So... we’re back. We are back, not Bob’s Burgers because they’re on break for this week but no, it’s The Great North. I thought that we would wait until January or maybe late February but no, with little or no warning unless you followed any of the socials... of the show’s co-creators or any of the fan pages of The Great North or any Bento Box-produced shows, here we are with the new season starting days before Christmas with this episode review being out either Christmas Eve transitioning to Christmas Day or the night of Christmas Day going into Boxing Day, so considered this either a Christmas or late Christmas present... or maybe a Hanukkah gift. I don’t want to sound as if I’m wearing a tinfoil hat over my hat but it’s starting, if not, already showing what is going on with what the network is doing with the show regarding promotion and scheduling. I can’t be the only one noticing as if the network is already messing around with the show and whether it’s true or not, and I don’t want to sound like I'm some sort of conspiracy theorist, and God, I hope that’s not the case going into 2025 as we now enter the new season of the show.
On this week’s episode of The Great North, it’s the new seas- oh yeah, I apologize for not having the two episodes that are still missing from Season 4, I apologize and I’ll try to work on that, maybe during the break during the NFL Playoffs but the year-end countdown also needs to get work... so, I am stumped and could be a possible long wait ever longer in the event something happens to my laptop. I had to put it out there. Other than that, on this week’s episode of the show, the Mighty Kathleen goes missing, putting pressure on the family, and they have to create different alibis about the fate of the family boat in my spoilerific review of the first episode of Season 5 of The Great North, titled “The Lies Aquatic Adventure”.
With the new season come some changes. And uh... quite the change we got going forward as a permanent staple as we enter the show’s fifth season. Thought that the intro would be updated to include Aunt Dirt now that she’s going to be sticking around for the long run, that didn’t happen except for the small changes to it like the bear saying “wow” when the whole cast said it when looking at it from the boat, Ham falling to the ground after being pelted by a snowball, followed by some snow falling right as Ham walk up the cabin for the family photo, and also the log that Beef sat on in certain episodes. So that’s the changes that we got with the intro for this episode... that was until we get to the end of the episode regarding the someone, or rather, something that was a staple in the show’s first four seasons finally retooled.
Talking about the family boat that belonged to the Tobin family, the Mighty Kathleen. After being around the show and with the Tobins for four long seasons since its humble beginnings back in 2021, going into Season 5, the cast and crew think that it’s high time for the family to bid their farewell to a ship that they know dear and quite the move they pulled to start the new season. Do remember that earlier this year at Comic-Con, Wendy and Lizzie brought up that the Tobins will experience a “big loss” going into the new season and probably should’ve played the speculation game leading up to this episode on who will be getting the axe. And the top contender who would be high up on the list as if it’s an odds-on favorite from a Vegas betting site is not even a person, but rather, an item and it’s the Mighty Kathleen.
And granted, it was a long time coming. Especially with the family already making progress in moving on from Kathleen in their lives and with a name that carries... some weight to the family since it was named after the former matriarchal member of the family who decided to fuck off, that, and the boat getting old with the various repairs showing its age, it all comes down to when it’s finally time to make the call. Even if it was showing some signs during repairs. So, it’s interesting and also expected from what we got from Comic-Con earlier this year that it’s time to make some changes going forward for the show. We have Beef’s dating life in Season 4 and now, we might as well break it down into the moments leading up to, spoilers even though what I said is pretty much a massive spoiler, apologies by the way, this is “The Lies Aquatic Adventure”.
The episode starts with the family on the boat with them cleaning the place up where they get interrupted by a frustrated Beef from inside the boat over what is causing him to be upset. The problem is that the boat is in desperate need of repairs that could hamper the family’s “plans” later in the week. Mostly fishing, which everyone but Beef is breathing a sigh of relief because they don’t want to waste their weekend out in the water catching some fish. But it’s not just that, the desperate need for repairs also hamper the Tobins’ plans for the next day to go whale watching because of an incoming pod of whales through their boat, even though Old Jody Jr has a way to take people to go whale watching by going with him on his boat for people who don’t have a boat or in Beef’s case, a boat that is in dire need of repairs. Even if one of the things that are on the list for when having to tag along with Jody to go whale watching is to feed them a snack called “Snackritos”, which is pretty much spicy Doritos that come in a purple bag with various flavors like slammin’ salmon, po’boy, and ragin’ cajun all in one bag. So, going for the New Orleans flavor pack when it comes to the snack that apparently is okay to give to whales. I’m not a marine biologist but I’m sure that can’t be healthy to give whales something like that.
