After last week's introduction for the review that caused me to type twelve pages into publication for last week's episode of The Great North regarding the ongoing situation with Bob's Burgers and why the show isn't on last week's lineup and causing a bit of a shitstorm and panic, we finally got a confirmation on when the next episode is going to come out. Yep, March 10 is when Bob's Burgers is expected to come back to the air with "Jade in the Shade". Thankfully, can finally put the panic to rest on why Bob's Burgers wasn't on the lineup last week or this week, or next week. Just be thankful that we can finally put it to rest despite being eleven episodes into the season and we still might be looking at a possible shortened season. But until then, this week and next week is all Great North for this page until Bob’s Burgers makes it return.
In this week’s episode of The Great North, it looks like the romance saga for the Tobin family continues from one week to another where it’s Moon’s turn to get the spotlight with him getting rejected by Quinn, causing him to go off-grid to get through his first-ever heartbreak and thus, we get to be introduced to a brand new Tobin family member living underground since the Cold War in my spoilerific review of the third episode of Season 4, titled “Aunt Misbehavin’ Adventure”.
And I did say that the romance arc has to linger from last week’s episode with Beef wanting to have a one-night stand to now Moon having to deal with his first-ever rejection by Quinn. And we’ll get to how that doesn’t make any sense, in my opinion of course, of why Quinn even rejected Moon’s offer to be his date for the dance and we’ll get to the explanation in a bit...later in the review. But this episode has to have Moon be heartbroken just to introduce a brand new member of the Tobin family. Yeah, we’re using Moon’s emotions for plot purposes. Other shows did that too to advance the plot in an episode or any other type of media. And this episode was that notion, even though it’s more on Moon than the newly introduced Dirt. And yes, that is her name. Well, a shorter version of her full name.
But yeah, we got a brand new member of the Tobin family that is being introduced into the episode that wasn't a name-drop like Beef's parents or with Rutger at the end of last season's finale. Knowing that the location of her bunker is a hiking distance from the cabin, and knowing the scene in the trailer includes a shot of a snake sanctuary, she is poised to become a recurring character after this episode. Especially with her, again, being a hiking distance from the cabin, don’t be surprised if she makes a return in a future episode whether in the cabin or with any of the Tobin family members in certain situations.
But aside from that, the main focus is on Moon as once again, romance and heartbreak is the name of the game with him getting rejected by Quinn out of the blue right as the dance is right around the corner. To the point where, like Beef last week in the first act of the episode or...hell, like Tina in a few episodes of Bob’s Burgers when she got rejected by Jimmy Jr, he was down bad, and for someone who is new in the game of romance, Moon after the first few minutes of the episode, the first few minutes, what we’re about to witness if you haven’t seen the episode is what is pretty much a person’s social life come crumbling down. That being said, let's open the hatch and dive on down to break down the episode. This is “Aunt Misbehavin’ Adventure”.
And when I said that we’re about to witness a person’s social life come crumbling down as if you’re watching a building being demolished like it’s Demolition Day, I’m not kidding. We’re about to witness the quickest social life demolition known to man and this is how we begin the start of the episode with Moon and the rest of his class setting up the decorations for the upcoming Lil’ Peppers Practice Prom, as the synopsis stated, at the Lone Moose VFW post and this isn’t like with the big prom that Judy and Ham had at the end of last season that resulted in what is pretty much dubbed the “Great Prom Meat-splosion of 2023” that somehow got retcon in my opinion regarding the status of the school, it's like the prologue to the big event in the coming years. You know, in elementary and middle school where you have those types of dances whether being at a gymnasium at a school or some banquet hall. So Moon and his classmates are setting up the decorations, thank God that the show hasn't forgotten about Henry, Russell, and Debbie since they've been AWOL'd in the season premiere in their classroom.
So, everyone is busy setting up shop for the dance that is coming up later in the week, and for Moon, the time is pretty much now for him to get things out of his chest. And that is, of course, asking Quinn to be his date for the dance. And if you don't know by now, might as well give y'all a refresher on all of this. Dating back to Season 3 when with "Arranger-ous Minds Adventure" where out of nowhere, Moon has a crush on Quinn, who just recently joined Moon's group and is away from her other friends Lola and Corrine because of them liking things like makeup and going on a website called "Bunches of Boys", which is something that she doesn't roll that way. Mind you, that was her third episode appearance in the series, and out of nowhere, he has feelings for her. And if I had done a full review of "Arranger-ous Minds" last year, I would go into full depth on all of this and my thoughts on them being love interests. I mean, take a look at this scene in a microsecond in "Autumn If You Got Em Adventure"...
Where you have Quinn and Moon looking at each other from their respective tables just as he, Henry, Rusell, and Debbie plan to pull a heist to take the table filled with baked goods with one of the baked goods being a plate of beaver brownies that Quinn's mom made. Well, that and also Russell teasing the two thinking that they're in love with each other. Hell, it's not just Moon who has feelings for Quinn, who has the strongest emotion, but Quinn herself in "Arranger-ous Minds Adventure" that she too may have some feelings towards Moon. Hence, the saying whenever the two try to hide their feelings for each other, "not because I want to hang out with you.” Whether it’s outside waiting for their parents to pick them up or making their way to Gibbons’ office to find some gossip as part of the Junior Janitors. Oh dear God, think I’m shipping these two. Still a better pairing than Moon and Debbie though. Like that would ever happen. Still, Moon and Quinn being together isn't too bad of an idea. Don't like how the show decided to make Quinn a love interest right away after her debut and joining Moon's group, but they do look like a cute pair and I guess it almost gives me some vibes coming from Louise and Rudy, but unlike them, Rudy had a lot to build up his character despite being a fan favorite right away since his debut. I do want Quinn's character to be expanded, but also give the other side characters equal time in the limelight.
