‘Central Park’ Recap: ‘A Hot Dog to Remember’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 312 of ‘Central Park’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular complaint that we tend to hear in this day and age, is that technology and our sprawling cities have removed the sense of community that those same folks believe was once the champion of the day. As though the march of time has yet again ruined a portion of modern living that somehow made us a better people. But the fact of the matter is, those folks are outright wrong, community and unity still exist in this world and in our modern lives, it just requires a closer look to find it than we might expect. In fact, sometimes it exists and thrives in our world through something as simple as a kind and gentle act, like the one that Owen and Cole took part in this week’s episode of Central Park on Apple TV+.
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For when we caught up with those two in ‘A Hot Dog to Remember’ they were tasked with quite the kind act. In that, Louie, a long-time hot dog vendor in the park, one that had been selling dogs for years… was about to cross a big milestone. For he was about to be one of the few vendors to work within the park for a total of thirty years. Provided of course, his cart was on point and ready to go no later than the lunch rush on this particular day and that was going to be a problem. Simply because his daughter was graduating college on this same, important day, and he needed someone to help him set up the cart in time for the lunch rush, and he asked for Owen’s help in the matter.

Who of course, was happy to help and worked with Cole to get the cart ready. A decision that taught the both of them, the hard work that goes into being a street vendor in the Big Apple and this was a decision that required help. Because these two didn’t know the ins and outs of vending and they ran into trouble along the way. The kind that included a bent wheel courtesy of a sour and surly bologna vendor that couldn’t hold a flame to Louie in the class department. But thanks to the help of the community around them, who wanted to see Louie succeed at reaching that milestone, they were able to complete their mission and set up in time for Louie to do his thing and make history. Reminding us of the fact that little moments such as these happen all the time and keep communities together. 

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But while that was a lovely plotline to enjoy, one that truly reminded us of how community has evolved to smaller acts that we don’t recognize enough, this is a story that also featured other adventures for other characters. For instance, Bitsy Brandenham had her team working overtime to finally clean up her visual imagine on the web. For every single year, the local map car caught her doing something embarrassing, such as say… walking into a spider web and she was done with that. She wanted to be seen as elegant and well, that went about as well you might expect. Since she ended up stepping into the moment when a bride and groom had rice thrown their way, which landed on her and prompted the birds to go for the rice… right as the camera drove by. 
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Not to mention, Paige went on quite the quest in this tale as well. For while the boys were playing hot dog vendor, she was getting notes from her publisher. Since she just turned her first draft in, and well… they threw a doozy her way. One that challenged her ending’s plausibility. Which in turn prompted her to take Molly and her friends to the Coney Island coaster to prove the ending was in fact, quite realistic. Something that made Paige nervous because there was a chance, she might have to ride the coaster, and lose her lunch in doing so, and she did, and oddly, a little stomach toss inspired a new ending and a fun day with her daughter. 

All of which brought forth, a wonderfully diverse episode. Since this episode had deeper meaning through the hot dog plotline and laughs galore to be found through Bitsy and Paige’s journey and well, that’s precisely why we love this show. Because it mirrors the randomness of the world and it does so in a hilarious manner through and through and well, that’s really all there is to say about this particular tale. It’s just a satisfying stand-alone story, one that sadly reminds us… that journey’s end awaits again. For there is but one more episode left in season three to enjoy, one that will undoubtedly be as epic as the other finales in this saga, for this series always delivers, and it will be interesting and melancholy to see what kind of story awaits us when season three comes to its end. Until next time.

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