But yeah, the boat is in dire need of repairs, thus putting plans for whale watching and fishing on pause. And knowing that the boat is in dire need of massive repairs, Honeybee is already jumping to conclusions to pretty much stating the obvious regarding the shape of the boat that is currently in. She thinks that it’s time for Beef to buy a new boat, raising alarm bells for the rest of the Tobin family over what Honeybee is suggesting because of what they’re hearing from Honeybee’s mouth. And according to the Tobin family, getting a new boat to replace the Mighty Kathleen because of the condition it's in would not bode well for them, especially Beef, who loves this boat like it’s his pride and joy. A lot of memories that took place in that boat. The boat is pretty much a family member to them and has been through thick and thin of things, whether it’s the herring run or most recently, a cult attempting to slam it into an iceberg Titanic-style. It became a permanent staple for the family and either putting it down or selling it feels like you’re being told when to pull the plug on a family member who is on life support.
But you’re in a situation where you have to decide either waste a lot of money on meaningless repairs that you know it’s going to cost you even more in the event it breaks down once more or just spend your money on getting a new boat, whether it’s brand new or probably a used boat the same way you would get a used car from a car dealership. Although, Honeybee does have a point about having to see and hear from her point of view of the fact that the boat is like a family member needs to have its own birthday and to have a birthday party like it’s North Korea celebrating their missiles. I’m not kidding, look it up. That is an actual holiday for them the same way the Tobins, especially Beef, have to celebrate the boat’s birthday like it’s a freaking living being. We all treat our stuff like it’s a pet, full of responsibility, but I’m sure we all wouldn’t go as far as giving it a birthday party because that would be the ultimate down-bad moment.
Going into the next scene and with the boat now being put away for a while because of the repairs it needs, you have the Tobins at the breakfast table with Beef ready to head out with a duffle bag all packed up on his way out. And because the boat is currently out of commission for a while, instead of what we saw in Season 2’s “Beef in Toyland Adventure” where he struggled to find a hobby that ultimately led to him playing with the figurines, he decides to go out of town for the weekend with Carissa on a romantic trip. Good to know that the relationship between the two seems to be going strong going into the new season and a weekend trip seems to be good for Beef because for once, he shouldn’t be too stressed out over having to miss one weekend of fishing in the open waters. Especially with the destination for him is a surprise from Carissa, once we get to the next scene.
Once Beef leaves the house, Wolf decides to come up with an idea to surprise Beef once he returns from his weekend trip. And that is for him and the family, along with Honeybee and Dirt, to fix the boat themselves. What can go horribly wrong in having the family to step in and do the repairs for cheap instead of having to waste a lot of money for a shipwright to step up and patch things up and burn the wallet into burnt dust? Plus, Beef loves this boat to death and he would die if they don’t do something to repair the boat so it can be good to go once he makes his return. So, it looks like everyone is in agreement, and despite Honeybee’s call at the start of the episode to suggest buying a new boat, repairing the boat by themselves seems to be the way to go. And I said the family, along with Honeybee and Dirt, I mean the family and Honeybee because Dirt will just have to stand around and supervise because the boat... not her problem.
Checking up on Beef with Carissa in tow to their destination with Beef thinks that he would be going to Anchorage to see the new quarry that he wanted to check out but instead, it’s a resort for couples in Death Cliff that Carissa took him since it is a romantic trip for two and Beef really needs a break for once from the boat, so a weekend trip with his new girlfriend seems to be the perfect thing to do to get his mind out of the gutter. So... I guess treat it as a honeymoon but not really y’all haven’t tied the knot but it’s nice to know that the storyline between Beef and Carissa has now lingered going into Season 5 and should be interesting to know where this is going as it we now enter the new season. And hopefully, nothing bad happens between the two. Sure, before all of this happened last season, the obvious answer on who would Beef go with would be Alyson. Mostly because of how flirty she can be towards him and we see him oftentimes being attracted to her like what happened in the subplot of “Skidmark Holmes Adventure” or the entirety of “Can’t Hardly Date Adventure”. That and also their voice actors are married in real life.
Carissa was a dark horse that I didn’t expect she would be in the running before Season 4 when going into the subplot of “Cheese All That Adventure” and sure, last season was scattered shot because of how screwy the episodes are because of where episode is set when having to follow the production code. But as the previous season progresses and now, going into the new season, it’s an interesting relationship between two people who went through a divorce and right away, get on good terms as the season progressed before they reached Relationship City. And that was after Beef was nearly mauled by a bear when attempting to help his pick for Fat Bear Week cheat his way when feeling threatened by Axel, the donut shop owner. As for how long the relationship will last because we just now enter fresh into the new season... we’ll wait and see where this goes. But for now, Beef and Carissa make their way to the resort, and the mention of the TV telling the person about the hotel and what it got, not to mention, them planning on getting freaky on the bed. That’s more than enough to get Beef to get his mind off of what was supposed to be his weekend job.
