Vince Russo's The Brand

Hello again everyone I’m back with another Trailer Park Boys season review column and this week we’ll be focusing on Season 2. The last one ran a bit long so I decided to start splitting these up into two parts with part 2 coming next week. Hope you enjoy and yes there are spoilers in this column so if you don’t want to know what happens, please stop reading.

Episode 1-What in the F**k Happened to My Trailer Park

Synopsis: After finally getting out of jail, Julian and Ricky return home to Sunnyvale to find that things have drastically changed during their time in prison.

Overview: Bubbles comes to pick up Ricky and Julian from jail after they’re released and they return to their trailer park to find that the place is a complete mess. While they were gone, Lahey and Randy had broken up and Lahey became even worse of a drunk and left the park in a severe state of neglect. Ricky also finds out that Lucy is still pissed at him for getting arrested at their wedding and has moved into a new trailer with Randy, much to his dismay. Julian explains to Bubbles his new plan titled “Freedom 35” to sell dope to prison guards and make a ton of money and retire and the first phase of that plan is to steal car stereos from the mall parking lot to sell to J-Roc to buy the equipment needed for the plan. Ricky decides to back out of the plan and get a real job to try and win Lucy back and show that he’s responsible and ends up working as a security guard at the mall where he’s tasked with finding out who’s been stealing the shopping carts who is revealed to be Bubbles. Julian enlists Trevor and Corey to help get Ricky fired so he can return to helping him grow dope by having them steal a car stereo and plant it in Ricky’s trunk. Ricky manages to catch Bubbles and lets the mall manager know he’s found the cart thief. The manager arrives with Julian and he asks if Bubbles is the one stealing carts. Ricky eventually let’s Bubbles go and say that the real thieves are Corey and Trevor who are taken in by security. The manager demands to see inside Ricky’s trunk and finds the stolen car stereo and immediately fires him and Ricky leaves in anger, knowing that Julian was behind him getting fired. Later on that evening Ricky makes peace with Bubbles and later Julian when he sees the trouble Julian is having growing the dope and they have a quick discussion about intelligence and how Ricky is tired of feeling dumb which is how Julian feels when he fails to grow the dope correctly. Ricky agrees to rejoin Freedom 35 and the episode ends.

Brandon’s Take: 8/10 A good episode to continue the story that was left off at the end of Season 1. We see more good development of the characters and their motivations and what’s important to them. And this episode also begins the trend that would continue in later seasons where a thread is started that carries throughout the season and is concluded in the season finale.

Episode 2-Jim Lahey is a Drunk B*stard

Synopsis: With the park going down the tubes due to Lahey’s neglect after splitting up with Randy, an election is held to determine a new supervisor and Lahey’s opponent is someone with a score to settle with the boys.

Overview: The episode opens with Julian finding a flyer that advertises an upcoming election for trailer park supervisor which pits incumbent Jim Lahey against the challenger Sam Losco, the vet that treated Ricky’s bullet wounds during an episode in Season 1. Julian, knowing that having Sam as supervisor would make things even more difficult for them, confronts Lahey about it who clearly shows he no longer cares about running the park without Randy by his side for support. It’s then shown that Sam has lost his vet practice thanks to Ricky telling the police it was him that treated his bullet wounds and now he has to live in a camper in the trailer park and he plans on making the boys’ life even more difficult than Lahey ever did if he wins the election. The boys discuss the volume of dope they have to grow and Sarah, who is now dating Ricky, suggests using an old beat up Airstream to grow it in but it’s unfortunately owned by Lahey. Julian visits Lahey and offers him a deal that he’ll get the Airstream if he can get him and Randy back together and help him win the election. It’s also revealed that the reason why Randy left him was because he feels he deserves a raise and promotion to weekend park supervisor(something that he has indeed earned). Meanwhile, Sam bribes Corey and Trevor with home made hot dogs if they’ll put up campaign signs for him and he gets visited by Lahey’s ex-wife Barb and tries to convince her of his qualifications. The boys find Corey and Trevor putting up the signs and put a stop to it, saying that Sam is not the guy they want in charge of the trailer park and put them on the assignment of getting Lahey sobered and cleaned up for a campaign speech later on which is suggested by Tyrone and Ricky is able to get Channel 10 news there to cover it. While everything is being set up, Julian visits Randy’s trailer to tell him what Lahey told him about how dependant he is on Randy to help him run the park and that he can’t do it without him. Randy tries to talk his way out of being at the election to show Lahey support but Julian keeps pushing it and the scene ends without a clear cut conclusion. Julian then returns to see J-Roc and tasks him with buying shrooms so he can plant them in Sam’s food to get him high before he makes his speech before going to see Lahey to find him cleaned up but drunk again thanks to Lahey being able to talk Trevor into buying him a drink “for courage.” While everyone is getting ready for the speeches, things don’t go all that well with Sam managing to look good by catching some of the bottle kids and Lahey getting immediately arrested for drinking and driving after crashing into a fence. The boys manage to stall Lahey’s trip to jail by saying that if he doesn’t get to make his speech then the police can be sued for interfering with a democratic election. When it’s time for the speeches, Sam bombs thanks to Julian’s plan to get him high working like a charm. It’s then Lahey’s turn and Randy hasn’t shown up yet and he’s about to give up when Randy finally arrives, giving Lahey the motivation he needs for his speech where we wins back the support of the Sunnyvale residents. Just before he’s arrested, Lahey reconciles with Randy who immediately breaks up with Lucy and is promoted to weekend park supervisor while the boys check out the Airstream that they now have for growing their dope.

