The second of the two reviews that I’m doing, and yes, it does feel like I’m working overtime with this. You can blame the network for what to do after twelve, now thirteen episodes out, this season. But also when trying to find out the episode count that we’re getting this season. And it looks like 20-22 episodes might be the option for Season 5. We've got a lot of episodes to burn through, along with Bob’s Burgers, if we were to get to the next AniDom season. And speaking of which, guys, please support The Great North the best you can. Fight like hell if you have to, metaphorically, of course, but still, show your support so we can have more show. Even if some are moving on to greener pastures but at least one added season should be more than enough to do that.
In this week’s episode, rather, last week’s episode, because it aired last week, and once the review is posted, it will be the day of when the next episode airs, but other than that, on this episode of The Great North, Judy gets a promotion from understudy to main lead at an interactive play at a restaurant, good for Judy to get the role of a lifetime, but bad for Beef because of his fear of those type of things, as Wolf and Honeybee help Moon sell jerky when becoming a door-to-door salesman for a fundraiser in my spoilerific review of the thirteenth episode of Season 5 of The Great North, titled “Sunset Beeflevard Adventure”.
The world of interactive theatre is an interesting one to tackle in this episode to start the summer lineup for the show while we're still busting our asses out there to spread the word to get people to watch the show. I've never been to an interactive theater, so talking about the lifestyle should be considered somewhat difficult, though not really.
You could say that it's similar to improv theatre, and while they do look and feel like the same thing because both of those things have the audience to participate, there's a difference between the two types of theatre. With interactive theater, the show is scripted because it is to be a play where some parts of the show will have an audience member selected and say a line or do something as if they're part of the show. Whereas in improv, the whole thing is unscripted and has to say a word to start or continue the story. You know, a choose-your-own-adventure. Or so that's what I think when describing the two types of theater where the audience has to participate.
And for one, Judy Tobin in this episode, this is pretty much her making her big break on stage after a mishap with one of the lead actors. Which, for Judy, is good because she gets to shine on the stage, as a backup, of course, but regardless, it's her big break. But for Beef, because even though he wants to support his daughter, let’s just say he and interactive theater are never this close. And we might as well get to the bottom of this. This is “Sunset Beeflevard Adventure”.
Oh, by the way, before we begin the breakdown, this was supposed to be the episode that was supposed to air on May 12, but instead, “Jude-Night Adventure” took its place instead. Mainly because of a pope joke, which we’re about to unravel later in the review, and if you know, you know, back when I mentioned in my review of the previous episode a few weeks ago, the reason behind the move was that because of the news regarding the death of Pope Francis that led to the conclave taking place, which ultimately led to the selection of the new pope, the current pope, Pope Leo, taking charge of the Catholic Church. Probably fearing that the conclave would take longer, but that lasted for two days. Might as well get to the review and breakdown of this episode, once again, this is “Sunset Beeflevard Adventure”.
The episode starts at night on the open road with Judy on her way to the Italian restaurant with Beef as the designated driver, as she is excited for the big night to arrive. That being her becoming a part of a theater production and is about to make her big break... as an understudy. She’s a backup in the event something was to happen to any of the actors if they fell to injury or had to deal with personal reasons. Hence, why Judy had to bring up her having to memorize every line in the script that she was given when given the role. To be prepared for whenever something bad happens to any of the actors, for Judy to sub in. It’s pretty much waiting for when the time is right for her to get the call, and hopefully, it does not involve praying on anyone’s downfall. And while Judy is excited about all of this, just having to play the waiting game on when she will get her shot in the spotlight, you have the opposite side of the spectrum, and that would be Beef, because even though he’s proud of his daughter getting the chance of a lifetime and wants to support her, he is not a big fan of interactive theater. Resulting in him developing serious PTSD when having to come across that type of stuff. Especially once arriving at the restaurant, and if y’all remember that building, this being the only Italian restaurant in Lone Moose unless you expect an Olive Garden developing...
