Foreshadowing and Continuity in Wet Hot American Summer

Until the world is finally given a Room 237-style documentary about the filming of Wet Hot American Summer (or, at the very least, the sequel we have been teasingly promised), we will have to make do with what we have. Here is a partial but by no means exhaustive list of the intentional errors, callbacks, and foreshadowing I found in a recent rewatching of our generation’s Airplane!

0:33 – Susie tries to kiss Ben, who turns away in disgust, during the opening credits, foreshadowing his character’s secret homosexuality (She tries to kiss him again, also unsuccessfully, at 0:55.)

2:11 – Nancy and Beth are sitting next to an Arizona iced tea dispenser, but they are drinking coffee

3:00 – Katie tells the girls that “Bunk 5 boys are gonna freak out when they see you at kickball.” No one plays kickball in the entire movie, only Capture the Flag.

During Katie and Coop’s conversation outside of the mess hall, Alexa (who will not play D&D) can be seen standing behind them, repeatedly looking at the camera.

At various points throughout the movie, you can see rain in the background or wet footprints on the bunk porches, since the majority of the film was shot during an extremely rainy spring (it’s particularly noticeable when Susie is telling the campers to leave their bullshit baggage at the door), but I will not insult your WHAS knowledge by acting like you did not already know that.

7:00 – The crashing sound effect played when Beth flings the trowel to one side is repeated later at 8:08 and 8:15.

14:00 – While McKinley, J.J., and Gary are discussing Silas’ masturbation tape, two separate children are removed from the mess hall behind them and frog-marched away by camp counselors.

It is impossible to determine what science experiment Henry is teaching the indoor campers. There is a rock, a plastic cup, leaves, pliers, a pulley, and a small wooden platform involved. At one point he mentions making “miniature black holes with paperclips and soot,” but that doesn’t explain the leaves.

17:14 – The clock in Artie “The Beekeeper” Solomon’s office is incorrect, foreshadowing the eventual revelation that none of his radio equipment is plugged in.

19:00 – During Andy’s infamous tantrum scene, he knocks a plate, a fork and a knife off of the table. The plastic cup remains on the table until he picks up the chair, when it appears (now empty) on the floor. AND YET, when he flings his dishes in the bin, only the sound of a plate and a knife are heard. The cup has disappeared once again.

22:45 – When Beth tells Katie that “[you] would be considered hot, right?” she says “Yeah, I suppose so.” It’s not an error, I just appreciate her frankness.

28:28 – Beth says she has to go meet “Jim Stansel,” an unseen character who is also referenced in The Ten and Role Models. Her new hairstyle slowly slides apart during her conversation with Henry.

29:20 – The knitting Nancy is working on (from a canvas bag marked “My Bag”) grows from a one-inch strand to a full-sized blanket in five seconds. Meanwhile, several campers are doing the Breakfast Club dance in the background.

31:10 – The camp counselors attempt to buy beer with fake IDs; Beth is visibly excited at their success, despite the fact that as camp director she is almost certainly over the age of 21 and could have bought it herself.

31:30 – The counselors mug an old woman for her purse after purchasing an enormous amount of drugs.

31:48 – Susie once again tries unsuccessfully to make out with someone.

33:35 – The first of Gene’s many beard changes.

33:40 – The clock in Artie’s office is now correct.

38:40 – Although Kerri Kenney-Silver’s scenes were cut from the film, you can still see her moving around inside the tent as Neil takes her motorcycle.

39:33 – The stunt man used for the bale of hay scene is visibly larger than the actor playing Neil and is wearing a different, bushier wig.

During the beach-ball scene, one of the other counselors removes Elizabeth Bank’s bikini top; it is immediately replaced.

41:00 – The sex scene between Bradley Cooper and Michael Ian Black is really loving and tasteful. Not an error; just terrific.

In the scene where Beth agrees to let Steven in the talent show, Susie and Ben are standing right next to her. In the next shot, they are walking up to her angrily and Ben has somehow purchased a bag of movie popcorn.