We go back to Lone Moose at the docks and with Beef out of town, the plan takes effect for the family to do their best to fix the boat by themselves without having to rely on an expert shipwright. And everyone knows what they’re doing when fixing the boat and we see that in the montage to bypass through the first act of the episode. Whether it’s Honeybee removing the water that is flooded deep inside the boat, Judy putting in coating across the board, Moon spray washing what I’m guessing are barnacles off of the front, or Wolf fixing the engine while being pelted by empty beer cans by Dirt, apparently, they all did a good job to get the boat back up in shape. But hang on, where’s Ham in all of this? What was his part in fixing up the boat? Because we don’t see him in the montage and only see him before and after the whole thing was fixed. If I were to guess, it’s probably the EPRIB because it was one of the items that Wolf listed out from the list Beef wrote that is not seen but is surely patched up. Other than that, the boat is now patched up by the family and without having to rely on a shipwright like they’re Franky from One Piece. Doing a SUPER job without any hassle whatsoever.
And yes, we gotta talk about this. This caught me off-guard when having a fourth wall break coming from Moon. That wink to the camera when Judy and Ham brought up streaming packages after fixing up the boat and then you have Moon coming in with him saying “especially Hulu” and then giving a wink to the viewer. It’s like the cast and crew’s way of saying that they let everyone know that the show is on Hulu (or I guess Hulu on Disney+ now) and in my opinion, almost feels like a jab at FOX because that is what I thought because with the lack of promotion as of late and the scheduling department being a total car fire because they can’t get their heads straight to the point where, again, may feel like I’m might be going into conspiracy theorist mode, FOX is already fucking around with the show. Take it with a grain of salt, y’all. Take it with a grain of salt. It’s not like in the way of how The Owl House took a jab at Disney in “O Titan, Where Art Thou” where you have Eda telling Luz to take a break and go to the beach, only for Luz to strike back and say that if only they have more adventures but that didn’t happen in response to a shorten third and final season. It’s more in line with telling everyone that they’re available to stream and I guess telling the viewers that they probably do better at streaming than on the air. Just be thankful there’s no lower third to promote it because that would probably kill the joke like they’re borrowing the thing from Family Guy. Oh yeah, and uh...
The boat is gone going into the next morning. All that fixing, so much repairing to waste their... I guess Friday or Saturday, mainly Saturday, fixing the boat to look as good as new... gone. And it’s not looking good for the Tobins going into the next morning to go to the boat, probably waiting for Beef to arrive so they can surprise him with the repairs, that’s not gonna happen. Putting a lot of pressure on the Tobins over the boat’s mysterious disappearance. And no, the recent drone sightings didn't have something to do with it. Calm down. As if the aliens have something to do with it and yes, I do think it’s aliens. What other answer I can think of other than some random asshole doing it as a potential PR stunt like it’s the Moonite panic of 2007 leading up to the release of the Aqua Teen movie.
Edna checks the scene hours later to see the missing boat from the docks. Quite the full circle we got here for the family that years ago, the actual Kathleen left the family, and now, the boat named after her mysteriously disappeared as if someone stepped in and stole it Grand Theft Auto style when trying to get out of dodge from the law. That doesn’t seem the case once one of the members decides to come clean over what happened and something that just now weighing him down the moment they spotted the boat missing from the docks.
That person is Moon. Feeling guilt all across his body and tells his family and Edna about what happened that led to the boat’s disappearance. According to Moon, he forgot to attach the docking lines, that being the ropes that hold the boat down from having it go on its own, you have probably seen it when going kayaking in the waters, but it’s the ropes to attach so the boat won’t go off on its own, similar to an anchor except it’s lighter in weight, because Moon was worn out after doing his part of cleaning and fixing the boat that he didn’t bother putting out the docking lines. So, it’s not a good look for Moon after forgetting to do that, and if the thief did get an easy ride without having the docking lines installed... we might be looking at a potential Viking funeral for the Mighty Kathleen once it’s found. And it’s not just Moon who is feeling bad over the disappearance of the boat...
Because the rest of the Tobins sans Dirt and Honeybee are also feeling a sense of guilt over what happened. When the synopsis came out a few weeks ago upon learning about the sudden announcement of the premiere date of Season 5, you’d think that the episode would be them having a retrieval arc and going to find the boat, only to locate said boat badly damaged to the point where it has reached the point of no return before Beef’s arrival back to Lone Moose from his trip with Carissa. That doesn’t seem to be the case and instead, much like last season’s premiere, we’re going into anthology mode where this time around, it’s to create an alibi for the event Beef comes back so they can come up with an excuse for what happened to the boat without having to upset the patriarchal member of the Tobin family. Speaking of Beef before we get to the first anthology story of the episode...
