Once again, The Great North has to have its own review. Don’t know if this is going to be a new thing going forward, especially with only five episodes left after this episode in Season 3 is pretty much up in the air...or continue on what I’m doing in the past episodes and have it being sandwiched into the Bob’s Burgers review as a halftime intermission mini-review segment in between the two halves of a Bob’s Burgers episode. And it’s also the show’s 50th episode if anyone is wondering since coming out of the break. Of course, going into the same format as the previous review with “Great Bus of Choir Adventure” and the past two episodes that were in the Top 12 Countdown in the past two years, so here’s my take on this week’s episode of The Great North in “A Bear-tiful Find Adventure”.
Of course, this happens to be the show’s 50th episode in the series. And knowing that it’s a milestone episode, we should be getting something good to mark the occasion. We sort of have that for this week’s episode by having three plots in one. One plot, the main plot, have the adults dealing with a passed-out bear that can carry severe consequences for them and probably the town. The second is Ham and Moon making their way to a construction site of an incoming attraction where the items they buried are being cemented. And the third, which ties in with the second, is Judy honing the fort for picture day and having to dress up and take Ham and Moon’s places for the day for school picture day. So I might as well go into the two or three plots and give my thoughts about each of the plots for this episode.
Starting with the main plot with the bear and before y’all say anything, I have never seen the movie “Cocaine Bear”. Never seen it. Never had the time to see it when it was in theaters. And whenever a bear is the focus of an episode in any show like this one for example or in a show from the past, Cocaine Bear is what is going to be brought up from the thoughts of everyone nowadays. Hell, try going to a zoo with the family for an outing or on a date with someone and see the bear exhibit, and would probably make a Cocaine Bear joke. The closest for me when seeing the episode and never saw the film also but I get the reference regarding the bear that the adults of Lone Moose found in the bathroom of the diner would be Weekend at Bernie’s. Because the bear was passed out throughout the episode, giving everyone the false assumption that it died.
Apparently what led everyone in the diner to become possible suspects comes down to what happened the night prior pointing toward Cheesecake when giving the bear a couple of bottles of beer, mistaking the creature as a guy in a costume. Yeah, as if a guy in the bear costume loves to make his cage his home for the neighboring town’s upcoming event. Case in point, a wild night ensues between Cheesecake and the bear riding on a motorcycle from the neighboring town, named Ted’s Folly to the diner where the apparent crime scene is, well, right after Cheesecake broke into the diner that one of the waitresses of the restaurant, Maude, thought it was a random breaking and entering that would’ve resulted in a robbery. So you’d think that the Cheesecake bringing the bear into the restaurant after a night out on the open road from one town to another would probably be the end of it, right? Not quite. While yes, at the time, everyone in the diner thought that the bear had died from possible alcohol poisoning in its system and that itself would put Lone Moose in a bad place because of harm to an animal, let alone a wildlife animal like a bear despite being held in captivity in the next town for the upcoming event. Harm to an animal that would possibly be considered animal abuse would be a bad look to everyone, mostly towards Cheesecake since he gave the bear alcohol, apparently, because the bear is from another town, Cheesecake’s actions puts the entire town in hot water.
And I say that because Lone Moose and Ted’s Folly had some beef with each other. Dating back to a long time ago back when Alaska was a territory with the so-called “beaver wars”. Because of course, there’s a feud with a name like that. Over a taxidermied beaver that the wives of the former mayors of each town threw at each other. All we know is that it was an ugly feud between the two towns and that was a long time ago. And since then, it’s civil between the two towns unless their school sports teams play each other after the beaver wars. But with Cheesecake’s actions with him taking the bear from its cage, the fears of another feud with the neighboring town is something that the adults, primarily Beef, Wolf, Honeybee, Jerry, Cheesecake, Maude, Londra, and Delmer don’t want to erupt. Did I mention that it’s like Weekend at Bernie’s? It’s definitely Weekend at Bernie’s. Even Honeybee came up with the idea of referencing the film to get the bear back to its cage without anyone noticing. And that’s what Beef, Wolf, Honeybee, and Jerry had to do to transport the bear back to its respective town. Too bad that the two officials of the town, Roy and Toby the Eagle noticed what is going on after being shut out from the diner while everyone is getting the bear out. Resulting in a chase across the town and going outside city limits.
