Unfortunately, the second season of Showtime’s Kidding is its last and I am bummed because the second season was a very entertaining ride. Luckily, that first season cliffhanger is right where the action picks up in the second, and we get to see this group of people seemingly further upend their lives.
Yes, Jeff ran over Peter. Which was a little surprising because they appeared to have bonded, but also not surprising since Peter pulled out a joint and Jeff is very much against drug use. Peter is obviously unconscious, so no one gets to tell Jill what really happened. In fact, she apologizes to Jeff. He clearly feels guilty but doesn’t really know what to do about it yet, especially since his son, Will, is taking his side on this one. Will’s got ulterior motives though, because of a mysterious magic book he received for Christmas that leads him to a “trick” that can turn back time. Will wants to go back to a time where his brother is alive and his parents are still together. At this point he’s willing to go along with the signs that it’s working.
Eventually, the guilt eats at Jeff and he confesses to Jill while he also volunteers to donate part of his liver to Peter. This leads to perhaps the best episode of television I have ever seen. The two men, both under anesthesia on operating tables, reconnect in a fantastical drug-induced dream. They are stuck at the bottom of Pickle Barrell Falls and sing their way to an escape. It is absolutely hysterical. When Jeff wakes up he fires his dad, who then hands over the reigns to Dee Dee because he knows he can control her behind Jeff’s back.
That’s doesn’t really work for him for too long. Dee Dee adopts a very professional wardrobe and manages to get the show back on the air with complete creative control. She also divorces her husband, who is a complete piece of crap. Because Dee Dee created all of the puppets, they are her intellectual property, and since the two didn’t sign a prenup, he gets half of the most popular puppets. This actions leads to a whole episodes of the Mr. Pickles Puppet Time, the show within the show airing. In it, they tackle the departure of those beloved puppets and also tackle Jeff and Jill’s divorce. Jeff takes the blow better than I thought, but part of that has to do with a new toy, called Listen to Me Pickles, that allows Jeff and kids all over the world to communicate at all times. Naturally, Seb thinks this is an awful idea, and it does eventually backfire, but I like that it’s a way for Jeff and Peter to talk since Jill is keeping the two friends apart.
The back half of the season shows things falling apart once again for everyone though. Philippino Pickles gets murdered because of the divorce episode, Seb has a stroke, Will gets mad at his dad for signing the divorce papers, and Dee Dee has to watch her puppets be used for the most ridiculous commercials. The final straw for Jeff is when a creepy man who has the Mr. Pickles on Ice head sets fire to his abandoned home next to Jill’s. He tries to, I assume, kidnap Will before Jeff shows up and beats the crap out of him and a bus-full of children get it on camera. That re-earns Jeff respect from Will and now they both sport matching haircuts. Seb gets sent to a 50s-set nursing home where he reconnects with his estranged wife, while Dee Dee sacrifices custody of her daughter to get her puppets back. She’s more like Seb than I ever really realized!
Finally, after Jill gets engaged to Peter, her and Jeff have a confrontation after he learns that all of Phil’s organs had been successfully donated. She confronts Jeff and asks him if he blames her for Phil’s death. After a flashback montage of their relationship and the birth of their sons, he tearfully answers yes, which is really the answer she’s been looking for all along. The two reconcile as best they can and go with Will to watch a woman who received Phil’s heart complete a marathon.
As far as this being the end of the series, I was pretty satisfied with how it ended. It’s hard to know what the trajectory for some of those characters would look like with another season, especially Seb, and even Dee Dee. I also think Jeff and Jill got just enough closure to assume they will be in a good place. Just like the first season, this second one had some truly bizarre things happen, but now that I’m used to the cadence of the show, I loved every second of it. I found myself laughing a lot more this season, and Jeff and Peter’s friendship was honestly my favorite. I’m glad I got the opportunity to watch this oddball of a show, and I think if you’re up for it you should, too.