‘The Champion’s Hike’ Brings African American Sign Language to ‘Craig of the Creek’

Since 2018, any time you have seen me get on this site and mention Craig of the Creek, you know I’m about to tell you bout an episode where they not only understood the assignment but handed in extra credit as well. ‘The Champion’s Hike’ is another notch in the belt for Craig of the Creek as an episode that does not miss. What I’ve always loved about Craig of the Creek is the long game they play. The show focuses on character development extremely well. We also see a rotation of which kid from the creek gets highlighted. This episode is no different as we get a closer look at the former Champions of King Xavier. Aggie, Keun-sup, and Maya sit at the center of the episode, but it’s Jackie who steals it entirely. An interesting thing about Craig of the Creek is how characters are handled when they become someone else. We saw this with Omar no longer having to dawn the Green Poncho. He is now just Omar but letting go of the routine of the Green Poncho wasn’t easy, but he has. We’ve seen glimpses of the former champions of the king post-capture the flag war. This is the first time we’re seeing all the champions hanging out together as former champions now. We get to explore who these characters are outside of their old roles. Enter Jackie formerly known as “The Arm.”

“The Champion’s Hike” episode centers around Craig trying to fit in among his former enemies turned friends and Maya being the one to let him know that it’s okay to just be himself. The other portion of this stor…