Recap / The Great North S4E08 "Bear of Beeftown Adventure"

RECAP:
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Original air date: April 7, 2024

Written by: Charlie Kelly
Directed by: Karen Hydendahl

Beef starts spiraling when a handsome new donut vendor starts hanging out with Carissa, so he takes his emotions out on a bear during Fat Bear Week with Wolf trying to stop him. Meanwhile, Ham takes Aunt Dirt to her first gay bar, but she has trouble finding the right bar for her.

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Tropes:

• Bears Are Bad News: Averted mostly, since the bears are out of the way and not a direct danger, but when Beef unwisely tries to shoo away Hunk from The Kid's favorite fishing spot, he very nearly gets mauled.
• Bookends: The episode begins and ends with Beef and Carissa kissing in the tub together and their respective kids walking in on them and screaming as the camera goes inside their mouth.
• Call-Back: In the episode "Cheese All That Adventure", Beef asks Carissa out and heavily implies that they like each other, this is a continuation of that plot's storyline.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When the Tobins are explaining Beef's emotional moments with Aunt Dirt, they bring up his "Beef Melts" back from "Sexi Moose Adventure".
  • Beef brings up being hit by a Train in the Mall, a call-back to the episode "Mall-mento Adventure".
• Couch Gag:
  • The boat in the opening is "Fishy Elliott".
  • Wolf's T-Shirt says "The Liberty Smell".
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • The yeti appears in the background when Beef and Wolf break into the bear trail.
  • Ham's Fake ID has the following information:
    • Name: Timberger Kribbins
    • Address: JUST PUT ANYTHING, ALASKA
    • Date of Birth: May 69th, 1969
    • Expiration date: Never
• Gilligan Cut: Judy declares that she and the rest of the family must keep quiet about Beef's relationship with Carissa. Cut to the whole family in the car, and Judy lets out an excited squeal and spills the beans to her father.
• Interrupted Intimacy: Beef and Carissa's intimate bath is interrupted when their respective kids walk in on them, twice.
• Minor with Fake I.D.: Ham has a fake ID with the name "Timberger Kribbins".
• Noodle Incident: Beef admits to being hit by a train twice, much like the Kid. Once by the small one at the mall and once when Kathleen invented a game where you kiss a moving train.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: Deebie and Moon don't take their parents hooking up well, especially since they both walked in on them bathing together.
• Relationship Reveal: Everyone learns that Beef and Carissa are dating when Debbie accidentally sees them together in a bathtub kissing and tells Moon about it, who relays this to his family.
• Relationship Upgrade: Beef and Carissa become a couple by the end of the episode.
• Shout-Out: Moon says he and Debbie are pooling their money to buy a memory eraser from Men in Black after finding out their parents are together.
• That Came Out Wrong: After Aunt Dirt doesn't like the first gay bar, Ham tells her he'll take her to the next bar and he's happy to be her gay escort. He immediately realizes that didn't sound right.

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♫ A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the third world
Maybe it's his first time around
Doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Spinning in infinity
He says, "Amen and hallelujah"
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long-lost pal
I can call you Betty
Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al, call me Al. ♫

—Beef and The Kid