Eastbound And Down Series Finale Review: Eastbound And Down goes out on a bizarre and hilarious note in the Season Four finale.

[rating=5]

SPOILER ALERT! I’m discussing key plot points in tonight’s final episode.

It was just last year where I recapped/reviewed the Season 3 Finale of Eastbound And Down. It was also, according to series creator and star Danny McBride, the final season.

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But HBO backed up the money truck and he committed for a fourth season, of which the finale just aired. HBO is claiming this is also (again) the series finale. We’ll see.

One could imagine an additional season of a show already committed to being complete being a shadow of its former self.

But not Eastbound And Down, who’s fourth season is arguably its funniest yet, and the finale did not disappoint.

But let’s catch up from last week; Kenny Powers went into full meltdown mode, and did what he does best; piss all over any good opportunity that comes his way. He crashed and burned on Sports Sesh, the show he stole from creator and star Guy Young (Ken Marino). His wife April filed for divorce, and he (once again) fucked over his best friend Stevie.

But something happened; Powers grew a conscience, and he seemed to finally realize how his asshole nature destroys everything it touches. He tried to make amends with his family and he saved Stevie from suicide (but not before Stevie accidentally  blew off his prosthetic chin.)

Cut to the finale, where we’re treated to a man exposing his genitals on a commercial flight. The person in question? A repellant TV producer played by Sasha Baron Cohen. His destination? North Carolina, where he’s so taken by Power’s persona, that he grants him his own talk show. He loves his abrasive personality, and wants Kenny to eviscerate Young on the pilot episode.

But this doesn’t sit well Powers. His change of heart seems sincere, and he walks away. He mends fences with April, and fades off into the sunset (Cohen’s best moment is when he claims Power’s has hedgehog tits).

Amidst all this serious change of heart, there’s still plenty of bawdy humor, the best of which is Kenny’s conversation with Stevie on the merits of his memoirs. Stevie, high on painkillers, becomes a harsh critic, and Powers retorts that you injure your fucking jaw, you become Roger Ebert (Stevie says he’s more akin to Gene Siskel.)

Things get strange; Powers narrates the future of his life; he goes to therapy with April, ages gracefully and sees his kids graduate from high school (in a stroke of dark genius, his grown daughter, is played by Lindsay Lohan)

Things take a darker turn; April is murdered. Kenny becomes a junkie, then rehabs, visits Africa, marries again and…I know WTF? Kenny enlightened? Shedding his racist nature? Why the twist into such sentimental terrain?

Turns out it’s all his fantasy while writing his biopic screenplay, which in addition to being fraudulent, is perhaps the first biopic to ever predict the subject’s own future?

Power’s writes In the end Kenny Powers didn’t get what he wanted, but he got what he needed.

But for Eastbound fans like myself, we got what he wanted and needed, one of the funniest, darkest TV comedies of all time. Here’s hoping HBO cajoles McBride into a Season 5, but if this indeed the last we see of Power’s, he goes out on a high note.

Did you catch the Season 4 finale? What are your thoughts? And check back next week when I’ll be reviewing/recapping the Season Finale of Boardwalk Empire.

Own Season four on Amazon (or give as holiday gift!)

[amazon_image id=”B00FOHHMWI” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Eastbound & Down: The Complete Fourth Season[/amazon_image]