You’re probably hoping by now to hear my take on the recent news we got regarding the whole shakeup when it comes to the Animation Domination lineup, even though y’all don’t want me to. Still, I’ll do it anyway if I have to do the introduction before starting the review. We already know that American Dad is coming back to FOX in a shakeup that no one expected that would be the show’s new home, which is their old home, instead of what some people would think that it would go to a network or service like Hulu now that they’re no longer airing new episodes on TBS. Now, we have more news regarding the shakeup: The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, and Bob’s Burgers are getting a four-season renewal. A four-season renewal that would have The Simpsons last all the way from Season 40, Family Guy up to Season 26, American Dad up to Season 24, and Bob’s Burgers all the way to Season 19. Which is good for Bob’s Burgers, meaning that we could hit the 350-episode mark despite not reaching 300 episodes just yet.
For The Great North, on the other hand, it’s only The Great North since Krapopois already newed up to Season 4 and Universial Basic Guys already gotten a Season 2 and now a Season 3, and Grimsburg... well, we can it’s pending for the possibility of seasonal renewal even though there are signs that it’s getting canned as its feeling the hot seat, we too are feeling the hot seat, potentially at a possible volcanic level of hot when it comes to the show’s future. I’ve been doing the show for at least a year now, a year and a half, and this is the last thing I need because I’ve been doing this because Bob’s Burgers is currently on hiatus and have to diversify for the page that I need to talk other than just Bob’s Burgers outside of the year-end countdown, that reminds me, I need to do that since I haven’t got the freaking time to do the 2024 countdown with no make-up date to do so, but yeah, please give The Great North a try for once. Support the show so we can get a Season 6. At least get to 100 episodes. Just support the damn show. Y’all didn’t do it for Central Park even though it was way off on everyone’s radar, especially during the early days of the pandemic, but do your part and give the show a try. Because otherwise, you pretty much let the terrorists win. I don’t make the rules.
In this week’s episode of The Great North, Wolf and Honeybee’s tour on the boat with the pirate theme is quickly becoming a hit. A hit that got the attention of one of Alaska’s influential travel reviewers and for Wolf and Honeybee, it’s their major test yet in running a business and hopefully things don’t turn into a disaster, spoiler alert, it did turn into a disaster, in my spoilerific review of the eighth episode of Season 5 of The Great North, titled “Ghouls Rush In Adventure”.
The world of entrepreneurship is something that some think that it's easy to do, but in actuality, it can be a challenge when having to work your way from the ground up. Especially when having to create a small business of your own like with Wolf and Honeybee going into this week’s episode regarding them using the family boat and turning it into a pirate-themed tour. And quite the timing too, with the One Piece anime making its return this past weekend to have a pirate-themed tour for The Great North that you should know what they’re accomplishing, even though the episode was made within a year. And people who decided to get into the business world want to succeed, and one of the items on that list to make it a good business, aside from, well, obviously money, is satisfaction. The reviews from the customers are what make a business thrive. It is key, after all, because with customer satisfaction comes making money, and with Wolf and Honeybee, when having to muddy the waters by operating their boat tour of their own like it’s an attraction at an amusement park, it’s exactly that. Especially with them later along the line coming across a well-known travel reviewer who would serve as a make or break for the two. And oh boy, we got an episode to uncover here for this week, mostly because I’ve spent the entirety of the first page of the document talking about what’s to come for the 2025-26 AniDom season and beyond, let’s sail our way through the episode and navigate where this leads us, this is “Ghouls Rush In Adventure”.
The episode starts at night in the open waters with Wolf and Honeybee’s small business already swinging into full effect with them rocking the pirate theme... since they’re on a boat, of course. So, pirates as the theme has to be the way to go. And in this scene, you have Judy dressed in full pirate gear telling the story of a pirate couple named Cruel Christopher and Buttchop Bridgette who crashed their ship in this exact area by the rocks after terrorizing the harbor one too many times like they’re the nautical Bonnie and Clyde. Coming up with a tall tale of how the pirate couple terrorized the harbor like they’re a couple of King Vons, leading up to their unlikely demise and right on cue for having everyone think that the ship is being under attack, with Beef swerving the ship as if the couple’s spirit decide to wreak havoc and for Wolf and Honeybee, donned as the pirate couple, putting on a show. Committing to the act for the night to get the people going. Even that random wrecked boat at the rocks was a nice touch, but I'm also questioning whether they found the boat on purpose or if they probably asked someone if they could use a boat that no one is using and serve it as a prop to make the story look believable.
Regardless, going into the next day at the breakfast table, Wolf and Honeybee got positive reviews for their small business. You have one review from one person talking positively about Ham’s pastries for the attraction, the other about Judy’s performance to tell the story to make it believable, and then the other about Beef’s swirving as if the boat was being caught in turbulence. Hell, you also have one of the people who gave a positive review to the business of saying that the ride was so scary that a child, that being Moon, peed his pants as if it was all part of the act, in which Honeybee thinks that it is all part of the act and peed on command... yes... acting, that is what Moon said when commenting his “performance” as if he didn’t actually got scared throughout last night while being out in the open water and not have a water bottle waiting in the wings for him to spill to make it look like he wet himself for the bit.