Though for a moment there when watching the episode for the first time, I thought that Honeybee giving out a sigh after dropping off the kids at school and on their way to the diner was showing signs of homesickness. Looking back, it’s mostly her wanting to feel the thrill. Something that she wished she should’ve gone through since moving to Alaska. Hoping for an adventure once moving up north and instead, it’s her living in a mundane lifestyle. That doesn’t mean that she’s not showing gratitude towards the state. Nothing wrong with being with the Tobins. She just wants the action, the thrill that the state of Alaska had to offer. Tried to think of the past forty-nine episodes of the series on when was even the last time Honeybee, as part of the Tobin family, had gone through something thrilling and/or risky. You know, kind of like with Bob’s Burgers when the Belchers had to go through stuff like that. I mean, the closest I would think of in the topic of what event she partook in that was thrill-seeking or risky...the closest I could think of would be the snowstorm from Season 1. And I guess partaking in a shrimp eating contest alongside Wolf to replace one of Beef’s shirts that he accidentally destroyed in Season 2 along with the scavenger hunt in the Thanksgiving episode that same season. And also getting drunk on moonshine that landed her and Wolf in a series of hangovers. Those are the examples from the past episodes that I can muster up. Other than that, yeah, I can see where Honeybee is coming from. She wants to feel the thrill of what life is throwing at her since moving to Alaska. And uh...she did...
By taking the passed-out bear back to Ted’s Folly without anyone noticing, well except that Roy and Toby knew the moment the second act of the episode ended and going into the third with the Tobin men, Honeybee, and Jerry taking the bear to Ted’s Folly in hopes to not cause any trouble that would result in reigniting a 150-year-old feud between the two towns. Of course, Honeybee had to serve as the distraction as the guys make their way out of Lone Moose. At least Honeybee looks badass while riding on a motorcycle when distracting Roy and Toby. Leading to her to hide inside a bread delivery truck and out of Roy and Toby’s range while at the same time, waiting for the coast to be clear, meeting up with someone inside the truck holding a tray of bread that happened to contain drugs without questioning anything too concerning about the drugs that were somewhat implanted into the bread. So that was interesting. Also, for anyone who is playing the show’s version of Where’s Waldo with the yeti sightings...
The writers had really cranked the difficulty level to hard where it has to be one of those episodes where it’s a don’t blink or you’ll miss type of finding when going through the Easter egg as if Easter had been extended to be a year long. It’s right after Judy, dressed up as Ham, getting her picture is when we get to the next scene with Honeybee riding on the motorcycle, preparing to enter Ted’s Folly and you have to either slow the speed down or press the pause button and go frame by frame if you have a video player that does that. Seriously, at this point, if the yeti sightings were to continue going into Season 4 where we get to a future episode and the difficulty being switched to “hall of fame mode” as if we’re playing a round of 2K.
Alas, the townsfolk of Ted’s Folly and the mayor of the town found out about what happened and already pitted the blame onto Lone Moose just as the Tobins, Honeybee, and Jerry arrived at the site where the crime scene took place. Not to mention that Roy and Toby were also hot on their trail just as the situation got worse for everyone. And uh...oh yeah, the bear woke up from its hangover and was about to maul both Wolf and Jerry. At least no one was harmed during this whole episode, so at least there’s a silver lining. Also a silver lining, rather than busting the Tobins, Honeybee, and Jerry for the missing bear, even though Cheesecake was the one who started the mess that almost reignited a 150-year-old ugly mess between the two towns, Roy ended up defending the Tobins and Lone Moose in general by owning the mayor of Ted’s Folly, though surprising that Mayor Peppers didn’t get the memo on what is going on since we have a member of the committee standing up to the mayor of a neighboring town over a passed out bear, by bringing up rules and regulations about keeping the bear since it was a wildlife animal before being kept in a cage for an upcoming festival. And well...you know small towns, if one of us gets messed with, they have to deal with all of us like some ride-or-die shit by having the whole community together to defend their town that they call home, whether being urban or rural.
