The Kevin Can F**k Himself that cues up a laugh track for every terrible joke Kevin and Neil make about the New England Patriots or Good Will Hunting is not the same show that follows Allison to Sam’s AA meeting and puts her through the agony of meeting his seemingly perfect wife while Allison emphatically bites into the one food item we’ve seen her enjoy so far: the humble powdered-sugar doughnut.
Sure, it’s purposeful: We have to stand alongside Kevin during one of his idiotic schemes and childish meltdowns so we can compare and contrast his, his father Pete’s, and his best friend Neil’s encouragement and complicity in his behavior, with Allison and Patty’s exasperation, resentment, and ultimate disgust with it.
Damaging their home by breaking down doors, as we learn during his casual hostage taking of those escape room players, and damaging Allison’s reputation by getting her fired from her paralegal job and spreading rumors that she was having an affair.
I’m not going to answer that one way or another, because I am writing on the Internet for all to read! Everyone can see this! Ultimately, though, while I can grasp the necessity of having us suffer through listen to, watch, and experience all of Kevin’s foolishness so we can understand Allison’s breaking point, spending this much time on the sitcom side of Kevin Can F**k Himself was frankly difficult to sit through.
What to make of the fact that Detective Tammy tells Patty not to leave town, and Patty immediately does so anyway? I think that’s the first sign from Patty that she feels some guilt for her behavior toward Allison over the years, and she feels a certain debt to her clients, and during the drive from Worcester, the women break some ground.
Patty’s connect misunderstood what she wanted, and sells her cocaine instead; the teenager who tells Patty and Allison that he’ll guide them to the Oxy dealer ends up being a smart-ass; and the “Red Rooster” dealer who Patty and Allison do eventually meet trades them a gun for the cocaine rather than Oxy.
Is this confident, self-assured Allison what she used to be like before Kevin? She grabs the Oxy, she ushers Patty to the car, she takes over driving duty, she shoves the gun down her pants when they get pulled over, and she smiles her way through the conversation with the two cops who come up to ask Allison and Patty why they’re in a car that’s been reported stolen.
It has to stop.” Is that a literal “it has to,” because Allison is stuck in a sitcom from which she has to break free? Or that a figurative “it has to,” because Kevin is used to getting his way through years of reinforced patriarchy, narcissism, and abuse? And if it’s both, Allison has the Oxy, and she potentially has an ally.
• Neil’s “lunch, some beers, an app, and dinner” meal planning had real Hobbit energy, but I’m thinking Neil would be one of those dudes who never leaves the Shire.
• Do we think Detective Tammy already knows about the Patty/Terrance phone call, or does that come up later? Terrance was right, though: Never use the phone for criminal activity.