American Vandal season 2, episode 1 recap: 'The Brownout'

Season 1 of American Vandal was a shockingly great mockumentary series that took Netflix by storm.

That first season of American Vandal saw the case of a high school student accused of drawing penises on people’s cars and it took the form of the real crime television shows, with interviews and reenactments telling the story.

Will this second season of American Vandal continue the greatness from that first season?

The New American Vandal Case

The mockumentary starts off with students, a nun and a police officer from St. Bernardine Catholic School in Bellevue, Washington interviewed about what happened on Nov. 6.

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Everyone loved Chicken Finger Monday – and lemonade.

That is when the first kid starts to feel sick and then others start to race out of the cafeteria. The bathroom was locked because people were starting to have to race to the bathroom and everyone had diarrhea. Some ended up going in trashcans, and because they were desperate, some just went on the floor.

The police officer on duty that day called it the worst thing that he had seen happen at the school in years. This wasn’t just spoiled fish sticks – this was an attack. That is when the 9-11 call was replayed.

This fateful day earned the name – The Brownout.

One girl mentioned that she went home and took a shower and then she got a text message. The Turd Burglar tagged everyone in a video showing everyone losing it that day at school and obviously knew the students. He got 800 followers in one day, but he never responded to anyone or followed them back.

The police said that it was obvious that this wasn’t an accident because someone took credit. There was also a Turd Burglar business card left at the scene.

What Brought the American Vandal Filmmakers to Washington?

The Dylan Maxwell case from season one was then brought up with the filmmakers from that saying that they helped clear his name. They also said that they became famous due to this. They then claimed that Netflix offered them money to add production values to their original documentary.

They then showed how they became popular thanks to that first season – a brilliant way to keep fans believing that it is a real documentary. They claimed that people kept sending them messages to ask for them help – mostly with people drawing penises in inappropriate places … and one murder.

However, outside of the murder, nothing piqued the filmmakers’ interest until they got a message from Chloe Lyman from St. Bernardine Catholic School. In her email and video, she mentions that the police and staff believe a person named Kevin McClain was the Turd Burglar, but she has information that proves he is innocent, but the school doesn’t want to hear it.

While the penises was a financial problem for teachers, the Turd Burglar was developing a psychological attack on the students. Chloe also said that the school had secrets to hide that goes to the top.

The American Vandal filmmakers were allowed to make the Turd Burglar case their senior project and set off to make their documentary for Netflix.

They chose to stay with Chloe because she knew a lot about the Turd Burglar … plus, “her house is sick.”

The Start of the Turd Burglar Investigation

St. Bernardine is a school with great pride. The police were looking into investigating social media accounts as the acts of the Turd Burglar was unacceptable. Kids stayed out of school because the Turd Burglar threatened to hit them again and parents threatened to pull their kids out of school.

“Do you know how hard it is to get poo out of a monogrammed sweater?”

They chose to interview every student at the school. There was even one student that loved lemonade but didn’t drink it that day, but that was a false lead. They also investigated another student who is into scat porn. However, he was at a doctor’s appointment that day.

Kevin Bassett: The Accused

Tanner Bassett came in after 16 days of no leads. Bassett said that he thinks he knows who the Turd Burglar is and blamed his friend Kevin McClain and said that he thought he would strike again. Tanner and Kevin were the best of friends, friends since kindergarten. They were even in an experimental band together, where they wore horse heads and played experimental music.

The police officer said that it was clear why kids bullied him since his music was garbage. This caused the police to realize that Kevin was bullied and alienated from the school. Kids on social media called him the Fruit Ninja and posted videos online of him making fun of him.

“What Kevin went through is the exact type of bullying that would push an adolescent over the edge.” – Police

Bassett said that he was never told that Kevin did it, but he knew that he did it because Kevin went out of his way around the cafeteria and then accidentally knocked over Brother Buckley’s lemonade. Bassett said that Kevin did it on purpose because Brother Buckley is old and old people die all the time. Kevin replaced it but got him the Horchata instead of the lemonade.

