‘Central Park’ Recap: ‘Garbage Ballet’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

For the most part, animated television shows designed for adults, tend to keep the jokes rolling. Because the prevailing belief, is that if you’re planning to settle in and watch an outright cartoon, the story should be dedicated to hilarity and silly moments, so that said shows always leave you with a smile on your face. Which means that the stuff you find in normal sitcoms and dramas, such as character development and growth, or important moments that define who the characters are, and what they stand for, are missing from these cartoony treats and this is another reason why Central Park is such a unique and refreshing series. Because this particular saga bucks those traditions and norms and for proof, well then look no further than the next episode in this magnificent series.

Because ‘Garbage Ballet’ is a story that is grounded heavily in the characters. For while Owen deals with piles of excess trash in Central Park (something that exists, thanks to a dastardly plan from Bitsy, which we will get to in a moment) we get to spend the day with the rest of the family, the kids to be specific, and learn more about them and what makes them tick and that was quite wonderful. Because this allowed for us to learn that Cole is one gentle soul, one that believes that every animal out there should be kept safe. For his sickly mother was convinced that rats were present within their posh park home, thanks to her fever, and that motivated her to lay traps all over the house. And the possibility of seeing animals, even rats, be harmed in the slightest, prompted Cole to skip school and stay home to stop her and it was just quite lovely to learn this about Cole and see this kind of gentleness in an animated series.

As for Molly’s ‘get to you know you’ segment, well that was grounded heavily in a more realistic plotline. For word of that unfortunate peanut butter kiss in last week’s episode, spread far and wide through her school, putting her in a panic despite the fact that no one had a clue that she was the one involved. But eventually her close friend Hazel figures out her involvement in the matter through her comics and Hazel takes the time to help Molly realize she made a simple mistake and figure out a way forward with Brendan, and this was just something supremely unique to see within the framework of animated series. For topics in this vein simply aren’t present in animated shows and it really was quite unique to see a little teen drama be injected into the overall plot, and it was also quite fascinating to learn how much acceptance and relationships mean to Molly and how her comics help her to genuinely cope with the confusing nature of the world.

Yet while it was wonderful to learn what makes the Tillerman children tick, there is still a juicier plot brewing behind the scenes, which brings us back to the whole mess with the trash and Bitsy. Because her swing with the Mayor, more or less put an end to all trash service within the park, in order to make it awful and devalue its worth. But Owen is such a good man and so passionate about what he does, that he wouldn’t let something as simple as trash ruin such a beautiful and importance place. Which motivated to him to come up with quite the incredible plan to clean up the park, by assembling a mighty ‘trash train’ to move the refuse to the nearest facility. Wherein he was able to learn of the Mayor’s poor decision and come to a deal with the facility manager to keep the trash out of this lovely park, thusly saving the day… for now. 

In the end however, this really was quite the impressive episode for certain. Simply because, this felt like an everyday T.V. show. Which once again speaks to the quality writing present in this series, since it takes solid script work to make an animated series feel real, and what’s wild is that the wonder of the writing doesn’t end with the magnificent moments we’ve discussed here. Because this one also does a fine job of setting up a baby cliffhanger by way of Bitsy’s bet with her housekeeping staff, since she felt a little something in that supposedly haunted room, and knowing this show, that’s a significant moment for certain. If anything, this series just continues to impress week in and week out, by offering up compelling and immersive stories and it should be interesting to see what other storytelling surprises await us down the line as we learn more about these wonderful characters, and Bitsy’s dastardly plan to get her hands on Central Park. Until next time.  

AppleTV+ was also gracious enough to include a clip of this week’s episode of ‘Central Park’ to include in this recap. So, please enjoy a sampling of what ‘Garbage Ballet’ had to offer or reminisce upon the outright wonder of this tale! 

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