Brandon’s Take: 8.5/10 A very good episode with plenty of humorous scenes and brings further depth to the characters that leaves a lot of different stories they can continue to tell later on during the season

Episode 3-I’ve Met Cats and Dogs Smarter Than Corey and Trevor

Synopsis: In order to raise enough money to buy the equipment needed to grow the massive amount of dope they need for their plan, the boys enlist J-Roc to open up a nightclub in the trailer park and Corey and Trevor are in charge of stealing the supplies.
Overview: The show opens with Ricky on the phone with their customer who’s wanting to buy more dope than they planned on growing(20 pounds) and he’s freaking out that there’s no way they can get that much grown that quickly with the equipment and supplies they have but Julian quickly takes over the call and tells them that they’ll have it on schedule. After a bit of an argument, Ricky tells Julian that he can make it happen if Julian can get the supplies he needs. In the next scene we’re introduced to Lahey’s daughter Treena(played by a fifteen year old Ellen Page) and Lahey warns her to never be anywhere near the boys. The boys then get together with J-Roc to discuss the opening of a nightclub to be able to raise the money to buy the equipment to expand the dope operation which Bubbles thinks is a bad day to do it on because it’s the first weekend that Randy’s in charge of the park and he’s looking for any opportunity to make himself look good in front of Lahey. Julian though isn’t worried as he plans on having the boys be at Randy’s birthday BBQ to distract them while Corey and Trevor go steal a car and then break into a storage facility to steal the nightclub equipment. However since Corey and Trevor are incredibly stupid, they have to return to Julian at the BBQ to ask him which storage facility it’s at and Julian then sends Ricky with them, and he’s not happy about it, to make sure that it goes off without a hitch. Of course it doesn’t as Corey and Trevor trip an alarm and are chased by a dog. Ricky runs in with his gun drawn and manages to accidentally shoot himself in the foot. The plan though is still successful and Treena arrives and her and Ricky begin to bond. That night the club is opened up in J-Roc’s trailer and Corey and Trevor had been put in charge of going out to bars and putting out flyers. It’s quickly discovered by the boys that Corey and Trevor had gone to a gay bar and the two of them are absolutely clueless about that as well as the fact that the ‘ladies’ they had been dancing with at the club are actually transvestites. It’s not long before Randy arrives with Lahey and demands the place shut down and has already called the cops. While waiting for the cops to arrive, Randy strikes a deal with Julian that if he shuts the club down, he’ll take care of the police and let him keep the money made that night and Randy gets to look good in front of Lahey. Julian agrees and the cops are called off and they count the money to find they made enough to buy the supplies they need.

Brandon’s Take: 9/10 By far, in my opinion, the best episode up to this point. Plenty of good comedy and tells a good story of the abuse that Corey and Trevor put up with from the boys, especially Ricky, in a strange way that mirrors what had really been going on behind the scenes with them and the producers. Also continues to set up for what’s to come in the last two episodes of the season.