But aside from that, Wolf and Honeybee’s small business is quickly becoming a hit. And with the positive reviews that keep piling in, as well as getting money because that too comes with the small business, it feels like the two may have found their calling in running a business like this one and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Especially with Wolf having to order about 50,000 business cards with the name of their business printed on each card for them to pass around or at least go to a local business so they can put in a stack for someone to take. But, business is already booming to the point where they need to bring more attention to their business, something that FOX is currently lacking with some shows that aren’t a reality or live-action show, past its first season, and Honeybee suggests if they want to do a local ad to promote the said business on the local channels. Though I doubt that it would be that big enough to go as far as a Super Bowl ad as Ham suggests that would require Beef to mortgage the house. Especially in this economy that is currently crumbling.
However, it looks like Wolf and Honeybee will be getting their biggest test yet now that their business is quickly becoming a hit once Wolf gets a message on his phone that gets the family’s attention. Wolf gets the message on his phone that Alaska’s influential travel reviewer named Alan decide to make his way to Lone Moose to give the tour a try for his own. The family doesn’t know what that means, but for Wolf and Honeybee, it’s them hoping to make the big leagues because he is a well-known travel reviewer in all of Alaska on a site called TravelDabbler dot com and if Alan likes what the two have in store, they’re going to have an influx of customers from not just Lone Moose or the surrounding areas but the entirety of Alaska and who knows, maybe the entire country if things go right. It’s pretty similar to the age of social media these days, where you have an influencer who happens to be a reviewer coming to your business and deciding what fate may hold for said business. If it’s good, you’re gonna have a flood of customers waiting outside like they’re waiting for Taylor Swift tickets, or it’s bad, and it might be GGs. The most common when naming examples would be Keith Lee, former UFC fighter turned food reviewer, who comes to someone’s business and if he likes the food that is served there, business is about to boom. I would also bring up Barstool owner Dave Portnoy, who does the pizza reviews. But aside from that, this will be Wolf and Honeybee’s biggest test yet to make sure that nothing can go wrong going into the next day.
Especially once the night hits with the two lying in bed with their business cards scattered across like it’s a pile of rose petals or cash. Thinking back to how they got this far in the business game, even though we just started the episode with the tour already blooming like a flower once the calendar hits Spring and the snow to melt, mostly with Wolf saying that how he went from working on his dad’s boat to now running a business using his dad’s boat, so it almost feels like he never left or it’s pretty much the equivalent of working at your family’s restaurant and you decided to expand it into your own business by giving you a booth as its own section. And for Honeybee, it’s her wanting to tell her haters to go fuck themselves once she gets her hands on an item called the Definitely Do-Dolphin. But it’s mostly to tell her haters to go fuck themselves. Especially towards someone named Barb back in Fresno. So, with their focus now on making sure that Alan will enjoy the tour business that Wolf and Honeybee are operating, as long as they play their cards right, then things should go well for them once tomorrow hits.
That was before later in the night when both Wolf and Honeybee are still awake and have binders in their possession. Out here looking like a couple of coaches going through panic timing in preparation for the championship game or a game that holds playoff implications. For Wolf and Honeybee, this is just that with whatever Alan sees and says once he takes a tour, go through the experience, and post it online the very next day would decide their business and their career as entrepreneurs on the line. Though it was kind of cute for them to place pillow versions of themselves as stand-ins because they thought that the latter wouldn’t find out they’re about to go overboard with the planning for the next day. They did their homework on the guy and want to make sure that things go as perfect as it can be. It’s just that they don’t need to go overboard because that’s the last thing that they need if they want to make a lasting impression. Once again, as long as they play their cards right, then things should go as planned and not mess things up.
The next day arrives, and it’s judgment day for Wolf and Honeybee to make sure things will go right as planned ahead of Alan’s visit later in the day. Everyone is getting their positions for the day, and it’s the same as what we saw at the start of the episode, but have to up the ante for today and today only. For Ham’s role in the mission, he is tasked to switch deserts for the day from the pirate puffs to the Jolly Roger jelly donuts because Wolf and Honeybee did their homework on their expected visitor, and it appears that the guy likes donuts, especially jelly donuts. For Judy, it’s her putting on a new costume and continuing what she is doing with the storytelling. They have to bring in Jerry and his Bigfoot costume by having him be the mascot who serves Billinis because Alan likes brunch and the Philadelphia Flyers and have him pretend to be the mascot Gritty, just have him think that he’s been bleached and a lack of giant googly eyes and an orange and black hockey jersey along with some skates. And aside from Beef and Moon sticking with what they’re doing, Beef behind the wheel and Moon playing the scared boy who pees himself on command whenever shit hits the floor, the mission should be go as planned. Especially with the boat’s floor being shiny because of the lobby floor at a dealership in Anchorage that he liked that hopefully doesn’t turn into a hazard...
This is what I would say to close out the first act of the episode, with Wolf slipping and falling by the waxed floor and getting hit in the head with the barrel so far that it makes him bleed with the wound present. You could that it might be one of the donuts that fell out of the box that Wolf accidentally dropped into the water and the gash should be a decoration from the donut, but that does look like a nasty gash on the forehead, which is already starting to derail things for their biggest day as entrepreneurs. That, and also what might be a sudden case of CTE. Not looking good for everyone on the boat going into the second act of the episode and not looking good for Ham because he worked on those donuts, and now, it’s panic time for the guy when getting ready to play hurry up to create a new patch.
Going into the second act with a flock of attendees, mostly the residents of Lone Moose, consisting of Delmer, Zoya, Maude, Walter, Quinn, and her mother, along with a few randos, are selected to help Wolf and Honeybee to make sure the business goes well. So why these selected people to be on the boat? No reason other than they need to have some screentime this season, aside from Delmer, who had screentime just a couple of episodes ago. I mean, it’s not like there are certain residents who may or may not have some history with Alan the last time he stepped foot into Lone Moose. And speaking of Alan...