This is the same restaurant from Season 2’s “Tasteful Noods Adventure” that Ham used to work at for his school’s career week program where the restaurant were doing shady shit. That being having to reuse pasta to make new ones for the patrons to eat. Yeah, I know, sounds disgusting when having to reuse old pasta to make new ones, as if that restaurant is likely going to be ground zero for when the next pandemic hits, any of my Italian readers, avert your eyes. And no, this is nothing like the so-called rumor of Chuck E. Cheese’s a few years ago, where they’ve been reusing slices to make new pizza. But this isn’t what the episode is about. Probably missed my mark, but who knows if I can try to review Seasons 1-3 of the show, and yes, I said Season 3 because they were sandwiched with the Bob’s reviews. But that’s not the point, the point is that Judy is about to make her big break, and Beef hates interactive theater because of some traumatic experience. Judy tries to ease his worry by having him at least meet the cast, but of course, Beef declines due to his traumatic experience. More on that later in the episode review.
Judy gets dropped off and we enter the restaurant with her meeting up with the cast and crew of the show that she’ll be doing in the event she was to be called in. Doing a little pre-show meet-up before getting ready to hit the stage with Rita, voiced by Brooke Dillman, and Ronnie, voiced by Ken Marino, getting everyone ready for the big show tonight by having to introduce everyone to Judy as she prepares to serves as the emergency actress in the event something were to happen to any of the actors because even though she’s still in high school, she is primed and ready to hit the stage. And other than presenting Judy to the cast after auditioning for the role, only to end up getting the understudy role and having to memorize all of her lines, we get the background of the show that everyone will be doing, and its pretty much Romeo and Juliet. It’s Romeo and Juliet, but having to twist it in their own way, where instead of having the two main leads from two feuding families from two different kingdoms, it’s two feuding families from two different boroughs in New York, the Bronx and Brooklyn. It would’ve been easier to just say Mets and Yankees, but sure.
Not to mention, we got background on two of the founding members of this production, with both Rita and Ronnie used to be extras on a TV show 20 years ago, that’s where they first met, and as a result, just 20 years later, they created their own production company with them having to serve as the co-owners and co-managers and once the show begins, co-actors along with the other actors who will be doing the show with Judy just waiting for her call to fill in for any of the actors. It’s pretty much keeping in-person shows like interactive theater alive so that people don’t stay at home and watch whatever they can watch on a streaming platform. I mean, yeah, I get where they’re coming from. Wanting to keep the old tradition going without having to fade away into oblivion because of what technology is doing, like what they’re planning on doing tonight, as everyone is ready to hit the stage. Giving one final prep talk before heading out and perform.
We go to the VFW Post, where it seems that it’s jerky season in Lone Moose with each kid getting a shipment of their assigned jerky to sell as part of a fundraiser and having to be door-to-door salespeople. Everyone seems to be excited for the fundraiser, mostly because of the prizes that were placed on the table. Everyone, but Moon, who doesn’t seem excited about the whole thing because, according to him, he’s horrible at making a sales pitch when trying to play salesman whenever he goes door to door across the neighborhood. And, boy, he’s not wrong when showing what he's got to Wolf and Honeybee. Hence, why he’s picking up only one box to give it to Beef and just calls it a day. Hoping for this whole event to be over with. Luckily for Moon, he has Wolf and Honeybee, who are good at making a sales pitch, and the jerky fundraiser seems to be the right time to teach Moon a thing or two on how to manipulate people to buy the product if it means helping Moon to get his hands on any of the prizes, most importantly, the full supply of sticky hands. Pretty much turning it into his life’s mission for this episode only.
We transition back to the restaurant with the show taking place between all of the actors with Judy just watching from the sidelines, backstage to be exact, with one of the scenes of the play has the family having dinner where the cracks are starting to form from the lie that was taking place with one of the main leads having the other main lead who happened to be love interest liking the sauce that was used on the pasta, only to be called out because they don’t call it the sauce “sauce” in the Bronx and instead, it should be called gravy, which ultimately lead to the revelation that the main lead’s love interest is from Brooklyn, NOT from the Bronx. I don’t get the idea of having each borough have a civil war with each other as if it’s an all-out gang war. I mean, when it comes to sports, I get it because if you’re a New Yorker, it’s mostly Yankees/Giants/Rangers/Knicks or Mets/Jets/Isles/Nets, though people can flip-flop on either of those teams from the four major league teams of the Big Apple. Though I’m pretty sure all five of the boroughs became Knicks fans throughout the NBA Playoffs. Just don’t remind them about the recent Eastern Conference loss to the Pacers. But yeah, pretty much a pick a lane type of lifestyle for a big city like New York, for having a play where people from the Bronx and Brooklyn spit on each other like it’s an all-out gang war.
