Review: The Great North “The Yawn of the Dead Adventure”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Moon, Judy, and Ham try to survive Alaska’s darkest and spookiest day of the year. Meanwhile, Wolf and Honeybee attempt to replace Beef’s favorite shirt.

Our Take:
If The Simpsons‘ ghoulish tales aren’t enough to terrify you, then maybe the Alaskan family might have something to shake your bones with fright. Animation Domination continues our night of ghosts and ghouls with the first-ever Halloween-themed episode of Fox’s latest animated hit. Despite having the word “yawn” in the title, this spooky tale is guaranteed to keep you awake for a good 30 minutes.
The plot of this episode sees Judy, Ham, and Moon facing a scary dilemma at their school after hearing Wolf’s story about Lumber Zombies, mindless beings who were created years ago to work nonstop. When the school has a blackout, Judy and the other students notice that the rest of the staff are missing, resulting in them believing that the teachers are kidnapping the kids and turning them into zombies.

This episode served as a test to see if the show is brave enough to develop more holiday-related stories in the future, mainly the ones set on Halloween. Luckily, it proved itself worthy to take on that challenge. However, it did suffer from the “misunderstanding” formula that has been done numerous times in other sitcoms. The execution towards its formula was still enjoyable regardless as it delivered plenty of solid comedy to help itself survive against its predictability. It also showcased Judy and Ham learning to let Moon grow up as part of the show’s ever-lasting family charm. I got to say, Moon’s quite brave for a 10-year-old who wears a bear onesie all the time.

The only two elements that I enjoyed the most were the subplots that occurred while Judy and the students survive the “zombie apocalypse”. One subplot has Wolf and Honeybee replacing Beef’s favorite shirt by competing in a shrimp-eating challenge, and the other has Beef sleeping through the day. It was very amusing for me to see Wolf and Honeybee eating the shrimp and suffering from hallucinations. Even though the sleeping Beef moments weren’t as exciting as the shrimp challenge and the school blackout, the dreams he had were pretty comical. I think the gag that got me laughing the most was the bait-and-switch sequence in which Beef finished his nap and making his bed, only to find out that he was still dreaming. I liked this type of humor because of the unexpectedness and timing of the scenario, and I’m glad that it still worked well in this episode.

Overall, the “Yawn of the Dead” episode offered nothing we haven’t seen before regarding its formula. Still, it delivered enough protection to keep itself from being zombie food. The subplots involving shrimp and “The Beef Sleep” were the only two things that entertained me regarding the humor and direction. Not bad for the show’s first Halloween special.