‘Praise Petey’ Recap: ‘Punishment Hole’ & ‘Comet Day’

8/20/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Annie Murphy as Petey St. Barts in Episode 109 of ‘Praise Petey’ – ‘Punishment Hole’. (Photo Courtesy of Freeform.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season One Finale of ‘Praise Petey’. To revisit the previous two episodes, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Individuals that come from a toxic background or have toxic family members in their lives that great efforts have been made to avoid… all harbor one particularly devastating fear in their hearts. In that, they are terrified of following in those toxic footsteps. Because they want to see the generational trauma in their family be shattered. So, they can rise above and start new and proud traditions in their lives that they can happily pass down to future family members, and they also fear such matters… because it is easy to slip into the devil one knows, so they truly try their best to avoid what once was and be incredible people. But alas, while those are noble intentions and while their heart is in the right place, the hard truth about such matters is that… unless certain fixes come into play… there will come a day where they mirror toxicity.

As to what those fixes are… are quite simple in nature. In that, they need to confront the pain that traumatic past caused them and resolve it and understand how to be free of those deep-rooted behaviors. Only then can they move forward in the manner they want to, and for proof that this is the case, well then oddly enough… look no further than the season one finale of Praise Petey on Freeform. Because ‘Punishment Hole’ and ‘Comet Day’ showcased how bad things can happen when that work hasn’t been completed, and sadly… it was Petey that taught us this powerful lesson. Because in reality, while she is a wonderful person that really does want to do more in life and be better than her father, there’s a lot of unresolved trauma in Petey’s heart and she hasn’t broken free of the generational trauma and toxicity that her father and mother imparted upon her, and that… allowed for her to slip into some toxic behaviors when life got tough in New Utopia.

For the town was buzzing about her potentially being pregnant in these two tales, because she just so happened to have a UTI. Which made everyone believe (and sing) about her and Bandit finally hooking up, and that… deeply bothered Petey. Because she hadn’t hooked up with Bandit, this was a result of the condition of her bathroom, and the excitement over her sex life and the reveal that such excitement came out of the possibility that Petey would have a blood heir, which would fulfill ‘The Prophecy’, pushed her put folks in the Punishment Hole and to lash out at the town often. Because this story revealed that Petey doesn’t have a sense of self-worth just yet. For that would have allowed for such rumors to bounce off of her ears since she would have security about their life and wouldn’t care what others think about her. But instead, she let that insecurity give way to anger. Which she was able to control for a time, but that did indeed unleash something toxic within, and it all cascaded into something more when Comet Day arrived.

Because the town firmly believed that they were about to ascend. Which meant everyone was to stay put and behold the glory of this moment, and that ruined Petey’s chance to accept a prestigious award for her efforts in making this town a better place, and well… when she discovered the comet was nothing more than a BBQ sauce smudge on her father’s telescope, she decided the time had come to deprogram the town and show them the lie that was her father, and for a time… this seemed to be nothing more than her big noble moment. One where the town would be free of toxicity. But alas, this also meant… Petey would no longer be in regard in New Utopia, nor would she be the phenom others saw her to be, and that… was scary. Because for the first time in her life, people saw her worth, saw her as something more and the possibility of losing all that, combined with her deep-rooted anger over how her parents treated her, and ignored her and saw her as less, because of their own lack of self-worth, pushed her to do something scary.

In that, she decided to give into the trauma and follow in her father’s footsteps and declared herself the new leader after the comet (sort of) failed to arrive and promised that she would lead everyone to enlightenment. Which was stunning to say the least, and bold. Since this story seemingly was moving toward Petey being a real hero and a person that was going to enact incredible change in this town. But alas, the story took the realistic route and pointed out how good people can stumble when their scars re-open and expose old and unresolved emotional wounds. Also… it showed us that the comet is real, and it might take a whole separate article to unpack that doozy of a moment. But that aside, this really was quite the amazing finale. Because it offered up such thoughtful and realistic concepts wrapped in the wonder of comedy to soften the blow and hopefully, we get a second season of this magnificent series. So, we can see if Petey St. Barts will put in the work and hopefully redeem herself and save this town from its madness. Until next time.

Watch ‘Praise Petey’

0 Comments