Henry and Russell noticed the cat noises from Moon as they were decorating the stage, meaning that they knew that it's go time for Moon to make a move for him to ask Quinn out to the dance. Also noticing that Moon is nervous about asking the person he had been crushing on for...a while, but Henry and Russell comfort Moon and tell him that he got this in the bag and there's no way he can fumble the ball as if he's about to participate in the Kadarius Toney Challenge. Telling Moon that he’s one of the eligible peppers and bringing up his traits of being a smart, funny guy who wears a bear suit without being questioned why he wears it every day, once again, the Louise comparison is there with her bunny ears and wearing them in public. Other than that, it's go time, and boy, this is where the demolition of Moon's social life begins to take place.
Moon walks up to Quinn right as she is finishing putting up the balloons on the table and finally asks the simple question and hoping his day or week doesn't turn into a Hindenburg-type of disaster. And you think that because Moon has feelings towards Quinn and there are instances that she likes him back as seen in "Arranger-ous Minds Adventure" that she can't say no, even if they have to go as friends to the dance despite Moon’s attraction towards her. Moon asks the question in hoping for Quinn to be her date to the dance...only to downright reject him.
And not just reject him. Rejecting him in front of everyone, well, Debbie had to blab it out to everyone just to poke fun at him, but Jesus fucking Christ, this is brutal. Being rejected by your crush and in a public place and front of everyone...and we're not even two minutes into the episode, bruh. We're not even two minutes in. Like...holy fucking shit. Yo, this has to be a record. This has to be a record for a character to get rejected by their crush to be their date to the dance. But Jesus Christ, Moon...buddy, that was a heart stomper and by your crush of all people. And without any given reason as to why Quinn turned him down like that. I mean, we got an explanation later in the episode, and going into the final few minutes leading to the credits, but goddamn man...goddamn. He storms out and so begins the Moon Tobin Down Bad Arc with this week's episode as the countdown to the dance is on. Yeah, this is bad for the guy and you have to feel sorry for him. Even though both Moon and Quinn are fine at the end of the day. At the end of the episode. But for right now, holy shit, man. You have to feel sorry for the guy.
We transition to later in the night after what was the biggest collapse in his life as if he's last year's Jacksonville Jaguars with Beef putting Moon's formal attire on the ready as Moon is packing his stuff into his camping bag and ready to camp out for the night to get his mind of what happened earlier at the post regarding Quinn turning him down to be his date to the dance with Moon bringing up why she even did that and with no reason as for why she did it. When the synopsis came out for this episode and questioned why Quinn even turned Moon down for the dance, there were a few options that I thought would be the right answer before getting the actual answer later in the episode. I mean, Moon going strong to the point where he would make Quinn uncomfortable would be one answer because we know that when it comes to those two, Moon has the stronger emotion. I would also take Moon fumbling the bag that could embarrass either party, but Moon didn't even fumble at the start of the episode when approaching her. So it has to be the third option, and again, we know what Quinn's reasoning is later in the episode if y'all saw it before reaching this review, but before the episode even aired, and we're going with Quinn's point of view, you'd think back to "Autumn If You Got Em Adventure" with Quinn leaving her other friends Lola and Corrine because those two have interests in something that Quinn doesn't like that resulted in her switching camps. And hoping for a Louise moment with Quinn, I thought that she would reject Moon because we know that Moon has feelings for Moon and we know that Quinn has some feelings in return. Quinn's other friends will become insufferable if they find out that Quinn has feelings towards Moon to the point where she has to reject him. Again, we know the reason why she did it later in the episode, but that's later in the episode review.
Once Moon is done packing, he heads out and sets up shop for him to take his mind off of what happened outside of the cabin and into the woods, of course, we have a brief scene with the yeti taking a stroll in the middle of the woods as the camera pans away from the cabin to Moon's tent. A normal night for Moon in what is pretty much his way to taking his mind off of things following the rejection from Quinn and hopefully gets an explanation for why she turned him down. As the night progresses, Moon reads his comics before drifting off to sleep for the next eight hours, however, this is where things begin to downhill for Moon during the overnight hours while being out in the woods. So much for peace and quiet to take his mind off of things.
The wind blowing wasn't the issue that woke Moon up but instead, it was the sound of footprints that disturbed him from his sleep. Moon walked up to the nearby shrub where he noticed a mysterious figure donned a gas mask and what I guess is a hazmat suit. And before you say anything, no, this isn't like the Gas Mask Zombies from Doctor Who where you're a mindless zombie when wearing a gas mask and having to say "Are you my mummy" on repeat like they're Pokémon. That’s not the case and instead, it’s some hermit who is just entering, well, knowing the items the mysterious being is holding, just coming back to the hatch to what is pretty much an underground bunker. This causes Moon to run towards the house and alert everyone about what he had seen deep in the woods during his one-night retreat, yelling a color-coded alert for the family to understand what kind of situation the family is dealing with. Beef becomes the first to wake up and pulls out the binder and tries to find the color the Moon is shouting regarding what he just saw, that being a Code Wintermint.
