Recap / The Great North S1E3 "Avocado Barter Adventure"

RECAP:
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Original air date: February 21, 2021

Written by: Gabe Delahaye
Directed by: Will Strode

For their six-month anniversary, Wolf wants to get Honeybee some avocados but has trouble finding them so he has Moon help him find them. Judy interviews Honeybee for her school newspaper where she reveals why she left Fresno to move to Alaska and how she met Wolf. Meanwhile, since Judy isn't there to help decorate for the Shrek-themed anniversary party, Beef and Ham decide to do it themselves using Ham's limited knowledge about Shrek.

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Tropes:

• All for Nothing: Wolf and Moon spend the entire day trying to get avocados for Honeybee. By the time they finally get some, they're all rotten.
• Altar Diplomacy: Honeybee's parents, who own a curtain store, try to set her up with Calvin Prescott, the "Linoleum Prince of Fresno", to combine their two businesses when Honeybee takes over. Although they both decide they're better as friends, Calvin attempts a proposal due to their parents' pressure, prompting Honeybee to leave for Alaska.
• Amicable Exes: Lara Silverblatt is Wolf's most recent ex-girlfriend and when they meet again, they're on good terms. Despite Wolf feeling awkward to see Lara again, Lara is still willing to fly Wolf and Moon to Anchorage and back. Lara also tries to give Wolf advice when dealing with his fiancée, but in a supporting tone and didn't intend for him to feel worried about his relationship with Honeybee.
• Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: When Wolf and Moon are trying to think of a way to get to Anchorage before the party begins, they see a bush plane landing in the docks:
  Moon: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
  Wolf: Maybe somebody on that plane has avocados.
  Moon: Or... we can see if they'll take us to Anchorage.
  Wolf: Oh, sure, sure. But if they happen to have avocados, also good.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: When Wolf runs into Lara, he mentions when they last saw each other, she was going for her bush pilot's license, and asks her what happened with that. She just glances at the plane she'd just exited, then back at Wolf.
• Black Comedy: Wolf and Honeybee's love song during the credits includes the many deaths from the Final Destination films as metaphors for their love.
• Brick Joke: Early on, the family discusses Lara Silverblatt, (who Moon doesn't remember, due to his "face blindness") Wolf's last serious girlfriend before meeting Honeybee. She winds up being the bush pilot that gets Wolf and Moon to Anchorage for the avocados.
  Lara: Hey, Moon. Still pretending to have face blindness, I see.
• Chain of Deals: Barter trading is apparently how most business is handled in Lone Moose, and is apparently common enough in the rest of Alaska. When a supermarket in Anchorage offers to trade avocados to Wolf for a Suzuki motorcycle seat, he starts a barter chain to get it.
• Couch Gag: The boat in the intro is named Aw, Carp!.
• Crazy Memory: Because they're unable to watch Shrek, they have to rely on Ham's memory when he saw the first ten minutes of the film at a slumber party before he fell asleep eight years ago. Not only does he gets Shrek's appearance wrong, but he gets the setting wrong and he also remembers characters that aren't even in the film.
• Epic Fail: There's no words to describe how way off Beef and Ham were when they tried a make a Shrek-themed anniversary party for Wolf and Honeybee.
• Family Theme Naming: Honeybee's brother is offhandedly mentioned to be named Jerrybee, though everyone just calls him Jerry.
• Grand Romantic Gesture:
  • Wolf spends an entire day searching for avocados to make guacamole for Honeybee after a series of dreams she has which all involve guac in some way. Even though it doesn't pan out, Honeybee appreciates it as a symbol of his devotion, and says they can save the pits to plant an avocado tree.
  • Honeybee leaves behind her job, family, and life in Fresno to start over with Wolf in Lone Moose.
• Honest John's Dealership: Old Jody Jr. is the guy that everyone goes to when they need to get something that's difficult for them to obtain. He claims that if it exists, he can get it for you, excepts he rips everybody off and he will trade away your stuff even if you want a refund. Wolf learns this the hard way.
  Moon: Old Jody Jr. is always ripping everybody off 'cause he thinks he's the only game in town, and that's just because he's the only game in town.
• The "I Love You" Stigma: Before Wolf and Honeybee officially meet in person, they communicated with each other through text. During their text, Wolf mindlessly texted Honeybee he loves her but quickly claiming it was autocorrect. Honeybee was stunned at first, but she happily accepts his love.
  Wolf: I love you. I mean, I love it. (nervous laughs) Dang autocorrect.
• I Warned You: When Wolf asks Old Jody Jr. to get him some avocados by trading him his coupon for a couple's massage, Moon warns Wolf that Jody always rips everyone off, but Wolf assures him that everything is going to be fine. When Jody returns, the avocados that he gives Wolf are actually pears and he already traded away Wolf's coupon. Moon immediately tells Wolf "I told you so" despite Wolf trying to stop him.
• Insecure Love Interest: Wolf reveals he had previous girlfriends who dumped and he's worried about screwing up his relationship with Honeybee. His recent ex, Lara Silverblatt, reveals she dumped Wolf because he goes overboard with his romantic gestures to prove something to himself without thinking about what his partner wants.