He seems to enjoy himself in his first full day at the resort. Feeling the comfort of the hotel’s robe and looking at himself in the mirror while Carissa is minding her business reading a magazine, also wearing a robe. So it looks like Wolf might as well eat his own words because he thought that Beef would not be happy because he’s far and away from his precious boat but in actuality in this scene, quite the opposite. He seems to feel a bit relaxed and enjoying his time at the hotel as if it’s his first time at the place. Especially when spending time with Carissa. And knowing that they’re wearing robes... y’all already know where this is going. Other than that, it’s story time with who might as well be Tobin’s most wanted, the newly-elected champion of the voting tournament, Moon.
The story starts with the Tobins and Honeybee cleaning and repairing the boat while Beef is away on his trip. The same as what we saw in the montage and have no problems whatsoever. That was until they all dealt with a nuisance invading the waters while cleaning and repairing the boat. A giant nuisance to be exact. Revealing to be a pod of whales invading the waters by the docks. So you have to ask yourself, why whales? Well, go back to the start of the episode when bringing up the supposed plan for Beef to take everyone whale watching in the event the boat does not currently deteriorate regarding the condition. Also, who knows if the boat does get lost and have to face the worst-case scenario where the boat does get damaged and it’s the whales that did the dirty deed as we saw at the start of the story with the Tobins seeing one of the fodder boats going overboard like it’s... y’all remember that news story last year where the orcas attacked boats, primarily yachts that belonged to rich people? Yeah, it’s like that but instead of rich folk, it’s everyday day who is also joining in on catching fade.
Ending the first act of the episode and going into the second with Moon’s story already kicking off and the waters of Lone Moose get thrown into chaos. An invasion of whales disrupts the waters, preventing people from using their boats and not giving people a shot for them to swim, creating havoc. Chief Edna asks Mayor Peppers what to do when having to deal with a threat like a whale invasion because Moon’s story is based on the movie Jaws, he’s gonna be that one mayor in any movie to tell everyone that they’re not a threat, they’re being playful, the water is safe to go in and go on with your day. The same way you see a gallon of milk that has passed its expiration date but think it’s good to go anyway because you don’t want to throw it away, not knowing the consequences that come with it. Hence, you see Santiago in the story getting chewed by the whale like a freaking shark and ends up becoming a statistic. Great job on telling the status of the water despite dealing with the ongoing invasion of whales with them being treated like... well... bullies. A+ politicking. Ooh, boy, the next four years are gonna be a wild ride.
The chaos of the whale invasion that is currently taking over the waters of Lone Moose captures the attention of a group that is named, according to Moon, the “Evil Guy Whale Elimination Service”, which is pretty much a fancy way of saying whale poachers in this story. And the whale invasion is pretty much free eats for those guys for them to poach. Moon tries to tell Mayor Peppers to tell those guys to stand down because poaching the whales isn’t going to help everyone, mostly the whales themselves, to leave the area. Especially because some whales are endangered, so who knows if the whales who are wreaking havoc in the waters by the docks are the endangered kind?
So, it looks like it’s up to Moon to step up and save the day. Having to serve as an alternative and hoping to beat out the whale poachers before reaching to their first whale for them to capture. And knowing that this is Moon’s story and we all know about his love for nature, especially the animals, regardless if it’s the land or the sea, he has to be the hero in this shit for him to save the whales so he can stop the chaos from taking over. His solution? To lure the whales, he has to become the whale. I know it’s dumb but this is Moon’s story after all. Going from Jaws to Free Willy in a matter of seconds.
Whether it’s him going to the gym and having to quickly learn to speak whale while being on a treadmill and having to dress up as a whale, ditching the typical bear onesie for a whale, because you have to get yourself ready for the big moment to arrive, especially when having to wear a whale suit, and nothing wrong with a little exercising and burning some calories while having to quickly learn a language in preparation for the big event...
To yes, having Quinn as his wife with him kissing her on the cheek goodbye with her giving Moon a briefcase for him to take as if he’s being shipped out to war. And by a random house instead of the Tobin’s as if they got married and I get that it’s Moon’s story, it’s all made up, it’s all in his imagination, but still, gotta paint the reality of all of this when trying to make sense into all of this. But a random house instead of the Tobin’s and I could be wrong here that the house in this story is supposed to be Quinn’s, as in this is supposed to be the first time we see what Quinn’s home looks like, outside of course. So Moon makes his way to the docks after quickly learning the whale language and kissing Quinn on the cheek goodbye as if she might never see him again, and now... the moment of truth.
Moon takes over the mantle of the Mighty Kathleen and decides to take the whales with him. And how does he do that? Remember the snack that Moon ate at the start of the episode, the Snackritos? Yeah, that’s the snack brand that Moon is baiting the whales to leave the waters and out of the poachers’ radar. Especially the Ragin’ Cajun Slammin’ Salmon Po’Boy because that is what Old Jody Jr fed the whales and again, not a marine biologist, not the food you should give to whales or any animal for that matter. Moon thinks it’s a good idea to give the whales the chips because of the one flavor that causes them to fall in love with the snack and if you think it’s the salmon... it’s not. It’s not the salmon that got the whales’ attention, it’s rage. As in the Ragin’ Cajun with the ragin’ part serving as bait.
