the table, so we could say, ‘We did it. We killed him, he just got better.’ 

Leave it to Ben to sneak that line into the mix at the last minute to get one last rise out of the audience. Ever protective, and always loyal, the young man naturally hid the fact that he did die from his friends – and freaked them out anyway. A laugh like that makes appreciating ones life and friends are still in tact much easier, even if this is the last time we may see these dino nerds on our screens.

Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Season 4 does end on a fittingly final note, and a happily ever after that makes Jurassic World Rebirth‘s dino killing plot twist even more annoying. With our intrepid former campers all meeting for a meal, all is finally well – provided Darius Bowman and his friends don’t get too close to that era in time. If you haven’t seen the closing chapter of the Chaos Theory story, or want to revisit this eventful dinosaur opus, all episodes are now streaming on Netflix! 

For more on TV, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

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