Kidding season 1, episode 6 recap: The Cookie

In episode 6 of Showtime’s Kidding, Jeff Piccirillo’s at his most uplifting, but also at his darkest. He’ll be okay, except when he’s not.

This Kidding episode begins with a food fight in Jeff Pickle’s (Jim Carrey) new home, which Will Piccirillo (Cole Allen) and his pals believe is empty.

In a surprising moment, the gas is left on the stove and Will — who previously seemed to quit pot — almost lights a doobie to cause an explosion!

Meanwhile, Rabbi Michael Epstein (Joel Swetow) is discussing life, but sums up a major theme in this episode: Every action has its equal and opposite reaction. On that note, Will and his buddies speculate that the house actually did explode, but it sent them to a parallel universe.

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Emboldened Jeff

For obvious reasons, Jeff feels sad about his girlfriend Vivian (Ginger Gonzaga) having cancer. They liken it to having half the pages ripped out of her life story.

Still, he seems emboldened by the relationship, telling his sister Deirdre (Catherine Keener) that he’s putting a stop to the so-called “Pickles on Ice” special.

He feels the event is intruding on his identity, as skater Tara Lipinski is slated to play him on the ice. Also, Jeff is at odds with his father Seb (Frank Langella), with this being just another layer of conflict.

When Jeff is previewing Tara’s skills on the rink, he asks a little girl if she knows the difference between Mr. Pickles and the person on the rink. She answers in the affirmative. For Jeff, this is akin to her knowing the real from the fake.

We also meet Tara’s sister Sara (Jennie Pierson), who’s in the “Astron-otter” costume on the ice. Meanwhile, Dierdre’s daughter Maddy (Juliet Morris) is driving Dierdre nuts with her clarinet! Also, Will gets in trouble for kissing girls by using his brother’s death for sympathy.

Tara-keet and Tara herself

This Kidding episode takes a darker turn when Jeff meets Tara and Sara, and the pet bird named Tara-keet (voiced by Amanda Philipson).

Much to Jeff’s shock and dismay, Tara-keet is full of obscenities! Without even thinking much about it, Jeff actually kills Tara-keet by rapidly flipping the lights on and off, creating a strobe light effect! Afterward, Jeff confronts Tara about the bird’s language, saying “Your sister’s not a whore, and never ask a bulimic to kneel. It could trigger her gastric reflex!”

Soon after that, Jeff speaks to Tara about her stealing his character. She says she likes being Jeff. However, he shouts: “Attention, Love-tenant!,” then asks her the motto of the Pickle platoon. Jeff takes the giant Mr. Pickles mask from Tara, who knows that the motto is, “Always be yourself.”

Jeff then explains the situation to Seb: “Can I tell you something I’ve learned over the years? People who are older than me question what I say.

People who are younger listen to what I tell them. That means every day, I get a little bit more powerful, and you get a little older.” That’s quite a savage burn from Mr. Pickles!

Still, we gain further insight into Jeff’s struggles against mommy and daddy dearest. In a flashback, Jeff’s mom (Katherine Willis) verbally threatens to put a young Dierdre (Brooke Fontana) in a suitcase and toss her over the falls!

This inspires young Jeff (Zackary Arthur) to imagine a parachute inside the suitcase, so she’ll safely land away from the rushing waters or any jagged rocks below — inspiring a sequence of Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time’s opening credits.

Vivian’s limited bucket list

Although Jeff got dark enough to kill Tara-keet, he is still a beloved entertainer with a love interest to cheer up. He hosts a special puppet show for Vivian, whose life story is slated to be cut short by cancer. She is shown a puppet named Viva Lost Pages (Dorien Davies), the new librarian in Pickle Barrell Falls.

Viva sings a song for Vivian, and Jeff encourages Vivian to add pages to her book. Vivian obliges, saying she imagines a first-class plane trip to Honduras, where she’ll ride down a zip line. She also wants to visit Yoro, Honduras, where it rains fish once a year.

As if reflecting on the events in Kidding, Rabbi Epstein discusses light and darkness, and how each day there’s a new universe in us. Epstein says good and evil cannot and will not devour the other.

Then we see Jeff putting Tara-keet in a garbage disposal. Toward the very end, Jeff fires a hockey puck at the fake Mr. Pickles head, showing he’s got plenty of fight in him.

That’s it for this Kidding recap! What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!