Of course, it ain’t an interactive theater without having the interactive part of the experience with Ronnie coming up to one of the customers who was eating his dinner, taking up the Cousin Joey role and asking him what he is eating for the night, which the guy answers Ronnie’s question of him eating the chicken parmesan. But that’s interactive theater, alright, to have everyone be a participant in the arts, even though the guy was sitting in the front, even though anyone can be picked, like it’s elementary school, back in your kindergarten days, when doing story time or having to learn what shapes are. But regardless, it seems that everyone is having a bit of a blast with Judy on the sidelines, enjoying what she is seeing as she, yes, awaits her moment to happen, probably now for when the next show drops. Nearing the end of the first act of the episode, with the show coming to an end with Aunt Marie throwing in her signature swingers to wrap up the play with no issues whatsoever... only for Aunt Marie to slip and fall by the sauce that she knocked to the floor when the exposed scene of the play was taking place. It's just that she didn’t even see the sauce on the floor that would’ve saved her ACL if she had just looked out before doing a bow, along with the rest of the cast.
Aunt Marie is down for the count with an ACL tear that would put her in the IR for the foreseeable future, and it was a nasty tear from a nasty fall from the stage after slipping on the sauce. So, yeah, the cast and crew of the production company are now down one member following Aunt Marie’s injury, and it’s now unclear how long she’ll be out, so she’s pretty done for the episode. Done for the season, or until the end of the episode, when being mentioned by Judy. And speaking of Judy, because Aunt Marie will now be in a new role on the injured reserve following her ankle fracture, it looks like Judy will finally be going to have her big break after all, with her finally getting promoted from understudy to cast member.
Especially once Aunt Marie takes of her wig, revealing her natural hair that models the damn wig itself, but regardless, it looks like Judy will finally be getting big moment and will be taking the role of Aunt Marie for the foreseeable future until the actress who plays the aunt is up and ready to go... so, about 6-12 months tops, basically a semester or a school year for Judy to play the role. But despite all of that, she finally got her gig. She’s finally an actress, and all it took was someone to fall to injury; once again, she wasn’t praying on any of the actor’s downfall. But she humbly accepts the role, and the wig, and leaves the restaurant for the night, and rushes towards the car where Beef is parked. Telling her dad the good news that she got promoted to main cast and inviting the whole family to show their support... well, everyone in the family but Dirt, who is once again absent in this episode, though she’ll be back in this week’s episode. But other than that, Judy got the gig, which is good news for her and the Tobins in general. But bad for Beef because that means he now has to go into the restaurant and would have to be faced with interactive theater as his PTSD kicked in and he dozed off to end the first act of the episode.
This leads us to the second act of the episode, going into the next day, and right away, rather than waiting for later in the episode to get an explanation for why Beef had been acting out whenever the words “interactive theater” get brought up once Judy calls for an emergency family meeting, once again, with no Dirt present in this episode, where we get an explanation for why Beef is afraid of interactive theater. And Wolf knows what it is because he was there where and when it all began. And with that, Beef begins to tell the story about the night he developed mad PTSD from interactive theater.
It happened five years ago when he and Wolf went to a comedy club at the behest of Wolf, who begged him to see a comedian named Danny Whut, who Wolf described as the “Original Brash Boy of Comedy”, when paying a visit to Lone Moose for the night. Which, okay, time out for a second here because some things needed to be answered because oh boy, there’s a lot to state with his flashback. First off, the scene takes place five years ago. If you do the math, it was revealed this season alone that Wolf is 22 in the show, and the flashback takes place five years ago. Wolf would be 17 at the time. And that is booze on the table right there, and the drinking age in the United States is 21, so that alone would be a problem. And I can already guess that Beef forbade Wolf from going because the club has a bar, and knowing that he would be a high schooler at the time, that’s a big no-no, but he had to be persuaded to change his mind. Also, Wolf looked like his current self with the full hairy upper lip at 17 rather than... oh, I don’t know? A stubble? In comparison to Ham, who has a stubble and is currently 16-17 years old of age, and unless Wolf somehow grew that shit overnight and doesn’t bother on shaving this bitch out of his upper lip, I guess this is what we’re stuck with unless their only other reason would be not having to bother drawing a older teenage Wolf like we say in previous flashbacks in past episodes and pretty much follow the golden rule, which is to not question it.