Here comes the man of the hour himself, entering the boat. The most well-known travel reviewer, Alan, voiced by David Wain, arrives at the boat and is ready to feel the experience for himself with judgment hour arrives. And already, we got a positive from Alan when noticing the waxed floor of the ship, giving him flashbacks to his trip to the dealership in Anchorage. But that’s only one item on the list, and we are just getting started with the visit. We’re just getting the second act of the episode started. It’s too early for things to go smoothly without having to break a few eggs that would turn things upside down. And speaking of that, when it comes to eggs...
We go inside the boat with Ham getting the replacement donuts made in just a quick notice with some ingredients that he can find on the boat, don’t know why he couldn’t bring some backup if does happen but I guess what’s done is done I guess, with Dirt being the automatic taste tester for the pastries. The result is a sounding yikes from Dirt that puts Ham in a very tight spot since Wolf accidentally drops the boxes of donuts into the water following a head injury. Ham noticed that the eggs he used for the donuts were expired for over a decade because it was with the boat when Beef traded it in for The Mighty Kathleen that he didn’t even bother checking the quality of the eggs the moment it became official. Which is the last thing that Ham needs when it comes to the whole pastry emergency by giving everyone a case of food poisoning. That’s not going to stop Dirt from munching the dessert down despite the bitter taste that she had to fight through, even though Ham told her not to take at least one since she was the one who noticed how awful it tasted after giving it one bite. You could say that it’s like Tina with the cat food after giving it a taste: one bite that she had to go through the bitter taste only to become addicted like crack in the 80s. It’s nothing like the cat food fiasco, but you get the drift. And yeah, that is definitely the CTE working its charm on Wolf as he is looking for aspirin to treat his head. Even though he should lie down and get some freaking rest just to get his head treated.
We get to Judy as she prepares to get ready to perform the story like the night before, where Honeybee comes in with chains and at this point, this might as well be the episode where we sort of got ourselves a tour of the inside of the boat much a grin to last week’s episode where we got a look of the kitchen and one of the bedrooms what I’m guessing it’s reserved for the captain of the ship, which turns out to be the same room where the steering wheel of the ship is located. Judy rehearses her lines as Honeybee enters the room with chains that will serve as her costume ahead of her storytelling and remember when I said that as long as they play their cards right, i.e., not go overboard, that things should go smoothly?
Yeah, it’s slowly becoming like that, with Honeybee telling Judy why isn’t she wearing her new costume that Honeybee gave her to wear, only for Judy to reply that it’s heavy on her before being wrapped around in chains heavy enough to pin her down once she falls to the ground. Not surprising that Wolf and Honeybee, mainly Honeybee now that Wolf is dealing with a head injury, will have to go overboard because they want to make a good impression and a very good one as if they just got a visit from the royal family. Honeybee leaves and rushes out, and for Judy, she is locked inside with chains wrapped around her and struggles to get out. No magic tricks here, but Judy may need to pull a Houdini if she wants to perform out there. Luckily for her, 30 minutes seemed to be enough time to escape... if the chains weren’t heavy and wrapped around her like a straightjacket at a mental facility.
Going back to the kitchen with Ham and Dirt as Moon rushes in with a problem of his own. It’s about the role of playing the kid in the audience who pees himself to add the scare factor into the tour, which he has no problem doing this since the business began operating whatever time ago since this just came out of left field at the start of the episode, which he has no problem doing the bit. The problem this time around is that one of the people who are in attendance that Wolf and Honeybee brought to make an impression for Alan is, of course, Quinn. We already knew that Moon has a crush on her, and having him pee in front of everyone, especially in front of his would-be shawty, even if it was for show, would be embarrassing for the guy and a moment that he doesn’t want to go live through for the rest of his life. Even if, again, it is for show.
Luckily for Moon, Ham is dealing with a crisis of his own currently with him struggling to make backup, backup donuts to the point where he asks Moon to buy a box of donuts so that everyone, including Alan, thinks that it’s all Ham who made the pastry. Which would be considered cheating and would ask him to go to the store and get some eggs, but with the current state of the economy and, uh... oh yeah, still concerned about the price of eggs, good luck with that. Ham gives Moon the money to get the donuts, and in return, if Moon does get back to the boat- spoiler alert, he doesn’t- hide in the closet for the rest of the tour. It would be a dealbreaker for sure if it weren’t for what is about to come next going into the second half of the episode.
At least there are no problems for Beef for Alan’s visit as he is ready to go as always to steer the ship. Just him waiting for the signal from Honeybee to do some maneuvering, especially once the boat reaches the spot where the wrecked ship is located from the start of the episode. Just as he is about to take the wheel and await for the signal, he notices a red string tied to his finger and questions how it even got there in the first place. This might as well be the sideplot to the episode aside from the disaster that is slowly about to take place as the episode progresses. Hopefully, it’s something else and not being treated as that red string of fate bullshit you see in some fan art and fanfiction.
