While Remy learns to defend himself in the first half of this week’s Big City Greens, it's the events of the second half that could possibly change the entire series.
Rembo
Cricket, Vasquez, and Remy are at the zoo learning about predators and prey when a chain reaction of events in true Big City Greens style ends up with the release of a pack of hyenas into the zoo. When one hyena is threatening Remy, he stops dead in his tracks, but Vasquez jumps in at the last moment to protect him, knocking all three hyenas over the wall of the zoo and setting them loose in Big City. Oh well. Remy is safe.
Now, Remy is dead set on learning how to protect himself, but Vasquez refuses to teach him the ways. Fortunately, Cricket knows some people that can teach him. Read: Gloria and Gramma. Together, they turn the cafe into a low level dojo, where Gloria teaches them some martial arts fundamentals, like “Scooping the Beans” and “Steaming the Milk.” Gramma teaches them how to remain calm under bombardment of water balloons. After a montage, Remy is ready to spar and invites Vasquez to make sure he sees that he knows how to fight (considering earlier Vasquez said that not all people are cut out for fighting). He takes off his smart watch – which is how Vasquez tracks him – and begins fighting, though he essentially fights himself and loses. Embarrassed, he runs out into the city, but a breaking news alert on the smart watch he left behind reminds us that those hyenas are still on the prowl. Remember? Predictably, the hyenas catch up to Remy and have him cornered in an alley where an amusing moment with the frilled lizard the group encountered earlier in the episode reminds Remy that he just needs to show dominance. Vasquez and Cricket join just in time to see Remy screaming and flapping his shirt to get out of the alley, earning the respect of his bodyguard who now must return the hyenas to the zoo.
Dirt Jar
Bill, Gramma, and Gloria are crunching their numbers (with cool hats, no less) and have come to the discovery that between the farmers market and the Gloria + Green cafe, they’re actually doing okay for once. However, in another part of the house, Cricket is sent into a panic because he can’t find his jar of dirt. Tilly and Remy are along for the search which leads them into the kitchen and a startling revelation for Bill, who realizes he may have thrown the dirt jar away.
Bill runs off and finds the jar in the trash, but inevitably breaks it with the dirt blowing away in the wind. Teaming up with Gramma to concoct a scheme to replace the jar, Bill also tries replicating the dirt. The main hiccup in their plan? Cricket’s dirt contains a red tint, which is proving quite difficult to find on their land in Big City.
But what was this jar of dirt so important in the first place? Cricket regales the story of his Dirt Jar to Remy, but there’s some background. It all started at their home in the farm we’ve rarely seen until now, thanks to a series of flashbacks. Bill tells the kids that they are selling the farm and moving to Big City, sending both of them into different spirals. Tilly is going through the five phases of grief, but Cricket is simply angry. He even creates a chaotic sequence of events in the night to show how life in a city can be. Bill continues to pitch the idea of Big City quite literally, with a sales pitch, even emphasizing that they’ll get to spend more time with Gramma.
Finally it’s revealed that they don’t really have a choice. Devotees will recall that Bill lost the farm because it wasn’t doing well, thus forcing them to move to Big City. So, when Tilly and Cricket finally get Bill to crack, he reminds us all of this fact.
Back in the present, Bill and Gramma have added paprika to their dirt jar to give it the special red coloring. Hopefully this will fool the child.
In another flashback, we see Bill, Cricket and Tilly leave the farm with Cricket running into the cornstalks where his dad finds him. Cricket doesn’t want to leave the country. He says it's a part of him, and if he doesn’t know who he is if he’s not there. Bill can relate. That’s all he knows too. But leaving the place, doesn’t mean he’ll lose himself. Together, they fill up the jar of dirt, which is why it’s so important. Back in the present, Bill presents Cricket with the new dirt jar and as soon as Cricket goes to smell the sweet country air preserved in the jar, the jig is up. Bill comes clean and apologizes, then sets out on a quick road trip with his son.
Here’s where this gets REAL interesting. Fans of the show who are paying attention will realize that his road trip is a slower drawn out version of the title sequence for the series, but in reverse. When they arrive at their old home, Bill suggests that Cricket go fill up his new jar, but then says out loud that he just had the craziest idea. A slow camera pan reveals that the house is for sale once again.
Roll Credits.
What? Are they going back to the farm? Thanks to that bit of exposition at the beginning of the episode we know they have money now and know how to sustain their businesses. What are they going to do? Interestingly, this is the Big City Greens approach to how The Owl House and Amphibia took on their third seasons. Both second season finales of those shows found the fish-out-of-water story flipped on their head in someway, whether it be frogs on Earth or witches entering the human realm. Now, with Big City Greens, you can’t put the country back in the country, so would Gloria and Remy go too in some way?
Even worse, it seems we might have to wait longer than a week. Though there has only been three episodes since their last hiatus, and there are 20 episodes ordered for this season overall. With no knowledge of next episode details or airdates, everything indicates the show might have entered another hiatus. Plus, look again at this key art.
They’re clearly LEAVING the city. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long, but I’m interested to see what the future holds for the Green family. Fans have anticipated the return of Chip Whistler, and remember, he has been banished from the city and has competing Wholesome Foods farms out there somewhere. And if that isn’t in the cards, Houghton Bros, hire me whenever.
This episode of Big City Greens is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW app. You can catch up with earlier seasons of the show on Disney+.