Anyway, it was five years ago at the comedy club when the comedian Danny Whut was going around the audience to see who wants to participate, this, of course, being an improv show by the way, but any kind of live theater, improv or interactive, can make a guy like Beef currently to undergo a collapse as if he was going through cardiac arrest or something. The comedian asks Beef his name and where he comes from, with the spotlight shining over him and the people watching as if it’s more of people watching him as if they’re moths to a flame or oil companies when finding out there’s oil that was discovered. But whatever idea you want to pick, either it’s the show itself or just having people watching you as if you just developed stage fright out of the blue, it mentally scarred Beef after stumbling over his words when trying not to make a fool of himself. And boy, that felt flat on his face harder than Elon Musk’s credibility. It mentally scarred Beef for sure, to the point where he went non-verbal for days, that, and also some minor burns from the queso dip, but other than that, that show was the cause of Beef’s PTSD of ever having to come across an interactive show, and thus, he swears to never go to another one like that again.
Up until this moment with Judy now getting her shot to be on stage in an interactive theater, following the actress who played Aunt Marie going to get her ACL repaired. But even if he wants to show his support for his only daughter for tomorrow night on her first night on stage, Beef doesn’t plan on stepping on one foot into an interactive theater because it would trigger traumatic memories of that night nearly half a decade ago. But that’s not going to stop Judy from having to force her dad to go see her in action tonight, and she does so by having to guilt-trip him to make him change his mind. Saying, “Oh... I see then. Well, it’s a shame that you won’t see your only daughter making her debut on stage tonight. And I get that what happened five years ago was bad, and I respect that. But damn, what a shame. Maybe I could give the tickets to Mom to watch me perform... oh wait.” Like goddamn, way to hit him below the belt there, Judes. Like Jesus Christ. So, of course, Beef ends up falling for the guilt trip, and despite his fears of ever having to step one foot into an interactive theater, he wants to be there for his daughter and wants to show his support for Judy’s debut. It just comes down to the family hoping Beef doesn’t develop cardiac arrest. At least there’s one silver lining for Beef, according to Ham, the comedian that he and Wolf went to see a few years ago, died in a hiking accident a couple of years ago. So, at least there’s a silver lining in all of this before getting to deal with the whole thing.
We transition to later in the night in Judy’s room, with Judy looking at herself in the mirror with the wig on and having to rehearse her lines as she is preparing to perform tomorrow night, as she was interrupted by a visit from Alanis, whose head appears by Judy’s window with Judy coming out of the window to have a one-on-one chat with Alanis from outside of her room. And yes, we got the pope joke that got the episode moved from the May 12 date that was originally planned to the May 29 date that we got. And the joke that Judy explains to Alanis once she leaves her room and goes onto the roof is that Judy had a dream of her character, Aunt Marie, meeting with the Pope and letting her smell his hat. Yeah, that’s the joke. That’s the pope joke that got the episode pushed to a later date. And if you say that it’s FOX once again mishandling The Great North in their continuing attempt, that is about to become a reality of cancelling the show, you could say that might be the case, but again, it’s because of the timing of when the episode was supposed to air. Remember, the reason behind it was because of the news of the death of Pope Francis that led to the Conclave that ultimately led up to the election of Pope Leo. It was just terrible timing because of what is going on with current events. And you can’t take the joke out because episodes like this one take months or a year to make. And by then, it would be too late. This is not like with South Park following the 2016 Election, where the creators had to make last-minute changes following the results that everyone thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win, but... yeah.
Judy leaves the room and goes onto the roof when talking to Alanis about her getting ready for the next day, with her already getting into character as she is fully prepared for when she hits the stage at the restaurant. Of course, the topic for the conversation isn’t about her getting ready for the show, it was for a bit when she was interrupted from rehearsing her lines in the mirror, but the conversation shifted towards Beef and how concerned she should be because of his fear of having to attend an interactive theater. Especially when seeing the hundreds of logs that were chopped, with Beef having to stress chop and pulling an all-nighter doing that after declaring that he’ll be attending the interactive theater just to support Judy. Fearing that history might repeat itself tomorrow night once she makes her debut. This, of course, leads to Alanis sharing a story with Judy about a similar situation that she is dealing with regarding her father when doing sing-alongs at her concert, and had to bring him onstage to play a little woodblock. Of course, she got interrupted, rather abruptly interrupted just as she was about to tell what happened next, when Judy thought that what she was about to say already gave her an idea on how to help Beef confront his fear going into the next day. Probably would’ve been for the best to let her finish, but hopefully what she got won’t come back to bite her in the ass as the episode progresses.
