Recap / Big City Greens S 2 E 15

The original Cricket and Tilly.

Greens' Acres

Set 30 years prior to the show, Bill tries to make enough money to keep the family farm from being sold.

"Greens' Acres" contains examples of:

• Advertised Extra: The descriptions and posts on Twitter heavily built up Nancy and Keys' roles; in the episode proper, Nancy doesn't appear until a whole six minutes into the episode, while Keys' role is just one brief scene in the arcade.
• All for Nothing: Alice's reasoning for selling part of her land is that it would go to a fellow farmer and not a city developer. Unfortunately, that farmer then sold the land to the city. Lampshaded by her family.
• All There in the Script: The credits list Nancy's dad's name as Nick.
• Animation Bump: The Episode Title Card is much more extensively detailed, done with glorious shading and lighting.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • A rock gets stuck in the thrasher and Bill tries to get it out with his bare hand. Fortunately, this isn't the accident that took Bill's finger, as Alice pulls him away in the nick of time.
  • When a young Russell Remington tackles Bill, Joe compliments him by saying he'll make a great police officer. A young Keys, standing next to them, decides this means he'll make a great police officer.
• Big "NO!": Bill screams this when Alice considers taking up Quisling's offer.
• Bittersweet Ending: Bill and Alice accept Quisling's offer, thus he fails to save the farm, downsizing it. Quisling eventually sold his plans to the developers of Big City causing it to be built around the house. But the good news is, nothing stopped Bill from staying away from Nancy, so they grew up together and gave birth to Cricket and Tilly, leading to the events of the show now.
• A Bloody Mess: One of the people Bill asks to do chores is a creepy man covered in what appears to be blood. After Bill runs away, the man whines that he'll have to squeeze all his tomatoes himself.
• Call-Forward: Several — Bill almost losing his finger to the thrasher, Bill meeting Nancy, Alice concerned that she'll lose her land to the city, and on and on.
• Con Man: Nancy is revealed to have been raised by one.
• Continuity Nod: It's now Bill's turn to save the farm.
• Everyone Went to School Together: This episode shows how Bill met his future wife Nancy. We also meet Remy's father and Officer Keys as children.
• Fake-Out Opening: The episode opens with Alice calling Bill to breakfast. It's only when Bill appears as a little kid that we realize the episode is taking place in the past.
• For Want Of A Nail: Had not Bill and Alice taken up Mr. Quisling's offer, then Big City wouldn't have expanded and built around the house, Bill would not have married Nancy, Cricket and Tilly wouldn't have been born, and none of the series' events would've occurred in the first place.
• Funny Foreigner: The German kid at the arcade with loads of money.
• How Dad Met Mom: The episode shows how Bill and Nancy met.
• Incredibly Lame Fun: Bill rejoices at getting "what every kid wants: more responsibility!"
• It's All My Fault: Bill's reaction in the end when he realizes the sacrifice he made to save the farm is what led to the events of today.
• Kick the Dog: Played with. Alice sends Bill to tears by cruelly banning him from farm duty after he almost loses a finger from the tractor.
• Meaningful Name: Small wonder that the name of the farmer who buys Alice's land and then sells it to the city is named Quisling.
• Momma's Boy: Bill's devoted to Alice and wants to do what he can to help her run the farm, though also because he wants to take it over someday.
• One-Steve Limit: Here we meet the owner of the arcade, Joe, but we've previously met Bill's old friend Good Ol' Joe.
• Parents as People: Alice is shown to have been raising Bill on her own for a while after Ernest Green died, and while she's trying to do her best it's clear the task of raising Bill and managing a farm on her own isn't easy. She can't handle all the chores by herself and there's only so much Bill can feasibly help her with, nor can she watch Bill all the time if she has to work too. By the end of the episode after she picks up Bill from the arcade, she finally vents her frustration and sense of hopelessness.
• The Reveal: Bill himself is responsible for Big City being built around the farm.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Alice implies Nancy has one toward Bill and warns him to stay away from her, but he doesn't listen. This might also be the reason why they divorced.
• Unreliable Narrator: The Greens at the end inform Alice of some things that were inaccurate to the story.
• Whole Episode Flashback: Except for the last scene, the entire episode takes place 30 years earlier.
• You Are Grounded!: When Alice sees Bill nearly lose his finger to the hay baler, she bans him from all farm work for the rest of his life. This may explain why Cricket doesn't like doing chores in some episodes.

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Slobs vs. Snobs: Doll edition.