• Insistent Terminology:
  • Moon insists that he has face-blindness, and therefore doesn't remember Wolf's ex-girlfriend (and Moon's old babysitter and karate teacher) Lara when the family talks about her. Beef disputes this:
    Beef: Even if you did, these are facts about her. You don't have fact blindness.
  • When Honeybee calls her and Calvin's dating a "sham setup", her mother tells her it's a "normal, regular, very real setup".
• The Movie Buff: Wolf and Honeybee are both this, and meet on a forum for posting movie quotes. This marks Wolf as a much better match than Honeybee's would-be fiancé Calvin, who doesn't understand any of Honeybee's references.
• Neutral No Longer: Jerry tries not to get involved in the fight between his parents and Honeybee when his parents wants Honeybee to run their store and marry Calvin for business reasons. Jerry finally gets involved when Honeybee plans to move to Alaska to be with Wolf, and he tells his parents Honeybee should be allowed to follow her own dreams and they don't need someone to takeover their store yet because they're still in their early 50s and in amazing shape.
• Oh, No... Not Again!: When Beef and Ham tries to stream Shrek on TV, they're unable to do it because the Wi-Fi is out due to the falcons using their satellite dish as a nest (again) so they have to wait 30 days until they can get the Wi-Fi back.
• Popcultural Osmosis Failure: One of the reasons why Honeybee and Calvin don't click is Calvin doesn't get any of the movie quotes or movies she references.
• Shout-Out: Mostly from Wolf and Honeybee quoting movies:
  • Calvin doesn't get Honeybee was quoting lines from Dirty Dancing ("Nobody puts Baby in a corner") and Top Gun ("I feel the need... the need for speed.")
  • During Wolf and Honeybee's text montage, they talked about Multiplicity, Swimfan, and Shark Tank.
  • A few from the Final Destination franchise. Note: Recap pages have unmarked spoilers, so beware when reading below.
    • Wolf and Honeybee's first in-person meeting was at the Coffee Beanery in Vancouver where Terry got hit by a bus in the first film. As Honeybee walks towards the coffee shop, a bus drives past her, and she luckily doesn't suffer Terry's fate.
    • During Wolf and Honeybee's love song, they mention some of the deaths from the franchise in the following order: Billy losing his head and Terry getting hit by a bus in Final Destination, Nathan getting crushed by a landing gear in Final Destination 5, Jonathan getting crushed by a bathtub in The Final Destination, Perry being impaled by a flag pole in Final Destination 3, the Nascar crash deaths and Hunter being disemboweled by a pool drain's suction in The Final Destination. During the song, Wolf accidentally slips in a I Know What You Did Last Summer reference.
  • Wolf tells Honeybee Lara didn't recognize any famous quotes from There Will Be Blood and then they both quote the "milkshake" line.
  • As part of the Crazy Memory mentioned above, Beef thinks Shrek's nemesis is The Babadook.
• Silly Love Songs: Wolf and Honeybee sings a love song during the credits while mentioning the deaths in the Final Destination films to describe their love.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: After getting pears instead of avocados, Wolf thinks you could make guacamole out of the pears and say "Yum, this guac is good", hoping Honeybee won't notice, but Moon points out she'll notice. After getting some real avocados from Uncle Mike (no relations) and discovering they've gone bad, Mike tells him to say "Yum, this guac is good" to Honeybee so she won't notice, but Moon and Wolf tells him she'll definitely notice.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: After Beef and Ham decorated Wolf and Honeybee's Shrek-themed anniversary party with incorrect details about the film, no one has the courage to correct them and they just accept it as it is.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Wolf plans on getting avocados to make guacamole for Honeybee, but he's been told avocados are very hard to come by at this time of year in Lone Moose as they're grown in warm climates and can't tolerate the cold. When he gets Old Jody Jr. to find him the fruit, he rips him off and gives him pears. When he finally finds some avocados in Anchorage, the only ones available have gone bad.
• Tempting Fate: When Wolf takes Honeybee to the panic room (it's just a closet and the panic room is a work in progress) to tell her what he did the entire day, he tells her no one will bother them in here. When Wolf is about to apologize to Honeybee, Ham opens the door and greets them while grabbing some Sterno canister for the party and then leaves.
  Wolf: We really need to get a lock for the panic room door.

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Wolf:
♫ Billy lost his head, Terry got hit by a bus
But our final destination turned out to be us ♫
Wolf & Honeybee:
♫ I wasn't crushed by landing gear
But I'll always crush on you, my dear ♫
Honeybee:
♫ Bath tubs may fall through ceilings
A flagpole through your heart ♫
Wolf & Honeybee:
♫ Those unlucky teens all died, but we will never part ♫
Wolf:
♫ Dying in a NASCAR smash would sure be such a bummer
But when I'm with you, my dear, I know what we did last summer ♫
Honeybee: Wrong movie, babe
Wolf: Whoops
♫ My organs weren't sucked out by a pool
But I'll always be your fool ♫
Wolf & Honeybee:
♫ 'Cause I am your Terry, and I am your bus
And our final destination was us. ♫

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