Review: The Great North “Keep Beef-lievin’ Adventure”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Moon is amazed when he discovers a trail of Bigfoot tracks around his broken into bait box. Alas, it turns out to be merely Honeybee’s little brother Jerry come to pay her a visit… or is it more than that?
Beef sets out to make sure Moon keeps his childhood whimsy while Wolf and Honeybee make sure that Jerry knows what he wants to do with his life and isn’t just copying his older sister to find his own happiness.
Our Take:
After seven episodes, The Great North is finally giving us a chance to get to know the full Moon. That’s right, Keep Beef-lievin’ Adventure may share a name with the Tobin patriarch, but this is an episode where Moon gets to take centerstage. And while I think the show loses a little spark without Judy taking up more screen time, I ended up liking Moon a bit more than before.
Moon has always been one of my least favorite characters since the show began. With his expressionlessly monotone voice and lack of distinguishing characteristics (apart from his permanent bear costume a la Louise), he’s seemed like a blank slate. This episode gives him some shading though, as we see his school life and his love and appreciation for the more whimsical parts of life, namely Bigfoot belief. One of the sweetest parts of the episode is when Beef sings his grown-up zone song about how he wants his youngest kid to stay imaginative despite growing up.
In the B-plot, Honeybee has to deal with her little brother and his lack of a solid life plan. Jerry is a fun character to have around, and his presence makes the show a little less of a Tobin-centric affair. He doesn’t really stand out in any way yet, but his willingness to help Beef with his Bigfoot sighting scheme is a nice way to wrap things up this week, if a little too neatly.
Keep Beef-lievin’ Adventure is a bit of an odd duck in the show’s run so far. Judy is absent for much of the episode, allowing other, more overlooked family members to have their moments in the spotlight. It’s a good opportunity to learn more about what makes Moon tick, and while he still isn’t one of my favorites, I’m glad to say the episode did make me appreciate his weirdness a little more.