So, at least the show is doing something in capturing what a small town like Lone Moose does when it comes to communities coming together. And I guess the idea of the bear speed chase, good God I hope that it’s not a pun, it’s like almost 4:00 in the morning when doing this, and uh...hey, at least no one got arrested even though that should be a punishable offense. Also, saying it again, Honeybee does look badass while riding on a motorcycle when leading a chase to serve as a distraction to give Beef, Wolf, and Jerry time to transport the bear back to its cage without anyone noticing. So there’s that for the main plot.
Onto the subplot and there are two sides to this regarding the Tobin kids once they’re being dropped off at school. On one side, you have Ham and Moon skipping school to a construction site after Moon noticed the area where a future trampoline park is being built and notices that the site is where Moon buried the coconut that he claims to be a sibling to him that he made because Ham has Judy, so Moon has to have the coconut as a sibling. A coconut named Dagmar. And Moon was not having that. And also Ham buried a tractor magazine for Dagmar to read to keep it entertained. Leaving Judy to hold the fort for picture day for the rest of the day because she needed her two brothers to do picture day, especially when doing the sibling photo. Making school picture day pretty much The Judy Tobin Show throughout the day by taking both Moon and Ham’s spots for when their names get called to have their pictures taken. It's just she’ll need Moon and Ham’s clothes to play the parts. And to avoid the two brothers going into the open road in their underwear in the open cold air of Alaska on their way to the construction site because Judy has them in costume from the costume department once they’re in the open road on their bikes.
Going with Judy’s side of the subplot with her taking Moon and Ham’s place for picture day, wearing each of their clothes once Moon and Ham’s names were called, and having to deal with Golovkin, who is taking the photos. Though you’d think that any of their friends would’ve noticed Ham and Moon being absent or even questioned why Judy is wearing their clothes but they have to play it cool and just focus on what they’re doing. I mean, that could explain why you have Crispin in Ham’s clothing at the end of the episode when taking a picture with Judy for the sibling photo. And that’s just the sibling photo between what would’ve been Judy and Ham. If that was all three, adding Moon into the mix...yeah, I’d probably imagine Henry or Russell taking up Moon’s bear suit to take his place for the photo alongside Judy and Crispin as Ham.
That and also keeping Golovkin at bay while hoping he doesn’t get suspicious about where Ham and Moon are. That is what I thought at first when Judy took Moon’s place when his name was called and wearing his suit and later as Ham when wearing his clothes, but rather than questioning Judy on why she has their clothes and where her two brothers are, which could’ve derailed Ham and Moon’s trip to the construction site, and instead, asks Judy some relationship advice regarding him and Ms. Anderson. That being their one-year anniversary being together and uh...had nothing planned alongside accidentally killing her pet goldfish. Yeah, go ask the person who, dare to say but it’s there in the show, can’t maintain a relationship. Though the idea of having fast food as dinner for their anniversary along with a gift wouldn’t be too bad of an idea from Judy, as Moon, as she takes her photo.
