So you think Season Cinco is unique in its single-minded obsession with violence, retribution, and despair? You’re obviously forgetting Season Three Episode Three’s “Rascals.”
Theme:
Season Three began with Eric mourning the recently murdered Tim. Episode One makes a stab at showing Tim and Eric making their friendship work, entering into a business deal that would have resulted in unlimited hundos per week. However, as the nihilistic ending of “Resurrection” shows, Season Three is ultimately committed to interrogating the anger and thoughtlessness that can drive human relationships. Episode Two, “Chan” saw Awesome Show exploring, with consummate irreverence: infidelity, domestic violence, and child abuse. Here, in “Rascals,” friendship is shown as an endless battleground, a source of insane folie a deux.
Hi-Lights:
Cinco Fone (Part 1)
Oh, Cinco, you can screw up anything. While aiming for simplicity, the Cinco Fone is (of course) impossibly, horrifically arcane, and unusable. Boasting two antennas but only one button, the Cinco Fone also forbids incoming calls. What modern girl on the go wouldn’t want this massive brick strapped to her side?
Cinco Fone (Part 2)
The absurdity continues with part two. Not only is the Cinco Fone “heavy as hell, but” it also can cause second-degree burns. Watching Ed Begley Jr. rub Cinco patented cooling gel all over his face is honestly worth the price and the hassle of a Cinco Fone. Where can I get mine?
Host Segment (Part 3)
Bob Odenkirk returns to Awesome Show to help reunite the duo. After masquerading as one of Eric’s murdered rascals, the boys decide the only way to repair their damaged friendship is through mutually assured destruction.
Anatomy of an Episode:
Child Showcase
Patton Oswalt’s head is photoshopped onto a child’s body. The adorable horror of it will take a while to sink in.
Host Segment (Part 1)
Tim tearfully explains how one of Eric’s rascals ended up dead. Bob Odenkirk promises to restore their wounded friendship.
Swing Dancing (Part 1)
“Let’s dance to jazz!” I don’t know what else there is to say
Cinco Fone (Part 1)
See Hi-Lights. Leave it to Cinco to make modern technology somehow more confusing and less usable.
Host Segment (Part 2)
In a tense scene, Bob Odenkirk leads a friendship arbitration, the result of which is that Eric must kill himself to even the score.
Cinco Fone (Part 2)
See Hi-Lights. Ed Begley Jr. discovers the joys of Cinco cooling gel.
Swing Dancing (Part 2)
More swing dancing. Here Eric demonstrates the “Tiny Dancer.”
Tairy Greene’s Acting Seminar for Children
A close contender for Hi-Lights. Tairy traumatizes a roomful of children with his bare feet, his unrestrained anger, and his penchant for kicking ferns.
Cinco Fone Interlude
Ed Begley Jr. tries to get a ride home, but the Cinco Fone isn’t helping matters. This earns him a “Great Job!”
Host Segment (Part 3)
See Hi-Lights. After (maybe) murdering Bob Odenkirk, Tim and Eric decide to mend their friendship by jumping off of a roof.
Winner:
Okay--I really was going to stop all this silliness, but c’mon. Ed Begley Jr. For having to put up with the Cinco Fone, for enduring second-degree facial burns, and for the unbridled sensuousness of his interaction with the Cinco cooling gel, we have to award this one to Ed.
Pennie Sublime