Overview (Spoilers Below):
The Tobin’s are headed to stay at an RV camp called Family Land for Father’s Day, but not everyone is super excited about the potential possibilities of the trip. Beef stayed there once a long time ago and was banished and branded as the Family Fiend for his role in blowing up the sewer lines and causing a major stink-fest. Once his family learns of this, they strive to gift their father the park’s forgiveness, but that’s easier imagined than actually earned—especially when Moon has a thing for skunks.
Our Take:
The season finale of The Great North is already upon us and it’s actually one of the favorite episodes of this recent run. Papa Don’t Fiend Adventure chronicles the tale of Beef’s return to an RV camp where he became known as a plague. It finds something funny for almost all of the family members to do, and it ends on a wholesome note that celebrates the absurdity of life… what could be better?
The initial setup of the episode is exciting from the outset because the family is somewhere different. An RV park full of weirdos is intriguing in itself, but combine that with the Tobin’s penchant for chaos and it becomes a very engaging premise. Once Beef is revealed to be the famous fiend, things get a bit more predictable, but it’s still fun because the episode really manages to take the jokes and turn them up a notch this time around.
I’m guessing because this was the season finale it got a little extra love in the writing process, and it really pays off. From Wolf trying to conduct a guerrilla marketing campaign in honor of his father to Judy attempting a weekend romance with a French Canadian, there’s a lot of like here in terms of comedic situations. Judy finishing off her date by winning the fart contest was so out of left field that it was really funny, and her attempts to say words like Cinnabon in a French accent were also great.
The one sibling who doesn’t really get much to do is Moon. His whole thing is basically just to set up the horrible, god-awful repeating history of an ending where the entire campsite learns to fear the Tobin family all over again. His kinship with the skunks is just kind of dumb and forced, and honestly after two episodes in a row I believe of seeing Moon without his hat, I’m ready for him to put it back on. Most of the show’s characters are designed pretty well, but ugh, Moon without a hat on is an exception.
Overall, Papa Don’t Fiend Adventure is a really solid finale for the season. The Great North has done better at finding its footing this time around I think, and this episode is a great example of how good the series can be when firing on all cylinders: a hilarious wacky romp about family and fatherhood.