Bupkis S1E4: Crispytown

Pete loses out in a role in a Fast and Furious movie because he was photographed doing whippets at the White House Correspondents Dinner. “But it was with the Avengers! Two of the cool ones! From the first movie!”

So Team Pete (i.e. Evan and Mom) have to steer him through showing up to an event on-time and sober. The event in question is Vin Diesel’s daughter’s birthday party, which unfortunately for their plan to keep Pete on the straight and narrow, is in Florida. For reasons that make no sense outside of dramatic convenience, he drives from New York City to Florida instead of taking the cheap, frequent flights between those two locations, sharing a van with both his friends, his grandpa and Uncle Roy.

While the boys are on the road, Casey, Pete’s hitherto-underused sister, takes her mom out to dinner. She talks about how tired she is of only being known as Pete Davidson’s sister, and yet Amy just keeps steering the conversation back to Pete. She likes the perks of having a famous son (their dinner reservations included), and makes no bones about it. Casey is exasperated and feels unappreciated… until Amy turns the tables by promising to micromanage her life the same way she does Pete’s, to Casey’s horror and embarrassment. The two don’t get a ton of screen time, but it’s a nice bit that broadens the Davidson family dynamic a little.

Meanwhile, despite Pete’s attempts to avoid the paparazzi, they show up as soon as the van arrives at the hotel. Grandpa Pesci is convinced Pete’s entourage has a rat. Everyone advises Pete to lay low and have a low-key afternoon eating Cuban sandwiches, but instead he decides they should go party with a coked-up Florida Man named Crispy who was inexplicably waiting to greet them at the hotel, and uses the word “crispy” in the same all-purpose way the Smurfs use the word “smurf.” As much as we know this is going nowhere good, Pete’s laid-back, “well, let’s just see what happens” approach to making bad decisions makes it almost seem like it’s a reasonable thing to do. Almost.

They meet Crispy at the cash-for-gold outlet he runs. (“We’re in a gas station that sells necklaces,” his friendsistant Evan warns him.) Crispy then drags them to an “extra crispy” second location — a warehouse full of vintage sports cars that’s owned by Crispy’s grizzled father. Which is all a setup for a Fast and Furious-spoof car chase between Pete and Crispy, some overeager paparazzi, and his panicked entourage, that ends with Grandpa sniffing out the rat, Pete realizing his constant casual drug use might be clouding his judgment, and (of course) an excuse to use the line, “it’s about family.” But only after car accidents, gunplay, explosions, and a probable murder — just another day in Florida.

Stray thoughts:
• Things apparently work out at some point after this episode’s runtime, because Davidson actually does have a small role in Fast X.

• Nice to see Brad Garrett return as Uncle Roy. A lot of shows bring in a guest star once and then forget the character exists; seeing familiar faces makes Pete’s family feel a little more real and his world feel a little more lived-in.

• “I don’t think the Cubans are known for their cu-zeen, I’ll be honest with you.”

• ”I am the queen of Staten Island! Marissa Tomei played me in the movie!” shouts the woman who isn’t Pete’s mom but is playing her in the TV show.

• “What are you, fucking stupid?” “Yes!”