As well as the rest of the colors from the page that Beef had to check out regarding the Code Wintermint situation that Moon had just seen during his retreat. Two colors on the top right state a zombie situation. Emerald is the slow kind and khaki signals the fast kind. What's the difference? Go watch a zombie movie and find out for yourself. Verdigris signals a statue that is parked on their driveway, so if a Weeping Angel were to appear, good luck with that. Firebrick red signals the milk is on the verge of expiring. Misty rose, Beef being emotional over an ASPCA or any other animal adoption ad. Especially when seeing those ASPCA ads with "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan with the verse "In the arms of an angel" starting the ad. Fuchsia states an angry beaver. Wintermint, of course, Moon's current situation with the mysterious figure he spotted. Pamplemousse, a bat in the chimney that needed to be removed, carefully, of course. Bone Khaki states that coming across three people named Edwin and thinks that they're in a cult. Dark slate with a door-to-door salesman. Don't know if that also applies to people who are Jehovah's Witnesses. And then, shamrock, signaling a leprechaun. How fitting knowing that St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner.
Everyone is armed on their way to the hatch that Moon spotted earlier. Grabbing any weapon available for each Tobin member to carry. Ham with a frying pan as if he’s Rapunzel. Moon with a boomerang, thinking that he’s Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I haven’t seen the live-action version but I heard mixed reactions to it as of late. Wolf armed with a pole, probably from a mop or broom with Honeybee armed with snow shoes. Beef is unarmed in this as he is about to open the hatch upon arriving. And then you have Judy...being armed with a book. And not as a weapon, but to communicate in the event of a leprechaun even though the situation is a code wintermint and not a code shamrock. Did Judy mishear Moon's signal and think that the mysterious person in a gas mask is a leprechaun to the point where she had to grab a book filled with Irish jokes in hopes of becoming buddy-buddy with the leprechaun? Hoping to befriend the mythical being and also hoping to find a pot of gold and maybe a box of Lucky Charms? Because I feel like that might be the case for Judy to get the book in the palms of her hands. And the use of it was to offend the person in the event he or she or they are Irish. The Former Champion, ladies and gentlemen, and others. Y'all voted for her almost two years ago. That's on y'all.
The Tobin family arrives at the hatch with everyone but Beef having their weapons on standby for the attack with Beef telling the person inside the hatch to get out of the hatch and confront them. But the Hatch-Dweller refuses to come out and think that they’re communists. Knowing that the person hiding inside the bunker is someone who hid themselves thought the Cold War was going on, hence, the anti-communist language when confronting the Tobins by the hatch. Beef tries to make things peaceful without having any party resort to retaliate and treating it as if it's a home invasion with Beef telling the Hatch-Dweller that they're on Tobin property after being mistaken with the name Boris and thinking that he's a mutant that came out of the nuclear blast. And we might as well get it out of the way since both the trailer and the synopsis gave it away regarding the identity of the Hatch-Dweller when the Hatch-Dweller is shocked to hear the name "Tobin" coming out of Beef's mouth, telling him to do the Tobin handshake to prove this case, which there isn't a handshake to begin with, thus, coming out of the hatch and we get the reveal and the official debut to the show...
Welcome to the show, Dirt Tobin, full name Dirtrude Tobin...seriously, who named these people in the Tobin family? We get the introduction of Dirt Tobin, voiced by Jane Lynch, being introduced to the family with Beef surprised about the supposed legend of a family member being missing for over a few decades and has finally met her eye-to-eye along with the family. As we close the first act and go into the second, we might as well get to know Dirt as the Tobin family explores the bunker where she's been living and is surprised that not one member of the family noticed that there's a hatch right by their backyard. Well, except for Moon for some reason because the emergency binder mentioned the hatch to be added to the book. And apparently, Dirt is the long-lost sister to Beef’s father, making her Beef’s aunt...which I guess makes Dirt the Tobin kids’ great-aunt. As for how long Dirt was living inside the bunker, let's just say that the Cold War paranoia had hit her to the point where she wasted no time to go off-grid. How long since she last saw civilization?
Sixty years. Yeah, you heard that right, sixty freaking fracking years since moving into the bunker and going into hiding as if she was attempting to become the hide-and-seek champion in the Amelia Earhart challenge. So, the background for all of this on why Dirt decided to go into hiding for sixty years is simple. We all know the Cold War. The war that isn't a war that almost turned into one between the US and Russia, back when they were the Soviet Union, and between 1945 at the end of World War II to 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up and underwent a rebrand with the blocs that broke away from what was once a superpower, and the US in the early days of the Cold War, the late 40s up until the entirety of the 1960s, you have the red scare where everything you think something is off from someone or something would be labeled as a "communist" as if it's the second coming of the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s. The paranoia is there for Dirt and thought that everything into a nuclear apocalyptic wasteland as if you're playing a round of the Fallout franchise. And the historical event that caused Dirt to go into hiding and never come out for sixty years was the 1964 earthquake in miles far east of Anchorage that claimed the lives of 131 people and $311 million in damages ($2.94 billion with inflation) with a magnitude of 9.2. Four years after another powerful earthquake that rocked Chile in 1960 that was a magnitude between 9.4 and 9.6 in the Richter Scale. The earthquake in Alaska, in Dirt's point of view, thought that it was the Soviets launching a nuclear warhead towards Alaska that caused her to go into hiding, even though the rumbling wasn’t even caused by a warhead to begin with. But that didn't stop Dirt from going into hiding and thought that World War III had already taken place and thought that she might be the last person standing before meeting Beef and the others.