Dolled Up

While at a tea party in a doll-making store to celebrate Saxon's birthday, Tilly attracts the attention of its posh VIP Cantaloupe Sinclair, while Cricket gets mistaken for a doll and Bill joins a dollhouse-making woodshop.

"Dolled Up" contains examples of:

• Actor Allusion: Ashton bears a strong physical resembleance to Marco Diaz. Both characters are voiced by Adam McArthur.
• Alpha Bitch: Cantaloupe Sinclair, an elite member of the doll store's membership club. She flaunts her position and treats others like her dolls, making them do whatever she wants.
• Beyond the Impossible: Bill is somehow able to make a dollhouse with working appliances and indoor plumbing from a single piece of wood.
• Birthday Episode: The episode is set on Saxon's birthday.
• Bottle Episode: The entire episode is set at the doll-making store the Greens visit.
• Broken Pedestal: Tilly is devastated when she realizes Cantaloupe always forces her members to do what she wants them to do, and calls her out for it.
• Control Freak: Cantaloupe is this. She treats her sidekicks and everyone around her like they're her dolls, and forces them to obey her rules.
• Creepy Child: The little girl who tries to take Cricket home thinking he's a doll. She's capable of screaming like a banshee and when given Bill's intricate dollhouse to sate her, she immediately smashes it to pieces for fun.
• The Door Slams You: Nancy gets hit by the kitchen door multiple times when at the table in the very back.
• Food Fight: One breaks out when Cantaloupe splashes her tea on Tilly, and Nancy retaliates with English muffins.
• Food Slap: Tilly stands up to Cantaloupe by splashing pretend tea on her doll. Cantaloupe then throws real tea at Tilly.
• Foreshadowing: Cantaloupe's controlling nature was hinted at from her very first appearance, when the hostess notices her and immediately lets her and her sidekicks into the High Socie-Tea room like she already knows what she wants her to do. She also asks Saxon to let her and her sidekicks in first, to which he immediately agrees on, and Nancy snubs at this.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: The idol in Bill's case being the dollhouse and Cricket being the friend.
• I've Heard of That — What Is It?: When Cantaloupe first appears, Tilly is surprised to see her, then she says confusingly, "Wait, I don't know who that is."
• Mama Bear: Nancy throws crumpets into Cantaloupe's face the moment Cantaloupe emptied a teapot on Tilly.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Tilly's reaction when she realizes Cantaloupe manipulated her into ditching Nancy to sit with her.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The three rich kids are this; Ashton is the shy and nervous nice one, Cantaloupe is the mean and controlling one, and Willow is the in-between.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Cantaloupe stands out from the rest of the cast due to having a visible eye color, when everyone else has the standard black eyes. She's only the second character to have this following Tilly's mermaid children audience in "Dream Weaver". She's also the second character to have a completely straight line of teeth after Zillon Brax.
• Packed Hero: Cricket is accidentally packed into a doll box and put on display. Gramma scares Cricket by pretending to not recognize him and try to sell him to a little girl.
• Rack Focus: Just before Tilly calls out Cantaloupe for her controlling behavior, the view shifts its focus from Cantaloupe to Tilly.
• Scale Model Destruction: The little girl Bill gave his dollhouse to breaks it apart moments later. Bill, who put his heart and soul into building it, can only shed a Single Tear
• Shout-Out: Lil' Ladies is obviously this world's equivalent of American Girl. Is also seems to be a dollified Build-a-Bear Workshop, or more specifically its defunct Distaff Counterpart Friends 2B Made.
• Slobs Versus Snobs: The slob in this point being Tilly, with Cantaloupe being the snob.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tilly gives this to Cantaloupe after Cantaloupe did all the manipulation on her and her friends.
  Tilly: You... You're a bad person! I can't believe I actually thought sittin' at your table was "cool."Here's how I feel about your fancy table." ("spills" the "tea") "SPLASH!"
  Cantaloupe: Genevieve!
  Tilly: Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head back to hang out with the coolest kid I know: my Mama.
• Tempting Fate: After hiding from Gramma in a doll assembly line, Cricket brags that no one can box him in. He is immediately put in a box with all the other dolls.
• Visual Pun: Cricket gets stuck in a box. He's literally boxed in.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After Willow is shooed off so Tilly can take her place, she is not seen again for the rest of the episode.
• The Worst Seat in the House: Nancy and Tilly are put on a table out in the back, next to the kitchen. Nancy keeps getting hit by the kitchen door.

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