But once Judy returns, this time as Ham, to have her photo taken once more, with a jar of dirt as a gift. Yeah...a jar of dirt as an anniversary gift. I mean, better than burning your wallet but with Golovkin starting to feel peeved and wants to know where Moon and Ham are, talk about throwing a curve ball from Judy when bringing up that the dirt in the jar happened to be the same dirt from the ground where both Golovkin and Anderson both made out. The same thing, and no joke, someone bought a jar of sand and not just any sand, but the sand from the area when Tom Brady announced his second retirement. Correction, it wasn’t sold because that is unknown since the announcement but yeah, that’s a thing. That was a thing. And that is what we saw with Judy giving the jar of dirt to Golovkin, thinking it’s from the same spot where he and Anderson had their first kiss. Getting out of dodge from having Gibbons involved and derailing what Ham and Moon were doing. And speaking of them, oh yeah, Judy’s advice about the dead fish as she and Crispin as Ham is for him to apologize to Anderson about what happened, say that it’s nothing more than an accident and maybe get a new one. Hopefully, one that looks similar to the dead fish. Once again, getting out of dodge so that no one, especially the adults, gets suspicious of the Tobins’ actions. It’s pretty much The Judy Show for this portion of the subplot and it was okay if I have to be honest. And speaking of Ham and Moon...
They’re on their way to the site in hopes to dig up Dagmar and the tractor magazine, riding on their bikes with Ham in a plant costume and Moon dressed up as the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera. Quite fitting since the show on Broadway is shutting its doors for the final time. From the start of the episode after being dropped off, Moon did state that the coconut that he made, named it Dagmar, and how important that coconut was to Moon because he had nobody and mentioned that since Ham has Judy, Moon had to create one with the coconut. The coconut that Beef had him throw it away but ended up burying him in the woods where the site of the incoming attraction is at. You could say that this almost feels like with Judy in “Sister Pact Too Adventure” when hanging out with Honeybee because she doesn’t have a female role model since Kathleen’s departure. It’s sort of like that with Moon when he said that because Ham has Judy to be around, he has to go into measures by making a coconut his. Though not going to pretend that Wolf exists but okay. And Moon even brings up some stuff that he wants to do with Dagmar if he were to be dug back up from the surface, though knowing that it’s been over five years...don’t know if it’s possible if Dagmar were to grow roots to have a possible coconut tree, something you have seen in subtropical and tropical climates, in a subarctic climate like Alaska, though that would kill the crop with the cold air standing in the way.
Anywho, five years since Moon buried Dagmar along with the magazine that Ham buried as well, and man, Ham must love that magazine. Don’t know if he had either a knack for tractors or if he’s planning on getting one or sees it as a hobby...that I don’t know. Moon was planning to do stuff with Dagmar like climbing up a mountain or having the coconut be his best man for his wedding. Of course, him denying of having a crush on Quinn that was first brought up in “Arranger-ous Minds Adventure” and come on, he and even Quinn have feelings for each other in that episode with Moon having the strongest emotion out of the two. Someone has to find out about Moon’s little crush. Then again, Moon once had a crush on Bethany in Season 2 but that was only one time in your typical little boy falling for a big girl trope. Oh yeah, and they got caught by the cops on their way to the site. And if you’d think that one of the cops would bust the two boys and send them back to school and notice that they’re skipping classes?
Nope. Instead, one of the cops, Edna is the name, takes Moon and Ham to the construction site by lying to a cop to get out of dodge. And by the way, lying to a cop is considered a no-no. How is anyone getting with this in this episode? But at least the lie came to halt before it even began once arriving at the site, so a warning is what is given to them. As well as giving them some time to retrieve the items...rather, mourn once noticing at the area is already cemented. Yeah, the trip to the site...you could it didn’t serve anything other than filler, but there are some moments from it with them on their way to the site in an attempt to get their items. Sure, Moon had nobody to bond with because Ham has Judy to be around and had to create Dagmar out of a coconut to share a moment like with Judy when she was with Honeybee from previous episodes, and I don’t mind anything coming from Moon. And even though this feels like a Moon subplot because it was focusing on him and the reason why he created Dagmar, Ham got the most development.