And man, Dirt wasted no time to have everything all stocked since the food looked like it would last an entire lifetime like the energy crackers that Ham and Judy had to take a bite before ending up becoming addicted to it as if they were energy bars, rather, a type of crackers where one of the ingredients include an entire bottle of an energy drink or add too much caffeine as if you're developing a coke addiction. And you also have Wolf and Honeybee talking to Dirt about the things she missed for the past sixty years by talking about the movies she missed between the 1960s and the 2020s. Even though there are more than just movies that Dirt has missed as the family invites her to join them for breakfast at Maude's the next morning and I'm already betting that the long drive would be the family explaining to Dirt on what she missed during the past sixty years. And mind you, for sixty years since Dirt last made contact with the outside world, we had nine U.S. Presidents, two British monarchs, fifteen incarnations of The Doctor (mind you that it was 1964 and Doctor Who was in its infancy), a few wars, a pandemic, fifty-eight Super Bowls, and a lot of every other shit that happened in between Dirt going into “exile” and coming out of her hatch.
The next morning hits and it's gonna take a while for Dirt to assimilate into the modern-day lifestyle. And let's just say...her language despite being from the 1960s...doesn't fit well in today's times, especially when getting the waitress' attention. Not to mention that she isn't allowed to smoke in diners because back in the day, smoking regulations? Never heard of her. The same goes for hospitals, stores... every other public place that used to allow smoking because, again, back in the 1960s, you were free to smoke, whereas now, not one bit. Setting up what is about to come next for the Tobins to help Dirt how to assimilate into modern-day life once we get to the next scene.
But for now, it's Moon who is getting the spotlight with him struggling to get through his first-ever heartbreak after what happened yesterday with Quinn rejecting her offer to be his date to the dance. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Dirt brought up the father and knowing Beef saying "mm", yeah, that sort of sounds like Beef is telling Dirt that the dad is dead. And not because of what Dirt thought was caused by nuclear fallout, but mostly because of old age or whatever caused him to send him to the lobby. Anyway, back to Moon, still upset about Quinn turning him down and also confused because he has no reason as to why she turned him down. Dirt thought that Quinn has diphtheria, which is an infection on the nose, and Moon bought that crap even though that's not even the freaking case as to why she said no to Moon the day before. And we get to that...right now as the scene cuts away to the kids being dropped off and Beef ready to take Dirt a trip across town, though not before cutting the seatbelt because why not?
So, now, we get to the explanation as to why Quinn turned Moon down to be his date to the dance where we see Moon taking a sip of water from the water fountain as he looks at Quinn being busy with her locker. Noticing a few decorations with one of them, a pig decoration, hopefully not foreshadowing later in the episode, holding a photo of Moon, Henry, and Russell on her locker door. Just noticed that little detail on Quinn's locker when I was busy fixing up the place. And also another photo from inside the locker if you slowly go frame by frame just as Quinn closes the door, you see a photo of her with a pair of pigs. I had to get the details of the locker out of the way, now we can get to the part where the line goes from the classic era of The Simpsons, you can see the second his heart gets ripped in half. That was the day before and it looks like we're getting another part of it.
Moon approaches Quinn as she closes her locker door and asks her about what happened the day before at the post with Moon takes Dirt's advice and asks her if she has any case of diphtheria, which if you think that she does, she would have stayed home but at least she knows what the bacterial infection looks like or what it contains. But that’s not the point because Moon wants answers after feeling both depressed and confused over why Quinn all of a sudden turned him down for the upcoming dance at the end of the week. And this is where the “down bad meter” has gone up a level, or rather, a few levels than what we got the day before when finding out Quinn’s explanation. Quinn’s reason for why she turned Moon down, well...it isn’t from any of the ideas that I thought it was going to happen from earlier in the episode review, but instead, the reason for why she didn’t say yes to be Moon’s date to the dance is because she’s going with someone else. And when I said he was down bad...he was down baaaaaaad like I’m doing a sheep impression.
