Eastbound and Down S02E04: Kenny’s Odyssey

This week’s episode is a prime example of what makes Eastbound and Down such a unique show. Your typical comedy is episodic, focusing on a group of recurring characters week by week as they live their lives. Eastbound and Down, on the other hand, has grander designs than that.

The episode begins with Kenny looking out over the hills of Mexico: his new kingdom. With his new persona and a replacement for April, he’s finally hit his stride. But anyone who watches a healthy amount of TV knows that means he’s got nowhere to go but down. Roger takes him aside and warns him about his attitude. He tells Kenny to  “stop prancing around out there” and “get serious.”

Kenny shrugs him off, but Roger’s warning foreshadows a big mess for Kenny. First, he gets kicked off the field when he makes an ostentatious entrance complete with a donkey-pulled cart. Then Roger benches him for the following game. “At your core, you don’t give a shit,” Roger scolds.

Then he loses his girl. His first mistake is bringing Vida to Charros manager Sebastian’s house, complete with a fully equipped recording studio. Ad-libbing, she writes a song, singing “I want to be by myself,” on repeat. Kenny is not too happy with the lyrics. “Maybe it’ll end up being a B-side,” he says. Later, at Vida’s house with her son Tony, he discovers that she routinely spends the night away from home. In fact, Tony says, she was over at Sebastian’s house last night. The two ride up to Sebastian’s mansion and burst into the recording studio, where Vida and Sebastian are busy getting busy. “I thought you were a whore with a heart of gold,” Kenny cries. He trashes the studio and takes off into the night. Arriving home, he walks in on Stevie and Maria, the next door neighbour. He demands that Stevie break up with Maria, which he reluctantly does.

Kenny is always treading that fine line between funny clown and sad clown, a balancing act that manifests itself in the next scene, where Kenny storms the Charros game for which he was benched. He saunters onto the field, beer in hand, with a soccer ball stuffed into his shirt. Everyone cheers for La Flama Blanca, but the other players, as usual, are sick of Kenny’s stunts. Suddenly he pulls out a gun and shoots the soccer ball as he throws it into the air. It’s actually not a very funny scene; the music is sombre, emphasizing Kenny as a tragic figure as opposed to a beloved entertainer. No one is laughing. That is, until he throws the gun into the audience and a little girl catches it. The crowd cheers; the music becomes boisterous and cheerful. This is typical of Eastbound and Down: whenever things start to get serious, the show scales it back.

The episode ends with a revelation. Stevie finally tracks down Eduardo Sanchez, who we find out is white and lives nearby. That should be your first clue. They steal Sebastian’s car one night and drive out to see him. Turns out Eduardo Sanchez is Kenny’s dad. CALLED IT. I swear.  Just saying.

This brings me back to my point: the structure of the show is more odyssey than episodic. Kenny may be a clown, but this is an epic story here. That’s why there are so few recurring characters aside from Kenny himself. He’s a lone figure: we’re following Kenny on his personal journey, wherever that may take him. At this point, the journey has taken him from his hometown all the way down to Mexico, which may not be so far from home after all.