Arthur offends a Connelly Fork resident who controls the performance schedule for the annual Fork Fest.
Just as Arthur begins to win over the church choir, he finds himself offending other folks in town. Arthur’s trouble assimilating creates waves for the choir’s performance plans for Fork Fest this week on Perfect Harmony.
Everyone is excited for the annual Fork Fest celebration, except for maybe Arthur, who is finding it difficult to be patient in the small town. When Arthur yells at pig farmer Jerry Blevins about stopping his truck in the road, it throws a wrench in the choir’s plans for singing at the popular festival.
Jerry responds to Arthur’s rude behavior by giving the choir a bad time slot for Fork Fest. Arthur tries to smooth things over by sharing a meal with Jerry at the diner. All is well until Jerry spies Arthur scrubbing his hands with sanitizer after shaking the pig farmer’s hand. Jerry then pulls the choir from Fork Fest all together.
Ginny is upset about not performing at Fork Fest, but that is not the only thing troubling her. She is worried about being bombarded with questions about the divorce at the festival. Some poor advice from friends results in Ginny’s friends thinking she cheated on Wayne.
Just as things go from bad to worse, a couple of surprises come to the rescue on Perfect Harmony.
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Let’s take a look at the “high notes” from Perfect Harmony episode 2 ‘Fork Fest’.
No words wasted
The series is chock-full of humor, sometimes blatant and other times very subtle and dry.
A couple more references to Kentucky basketball make their way into the episode including a Wildcats tattoo that Reverend Jax reveals on his shoulder.
Arthur is sorely and hilariously unfamiliar with the town’s customs. The choir coaches Arthur on how to connect with Jerry in very specific and hilarious detail. For instance, Jerry does not like the state of California but he does like California Pizza Kitchen.
I cannot help but chuckle when Jerry announces the clogging group called “Who Let the Clogs Out?” There is also fork-themed food like “hot dogs on a fork” (no corndogs here!) and “Forkarita” cocktails.
At the pie eating contest Ginny tries to tell Cash that Fork Fest is not different this year just because his parents are divorced. Without skipping a beat, Cash points out one big difference. Wayne is wearing a shirt this year!
Even without words, Wayne cracks me up by performing facial exercises as the pie eating contest is about to begin.
Wayne’s bravado
Wayne is quickly becoming known for his bold displays of confidence. He uses minimal filter when he shares his thoughts.
Wayne’s unfiltered comments can make us laugh or make us a little uncomfortable. Sometimes his boldness can be endearing, however, like when he comes to the rescue of Ginny’s reputation and tells the whole town that she is not at fault in the breakup.
Did I mention that Wayne likes to boast about his physique? He tells the crowd, “my arms are so jacked they blew the sleeves off my shirt”.
Wayne’s declaration in the middle of Fork Fest begins to set the ex-spouses on a more amicable path. Of course, Wayne pushes things a little too far when he tries to move in for a French kiss.
Storytelling with Reverend Jax
We know that Reverend Jax’s parents used movies to share lessons about life. The reverend ends up giving Arthur some good advice by sharing a bizarre story about Conley Fork’s namesake.
Arthur is at a metaphorical fork in the road having just lost his wife and trying to make a life in small town he never imagined. We learn that long ago a man named Eustace Conley came to an actual fork in the road in town.
Eustace laid down instead of choosing a path. He ended up being mauled by a bear but amazingly not to the point of death. I’m not quite sure this really explains why the town was named after Conley, but Arthur recalls the story at a pivotal moment.
Arthur decides to embrace Fork Fest by entering the greased pig contest. He is failing miserably when he collapses and lays down like old Eustace Conley. Just as Arthur surrenders, the pig comes to him. Everyone cheers for Arthur’s clever victory and his willingness to succumb to the mud.
The town sees that Arthur may not be quite as uptight as they thought. And Arthur learns to be more accepting of his new surroundings.
Jerry reinstates the choir and they finish with another moving and fun performance.
It is looking more and more like Arthur will be sticking around for a while. Ginny and son Cash are especially welcoming to Arthur and treating him like family. And if Arthur can change Jerry’s mind, it looks like he has a good shot at winning over the rest of the town.
And Arthur is still wearing his scarf! Thank you.
Come back for a new helpin’ of Perfect Harmony on Thursdays at 8:30/7:30 central on NBC.
Revisit the pilot episode here.