Episode 4-A Dope Trailer is No Place for a Kitty

Synopsis: With animals and parasites going after their dope plants, the boys only have one group of them that haven’t been affected and quarantine them in Bubbles’ shed with disasterous results.

Overview: The episode begins with Bubbles giving us a tour of his shed and showing us some of his possessions including an old Bubblemaker toy that is the last thing his parents had bought for him before they left him to live alone in that shed as a child. As he’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with his kitties, Ricky and Julian return one that had been loaned to them to guard the dope plants from squirrels, saying he’s not doing a good job and Bubbles takes exception to this, getting upset that the only thing that they care about right now is their dope. A squirrel starts making noise and Ricky begins firing his gun off at it in a rage. After he’s calmed down, Bubbles begins explaining why the kitties mean so much to him. Ricky and Julian are finding a new problem with the plants as parasites have begun damaging them. Lahey and Randy show up and accuse them of growing dope in the trailer to which the boys deny. Lahey threatens to bring the cops in but Julian manages to talk him out of it, promising that he’ll keep Ricky under control. Bubbles is looking for two of his missing kitties as he explains the symptoms another one of his is having and thinks that there’s something happening in the park that’s doing it which is foreshadowed in the next scene as Sam throws a hot dog bun out of his window. Lahey and Randy try to fine him for it but Sam just blows them off, promising to gain Lahey’s position and fire both of them before driving off. In a last ditch effort to find out what’s wrong with his kitties, he takes one to Sam to check on and Sam immediately lies and says it’s rabies which worries Bubbles. Back in the Airstream, Ricky and Julian find out that all but six of their plants are infected and have to quarantine them somewhere. Treena arrives to wish Ricky good luck on getting his grade 10 as Ricky talks about how Treena managed to talk him into going for it and how much getting it would mean to him and why he needs it. Julian tries to talk Ricky into dropping out, saying he can get it after they finish Freedom 35. Bubbles arrives and mentions what Sam told him and Julian says that Sam’s full of it. Bubbles asks if they can help him find out what’s wrong with his kitties and. They turn him down, saying that they have to figure out why their dope plants are dying and that they’ll help him when they’re done if they have time. Dejected that the boys chose their dope over him, Bubbles leaves in a huff to get Mr. Lahey to help instead. Back in the trailer, Treena suggests they get a book on horticulture to find a solution to their problem. They head to the library at Ricky’s school and discover that the solution is to use ladybugs to eat the parasites. Upon returning to the park, they decide to quarantine the good plants in Bubble’s shed and hook up a power source to his shed. Julian leaves Ricky in charge of Cory and Trevor in the task of finding ladybugs while Julian goes to talk to Bubbles. While the ladybugs are being collected, Julian finds Bubbles along with Lahey having discovered that what’s getting his kitties sick is Sam’s old hot dogs. While they’re figuring out what to do about Sam, everyone discovers smoke coming from Julian’s trailer. They arrive to find Bubble’s shed burned completely to the ground, everything he owned destroyed. It’s discovered it was the power hook up that was wired wrong had caused an electrical fire and Cory and Trevor take the heat for it. Bubbles though, really loses it cause of the boys’ dope being the cause of the loss of his shed. Even though they offer to help rebuild, Bubbles blows them off and leaves to find a new home. While Julian and Ricky lament over what to do about their plants, Bubbles grabs his weapon and goes after Sam. Before it gets rough, Julian arrives and intervenes and tells Sam that he can either clean up his garbage or get knocked out in front of Barb. Sam agrees and Julian offers Bubbles his couch to stay on but Bubbles declines and they invite him to a party that night to which he says maybe. At the party it’s discovered that the ladybugs are working but Bubbles doesn’t show. Treena discovers he is renting out J-Roc’s van. The episode ends with Bubbles playing with the bubblemaker with his kitties that Treena got for him.

Brandon’s Take: 9/10 A very good highlight piece to give us a much better understanding of the Bubbles character. This episode makes use of every second to keep some sort of story progression happening.

Thanks for reading everyone and I’ll be back next week with Pt. 2!