The next day arrives, and before we get to the performance, we have to check up on the subplot with Moon, all dolled up in a suit and tie, ready to sell jerky to random people at their respective houses, with Wolf and Honeybee having to help him get through this. And the advice is simple for Moon if he wants to sell his shipment and win enough money for the fundraiser to get his hands on the prize: just manipulate them by creating a faux story that should pressure the customer to buy the shipment. Nearly didn’t work at first with what Moon is doing by his lonesome, but in comes Wolf and Honeybee to step in, and that’s where the manipulation to the customer comes into play when creating a fake story to guilt-trip them into buying. Telling that if Moon doesn’t sell his shipment, then the bullies would go after him, and the same goes for Wolf and Honeybee, and that’s more than enough to convince one of the customers, an old lady, to take the shipment and give Moon the money. Guess you can say that bullying works, to the customer because they can gobble this shit up like it’s a Thanksgiving dinner. And this is just the start of the lie train to sell the boxes away as long as Moon has Wolf and Honeybee on his side.
The night of the performance arrives, with Judy expecting to make her debut. And before y’all say anything about the costume design for Judy when having to take the Aunt Marie role, I’m pretty sure the crew had her tailored for every costume since she was the understudy and would have had to have that stuff ready in the event something bad happens to any of the actors like the actress who played Aunt Marie before being sent to the ER. Minutes before the show begins with Judy, now in costume as Aunt Marie, before setting to make her debut, asks Rita and Ronnie to do her a little favor before the curtain rises and it’s regarding Beef since he’s present along with the rest of the family, once again, without Dirt, by asking them to pick him as Cousin Joey so he can confront his fear and nib it. Almost sounds like a bad idea because it feels like it’s too sudden, but Judy needs this so that she can have him attend almost every night to show her support on stage. And that’s what Rita and Ronnie will be doing once they accept Judy’s offer and the show begins with Judy making her debut on stage, right at the part where the interaction takes place when having to spot a random audience member to participate.
And per Judy’s request, it’s Beef who gets chosen to be the Cousin Joey of the show. Already, feeling the mounting pressure with people staring at him. Waiting for a definitive answer from Beef once Rita and Ronnie came to his table as if they’re waiting for him to make an ass of himself in front of the crowd and having to relive that traumatic moment, expecting history to repeat itself as if he’s about to be seconds away from suffering cardiac arrest at the dinner table with Judy, hoping for Beef to come out of his comfort zone finally. And in a blink of an eye, Beef finally breaks out of his comfort zone when he says “whatever this is” that got the people laughing as a zinger rather than him making an ass of himself. And lo and behold, Beef finally overcame his fear of interactive theater. Everyone loved what he said, which got the room to laugh at that line regarding his plate. And with that, it looks like Beef finally got over his fear, and you can thank Judy for putting in that request that pretty much saved his skin.
On to the next day, with Beef continuing to ride high on what happened last night with him, along with Judy and Ham, doing the dishes. Finally feeling good about himself after confronting his fear of having to participate in interactive theater. Though the line was funny only one time, after Beef said it after what he thought he would say or do something that would make a fool out of him, and again, it can get old quickly as if it’s becoming his catch phrase or something. Especially as the episode progresses, if you’re the viewer, but if you’re the audience in the restaurant, that’s not going to stop them from having a good laugh. Especially once Judy, feeling proud of her father tackling his fear of interactive theater, decides to invite him to her next show later tonight.
And oh boy, going into the montage portion to get through what is pretty much a very long second act of the episode, pretty sure we’re past the halfway mark of the episode and haven’t even reached the end of the first half, it was all fun and games for Judy to let her father break out of his shell to have him say the line without having to worry that he would make a fool of himself and trigger his PTSD until he begins to take the spotlight away from her. And that is exactly what is happening going into this montage as we prepare to wrap up the first half of the episode... less than nine minutes left in the run time, with Beef, as Cousin Joey, whenever the play gets to his part, the part where someone in the audience would have the mic up to their face, saying his line that got everyone in a good mood. Not unless you’re Judy, who thought, at first, it was a good idea to have Beef to come to her show every night just to throw his support for her. That’s pretty much what would’ve been Beef’s role: to just be Judy’s support and maybe partake in the interactive. But it looks like Beef seems to be having fun throughout the week as Cousin Joey. The audience loves it. The cast loves it. Judy, however, does not.
