"Friend Con" is the first segment of the forty-fourth episode of Big City Greens.
Synopsis
When the Greens attend Farm Con, Cricket and Tilly help Bill and Chip Whistler hit it off and become friends, but their friendship might be too good to be true.
Plot
Bill is set to be a keynote speaker at Farm Con and has invited the rest of his family to come. While Tilly is excited to hear Bill speak, Cricket would rather being doing something else on a Saturday and Gramma Alice simply wants to steal all the freebies being sold. However, Bill laments that he used to come to Farm Con with his best friend Good Ol' Joe who shared the exact same interests as him, but stayed behind in the country when the Greens moved to Big City. Tilly deduces that Bill is sad to not be able to see his friend and she coerces Cricket into helping him find a new one. They spot Chip Whistler and due to their previous interaction with him, believe that he is good now and set it up to have him run into Bill by dropping him on top of him.
Bill and Chip end up hitting it off and proceed to explore the convention. They bond over their mutual dislike of the futuristic technology that people like Gwendolyn Zapp exploit and end up having fun. Meanwhile, Alice has "stolen" numerous freebies from all the stands; filling up her ever expanding bag. The exhibitors are upset over her not adhering to their "take one only" rule and proceed to chase her away. When Chip steps away from Bill, Cricket and Tilly are horrified to discover that he has been feigning his friendship with Bill and plots to usurp his keynote speech and ruin Green Family Farms. He catches Cricket and Tilly and kicks them out of the convention; taking their passes away.
Tilly laments that it was her fault that Bill's speech will get ruined, but Alice suddenly comes out an exit way and allows the kids back into the convention. Chip gives Bill a saltine and peanut butter sandwich which gums up his mouth. Chip steps in for Bill and takes his name and begins defaming him in front of the crowd. Cricket and Tilly hop down and stop Chip; announcing to everyone that Chip is a fraud. Good Ol' Joe reveals himself and identifies the real Bill. Tilly washes his mouth out and Chip vows revenge, only to get crushed by Alice's bag of goodies. Bill and Joe reminisce and the former gives his his speech on "urban soil and crop rotation, much to everyone's delight.
Cast
- Chris Houghton as Cricket Green
- Marieve Herington as Tilly Green
- Bob Joles as Bill Green
- Artemis Pebdani as Gramma Alice
- Paul Scheer as Chip Whistler
- Cheri Oteri as Gwendolyn Zapp
- Darin De Paul as Good Ol' Joe
Trivia
- The episode title can refer to two things. For one meaning, it's short for "Friend Convention", but for another metaphorical meaning, it could refer to conning a friend, which means to deceive someone by ways of getting them to believe it's true.
- The plot of the episode is similar to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "F.U.N.". In both instances, one of the protagonists befriends a villain and they bond with each other to the point of becoming fast friends, and in the end they realize the villain only used the friendship to trick them into furthering their revenge against them.
- This episode features the smallest title card.
- Gwendolyn Zapp has apparently returned from Mars.
- Dr. Ned: The Horse that Can Talk (but chooses not to), is an obvious reference Mr. Ed.
- The Greens are now fully aware that Chip Whistler is committed to ruining them.
- Bill is revealed to have had a friend from the country.
- Morals:
- People aren't always who they seem.
- Sometimes your true friends are members of your own family.
International Premieres
- August 2, 2020 (Canada)
- September 29, 2020 (Latin America)
- November 23, 2020 (Portugal)
- January 18, 2021 (Southeast Asia)
