‘Central Park’ Recap: ‘Dog Spray Afternoon’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Something that can be extremely difficult for a television series to accomplish as it grows and finds its voice, is balance. Especially if the series in question features an ensemble cast of characters. Because the writers’ room and the powers that be, have to figure out how to give everyone that is a part of this show, proper screen time and proper storylines that allow them to grow and that can be quite the dauting task, especially when juicy plotting is involved. But the best shows out there, are the ones that figure out a way to give every character the screen time and development time they so deserve and it just so happens that the AppleTV+ series, Central Park, is figuring out a way to give every delightful character in this tale, their day in the sun.
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For ‘Dog Spray Afternoon’ took the time to mostly pull the focus away from Owen and Bitsy so that others could take the center stage. Which allowed for us to spend time with Paige as she began a grand investigation of the Mayor’s ties to Bitsy, and well, thanks to her fine investigative work and an assist from Birdie; she was able to discover some shady things about Ms. Brandenham. For it turns out that she owns a shell corporation that has been quickly buying up awful real estate owned by the Mayor, giving her all the leverage, she needs. And it really was quite awesome to see Paige dive in and dedicate herself to a story, since it really gives us an idea of her skill set as a reporter and how much she believes in the truth and bringing it to light and oddly enough, what truly made this episode so impressive is that it gave some quality screen time to Helen. Someone that has mostly served as a background character and comic relief.

But this particular tale pulled her out of the shadows and helped us to really understand how dedicated she is to her job and why she thinks she deserves a cut of the Brandenham empire. For she really has gone the extra mile for Bitsy and has never once received an ounce of recognition for putting up with the wackiness of this real estate magnate and her frustration led to the most epic musical number of the night. One that allowed for her to vent her frustrations over the fact that Shampagne was likely going to inherit everything and those same vexations made her wonder if the time had to come to put this little dog out of the picture so she could reap the benefits. Which is a surprisingly dark plot line to inject into a musical comedy. But it was necessary to pop in there so we could properly understand her mental state and to learn exactly how good of a person she actually is. For when the opportunity arrived to do hurt that little pup, Cole’s kindness and willingness to shield the dog from pain, motivated Helen to save them both from harm.

But while it was quite lovely to learn more about the inner workings of both Helen and Paige, it would be foolish to not discuss the primary plot of this tale. For this is what brought about balance since it involved the next stage of Bitsy’s dastardly plan to make Central Park her own. For she opted to hire a talented tagger to mark up the park in ways that no one would else would dare, and that motivated Owen and Molly to investigate his patterns and figure out a way to stop him before completing what appeared to be his magnum opus. And thanks to Molly’s quick thinking and observational skills, she and her family were able to catch the tagger in the act and chase him off, once again saving the park and putting an end to Bitsy’s plan and it was quite lovely to see Molly use her mental prowess to uncover the pattern in question and see Owen continue to put himself in situations that make him uncomfortable, to ensure that the park stays safe from whatever machinations Bitsy sends his way. 

If anything, this really was quite the magnificent episode when all is said and done. For it truly was a fascinating character study, one that offered up quality growth for everyone in this tale which is something that you just don’t see in an animates series. But this one is quite special for certain, and it is great to see it continue to buck the norms and now that this particular problem is out of the way, one has to wonder what awaits us next in this story. After all, the secret is out in regard to Bitsy, and Paige’s fine work and the family’s inadvertent new relationship with Helen, by way of Cole’s dog walking responsibilities, could make things quite difficult for Bitsy down the line. Plus, Birdie is clearly in hot water for breaking the narrator rules with Paige and well, all this does is make us hungry for more, to the point where we will all be counting down the minutes until next Friday’s new episode. Until then.

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