And that is what is exactly what Moon is doing when carrying a giant ass bag of Snackritos, probably the size of Texas. I’m not kidding, look how fucking big that bag is. Family size my ass, that is fucking huge that should at least hold off the first week or two in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. But the bait seems to be working for Moon to get the whales to follow him away from the docks and if that’s not enough, he decides to give the whales something to drink to wash away the chips, a brand called Code Chill, which is the show’s equivalent of Mountain Dew, so Moon is pretty much on that snack and drink made for gamers and stoners, but hey, at least the bait worked... there should be a label at the end of the episode that should tell the viewer to not try it at home because I’m pretty sure you can’t give a whale or any animal something like the show’s version of spicy Doritos.
The story comes to a close with Moon making his escape after for some reason, it exploded because of the soda having to serve as a ticking time bomb as if a dozen pieces of Mentos dropped into the bottles, hoping for it to explode as missiles for a science project. Turned the Mighty Kathleen into rubble and for Moon, lucky enough, Quinn came in clutch to save Moon from landing hard into the open waters thus, making his hero exit to close his story. First story down and yeah, Judy has a point when making some notes. There is no way in hell Beef would ever believe that because that story has some people in town involved and there’s no way they’ll follow through. So, back to square one on how to create an alibi to save the family’s skin over the disappearance of the family boat and hope Beef does not come back home disappointed upon hearing the news. Speaking of Beef...
He continues to act like a little kid enjoying his time at the hotel with this time around collecting ice from the ice machine and into his and Carissa’s bucket. I mean... can you really blame him? Look at him. He is having the time of his life as of this moment and for once, he’s not thinking about the boat. His mind is at total ease and for once in his life, he’s not thinking about the stress over the concern of the cost or anything. Just be thankful that he didn’t find out right away as if the bat signal had not been activated inside his head over the status of the Mighty Kathleen because otherwise, it would cut the trip short but it would also put the rest of the family on blast. Anyway, back to the storytelling and it’s Wolf’s turn to take the mantle to close out the first half of the episode.
Parodying Back to the Future with Wolf as Marty McFly and Dirt as Doc Brown. Is it weird that I have never seen the films, I await your hate messages in the DMs or comments in the comment section, but somehow know how the premise works... mostly the two main characters because they’re well known in pop culture and I guess the sole reference to why we ended up with Rick and Morty. Anyway, Dirt, as Doc, created a time-traveling boat similar to the DeLorean to the year 1999, mostly to give Wolf a task to take a picture to prove that time travel is real (and hopefully not get on the government’s radar) while at the same time, getting quickly interrupted by Dorothy to get them to donate a few change to save the Dock Tower. Other than that, Wolf knows the plan and heads on to the last year before the change of the millennium. Ending the first half of the episode with Wolf finally arriving in Lone Moose in 1999 and about to take a photo of what the town looked like back in the day without having to rely on a TikTok video to see what life was like in the said year. He loses the phone in what would’ve been his only source and searches for the phone... only to be stopped by a young Beef who asks him for some help. And knowing time travel, you can’t fuck up the past because it would fuck up the present. So... yeah, that’s the end of the first half of the episode with Wolf fainting when having to see a younger version of his father in his own eyes.
And now, going into the second half of the episode, Wolf wakes up in a room inside the Tobin household that would soon be Wolf’s room and later Ham’s and sees a young Beef once again and finds out that he was the one who dragged him to the household after that fainting scene. Wolf formally meets a young Beef and the same goes for a young Brian, which... what kind of haircut is that on Brian? I get that it’s 1999 and that’s one of the hairstyles that I guess it’s popular back in the day, but good God man. Beef introduces himself and Brian to Wolf with Wolf introducing himself to them but comes close to revealing his actual last name even though he could say that it’s a common name because there are a lot of people who have different last names and are not related by blood. But no, Wolf has to create a fake last name and make him as if he’s visiting the town from France as he presumes. As well as not giving away stuff that happened after 1999 like saying rest in peace to Steve Irwin when looking at a poster of him, referring to his death in 2006 after a sting ray impaled him, to mentioning COVID without having to go into details about the disease that ruined our 2020 plans.
