We’re rolling through every episode of Key and Peele on Pop Thruster. Here we go with “Victory,” Season 2 Episode 7.
Also: check out ALL 351 Key & Peele Sketches Ranked (In Painstakingly Funny Detail)!
Luther, Obama’s Anger Translator #7
“Take that s— back to the lab, Mitt, ‘cause you lost!” – Luther
This seventh outing of President Obama (Peele) and Luther (Key) is quite a time capsule as it falls just after the “real” Obama defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. I’m writing these words during the early months of the Trump 2.0 era so you’ll excuse me if my sense of humor may be frazzled and scattered in reaction to this particular sketch. Nonetheless, you can feel the fellas’ joy at the victory shining through in this edition of the sketch, and I particularly enjoyed Luther (and Obama!) doing a celebratory “Hammer dance.”
Non-Stop Party
“And the party don’t stop because it keeps on going non-stop.” – LMFAO
Key and Peele are the “party rocking” tandem LMFAO in a music video entitled, “Non-Stop Party.” They’re doing their thing at a wild club but… what happens if the party literally never stops, and you can’t escape even as you desperately try to claw your way out? Then you’re in hell. Best bit: the boys spelling out H-E-L-P using Jello shot cups. Brilliant.
Nintendo Waaah
“No look… look, he’s crying.” – Party goer
It’s a party, and everyone’s enjoying playing a Nintendo Wii-style game with hand controlled-sensors. Key is congratulated for doing so well in the game, and then he says, “Since Shelia left, I spent a lot of time playing the game.” Now bummed out, he then heads into another room… except everyone can see what he’s doing by way of his game avatar on the TV screen. Cringe comedy at its best ensues.
Come Back to the Bar
“Where’s my jacket?” – Meegan
This one pushes the dynamic of a bickering couple to its absolute extreme. It starts off with Meegan (Peele) leaving a bar and her boyfriend, Andre (Key), wanting her to head back in. There’s a cute payoff way at the end but mostly this feels like an improv exercise that makes you smile more than laugh.
An Honest Reading
“I’m afraid of these feelings and what they might mean.” – Peele
Key is a high school student, quietly reading his book, when Peele and his friends roll up and start to harass him. When Key asks him, “Why you gotta do that?” the trope we’ve seen a million times goes loopy when Peele gives a bracingly honest take on his fears and even his sexual fantasies. Brilliant satire, and the melancholy classical music as backdrop is perfection. And that’s before Andre Royo, better known as Bubbles from The Wire, shows up as Peele’s pops.
One Last Order
“Shoot me in the head, you idiot!” – Commander Beaujoulais
There are skits where you’re not sure at first if there’s going to be some Deep Underlying Message or Major Satire going on, and then it turns out to be deeply silly. This, you won’t be surprised, is one of the latter. Key is Commander Beaujoulais, an African warlord who orders his underling, Jengo (Peele), to take his life before he can be captured by the enemy. Peele… let’s say doesn’t have a great read on the best way to accomplish that task. Also: dig his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt.
The Interrogation
“Come on man, what you gonna do with the straw?” – Key
Peele is a steely, silent guy in a suit across a table in a dark room from Peele, who anxiously attempts to explain his way through an interrogation. As Peele methodically assembles his bagged lunch a la Gustavo Fring in Breaking Bad as Key freaks the [REDACTED] out, it’s delightfully funny.
Some stats and info about Key & Peele, “Victory”
TV SHOW – Key and Peele
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 7
AIRED ON – November 7th, 2012
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Comedy Central/Hulu
GENRE – Comedy, Sketch Comedy
CREATED BY – Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele