'Eastbound and Down' Season 2 Premiere Recap

['Eastbound and Down' - 'Chapter 7']

We all need a little Kenny Powers in our lives, that one person who is such a raging jackass he makes our stupidest moments shine, and our lowest points inspirational by comparison. If there were nothing sad, evil, or blissfully arrogant and depraved in the world, we would have no concept of what it means to be happy, good, humble or respectful.

In a way, Kenny Powers is America: Ignorant with an unchecked sense of entitlement, boisterous with unwavering bravado, and the person everyone else wishes they had the balls to be. In season one, he had to swallow a lot of things: His pride, pills, his own medicine, presumably lots of microwaved burritos. Now he's back for season two to see what comes out the other end.

The filth and lawlessness of Mexico was arguably the most fitting environment for Kenny Powers to thrive in. Booze, drugs, women, cockfighting and moped travel made it easy for him to hide from his less-than-impressive American track record, having left his girl, his sycophantic sidekick, and the family that loves him unconditionally. But the Kenny Powers we know and love has ceased to exist. In his place was Steve. An obnoxious, corn-row-wearing, f-bomb dropping, ruthless cockfighter with a midget sidekick and a chip on his shoulder.

A great deal of what 'Eastbound and Down' is about, is Kenny Powers (a.k.a. Steve) trying to reconcile the person he is with the person he knows he should be. It's what makes him such a likable character -- he's a pompous ass with heart. The season premiere was no different. He thought about all those he left behind in America -- Stevie, April and his brother's family -- only minutes after berating a dude who owed him money, giving him a disturbingly ironic lecture on race. This was the same guy who later told one of his women that "Even though you're Mexican, you seem normal to me."

Steve (Kenny) is nothing if not a trooper, however, and no matter how contemplative he gets, he can always rationalize getting blasted on a witches brew of cocktails, coke and whatever disinfectants he can find under the bathroom sink. In Clegg's (Kenny's old drug dealer/carousing partner) place were Hector, a mute giant, dumb as a box of cereal, and Aaron: A street-savvy thug of a midget, always looking to get ahead. Even Kenny said "this little son of a bitch here is probably the best sidekick I've ever had," Stevie Janowski notwithstanding, I'm sure.

The three goons spent their time between hustling locals at cockfights, harassing fans at local Mexican League baseball games, hatching money-making schemes for tourists, and generally setting humanity back several years at a time, until their prized cock, Big Red, lost and died. While burying the fowl in a cooler, Hector and Aaron turned on Steve (Kenny) and he was, once again, alone with his thoughts.

He oscillated between Steve and Kenny from scene to scene with the relative ease and pain of a loose bowel movement, none more bittersweet than when he masturbated to a picture of April from the yearbook, unless you count the scene where the manager of The Churros (the Mexican baseball team he's been watching) approached him and ended up talking to both Kenny and Steve at once, trying to bring out Kenny to come back and pitch. Confusing, right? So much psychology from a show about a redneck of epic proportions.

While dictating his book into a tape recorder -- not unlike the one I used to tape Prince songs off the radio when I was ten -- he was introduced to the Mexican concept of family by his neighbor and an offer to eat dinner with them ... an offer that Steve (Kenny) rejected out of stubborn arrogance. When he had nothing else, however, he joined them and thus began the re-emergence of Kenny Powers.

"Sometimes you've gotta wash away the pain, and reveal to the world the jackass that is hiding beneath." No sooner were the words out of his contaminated mouth, than Steve's braids were transformed into Kenny's signature mullet, signaling the return of one of the world's most deservedly misunderstood anti-heroes. Kenny's only recourse was to crash a Churros' practice and announce himself as their, and the world's, savior.

Kenny Powers is back, and no one is sure if we're better or worse for i t... not even the man himself.

'Eastbound and Down' airs Sun., 10:30PM ET on HBO.

Dr. Vaughan teaches English/Media/Humor courses at Binghamton University in upstate New York, and he'll pay to wash your hair. You can also check out his blog at drvtv.wordpress.com or www.facebook.com/pages/Ryan-Vaughan/21931402981