Only three more of go of this thing after the release of this episode review. And after a barnburner of an episode of Bob’s Burgers, onto The Great North for this week and uh...remember the weird laws from last week and one of the weird laws that were brought up is not allowing someone to push a moose from a plane? Yeah, there’s some explanation on why that became a law. And also odd things that happen in the state of Alaska. And all of this happens in this week’s episode of The Great North where the town of Lone Moose celebrates the town’s annual moose poop festival with the three families try not to want to rip each other's throats off as Ham suggests that he needs to make a guy friend in my spoilerific short review of the nineteenth episode of Season 3, titled “Rear Genius Adventure”. And well...I’mma let the video down below says what the haps regarding the reference to this episode.
@ben_brainard Weird Laws: Alaska pt. 2: A moose DROPPING festival??
♬ original sound - Ben Brainard
So this episode with the town of Lone Moose hosting a moose poop festival is a reference/jab at an actual event that happened in the small town of Talkeetna, the town where they used to have a cat mayor, where from 1972 all the way to 2009, the town hosted a moose dropping festival where they find moose poop, paint the number, or in the show’s case, their names (whether being first name, surname, or full name), and being dropped onto a target. Yeah, let that paint into your mind. The town had a fun time during that timeframe and it became an annual tradition despite that having a festival that celebrates poop...and yes, this is an actual thing, people who get turned on by that would be a wet dream for this...yeah, it’s gross, I know. So the town of Talkeetna used to celebrate the moose-dropping festival and treat it as a raffle with a prize on the line, correct me if I’m wrong, and from 1972 until 2009, it was a big event from them. Too bad that PETA had to step in and crash the party when they misread and misheard that the moose-dropping festival was the town celebrating dropping live moose out of the air from a helicopter. So remember, the reason why Talkeetna never celebrated the event since 2009 and the law of pushing live moose from a plane is considered illegal, you can thank PETA. All this is because of a misunderstanding. Y’all are wild when going through this in getting ready for this episode. Though I can already see everyone from the other forty-nine states and across the world when seeing and hearing about a festival that celebrated moose poop...this is pretty much their reaction...
No offense to the state of Alaska for that. Really had to have that drilled into my mind in speculation for this week’s episode. Seriously? All this for a misunderstanding to create a law to make it illegal to push a live moose from a plane? Let alone letting the moose ride on one? All because of a misunderstanding? Y’all are wildin’ when going through that. So that was Talkeetna’s side of the story of how the moose poop festival came to be. Lone Moose’s side of how they celebrated the event date all the way back to when Alaska was once a territory and settlers setting up shop and giving everyone else headaches happened in 1904 when the former mayor of Lone Moose, Mayor Parsnips, had to find something because the town was dealing with a shortage of food, firewood...the townsfolk back in the day was fucked and knowing the timeframe, uber fucked.
But a pile of moose poop somehow saved the town and ever since, the townfolk celebrated the event every year. Host a festival and use the moose poop as raffle tickets and must hit a target where the lone turd hit the target, it’s solid by the way, no splatting whatsoever is considered the winner. So, to everyone, it sounded gross for the use of poop, let alone, poop from an animal to be used as nature’s raffle ticket but it’s Alaskan fun for every Alaskan living in the state. So, it shouldn’t be a problem for the town...it’s just for Mayor Peppers, he needs the three families to not try to rip each other’s throats once the day of the event arrives. That being the Tobins, the Tuntleys, and the Evanoffs. They might be friends every day, but on the day of the festival, they’re enemies. Though there’s one thing that kind of boggles me.
The Tuntleys. This is the first time where we saw Henry’s father in the show. Yeah, the first time we saw him on the show...where the fuck was he for the first two fucking seasons?! No, seriously. When we were introduced to the Tuntleys in “Avocado Barter Adventure” back in Season 1 and you haven’t seen the guy. Similarly in Season 2, though that was more of the moms and Beef having a nice hangout. Because at first, thinking back to “Beef’s Mommas House Adventure” and the way you look at Moon’s social circle, his friend group. Because I thought the majority of Moon’s friend group would be filled with people who are from a divorced family like Moon himself since he’s from a divorced family. I mean, Debbie is from a divorced family, lives with her mom with her dad went off to pursue a music career. Russell, the same, lives with his mom and is fond of his mom’s boyfriend Jamie. Henry...would say Quinn since she’s the newcomer but we don’t know anything about her, but Henry...we haven’t seen his dad in the first two seasons. And I thought with Henry’s dad not being present, don’t know if he was mentioned, my memory was fuzzy...mostly because it was way too focused on Bob’s Burgers, and I thought that Henry was from a divorced family. Well, that or Mrs. Tuntley being a widow. But here we are. Mr. Tuntley, Jim Tuntley as the full name is revealed alongside Mrs. Tunley’s first name is revealed later in the episode as Dorothy. So Henry is the minority in the group since most of the members of the group since he has two parents living together, being the only member to not be from a divorced family. For now, because again, we don’t know anything about Quinn and her family since she was just introduced.