Treating it as if her father is stealing the spotlight away from her. This was supposed to be her big break. This was supposed to be the moment to introduce herself as a would-be actress after being promoted to the starting cast following the injury of the actress who previously played Aunt Marie. Thought shit was going to be sweet for her with having her dad around for support since getting the gig. Especially after getting through his fear of interactive theater, that, mind you, at her request to Rita and Ronnie to go easy on Beef because of what happened a few years ago at a comedy club. And ever since he got over his fear, it’s been nonstop with him saying the line that got the people laughing and enjoying, that has the place packed, hence, every passing night since her debut that Beef’s shirt having to be unbuttoned to the point where his upper chest would have to exposed, just wearing a tank top underneath as if he’s assimilating into the culture. And that got Judy jealous over what she was seeing with her father taking the attention away from her in what was supposed to be her big moment. And it won’t be long until we get a crashout coming from her going into the next half.
Of course, the montage also shows Moon, Wolf, and Honeybee continuing their lie charade when they, rather, Moon continues to sell his shipment of jerky to each customer and has to create various fake stories to convince the customer in their respective houses just to guilt trip them into buying. And it continues to work for Moon to make a lot of money for the fundraiser as the montage progresses and as the episode progresses with Wolf and Honeybee’s help. From having a neck brace on and that he needed a neck transplant to having to pretend that he’s possessed, it has been an effective strategy and for Moon, along with Wolf and Honeybee, they are raking in cash for the fundraiser and it won’t be long until Moon gets his hands on the main prize from what the trio saw earlier in the episode, that being the lifetime supply of sticky hands. Pretty much every kid’s dream is getting hold of something you would get in one of those machines you find in grocery stores. So, that’s the end of the first half of the episode, with nearly eight minutes left in the episode after getting out of the montage...
And onto the second half of the episode, with Judy quietly crashing out and having to quietly scream into her wig that ultimately summons Alanis once again as she is upset over her father stealing the spotlight away from her since her debut night at the restaurant. Worried about if a talent scout comes to visit and decides to pick Beef over her to be the next big thing, just because of saying one phrase. Of course, with Judy out and about, Alanis thinks it’s a good time to finish telling her story that she was telling Judy the night before her debut on stage. And already, you can guess that Judy might be getting the wrong idea as she now believes that if she asks Rita and Ronnie not to call on him, which was, again, her request when she made her debut a few nights ago, she gets the audience’s attention back to her. Especially since she should’ve at least stayed for a bit and let Alanis finish her story. Which leads us to the next night, with the show wrapping up with everyone going with Judy’s decisions to make some changes that include not calling up on Beef to play the Uncle Joey role...
Only for Rita and Ronnie to bring up Beef backstage and prepare to make a major announcement to the cast and crew of the show regarding the Uncle Joey role. The couple announces that because Beef has been making a name for himself since the night of Judy’s debut, and how everyone loved how he portrayed that led to having to deal with a packed out throughout the week, they decided to have Beef to be casted as the character full-time. Beef is shocked by the news but quickly and gladly accepts the role. The news also shocked Judy, and not in a good way, because we know that she has already been jealous over having her father stealing her spotlight every night, and now, with the production company officially naming Beef as a permanent staple, as if he’s becoming a product placement, or a fan favorite, and thus, making Judy feels obsolete. Treating it as if she’s quickly disappearing from the spotlight and now having to live in her father’s shadow. Something that she isn’t at all, but happy to be in.
We check back on Moon, Wolf, and Honeybee with their subplot with the three on some sort of generational run with the jerky sales that they’re making, and now, they’re down to one last box as they prepare to park by one of the houses to sell the shipment to their final customers. And if things go successfully once the customer is convinced to take the box and for Moon to take the money, that’s it. That’s the fundraiser. Moon is putting up triple-double numbers in the jerky sales thanks to Wolf and Honeybee’s help. And since there’s only one box left in their possession, Moon thinks it’s only right for him to do this alone, as he is now set to sell the story to the customer after having to have Wolf and Honeybee teach him the basics. And that is exactly what Moon is doing once he reaches the doorstep of a random woman’s house. And his story in his attempt to get the customer to take the jerky off his hands?