“Who knows if Brother Buckley even liked Horchata. A lot of people don’t. I don’t. Cinnamon and milk?” – Police

Bassett then said that Kevin is untrustworthy. As an example, he said that Kevin would go to the supermarket where someone was giving out free samples and then keep returning and using a different voice to get more free samples. They went to the store to do it before that day, but Kevin bought something that day. When Bassett asks what he bought, he didn’t say so he figures they were laxatives.

The day of the attack, Kevin didn’t sit with Bassett and chose a different table. That is when students said that people were sitting in the wrong places at lunch that day – meaning they were sitting in spots that they don’t usually sit.

As for Kevin, he chose to sit across from Nick Sondergoth – someone that Kevin has hated since the sixth grade. Nick ruined Kevin’s life.

What Ruined Kevin’s Life?

Chloe is talking about Kevin and said that she is lucky to find Kevin because he helped her since he was popular. Another student said that Kevin wasn’t always weird and used to be a normal kid.

Kevin was not good at Capture the Flag. He was in jail and someone made a jailbreak and Kevin gets up and there is a stain on his shorts. Kevin said that it was dirt, but other kids believed that he pooed his pants. The next morning, a picture taken by Nick Sondergoth of the stain was posted on social media with the caption: “Sh*t Stain McClain.”

From that point on, kids called him that all the time and bullied him hard. Kevin had friends before that (35 friend birthday party in fifth grade) to a loner (3 friend party in sixth). He then started to act weird and created a strange persona where he even spoke in a British accent in eighth grade.

On Oct. 26, 2017, Facebook featured an “On This Day” memory of the photo of Kevin that Nick took. When Nick shared it again, it got 217 likes, 47 loves and 52 crying laughing emojis.

Three days later, the Turd Burglar was created.

Kevin is Interrogated by the Police

Kevin was asked about November 6 and if he remembered what happened that day. He sat there in silence and when asked again, he said he was sorry, “I thought that was a rhetorical question.” The police promised that for the rest of the interview, there would be no rhetorical questions.

When they ask if he knows why they called him in, he said he assumes it was due to the Turd Burglarizing. He said that he knows nothing and does not understand why it would have happened.

When asked what he was doing during lunch, he asked if it would seem surprising that he was having lunch. When asked where he was during the fire drill, Kevin said he was on the baseball field in his designated safety zone. The only way to get into the building is through a door with an alarm and the fire alarm would have drowned that out, so that is when they are sure Kevin added laxatives to the lemonade.

That is when the police tell Kevin that Tanner Bassett told them everything.

They asked Kevin why he changed seats to sit next to Nick Sondergoth. He said for a change of scenery and they asked if he enjoyed watching Nick poop his pants. They then asked about “Sh*t Stain McClain” and then kept pounding it home. They said that the school is pressing charges and he needs to be honest if he wants the judge to be lenient.

The police say there is a mountain of evidence against him – although it is all circumstantial.

Kevin came back into the room and they told him to tell them the truth. They then said that he spilled Brother Buckley’s lemonade on purpose. Kevin then tells them everything that they wanted him to say and admits to all of it. At this point, it is clear that he is telling the police what they told him to say.

He then confesses to being the Turd Burglar – which wasn’t just the lunch. There were three other strikes by the Turd Burglar in 8 days – a serial vandal.

American Vandal Finds a New Clue

Kevin McClain is at home with his grandmother and eating. She tells people that he is told that if his food is made wrong or his laundry is folded wrong, he will let them know about it. She said that she was surprised when he was accused of being the Turd Burglar.

His grandmother said that she knows he is innocent. The police are pushing him hard while they show scenes Kevin bullied in the past and of the kids getting sick. Then his grandmother dropped the bomb.

If Kevin was the Turd Burglar, why did Kevin poop his own pants in the cafeteria that day?

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American Vandal season 2, episode 1 recap: ‘The Brownout’

By Shawn Lealos | Sep 17, 2018