We go back to Wolf and Honeybee with Wolf still reeling from his head injury and Honeybee quickly checking if Wolf is doing any better with his injury, even though he should go and lie down, not knowing that the room where the beds are at is locked with Judy struggling to get out of her chains. They got 10 minutes before departing, which should be enough time to get everything settled so that nothing can go right but decided to say fuck that and decides to depart anyway because according to Honeybee when doing her research on Alan, a Delta flight to New Mexico, God forbid if that state gets renamed, don’t give the President any more ideas, that departed earlier from its departure time by seven minutes and that is what they’ll be doing by having the ship depart by seven minutes. Not knowing that Moon is off the boat per Ham’s suggestion to run a quick errand to get the donuts and because they’ll be planning on leaving the docks earlier than the 10-minute wait time because everyone but Moon is present and wants to continue impressing Alan, already starting to get into overboard territory, they decided to give the go-ahead to depart early. Once again, not knowing that they’ll be leaving Moon behind.
Honeybee gives Beef the green light to depart, and with it, the boat is off to the waters. Did I mention that Moon is being left behind because Wolf and Honeybee didn’t even notice that Moon is now left behind? Yeah, Moon is left behind. It’s not looking good for Ham who was hoping for him to return to the boat with the shipment, but now that the boat is leaving the docks, he’s pretty much screwed with the donuts he made with the expired, he’s pretty much screwed. Which I have to put some blame on him for not rushing out to Wolf and/or Honeybee to delay the departure after noticing the boat starting to take off and not telling them that Moon is off the ship. Then again, he thought that 10 minutes would be enough time for Moon to make a quick run to get the shipment and thought that shit would be sweet but alas, that won’t be happening. All this because of fears of giving people possible food poisoning because of a deal he had to made with Moon to hide himself and not wanting to do the role of the kid who pees himself because his crush is one of the people who are in attendance on this ship. But yeah, that’s all on you, Ham, for not having to come out and Wolf and Honeybee to halt the departure because Moon is not on board. Ham, along with Judy, is stuck with their problems, with Beef having no issue whatsoever aside from questioning how he got a red string tied to his finger, and Dirt... well, she just secretly consumes the tainted donuts because they can’t be wasted and just leave it there to rot.
But aside from the issues that are going to cloud the tour as the episode progresses, Wolf and Honeybee listened to the first draft of the review from Alan about the experience so far. And despite them starting to get overboard from Wolf suffering a head injury and going through some symptoms of CTE to Moon being left behind without noticing along with Ham in complete panic mode over the donuts and Judy trapped inside with her struggling to get out her chains, it looks like things are starting to go well for the duo with one positive being listed out and with that to close out the first half of the episode, things should be going well but knowing that we’re now ten minutes into the episode with a pretty long third act coming up, the script isn’t going to have Wolf and Honeybee for things to go their way as the tour now taking place despite departing seven minutes early.
Going into the second half of the episode, things are currently going smoothly for everyone being out in the open water, with Alan taking in the view of the waters. Enjoying the view and taking a look of the place, not noticing before turning his head around, you have Walter invading his space. Trying to play it cool as if he’s taking the mission a little too seriously when standing too close next to him. Nearly a strike there for Wolf and Honeybee if it weren’t for Walter getting his head together and moving away without having to scare him away. Walter moves away just as Alan prepares to record the next portion of his review of the tour, and right as he is recording himself, Jerry comes out in full Bigfoot gear and serves Billinis to everyone- well, everyone but Quinn because she is underage and Billinis have alcohol in it, to make sure things continue to go well for Wolf and Honeybee if they want their business to be put on the map.
But once Wolf enters to tell a dark history talk to everyone and especially Alan for the tour, he ends up going off-script thanks in part to his head injury that is causing him to lose focus courtesy of him, again, even though I’m not a doctor but people who watch the NFL likes to play one online whenever a player gets hit in the head, a case of CTE. Treating story time like a Trump rally on a boat. Speaking nonsense and going off-script that could get people to either be stupid enough to fall behind, but mostly wanting to get out early. Seriously, how is he not being told to go take a breather to heal his head? I get that this is y’all’s biggest test as entrepreneurs when running this business, but good God, you got to bench Wolf so he can recover. I know it’s gonna take a lot of work just to impress one guy who has the power to influence everyone, whether they go to your business or not, but still. Take a breather. And hopefully, things can’t go as bad as... cue the next scene...
Moon got left behind on land. He got left behind on land with the shipment of donuts in his hands per Ham’s request, and it looks like Ham will not be getting the backup donuts he needs to give to the crowd. Which would be bad for Ham and everyone on the boat for not getting their hands on the non-tainted store-bought donuts and having to pretend that he made them, and instead, would have to potentially deal with a batch of tainted donuts made with the expired eggs, that is if Dirt continues to consume all of it, but for Moon, it’s a good thing. Because he doesn’t want to be the kid who pees whenever they’re at the portion of the open water in front of Quinn, who is one of the people in attendance on the boat. So Moon might as well be thankful that he missed out despite thinking that he got 10 minutes and would have enough time to get the box, only to find out that they left just seven minutes early. So what will Moon do after being left behind on land to kill some time?
He pays a visit to Scone Moose and gets a drink along with the box of donuts that he will now eat the whole dozen set where he comes across Bethany, who is now an employee at the coffee shop and out of nowhere too. Guess business is booming for Carissa’s business that she would need an extra hand since we first saw the shop where it’s just Carissa herself doing all of the work before having to hire Bethany. Especially since Carissa is absent in the episode, leaving Bethany to run the shop for this episode only. Moon pays a visit and plans on ordering one of the exclusive drinks at the shop, the Joltin’ Jazzed Max Caff Dulce de Leche Latte, which the name itself, if you know, you know, is a caffeine nightmare. The combination of the caffeine from the latte or any other caffeinated beverage like coffee mixed with the caffination from energy drinks. Both of those items that should help you feel energized for the day. And, of course, you need an ID for the drink because that’s a drink that isn’t made for kids, and even though we know that Moon has liked drinking coffee since the start of the series, that’s not going to stop him from getting his hands on it. Well, he’s getting it, and you can thank him putting in a bribe in the tip jar with the money Ham gave Moon. And for Bethany... well, good luck starting to create an alibi for giving a ten-year-old a drink that is pretty much caffeine on steroids.