Wolf has breakfast with the younger versions of Beef and Brian and this is where we get the revelation that got some here scratching some heads and it’s about the fate of two people that we haven’t seen their faces in this show when talking about Beef’s past. We’re talking about his and Brian’s parents whom Wolf and later Beef are referring to when talking at the breakfast table. Now... we all know that Beef and Brian’s parents... well, next to Kathleen, they’re not great parents. Having to join a cult and getting into trouble with the law as if they’re Alaska’s version of Bonnie and Clyde. Hence, why they had to be under the care of Delmer growing up. It’s not a great moment for the Tobins when having to grow up without having parents around but just be thankful that they didn’t drag them to be in their cult, and I do hope if Wolf and Honeybee do have themselves a kid, hopefully he can break the cycle. Just putting it out there. But other than that, Beef and Brian have the house to themselves, and sure, knowing that they’re young, they’re in high school, Delmer would have to check in from time to time, not knowing that another Tobin is living far in the back inside her bunker and participate in the Amelia Earhart challenge. But then comes what Wolf said to them and it’s referring to their graves.
The graves, of course, parked by the Tobin household that we saw at the end of “Doctor? No! Adventure” where Beef has every member of the Tobin family, well, everyone but Dirt because this was settled long before Dirt was found, and you see the graves in the back of the main family that you can’t see their names because it is in the far back. Yeah, two of those graves in the back have to belong to the parents of Beef and Brian. And if that is the case in what Wolf is saying to the two boys, then it would imply that they might’ve died either during or after their high school days, though unclear if that happened if it’s like before or after Wolf was born because he came into the world when Beef was only 19, but if that is, then uh... wow. Okay, so that happened. Don’t know how they died but I can tell that I guess being in a cult does have massive consequences, especially with doomsday cults. But goddamn, man. That took a bit of a dark turn for a bit. Anyways, Beef has plans with Kathleen since he doesn’t have a curfew, meaning that they can go wild... oh boy, Wolf, knowing what it’s like having to go through what happened in his early days, he can already see the red flag once Beef brought up his date later in the day.
Instead of letting Beef go on his date with Kathleen, Wolf decides to take Beef around to some future father-son activities to get his mind off of Kathleen. Going fishing on the river, getting some ice cream, and going on a nice, relaxing walk without having to mess things up that could affect the future even though it feels like he’s doing that anyway by not letting Beef go with Kathleen as planned but Wolf had to do it because again, he knows the red flag because of how he had to endure what happened in his early days. Also, Judy... can’t catch a break in this episode because Wolf brings up that this is long before she (and Ham being nine months apart) were born and apparently was on some Tammy Larsen timing with Wolf accusing Judy of having a fart that could pose a threat to birds whenever they fly by.
Other than that, a nice little walk with Wolf already spoiling the future to a young Beef with him telling his soon-to-be-father about a moment in time when he would purchase a boat that would soon become The Mighty Kathleen with Delmer’s help. And speaking of the devil, Kathleen, a younger version of Kathleen, rears her head and is upset that Beef didn’t meet up with her. And to avoid everything that would transpire that would result in going through the childhood from hell, Wolf decides to shove Beef into the bush and does the same thing he did with Beef earlier with Kathleen as if he’s doing some mother-son bonding...
But NOT that KIND of bonding once Wolf and Kathleen make their way to the bench with Kathleen already drunk after what I guess drank too much of the booze. Yeah... the first episode of the new season and already, things went off the fucking chains with Kathleen trying to bone Wolf, repeat, trying to bone his future son while not knowing that was him from the future. I know that Kathleen is unhinged and out of control and has committed one too many affairs while being with Beef up until running off with her lover Marcus to Pittsburgh right after Moon was born... but holy fucking Christ, man. Once again, I’ve never seen any of the Back to the Future films but why do I get the feeling that happened in the film? But yeah, Wold decides to get rid of Kathleen because she doesn’t want Beef to continue to be with her knowing how fragile Beef is, and decides to bait her out of town by tying a bottle of liquor at the back of the bus and, of course, the bait works. Kathleen is out of Beef’s life and for Wolf to make his way out... except for him not being able to capture a photo that Doc Dirt asked him to and now, creating a butterfly effect once he returns to the present.
And yes, a bit of a chuckle there with the Tobin kids disappearing for a bit after realizing that Wolf in his story messes with the past and creates a future where they don’t exist, leaving only Honeybee and Dirt on their own before the kids appear once more. Knowing the consequences of time travel, especially when having to go and protect Beef from a potential heartbreak from Kathleen and again, Wolf knows it because he had to endure it throughout his life along with the rest of the Tobin kids when Kathleen was around. But uh... that’s the end of story number two from Wolf and where it ranks in the what the fuck scale with that one scene with Wolf and Kathleen with Kathleen attempting to solicit Wolf without even realizing that’s her kid from the future... knocking on the door towards the level where we might be playing the few seconds of the verse to Sweet Home Alabama. Gonna need a pallet cleanser from what just transpired, so...