By pretending that Moon is being held hostage, have Wolf and Honeybee pretend to be his kidnappers, and tell the woman that they have placed a bomb on his chest and will explode if the woman doesn’t take the jerky and pay the ransom. In Lament’s terms, Moon’s story on his lonesome is staging a kidnapping. And holy fucking shit, that’s a wild idea to throw when having to convince the lady to take the last shipment from Moon for the fundraiser. And it worked pretty well for Moon, Wolf, and Honeybee once he made it back to Honeybee’s car with now zero shipment in his arsenal. A little too well because that got the attention of the police because the woman in the house called the police on them, thinking that it was an actual kidnapping taking place, and yeah, they can’t escape out of this one without having to create a good excuse for the pretend kidnapping.
The night hits with everyone ready to hit the stage for, count ‘em, the twelfth time according to Rita, and you can, of course, thank Beef for drawing in the crowd just for saying one line that got people’s attention and pretty much showing the streaming services who’s boss. Twelve straight nights of having to do the show since having Beef attend the dinner, once again, per Judy’s request to go easy on him when having to confront his fear of interactive theater, and since then, he’s putting up points just by saying one line that got old really quick for us, but the people at their tables don’t mind it as long as it draws asses to their seats. The real winners are the business owners of the restaurant, so probably Momma and Poppa, who are probably making bank for the show, thanks in part to Beef. But for Judy, didn’t even notice that she didn’t carry the wig with her into the building, y’all already know, not happy with the idea of her father being a part of the show that is stealing her spotlight.
I mean, you could call her a stage hog all you want, just because she got jealous because this was supposed to be her moment, her big break, this was supposed to be... well, I guess destiny even though it was in the freaking script of the episode for her to get a promotion from understudy following the injury of the actress who played the role that she (Judy) is currently playing. But this was supposed to be the moment that she was supposed to make her big break as a would-be actress, and an interactive show like this one would be where she starts small, that isn’t a school play. And having her father come in and steal her spotlight after finally tackling his fear of interactive theater, and was originally supposed to be the supportive parent on her debut night. But one line after trying to not make an ass of yourself and all of the sudden, it’s you would be getting the spotlight and be treated as a celebrity and the other becomes obsolete. Fade into oblivion. Disappear from the public eye the moment the new person enters the chat, and, well... they forget who you are. That’s pretty much showbiz in a nutshell. And y’all, before you say anything, it does feel like I’m taking a jab at some folks in the fandom who say and still believe that introducing Aunt Dirt last season siphons the spotlight from certain characters, which explains why some characters like Londra or Drama John not appearing a lot as of late, then you’re probably be out here smoking crack just by thinking about it. Out here smoking crack.
But anyway, it’s another night of the show, and since we’re about to enter the fourth act of the episode with only five minutes left in the episode, Judy decides to say that enough is enough and interrupts the show once Beef gets called to take his role as Uncle Joey. And usually, this would have Judy to crash out for a bit, which should cause her to have her emotions to explode, and storm out, probably in tears, and spot her outside the building in the back. This would normally be the thing, but that’s not happening as we are about to enter the final act of the episode. And instead, we’re going to have Judy perform her ass off in her attempt to rock the house and take back the spotlight from her father.
While there are some moments where Judy sort of feels like she’s breaking out of character from the Aunt Marie role, from the way she says feels like it was resentment towards Beef for stealing her spotlight in what was supposed to be her shining moment before having her father hijack the spotlight, she did stick into character when explaining the character’s backstory when acting her butt off to the audience in her attempt to win back the audience and for the spotlight to return to her. From her attending a Catholic School when the character was young, having to grow up in the trenches, being one of 17 children in her family, to have to get some financial benefits following a lawsuit after having to witness her father being killed by a wheel, which I’m guessing she means a vehicle like a truck, it’s quite the life Aunt Marie has for Judy to do what she can do best instead of having to crash out and leave the stage in frustration. And she pulled it off. She pulled it off to get the audience back on her side despite going off-script. And all it took was her having to deal with some jealous rage building up in her body.
