Recap / Central Park S2E12 "Castle Sweet Castle"

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: March 11, 2022

Written by: Andrew Mueth
Directed by: Tom King

Iggy:
♫ A fairy tale awaits
So maintain this old place
Doors and floors, so much more
You just need a few updates
Once you give into the love ♫
Owen: I'm giving in.
Iggy: ♫ Give into the love ♫
Paige: What's happening?
Iggy: ♫ Give into the magical love of this Restoration ♫

—"Restoration"

Owen and Paige wants to move their washing machine from the basement to upstairs but they need approval from the Landmarks Preservation Bureau if they're going to make any changes to the Edendale Castle. Birdie is jealous that Elwood is teaching Molly and Cole how to play music on the guitar, and Bitsy's old car has broken down and she refuses to replace it.

Songs

• "Maybe Potentially Great" - Owen, Paige, & Birdie
  Written by: Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel
  Performed by: Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, & Josh Gad
  Additional Vocals: Angelica Cox, Emily Goldstein, & Moorea Masa
• "Restoration" - Iggy Martino, Owen, & Paige
  Written by: Rafael Casal
  Performed by: Javier Muñoz, Leslie Odom Jr., & Kathryn Hahn
  Additional Vocals: Alex Jules Holtzman, Kristian Perez, Benjamin Michel Fabien Lecourt, & Emeen Zarookian
• "You Are the Music" - Birdie, Elwood, Molly, & Cole
  Written by: Kirsten Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
  Performed by: Josh Gad, Rory O'Malley, Emmy Raver-Lampman & Tituss Burgess
• "You Are the Music (End Credits)" - Molly & Cole
  Written by: Kirsten Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
  Performed by: Emmy Raver-Lampman & Tituss Burgess

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Tropes:

• The Ageless: When Birdie first meets the Tillerman decades ago, he looks completely the same as he does in the present and even wears the same clothes.
• Call-Back: During "Maybe Potentially Great", Birdie brings up how the kids can splash in dirty hot dog water.
• Chekhov's Classroom: While learning how to drive from her father when she was young, Bitsy's father told her "Driving is like negotiating. You should do it fast, tipsy, and make everyone feel like they're gonna die". When Bitsy is trying to negotiate on buying another Rolls-Royce car, she would use this advice to make the car dealer give her the car at a lower price out of fear when test driving the car recklessly on the freeway.
• Do You Want to Haggle?: When Bitsy and the car dealer are trying to make a deal on the Rolls-Royce car, they write their offer on a piece of paper and pass it to each other, resulting in them crumbling it up or destroying the paper when they're not satisfied with what they see. Bitsy eventually makes a deal with him by test driving the car with him inside and driving recklessly until he takes her offer.
• Drives Like Crazy: When Bitsy was young and learning how to drive from her father, her father gave her terrible advice which he stands firmly on.
  Mr. Brandenham: Seat belts are for cowards. Everything is a parking spot if you park there. Never go under 40 miles an hour. (later on) Driving is like negotiating. You should do it fast, tipsy, and make everyone feel like they're gonna die.
• Duet Bonding: Birdie and Elwood bond when they sing "You Are the Music" where they compliment each others' musical skills. Unforunately, all their bonding made them forget about teaching music to Molly and Cole and didn't even notice they left until the end of their song.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Birdie is jealous that Owen would recommend his kids to learn how to play the guitar from Elwood instead of him. He spends most of the episode watching Elwood teach Molly and Cole from behind a bush and is frustrated that Elwood keeps getting sidetrack with stories instead of teaching them music. They both managed to get along when they hear how good the other is when playing music, but they completely forgot about Molly and Cole who just left after being ignored.
• Never My Fault: Owen and Paige never got around completing the list of things they wanted to change to make Edendale Castle more livable because they were busy taking care of their kids and Paige blames them for it.
  Paige: Turns out doing stuff is very hard, especially if you have kids. I mean I don't wanna blame it on you guys, but it's kind of mostly your fault.
• Pet the Dog: Even though Mr. Brandenham ignores Bitsy's existent and prefers her brother, he actually spends the time personally teaching Bitsy how to drive and giving her "helpful" driving and life advice. Bitsy was happy that this is the closest she and her father can bond.
• The Reveal: Birdie has known the Tillermans for more than a decade as he first meets them when Owen and Paige, along with Molly as a toddler and Cole as a baby, plans on moving into Edendale Castle when Owen becomes the new park manager. Also, he looks completely the same, implying his narrating job makes him look the same age for years.
• Sibling Rivalry: Molly and Cole spend the whole episode trying to compete against each other. They competed in who can fit the most grapes in their mouth, trying to find Owen's guitar first, and who can play the guitar better. By the end of the episode, they try to apologize to each other for being too competitive, but it's lost when they try to compete on who's more sorrier.
• Special Guest:
  • Rafael Casal returns to write "Restoration".
  • "You Are the Music" is co-written by Kirsten Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, best known for writing the songs for Frozen, Frozen II, and Coco.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: While the city allowed the Tillermans to live in Edendale Castle when Owen takes the park manager job, if they want to make any changes to the castle they need approval from the Landmarks Preservation Bureau since the castle is a historic landmark of Central Park.
• Too Dumb to Live: Mr. Brandenham did several unsafe things while teaching a young Bitsy how to drive: telling her terrible driving advice ("Seat belts are for cowards. Everything is a parking spot if you park there. Never go under 40 miles an hour. Driving is like negotiating; you should do it fast, tipsy, and make everyone feel like they're gonna die."), consuming alcohol and then felling asleep when he's supposed to keep an eye on Bitsy's driving.
• Triumphant Reprise: At the end of the episode, Molly and Cole sings a reprise of "You Are the Music". At first it sounds bad and slow, but then it picks up triumphantly half way and sounds better.

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♫ We are the music
Roll over Beethoven, Mick Jagger and Miss Debby Boone
We are the music
Got the pulse and the pitch and the time and the tune
And the groove
We are the music
We are the music ♫

—Molly & Cole, "We Are the Music (End Credits)"