Morkel and Bamford and Litter Boxes

"Morkel and Bamford and Litter Boxes" is the 14th episode in the 27th season of North Springs and the 409th episode overall. Written by Rob Farlane and directed by Don Grayman, it first aired on TBS on July 14, 2022.

In the episode, false rumors spread around the the town of North Springs that the staffers at the local elementary school are placing around the building for students identifying as "", leading to further strains on relations between Principal Bamford and, "intervention" from the school board, and outrage amongst the town's. The episode parodies the. Phelan Morkel reprises his role as the superintendent.

Plot
The parents in North Springs host a meeting to discuss fake news articles they found online which state that North American schools will be adding for children who identify as "", and that it started in Canada, but has since begun spreading south. The more liberal parents refuse to believe these lies, but the conservative parents fear that their children are being exposed to "radical liberal degeneracy", and take to social media to discuss their concerns.

As word continues to spread around North Springs and the Internet, the rumors end up leading to mass hysteria. The main characters in particular are affected by this—Tommy Briggs' parents argue with each other about the issue, Philly Lyndon's parents make him wear a big sticker reading "LIBERALS DNI", Conner Makowski's parents keep questioning if he has become "one of them", and Ben Sears ends up having traumatic flashbacks to when he was introduced to the furry fandom and subsequently kidnapped that cause him to become an extremely paranoid conspiracy theorist and develop an "addiction" to .

The school board eventually catches on, and himself schedules a trip to North Springs Elementary. After arriving one Thursday morning, he meets with Principal Bamford. They do the usual: Morkel and Bamford argue over politics, Morkel shouts "BAMMFORRD, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!", and the two almost get into a fistfight. Morkel notifies Bamford that the board is obligated by "Republican Florida law" to send police personnel to investigate the school and search for litter boxes. Morkel then begins reminiscing about his childhood in, during which period Bamford steals his wallet, puts in charge, and flees the school.

As a result of the rumors, North Springs Elementary School ends up appearing on local news, and then state and national news. At this point, students themselves are curious about the possibility of the rumors being true, and instead of going to class, they begin rioting. The kids tear up classrooms, searching to find out whether or not there are really litter boxes in the school. At this point, the police show up and begin arresting students while simultaneously looking for litter boxes. The mass chaos spreads around town, to the point where the entirety of North Springs is in dismay.

The police later announce that no litter boxes have been found in school. Superintendent Morkel states that he is "unsurprised" because the rumor has already been proven false on many occasions and the rumor "wasn't even realistic in the first place". The school is temporarily closed for repair, during which the townspeople reflect upon the recent events.

The parents hold another meeting about this occurrence; the rightist parents state that there are litter boxes but the police have gone "ultra", while the leftist parents correct them. This eventually results in a massive brawl, which the children laugh at as they watch from a distance while ridiculing their parents' political views, only for them to end up in a similar debate resulting in them fighting with each other.

Reception
OEN's Dorian Grove gave "Morkel and Bamford and Litter Boxes" a rating of 3/5, writing that the episode is "from a satirical standpoint [...] a step in the right direction for North Springs" but criticizing the "hurried ending". Shawn James with Media Geek called its storytelling "notoriously disorganized" and its dialogue "needlessly awkward and ham-handed"; he gave it an overall rating of 1/4 for "having nothing to say".

XYZ News contributor Melissa Ferrara wrote that the episode is an example of "North Springs losing its ability to effectively criticize the world surrounding its writers". Thomas Tombras of Funnynet said that while the episode has "razor-sharp political satire", it "flipflops" between perspectives, occasionally and unintentionally "sympathizing with the zany conservatism it seeks to lampoon while simultaneously attempting to maintain a liberal viewpoint".