The Big Door Prize Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Deerfest: Part One

The immediate aftermath of Mr. Johnson’s magic show is just as messy and wildly entertaining as you can imagine with some great revelations on The Big Door Prize Season 1 Episode 9, “Deerfest: Part One.”

Deerfest is upon the town of Deerfield and with it comes some complicated and unexpected feelings about the event and its organizer, specifically for the Hubbard family. The festival doesn’t really come to the fore of the episode until the final act, allowing for more narrative space to work through some of the big moments we’ve seen up to this point.

Though heavy with setup for the season finale and the Deerfest and whatever the looming storm will bring for the town, this episode does a fantastic job of trying to bring some sort of resolution to a few characters and offering big questions for others.

It’s well-balanced with its hilarious and wildly sitcom-like scenes making for a fun penultimate episode.

“Life’s Potential” Does Not Mean What You Think It Means

While Cass is dealing with the fallout of what her mother did at the magic show, others are coming to terms with their feelings on those same revelations for the trajectory of their lives and their little blue cards.

The build-up to these moments of revelation feels equally surprising and earned as we see the payoff of the emotional work or avoidance play out throughout the episode. We see it mostly in Dusty.

Though the hypnosis during “Izzy” didn’t have its intended effect for the show, it helps give him some clarity at his own perception of the meaning behind his little blue card. I love that we get to see him use his “life’s potential” and provide an important lesson to his daughter and his class.

Chris O’Dowd does a wonderful job giving Dusty that bit of earnestness and humility in the moment he offers what he’s learned with his class, Trina, and Principal Pat that is absolutely needed to keep it from veering into the preachy, patronizing territory that moments like this can easily fall into.

So, to see a moment where there is honesty about how mistakes have been made or how fear of mistakes have kept the town’s adults in the same spot up until the MORPHO’s presence is admirable.

Facing Fears and Making Mistakes

Despite being one of the adults whose “Deerfest: Part One” plays more heavily into the sitcom beats in a fun way giving most of the main cast to highlight their comedy skills as well as their more emotive sides.

With heartfelt scenes like Trina’s midnight moment of vulnerability with her parents in their room to Beau and Jacob’s conversation about how to best move forward as a family without being stuck in the past, every moment is deeply felt and reels you further into everyone’s stories.

Trina’s version of facing fears leading to a cathartic “big romantic gesture” is brilliant and leads to some fantastic conversations and growth for Trina and many within her orbit.

For a large part of the past eight episodes, we’ve seen Trina feign indifference and convey anger. But seeing her more open and willing to face her fears is lovely.

Overall, it’s another entertaining episode and a perfect setup for the looming festival and storm in the distance.

Random Thoughts

• I can’t wait to find out the butterfly symbols’ source and what they mean. I know it’s been interspersed throughout the season, but Mr. Johnson and Xander in the episode’s opening scene really pull that mystery into focus.
• I love how very real Giorgio’s scene is in how awkward, stilted, and familiar in the way a group whose known each other for ages deals with revelations like Giorgio’s.
• I’m intrigued to see how Dusty and Cass’s separation talk ends.
• Why does it feel like Hana might have more to her story than she’s letting on?

What did you think of this episode of The Big Door Prize? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Big Door Prize streams Wednesdays on AppleTV+.

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