Showtime’s Kidding
2×06: “The Death of Fil”
Directed by Michael Gondry
Written by Dave Holstein

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Episode 3101” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “The Acceptance Speech” – click here
In the Philippines, Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time is syndicated with a Filipino host. That means the latest “divorce is for the best” episode doesn’t go so well. Soon, the police are raiding the studio because divorce is illegal. They take him up top of the building, then they toss him over the side ruthlessly. Unfortunately, there’s no pickle barrel rigged with a parachute to save Filipino Pickles.

Meanwhile, in America, Jeff’s being questioned in an interview about his decision to air the divorce episode for everyone to see, resulting in many divorces in the real world. On top of that he’s told about what happened to the Filipino Pickles and shown the video. He feels horrible, and a brief catch in the interviewer’s voice results in her asking if he feels responsible for “the death of Fil“— naturally, giving Jeff pause as he thinks about his own dead son, Phil. Both Jeff and Deirdre are upset by what’s happened, and Seb is no help, blaming it on them. Worse, the poor puppets from Pickle Barrel Falls are continually being pimped out in the name of capitalism.
Nothing’s super fun for Jeff at the moment. People aren’t happy with him anywhere. He and Peter are doing okay, though the latter breaks the news about proposing to Jill and it can’t be easy for the ex-husband to deal with given how new things are still. Peter did enjoy the divorce episode and despite the tension he has a decent relationship with Jeff after becoming “liver brothers.” They’re even thinking of getting a dog together. Perfectly weird. Also, what’s going to happen if that envelope marked Phil ever comes to Jeff’s attention? Oh, my.

At school, Will’s beginning to think he’s actually magic. He thinks the ritual he completed worked. He sees numbers in the book from the library correlating to events in his life, from the kid who has Phil’s eyes to the jar of “Skitties” he won in the halls. He likewise thinks it’s a positive sign his parents are still single, technically, even if they did just get divorced quite publicly. One of Will’s buddies determines the numbers from the book work out to a Fibonacci sequence.

Later that day, Will goes with his dad and the Puppet Time crew on a helicopter ride towards the middle of the ocean. They’re all going to attend Filipino Pickles’ sea burial, “like some pickle bin Laden.” They arrive at a ship, where people have gathered to say goodbye to the man in his pickle barrel coffin. Jeff is the last, offering a prayer. Then he casts the barrel out into the ocean. Everything goes sideways when the other Pickle hosts call Jeff a traitor and murderer. The syndicated hosts revolt against their creator, throwing their pickle attire to the ground at Jeff’s feet in defiance. A bright spot? Will sees yet another number from his book on the ocean. He’s excited for the possibilities until his father tells him Peter’s going to propose to Jill.

Everybody on the boat, for the most part, gets hammered on vodka. People get naked. One horny German is about to push a beer can lubed up with sunscreen into his ass. Deirdre tries to stop the madness but she only gives up after a while, just to be confronted by Pickle San’s brother, believing she raped his brother. Then there’s Will, who goes off the handle over his mom maybe getting married again. He’s angry at Jeff now, too. Soon the whole ship’s in a mutiny against Mr. Pickles.
A fantastically weird episode. Always impressive.

“The Acceptance Speech” is next time.