And it was that acting alone that slapped the sense into Beef. Going into the two-minute warning with him having to go and apologize to Judy for stealing her spotlight in what was supposed to be her big break. Apologizing for what happened, especially after having to finally confront his fear of participating in interactive theater, which somewhat created a monster that became a cash cow for the production company to fill butts into seats. Other than that, Beef apologizes for siphoning the attention away from Judy in what would’ve been her big moment, and that should be about it for the main plot, with the whole thing now over with. Everyone is having a show of what just happened with Judy going off-script, and with that, Beef’s time as Cousin Joey should be coming to a close.
Back to the subplot before preparing to wrap up the episode with Moon, Wolf, and Honeybee now detained over the alleged kidnapped that turned out to be fake after the woman whom Moon sold the shipment of jerky thought it was an actual kidnapping and thought Wolf and Honeybee were about to blow up a kid as if they got the funding or the skills to make an explosive device to make the story believable. So, if you think that the three would probably make their way to spend a night in jail at the police station after faking a kidnapping... think again, said Chief Edna. Instead of booking them for the night, she decides to drop the charges.
Especially once Edna opens the compartment box that reveals a hoard of sticky hand grabbers. She knows what it’s like when it comes to having to sell a story to sell jerky because she was once a Lil’ Prepper herself and decides to help Moon with his shipment that was supposed to go to the woman who made the call earlier by taking him to a place she knows on who will be taking the shipment, that being the town’s fire department. So, like that, the three are getting off scot-free, probably got off with a warning unless there’s some sort of fine, but then you would have to question what the hell if even the justice system, but other than that, they got off scot-free and plans on making their way to the fire station with Chief Edna as the escort.
And we reached the final scene of the episode, two weeks after the whole fiasco with Judy, I guess, now out of the production since she had to return the wig to the production company. But that little “experience” that she had gone through since the auditions got her to create a script for her and Beef to read through. And yes, it’s similar to the play back at the restaurant, just replace the characters held from the Bronx and Brooklyn, respectively, it’s Anchorage and Juneau. And that’s where the episode ends, with the two having their own little table read and the moral of the episode: don’t steal people’s spotlight because that shit can probably make you disappear from the public limelight when having to do a show or playing a sport. Or something like that.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So, all and all, what do I think about this episode of The Great North? Well, this was an interesting episode, to say the least. Sure, there are some moments that sort of downplayed the episode, like Beef saying “whatever this is” one too many times that got old really quickly after confronting his fear of participating in interactive theater, but it was an interesting episode nonetheless.
Judy at the end of the episode with her having to act her butt out when going off-script was something because usually, at the end of the third act of the episode and going into the fourth, you’d think that Judy would crash out and leaves the show in frustration over how jealous she was of Beef taking the spotlight away from her. But it was interesting when having to tell her character’s backstory just to get her father to stop what he is doing and slap some sense into him by the end of the episode. Once again, going into the idea in show business, where someone new is coming in and taking the spotlight and making the co-worker become obsolete, and would be fading away from the public eye. Hence, Judy has to feel jealous over her father stealing the spotlight throughout the episode since, again, at Judy’s request on the night of her debut, and asks Rita and Ronnie to pick him once the play reached the part where they have to select an audience member. But it was an alright main plot of the episode. Mainly from Judy having to act when going off-script, and also her having to guilt-trip Beef into making him attend the show.
The subplot was fine as well, with Moon having to come up with different stories to convince the buyer to take the shipment so that Moon can make some money for his fundraiser with Wolf and Honeybee’s help. I mean, if I were to pick a fave out of the ideas from Moon, I guess it would be him pretending to be possessed, and needing to be exorcised, and the fake kidnapping story when having to do the sale by himself. But it was an alright subplot to the episode and didn’t downplay the whole thing. So, it’s an alright episode. And it was hanging on steadily, but some moments that I liked. So, I’ll give “Sunset Beeflevard Adventure”...
An 8 out of 10. But that’s my opinion, and I want to hear yours in the comments below. Tune in this upcoming Thursday... which is tomorrow, or I guess at the time of posting, later tonight, you try to do two shows without having to have your brain fried because scheduling is a fucking mess. This would’ve been hiatus time, but I guess not. Anyway, the next episode is Beef having to partake in stunt fishing and Dirt, because Beef is taking up the leisure sport, deciding to find who will replace the guy in the fourteenth episode of Season 5 of The Great North in Reservoir Dad Adventure”.
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