Review: The Great North “The Prince of Hides Adventure”

Overview

Wolf finally gets cast on the local Alaskan survival show Dropped Off To Die, but when he’s out early, his shame leads him to sneak home and hide on the Tobin property instead.

Our Take

Even though we had to wait an extra week to get the season five premiere of The Great North, the wait was well worth it. While most animated comedies have done some form of parody on reality shows it seems prudent that given the climate that the Tobins call home that they should probably be allotted more leash for a common trope given that dozens of reality TV shows seem to find themselves up in Alaska. In fact, there are so many reality shows that end up there, I wouldn’t be surprised if A&E Networks had an office there just for safe keeping.

Never unwilling to pull back the curtains of show business, this week’s The Great North couldn’t help but get a few licks at the reality show business as a whole, both in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes, but not before heading into a whole Wolf-centered episode that allows us to spend an ample amount of time with one of the most talented actors in the world with Will Forte. The long-time SNL-er really showcases is incredible talents here especially when his character Wolf starts to go off-the-grid.

Another name that needs to be mentioned here, Nick Offerman’s take as Beef. Anyone going into this show expecting a burly-man with the sexual acumen of his Parks and Recreation Ron Swanson will eventually be whisked away into the much more civil and contrite animated character that features so much warmth it helps soothe the frigid temps of our Alaskan-setting, it really is quite incredible to watch.

Sometimes we take for granted the level of talent that is featured on The Great North just on a weekly basis. The nuanced performances that come as a result of the show growing into it’s illustrious cast helps the show stave off monotony, even with a common trope such as this, and delivers a well-delivered effort that has me excited to see what else is coming the rest of this season.