We go back to the boat with Walter paying Beef a visit after having to move away from potentially scaring Alan, which could derail everything for Wolf and Honeybee. Beef still questions why and how he got a red string tied to his finger and wants to know how it got there, why it’s there, and what does it mean when having it tied to his finger. Luckily, Walter is here to help Beef because he’s been taking memory classes. A memory class on the show’s equivalent of YouTube- yeah, that’s gonna help Beef retrace his steps to figure out how he got a string wrapped around his finger. I’m sure that’ll be helpful and hopefully doesn’t become one of the additional items to be added to the list for making the attraction a disaster. Speaking of which...
We go back to Wolf continuing to go off-script courtesy of his head injury that is putting some people on edge, including Alan. To the point where Jerry asks Honeybee if Wolf is even okay from his injury and how it reminded him of when Honeybee was on anesthesia after getting her wisdom tooth removed. It’s not looking good for the business with Wolf having to go off-script courtesy of his head injury, currently undergoing a round of CTE. It’s making some people confused and a few feeling uncomfortable. To the point where Alan has to record another draft for his review. Saying that he likes Wolf’s energy but is also saying that he is going off-script when having to babble nonsense like a freaking Trump rally. Honeybee sees that, and already, things are looking a bit bad for the business when listening to the draft of the review. This means that Honeybee has to come up to with a way to improvise while pulling Wolf away from the stage...
And now needs Judy to come out to take over storytelling from outside the bedroom/storage closet. Not knowing that Judy is trapped inside because of the lock and was about to unlock it if it weren’t for her having to deal with the chains restraining her due to the weight that is pinning her down courtesy of Honeybee. Judy tells Honeybee that she can’t leave at the moment because of the situation she is in regarding her being pinned down and such, but Honeybee thinks that it’s her having a “diva moment,” and her prep time now down from 30 minutes to just five. Even though, again, she is trapped inside with chains wrapped around her. So, it’s likely that she might not be getting to do her performance, and hopefully, she’ll be lucky just to be out of the chains wrapped around her.
Going back to Beef with Walter in the captain’s quarters with Walter ready to put on a video for him (Beef) to listen so he can retrace his steps to how he got a string tied to his finger. But before doing that, Beef questions Walter if the video he’s going to play isn’t the meditation type because videos like that would put him to sleep. In which Walter replies that it won’t because it’s not, reassuring him that it won’t put him to sleep. The video plays, and Beef quickly falls asleep the moment the video does a reverse countdown like they’re counting sheep, and counting sheep is one of the methods that should get you to sleep. Beef fell asleep because of the video, and it didn’t take long for Walter to join him in catching some Zs, thanks in part to the video he played. Wolf and Honeybee would think that shit was going to be sweet for the tour to not turn into a disaster during Alan’s visit but with Ham panicking over needing to make backup donuts without getting anyone turning their digestive systems into ticking time bombs, Judy tied up with chains in a locked room, Moon left behind on land, Wolf developing CTE following a head injury, and now Beef sleeping on the job because he can’t remember how he ended up with a string attached to his finger, as the script says in the episode, a disaster has to take place, and well... we’re looking at it. And we’re only halfway through the third act of the episode.
Wolf, still having CTE in his head following his injury, checks up on Ham and Dirt to see if the donuts are ready to be passed out to the masses, not knowing that handing the donuts would make everyone sick because of the expired eggs that were used to make the dessert. Ham had to lie to him and say that it won’t be ready for another few minutes, which is pretty much his way of saying, “I’m in full-blown panic, and I’m doing the best I can here without having to turn people’s stomachs into time bombs”. The lie works with Wolf leaving to buy Ham some time to make a new dish with whatever ingredients he can muster up. Of course, Ham has no reception and has to go outside to get at least one bar. And speaking of stomach bombs, that is exactly what Dirt is starting to feel after eating the tainted donuts one too many times. Ham goes outside and got a reception, but unfortunately for him, he’s the next Tobin up to be out of the ship.
You can thank Beef for falling asleep behind the wheel, courtesy of Walter’s video, that Ham has now been thrown overboard when trying to get his phone. Luckily for him, he landed on the emergency raft that is latching onto the boat for the rest of the trip, and hopefully, the raft doesn’t get separated. As for Ham’s phone, if this were a YouTube video, I would probably show y’all the play-by-play, I don’t know if this is confirmed or not, but the status of the phone, when having to go frame-by-frame once the raft is inflated for Ham to latch on away from the boat... yeah, it might as well be GGs. Might as well pray he has insurance to get a replacement.
We check up on Moon for a bit, and we all know that Moon can handle just a cup of coffee since the start of the series, and that’s all what he can handle. But when it comes to a drink that contains the combination of both a latte, which has caffeine, and the main ingredient in most energy drinks, which is caffeine, and handing it to a 10-year-old like Moon, for example, is the same way you would hand someone that holds something similar or more powerful nd addictive as crack cocaine. And look how many cups Moon drank when looking at the episode. Count ‘em: one, two, three... eight cups. He drank eight cups of that drink, and is he is going mental like a stock trader hoping for the economy to improve. Eight cups, man. Eight cups. At some point, Bethany has to draw the line and tell Moon that he’s over the limit because eight cups of the drink and going into nine and counting to the point where she has to cut him off. She did it later in the episode, but good God, this has to be the point where Moon doesn’t become a nightmare. Becoming like Russell a few episodes ago with the nuggets. Note that I said eight, about to be nine and counting instead of nine, about to be ten and counting because the one coffee cup with the bent straw belongs to Santiago, who is sitting across from him at the table.
