Unsurprisingly, "Chapter Six" saw Kenny (Danny McBride) get a chance to return to Major League baseball. A talent scout from Tampa informs him that footage of him pitching his nemesis' eyeball out has become an online sensation, so his team want to capitalize on Kenny's sudden fame and sign him as a player for the new season. Kenny accepts and sets the ball rolling for a money-spinning move to the city, and the rest of the episode consisted of him saying farewell to the apathetic townsfolk, in typically ostentatious and egotistical fashion: best exemplified by him getting Stevie (Steve Little) to set the school fire alarm off, so the students will assemble outside to hear a goodbye speech he's prepared and channeled through his truck's loudspeaker system.
There's also the problem of buxom sweetheart April (Katy Mixon), who has admitted her feelings for Kenny and slept with him, giving her fiancé Principal Cutler (Andrew Daly) a mental breakdown that sees him living rough in the woods and preparing to kill Kenny with chloroform and a handgun. April is torn between the two men in her life (who are such opposites), and Kenny is very disappointed when she decides to stay with staid Cutler, but even more confused that his professional resurrection still isn't enough to get him the girl he loves.
In the end, April came round to the lure of the city lights and agreed to accompany Kenny to Tampa, moments before Kenny receives a call from Tampa's agent withdrawing their offer. To save face in front of his joyous family, Kenny continued with his plan and left town with April by his side, only to ditch her at a gas station and leave town alone -- his dreams shattered, a few bridges burned, and having cruelly dumped sweet April for the second time.
"Chapter Six" had its moments, but it wasn't the big climax I was hoping for. With hindsight, the show reached a mid-series peak with episode 3 and has gradually plateaued out into a show that's not as clever as it thinks it is, not as funny as it wants to be. But it certainly became a lot more likeable than the hateful pilot had me expecting. And, while Kenny never truly reformed his character, he became a touch more grateful toward those who helped him in his time of need, but in a way that was still amusingly selfish and narcissistic.
Overall, Eastbound & Down was a slight misfire as a series, but it had a certain raucous attitude and trashy veneer that made it stand out from the crowd, and I was pleased that McBride softened the repugnant nature of Kenny and turn him into someone vaguely likeable, amusingly blunt, and blissfully unaware of how others see him. More could have been done with his brother's family, and Mixon's character never really convinced me (we never saw any solid reason for her being with Cutler), but there was some intriguing comic characterizations. In particular, I'm still not sure that April chose to leave with Kenny because she loved him, or was just enticed by the glamour. And there was a genuine ache that Kenny didn't risk telling April the truth and seeing if she'd join him on the road. Funny thing is, a part of me thinks he knew she wouldn't...
5 November 2009
FX/FX HD, 10pm
written by: Ben T. Best, Jody Hill & Danny McBride directed by: Jody Hill starring: Danny McBride (Kenny Powers), Katy Mixon (April Buchanon), John Hawkes (Dustin Powers), Andrew Daly (Terrence Cutler), Ben Best (Clegg), Jennifer Irwin (Cassie Powers), Steve Little (Stevie Janowski), Nora Mangrum (Rose Powers), Ethan Alexander McGee (Dustin Jr.), Bo Mitchell (Wayne) & Adam Scott (Pat Anderson)
