‘Central Park’ Recap: ‘A Decent Proposal’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘Central Park’.
​
One particularly harsh lesson that we all come to learn in life as we grow older… is that nothing goes quite the way we plan. Which is something that irritates all of us, simply because there are certain moments in our lives that we outright wish were perfect but will never be that way. For once the moment passes, whatever will be, will be and we do our best to move beyond the outcome and live our best life. But sometimes, the draw of that moment and its importance is too great to let go. To the point where we will do our best to obtain it come hell or high water and that particular quest served as one of focal points of the next episode of Central Park on AppleTV+.
​
For ‘A Decent Proposal’ informed us of the fact, that Owen Tillerman is a man that is haunted by a perfect moment that never quite came to fruition. Because he really wanted his proposal to Paige to be perfect all those years ago, but a warm surprise from a dog and a sewer grate and a cold night all helped the night to feel akin to a disaster to Owen and that motivated him… to try and make perfect proposals happen in the park whenever the opportunity arose. All to gain that sense of satisfaction and wonder he was never able to grasp, and thanks to his pristine nature, that opportunity came forth again. Because Owen swiped a bottle with an engagement ring in it and in order to make the proposal right… he stepped in and offered to help make a flawless one come to fruition.

Which in turn almost led to disaster since he was pushing this poor and nervous young man to do things his way over anything else. But thankfully, Paige was able to convince him to stand down and let them handle their love in their own way, since sometimes perfection is achieved by just knowing what your partner wants and that allowed for a pair of happy endings to come into play. Because the guy and gal they helped out were engaged to be married and Paige, well she decided that the time was right to give Owen exactly what he needed. Which in turn motivated her to get the kids involved to help her stage the perfect proposal, one that was right out of a movie and well… it was indeed exactly what Owen needed and at long last, he could finally let that sour memory go and embrace the wonder of his dream.

---

If anything, that was just a beautiful twist to inject into this story, since it adds a genuine sense of realism to this animated adventure. Because true love really does entail those little moments where we do incredibly special things for the ones we love, and do go so far as to stage events that give them exactly what their soul craves. And it was just wonderful to see that kind of reality on display in this show and it just serves to remind us that this series is perhaps, the most human animated adventure out there and what’s wild… is that this episode wasn’t quite done with providing us with human moments that we can relate to on a fundamental level, a feat that this story accomplished by way of Molly’s journey in this particular tale.

Because while all of this was going down in the park, she was off on a grandiose date with Brendan, one that took place at the Brandenham, and that made her incredibly nervous. In part because she was surrounded by the ultra-rich, but also because… she didn’t want to deal with the wrath of Bitsy because of her family’s dealings with her. But one way or another, she came face to face with Bitsy and that allowed for an important lesson to take place. One that helped Molly to understand that regardless of how much cash you have or how much anger and power you yield, at the end of the day… you’re still a person and you still can be reached if you’re treated like one, and that allowed for a wonderful interaction to take place between Bitsy and Molly. One that hopefully builds a bridge between the Bradenham’s and the Tillerman’s and really in the end, all of these elements make this a downright heartwarming tale.

Because it was just filled to the brim with beautiful moments and good vibes. And there is really something quite fulfilling about sitting through a half hour animated comedy that makes a point to show us that we are all equal and that what makes life worth living are the little moments of beauty that our loved ones create for us and well… all of that really does make you feel good about your day. Plus, this story is motivational in nature as well. Because you’re overflowing with so much positivity after this one, that you feel compelled to go and have a level conversation with someone to give them that validation they crave and you’re suddenly eager to go do something special for someone that means the world to you and well, it just goes to show that this series is doing a wonderful job of helping us to appreciate our world and our lives and that’s exactly what we need right now and everything here totally leaves us eager for next week’s entry. So, we can once again bask in the positivity of this delightful and uplifting show. Until next time.   

---