Cricket Tries to Avoid Becoming His Father After His Sister Leads Some Species-Saving Initiatives on This Week's "Big City Greens"

Appropriate for Father’s Day, there’s a new Bill in town as Cricket seems to be transforming into his father, after he fundraises with his sister to save moths everywhere.

Charity Case

Have you ever seen an ad with a celebrity making you feel bad for not doing enough to save a certain animal? Well, that’s what happens fairly quickly in our episode today as Tilly and Cricket see an ad featuring actress Debbie Upton (who sounds an awful lot like Carla Gugino), pleading for viewers to make their donations and save the forgotten cousin of the beautiful butterfly - the moth.

From the jump, viewers can tell how manipulative this ad really is, but that is lost on Tilly - who cares about all living creatures - as she jumps into action and decides to send her life savings to the cause. The amount - a little over 12.00 (Hey, we know the feeling Tilly) - is registered in a special “save the moths" app that tells Tilly in real time how many she has saved. After her donation, she has saved one half of one moth.

This is not nearly enough, so the kids set out to raise more money by opening a lemonade stand, which apparently and inadvertently becomes a violent shakedown of their neighbors for cash - later evolving to a show in the middle of Times Circle that sees Cricket dancing around in a moth suit. After those funds are received and entered into the app, we learn that only a few more moths have been saved but Debbie comes on screen and tells us that they need all the money that they can get since there is a giant moth sanctuary being built.

This prompts Tilly to realize that their low-level way of ASKING for money needs to change as she has her eyes set on the Big City Bank.

With the moth suit on herself, Tilly jumps on the counter and asks for all the money in the bank. Let’s just call it a robbery, despite how cute it is. That’s when Officer Keys shows up and arrests Tilly, though he later sets her free after Cricket shows him the moth commercial, which prompts Keys to start forking over all his money too. That’s when Tilly becomes aware of how she was manipulated, watching Keys find every dollar in his possession to contribute to the cause. If she really cared about the moths - which she does - she could build her own moth sanctuary.

Fortunately, Bill - who has been dealing with his own insecurities all episode since they had to call a repairman to fix the fridge (that’s your B storyline today) - is ready and willing to help since it’s something he knows he can do. Shortly after, we find the Greens moth sanctuary in a corner of their yard, complete with staged lighting and old clothes for them to feast on. It’s a cute ending with great subtext - if you feel the need to make a difference with a cause like moth-saving, start small in your own home.

Like Father

While Bill may not have been able to fix the fridge in the first half of the episode, he sure can build a pool table alongside his son, Cricket. After spending over a week doing this with his dad, we can see some similarities pretty quickly in Cricket that he might have picked up from Bill. In fact, we the audience aren’t the only people who realize it, but Tilly does too, and points it out to her brother causing a panic.

Next door at the Gloria + Green Cafe, Gloria is having a tough day with some customers. Nothing too extreme, just a lot of little things that definitely try her patience. As such, she reverts into the back office for a few moments and finds Alice there running all the numbers and keeping the books in check. Gloria expresses that she thinks that Alice has the easier job, and wishes she could be back there all day just doing the math and making sure all the expenses and finances are balanced out. Alice explains that this is complicated math, Gloria definitely has the easier job just talking to the customers all day. I think you know where this is going, and yes - the two switch places for the day.

Back at home, Cricket has quarantined himself in a Bill-free zone in the hopes that whatever radioactive Bill energy that he has absorbed shakes off of him. This Bill-free zone? His bedroom. Trouble is, when Tilly goes to check on him, Cricket has successfully patched up his escape hole, since it was letting all the air conditioning out. I have to tell you, I don’t think his plan is working after that sentence, and neither does Tilly, so she takes matters into her own hands.

She has a plan that will see Cricket strapped down and forced to listen to some dad jokes from someone with a lot of Bill energy - Doug Perkins. Cricket endures the jokes, despite finding them amusing, until one finally pushes him over the edge and sends him into a fit of laughter. Now, Tilly (and us viewers) can literally hear Bill’s voice coming from Cricket as he has an internal war with himself. When his dad comes home from the hardware store, he greets everyone and makes a typical dad joke that Cricket doesn’t find funny at all. Perhaps he is cured! Bill got some wood finish from the hardware store to use on the new pool table, and invites Cricket to come help and then play a round after. Still concerned about becoming his dad, Cricket passes to go do more Cricket things.

Back at the cafe, Alice is having issues with guests who want to pay with pennies, don’t know what they want to order, and are complaining that their names are misspelled on the cups. Inside the back room, Gloria can’t get the equations to total out to zero and is growing increasingly frustrated. Eventually the two snap and agree that both of their jobs are difficult, before looking out and seeing Jade do almost everything else in the cafe, deciding that she might need a raise.

Back home, Cricket is trying to do Cricket things - like chasing chickens - but feels off. He doesn’t want to be Bill, but he doesn’t feel like himself either, so he retreats back to the barn and joins his father. He admits that he didn’t join him for the trip to the hardware store or to come back to the barn with him because he thought he was becoming him. Some words of wisdom come from Bill saying that no matter what, he is 50% Bill and 50% his mom, but 100% Cricket. It’s a nice moment against some of the hilarious transformation scenes we’ve seen earlier in the episode, and perfect for Father’s Day weekend.

This episode of Big City Greens is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW website. You can also catch up with earlier episodes streaming now on Disney+.