In the final episode of Unplanned America, Parv and Gonzo hit up spring break, hang out with UFO chasers, take a look at rockabilly culture in Las Vegas, attend a tailgate, pimp their car and do shots over a cryogenically frozen corpse. This is what happens when Nick isn’t there to supervise them.
The show doesn’t hide the fact that the entirety of this episode was shot before Nick had arrived, and thus before the rest of the series. This is fine, but it does feel a bit like a mash-up and is reminiscent of clip shows, but with fresh content. This doesn’t make it any less entertaining though, and it’s fun to see what happens when Parv and Gonzo are allowed to run amuck unchecked.
The episode begins during the infamous Spring Break, and the pair has no problem being entirely immersed in the culture. But the focus quickly shifts from hard spirits to the spirit world as the guys visit Texas in search of the Marfa Lights. These are believed to be dancing spirits of murdered Native Americans, and the story has Parv and Gonzo relatively freaked out. However, they come up empty handed in the hauntings departments and move onto extraterrestrials. The boys spend time with two professional UFO chasers; however the scariest thing they find is a clock with the wife’s face printed on it.
Next we head to Vegas where the lads explore the “bad ass hybrid sub culture” of rockabilly burlesque and decide that their car needs a facelift. After enlisting some mates they “turn this piece of shit into a piece of art” and it’s transformed into the glorious bomb that we’ve been treated to throughout the season. I was particularly appreciative of the puns that were added to the door handles – “handle with care” and “you can’t handle the truth.”
The most fascinating aspect of this episode is when the boys visit a cryogenically frozen man in a Colorado mountain hut. Not only do they help to change the dry ice, they also do shots of Crystal Head vodka over the corpse with the caretaker. After such impressive bad assness, their subsequent trip to tailgate paled in comparison.
This last episode was certainly more random than the previous ones, and seemed to lack focus. But hey, maybe this was just a product of Gonzo and Parv being devoid of Nick’s neutralizing presence. The episode didn’t lack in entertainment, but perhaps seemed to be mere fluff in comparison to the previous episode. Running these two back-to-back may have hurt the finale if viewers were looking for something just as provocative and inspiring as episode five. However, Nick did leave us with a final thought on the series, stating, “We had only scratched the surface of a country that’s as diverse culturally as it is geographically.” These words will undoubtedly leave fans craving for more and hoping to see the boys again in the near future.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Head over to sbs.com.au to rewatch the six episode series of Unplanned America!
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