To the point where he walks out of the school without even thinking about packing his stuff. Oh man, I’m going to hell for doing that meme. I am seriously going to hell for that meme and I’m dragging y’all with me for it. But yeah, Moon's heartbreak has gotten worse now that he got to know Quinn's reason for why she turned him down. And his face shows that he didn't expect the moment the person who he had been crushing on since last season, the person who has the strongest emotion towards her, not to mention, the person who somewhat had feelings for the guy, only to shoot him down because she’s going with someone else instead of Moon. Like...bro, Moon can’t catch a fucking break from what he had to go through. It's bad enough that Quinn stood him up, it’s bad enough that the rejection had to be in front of everyone, though that’s mostly because Debbie wanted to make it a scene to add salt onto the recently open wound, and now finding out that Quinn is going with someone else who isn’t him, and we’ll get to that whole debacle, miscommunication at the end of the episode review if you haven’t already scrolled down in this article, yeah, this is getting shades of Tina whenever she gets rejected or the thoughts of rejection by Jimmy Jr. I would say that it sort of reminds you of an episode of Regular Show where Mordecai thought that Margaret was getting proposed, only to find out that it's a miscommunication, but last I check, Moon's not a simp. And a down bad simp at that. Moon storms out and is about to make a beeline towards the bunker with Russell telling Moon to come back, mostly to tell him that he'll miss out on BLT day at the cafeteria. But yeah, he is down bad. Super bad to say the least.
We enter the two-minute warning of the first half of the episode with Beef driving Dirt across town to see what changes from the last time she came across the open world before the earthquake happened that she mistaken it as a nuclear strike, which makes you question how she even got through what happened last season with the shaking from the underground meat bunker. Better than, knowing that she was hiding for over sixty years, going from 1964 up until 2024, the fact that she survived the COVID-19 pandemic without getting sick despite living in a bunker and having to go out in a gas mask, that's quite freaking impressive. Why do I get the feeling that Dirt might be a possible anti-vaxxer who thinks that it's a communist ploy even though there's a vaccine for polio that came out during her time? Dear God, don't ever let it be the case. Beef shows Dirt around the town and this is where the sudden face of FOMO decided to kick in for her as the drive continues.
Going through various locations that used to be places she once recognized that have now turned into public places. One of the places that she wanted to go would be a house that belonged to Melinda...only to end up finding out that the area that used to be her house turned into what is pretty much this show’s version of a Dollar General. In short, Dirt missed out a lot and I mean a lot for the past sixty years since being off the grid. I mean, yeah, during her time being out of the bunker and donning a gas mask, you'd think she would at least check a newspaper in a nearby stand even though the Tobin household is a few miles from downtown. But the reaction on Dirt's face when seeing how everything had changed over the past sixty years and the stuff that she missed and now questioning whether or not the people she knew were still around, that had to be an emotional gut punch for Dirt to find out that she missed out on a lot of things and not knowing about the status of her friends and whether or not she's still around. Yeah, knowing that records are a thing, Dirt's old friends would probably think that she's presumably dead and have that added to her record. And who freaking knows if there's anyone from Dirt's social circle even still around after going into hiding for sixty years, and that would make the emotional gut punch feel even worse. Whether it's going off the grid or in a coma, you'll never know what or when you're going to wake up and question what you may have missed. Dirt asks Beef to take her back to the bunker as we prepare to end the first half of the episode...only for the hatch to be tightly shut.
Courtesy of a down bad Moon, who decided to follow Dirt's footsteps and wants to go off the grid himself following Quinn's rejection and get the reason he got from her that she's going with somebody else. And when I said that Moon was down bad...you get the gist, he is down bad to the point where, and mind you that this is his first-ever rejection, he now wants to follow the same footsteps as Dirt and wants to hide in the bunker and just wishes that a meteor or a nuclear warhead to land a hit and just end it all. I know that sounds harsh but Moon, as I said, is down bad. Not taking the rejection well, especially now that he found out that Quinn is going with someone else that became the straw that broke the camel’s back. To the point where he has to lock himself inside the bunker and this is what the second half of the episode is going to be regarding the current situation. By turning this into some sort of standoff between Moon and the family and this lasts on through the whole second half, mostly the third act but it’s mostly the entirety of the second half.
This is getting me vibes to the beginning of “V for Valentine-detta” from Bob’s Burgers when Tina, like Moon, was down bad because Jimmy Jr didn’t pick her to be her Valentine’s and instead, chose Becky Krespe over her and if that’s not bad enough for Tina, other planning to take Becky to a date on Valentine’s Day, and we know how that ended at the restaurant later in that episode, she made a photo frame for him with a picture of her and puts a picture of Becky over her in the frame. Now, this isn’t like that with Quinn, but Jesus Christ, Moon’s mishandling with his rejection, and again, this is his first time when compared to Tina, who had a few...he is giving her a run of her money. I did say that during the live blogging session this past Sunday comparing Moon's situation to Tina's when it comes to how not to deal with heartbreak. This may have one-upped her. I'm sorry to say this but this may have one-upped the Tina situation on how not to deal with heartbreak. I mean, Beef got through his in last week's episode and the same goes for Judy last season if you remember her out-of-nowhere relationship with Holden who had to the balls to end a relationship through a text message.
Aside from Moon being down badly after not taking the news too well regarding Quinn, the rest of the third act besides turning Moon going into hiding into a standoff between him and the family, primarily Beef after noticing that he just walked out of school, the other focus for the third act would be on Dirt as she begins to take a crash course on how to blend in with the modern-day lifestyle which turns into a montage between her assimilating to today’s time and Moon refusing to leave. So, with Dirt, it’s a slow process for her to get used to today’s standards when it comes to...well, everything. And telling Dirt about how microwaves work and being impressed with the invention of the Hot Pocket that she is eating. And this is just the beginning of what is pretty much her crash course on how to blend into modern-day life with the help of Beef and the other Tobin family members with Beef also focusing on trying to convince Moon to get out of the bunker. As well as her getting along with the other members of the family aside from Beef as we get to the montage. Just be thankful that Dirt didn’t question Wolf about he didn’t marry someone in the same race because uh...oh boy, the family can’t save you from that one because again, she’s from the 1960s. Thank God that did not happen when coming across Wolf or Honeybee.
