Two people who are not Nick Kroll steal Kroll Show tonight: Chelsea Peretti and Jenny Slate, who are both on the record with hard anti-goatee stances.
Peretti and Slate have been long-time guest staples of the show, but tonight they particularly impress. Peretti’s Farley, at last, hosts her own reality series: Look Like Dis, a makeover show on which Farley turns basic bitches into glittered-up bitches, which is exactly how I imagine Farley would describe the concept. In the first episode, Farley fashion-attacks Ruth Diamond Phillips (Slate), who you might remember as the prosecuting attorney in Dr. Armond’s trial. Peretti takes Farley to the max in this sketch, and it’s wonderful. Farley is beyond hateable, but Peretti is so goddamn watchable as his human disaster. In less capable hands, the character would probably just be annoying. But even Peretti’s delivery of quick lines like “slap they faces” is just so spot-on. Farley is a character Peretti was born to play, and it shows.
And then there’s Slate, who pulls triple duty tonight as Phillips, Maureen, the straight-talking waitress in Chairs, and Maureen’s high-society twin Imogen. Chairs is the weaker sketch of the night, mostly because it doesn’t really build to anything. But Slate perfectly embodies the rough snark of Maureen and the refined frills of Imogen. Throw Slate’s other Kroll characters who don’t make an appearance tonight—like Niece Denise and Liz—and Slate might just be the most versatile actor on this show who isn’t Kroll himself.
Real-life Canadians Graham Wagner and Nathan Fillion also guest-star as Mounties on Wheels Ontario, called in to investigate when a locker bomb goes off in Mikey’s school. As usual, most of the best jokes of the night come from Wheels, whether it’s the Canadians talking about that silly American convention DNA, the lavishness of Canadian prison—where inmates get afternoon tea and cigars—or the simple physical comedy of the way Mikey runs. Even the recurring shout out to root vegetables is hilarious. Fillion is a perfect fit in this souped-up Canadian realm, and his reading of the Canadian version of the Miranda rights is particularly great: “You also have the right to…leather boots, delivered to you annually, at the taxpayers’ expense.”
It’s also, apparently, the last time we’ll ever watch the wacky delight that is Wheels Ontario. I fooled myself into believing that, like its source material Degrassi, the show would just sort of last forever. At least it goes out with a literal bang. So yes, while we’re all busy mourning the end of Parks And Recreation tonight, let us also pour out some Moosinex or maple syrup or some smashed up root vegetables for the end of another television era. Goodbye bisexual Mikey, reformed gang member and teen mom Tunes, and always inappropriate Coach Teacher. I miss you already.
As I sort of guessed, we’re not done with Bobby Bottleservice, even though he undeniably peaked with his feature film production The In Addition Tos. This week, he shows up on Look Like Dis in the middle of Farley’s RDP makeover. If Farley’s around, you can always expect Bobby to show up eventually. This time, he and Peter Paparazzo are shopping for cowboy getups, which we find out at episode’s end is for their latest endeavor: a country music single called “Broin’ Country.” The music video features Señor Feeture, a new Kroll character we meet in the cold open and obvious parody of Pitbull. Señor Feeture likes to fuck feet, and Kroll gets to bust out his El Chupacabra voice for the character. “Broin’ Country” doesn’t quite reach the brilliance of “Ottawanna Go To Bed,” but Bobby and Peter’s talk-singing could put Taylor Swift’s talk-singing to shame.
Stray observations:
- Tunes’ hat game is off the charts.
- “Do you even know what silk is, you dumb bitch?”
- CK Gum
- Flounce! Flounce! Flounce!
- “Support your troops; have sex in groups.”
- I love the detail of the hashtag “#LookLikeDis” in the corner of the screen during Look Like Dis. Kroll Show just nails such specific components of television programming.