Other than that little rambling, you have the Tobins, Tuntleys, and Evanoffs where on normal days, they’re friends. Acquaintances. Mostly because of Judy’s friendship with Kima and Moon’s friendship with Henry. But whenever the day of the moose-dropping festival arrives, the three families decided to have a bitch fit with each other over who’s the most guilty and accusing one party after another of potential cheating. A bitch fit that Mayor Peppers ain’t going to let that slide and since the theme of the year is peace and unity, and also not making the town look bad, as well as wanting to one-up the neighboring town of Ted’s Folly and their mayor, that the last thing Peppers needed is having the Tobins, Tuntleys, and Evanoffs to go at each other. Even Honeybee agrees and I believe this is her first festival since moving to Lone Moose. So the three families had to make a promise to Peppers to not have a bitch fit and just enjoy the festival. And with that, a cease-fire had to be made with the three families and make sure that they’ll be on their best behavior for Peppers once the festival takes place...
Too bad that the Evanoffs did not get the message. Walter, Kima’s dad, didn’t get the message when spray painting himself with silver paint that can cause total harm to his body and can pose a health risk (and an environmental one when getting the paint off) when Judy overheard the conversation with him and Kima’s mom Esther while doing a study session with Kima and Amelia at Kima’s house. Yeah, make you question how street performers who spray paint their bodies and perform in silence got through that without dealing with the negative effects of the spray paint. Overhearing the conversation about his plan to make sure the Evanoff family wins the festival and him being spray painted would serve as his way to help the family make their case. Even heard about his fingers crossed behind his back and going behind Mayor Peppers’ back after the three families promised to cheat their way and create a bitch fit at the town hall meeting. Enough for Judy to hear everything that she heard and storm out of the Evanoff household and alert the Tobin family once we get to the second act of the episode. Going behind Mayor Peppers’ back as well and decided to fight fire with fire. Don’t worry, the two families and the Tuntleys will have to find a way to create a cease-fire of their own later in the episode.
The second act of the episode when it comes to the main plot with the festival goes to Wolf since he wants to serve as someone who can be useful. And much to Honeybee’s dismay with the Tobin family wanting to fight fire with fire after Judy overhears Walter and Esther’s conversation about Walter planning to make sure the poop raffle goes in the Evanoffs’ direction, she’s sort of shifted her response a bit when finding out that the prize happened to be a gift certificate. And yeah, Wolf does kinda have some valid points when it comes to...well, himself when it comes to the family dynamic. Mostly the sibling dynamic. I mean, Ham’s the cook who likes baking cakes, Judy’s the artist, and Moon has a knack for wildlife. What does Wolf have? Other than the first Tobin kid to be in a marriage, pretty much nothing if you think about it. So him spotting the event and wanting to help the family is the best that he can do despite, of course, going behind the promise that the Tobins, the Tuntleys, and the Evanoffs have made to Peppers at the town hall meeting. And what is Wolf’s contribution to helping out?
By playing moose. Because for an event that is about moose poop, why not play the role? So Wolf’s contribution to help the Tobin family get their due in the upcoming moose festival is pretending to be a moose and acting like a moose once the town hall meeting had wrapped up. Like, Wolf wasted no time to get into the act in an attempt to help the family out in their attempt to win the contest. Much to the dismay of Honeybee of course, but also the town veterinarian Dr. French who told Wolf to not go on an all-moose diet, as in eating like a moose, not him eating a moose. Don’t know if that’s even a law in Alaska to not consume moose since there are so many moose laws in place. So once the day of the festival arrives, playing koi with the two other families and making sure that they’ll keep their promise to Mayor Peppers to not go at each other, eat their salad, and Wolf begins to let his plan go into play of him wanting to be useful to help the family. Oh, he wanted to be useful alright. Wanting to help the family, sure. But that’s going to be upgraded to helping the town and ends up becoming a whistleblower when noticing that one of the residents of the town isn’t who she used to say she is. Because it’s not a random old woman and instead, it’s the Mayor of Ted’s Folly once again rearing his head and plans to cheat to win the poop festival.
