Kidding: Season 1, Episode 4 “Bye, Mom!” (B)
There’s a very dark undercurrent to this show, which can’t even really be termed a comedy because of the serious nature of most of its material. I’m not even sure what to say about the scene in which Jeff terrified the kid in the cemetery with the pineapple bong with references to what he allegedly didn’t do at war, but the scene I found most compelling came towards the end of the episode. Jill finding out that Jeff lives so close was a long time coming and could have gone poorly enough by itself, but she was infinitely angrier about the fact that Jeff is paying for the cell phone plan and rent of the man who was driving the car that killed their son. Jeff does live in a fantasy world to a degree, and she usually smiles and laughs it off while moving on with her life, she didn’t want to do that in this case. Being told that Vivian’s phone wasn’t broken and that he needed to wake up crushed him, and therefore it was so incredible to see him light up and return to serenity and happiness when she did in fact respond and say that her phone hadn’t been working. It was sweet that Will suggested that excuse at the phone store to save his father some embarrassment. Jeff talking to his sister with the fake head on his body was a haunting preview of what’s to come when the Jeff we know becomes an animated, automated puppet that can be controlled in a way that he really can’t.
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