We go through the montage for the episode with Dirt going through a crash course on how to blend in with the modern-day lifestyle with the help of the Tobin family while at the same time, you have Moon enjoying his time alone as if you sort of wished what life during the early days of the pandemic was like during the quarantine while rejecting Beef's call of leaving the hatch so Dirt can go back to her place. Let's start with Dirt with her attempting to assimilate into today's times for the next few days while paralleling Moon with his activities in the bunker. Starting with Wolf and Honeybee's suggestion to do a movie marathon with Ham showing Dirt how a microwave works when microwaving a bag of popcorn, which impressed Dirt of how the thing works...even though the microwave was first invented in 1945 but wasn't sold in stores years later...say, a few years after Dirt went into hiding. So, you have Ham telling Dirt how the microwave works just as they're about to watch a movie. Then comes the following day where you have Dirt being given a lesson on feminism and women's history for the past sixty years that Dirt missed out with a board presented with the title "From Rosie the Riveter to Megan Thee Stallion: 60-Plus Years of Her-story" and going for a full-on TED talk. And then we get to the day after that and after that with Beef taking the helm while hoping Moon can get out of the hatch with him taking Dirt back to the diner, hopefully on her best behavior before going back to the mall to try on a new look...in what old people thought what the younger generation would wear these days.
Though the scene with Ham putting a blanket over a tuckered-out Dirt before feeling jumpy over Dirt pulling out a gun as if she thinks that Ham was going to attack her before Beef has to take the gun away from her. Like Jesus Christ, that was quite a wild scene there with Dirt pulling out a gun and attempting to shoot Ham as if her life is in danger. Like, whoa, calm down Dirt, don't need to pull out the 9. Then we get to Moon's side of the montage while attempting to go off the grid aside from rejecting the calls to get out of the bunker as he continues to be down bad after being turned down by Quinn and finding out that she's going with someone else.
From listening and jamming to some tunes from a record player with a few scenes while playing the record player like dancing with a mop to referencing Tom Cruise in the movie “Risky Business" of him having to dance in his underwear and wearing a gas mask over his head, as well as surviving through packages of non-perishable foods, not to mention bathing himself, using the machine that recycle urine waste into clean, drinking water...I don't want to know how the process works...if you think that knowing that Moon is 10 years old, you'd probably think that he can't handle being alone for one night or even a week that isn't a camping site. He's probably that thought process wrong as it looks like Moon knows what he is doing despite being down terribly bad over Quinn rejecting him to be his date for the dance. Case in point, once again, gonna sounds like a broken record, he is down bad, and knowing that it's his first-ever heartbreak, getting over it is not easy. Getting to the point where, once again, Moon refuses to leave and go to school, causing Beef to lose his patience and now become worried about him potentially following Dirt's footsteps of going off the grid. Speaking of which...
You have the scene as we go to the overnight hours, that being the day of the dance, with Beef losing his sleep and checking up on Moon's empty room where Dirt comes in to check up on things. Mostly to tell Beef that he tried contacting her old friends to see if she could tell them that she was out of hiding, only to find out that they died over twenty years ago. Adding more salt into the wound for Dirt of her missing out for the past sixty years to now realizing that the people she knew have passed and now, she’s the only one left standing on this planet. And this is where we were given clues on where things are going with what really happened to Dirt that led to her hiding when Dirt brought up her friend Melinda and how they used to get drunk by taking a sip of mint juleps, which is an alcoholic drink, and having a time at prom right before she went into hiding. Yeah, we already know where this is going on and what to expect in the fourth act but at least we know some stuff on what Dirt did prior to her going on the retreat for the next sixty years up until the current year that we are in. But knowing more about Dirt and her background since she is a newer character and at the time of posting for the review, it looks like she will make a return in a later episode in about two weeks' time because of the still images that came out for an episode called "Cheese All That Adventure". But she is an interesting character to delve into, mostly because, like with Bob's Burgers and wanting to know about Bob and/or Linda's extended family, Beef's extended family is also something that needs to be discussed. Other than mentioning and shoehorned Beef's great-grandfather Rutger in last season's finale and also bringing in Danica, who is currently serving time. Yeah, there's a lot that Dirt had to take in after coming out of her bunker. And that includes the family tree after her.
At the end of the third act of the episode and this is where Beef says enough is enough with Moon with him, along with Dirt, pick axing their way into the bunker and for Beef, this has to be the final straw with the dance being twelve hours away and can't sit on the couch and waste the night away, but again, Moon is down bad because he can't get the thought of rejection out of his mind. All this because Quinn said no and told him that she was going with someone else. While yes, you could say that Quinn might be at fault for rejecting Moon’s offer to be his date to the dance to the point where he feels like he’s a broken person. He is broken and once again, mind you, this is his first heartbreak. And he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Beef tries to capture him to make sure Moon will go to the dance, but that’s not going to stop Moon from evading capture and wouldn’t you know it to close out the third act and going into the fourth and final act of the episode?
