Hope everyone had a nice, safe, and warm Christmas or Hanukkah, or whatever holiday or normal day as we prepare to enter the number seven spot of the Top 12 Countdown with 2022 set to end this upcoming weekend if you believe it or not. And nothing says celebrating the holiday season like...talking about how fucking bullshit our society is and that systemic racism is poisoning our nation throughout history and also the beginning of time itself. Go ahead and ban this, red states. You know we’re right. Coming in at number 7 in the Top 12 Countdown for 2022 is Central Park with “Lunar Palaver”.
There comes a time in any form of media, whether it is television, movies, music, books, or any kind where they do a rare occurrence of tackling heavy topics whether it is a discussion about death, divorce, abandonment, racism, sexism, all that stuff that you can’t ignore and would consider this as a learning experience. And well...this is one of those occurrences with this episode of Central Park. Especially with Cole’s sudden run-in with a Karen who thinks that he’s gonna attack him, just for playing pretend and having fun. I might as well get the subplot out of the way first before we get to the nitty gritty with the main plot of the episode. Oh yeah, there’s a subplot. So we might as well get that out of the way.
In the subplot of the episode, you have Helen meeting with a special someone and that raises some eyebrows from Bitsy. Causing her to stake out at a cafe where the meeting would be taking place. Finding out that the person Helen is meeting happens to be a potential lover for her. Nothing wrong with Helen finding someone but looking at Bitsy’s point of view, it almost feels like she might lose her aid in the event Helen continues to be with the guy. To the point where she had to go and bribe the guy to call off the relationship. You can see what the episode is doing when it comes to balancing. You have the serious side of the episode with the main plot regarding Cole’s confrontation with a racist lady at the park, which we’ll get to that in a bit. And also the lighter side with the subplot with Bitsy seeing Helen with someone outside of her job. Bitsy bribes the guy to call off his relationship with Helen because it would result in Helen leaving Bitsy to fend for herself...only to find out at the end of the subplot...
Helen calls off the relationship herself. And there’s a reason why she did that, not knowing that Bitsy tried to give the guy money to do the job. And it’s mostly because she has been given a choice for her to make. Either stay with Bitsy and continue to her aid and lapdog with little to no satisfaction or respect. Or quit her job and enjoy her first taste of freedom and happiness away from Bitsy but...it would result in her ending pursuit to get her goal of getting Bitsy’s will and testament. And we knew that Helen ain’t going to end her pursuit. No, no, no, we can’t have that. We can’t have Helen’s goal to be thrown away and instead, we’re gonna have her go back to Bitsy and she did at the end of the episode. Has she regretted it? Well, despite not knowing that Bitsy may have to bribe him with cash, it would make things complicated for her to make a choice. Either enjoy her first taste of freedom and be with the guy she loves but ends her chase for Bitsy’s will or stay with Bitsy and continue to be her lap dog. We all know that answer and that should be it for the subplot. Not a bad subplot but the episode needs to have a balance between the lighter side and the serious side of the two aisles. We’re done with the lighter side and now, we talk about the serious side. The main plot of the episode. First off...
Fuck this lady. Fuck her. How dare she for thinking that Cole was “threatening” her even though he was minding his business. He’s a kid. A black kid, a mixed kid who was just playing with his imagination with a wooden sword. You know, roleplaying? And you’re treating him as if he’s a threat. Like what the fuck?! And Owen tries his best to clearly steer of the situation. Thinking that it’s a misunderstanding. Cole didn’t do anything wrong. And the fact that this random lady decided to do a racism on him, an 11-year-old kid who was just playing around across the park, I question her on how the fuck does she sleep at night. And you know what the messed up part is about this? No accountability. No accountability for what happened. No consequences. No actions. No charges against her. I would say that the universe has plans for her and let karma do the work for the Tillermans against that Karen. Seriously, fuck this lady. Fuck this racist piece of shit…burn her. Fucking burn her!
The song in use for the episode on Owen when letting out his frustration after seeing his son going through a racist confrontation...if you have minutes to spare, even if you haven’t watched the show, which you should, listen to it. Just listen to it. The song is deep. They went hard when tackling an issue like racism. And the way Owen sang it while he let out his frustration while trying to keep his cool on his way back home...fantastic. Quite a listen when seeing the episode for the first time when it came out. Again, letting out his frustration after seeing his son getting into a confrontation with a racist lady. Saying that if Cole were a white boy, then we would not have an issue. But the fact that racism is still around and the fact that his own son had to endure it at the start of the episode made him upset.
