Recap / Central Park S3E05 "Golden Owen: Manager Damager"

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

"Working, working, working real hard"

Original release date: September 23, 2022

Written by: Halsted Sullivan
Directed by: Steven Theis

♫ Working, working, working real hard
When you're managing the Central Park
Working, working, working real smart
We'll tell the family
we'll be home after dark
Yeah, we're working real hard ♫

—Owen, "Working Song"

In order for Owen to get his "I Heart the Park" campaign proposal approved, he has to repair his old friendships with at the Park Managers' Conference when he discovers they don't like him anymore. Meanwhile, Molly and Cole help Abby find a job in New York City. At the Brandenham, Bitsy's floor cleaner purposely put too much wax in her hallway for firing him and Bitsy and Helen are stuck on the slippery floor.

Songs

• "Four Park Harmony" - Birdie, Owen, Gannon, Ned, & Alonzo
  Written by: Gabe Dixon
  Additional Arrangements by: Emeen Zarookian
  Performed by: Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Jack McBrayer, John Gemberling, & Craig Robinson
• "My Many Talents" - Abby, Molly, & Cole
  Written by: Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel
  Additional Arrangements by: Emeen Zarookian
  Performed by: Kristen Bell, Emmy Raver-Lampman, & Tituss Burgess
• "Working Song" - Owen, Paige, Gannon, Ned, & Alonzo
  Written by: Cory Chisel
  Performed by: Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Jack McBrayer, John Gemberling, & Craig Robinson

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Tropes:

• Awesomeness by Analysis: Using aiming skills developed playing pool in her youth, Helen is able to push Bitsy so she ricochets off the walls and goes through the bathroom door, where she will be able to get up and call for help.
• The Bet: After bragging that he can ride bulls, Owen is tricked by his friends into riding a mechanical bull at a western bar. Owen bets that if he can stay on the bull for the required minimum of eight seconds, they will sign off on the proposal. Owen doesn't last half a second (he foolishly asks for the highest setting), but his friends appreciate the effort and sign anyway.
• The Dog Bites Back: To clean the hallway of her apartment, Bitsy has to rehire Mauricio, the floor cleaner she had fired previously. Mauricio claims to Helen that there are no hard feelings, but after the job is done and Helen steps on the hallway to see the work, she finds that Mauricio had overwaxed the floors on purpose so that they would be too slippery to stand on. Soon, Helen and Bitsy are flat on their backs.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Owen's friends nicknamed him "Golden Owen" behind his back because they believe he doesn't need to work hard at his park and has it easy and believes he's full of himself because of how often he talks about how successful his park is.
• Find Out Next Time: As Abby is applying to be the new bar waiter at the Brandenham, Birdie starts teasing "Will she get the job? Find out next time on... Ah, who am I kidding, she gets the job."
• Green-Eyed Monster: Owen's friends admit they're a little jealous that he gets to be manager of Central Park and he's always talking about how great it is compared to their parks.
• "I Am Great!" Song: When trying to convince the manager to let her work at her store, Abby, along with Molly and Cole, sings "My Many Talents" to explain all of her many talents and why she would be a great employee. But at the end of the song, she accidentally kicks the cash register off the counter, which angers the manager and she and the kids are kicked out of the store.
• Innocently Insensitive: When Owen previously emailed his old best friends, he only talked about Central Park and never about them. From his friends' perspective, they think he's bragging about how successful his park is and thinks he doesn't need to work hard at all and believes he's full of himself. They even nicknamed him "Golden Owen" because of how they think he's so perfect but not in a positive way.
• Mistaken Identity: A woman at the park managers convention mistakes Paige for a manager named Bev. Paige just goes along with it, which complicates her plans to help Owen. When the woman confronts Paige for lying to her, Paige tells her she never lied to her because she told her she wasn't Bev multiple times and she didn't believe her. When we meet the real Bev, while she has the same hairstyle and color like Paige, she's half the size of her.
• New Job Episode: The kids try to find Abby a new job, but all the places she goes have difficult hiring standards that she cannot meet. Eventually, she gets a job serving drinks at the Brandenham.
• Slippery Skid: As revenge for being fired previously, the floor cleaner puts too much wax on the hallway, causing Helen, Bitsy and even Shampagne to slip and fall on their backs, unable to get back up.
• Special Guest:
  • "Four Park Harmony" is written by Gabe Dixon.
  • Cory Chisel returns to write "Working Song".
• Take This Job and Shove It: Abby gets her new job after a waiter at the Brandenham angrily quits for not being able to go on vacation.
• To Be Continued... Right Now: Birdie tries to make whether or not Abby got a job at the Brandenham into a cliffhanger to be resolved next time, only to stop himself and say she got it.
• Wham Shot: After failing to find a job, Abby decides to take Molly and Cole inside a fancy hotel to buy them Shirley Temples at their bar. The fancy hotel they entered? The Brandenham.

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♫ Working, working, working real hard
When you're managing the Central Park
Working, working, working real smart
We'll tell the family
we'll be home after dark
Yeah, we're working real hard ♫

—Owen, "Working Song (End Credits)"

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