Going back to the boat, it looks like things are not looking good for the business the moment Honeybee listens to Alan's recording once again, with Alan now coming out to say that he’s getting bored after a few rounds of doing good, thought shit was going to be sweet, only for things to quickly tumble down whether it’s the donuts not being served, Wolf going batshit insane following a concussion, or anything else in general since stepping foot onto the boat. This causes Honeybee to go into panic because that’s the last thing she needs because she and Wolf need Alan’s visit to be good, if not, great or perfect, to put their business on the map. And him being bored is something that they do not want. So, she has to bring out the big guns by having to bring in storytime like we saw at the start of the episode. There’s just one problem... oh yeah, the storyteller, which is Judy, is locked inside the room and is currently struggling to free herself from the chains that were wrapped around her. And instead of Judy coming out through the smoke...
It’s Wolf going for round three of him rambling about random stuff while reeling from a nasty concussion that turned some parts of his brain into pudding. Ready to talk about the Snorks and starts to bring up who his favorite Snork is to everyone instead of having Judy on stage to tell the tale as what was supposed to be as regularly scheduled. That should be more than enough for Honeybee to pull Wolf out of the stage once more, putting the show on intermission once again for everyone to take in the bask of the evening view. And this is where things are going to get awkward for Alan as the trip progresses...
As the intermission takes its course, you have him sitting next to Maude. And wouldn’t you know, these two have some history because Alan once paid a visit to her diner the last time he paid a visit to Lone Moose. Causing Maude to be a bit afraid of the guy because he reviewed the place and stormed out. In fact, Maude’s diner wasn’t the only place that Alan paid a visit to the last time he came across the city for him to review. The majority of the townsfolk who are on board on The Mighty Beef are small business owners, whom Alan once paid a visit to and reviewed various places and the reception they got, at least according to Alan, whether it’s Howard who ran a hoagie shop or Zoya who is the owner of the Russian Restaurant, he fears that this might be potentially be karma for the guy because his visit to those places... let’s just say... it did not meet good expectations between the two parties. And for Alan, he fears that with him being in the same boat as the owners of the places he reviewed, he is afraid that he’s gonna get jumped as a potential retaliation towards him. Fearing a possible repeat of the “Moody Foodie” episode from Bob’s Burgers.
Things are currently falling apart at a record pace, like the stock market following the tariffs being placed, and at the time of posting, it seems that will be put on hold for 90 days unless you’re China, because it looks like Alan is not liking what he is seeing after seeing a few positives that appease him before going downhill with everything that is out of their reach. So, all hope lies on the donuts that Ham made, not knowing that it’s tainted because it was made with expired eggs, and also not knowing that Dirt might’ve eaten a few batches that landed her in the toilet, but the donuts was supposed to be the last beacon of hope to save the business, but is nowhere to be found and the same goes for Ham. So... they’re screwed. They are screwed to the bone and now need a hail Mary to impress Alan so they can have their business on the map. And things can’t get any worse for them as we are nearing the fourth act of the episode.
Too bad for Wolf and Honeybee that their ace in the hole, who was supposed to take his role seriously, that being Beef, is currently asleep behind the wheel along with Walter, thanks in part to the video that he put on. And it would make things even more disastrous for everyone on the boat, with Beef now lying his head onto the wheel, which causes the ship to swerve heavily, pushing some items by force and almost making people lose their balance once a sleepy Beef lies his head onto the wheel that causes the swrive to happen. One of the items that got pushed by the swriving action from the boat...
Would be the binder to impress Alan that Alan himself picked it up and read through the whole thing. He reads through the whole thing, seeing his past actions from his previous visits to make sure it follows through with this business in hopes of impressing him. But for Alan, especially when looking around the folks on the boat and hanging on for dear life, his thoughts think that he’s pretty much trapped with the guy with people looking at him like something coming out of a horror movie. He thinks that the people who own the businesses that Alan reviewed are going to jump him and plan on taking him hostage as retaliation. Shades of the Bob’s Burgers episode “Moody Foodie”... sort of, but we’re getting into that territory with how Alan is feeling when being trapped with the townsfolk who are owners of their respective businesses that got a bad review and hurt their businesses.
We now enter the fourth and final act of the episode with Alan come barreling into the bathroom to hide himself right as Dirt was leaving after having to shit bricks following eating one too many donuts with the expired eggs into the mix. He calls the police, i.e., Chief Edna, about a supposed kidnapping that is taking place on the boat with him as the victim, and even though he’s not having a good reception without having to go to the other side of the boat but that should be enough for Edna to take the call and plans on heading out. Just as she was scrolling through her ex’s social page from the station. Once the call is finished, and having to record what he thinks should be his goodbye message in the event he gets “murdered”, he gets kicked out by Dirt, who has to go use the bathroom again because the donuts are turning her bowels into a ticking stomach time bomb. And while that is happening, because Judy remains trapped inside the room, Honeybee asks Jerry to take over the storytelling. Which should at least be decent to keep things steady... but with a short amount of time and not having had the time to rehearse, winging it would have to be the way to go.