Oh, Owen and Paige later in the episode knew that it was going to come at any time whether Molly or Cole would deal with discrimination once Owen made it back to the table, just didn’t expect that today would be that day and to their youngest child no less. Though props to Molly for suggesting to get back at that lady for being racist towards Cole, being the big sister that she is. But that encounter really made the family sick to their stomachs after what happened. And if you say as if I don’t know what discrimination is, well...fuck you. I’m Latino. I’m a Hispanic who is born in the United States and both parents are immigrants from Mexico. Even though I’m not the social type, the fact that I have seen stories on the news and on the internet about everything that has been going on...yeah, the outside world can be a scary place. You’ll never know what’s going to expect. And the fact that racism is still around in today’s time and might not be going away anytime soon is pretty much your head saying that the system is fucking broken. It is fucking broken. And me saying that society is bullshit is not me being hyperbolic. Sometimes it can serve as a joke. But there comes a time when it’s not a laughing matter. Living in a society where there’s a portion of the population who are currently living in tribalistic lifestyles as if they’re stuck in the past...it’s sad. It’s messed up. This is one of those episodes that cannot be ignored and need to be served to the public that can be used as a learning experience. The situation was so serious that even Birdie can’t even start the episode without stepping into the field following the confrontation. Mostly because of the severity of the situation with the confrontation and also the fact that because he’s a white man, and the confrontation is about race, it was a good call for him to wait a little longer in the episode and let Owen release his frustration.
And the conversation between Owen and Cole with “the talk”, not the usual “the talk” conversation where it’s “Oh, well when a man loves a woman”, not THAT conversation but instead, it’s more of the talk about race and discrimination while attempting to convince Cole to change costumes leading up to the Lunar Palaver event later tonight at the park. A deep conversation between father and son but it’s one of those moments from the show that you can’t ignore. This needed to be heard. Yes, Cole is aware of racism and knew about a few civil rights leaders who fought for equal rights, primarily Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. And you can feel the environment. The tone for this scene in the episode. Owen wants to make things easier for Cole. Not trying to make him afraid but to make him understand what is going on.
I mean hell, you can tell that Owen is trying to keep a straight face when Cole questions if what happened outside with that lady earlier in the episode would be a one-time thing. Hoping that this won’t be happening again. Like...that hurts. That really hurts because Owen wants to downplay things and would lie to his son that everything would be alright, but instead, tells him the truth to his face that more is coming in his life. And that is the scary part. Mostly with the notion when growing up that there’s fear that the moment you step out of the house, you’ll never know you or a loved one would make it back. Between the confrontation and the threat of violence, especially by a random person or even a police officer...it sucks. It fucking sucks that this shit is still around in today’s times and won’t be going away anytime soon until we make some changes. But people love to politicize the issue and think that what I’m saying is “anti-police” and “unpatriotic”...it’s disheartening to think portions of the population still think that as if they can’t get through their thick skulls and use their common sense that society is bullshit and that the system is broken.
And that’s more than enough for Cole to put on a different costume once the episode ends with Owen dropping him off to attend the event that he’s been looking forward to. So all and all, this was a great episode. The subplot with Helen going on a date and Bitsy wanting to end it was okay. But it was overshadowed by the show tackling a heavy subjects like racism and discrimination. And knowing that it’s an adult animated program, they did not drop the ball. And they did it perfectly.
From the song by Owen at the start of the episode to the conversation between him and Cole, they don’t miss. As I said, these are the type of moments from the episode that you can’t ignore. And for the cast and crew to do something talking about something heavy like racism and discrimination...what else to say but this was a great episode. And I do hope that everyone can watch this episode (or at least the series) to get a better understanding. A heavy subject to be talked about but as long as they play their cards right, then it’s a good episode to consider this a learning experience. And I do hope that our bullshit of a society can be patched up for future generations to not be dicks and discriminate against one another. When I said at the end of each post that you’re loved, and beautiful, and to ignore the haters...yeah, I meant it. Mostly because for once...can we please just get the fuck along.
And that concludes the Number 7 spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2022. What do you think about this episode? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below as we prepare to go into the Number 6 spot of the Top 12 Countdown. Which episode and series will be taking the seventh spot? Find and see sometime tomorrow. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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