Review: Squidbillies “The Guzzle Bumpkin”

It’s the Great Bumpkin, Rusty Brown!

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Rusty records himself doing dangerous extreme stunts for his Youtube channel in hopes of ad revenue. Little does the sucker know that the “writing text reviews of mature cartoons for blogs” game is where the REAL money is at. While bungee (read: rope) jumping off a cell tower gets the truck totaled and him in the hospital, it breaks the internet and instantly goes viral, getting the attention of a major energy drink sponsor named Steve Blumin (no, not the legendary voice actor of Spike Spiegel and Starscream, I checked). Steve sets Rusty, now branded the “Guzzle Bumpkin”, on a series of increasingly life-threatening stunts to sell energy drinks which Early and Granny are more than happy to get involved with. Rusty’s ex(?)-wife (and half-sibling) Tammy calls him to show that his son Randy has been hospitalized for imitating one of his stunts, so he goes back to the sponsor to quit but gets offered one last job: Get crushed in a pile of dog shit on New Year’s Eve for 100k. Torn between a final big score and his baby mama’s acceptance, Rusty talks it over with rapper Coolio and former stuntman Wee Man who give him mixed messages about whether or not to do the stunt. In the end, Rusty turns it down to prove himself for his ex and son. And Early takes his place but doesn’t get the money, despite eating his way through, while Coolio and Wee Man take up the spot to challenge sub-Saharan Africa to chugging the drink.

OUR TAKE

So, I just watched a hick squid eat his way out of a pile of shit. That’s how I started my day today. But weirdly, I’m fine with that, because I’ve always kind of a had an affection for how Squidbillies handles its poverty level issues in its comedy (though that’s coming from someone in the middle class, so make of that what you will). Rusty’s always been an impressionable but ambitious go-getter, and being a Youtuber would naturally be something he gets involved with. But recent seasons have added Tammy and Randy as sort of a moral guidepost for Rusty’s antics to keep what would usually be a really nonsensical and needlessly edgy ending into something with a bit of heart without being too saccharine. Hopefully a further sign of Rusty breaking away from his father’s bad behavior, even if it ends up being its own shade of odd mediocrity.