So the Mayor of Ted’s Folly had to make a comeback into this episode after the whole issue with the missing drunk bear a few episodes ago. Once again telling everyone that the towns of Lone Moose and Ted’s Folly have some beef with each other and even though Mayor Peppers want the Tobins, Tuntleys, and Evanoffs to not go at each other and want to just enjoy the day without any problems, no one suspected potential foul play from one of the residents of the town who isn’t even a resident to begin with. No one does. Not even Ham who was out and about in searching for a friend that he can make when coming across the disguised mayor at one of the food trucks. Did I mention that the three families had to play makeup and come together later in the episode?
Well, they did. Yeah, it was sort of predictable it was going to happen when Wolf saw what the Mayor of Ted’s Folly is plotting and alerted his family, the Tuntleys, and the Evanoffs about what he had seen and heard while trying to play moose and make sure that the day goes in Mayor Peppers’ favor. Coming up with a plan to make sure the mini-drone that the Mayor of Ted’s Folly does not land on the target. And they do come up with a plan by having Walt spray paint himself to serve as a distraction and for Mr. Tuntley to activate the industrial-sized fan to inject the mini-drone and foil the plan. Which, at first, when coming up with the idea, I thought that the plan was going to faceplant on itself. Say...if the Mayor of the rival town, back to playing as the old woman, somehow stumbling across the conversation and making sure that the plan doesn’t get stopped. Then again, cockiness can be a downfall. And that is what happened once the plan take place. And it worked. I mean, all three families did work together, set aside their differences for once, and stopped the Mayor of Ted’s Folly to cheat his way to win. But as a result...
Yeah, the fan may have suffered through some difficulties that resulted in everyone being blown off and stripped off of their clothes, whether in their underwear or fully nude. Except for some who were caught in the blast. So I’m probably guessing that some may have ducked and covered as if a nuke was being dropped. Though this was way weaker than an atomic bomb or hydrogen bomb, let alone a ballistic missile that is capable of vaporizing a living organism like it’s Hiroshima in 1945. This one is mostly picking up enough speed to rip your clothes off as if you’re in the radius of a tornado. But other than that, it was a bit of a predictable outcome for the three families to come together right after Judy overhears the Evanoffs’ attempt to win by having Walt spray-paint himself but it was predictable for the three sides to come together despite not knowing what was really going down in the back before Wolf blew the whistle and not let a non-Lone Mooser take the dub by using a small drone to cheat his way to win. And the message of everyone being capable of doing anything can be cheesy but pretty much tells everyone that they have balls of steel and can do anything that the state can throw at them. So...your move, Florida. So while the three families did their part with the festival, you have one Tobin family member who was omitted from partaking in the “chaos” that was the main plot.
And Ham, much like Wolf in the second act of the episode, has something to say for this episode. Mostly in the friend department coming out of band practice, nice to see the Messengers of Chaos again, you noticed that Ham is currently lacking something. And that is, of course, a guy friend. A friend of his own gender. And you’d think that anyone in his and Judy’s friend group since they’re in the same grade would’ve at least made Ham’s case. Anyone like...I dunno, any of his band members like Quay or Steven...hell, Gill seems like the possible option for Ham. But apparently not. So Ham needs a new guy friend. And a desperate need of one while talking to Crispin on their home from band practice. A guy friend is what Ham needed. A best friend...I guess you could say that. Though you could say Crispin sort of acts like one despite being in a relationship but other than that, Ham is currently lacking in the bestie department. I mean, Wolf has Cheesecake. Judy has Kima and also Amelia. Moon...I guess the closest out of the four in his group of five including himself would be Henry and I guess Russell also. Somebody better clarify on this. So that leaves Ham. Other than Crispin, who’d he got? Gotta expand the social circle and the moose-dropping festival seems to be the perfect timing for Ham to make a guy friend with Crispin’s help. There’s just one rule for Ham once the day of the festival arrives. And that is to not make friends with an old woman. A rule...