Bethany finally puts her foot down now that we’re in the final act of the episode and notices that Moon is looking quite the mess when having to drink one too many cups of the caffeinated nightmare that it ran the place dry and also did a little redecorating with the place now having to close up for the night. Hence, she has to cut Moon off from getting another cup just for the state that he is in. Moon can handle only one cup of coffee, and that’s about it. But having more than one cup, especially with the drink he ordered one too many times that is a caffeinated nightmare, and this is pretty much the result. Someone who turned into a drug addict that is about to go on a crashout. Moon gets denied ordering another cup and storms out in crashout fashion when Bethany threatens him to bring Beef to put a stop to this. Moon leaves...
Gets run over by the car that belongs to Chief Enda. And like Wolf earlier this season, he survived getting run over with no injury to his body. Not once...
But twice. Two times, Moon got hit by a car and survived. Meanwhile, don’t attempt this at home; anyone can get injured, ranging from a small bruise to packing your bags, you’re going to heaven or hell. The fact that Moon survived both run-ins with cars without looking both ways before crossing the street, even though he was going through a caffeine high... anime plot armor. That’s all I can say about the Tobins since they’re the main characters. They have anime plot armor in their system. They are unkillable, well, you’re unless you’re FOX in the coming weeks regarding the show’s fate. Support the show, I’m not gonna say it again. You’re letting the terrorists win if you don’t. Moon survives two run-ins with both cars as he runs off, making Chief Edna’s job even more difficult since she has to go tend to Alan’s call for rescue. Although, it would’ve been funny if the second car that ran over Moon after Edna’s was Dorothy. Going for the running gag of her saying, “Oh my god, I ran over another Tobin. I better get the fuck out of here. They can’t catch me for what I did.” That would’ve been the icing on the cake with this scene.
Going back to the boat, things are currently going downhill for the attraction, with Jerry struggling to go through his lines that were meant for Judy, who is still trapped inside the locked room and still struggling to get out of her chains, leaving people dumbfounded and confused over what they’re seeing. But that’s not important, the focus should be on Alan, who is now scared shitless and want this shit to be over with. Still thinks that people are out to get him because of his history with everyone on the boat and the fears of him getting jumped. Did I mention that things are currently falling apart at a record pace for Wolf and Honeybee’s business? Oh yeah, it’s going down fast. Wolf tries to come up with something to impress Alan while reeling from his concussion, but Beef’s steering while sleeping causes him to hit his head once more with the cabinet door this time around and reveals the tainted donuts that Ham made originally before going into full-blown panic mode. Thinking that the tray should be their golden ticket to save the business. Not knowing that it could get everyone sick because of the expired eggs that were used to bake them.
Dirt notices her great-nephew taking the tray out and on his way outside and stops him from opening the door because she knows that it would give everyone stomach problems. And she knows that she became a victim of the tainted dessert. That and also her claiming it as her own because as much as it can give her a rough time in the bowels, she can’t resist eating it since taking the first bite as a taste test.
But yeah, the supposed horror attraction that Wolf and Honeybee is running is turning into the actual thing once the confrontation between Dirt and Wolf over the donuts results in Wolf’s microphone to be turned on and having everyone to hear the confrontation with Honeybee downplaying it by having everyone think that they’re ghosts as she turns on the projector. But let’s be real, things have already been turned into a disaster throughout Alan’s visit. Whether it’s the confrontation between Dirt and Wolf over the tray of donuts, Ham being thrown overboard by accident, Moon being left behind on land by accident, Judy trapped inside with chains wrapped around her (she finally got out of the room but still stuck with chains around her for a bit as of this moment), and Beef falling asleep behind the wheel, along with Wolf still suffering with a concussion with a case of CTE... it’s already expected for things to go downhill for Wolf and Honeybee the moment they decide to go overboard in preparation for Alan’s visit.
What was once an attraction filled with stories just for bringing people just for the ride turns into an actual horror scene that would turn into a possible active crime scene with everything that is going on. Mainly with Wolf, still reeling with a concussion and undergoing CTE, attacking Alan to force him to eat the donut with jelly splattered across his face, aside from the blood that is absorbed onto the bandage where the site is at. Judy, of course, finally got out of the room but the chains are still stuck wrapped around but somewhat managed to maintain control and plans on going ahead with her show... if her show includes scaring the daylights out of Alan when running back inside and sees Judy crawling out as she is struggling to get the chains out. Attempting to escape by jumping onto the raft where Ham is, who at the moment is the sanest out of the bunch... only to attack him, which causes Moon, once the police boat comes in, and strike towards Alan in retention. Only for Wolf, of course, to go batshit insane and jump into the action like he’s a wrestler going for the finishing move.
It’s wild for how things went to make it into an actual horror attraction with actual horror, something you see coming from an amusement park during Halloween, especially since Halloween is only six months away, if we can make it Halloween first, and quite the turnaround that was predictable but it was interesting to boost it up to make it actually feel like you’re at the actual thing, even if the calendar reads April and not October. Are you sure you want to cancel this, Fox? Are you sure you want to cancel this? I mean, sure, Hulu would’ve been the better choice for a new home since the streaming numbers are better over there than on TV, take a look at Futurama... you sure you want to do this? You sure? Come up with whatever excuse you can make up, and I get that everything is stacked where making room is a nightmare, and no, it’s not because of DEI, but we got to at least have one show to take over whenever Bob’s Burgers goes on a hiatus. You know, alternate things since the renewals come with fine print saying that the four legacy shows will only do 15 episodes instead of the full 20-22 starting in the 2025-26 season. If we’re not gonna get a renewal, then at least give us a movie to close things out. Not for theaters because we’re still as small as the population of a small town in Nebraska, but as a streaming exclusive. Something has to change as we prepare to enter a potential sequel to the Great Depression.