We check back at Beef and Carissa to see how they’re doing. Once again, Beef feels himself relaxed at the resort where this time around, enjoying a nice round of drinks next to Carissa while bathing in a hot tub with random strangers. He seems to be enjoying his time there at the resort without having to worry about the shape or whereabouts of the bot. And if you think there’s going to be some moment in time where Beef would notice the missing boat parked or washed up by the docks of the resort... hate to say it, that did not happen. Sorry for bursting y’all’s chops.
Going back to the main plot and if y’all thought Judy or Ham would get a turn in taking the storytelling mantle after Moon and Wolf did theirs when having to create their respective alibis... not gonna happen. Judy was supposed to tell her story about what happened to the boat with her as a mime named Payaso, only for the family to say “fuck no” to her because no one wants to hear it. Especially since we only have less than six minutes left in the episode. And the same goes for Ham when planning to tell his story, which is a bedtime story that Beef told about a pig who had to invest in real estate... that story goes to the slaughterhouse because that too will not be told probably due to time and also not helping their case with the boat. And it’s not like Dirt was going to tell her version because she was just minding her business. Besides, she’ll probably blame the Russians for “stealing” The Mighty Kathleen.
So now, it’s Honeybee’s turn to take the mantle. And instead of having to let the imagination take over and having to rely on parodying a random movie or TV show, ending the third act of the episode and going into the fourth and final act, she decides to slap some sense towards the Tobins and decides to give them a permission slip because it’s time to take the Tobins to a feels trip. And yes, this all ties into what Honeybee had been suggesting since the start of the episode with her jumping to conclusions that the boat needs to be replaced.
Entering Honeybee’s story in this episode with Delmer taking Beef to a boat shop, where in this story, it’s not a yard and instead, it’s a pet shop because like pets, taking care of a boat is the same as a pet. Boatloads, pun intended, of responsibility as the boat that would become The Mighty Kathleen happily sees Beef when entering the store as if they want to be adopted the same way you see a dog at a pet shop or animal shelter getting excited that they’ll get their shot in getting adopted and to live in a forever home.
Now I have to say, out of the three stories from this episode, this was pretty much the highlight. There’s no debate about it. The change of character sort of resembles the style of Infinity Train or at least that’s my guess. And as of this moment, we got no answer on what the story is based on. The closest answer when having to describe what the story is based on is any of the Ghibli films. Any of the Ghibli films that I guess is what they’re trying to capture with the closest, or at least that I heard from the live stream, is the movie Ponyo. Yeah, I really need to expand my movie-viewing watchlist if I were to get a lick of sense to any of the references that were being thrown at me. But it’s the closest possible answer to describe what the story is being told by Honeybee is supposed to be based on with Beef and the boat.
Other than that, it’s a good telling of a story in what is pretty much Honeybee’s attempt to convince the Tobins to come clean to Beef and to tell him that it’s time to face the music. Good animation that was used when describing the story of The Mighty Kathleen like it’s a pet. From adopting the boat from the boat store to riding on it in the open waters and showing time progressing, especially with Wolf, Ham, Judy, and Moon popping up since the boat was there throughout the family’s history and it’s nice to see them in their younger selves and what they look like in the pre-canon of the show, even if it was there for a bit. I know that people say that it’s emotional as if it’s an emotional scene for the show and I can see why because the boat has been around since the very beginning and seeing the boat in this story is like having a pet and if you’re a pet owner, you can see why.
Especially when getting to the end of the story where we are now with the boat situation before it mysteriously disappeared. Getting old, conditions getting worse as time progresses, especially with each time it’s getting repairs to keep it sturdy, and now having to make a difficult choice of whether or not to let it go or have the thing break down and about to enter the point of no return. And that’s what Beef in the story as told by Honeybee did. He has to let go. A difficult decision that he to make to let go of the boat has been around throughout all of Beef’s adult life and now... ooh boy, the end of an era as advertised by the show’s creators. And yes, the Molyneuxs decided to do the impossible by making y’all feel emotional over a freaking fracking boat.
It’s like with the Going Merry from One Piece. That was a staple in the franchise as the first-ever ship for the Straw Hats went through a lot since the end of the Syrup Village Arc all the way to having it to be decommissioned by the end of the Enies Lobby Arc. The Water 7 Arc revealed that the Going Merry was on its last leg when finding out that the ship was beyond repair, causing a fallout between Luffy and Usopp that lasted all the way to, of course, the end of Enies Lobby Arc after defeating CP9 and saving both Robin and Franky. The episode when watching the anime during its second Toonami run on Adult Swim, the Merry’s funeral... oh boy, that was an emotional gut punch. To the point where at one point that this moment got the series creator Eiichiro Oda weeping, though that was just speculation and I wanna guess that’s what the Molyneuxs were aiming for with this episode with The Mighty Kathleen.