There’s another bunker inside the bunker and it was under the bed that Moon moved. Oh yeah, did Dirt ever bring up that there's another bunker inside the bunker? Oh right...she didn't until just now for Moon to get into the secondary bunker and go into hiding even deeper. And now, we're back to square one to getting Moon out of the secondary bunker in hopes of getting him out and taking him to the dance. And this is where the standoff comes into play between Moon and Beef and later Dirt and we'll get to her in a second. But with Beef, he knows how heartbreak and rejection can murk someone emotionally and also mentality. I mean, take a look at him in last week's episode when finding out that Greta's poem at the end of the third act and going into the fourth was about someone else, resulting in him in heartbreak. If you were hoping that he should ask him about his experience or at least bring in Ham to step in, even though by now, both he and Judy are at school, so Beef has to do the job himself. Was hoping to bring in some continuity, but I guess that didn’t happen and thus, didn’t get Moon to get through his heartbreak.
And that’s where Dirt comes in and we finally got her reasoning, her real reasoning of why she had to go into hiding for over sixty years and thought that the Soviets blew up Alaska at the height of the Cold War. And if you think that Moon was down bad that resulted in him participating in the Amelia Earhart challenge...oh boy, Dirt pretty much had Moon beat. And ties into what Dirt brought up regarding her past, primarily with someone that she knows named Melinda, who she namedropped moments ago in the episode. Thought that both she and Dirt are somewhat friends with each other after a wild night at the prom. Let's just say...they're more than just friends. Confirming that Dirt is an LGBT character, she and Melinda are secret girlfriends and would love to have a night with each other, which they did...you forgot that it was the 1960s where any activity like loving the same sex was considered a no-no at the time. And the moment she found out that Melinda, her secret girlfriend, broke up with her and went with some guy named Frank, who happened to be the Molasses King of Wasilla, which is an actual city in Alaska, and get this...that city gave us Sarah Palin. Yeah...that Sarah Palin. The precursor of Trump who was the former governor of the state and was once the running mate of the late John McCain during the 2008 election.
So yeah, like Moon, Dirt was down bad because her former secret girlfriend dumped her and ran off with a guy. Resulting in her, like Moon earlier in the episode, going into hiding and not coming out for the next sixty years because she too got rejected. While, yes, the times and atmosphere during the 1960s were the key factor because people were far too arrogant at the time where, much like with the whole Thomas Wintersbone story back in Season 1, freaking tribalism was on everyone's mind and Dirt would face some scrutiny and discrimination if anyone were to find out. Finding out that Dirt's former secret girlfriend not only broke up with her but ran off with a guy, was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back as she too got her heartbroken. And the Alaskan Earthquake in 1964 that rocked the state and claimed the lives of 131 people was her ticket to hide herself for the next sixty years. Okay, yes, Cold War paranoia was also a thing, and thought that the Soviets either launched an invasion or an atomic bomb was happening because of the shaking, even though that's not even the case, because 1964 was when all eyes were on a divided Vietnam at the time leading up to the start of the Vietnam War. Oh, and the news she got that her ex Melinda tied the knot, that was the last straw for her to go off-grid. Enough to drop off from the face of the Earth and have people think that Dirt was one of the fatalities of that earthquake. So, if anything is to blame for Dirt having to go through the same thing Moon did that caused her to go missing for sixty years, it's society's fault. It's always the freaking society, man.
But the talk and comparison between Dirt and Moon has Moon finally coming out of the secondary bunker and asking her great-aunt Dirt if she had gone over her heartbreak, to which Dirt replied that she did, though it's unclear if she got through it right away, like the day after the earthquake or just as she got out of the bunker the moment she met her nephew and his family, but she got through it and has set her eyes on the waitress at the diner...you know, that the family had to stop her from making grabby hands towards her because that's considered a no-no but Dirt thinks that the waitress is hitting her back, so she might some shot of getting back in the saddle before telling Moon that even if he doesn't get Quinn, which we know that scriptwriters would ever have Moon to lose his romantic interest towards her, there are other people. He's young. He has a lot of time. Thus, the standoff finally comes to an end with Moon starting to get over his heartbreak and is set to go to the prom, with or without a date. Well, not before asking Dirt to be his date for the dance. You know that old sitcom trope where the child of the family doesn't have a date to the dance and a parent or...yeah, a parent has to fill in to make sure everything is okay and not let the sad mood ruin the night. Though Dirt brings up the things that she missed and one of them mentions The Beatles and wanting to see the two members, John and George, being John Lennon and George Harrison...yeah, she missed out a lot, and uh...oh boy, where to start.
And so, the judgment hour has arrived for Moon as we are about to enter the two-minute warning with both him and Dirt arriving at the post and making their way to the snacks table and hopefully Dirt's experience can help Moon get through his and not let the night turn into a miserable one. Even though Dirt is still new to the whole modern setup after going into hiding after sixty years, she has to be on Moon's side as if they're the newest members of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. Once the two make their way to the table with Dirt going through the chips bowl and surprised to see the chips in different forms, Quinn walks up to Moon, and for Moon, he finally gets to meet the person whom Quinn had to take for the dance. And uh...yeah, this is where some people in the fandom got pretty angry with this scene in the episode. And probably point their frustration towards Quinn. She brought her date to the dance and here he comes, Quinn’s date...!
