The League is sloppy, but that's part of the show's charm. It jumps from one outrageous scene to the next, rarely caring if the two are related. Some episodes, like last week's, attempt to tie things together. Some, like "The Kluneberg," simply heighten each ridiculous subplot to oblivion.
"The Kluneberg" was one of the most laugh-out-loud episodes the show has done, yet the actual scenarios were a bit too outlandish for my tastes. The way they got to those final moments, though, was rife with comedy. Raffi makes his final appearance (presumably), and the guys have gone from finding him disgusting yet mockable to simply finding him disgusting. So they stage a fake fight, hoping it will fake-disband the league and they can reform it sans Raffi. So Andre and Pete set out to make this thing happen, Andre gets overzealous and suggests the two take it outside, and next they're shoving each other like sissies and yelling about failed life choices. They share a surprisingly emotional moment, but fail in their main mission to get Raffi out. Ruxin takes it upon himself, then, to get Raffi rip-roaring drunk, hoping he'll black out and the guys can make up terrible things he did the night before—thus providing a reason to kick him out.
But Raffi quits on his own. While getting it from behind from Rob Huebel. More on that in a sec.
The episode's other stories stayed contained until the end. Taco notices it's garbage day and goes rummaging through a dumpster, finding a toilet seat. He sits on said toilet seat, and becomes addicted to it. Nothing will rouse the man, not even a failed Ruxin high-five attempt. The gang learns the seat is made entirely of cocaine (huh?), and hold an intervention for him. It's a bit of a stretch even for The League, but what saves that final scene is some Paul Scheer improvisation. While trying to show support for Taco, he points out that he made hummus for the occasion, and attempts to feed Taco some of it in the flimsiest ways imaginable. He also continually brings up the fact that he's a doctor, a point that his friends are quick to refute. ("I'm not a doctor, but I would have said the exact same thing you just did," Kevin adds at one point.) Those little off-handed comments keep the scene fresh, and it no longer matters how flimsy the story was to begin with.
Same goes for Rob Huebel's character Russell. He's one of Andre's friends that Kevin and Jenny run into, and he invites Jenny to join his league. He's also a self-proclaimed and Andre-proclaimed sex addict—made-up disease or not. Thus when he invites Jenny over to his house for the draft and she's all alone, I'm sure we all thought the same thing. But The League played with expectations like a good improv scene would, spinning the scenario so that Russell's in fact not attracted to Jenny; instead he turns himself on by playing with artichokes like they're alien breasts.
So there Raffi and Russell are, in the car, and Russell's really giving it to Raffi. This was after Raffi trashed Andre's Kluneberg painting—the one that looked like The Shocker—and I assumed there were no more big surprises. This last moment, though, felt extraneous…until Russell and Raffi roll down the window of the car so they can continue the conversation. These little comic details are what's making The League such an enjoyable ride.
Stray observations:
- Raffi is also the guy who shits and jacks off at the same time. "It's how I work!"
- "He looks like a rollerblading instructor."
- "Bite each other's dicks off!"
- "Marbles…like if I see a room full of marbles, which doesn't happen often."