Winter Blues Take Over the First "Big City Greens" Since Christmas on Disney Channel

The Greens are back for the first time since Christmas, and this time we’re still fighting some Winter Blues while Gloria gets outshined at her very own coffee shop.

Hullabaloo’d

Out in Smalton, it's quite cold and Alice realizes the only way to fight off the winter is to participate in the time honored tradition of Hullabaloo, a festival where the family must don masks and scare away Old Man Winter. Nick, in his trademark pessimistic ways, does not see how this could possibly work and to be fair, neither does the rest of the family but they go along with it and promise to return before sunset (when the ceremony must be completed by) as they all set out for a day of activities.

Bill and Cricket are heading over to the neighbor’s house, as Trey has apparently built a new man cave for the fellas to hang out in, while Tilly is meeting Andromeda downtown for her first visit to the country. Nancy, along with taking Tilly downtown, is going to go shopping for a new mask that she will wear during the Hullabaloo fun later on.

Tilly and Andromeda are running around downtown and Andromeda is quite excited as small towns are where the greatest cryptids and monsters can be found - and it’s almost always who you least suspect. Immediately, they pair have their eyes on Wayne the waiter, who surely can’t be as innocent and charming as he seems.

Back out at the farm, Nick is still giving Gramma Alice a hard time about the idea of Hullabaloo and whether or not the winter will end - and it doesn’t matter since they have electricity and portable heaters. To this effect, he even keeps his heater plugged in and moves outside with it to sit in comfort and watch Alice by her small fire as she sets up for the sunset festivities.

Bill and Cricket head over to Trey’s only to discover that this new man cave isn’t in his actual home, but turns out to be a real cave deep in the woods. Inside, it's not much, you know, since it’s a cave, but Trey offers them ice cold beverages. Could be water from a spider filled hole, or a collection of mineral filled drippings off a nearby stalactite.

Delicious, right? It was clearly time for Bill and Cricket to go, but they needed to find the perfect time to politely leave, but it turns out that Trey might have something more exciting deeper into the cave that has sparked their curiosity.

Tilly and Andromeda are trying to expose Wayne for what (they presume) he really is, and working through a bunch of tactics, like raining garlic from a rooftop to see if he’s a vampire. Finally, they have Wayne trapped in a back room of the diner and are working through more methods to get him to talk and finally, after trying the hottest hot sauce in town they realize that Wayne could be a dragon-person. After all, they’re the only kind of creature that could enjoy that particular heat level of hot sauce. But this monster becomes all too real when they leave the diner and discover Nancy (though they don’t realize it) in a Hullabaloo mask that happens to have a dragon influence, and she inadvertently ends up chasing them all the way home.

Back in the cave, the boys discover that the next exciting thing on their cave tour just happened to be a moss-covered rock. The thrill. Fortunately, they did discover something worth their while… a fuzzy beanbag chair! Bill and Cricket jump in, only to discover that Trey doesn’t have a beanbag chair. This is a hibernating bear! The bear, now fully awake, chases them out of the cave.

Back at home, Gramma Alice is masked up and trying to scare winter away, and it’s becoming clear that the family will not be home in time so it's up to her to do it on her own. Normally, there’s some kind of sign when the ceremony works - a warm breeze, or glimmer of sunlight perhaps.

Just then, the rest of the family shows up. Nancy in full gear chasing the screaming girls, and Bill and Cricket screaming from the encounter with the bear. Cricket also trips up over Nick’s heater cord, and unplugs the heater without Nick knowing, causing him to believe that winter is getting worse and fighting back. He too participates, and it seems that the ceremony has worked. Gramma, never losing faith in the Hullabaloo or her family, says that they were successful. But how can you tell? What’s the sign!? Why, it’s that big bear right behind them that ended his hibernation - that means winter is over!

Jaded

Back at the Gloria + Green Cafe in Big City, the second half of the episode focuses on Gloria and her hired help, Jade. It has been a while since we last saw them, but Jade has built quite the reputation with the customers at the cafe. And on top of that, she’s really good at her job. Even Gramma is impressed and says that hiring her was the best thing that happened at the cafe.

Obviously, this has all made Gloria feel some kind of way….and that way is Jealous. A picture from her time as Employee of the Month at Big Coffee sits near her desk and she looks to it for advice on what to do. Of course, the picture talks back and tells her that the old Gloria wouldn’t stand for this. The old Gloria would strive to be the best.

You know who is okay with Jade’s work? Cricket. His normal job scaring birds away from the patio seating is something else that Jade does even better, allowing him to meet Tilly in the park where she is ready to play Pickleball with some of the older residents of Big City - Phyllis and her friend. However, Tilly suggests that maybe Cricket doesn’t go so hard when playing the game - after all, these are senior citizens and might not be as good.

Spoiler alert: They’re incredible. Firing the ball like missiles, the kids had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. Toward the end of the game, Cricket takes a pickleball square to his toe, causing him to leave the game and leaving Tilly on her own to compete. She inevitably wins the game, but don’t worry - the ladies loved playing with them. Normally, since they’re older, everyone goes easy on them and this time they had a real challenge. They loved it!

Back at the cafe, Gloria has concocted a scheme to knock Jade down a few pegs - a suggestion box. Under the guise of “anonymous" suggestions from customers, it’s clear that Gloria has made a few suggestions of her own - including some that suggest Jade smile less and tone it down a bit. However, as Gloria continues going through the box - she discovers that the majority of the suggestions/complaints are about her! She’s on her phone too much, she doesn’t greet the customers properly, etc. Taking this to heart, Gloria steps up her game to an excessive level and finally sees another complaint get dropped in the box saying that there is something wrong with her. She realizes that her time at the cafe must be over, and decides to leave Jade in charge and quit.

Of course, Gramma will have none of this, and explains to Gloria that the cafe needs her, despite what is in that suggestion box. Pointing out that even Gramma said that Jade was the best thing that happened to the cafe, Alice corrects the statement saying that, yes, she said that but it was a compliment to Gloria, as she was the one who decided to hire her.

Alice drives the point home adding that Gloria is a great boss - and Jade is a great employee who can’t handle being the boss, as we glimpse outside to the counter and see her being overwhelmed by an onslaught of customers. Gloria heads out and takes charge, and even installs a new Gloria + Green Employee of the Month program, naming Jade the employee of the month before Cricket comes in and demands free food because of his hurt foot.

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