‘Praise Petey’ Recap: ‘The Tangible Secret’ & ‘Drippy Drips’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

John Cho and Annie Murphy as Bandit and Petey St. Barts in Episode 107 of ‘Praise Petey’ – ‘The Tangible Secret’. (Photo Courtesy of Freeform.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episodes 107 and 108 of ‘Praise Petey’. To revisit the previous two episodes, clickhere. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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It really is quite amazing, how much depth the Freeform series, Praise Petey, is sending our way. Because it is exploring all kinds of important concepts. Such as what it means to stick to one’s guns when morality is in jeopardy, and the importance of facing our past and fighting through our pain and trauma, and well… you just don’t see that in a comedy all that often. Especially one that is animated and features a town made up of cult members and a powerful tortoise that oversees weddings, and well… this show is showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to sending powerful lessons our way, as evidenced by this week’s block of stories. 
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For ‘The Tangible Secret’ and ‘Drippy Drips’ are a pair of stories that explored… how we embrace leadership in this life when everyone is looking to us to be the hero and how that role requires tough decisions and sacrifices that we have to make happen and it accomplished all of that… by giving Petey something of an imposter crisis. Because at first, she was worried that she would never be able to properly lead the people of New Utopia. Because she really felt they needed someone that had a deeper understanding of life to give them meaning, not just a status symbol. Which prompted her to seek out advice, that eventually came from her father, wherein he told her he had something set up on the mountain on the edge of town that would give her the knowledge she sought.

Which brought forth a grand quest for Petey, one that included Bandit and his little adopted brother for the day, er… weekend really since this trip took a long time, and well, this journey demystified so much for Petey. Because in reality, she did put her dad on a pedestal and expected him to have some kind of answers since he did lead this troupe for so long, but in the end, he really had nothing to offer. For he was a man, not a god, something that Bandit needed to be reminded of as well. Which meant that Petey came to learn that in some instances, leadership isn’t something we can be guided through, not when people are in immediate need of someone to help them. We just have to embrace it, be the person they need and give them what is important in the interim as we learn on the job, and she did just that.

Which gave her breathing room, and time to observe the town and ponder upon how best to really lead these people and install changes to make their lives genuinely better and well… New Utopia’s exclusive ice cream deal brought forth that opportunity. Because something as simple as offering options to the townsfolk, could in fact help them begin to break away from their hard belief that they must be led at all times. So, she set out to break that deal, in the midst of one weird day in New Utopia. For it was Swamp Gas Release Day, where swamp gas was vented and everyone got high and weird and that meant Petey had to navigate the high to get what she wanted and eventually… she used the gas to her advantage to get the deal cut loose, and in the process… she managed to set so much good in motion.

For the exclusive deal was in place to help fund a spaceport. Yes, a spaceport. For aliens to come save everyone. And by ending the deal, she ended the spaceport and helped so many. Because now others could be free and push toward a tomorrow without that silly goal in mind. Giving rise to a hard call and a sacrifice for the town in some ways, but that’s what a good leader must do to grow people and well, good call or no, it may lead to conflict. Because not everyone agreed with this decision, but hey… at least Petey has another good leader in her corner on such matters, since Bandit became the new town mayor over Pancakes the Dog. But in the end, what matters most, is that we were able to enjoy two more thoughtful and intriguing episodes that left us with plenty to learn and potentially apply to our lives. Because we may find ourselves in a similar spot someday, without swamp gas and carnal desires of course, and well, in the end, these stories just helped to remind us of how transformative this series is for animated entertainment, and it will be interesting to see what other amazing lessons await us when the season finale of this brilliant show arrives next week. Until then.

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