Thoughts on the Second Season of ‘Eastbound and Down’

Filled with a wild cast of characters and a story that continues to deepen after every episode, the second season of “Eastbound and Down” was a revelation, proving exactly why millions of people love the show.

Let’s be honest here. Kenny Powers has a laundry list of personal problems. So many, that if he was a real person, he’d probably end up on “Intervention” or a show similar. We laugh at him because he’s out of his mind, but in a way that he’s essentially harmless.

We laugh a lot actually.

Through his methods however, we end up learning something about ourselves. Rather than be subconsciously greedy, manipulative and sexual, waiting for the right opportunity to express ourselves, Powers doesn’t care about societal norms. He does what he wants, when he wants.

That makes him a better person than all of us in the end.

And that’s the biggest reason why we watch.

But there’s more to it too. The fact that Powers has a family and friends that love him and people who continue to help him, regardless of all the times he’s failed, is heartwarming. To think that a washed-up has-been can survive in life, and still have meager a moment of happiness, makes us feel better about our station in life. So we laugh out loud and we smile inside.

The world isn’t as bad as we thought.

Regardless of how many beautiful women Powers annoys, how many children he curses in front of or how many syringes of steroids he sticks into his rear end to keep his dream alive, he’s not a bad person. He’s just misguided. He has the same excuses many of us do for our misgivings. Bad father, drugs, and bad relationships, he’s got all three. But unlike many, he continues his fight and isn’t scared to ruin his life or anyone else who tries to get in his way, while he tries.

Throughout the second season, we see him confront the type of demons that would destroy the average person. Through it all though, Powers ends up bettering himself and learning more about himself than most do in a lifetime. Perhaps that’s why the writers ended the season with the news of him becoming a father. Ready to finally be the man he has to be, maybe Powers is at the point that the games are over.

Either way, we’ll find a way to laugh.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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