Plot: Bob comes home to Donna rehearsing for Arsenic and Old Lace, and finds Andy's lnchbox in the trash with a profanity written across. Bob is outraged, and decides to take action against this appalling behavior. But yelling at the school (literally, he stands in the parking lot and shouts at an empty building) after hours accomplishes nothing. God's suggestion to look within whistles in and out. The Devil gets Bob to call into a radio show he's hosting, as a way to unite Bob with other like-minded imbeciles.
The group's initial attempt to keep rap music away from children runs up against the fact CDs are expensive (oh, that dates this episode). But here's the Devil again, presenting himself as a classy evil, willing to donate a check for 50 grand. Bob spends it on night vision goggles, and then his group set their sights on Donna's play. Which forces the actors to try and stage the play secretly, only for the Devil to tip off Bob's group. And just when the theater seems ready to erupt in violence, Kevin Bacon arrives to defuse the situation with dancing.
None of which solves the problem of the word scrawled on Andy's lunchbox, now also painted in big letters on the backyard fence.
Quote of the Episode: Smeck - 'What if Bob restores order and morality to Detroit?'
Smeck Smacks: 5 (32 overall).
Other: The arrival of Kevin Bacon (and subsequent quick departure) is random, but I at least enjoyed the secret of why he would continually show up to ruin the Devil's plans.
Also, Bob tries to intimidate God in the men's room at the bar to learn who wrote on Andy's lunchbox. Which takes a certain amount of chutzpah, considering God's track record towards people who defy him. Along those same lines, Bob trying to justify his taking that check from the Devil. Calling God an idealist, while describing himself as a realist, a consensus builder.
God did use the airbag to punch him, though. A week after he used a table to do the same thing. He's real fond of that plausible deniability stuff.
Although Bob was surprisingly serious about this, in his clumsy, misguided way. Even when Donna told him he was no longer invited to the cast party, and they got a keg. I thought for sure missing out on beer would get him to reconsider, but no. A man's quest to protect his son from anyone's swearing other than his own supersedes alcoholism.
Bob's pal Barry wants the schools to stop educating kids so they can't take his and Bob's jobs. Instead, the kids will do all the crappy work, and then they can stop the immigrants. Sounds like Barry's got a future in the Republican Party.
Not a strong episode to end on, but there you have it. When I started this rewatch, it had been long enough since I'd watched the show that I figured I'd enjoy one or two episodes - "The Devil's Birthday" most likely - and the rest would be a disaster. But it turned out to be more enjoyable than that. The subplots are weak, often with no resolution or one that's tossed in at some point. They come off as strictly filler, which suggests the A plot is too weak to carry the episode. But there are almost always a few decent gags or lines in each episode, so that's not too bad.
After 5+ years and 7 different shows, I'm going to take a break from the episode rundowns. Come back next Sunday to learn what's going to be taking over!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
My mind is officially boggled. But having the Devil running radio shows certainly does make sense.
It's a pretty good medium for him. Gives people just enough rope to hang themselves with, and piss off other people. Of course nowadays the Devil has set up shop on Twitter.
Post a Comment