“Eastbound & Down” and “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret” are both a part of television: this past week.

Kenny Powers doesn’t care about being liked or disliked. Kenny Powers doesn’t want/desire/need approval from anybody. Powers seeks praise, worship, blind loyalty and eternal love. For those of you who have followed the journey thus far, welcome to the resistance. Our fearless, racist, delusional anti-hero has set out on a new quest: capture the hearts and minds of Mexicans. In “Chapter Nine”, the ninth chapter of the KP epic, Powers becomes taken with the idea of winning the hearts of the locals.

So why didn’t the Mexican crowds shower Powers in adoration after his momentous comeback? What KP fails to understand is his one-man-show gimmicks won’t impress in this country. Charging the field to “I Am A Real American” is awesome and patriotic, but it won’t impress any Mexican crowds.

But Kenny Powers isn’t just American. He’s Kenny f—— Powers, a one-man army of unquestionable superiority and cultural dominance. He rebuilds himself again as the man in black (“Negro Hombre”). This nickname contradicts his other new persona (“The White Flame”). Any dramatic response fuels Powers’ ego and intensity, whether it’s love or hate. The complete indifference of the crowd is the only thing Powers cannot stand.

Recognizing the horrific fact that he will not be (in Kenny f—— Powers’ words) “the Christ figure they perceive me to be” in Mexico, Powers is forced to seek loyalty and adoration elsewhere. He finds the attention he wants in Ana de la Reguera, an attractive local singer with an ass that gives Powers the confidence and hope that God’s grace isn’t limited to the top half of women. The connection between the two is shown in a scene during which Powers is slimmed down to cartoonish horniness, a clear homage to Tex Avery’s Big Bad Wolf.

After falling for de la Reguera’s phenomenal bottom, Powers decides to reinvent himself yet again. If he can’t be the pitcher hotshot he was back in the states, then he might as well reinvent himself as a loving father for a Mexican family.

Powers old sidekick shows up with the news of a mysterious figure that just may hold the answers to Kenny’s journey: why is Powers really in Mexico? It is certain to me that the full Powers mythology has yet to unravel.

Another mythic hero lost in foreign travels is the genius Todd Margaret, a compulsive liar and terrible salesman. Todd finds himself selling a new brand of energy drink called Thunder Muscle in the UK. As I imagine all episodes will begin, the second episode begins where the first ended: Todd lying on the floor in his own urine. Todd gets a phone call from his irritable one-man staff, Dave, who reminds Todd they have yet to sell a single can of Thunder Muscle.

Todd ends up pulling off quite the fiscal stunt in an attempt to impress his boss: he sends Dave to help him show Thunder Muscle is being sold in the UK. Dave “helps” by taking the cans to a giant supermarket. Todd can’t seem to catch a break because he’s too busy lying or being a condescending ass. Some of the lines are so terrible that only a dude like Cross can execute them without looking like a complete dick, like when he promises to “call America” for Alice to get her café a liquor license.

Todd finds out about the supermarket stunt and from fear of the legal trouble he’s about to face, Margaret pisses his pants. The episode ends, but not before a quick cut to Todd’s home in America, where his cat has died and skunks have now taken over. Hopefully every episode will end with piss and cats.

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