Can one distasteful joke ruin Ugly Americans’ potential?
No toilet, no matter the size, can contain the abundance of feces in this episode of Ugly Americans. “G.I. Twayne” raises the gross factor of the series while simultaneously delivering solid character development for everybody’s favorite flamboyant devil. It also crosses a line the series cannot afford to cross.
Twayne is drafted into Satan’s army and, like many impressionable young demons, cannot go “number two” in public bathrooms. After confiding in Mark, Twayne asks his counselor-friend to accompany him when he joins his unit. Upon arrival, Mark finds out that Twayne needs a human slave as a requirement for his training. Thus starts a story that spirals into a Freudian-flavored dark comedy. Seriously, Twayne’s back story would make Freud puke out his own brain. Who would’ve known the prissy devil felt such bloodlust as an infant?
Much of the story revolves around Mark assisting Twayne in reaching his full potential in the army. In the process, we find out that devils really value bowel movements and that they enjoy dressing their slaves up like Jesus Christ Superstar-styled hippies. Does anyone besides me sense a “master and slave” fetish subtext? Twayne’s main conflict is that he cannot use the bathroom in foreign places. Why can he not do this, you ask?
Because of abandonment issues. Yes, Twayne’s father is the cause of his son’s irritable bowels. Twayne experienced a complex as an infant after feeding time and went “God of War” on his infant brothers. In the aftermath, his father comes in the room and, out of sheer fear of his son, abandons Twayne. Twayne’s only release comes when Mark reunites him and his father. It is only after this reunion, and some comforting words from the devil-daddy, that he is able to deposit the big brown bucks at Bank Toilet. Now Mark has to deal with a fully self-actualized Twayne. And Twayne wants to take the “End of Days Reenactment” he’s training for a little too far.
Much of the episode is genuinely funny and it’s nice to see the show downsize and focus more on character development. Even with the character development in mind, no amount of potty humor can make what Twayne did in his infant flashback acceptable. This scene raised the question of how far Ugly Americans’ brand of monster violence can go before it becomes distasteful. Let’s just say that during his Kratos moment, Twayne kills a special needs sibling and it does not leave a good impression of the show. This one moment almost had me going for my remote.
Most people are more aware of special needs jokes thanks to South Park. However, South Park also knew how to empower its special needs characters. Ugly Americans comes off more exploitative. It was as if the writers read the sacred tome of South Park jokes and made a check list of what to add to their own show. South Park cracked special needs jokes to make a point. This episode makes the joke because of its humor value. What’s sad is that people are going to laugh at it simply because South Park burned that envelope. What makes it worse is viewers are not realizing the difference in message and subtext between these two shows. This scene nearly ruined the episode for me and the writers should think more about the message they convey when make a disable character “just another victim” of an episode’s massacre. This show holds potential for social satire. Just the idea of a human working as a counselor for immigrant demons and humans can say so much about the human condition. Tasteless jokes like the one in this flashback can ruin that potential.
The only other problem this episode has is the predictable twist ending. From the first scene onwards, you know exactly how this episode is going to end. Until then, enjoy the creative excrement jokes and try to ignore the (even more) tasteless ones.
Some stats and info about Ugly Americans, “G.I. Twayne”
TV SHOW – Ugly Americans
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 4
AIRED ON – July 21st, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Comedy Central
GENRE – Animated Shows, Comedy
CREATED BY – Devin Clark, David M. Stern
CAST – Matt Oberg, Natasha Leggero, Kurt Metzger, Randy Pearlstein, Julie Klausner, Michael-Leon Wooley, Larry Murphy, Devn Clark, Pete Holmes
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.