‘Kevin Can F**k Himself’ Recap: ‘The Grand Victorian’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Kevin Can F**K Himself’.
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When our lives are filled with chaos and it seems as though said chaos is never going to end, we find ourselves eager to obtain two key things. In that, we want to find some semblance of control over something, anything… so that we feel as if we still have some say in the direction of our lives and of course… we want a happy place. Just a quiet spot where we can decompress and cope with our situation, and well, if we cannot have those emergency aspects to our messy situation… we’re not sure what tomorrow is going to look like. And it just so happens that this particular worry is of interest today, because it served as one of the focal themes of last night’s episode of Kevin Can F**k Himself.

For ‘The Grand Victorian’ saw Allison McRoberts in quite the worrisome place. Because she and Patty made a deal with Nick to have him off Kevin at last and sealing the deal as it were, made Allison quite nervous. Because plotting and planning the end of her foul husband was something that gave her a sense of control in her normally chaotic life and being robbed of that, even if it was for all the right reasons, didn’t sit right with her. Nor did Kevin’s actions during his annual birthday bash. Because the surprise arrival of Sean Avery at the posh dinner spot where Kevin and Allison went every year to celebrate the big day, and Sean's subsequent eating challenge to the man-child that is Kevin, meant he would be spending less time with Neal and his father next door. Because… Kevin liked to split his time between two locations to keep Neal happy and constantly coming back to try and out eat Mister Avery, robbed Allison of her happy place.

Because normally during this event, she’d be able to just eat and enjoy a glass of wine and a book while he was off doing his usual shenanigans. But this change to the routine, and the arrival of Sam and his annoying wife, put Allison in an utter tailspin mentally. One that motivated her to second guess her plan to let Nick handle all of the death related duties involving her husband and also pushed her to grasp at every and all straws, because she firmly believed she was losing control. Which led to some powerful moments for certain, the kind that saw Allison fuss and fight with Patty over her worries and even have it out with Sam briefly, all because her fears were outright taking hold. But you'll note that a variation of the word ‘belief’ was used in relation to Allison’s view of her situation and that word came into play for one supremely important reason. 

For Sam actually took the time to point out that Allison was in fact, a bit of a control freak as of late, one that managed to get everything she wanted and that gave her great pause. Because she was so caught up in the moment that she lost sight of anything good she’d accomplished as of late, and didn't realize that she has indeed found the control she has desperately wanted and has even created different types of happy places and that epiphany allowed for her to finish the night without incident, and it also helped her to take charge of the situation with Nick. So that she could better oversee the end and really, it is obvious now… that this segment was designed to be friendly advice to the audience. In that, in the event we find ourselves worrying about our troubles and chaos a la Allison, we should take a moment and look objectively at our actions. Because if we do so, we might just come to find that we’re doing better than we give ourselves credit. 

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However, while Allison’s powerful journey could have carried this episode on its own, it had more to explore. For instance, Kevin’s wild sitcom situation in this tale, actually managed to offer up a fascinating exploration on toxic masculinity, specifically what drives it in a great deal of men. As it turns out, a lot of it is related to outright insecurity and low self-esteem and self-worth. Take Neal for instance, who knows Kevin is his BFFL (Best Friend For Life, or ‘Biffle’, if you will) and is aware of the fact that Kev is going nowhere, and yet he still has to have his own celebration with his biffle to validate their sound friendship and that really does speak volumes to how little Neal thinks about his worth and how scared he is of being without someone he can call a close friend and that was a fascinating exploration to put on display. One that was further enhanced by Kevin’s maddening journey in this tale.
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Because his desire to show Sean Avery that he could hang with a pro hockey player in an eating contest and still ‘show’ his wife and biffle that he ‘cares’, speaks volumes to a man that has no sense of self-value. And the only way he can find that is by pushing himself to new heights and new limits, so that he feels some sense of admiration and worth and well, for the first time… the wild sitcom elements involving Kevin, humanized him for a change. But not in a positive manner. If anything, this just informed us of how little a man he truly is and how far he will go to feel as though he matters and really, all this does is engender mountains of pity for him. But all of that aside, this really was quite the fascinating twist to weave into the fabric of this story and the majesty of this episode, didn’t end with Allison and Kevin’s adventures. 

For Patty also went on quite the unique journey of discovery. Because she showed up to Tammy’s invite in an effort to keep the cops off of her back while Nick prepared to do his thing and well, that decision brought forth all kinds of life surprises for Patty. Because as it turns out, Tammy is in fact, a lesbian and she has taken up quite the romantic interest in Patty, a strong one in fact, and she made every effort to woo Patty. Which in turn, helped to reveal to Patty that some of her relationship problems might be related to the fact that she is clueless as to her own sexual identity. But a quick and passionate kiss with Tammy seems to have Patty finally wondering if she’s on the right path in life regarding her sexuality and this is a wonderful and brilliant stroke of storytelling. One that is poignant and powerful and groundbreaking since we are undoubtedly going to watch someone explore their sexual identity in a non-judgmental or cliché or gimmicky manner.

If anything, all of these elements make this, the finest episode this series has aired to date. Since it featured useful and poignant comedic sitcom related moments that worked to a tee in a bittersweet way, courtesy of how that segment of the story put Neal and Kevin’s insecurities on display. And of course, we finally saw Allison embrace her power and continue to seize upon a path for her future and most important of all, we were privy to the early beginnings of a powerful journey for Patty, one that has been sorely lacking on the television landscape and well, now that we’ve reached the end of this magnificent tale… it is safe to say that we are outright eager for more. Because not only is this series suddenly diving into topics that are rarely examined on the small screen, but Kevin’s end is now in motion, and we are all dying to know if Allison will indeed see such a heinous and life-changing act, through to its bitter end. Until next time.  

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