Everyone arrives back to land, and as Ham, in the background, frees Judy from her chains, Wolf and Honeybee explain to Alan why they went overboard to please him in their attempt to put their business on the map. Alan knows where those two are coming from once Honeybee tells Alan hers and Wolf’s age, Honeybee at 23 and Wolf at 22, and about having to have success this early in their adult life. Alan has some history because he was an intern over at Enron before being let go. Not because of the scandal that tainted that company’s legacy, but because he was selling candy bars in the bathroom. Unclear if that was his doing by himself as a side job or I guess doing this for his kid’s fundraiser even though no mention of that in the episode, but he did mention an ex-wife. But that’s not the point, the point is that they still have a lot to live up to to create a successful business. Knowing Honeybee and Wolf in their young adult age, they still have a lot of time to either keep the attraction going or try something new. And remember, they still have a lot of time to do something like that. Colonel Sanders didn’t open the first KFC until his early 60s, so lots of time to get that high in the business standpoint. If not... well, try being a Twitch streamer. Oh yeah, and Beef finally figured out how he ended up with a string on his finger, or rather, what it’s meant and reveals to be a good luck charm for the day. We just wasted our time with that, and all it took was him sleeping behind the wheel, which nearly caused the boat to crash. So, that conversation comes to a close...
Only for Moon to be stirred up from his sleep after passing out, he decides to run again. This time, running across the docks, and pushed Ham into the water, dragging Judy along with it before pushing a couple of trash cans into the water across the docks before running to the stairs. Don’t know how there are two random trash cans there, but I’m sure it’s probably because they have to clean everything up from the ship following the disaster at sea. I could also say that it might belong to Zelda and Ribeye, but we don’t see the houseboat from the last episode appear in this week’s episode. So I guess they got the memo to get the fuck out since I’m guessing they don’t have a permit to park their boat next to Beef’s.
So, the final scene of the episode and the moment of truth has arrived for Wolf and Honeybee once Wolf gets the notification that Alan’s review of their business is up online for them to read. Lo and behold, their business is a hit despite the disaster that took place throughout the episode that nearly gave Alan a heart attack when being attacked by Wolf and Moon and thought that the people who are in attendance who happened to be people who businesses they own and reviewed were out to get him, but aside from all of that, it’s all good for the duo and with the good reception from Alan, it looks like Wolf and Honeybee are keeping their business afloat, but whether they want to continue or not is up to them for a later time as the episode ends with Dirt, yes, still eating the tainted donuts despite she’s been told not to eat it. You better start thinking about getting either a new toilet, a couple of air fresheners, or maybe a couple of bottles of Pepto Bismol from whatever is the show’s version of Costco or Sam’s Club. Other than that, the moral of the story is don’t go overboard when running a business to impress a well-known influencer because you’ll end up in a situation like we just saw.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So, all in all, what do I think about this week’s episode of The Great North? This was a pretty solid episode, if I have to say so myself. Sure, we all know that things would quickly go downhill for Wolf and Honeybee with their business the moment they got the message that the most influential travel reviewer is coming to pay a visit, but it was a solid episode to keep things steady for the episode to not lose its grip. All the subplots for this episode coincide with the main plot, which is pretty much one whole plot, doing its best not to downplay the episode.
You have to give Wolf and Honeybee some credit for what they’re doing in this episode to keep their business going and trying to impress the biggest travel influencer in the state despite they did went overboard in trying to please the guy during his visit. They didn’t expect their business to boom at the start of the episode that got the attention of the influencer, and for us to didn’t expect them to have a business unannounced right before the airing of this week’s episode, but here we are. The wind animation looks good, and the same goes for the boat when having to swerve.
Wolf going off-script and having to speak like a crazy person following a concussion was something alright, and even though CTE shouldn’t be treated as a joke as someone who watches the NFL, it was something in this episode and all it took was a knock in the head by a barrel following him slipping on the waxed floor. Moon’s side of the episode was something after getting left behind on land and then having to drink numerous amounts of the latte that has both caffeine from it and an energy drink mixed into one, and going through a crashout. A crashout that made him being run over by two cars in a span of a few seconds after leaving the coffee shop was good, but it would be the ultimate icing on the cake if the second car that hit Moon after Edna’s would’ve been Dorothy. Everyone else did their part and didn’t downplay things for this episode, and yeah, it was a solid episode for sure. I’ll give “Ghouls Rush In Adventure”...
An 8 out of 10. But that’s my opinion, and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. And tune in this upcoming Sunday, the day after yours truly’s birthday, at a new time at 9:30 instead of 9:00 for no whatever reason other than the network’s not-so-much-in-hiding attempt to can the show and treat it as a final nail in the coffin, with the students being snowed in and it’s a mystery that needs solving with Moon leading the case in the ninth episode of Season 5 of The Great North in “Dial M for Moon-der Adventure”.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, BlueSky, and Threads for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. The 2025 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament is already underway with another set of double matches for this week with Group A between Momo Ayase (Dandadan) and Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon), as well as Roronoa Zoro (One Piece) and Mash Burnedead (Mashle) in Group B.. The poll for these two matches closes on Saturday. And y’all should know the drill by now with the reviews now back and running...
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