Recap / Central Park S2E02 "Mother's Daze"

RECAP:
Index
Season One: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Season Two: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16
Season Three: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

Original release date: June 25, 2021

Written by: Chuck Tatham
Directed by: Tom King

♫ We're gonna give her the world
And every little anything that she deserves
We are gonna blow her frigging mind ♫

—Owen, "All About You"

During Mother's Day, Owen, Molly, and Cole try to give Paige the best day ever with Owen taking Paige for a walk in the park but uncovers a secret scavenger hunt and Molly and Cole try to find the perfect gift. With Helen taking a day off, Bitsy makes her hotel bartender quit because of her attitude.

Songs

• All About You - Owen, Molly, & Cole
  Written by: Taura Stinson
  Performed by: Leslie Odom Jr., Emmy Raver-Lampman, & Tituss Burgess
  Additional Vocals: Asmeret Ghebremichael & Yvette Nicole Brown
• Pour Poor Me More Please - Bitsy & Lionel
  Written by: They Might Be Giants
  Performed by: Stanley Tucci & Norm Lewis
  Additional Vocals: Andy Daly, Angie Jaree, Sally Stevens, Randy Crenshaw, Fletcher Sheridan, Lindsey Stoddart, Paul Rust, & Naomi Ekperigin
• This Is It/This Is It Reprise - Helen
  Written by: Taura Stinson
  Performed by: Daveed Diggs
  Additional Vocals: David Herman, Angie Jaree, Sally Stevens, Randy Crenshaw, Fletcher Sheridan, & Asmeret Ghebremichael
• Promise - Paige, Molly, Cole, & Owen
  Written by: Jess Furman & Alana Da Fonseca
  Performed by: Kathryn Hahn, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Tituss Burgess, & Leslie Odom Jr.

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Tropes:

• The Bartender: "Poor, Pour Me More Please" is entirely about this concept as Lionel and the customers explain to Bitsy how the former acts as a confidant for his patrons who helps out when they need it.
• The Cameo: When Owen meets Paige at the Untermeyer Fountain, Glorious Gary can be seen skating with his mother.
• Crappy Homemade Gift: Deconstructed in an actual positive way. Molly and Cole realize that even though these types of gifts are tacky, they make most mothers happy because instead of store-bought gifts, these homemade gifts are supposed to be thoughtful, creative, and personal.
• Closest Thing We Got: After Lionel quits to work at the Dagmont, Bitsy has a bellhop take Lionel's position but the bellhop tells her he doesn't know how to make drinks and he's a Mormon. When he tries to make his first drink, he accidentally knocks over jar full of maraschino cherries and spills the drink out of the cocktail shaker.
• The Dog Bites Back: Lionel, the hotel bartender, quits after having enough of her abuse and decides to work at Dagmont Hotel, and all his customers follow him to the hotel.
• Funny Background Event: After Birdie narrates to the audience how Paige loves to solve puzzles and scavenger hunts, he's seen peeking out from the bushes while Owen and Paige are talking and he ducks down when he thinks Owen is looking in direction.
• Ignored Expert: Helen tells Lionel to make Bitsy's drinks at the scheduled time despite Bitsy firing the service bartenders and don't talk to Bitsy about it until she gets back from her day off because she knows how to handle Bitsy. When Lionel is unable to make Bitsy's drink due to having to deal with the other customers and Bitsy goes to him for her drinks, he tells Bitsy to hire back the service bartenders or he'll quit and it goes as well as you expect. After Helen returns from her day off early, she gets Lionel to come back to the Brandenham by getting Bitsy to hire back the service bartenders and giving him a "Sorry, I was wrong" bonus.
• It's All About Me: Even after having it spelled out for her that Lionel is busy with other customers (and that it's her own fault he's overworked), Bitsy refuses to stop demanding a drink from him.
• Lazy Bum: The mother at the park who is asked by Paige to help her move her kids from the plaque, is very apathetic towards aiding her and hardly tries to control her kids. To be fair, she is taking care of three rambunctious children and is noticeably pregnant with a fourth, so she must be exhausted.
• Letting Her Hair Down: As part of her vacation, Helen tries to invoke this. But since she has had her hair in a bun for a while, it stays in the same shape.
• Morning Sickness: The bench Owen puts the real plaque on for Paige's Mother's Day surprise is the bench where she first threw up (some hit a squirrel) before she knew she was pregnant with Molly.
• Noodle Incident: Bitsy fired the service bartenders at her hotel for some reason and we never learned why she did it despite Helen telling her Lionel is struggling without them.
• One Drink Will Kill the Baby: Alluded to in the opening song, in which Paige will not drink wine for 9 months for two instances.
• Parental Love Song: "All About You", where Owen, Molly, and Cole sings about how great Paige is while giving her the best Mother's Day ever, and "Promise", where Paige sings about how she hopes her kids promise to always be her sweet babies when they get older.
• Pulled from Your Day Off: Averted, as Helen actually ended her day off of her own free will because she didn't know how to relax.
• Scavenger Hunt: Paige (and, seemingly unwittingly, Cole) goes on one when being led by the plaques in the parks.
• Special Guest:
  • "All About You" and "This Is It" is written by Taura Stinson.
  • "Pour Poor Me More Please" is written by They Might Be Giants.
  • "Promise" is written by Jess Furman and Alana Da Fonseca.
• Stand-In Parents: Because Bitsy is very old and her mother is obviously dead, on Mother's Day Bitsy has a routine where she dresses Shampagne up like her mother and they spend time together. She even puts cake frosting on her face so Shampagne will lick her face.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Molly says this exact phrase when her mother mentions that she wishes she had a scarf, which is what she wanted to give her mother as a gift in the first place.

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♫ She goes beyond and above
The best to ever do it in the history of moms
All that plus nine months without wine
365 days all you think about about is everybody else
But today is all about you ♫

—Owen, Molly, & Cole, "All About You (End Credits)"

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