Season Review: The Great North Season One

Coming from some of the great minds behind fellow FOX show Bob’s Burgers, The Great North was launched at the start of this year with considerable fanfare. Created in large part by Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux, it’s a show that’s about a familiar subject (family) placed in unfamiliar territory (Alaska). It’s no secret that Bob’s Burgers was a big influence. Both shows feature that same snappy style of humor with an overload of wacky banter, and of course, the Molyneux sisters have written for Bob’s since early on in its lifespan. But does it pack enough power to stand out on its own in the frigid landscape of animated television?

Yes and no. In its first season, which consists of just 11 episodes, there are some highlights where the show covers fresh topics that are rarely seen on this kind of show (like the Tobin’s relationship with their absent mother or Honeybee’s assimilation into her crazy new family). However, there are also places where it struggles to set itself apart when compared with its spiritual sibling. Moon, the youngest sibling, started off striking me as a cheap copy of Louise, even down to his overly mature dialogue and the always-present headgear.

It can be difficult to root for characters that you barely know, but The Great North does an admirable job getting viewers to root for and identity with the Tobin family and their friends — at least for the most part. It’s hard to say definitively that any single member of the family is the ‘main’ protagonist, but Judy probably comes the closest so far after the first eleven episodes. She’s the most enjoyable one to watch at this point for me, with equal parts hilariously silly and uncomfortably relatable. Jenny Slate’s vocal work contributes a lot here, as her Judy voice is just grating enough to sound believable for a teen without crossing the line into getting annoying.

Other standout characters from the first season include Beef, Wolf, and Honeybee. Beef is the Tobin father, and he fills out a lot of the classic dad tropes like being super handy and also surprisingly emotional once he stops suppressing his feelings. Not only is Beef a funny family patriarch, but he’s also voiced by Nick Offerman, so that in itself makes him pretty great. Wolf and Honeybee are super interesting as well, mainly because they’re both very strong young adult characters who are dealing with topics like marriage and starting off on their own two feet in the adult world, both of which make for engaging storylines.

The Great North’s debut season covered a lot of ground. It introduced a large cast of family members while also letting a few guest stars get their chances to shine in the spotlight. There were plenty of solid episodes in this first season, like when Judy got her dad back into the dating scene or the season finale where Wolf and Honeybee finally tie the knot. There were also a few episodes that felt like let-downs, such as Wolf and Moon teaming up to search for avocado for an entire episode. The Great North may still give off a cold shoulder at times, but it’s going to have plenty of opportunities to thaw out, as it’s already been renewed for two more seasons. I’d have to say it’s more of a ‘Good North’ right now, but hopefully more time with the Tobin family will allow me to call it ‘great’ without reservations.