Recap / Central Park S2E08 "Sir Bricks-A-Lot"

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: July 30, 2021

Written by: Mnelik Belilgne
Directed by: Mario D'anna

♫ Wherever we land
There'll still be trees that won't stand
Our troubles won't disappear
Just 'cause we don't live as near
They'll be following you
So better to follow through
With all the loose ends and old friends
You've gotta make amends with all ♫

—Owen, "Follow Through"

When Owen considers a new job in Connecticut, the family uses Cole's toys to imagine what their lives would be like if they moved out of the park.

Songs

• "Paint the World" - Molly
  Written by: Ingrid Michaelson
  Performed by: Emmy Raver-Lampman
• "A Different Paige" - Paige
  Written by: Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel
  Performed by: Kathryn Hahn
• "Follow Through" - Owen
  Written by: Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel
  Performed by: Leslie Odom Jr.

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Tropes in General:

• Art Shift: Downplayed, but during the story segments, everyone looks like a Stackster figure.
• Bland-Name Product: The show's version of LEGO is called "Stacksters".
• The Cameo: Lots of people the storytellers know show up in the background of their stories.
• Funny Background Event: Birdie falling off the tree is seen outside the window in the middle of Owen's story.
• I Meant to Do That: After Birdie falls off the tree, he claims that he did it for the sake of physical comedy and tells the viewers "You're welcome."
• I'm Standing Right Here: When the Tillermans are revealing they never wanted to move, Cole points out what kid can say that Central Park is their own backyard and he's the only kid who can say that, but Molly reminds him that she's also one of those kids.
• If Only You Knew: Paige's story has her become such a famous author that she gets a stalker, which she's actually glad to have. When Owen questions this, she say he could have a park stalker, cut to Birdie sitting on a tree branch outside, giving a Defensive "What?" to the camera.
• Sore Loser: After Cole concludes his story, he said if this was a contest his story would have won, but Molly bitterly tells him he would have gotten disqualified for having too many spinning in his story and using other toys (despite Cole pointing they could have used other toys and they never thought about it) and claims they're all mad at him.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The Tillermans use Stacksters to build what their future life would look like and they base it around movies, with the exception of Owen.
  • Molly's future is based around Good Will Hunting. Molly was even at a restaurant called "Will's Good Burrito".
  • Paige's future is based around Misery.
  • Cole's future is based around E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Tropes that applies to Molly's story

• Almighty Janitor: Molly depicts herself as a janitor at a university who's really good at drawing.
• "I Want" Song: "Paint the World" is about Molly wanting to have the opportunity to paint.
• Impossible Task Instantly Accomplished: Molly's art teacher posted a description of a drawing on his chalkboard that's nearly impossible to draw for extra credit for his student and tells them that anyone who's able to draw it will be a famous artist and Molly is able to complete the drawing the next day. Although it's rather downplayed since Molly depicts the description in her story as impossible and the so-called challenge is "draw a turtle playing basketball underwater Garfield-style".
• Special Guest: "Paint the World" is written by Ingrid Michaelson.

