From the collective creators behindRegular ShowandBob’s Burgerscomes another epic father figure to the animation family sitcom genre: Beef Tobin inThe Great North. With the vocal talents of Nick Offerman as the patriarch, the series follows a single father of four children of various ages in Alaska. Unlike his beloved role as Ron SwansoninParks and Recreation, Beef Tobin loves spending time with his family. In fact, he is rarely away from them. While his three youngest are in school, he and his oldest son, Wolf, go out on their boat and fish together. Even though he shies away from vulnerability, his four children plus his daughter-in-law encourage him to be open with all the love and compassion a family can offer.
Beef is quite dedicated to his family, even before his ex-wife left him. Each of his children are eclectic, and he does his best to bond with them based on their passion of choice. Moon, his youngest, is obsessed with the Sasquatch and having fun. He is often trying to solve a mystery, even if there isn’t a mystery to solve. Ham, who is an absent-minded teenager, loves his family as much as he loves baking. He and his father bond while Judy, his Alaskan twin sister, delegates tasks to them. Judy, Beef’s only biological daughter, is possibly the most enthusiastic and passionate in her family. She is often the lead in school plays and gives her dad the most room to come around. Wolf, the eldest son, is the most attuned to his father than his siblings. He is the first to notice if his dad is acting weird, encouraging his dad and siblings to communicate more. Though she isn’t biologically his daughter, Honeybee, Wolf’s wife, is welcomed with open arms into the Tobin family.
As The Moon Rises
Moon is as unique as his name. Always on the lookout for Big Foot, Moon is more mature than his peers. Despite his brown bear onesie ensemble, he is prepared for every situation possible. Much like his father, he is a believer in conspiracy theories and enjoys being outdoors. Of course, Beef and his youngest share a special bond beyond theories. Beef was caught playing with porcelain toys by his middle children. Soon it became a family affair, with Moon excitedly joining in.
While Moon’s maturity may set him apart, he is still a kid. Beef, it can be assumed, told bedtime stories to his other children as he does with Moon. Despite his grief and denial of his ex-wife leaving him, Beef makes his relationship with Moon just as important as his other children. He doesn’t treat Moon like a little child, but as a mature kid who still needs his father.
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You’re such a Ham
Ham may be a middle child, but he is the glue of his family. Despite his aloofness, he is always in a good mood. While he enjoys spending time with his family, his forgetfulness can get in the way of his relationships. In one episode, he reveals that he is going to have a huge coming out, despite already being out. Beef’s reaction to this is to make sure he and the family were welcoming.
Love Mind Therapyreminds people who are coming out that if others react in a non-loving way, that is not a reflection of the person coming out. Beef, as a devoted family man, loves all of his children wholeheartedly. In fact, Beef could embrace only his son while banning Crispin, Ham’s boyfriend, a typical storyline for fathers. Except Beef openly embraces not just Ham but Crispin as well. His acceptance of his son transcends the stereotype of a man’s man needing his sons to be copies of himself.
That Judy is so Moody
The local thespian-ally-Alanis Morissette-loving Alaskan twin to Ham, Judy is unlike any other teenage girl who kicks ass. Voiced by the notoriously funny Jenny Slate, Judy talks faster than anyone hyped up on caffeine. Judy expresses herself in every way, even if her dad has to intervene. As the artist in the family, Judy explores every possible form, often outperforming everyone else in the room. Except when she takes up pottery, something she is awful at. The family reaches a breaking point with Beef insisting they cannot tell Judy she is terrible at pottery (Season 2, Episode 16).
Fathers are typically the protectors in the family unit, often rescuing their children in order to keep them safe. Yet, Beef doesn’t intervene or interject too often to rescue his children. His approach is to let them discover and explore the world, and he even puts them through survivalist missions to prevent too much chaos. However, Beef’s willingness to let Judy be terrible at something, while also keeping her feelings protected, is just one of many reasons that Beef is the best Alaskan father.
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Six Pack with Wolf
Wolf, voiced byprolificSNLalumWill Forte, is Beef’s oldest son with whom he shares a deep, loving relationship that’s almost too real to be true. The duo is so in tune that if something is happening, they quickly tell each other about it. Their connection goes far beyond a father knowing what his son loves. In fact, of all of his children, Wolf is most in sync with his father’s emotions. When Honeybee, Wolf’s wife, suggests that she wants to move out of the big house, Wolf tells her that his father cannot handle a huge change just yet. Naturally, the parent worrying about the child turns into the child worrying about the parent as the parent ages. However, Wolf being concerned with his father’s emotional state speaks volumes to the care Beef has for each of his children.
Sweeter than Honeybee
Honeybee Shaw, Wolf’s wife, may have married into the Tobin family, but she is one of them from the beginning. She is feisty like Judy, a foodie like Ham, and curious about all Alaska has to offer like Moon. Marrying into a family, especially when you’re far from your own can be pretty daunting.Psychology Todayoutlines a variety of ways to make your relationship with your in-laws easier, one of them being to lower expectations that they’ll take you in as one of their own. While it may seem ideal to be accepted as an additional child by your in-laws, that isn’t always the case. For Honeybee, Beef seems to treat her as his fifth child. His devotion to his immediate family is already something remarkable. Yet to fully accept his son’s wife as one of his own cements how much love this man has for his family. Clearly, if there were an award for best father, Beef Tobin would win by an Alaskan landslide.