48:43 – Beth sends all of the nerdy kids to watch the Capture the Flag game; every one of them runs in a different direction. “Mork Kid” runs straight into the woods. He does not disappear from the shot until 48:55.

49:18 – The amount of barbecue sauce on Lindsey’s face changes dramatically in every shot. Behind her, Gene’s beard has returned to normal.

51:10 – Michael Ian Black is the only character who does not run throughout the entire Capture the Flag game. He power-walks.

58:20 – Ben says the chaise lounge J.J. and Gary bought for him and McKinley “goes with the chenille throw cloth” Beth’s sister gave them before seeing the lounge.

58:50 – One of the camper names Beth calls out is “David Ben Gurion.”

As best as I can tell, the brand of mixed vegetables voiced by H. Jon Benjamin (Pozinsky’s Quality) does not exist.

1:03:17 – The crashing sound effect from 7:00 is repeated when Gene flings the Pozinsky’s vegetables away.

1:06:30 – There are at least two separate Confederate flags in Andy’s bunk.

1:07:36 – There are five donuts attached to the Skylab tracking device; when Henry presses one of them, the sound of a button being pushed is heard.

1:10:41 – Neil’s stunt double is back, slowly bringing the motorcycle to a complete stop.

1:13:44 – While Victor is saving the raft of campers, the crashing sound effect is heard again. It takes Victor over six hours to drive/run to camp; it takes him less than 30 seconds to run back to the rapids.

Michael Showalter plays the talent show emcee Alan Shemper, originally from “Kutsher’s Resort,” which is a real place that was featured in a 2010 documentary.

1:19:30 – Alan Shemper refers to Camp Firewood as “Camp Kickapoo.”

1:19:55 – Amy Poehler’s character is playing the piano but is not pressing down on any of the keys.

1:21:05 – The entire camp boos the Godspell number, despite having clapped enthusiastically during the performance, immediately after a lighted cross appears on the back of the stage. Director David Wain has claimed in interviews that this is not a booing of the cross (since Firewood is a Jewish camp), and that he was surprised so many viewers thought it was.

1:22:41 – Michael Showalter has a great Chris Meloni impression.

1:33:25 – The coach at the evil camp is credited as “Bear Claw Coach,” but the evil camp is only ever referred to as “Camp Tiger Claw.”

1:24:05 – Steve has the ability to control the wind. It is Steve, and not the Skylab machine, that pushes the rogue piece of Skylab out of the way; Henry does not deserve the Hopkins Award he later receives.

1:26:30 – Gary is suddenly wearing a pair of sunglasses after the wind dies down.

1:28:08 – Henry hands the Hopkins Award for Physics off to no one.

During the conversation between Beth and Henry, an angry father can be seen encouraging his child to hurry up in the background; after his child gets in the car, the father goes back to waiting as if nothing has happened. Behind Henry there is another child with his head buried in his hands; he does not move during the entire scene.

Liev Schreiber, who would later go on to appear in the best sketch in David Wain’s The Ten, is listened in the “Special Thanks To” section.

1:35:44 – All of the “Debbies” featured on Katie’s list of potential girlfriends are named in the background “Sex List ’81″: Debbie L., Debbie R., Debbie M., and Debbie G. “Katie + Coop” has been crossed out.

1:36:02 – In the “ten-years-in-the-future” version of Camp Firewood, Beth has clearly learned her lesson about scheduling a raft trip for the last day of camp; the raft trip is now clearly scheduled for five days before the final barbecue.

1:36:16 – J.J. arrives at 9:34, apologizes for being late, and then says “I thought we said 9:30.” Susie corrects him, saying that “We said 9:00 so we could be here by 9:30.” This is incorrect. Ten years earlier, Gary had ended the conversation by saying, “Okay, then. It’s settled. 9:30 it is. All agreed?” to which everyone had agreed.

Tags: continuity errors, david wain, foreshadowing, the greatest movie in the world, wet hot american summer