Tropes that applies to Paige's story

• Bad Samaritan: After Paige gets into a car crash, Margarett rescues her and brings her to her home. When Paige wakes up, she's strapped down into Margarett's bed and she won't let her leave until she adds her character into her book.
• Call-Back: Back in "Fista Puffs Mets Out Justice", Paige in Molly's comic mentions that she used to write metafiction. This is brought up again when Paige mentions she hasn't written a fictional stories in twenty years and decides to start her new life in Connecticut as an author.
• Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue":
  • Paige depicts herself having a perfect life and being a rich, successful detective fiction author with multiple book deals and her books being made into movies.
  • Margarett wants Paige to add a new character in her book where Paige's character, Hunter, meets Annie Hoo-Dunnit, an older woman with a quirky sense of humor and she helps Hunter solve a case and she could end up getting her own series of books.
• "I Am Great!" Song: "A Different Paige" has Paige bragging about how great her new life in Connecticut is and how successful she is as an author.
• Implied Death Threat: When Paige tells Margarett she's not going to add her character to her book because Hunter is a loner, Margarett tells her that maybe in her story Hunter's toe is broken and she needs a little help getting around and Hunter hasn't met the right friend yet, while she's literally twisting Paige's toe.
  Margarett: 'Cause I've got a bunch of ideas, and you've got a bunch of toes.
• Loony Fan: Margarett, who's depicted as Bitsy, loves Paige's books so much that she would keep her as a prisoner until she puts her OC in her books and also get her own book series.
• Seashell Bra: Because Paige uses a mermaid wearing a seashell bra to represent her, she wears one for the entire story and onto Cole and Owen's story.
• Spell My Name With An S: Margarett has an extra "t" at the end of her name. This somehow makes it different to say than "Margaret".
• Suspect Is Hatless: When Paige tries to send Owen a message to rescue her from Margarett, the only detail she can tell him about her location is that she thinks she sees birch trees outside, but despite that, Owen found her and said her tree identification made it super easy for him to find her.

Tropes that applies to Cole's story

• Alien Animals: Cole has a turquoise alien squirrel in his story named Norg that latched onto his ship when he was in space. Apparently, his species’ blood is capable of curing twenty diseases on Earth.
• Aliens Speaking English: When Cole meets Norg he speaks English. When Cole notices this, he asks Norg if he knows English and Norg tells him he knows a little bit.
• Gilligan Cut: After getting a rocket ship, Cole promises not to fly off into space with it. Cut to him flying through space.
• Roundabout Shot: Cole and Owen do this when they play in their backyard, which Molly finds annoying.
• Talking the Monster to Death: Exaggerated. Cole tries to take Norg back to his home planet but the Army arrives and surrounds Cole's rocket and it's up to Owen to talk the Army down. Not only did Owen talk the Army out of stopping the rocket, but it only took him a few minutes and the entire Army start holding hands in a circle and they launch fireworks in celebration.
• They Would Cut You Up: After Cole befriends an alien squirrel and keeps him in his home, Helen, as a government agent, arrives at his home and asks the Tillermans if they've seen the alien because they want to experiment on him and poke him a lot.
  Helen: I work for the government. Have any of you seen an alien lately? We wanna do experiments on him and poke him a lot. He won't like it, but it'll be good for science. Maybe. We don't know.
• Verbal Backspace: Cole tells Norg he'll get him home and away from the government who wants to experiment on him and doesn't care how many diseases his blood might have cured if they did experiment on him. When Norg reveals his blood could have cured twenty diseases and Cole tells him that's a lot, Norg retracts what he said and tells him he meant zero.
  Cole: We don't want you to get experimented on, no matter how many diseases your blood might be able to cure.
  Norg: Twenty. I think it's twenty.
  Cole: Wow, that's a lot.
  Norg: Did I say twenty? I mean zero.
• You Never Asked: During the part where the Army surround Cole's rocket, Cole used green toy soldiers to represent the Army. When Molly complained they could have used other toys, Cole points out they all could have used other toys but they didn't and he doesn't know what that said about them.

Tropes that applies to Owen's story

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: During Owen's song, he said the following things that might follow you: your problems, your memories, and a creepy stalker named "Margarett".
• Continuity Nod: In Owen's new park, there's a turtlehead flower convention and people are actually attending it unlike back in Central Park.
• Descent into Darkness Song: "Follow Through" starts off with Owen being happy at the new park he created but he starts to get frustrated with a tree in his park not standing up properly and say he's kill it with chemicals and chop it into pieces. Then he starts singing about how the problems he dealt with it in Central Park will still occur in his new park, leading him to make the decision to not take the new job.

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♫ Check it out, here's a different Paige
Check me out while I turn the page
Living that good life
Knew-that-I-could life
Now, now, now
How does she have the time to bake?
'Cause I'm amazing ♫

—Paige, "A Different Paige (End Credits)"

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