Primarily with the moment Ham went through his self-discovery and realizes that he’s gay. Ham wasn’t fascinated with a tractor from the magazine as if he was planning on getting one to drive, but instead, it’s the one model from the magazine lying and posing on a haystack that he was fascinated with. One look at the guy in the photo and realizes that he likes guys. So it’s nice that we have more in-depth with Ham and his character despite that the subplot almost felt like it was more on Moon’s focus regarding Dagmar, but hey, as long as we know more about the characters, we should be good. Something that Bob’s Burgers, and I guess Central Park, were lacking. I mean, we’re getting there. We’re getting there with those two. It is just The Great North is doing something to expand their characters, as well as the worldbuilding regarding the town and its history in their own spin. As well as... I guess the lesson for the subplot with Ham telling Moon to let go and that he shouldn’t be upset over losing Dagmar because even though he has Judy, doesn’t mean that he got Moon’s back also. Even requests Moon to be his best man for his wedding. In the event he (Moon) ties the knot with someone...and by someone, I mean Quinn. But it’s not a bad subplot. And even though most of the time with the subplot had been towards Judy dressing up as Moon and Ham while taking their places for picture day, it’s not a bad subplot as long as we get depth onto the characters whether being Moon wanting to be with someone like what Ham and Judy had or Ham, at the two-minute warning, revealing the moment he realized he likes guys.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of The Great North? For what is the show’s 50th episode of the series, while it’s not the best as the season so far has been going steady as if you’re walking from one building to another on a rope and trying to not fall towards the ground, it’s a good episode to commemorate the milestone.
The main plot with the bear chase isn’t too bad. Yeah, it’s no Cocaine Bear like everyone had been saying from the top of their minds when seeing the episode, more of everyone in town wanting to prevent a possible reignition of a historic feud between Lone Moose and Ted’s Folly over a passed-out bear that Cheesecake brought over from Ted’s Folly after a night out drinking and taking the bear from its cage, thinking that it’s someone in a bear costume. A little karma houdini for the adults after the episode whether being Cheesecake getting away after taking the bear and having the said bear to be passed out or the Tobin men, Honeybee, and Jerry evading capture until Roy comes in to defend them and the town from a possible feud to be reignited. All we know is that Honeybee does look badass while riding on a motorcycle when distracting Roy and Toby away from Beef, Wolf, and Jerry to buy time for them to take the bear back.
The subplot, similarity, is not a bad one even though most of the scenes from the subplot had been towards Judy taking Moon and Ham’s places for picture day while trying to make sure Golovkin doesn’t derail everything by giving him relationship advice as the each of the three siblings’ get out of jail free card. And while Judy did her part in trying to keep business afloat for school picture day by dressing up as Moon and Ham, and later having Crispin dress up as Ham for the sibling photoshoot, it was the Moon and Ham side of the subplot that was interesting to see. Sure, they made it to the site, only to find the area where Dagmar and the magazine were buried now cemented, but you have some moments from the two brothers. Whether it’s Moon wanting what Ham and Judy had in sharing a bond with a sibling by carving a face on a coconut or Ham recalling his self-discovery and finding out that he’s gay by glossing over a model in a magazine, it’s interesting to see the show expanding their characters and hopefully in this show, I want to see more of. It’s still a young series, preparing to wrap up the third season in a few weeks with a fourth coming in the Fall, not to mention being the defending champions of the Battle of the Week Voting Tournament, there’s enough time for them to have that like with what we’re seeing with Ham and Moon in this episode, as well as worldbuilding regarding Lone Moose and the history of the town. So I’ll give “A Bear-tiful Find Adventure”...
A 6 out of 10. Don’t know if this is going to be a regular thing because we’re now five episodes left in the season since I want to bring the intermission mini-review to the episodes sandwiched into the Bob’s Burgers reviews like I did earlier in the season, which I could do that. Though it looks like Bob’s Burgers will be on break on May 7 when looking at the press release, so...expect this type of post to make a comeback to pass the time when the week of May 7 arrives.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The second match of the Group C stages in the 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament has already taken place between Louise Belcher (Bob’s Burgers) and Molly Tillerman (Central Park). Voting ends on Saturday, so cast your vote if you have the time. And of course, y’all should know the drill by now...
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