Season Review: Central Park Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Bitsy Brandenham wants to own Central Park. And because she’s an incredibly rich elderly woman who comes from a wealthy family, she’s got a pretty good chance at getting it, too. The only thing standing in her way is Owen Tillerman, the man currently in charge of running the park for the city.

Owen and his family also live in a cool old castle house on the park grounds. He and his wife Paige, a journalist for an underground local newspaper, raise their two kids. Molly is the eldest, an imaginative artist who draws her own fantasies into comic book form. The younger child, Cole, is a free-spirited goofball who loves fantasy books, Home Alone 2, and singing about food.

Throughout the show, Bitsy comes up with scheme after scheme in an effort to get control of the park. From putting an end to garbage collection to hiring a graffiti artist to deface the trees, Bitsy will stop at nothing to get her way. Owen is always one step behind, but nevertheless usually wins the day. Paige investigates the story throughout the season, eventually leading her to Bitsy’s door. Molly is also dragged in thanks to her crush on a kite-flying boy who happens to be related to the Brandenham’s. There’s always some trouble afoot in the park, but together, the Tillerman’s always manage to defeat it while keeping it funky.

Our Take:

Central Park is the brainchild of Josh Gad, Nora Smith, and Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard. From such creative minds, it’s no wonder the end result is a show that’s warm, funny, and very offbeat. From a musical number about invading rats to an omniscient narrator who actually becomes a character in the story, the show carves out its own unique territory in the adult animation landscape.

The characters are the heart of any show, and Central Park is instantly grounded by the Tillerman family, who feel just weird enough to be real. Owen and Paige are modern day parents trying to juggle familial obligations alongside jobs of their own. Owen’s role as the park caretaker might be a more respectable occupation, but Paige is a mom who has goals and motivations of her own. Her job as a writer for a newspaper that’s off the radar is cool to see, and as she digs deeper into Bitsy’s plans, it’s fascinating to follow along as a viewer.

The kids themselves are a lot of fun, too. Molly is played by Kristen Bell, although the role is in the process of being recast for season two to give Molly an actor who more closely resembles the character herself. (Don’t worry, Bell will stick around in a new role.) Molly’s obsession with romance is cringy, but entertaining. Cole is probably the most unpredictable of the bunch, which makes his storylines always fun to follow. If I had any complaints about the main characters, it would be that they feel like a shadow of the Belcher clan from Bob’s Burgers: a straight-laced dad, a mom who’s a little offbeat, a young daughter focused on boys, and a oddball boy who always says the darndest things. It’s basically Bob’s Burgers set in Central Park, minus Louise.

A differentiating factor is the focus on a single overarching storyline throughout the ten episode run. Unlike other prime time animated shows that mainly go with a different source of conflict in every episode, Central Park takes us through Bitsy’s plotting in most of the first season, though there are several standalone episodes that don’t add much to the main plot.

At the end of its first season, Central Park is a sweet, musical show that’s a lot of fun. But I feel like it falls short of being the instant classic that Bob’s Burgers was upon its arrival. All of the characters are interesting, and the songs are great for the most part, but there is a little too much focus on the park plot without enough payoff. By the end of the final episode, we’re basically right back where we started. But when you consider the strengths of the series, maybe that’s enough. I just hope season two is a little more ambitious.