The Breakdown
We start off with Kenny behind the wheel, listening to some classical music. When he arrives at a stop-light, a rowdy guy & girl in a Ford Mustang pull up and give Kenny the finger, challenging him to a race. KP turns down their offer, as he no longer lives that type of a life style anymore. They insult him before driving off.
We see that Kenny now works at Millennial Rental Cars. The customers he’s currently helping want a photograph, much to his chagrin. He turns them down, but soon his boss, who wears diamond earrings, forces him to.
Flashing back to the end of season 3, we see Kenny dying his hair, stealing Shane-Dog’s truck, showing up as his own funeral, getting punched by his brother, and going to jail for life-insurance fraud. He’s married April, had a daughter, has become a family man, and is currently working on a screen play about his life.
He’s hanging out with his family, and discussing with his children the film Human Centipede, before trying to get April to understand the importance of a party rockin’ playlist for the evenings festivities. April then finds out that Kenny applied for a loan for a swimming pool. Once the party comes along, it’s clear that their “friends” are more so April’s friends, and not Kenny’s type of people, as they don’t appreciate his imitation of one couple’s adopted Asian kid. We then find out that April is up for an award since she sold the most houses in the region.
The next day at work, Kenny smashes a box of doughnuts that his boss brought into work. He’s later told he has to deliver a Mercedes to a customer, which ends up being a former team mate, Guy Young. He’s no longer playing ball, but hosting a TV show, Sports Sesh. He and Kenny catch up, and Guy tells him he’s having a party after his AIDS benefit banquet. Kenny turns down the offer, saying he no longer rolls that way, but Guy says he’ll keep him on the invite list just in case.
Later that evening at the ceremony for April, Kenny becomes jealous of her and explodes out in the parking lot in anger. He’s pissed that he’s a nobody while she’s getting awards and all that jazz. It’s like the Incredible Hulk. We’re getting sick of Bruce Banner’s wimpy ass, we want to see the Hulk smash a bunch of things and head-butt some nerds! Once they come home, Kenny gets restless and heads to Guy’s banquet. Afterwards, he introduces Kenny to his team, and they decide to rock the party that rocks the body. Everyone starts talking about all the things they have, whilst Kenny feels like more and more of a failure.
He wakes up the next day, a bit hung over, and finds out he’s been denied the loan. On the way to work he runs into the two no-good-knicks in the Ford Mustang. This time, they’re getting Kenny P behind the wheel. They race, but soon enough, Kenny starts smashing into them like chariot races in ancient Rome, showing them how business is really done. He then arrives at work, and lets his boss know that from now on, Kenny Powers only works for Kenny Powers, as he works towards his goal of money, fame, and chicken-chains. Later, he heads home and breaks out a tackle-box which should be behind glass that says “Break In Case of Emergency or Normal Life”. Inside is just about every drug imaginable, as Kenny gets down to the business of being Kenny, promptly followed by digging his own pool.
The Analysis
It’s been too long without Kenny Powers. Season 3 gave us one of the greatest seasons of all time in my opinion, so I’m expecting a lot from season 4. Chapter 22 is a great start, and I thought it was pretty clever to put Kenny in shirts with sleeves as well as sober, so we the audience start clamoring for the real Kenny to come back and Hulk-smash all these nerds. The scene with him and his kids talking about Human Centipede is proof alone that Eastbound & Down is so far above all other comedies out there that it’s shameful.
