Season 4: Eastbound & Down Chapter 22
Episode Guide / Summary
On his commute to work at the rental car company, Kenny Powers is air-conductoring to classical music, while professing his love for NPR. This doesn’t look like the guy we know, especially after he declines chances to drag race, check out a tempting young ass, and make gay jokes.
After a brief visit to Kenny Powers’ work, we get a history lesson from season 3 to current. We witness Kenny send the car off the cliff, dye his hair, steal the truck, crash his own memorial service, get jailed for insurance fraud, marry April, and have a daughter Shayna (named after Shane Dog).
The flashback segment ends with a time-lapse sequence of Shane Dog’s truck, the P*ssy Rocket. Starting from its original badass form, the truck gets broken down into a more and more boring version of its former self. Basically, the truck is a metaphor for Kenny Powers’ new family life, right down to the trailer hitch ornament balls getting clipped, kissed goodbye, and put in the top dresser drawer.
It turns out the montage was not a narration, but the finishing touches to a movie screenplay, “The Kenny Powers Saga: A major motion picture screenplay of Kenny Powers life history.” Kenny might be a family man now, but the bulletproof tiger has not lost all of its stripes, so to speak. You get the impression that Kenny rarely helps April with the kids, and still has those amazing parenting skills — allowing his little ones to watch The Human Centipede. At a dinner party, Kenny jealously mocks the housing market since April had won a sales award, and does a racist impression of his neighbors’ adopted child.
While dropping a rental car in Charlotte, Kenny Powers runs into an old teammate from Atlanta, Guy Young who hosts Sports Sesh. They hash over the old days, and Kenny tries to lie about being the CEO of the car rental company once he learns Guy has his own sports show. Guy invites him to a VIP post-party for his AIDS charity event, but Kenny respectfully declines, explaining that he is a family man now, and the hardcore party days are a thing of the past.
Later that night at April’s award banquet, we finally get to see Kenny Powers throw a tantrum. During her speech, April thanks Kenny for being a pillar of support, and for his help with the kids, changing diapers, and cooking. She calls him her “wonderful husband”, but April was really speaking in opposites, which is what sets Kenny off.
He storms out of the event, smashes a beer bottle, breaks a car antennae, and starts beating a car with it. April finds him outside to see what’s wrong. He explains how he feels like a bitch since everyone is clapping for her, and regrets walking away from baseball every single day of his life. You get sense they are both miserable in their marriage, and instead of joining April back inside, Kenny stayed outside in silent protest.
Kenny decides to go to Guy Young’s event, and hits the VIP room with the Sports Sesh crew. These ex-athletes brag about their assets, but Kenny has nothing to offer in this conversation since he was not smart enough to invest his millions. Before heading to work the next day, Kenny learns that his loan application for the family pool was denied.
His wife being the breadwinner of the family, the denied loan, and being jealous of the lavish lifestyle other retired athletes were living brings things to a boiling point. When the guy from the beginning of the episode wants to race again, Kenny accepts the challenge, recklessly dodging through traffic, and smashing their cars up.
Kenny pulls the wrecked car into work, and sets the stage for the rest of the season with a vintage KP speech. Going off on his boss, he explains that his taste of the A-list confirmed what he already knew — he’s better than everyone else, and from this moment forward he would not be denied fame, money, respect, or chicken chains. Kenny Powers was no longer a lowly car rental agent.
After quitting his job, and decking his boss, Kenny goes home to partake in his drug stash, which fills a small fishing tackle box. Kenny smokes, drops 4 hits of acid, snorts a couple lines of coke, pops some pills, and smokes some more. Kenny Powers might be alot of things, but you cannot take his tenacity to achieve goals away from him. Much like Clark W. Griswold, Kenny Powers won’t be denied that pool, so he starts digging...
Stevie's Best Moment(s)
Much like the last several seasons, Stevie was barely in the first episode.
During the flashback in the church, he cursed God after he saw Kenny Powers was still alive. Most people were in disbelief, but Stevie felt forsaken.
The wig and eyebrows looked a little better than before though...
Buy Eastbound & Down Merchandise
Eastbound & Down DVD Bluray
Available in standard DVD or Bluray hi-def,
or digital format from the iTunes store.
Eastbound & Down Shirts
Find your favorite design with the show
opening title, or baseball logo.