'Central Park' Episode 9 Review: Bitsy sends auditor to gather dirt on Owen but salsa music saves the day
Spoilers for ‘Central Park’ Episode 9 ‘Live It Up Tonight’
Perhaps one of the strongest episodes of the animated Apple TV+ musical comedy series, ‘Live It Up Tonight’ sees a lot happening. So, let’s break it down per storyline.
First, the brother-sister duo Molly (Kristen Bell) and Cole (Titus Burgess). They both wanted to go on a film tour, something that’s very common to New York City, especially Central Park. But this was no ordinary tour. It was the ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ deleted scenes tour. The kids were obviously big fans of Kevin McCallister’s adventures in the city.
They got their parents Paige (Kathryn Hahn) and Owen (Leslie Odom Jr) to agree, and off they went. But there was a problem. The tour was at night, and it was a little scary. Especially some of the deleted scene details. And the bats.
So, Cole, a young kid, ran away when a swarm of bats flew into them. It took a while for Molly to find him, especially because Cole was afraid she was bitten by a bat and had turned into a vampire. But ultimately they found each other and found their way back home. They were a little past their curfew, but their parents weren’t home so all seemed to work out.
But where were Paige and Owen? To get to that, we have to get to Bitsy (Stanley Tucci), the evil hotel heiress who wants to destroy Central Park. Her latest plan was for the Mayor to present her with a made-up award, and while congratulating her in front of the audience, for him to let slip how the park was mismanaged. And how the park’s manager (Owen) was corrupt.
To gather dirt on Owen, Bitsy made the mayor send their toughest auditor down to the park to go through the numbers. Now, Owen and Paige, finally away from the children, decided to go for a date night. But, as it happened, the date was nipped in the bud when Owen was called in for the audit. While he was an honest man (and an organized one), the auditor found a discrepancy.
For a shipment of worms, there was no receipt. To track down the receipt, Owen and Paige had to run to Brooklyn (in the middle of a downpour and with no cabs around) and track down the worm bill from the store where it was purchased.
They had one hour. But like their children, they were also slightly past curfew. And the day was saved, once again, by Birdie, the show’s narrator voiced by co-creator Josh Gad. The auditor wanted to go for her salsa class. And to stop her, Birdie, a busker, started playing a salsa tune that made her dance then and there. This gave Paige and Owen enough time to get back and hand over the receipt.
So, once again, Bitsy’s attempt failed. But as we can clearly see, she has begun escalating her approach. It is only a matter of time before she launches an attack that would be too great for the Tillermans to fight. What will happen then?
New episodes of ‘Central Park’ air every Friday on Apple TV+.