That Ham pretty much didn’t listen. The guy can’t help it. Ham did his best in trying to find a random guy to be friends with. Because throughout the episode in his subplot, whenever he comes across a random dude, he tried his best but each time he meets with a random bystander who attends the festival, let alone a random teenage boy at his age, he ended spooking them away without giving them to respond. But whenever he comes across an old lady, whether being a disguised mayor of a rival town at a food truck or an owner of an accessory shop, the dude can’t help it. And no, don’t call him a cougar. It’s not like that. I mean, out of the age range and gender that Ham can speak to the most are old ladies and he had no problem being around them. I mean, take a look at “As Goldie As It Gets Adventure” when he volunteered at an elderly home. He just can’t help it. He’s just a gentle soul who just can’t freaking fracking help it. Except Cousin Danica because of the whole hostage situation.
But regardless of that, Crispin and the shopkeep *check notes* Regina helps Ham to find a friend for Ham when coming across a nearby park and sees a lot of guys whether on top of the hill or on the log with their stuff to keep them busy. And the guy who was playing the ukelele while sitting on the log ends up being the guy who is chosen to be Ham’s potential guy friend. And you can see those two hitting things off...he ain’t coming back after this episode, huh? Any given Sunday and things can mess around but for now, I think the guy who Ham came across...didn’t even give out a name in the episode but hey, pointers for Ham for him trying to make a friend of his own age.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of The Great North? Well, once more, it’s an average episode. The quirkiness of the townsfolk and the worldbuilding with the town of Lone Moose, despite that the event is a jab at an actual event that used to be held in Talkeetna, was there and it’s still a young series. So, as long as they continue to develop that to the audience, then maybe we should have an understanding of the world of The Great North...even though it’s pretty much the beginner’s guide to Alaska.
Yeah, the three families coming together and creating a cease-fire was kind of predictable when Wolf found out that the Mayor of Ted’s Folly intervened and want to win the prize by having a drone to disguise as a piece of moose poop. But better than uh...having three families wanting to rip each other off and throw a massive bitch fit that Mayor Peppers don’t want to hear and see. And similarly, Honeybee as well since she had to serve as the sane one and tell the Tobins to remind them of the promise they made to the mayor. At least we got to see Henry’s dad in the picture, as well the revelation of the full names of the Tuntley parents. Still boggles that just now we were introduced to Henry’s dad after two seasons of not showing, but what’s done is done I guess. And yeah, Wolf in the second act, as odd as him pretending to be a moose to get ready for the festival, he did have somewhat of a point about what his role is supposed to be when volunteering to help the family out to win the festival. I mean, he did that when he spotted the Mayor of Ted’s Folly plotting to cheat his way to win the festival with a drone, and uh...he did something by being a whistleblower and if it weren’t for him, Mayor Peppers would not hear the end of what his rival from another town had to say in the event that happens. Luckily, it didn’t. So, pointers there for Wolf.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Crispin somehow got a new voice. Yeah, y’all did not notice that happened when seeing the episode. Juan Castano is the voice of Crispin in the episode. Don’t know if he was there as a fill-in or a possible permanent change. I don’t know what the hell is going on for Crispin to have another voice actor taking place. Let alone what happened to his original voice actor, Julio Torres. Whether or not it’s a one-time thing is up to future episodes in this season, what is left for this season, and also the next in the Fall. The fandom is small though to create an uproar. Besides, the last thing we need is what happened with Bob’s Burgers back in Season 12 regarding Mickey and Bill Hader not reprising his role that season and again in the movie. The last thing we need, guys. The last thing we need.
The subplot I thought was okay. Again, Ham can’t help befriending old ladies whenever he tries to find a random bystander his age and befriending someone. And it did show that Ham really needs to expand his social circle to the fullest. Still thought it would’ve been someone in his and Judy’s friend group, but I guess that’s not the case. And whether or not the guy who Ham came across with Crispin and Regina’s help by the end of the episode would make a return is pretty much up in the air...even though in my opinion, knowing that I’ve been doing Bob’s Burgers for nine years now, yeah, I think he ain’t coming back but anything can happen. So I’ll give “Rear Genius Adventure”...
A 6 out of 10. But that’s my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comment second below. A heads up that for anyone who stumbles into the page, there is no new Bob’s Burgers episode this upcoming Sunday. But there is a new Great North episode, meaning that...yep, expect this to pop up again sometime next week around the Monday or Tuesday timeframe with early Wednesday at the latest. The episode coming up for The Great North since we’re now three episodes left in the season involves a seafood vending machine threatening the fishing community at one side and on the other, you have Judy and Kima becoming junior smokejumpers in the twentieth episode of Season 3 of The Great North, “Barrel Be Blood Adventure”. Only a few more weeks until I get vacation time.
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