It got the Tobin kids emotional over hearing Honeybee’s story... hell, it got Dirt emotional and she’s a newer character to the show who doesn’t give a damn. And now, the rest of the Tobins are in agreement with Honeybee... it’s time to let go and hope for Beef, once he returns from his trip with Carissa, to face the music. Thought we would have a Viking funeral with the Mighty Kathleen but I feel like it would probably mirror what Teddy did at the end of “Sea Me Now” and set the boat on fire with his flare gun. And the same would go with Beef if that ever happened but didn’t. But do you know how many emotions it would be? That would be the ultimate kick in the nuts on an emotional level to kick off the new season and on Christmas (and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa) of all holidays to place to air. And the Molyneuxs are the reason why I feel emotional about “The Amazing Rudy”.
So now, going into the two-minute warning of the episode and the family awaits for Beef to arrive back home at the docks. Ready to come clean about what happened and to tell him to accept the fact that The Mighty Kathleen is gone-zo and even if it was brought back, it’s beyond repair and already at the point of no return. Beef returns to Lone Moose from the resort with Carissa on her boat and comes across his family and Honeybee, all having guilt in their eyes, with the family coming clean about what happened with them attempting to repair the boat and was going to surprise him with the boat being good to go, only to lose the boat and tell Beef to face the facts that the boat is already at the point of no return if they do find it. All this without hesitation and without having to upset Beef because they know how fragile Beef is because The Mighty Kathleen is pretty much his kid. A member of the family. And it’s the news that Beef doesn’t want to deal but has no other choice. Except for one thing...
Beef doesn’t seem too upset about it. He doesn’t seem to be upset about what he is hearing from his family about what happened to the boat. Not one sad emotion from him or him having to crash out because... get this, he sold the boat. Yes, Beef sold The Mighty Kathleen. And if you think that he would hesitate about the decision because he treats the boat like it’s a member of the family, especially after overhearing the conversation between his family and Honeybee, mostly because they spoke too loud, that is what I thought going into this episode but he didn’t He just sells the boat to a new owner named Gary Gubbins. And with the name Kathleen for The Mighty Kathleen since it was named after her, this was pretty much the last staple of her grip on the family as the family continued to move on from what happened in the past. So, out goes The Mighty Kathleen and enter...
The Anal Breeze, sorry... the Canal Breeze or until the Tobins decide to come up with a new name but going forward, we got a new boat. Changing the status quo and if that is the reason why the intro has not been updated in this episode, then I'm guessing this was their plan because they need to get rid of the old boat so once the new episode drops, probably in February the week after the Super Bowl, so that the new boat will be included into the said intro as well as including Dirt since she is pretty much a part of the main cast now. And with that, it’s the end of an era for The Mighty Kathleen that stuck around since the very beginning of the series back in 2021, and now, in the remaining days of 2024 going into 2025, welcome to the Anal/Canal Breeze/whatever name of the new boat era of the show. Kinda like with the loft bed in Louise’s room or the sinkhole having to be patched up going into Season 13 after the movie. All and all, it’s the end of an area and the start of a new one, even if it has to start with an okay episode.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week’s episode of The Great North? It’s an okay episode and an okay way to start the new season. It’s not bad but it’s not great either despite the change of status quo going forward with the changing of the boats for the Tobins going into the new season. It’s just like last season’s premiere, it started off okay but it’s not bad, but it’s not great either. Pretty much the middle of the road but with this episode, it’s Honeybee’s story that had to serve as the Hail Mary.
Honeybee’s story was the highlight when having to survive through Wolf and Moon’s respective stories and the style and animation there were good and also tried their best to get you to feel emotional when having to say goodbye to a staple that stuck around since the beginning of the series. The subplot with Beef and Carissa was enjoyable, mostly with Beef acting like a kid in a candy shop when enjoying the things that are I guess new to him like wearing a robe, getting ice from the ice machine, and enjoying the pressure of the hot tub that isn’t from his brother who is in the hot tub business. And the fourth wall break by Moon was unexpected but I guess necessary when having to tell the viewers that they’re available on Hulu as if they do better there than being on the air on TV.
Other than that, an okay episode because it has to be an anthology episode much like with last season but this time around, having to rely on a Hail Mary to save it along with a few enjoyable moments that didn’t downplay the whole thing. I guess similar to “Interview with a Pop-pop-pire” from Bob’s Burgers with Big Bob’s story of the tree incident and having to see a glimpse of Lily... ’s legs as the Hail Mary. And yeah, as advertised earlier this year from Comic-Con, it’s the end of the era for one boat and the start of a new one with the new boat once the new episode airs. So I’ll give “The Lies Aquatic Adventure”...
A 6 out of 10. But that’s my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below in what is pretty much the longest episode review that I have done in a while. No new Great North episodes until, of course, later in the Winter but we have a new Bob’s Burgers this upcoming Sunday taking its place as either the last episode review of 2024 or the first one of 2025 with “Advice Things are Ad-Nice”.
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