Who happened to be a pig named David. Seriously...no bullshitting, this is the being that Quinn took over Moon.
You mean to tell me that you rejected Moon’s offer to be his date to the dance that caused him to go through his down bad arc with no explanation, only to tell him that you’re taking someone else, thus causing him to go off the grid and follow in his great-aunt’s footsteps...all because of a freaking miscommunication and took a pig, a fucking pig, to the dance?! And all because it was freaking practice prom and needed a practice date?! To take a pig to the dance?! And it’s not like a support animal or anything, but a random pig, probably a pet, and take the animal to the dance...no, no, no, no, no, no, no...Moon was down bad terribly because of this shit and was seconds away from participating in the Amelia Earhart challenge himself all because you turned him down for a pig?! I have seen the Bob's Burgers subreddit page where a user there posted every character's worst moments, right now, that user is doing each character's best moment, but if there's one for The Great North, and when we get to Quinn's moments, this is going to be the top answer in the event that happened. You can't freaking play Moon's emotions like that despite being a practice prom and not the real deal, but Moon was down fucking bad because of this shit. There had to be some concern from her during the past few days he skipped school and at least visited the cabin to see if there was anything wrong. Instead, Quinn had to be nonchalant and just straight up stood Moon down despite the few instances from last season where she has some return feelings for the guy. See, this is why I don't get fucking love, man. Don't get how this shit works and I've been single since the day I was born. It's a complicated thing and Jesus Christ...don't play with us, show. Don't freaking do that.
And while yes, the second-to-last scene with Moon and Quinn sharing the dance floor after letting Dirt take David the Pig to be her date to the dance in her first dance since entering the bunker was cute and they do look cute together if you look at them, don't freaking play with us. Quinn, don't freaking play Moon like that. They look cute together and yes, they're probably going to end up being together, in the future, of course, Jesus Christ, this episode, man. This freaking episode.
Thus, finally reached the end of the episode with Beef patching up the hole that he and Dirt made the day before with Moon and Dirt having some quality great-aunt-great-nephew time with Dirt getting used to the old iPod and being dumbfounded about how technology is advanced in over sixty years and, again, quite a lot to get through for her to assimilate into modern times. Would say that if whether or not Dirt will return despite her bunker being only a hiking distance away from the cabin, but she is poised to return in two weeks if you haven't seen the promotional images for the episode two weeks from now, so she'll probably become a recurring character and well, might as well get used to it because you signed up for this shit and you're going to like it.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of The Great North? Once again, it was a good episode on par with last week’s episode with the topic of romance and heartbreak once again being the talking point to the plot of the episode regarding Moon. And it was a bold move to introduce her to a new member of the Tobin family and most likely going to be a regular on the show knowing that, once again, her bunker is a hiking distance from the cabin.
Dirt’s introduction was interesting and having Jane Lynch voicing the character did not disappoint when playing the character in this episode. And having her background being told of her having to hide for sixty years and having to assimilate into getting used to the modern-day lifestyle was alright. Her backstory and her reaction to how things changed in sixty years was the highlight of the episode because we got to know the character and know who she is, as well as some moments where she had some FOMO coming into her system whether it's seeing some spots in town that changed from the spots that she thought would still be there, as well as finding out that most of her friends had been dead for over twenty years, and also her reason of hiding into the bunker over a heartbreak, she's an interesting character in the extended family in the Tobin family tree and hopefully we can get more of that in the near future, even if it's a reference whenever the family are in certain situations.
Of course, Moon's anime arc of being down bad was the name of the game with the topic of romance and heartbreak continuing from last week's episode. I did say that Moon was so bad that she gave Tina Belcher a run for her money when it comes to how not to deal with rejection and I will stand with that comment because the comparisons are there. And while Moon's plot was...okay despite that he was heartbroken all because of a miscommunication from Quinn on why she turned him down to be his date to the dance. And while yes, Moon and Quinn do look cute together and they do since last season despite that I’m not going to live down the fact that them becoming love interests with each other went fast because Quinn had barely been introduced to the show. But they do look cute together, just...that was a bad move for Quinn to turn Moon down to the point where he had to go down bad and go into hiding up until the night of the dance and finding out that she turned him down for a pig. That made some people mad but what’s done is done and hopefully...for the love of God, don’t ever do that again.
So final thoughts, it was another good episode. Loved Dirt’s introduction and her backstory was an interesting piece of information to take in. Moon’s plot in the episode was decent and I guess some people are not going to live down what Quinn did that caused Moon to go full damage control, but at least the brief dance scene with them sharing the dance floor was cute as if it was going to be some attempt to pretend what happened doesn’t have people blow some steam. So I’ll give “Aunt Misbehavin’ Adventure”...
A 7 out of 10. But that's my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. Won't be long until Bob's Burgers makes its return and this style will go back to the Bob's reviews and The Great North reviews, back to when I was doing it prior to the hiatus for Bob's Burgers. Tune in on March 3 for another episode where Honeybee becomes the mayor for the day, though Wolf, yeah, he's not taking the news well despite wanting to be supportive of his wife in the fourth episode of Season 4 in "Ready Mayor Won Adventure".
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