‘Central Park’ Recap: ‘Sir Bricks-A-Lot’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 208 of ‘Central Park’.

When we are young and enjoying all that the world has offer, the thought of standing still is nothing short of terrifying. For the whole world is our oyster and we can see any part of it that we so wish and well, that’s a mantra that quickly changes when one settles down and has a family. Because then it’s all about putting down roots and creating a stable environment for the little one or little ones so they can grow and eventually head out into the world and see it through fresh eyes before they settle down, allowing for the family cycle to start anew. But what’s fascinating about this process is that it isn’t always so black and white and so simple.
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Because sometimes, economic downturn ruins those root related plans since the money dries up and families have to figure out where else to go to find stability and sometimes… a parent’s career choice can keep their kids moving around constantly. Which means that true stability is up to the family to create when fate and life threatens to upend a current situation and since Central Park on AppleTV is keen on exploring the corners of life that other shows tend not to, the folks behind the scenes decided its next episode would serve as the perfect opportunity to explore how a family finds stability when their current situation is turned upside down and how they process a potential move.

A feat that ‘Sir Bricks-A-Lot’ accomplished, by having Owen deal with quite the conundrum. For the folks that built Central Park in the first place were so happy with his work that they offered him a shot at quite the cushy gig. One where he and the family would move to the grounds of a fancy university so that Owen could design a new park for this facility and of course, curate it with the same care that he curates Manhattan’s biggest park and well, that really did leave Owen beside himself. For it truly was an amazing opportunity, one that he needed to ponder upon with his family and what better way to sort out a big decision… then by playing with Legos and using them to work it all out.

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Which is what brought about the grand exploration of how a family processes, seeing their stability upended and in this instance, the Tillerman family tried their best to look upon the bright side by envisioning through Legos, how their lives could improve with such a move. For Molly, being this close to a university meant she could take a Good Will Hunting path toward becoming a famous and wonderful artist and Paige believed that she would use the time up there to write the next great detective series, before having her own Misery like experience and of course, Cole saw this as the moment when he would finally have the freedom to make space travel and alien encounters a reality. But while it was fun to play ‘what if?’ with the family, what matters more here, is the underlying message.
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Because it speaks to the fact that unity and hope are the keys to processing a big move. Since the family used that to help them understand that while their favorite things about Central Park would be gone, they’d have each other and the love and support this family supplies one another with on a regular basis, and that would in turn, create the stability they need and help them to get along just fine. But the good news is that in the end, they wouldn’t need to draw upon those emotions after all. Because Owen decided that while the offer was amazing and while his family would be fine, being so connected to New York City and a park with so much history… meant staying put was the far better option. 

In the end however, this was just a sweet and beautifully intimate story. One that really gave us our best look to date at the Tillerman family and how they work and well, it turns out they’re an outright model family. For they embody the finest ideals of family life and their love and support of one another is unrivaled on television right now and to top it all off, this show once again managed to examine a corner of life we don’t think about all that often. Because upping and moving one’s family can be a huge deal and have an incredible impact on everyone, and it was nice to see this series address something so important to a family dynamic. If anything, the only real downside to this episode, is that it signals a bit of a hiatus for the show. For the back half of season two is going to air later this year. Which means we will have to wait with bated breath to see what positive things come out of Owen’s decision to stay, but it is a wait that will certainly be worth it. For this series is simply phenomenal and will undoubtedly wow us when it returns to the airwaves. Until next time.  

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