‘Central Park’ Recap: ‘A Star Is Owen’, ‘Paige’s Next Chapter’, & ‘Ice Ice Not Baby’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘A Star Is Owen’

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season three premiere of ‘Central Park’. To revisit the season two finale, click here.
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One particular aspect of the human condition that is quite fascinating in nature, is the sheer fact that we collectively wait to take charge of our lives or reflect upon them, based upon the season. For we are beings that can do whatever we want, whenever we want, and if we want to make changes to our lives today or really figure out where something important went wrong… there’s nothing holding us back. Yet we still wait to reflect until the end of the year, and we still wait until the start of the year or the spring season to kick our lives into overdrive and get moving on new plans. But while that is indeed quirky and fascinating in its own right, it is indeed the way of things and all that matters, is that we work to grow. 
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If anything, that push to start fresh and enjoy a sense of renewal, at the appropriate and agreed upon time, is top of mind today… simply because it served as the focus of the season three premiere of Central Park on Apple TV+. For when we catch up with the Tillerman family and their friends and foes in ‘A Star Is Owen’, ‘Paige’s Next Chapter’, and ‘Ice Ice Not Baby’, spring has sprung, and everyone is ready for a new chapter to begin in their lives and everyone leaned into that, hard. For instance, the first episode in this magnificent little trilogy, revolved around Owen and the big plans he had for the future image of his beloved park.

In that, he was hoping that he could pull together a meeting with the new interim Mayor, who replaced the embarrassing and disgraced Mayor Whitebottom to discuss a new initiative to highlight the park and all of its wonder. In fact, Owen was so eager to make the park a true showcase, he actually managed to get his family’s favorite show to film there. Which of course, didn’t quite go as planned. Since uh… they basically trashed the place and made the park look quite evil on national television. But the good news is that Owen did get his meeting and the go-ahead on his plan, and of course… he did get his beloved park on national television. And it was just great to see Owen take charge like this and really work to make Central Park a true fixture to others outside of New York. A move that really signaled his growth and commitment to his job, and he wasn’t the only one entrenching himself deeper into a career field.

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‘Ice Ice Not Baby’

For Paige was also finding incredible growth in this new season of renewal. Because her incredible work with the exposé on corruption, caught the attention of one of the big publishers in NYC. To the point where they wanted to hear more about what kinds of ideas she might have for a full-on novel, and they scheduled a meeting with her. Which of course, she put off until the last minute. In part because her sister, Abby, was now in town and working toward becoming an actor and spending time with family is always important to Paige. But also, because, she had lost a little confidence in her abilities and her dreams. But she eventually found that confidence and nailed the meeting, and it was equally as amazing to watch Paige finally embrace her skills as a writer and push toward completing all of her writing goals in life.
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But of course, growth and a sense of renewal isn’t always limited to the good people of the world. Bad and unsavory folks also feel that calling when the new season rolls around, as evidenced by Bitsy’s journey in this tale. For with Whitebottom out of play, she needed a new patsy to help her execute her dastardly plans and she and Helen set out to find a new Mayoral sucker to control and oddly enough… settled in on the new Mayor. For he was so green and so eager to please that Bitsy was hopeful he would quickly play ball if she worked to appease him and promised to help him keep office, in exchange for what she wanted of course and sadly… that may have allowed for the new Mayor to inadvertently pair her up with Owen. Which of course, will lead to trouble since she wants that park badly.

But while we wait to see what comes of that surprise, we can in the meantime, celebrate another incredible set of episodes from this always incredible show. Because once again, it reflected our world and how we function, and it spoke to the growth we all go through with the seasons and the years, and it was just magnificent to see everyone grow here, for better or worse and of course… to once more be immersed in some quality musical numbers. In fact, the batch present here were some of the show’s best since they almost demanded that you get up and dance and well, all of these elements inform us, that we are in for another amazing year of storytelling. One that will make us laugh, make us think and put a smile on our faces and you cannot ask for much more from a show that reflects life and all of its wonder. Until next time.

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