'Chasing Cameron' Season 2: How to fix the Cameron Dallas Netflix series
If there is a second season of Cameron Dallas' Netflix show, Chasing Cameron, the producers — including Dallas himself — will need to go back to the drawing board.
The first season of Dallas' docu-reality series was a failed experiment. As a social media star who's used to having creative control, Dallas wasn't willing to give up enough of himself to the production team, resulting in a show that constantly crashed against its own motives. But it was hardly a dull failure; plenty of fascinating footage made it to the final cut. There just wasn't enough to make the series worth the watch.
But Dallas himself is interested in taking another shot. When asked by Bustle whether there's enough drama in his life post-series, the Vine star-turned-YouTuber said that things with his group, Magcon, or Meet and Greet Convention, have been "very interesting, to say the least. It would make for a really good second season, that's for sure."
Should Chasing Cameron return, the series will need a couple of serious fixes. Here are our recommendations.
Take control away from Dallas
It will probably never happen, but the easiest way to fix this problem is to strip Dallas of his executive producer credit. He has way too much control on a series about him with such a title. Even the best reality TV producers — and the Magical Elves, who produced Top Chef and the early seasons of Project Runway, truly are the best — can only do so much with a star who has the powr to assert control and a brand he needs to maintain.
Letting the Magical Elves make the show they want to make is an almost certain way to fix Chasing Cameron. It would strip away the show's more propaganda-esque tendencies and let the tension be focused on the star.
Split the focus of the series
Chasing Cameron has a fairly compelling supporting cast of fellow Magcon members. Their confessionals and stories provide a refreshing view into their world that doesn't feel as purified and controlled as Dallas' story. Taylor Caniff, a troubled Vine star, is a particularly fascinating figure as he rebels against what Magcon has become.
Yet the series mostly relegates these stars to second- and third-banana. Any future installments of the show should look beyond the titular Cameron at the rest of the crew.
Decide what the show is
This is a series about the life of Cameron Dallas, yes. But even the most seemingly inane reality shows have purposes beyond their plot. (Think about how Vanderpump Rules is actually about how duplicity affects a social system.)
What is the point of Chasing Cameron? Is it about the limits of new fame, where untrained young stars are put through the meat grinder with no preparation? Is it about the power dynamic between a man (Magcon CEO Bart Bordelon) who fancies himself a father figure and the scores of young men he collects? Is it literally just a branding opportunity for Dallas?
Some of these options are more appealing than others, yes, but no matter which way it wants to go, Dallas and the production team need to make a decision. The series is conflicted and messy right now, but it doesn't have to be.
