Kidding season 2, episode 4 recap: I Wonder What Grass Tastes Like

In episode 204 of Showtime’s Kidding, Jeff and Pete bond over their unique new problems, and Deirdre establishes a real charity to conceal her previous fraudulent one.

Previously on Kidding, Jeff (Jim Carrey) and Seb (Frank Langella) clashed over Jeff’s new doll concept, as well as whether Seb is fired or not. Also, Will (Cole Allen) got a magic book, and Deirdre (Catherine Keener) was huffing glue over her divorce and looming legal scandal involving her fake charity.

Episode 204 doesn’t quite abandon all those angles but puts most of it aside. It actually takes off in Serbia/Croatia, where a boy named Josip (Roman Coto) copes with war by watching “Mr. Pickles Puppet Time” with his pals.

One of them, Grgur (Milos Jovanovic), actually dies as they watch the show! Years later we see a grown-up Josip (Johnny Kostrey) threaten to beat up a man named Strahinja (Shahaub Roudbari) over a debt.

However, when Josip sees a “Listen-To-Me Pickles” doll on Strahinja’s store shelf, he relents and accepts the doll as payment so they’ll be even. Coincidentally, Josip voices Jeff Pickles in a porn parody in the Kidding universe!

The View?

Kidding then has Jeff seated on a morning talk show, ostensibly something like “The View.” They find it creepy that Jeff’s doll lets him talk to children all over the world. However, Jeff stresses that the “Listen-To-Me Pickles” doll does not let them view pornography, as would be the case for the internet or cellphones.

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In any case, they settle their distances when it’s revealed that everyone in the audience is getting the doll, Oprah-style. It’s likely that this “Jeff’s-doll-is-creepy” dilemma isn’t over, however.

Jeff still has other major problems.  In addition to smashing into Pete (Justin Kirk) with his car, then sparing a kidney to save Pete’s life, Jeff is now prescribed medical marijuana to cope with his post-surgical pain.

This is awkward because, quite possibly, seeing Pete smoke pot may be what set Jeff over the edge to run him down. Still, as it’s considered a semi-accident, Pete accepts Jeff’s over to have dinner together later.

The dinner goes surprisingly well

There’s no way having dinner under such circumstances wouldn’t be awkward. Still, Pete is a real trooper, going so far as to assist Jeff in getting marijuana. That being said, Pete still says that Jeff crushed his soul with his car, adding that it cost him his job, that he absolutely had to quit smoking, and also had to learn how to walk again.

On top of that, he mentions erectile dysfunction. On the bright side, the two bond over some medicinal marijuana tea, and Jeff tells Pete about losing his virginity to Julie Andrews. They also bond over a strange treatment for their ED, including the use of an elevator.

Meanwhile, Deirdre meets with her attorney (Eric Roberts) as her husband, Scott (Bernard White) moves out. While she’s trying to get her in trouble over her false charity, she has already established a real one which rightfully took the funds.

In fact, Deirdre’s Kids receives a “Philanthropist of the Year” award for all her troubles, privately proving that one can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Later, Jeff actually speaks with Josip through one of his dolls, and Jeff is told that he has to move on. Josip impersonates Jeff to leave a phone message to Jill (Judy Greer). He says he’ll agree to sign divorce papers as long as she’s there when he signs.

Split down the middle

There is some other bright new: Jeff is on the verge of getting his show back, thanks to Deirdre’s leadership. However, she hit a major snag, thanks to Scott, at least from her perspective. Though he can’t get her on misappropriated charity funds, Scott does have a 50/50 legal stake in her puppet holdings. Rather than split the value right down the middle per puppet.

He takes it upon himself to claim ownership of popular puppets like Ennui, Snagglehorse, Thump-thump, The Oops, and Astronotter. Though this could be subject to a legal challenge based on what constitutes 50/50 legal ownership, it seems Deirdre might have little fight left. Of course, there’s always the possibility of inventing many new puppets, if not scrapping the old ones entirely.

What are your thoughts on Kidding? Let us know in the comments!