Season VIII: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!"They have Chinese in Oklahoma. I don't touch the stuff, but they do have Chinese food." -
Bushie, Season 8The eighth season was intended to be a sequel to the very popular season three, which had largely focused on Kenya. This was surprising: fans had been clamoring for another relationship storyline, and season three was famously the first to not be centered on Bushie's romantic entanglements. But ratings for Update had been in steep decline ever since the Utah story arc and the disastrous addition of Inks as a main character. A return to Kenya was seen by producers as a sure-fire way to get the show back on track. To keep costs low, however,
the entire season was shot on a sound-stage in Oklahoma. As a result, the season premier was
widely panned for its unrealistic portrayal of Kenya.
After quickly officiating a shotgun wedding for a pair of devout Christians mere hours before the bride gave birth, and
giving a riveting monologue that many argued Bushie should have won the Emmy for that year, Bushie was supposed to hop on a plane to Africa. Unfortunately, the beginning of the season dragged, and Inks continued to be featured heavily. Luckily for viewers, after the first few episodes, Inks's character was abruptly written off the show and replaced with an adorable new puppy:
Blondie aka J.J. the dog. After months of hard work, careful scientific research, and many failed attempts, Bushie's family finally figured out what sex the dog was. Unfortunately, they were not as diligent in returning the dog to its owner, and Bushie continued his development from hero to villain as he defended his family's refusal to do so. Making matters worse, Bushie soon began torturing J.J. by forcing the poor puppy to spend his days dying in the searing Oklahoma sun and refusing to walk her. Eventual after fan backlash and threats of a boycott, Papa Bushie took time off from his 90-hour work week to buy the poor puppy a dog house to pass away with dignity in.
The writers weren't afraid to play with genre in season eight. Who can forget the
cooking show episodes? Then there was the
series premiere of the fantastic "Adventures of Hobo Orgy Guy" spinoff. And, about a quarter of the way through the season, viewers were treated to a riveting
mystery episode, guest starring season 7 fan favorite Bacon King. To this day, fan theories still abound about what exactly broke Bushie's windshield that day. A number of episodes focused on Papa Bushie, a peripheral character up until this point in the Update saga. Viewers responded to the heartbreaking tragedy of his life, and the contrast of Papa Bushie's 100-hour work weeks, back-breaking labor, and constant sacrifice with Bushie's lazy and slothful lifestyle punctuated with fun Kenyan vacations was especially stark, driving home Bushie's descent into villainy in these later seasons.
Finally, about half-way through the season,
Bushie left for Kenya. He soon began devising ways to move to Kenya and adopt his children, despite Kenyan laws being written specifically to prevent white men with creepy mustaches from coming to the country and adopting children so that they could "love on" them. In a
thrilling, special effects heavy action sequence, Satan attacked Bushie, though our protagonist eventually prevailed. Soon Bushie returned to America, 15 pounds lighter, ready to devote himself to Kenya. After quickly burying the sun-bleached carcass of J.J. the dog, Bushie set about on his quest to become a CAD(D), so that he could save up the money to return to Kenya permanently. Viewers were briefly given some hope for a new
romantic interest, but unfortunately new character and fellow Kenya enthusiast Krista only briefly featured on the show. As the season came to a close, his Kenyan children tragically died of malaria probably and were never heard from again.
Grade: ADefinitely a mixed season, and very hard to grade. The tone of Update became much darker in season eight, heralding things to come. Many viewers were shocked and offended by this, with the Papa Bushie and J.J./Blondie story lines in particular turning many off Update for good. The writing of Bushie's character was applauded by some critics, and
compared to the evolution of Walter White in AMC's
Breaking Bad. However, late season storylines (like the church merger and the aborted search for part-time employment at J.C. Penny) dragged, and the promise of Kenya: Part 2 never really materialized, with the writers perhaps relying too much on nostalgia for season 3 and unwilling to experiment or take that part of the story in a new direction. Perhaps cognizant of this, the show has not returned to Kenya in the twelve seasons since then, and as of now, there are no plans to do so.
But at the same time, I have to give this season credit. The theme of fatherhood is explored and juxtaposed in so many interesting ways in season 8. There is of course Papa Bushie, working himself to death with his 115-hour work weeks to support his layabout son. And then we have Bushie re-inventing himself as a father, seeking the trappings of parenthood while not even meeting the responsibilities of a child to his father. Layers of irony pervade these explorations of fatherhood, from the financial castration/emasculation wrapped up in Bushie using his
grandmother's money to support the orphans, to the fact that "Jeff Jr." (aka Blondie) tragically passes away from dehydration, starvation and exposure while Bushie is loving on his adopted children in Kenya. And there is the commentary of parent-child relationship as solely a financial one, per Bushie's understanding; just as his father supports him financially (and otherwise seems not to interact with him at all), Bushie believes that to be a father to his "children" all he must do is send them a check every month. Yes, the children have a biological grandmother who raises them, but because Bushie is the one with the checkbook, he as the
financial father is the
true parent. Perhaps no other season is as rich thematically as this one, and for that I must give it an A.
