Year of Animation Day 154-155: Craig of the Creek S4E31-40
Date: June 3-4, 2025
Day: 154-155
Content Watched: Craig of the Creek, Season 4, Episodes 31-40
Year: 2018-2025
Rating: PG-Y7
Run Time: 110 minutes
Hello internet, it's a great day to be at the creek. Let's get into it.
Our last chunk of season four opens with "The Jump Off," which I initially thought would be a place and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a competition. Double-dutch is another sport I don't see all that often in media, so I'm so glad it got an episode here. And the details are fantastic. I love Cannonball not understanding how to jump without a bike and the fact the opposing double-dutchers all speak in rhyme. Best of all, I love finding out that Nicole once did competitive double-dutch, and I love that she becomes their coach. It feels like a great way for Craig and his friends to spend quality time with the adults in their lives. And what's more, Nicole tells them all to jump for the joy of it, even though we find out she's still harboring a grudge about getting beat. Good on you, Nicole.
I love that Marie gets her own episode (I also just figured out that all the horse girls' names start with m--Maney, Meredith, Mackenzie, and Marie), which I think would pair well with "Shadowlands" from Bluey, the latter being about why rules are important in the first place and the former being about why we sometimes need to break them. Plus, the whole western-themed show, complete with train heist, is delightful.
And speaking of themed episodes, season 4 also brings us "Craiggy and the Slime Factory," which is a beat by beat retelling of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, including the golden ticket song from the 1971 movie. This is why I love this show.
"A Tattle Tale" also felt like a retelling, but I couldn't figure out what. Maybe it's just supposed to be another Creek horror story. I will admit that I wondered at first if they were trying to teach the kids to tattle, but as always, Creek had better places to go. Honestly, I think this episode did a decent job of both explaining the difference between tattling and reporting and showing how nuanced these situations can be. I hate that so many adults don't understand when kids don't report certain things, but they get upset about "tattling." There has got to be a better way.
"The Cursed Word" might be my favorite episode here because it deals with cultural evolution. I love how this big hit from a few years ago turns into a taboo for the younger kids, but even more so, I like that they don't even understand the original song. The generational gap is real.
I don't think I noticed how similar the 10 speeds and the skater kids were until "Wheels Collide." And as much as I liked Todd and Dylan interacting with one another (I thought maybe they would make friends and bring everyone else around), I especially liked Cannonball and Scoot.
And then there's "Craig of the Campus" and "Bernard of the Creek" Parts 1-2. I will say, I feel kind of bad for Elder Mark here. I mean, I know he kind of brought it on himself with his bossiness, but the creek elders are a thing! And it kind of hurts to have them broken up. Also, I don't want the show to imply that David and Barry "grew-up" and got over things like anime and D&D because I hate the idea that playing games is "just for kids." I guess this is one reason that it's useful to have Alexis show up as Craig's champion to rescue Bernard. Also, on some level, Mark has a point. I mean, yes, the dishes need to get washed and the trash has to be taken out and the laundry has to be hung and dinner has to be made. And someone needs to do all those things. But at the same time, adults sometimes forget that these are not the important things. The important things are snacks, games, and friends. Or something like that.
In fact, what with everything happening with Bernard, I had kind of forgotten about the search for the cubes until "Left in the Dark." I love Omar's camera arrows, although I kind of get the impression that he doesn't understand that those one-time-use cameras have multiple exposures. I also like that we get more Omar/Maya storyline, though she seems to be the red poncho! They fired a baseball arrow! I guess we won't find out until next season. And before that, we've got to take a break and explore another show.
