THIS WEEK ON Eastbound & Down – Chapter 16
It gets wet n’ wild this week on EB&D, as we encounter some predictably unpredictable circumstances on our journey back to comedic certitude. It is now my professional opinion that KP has fully recovered from an anemic start to season 3, and much good seems to be in store ahead as we once again bask in darkness of the KP experience…right after the jump.
The pace picks up this week, as Stevie n’ Maria convert the dojo to a nursery, while Kenny returns to practice. It’s here where Roy (a Texas scout played by Matthew McConaughey) encourages Kenny to take on a new protegé, young Russian superstar, Ivan Dochenko. Kenny attempts to bond with Ivan, leading him on a Skywalker/Yoda perversion at the abandoned cement factory. The scene included the use of a hilarious Mermen battle trident as a motivational tool. But their relationship quickly sours, and Kenny strands the Russian in retaliation for calling him a “has been”.
Kenny, fearing his newfound Russian competition, swoops in awkwardly to retrieve his disposable girlfriend from her college class, so that she can support him in his time of need. But instead, he is publicly shirked, and returns home to Stevie for a much needed pep talk. Stevie executes a tremendous motivational speech, and Kenny is up to task when his number is called at the game that evening.
Things appear to be going well, until Kenny is benched for giving up a clutch homerun. Ivan takes his place on the mound, and delivers the close for the Mermen, upending KP’s hopes of showing out for the Texas scouts.
Kenny attempts to lick his wounds with some post-game bumps at the condo with Shane. But the show takes a quick twist when Shane does what ends up being his last bump on earth, while Kenny changes the song to something more coke-appropriate. He turns around to find Shane lying on the floor, dead of an apparent drug induced heart attack. That is where the episode ends.
Now I hate to say I told you so, but the beauty of this show is found in its absurd unpredictability, and Shane’s death was a perfect example. Anybody who says they saw this coming is a LIAR. In fact, they even went the extra seductive mile in this sode to show a Shane/Stevie conflict that was bound to erupt somewhere down the line. Shane’s death opens a lot of doors for the next episode, and possibly the whole season. We literally have no idea what is going to happen next, and I have purposely avoided the previews.
Stevie stops whining, and pulls his weight as comedic support. KP was on point with the dialogue and one-liners. On my second watch, I was literally rolling at the things I missed the first time through. All in all, it was the kind of meat and potatoes episode that made KP what he is today. I hope the upward trend continues going forward.
