Portlandia Review: Misunderstood Miracles (Season 7 Episode 10)

The season finale of Portlandia is full of “Misunderstood Miracles” with some odd sketches.

“Misunderstood Miracles” is part usual funny fare — and part “um, what?” moments.

Most of the time I feel “with it” enough to get the humor of Portlandia. Occasionally, I feel like it goes right over my head.  So is the case with the main sketch on Season 7 Episode 10.

The first portion of Sandra’s dog adoption seems like a set up for a punchline. It is not really humorous on its own.

The next scene with the dog trainers is more what I expect; Fred Armisen is pretty funny as the quirky trainer.

Dog Trainer: The way we do payment is it’s 40 bucks for every person in the room. Cash.
Sandra: Wait, you asked me to bring as many people as possible.
Dog Trainer: Yes, I did.

We are as confused as Sandra as to what is actually taught during this session.

In the final bit, Sandra takes her new pitbull, Chico, to her friend’s birthday party. There the training comes in handy (I think?) when Chico goes after a squirrel.

And then Chico turns into a human dude.

Um, what?

At this point, I am still waiting for the payoff, and it seems this is it.

But later, towards the end, the Humane Society worker, played by Maria Bamford, is talking another customer into getting four rats the same way she did with Sandra and Chico. She looks slyly at the camera, and then they cut to a series of shots of Bamford as her Lady Dynamite character from her Netflix show.

Maybe it is because I don’t know much about that show that I misunderstand the joke.

It just seems like a lot of build up to two conclusions that I do not get.

Contrarily, there are two short skits that still have the “um, what?” factor, but make me laugh anyway.

Fred discovers the concept of models. It is a strange thing to finally catch on to, but the ridiculous-ness turns out to be pretty hilarious.

The other random but amusing bit guest stars Linda Ramone as a visitor to the Train Station Museum. She and her companion do not understand the point of such a place. It, too, is a “misunderstood miracle.”

They try to make the best out of it, though.

Linda: Oh, look, a tin can. You know what that reminds me of? The Wizard of Oz.
Companion: The Tin Man. The order that I like the characters is the Scarecrow one, the Lion second, and the Tin Man third.
Linda: I always thought you used to like the Lion first.
Companion: No, I changed the order.
Linda: Okay.

The rest of the episode is more along the lines of what I know and love about Portlandia.

Lisa and Bryce are back with another useless business, Instant Garbage.

They take one of those things that we all know exists, but don’t really think about — items that are ineffectual, but inexpensive enough to not return or try to fix.

Lisa: We found that exact point between price and hassle that guarantees you won’t bother returning our product.
Bryce: Are you really going to go all the way back to that mall kiosk and demand your money back?
Lisa: You should.
Bryce: But you won’t.

The bright and upbeat commercial almost makes you want some Instant Garbage of your own. It even fools Bryce who fries his iPad. Armisen kills me with his reaction.

In “Postful Protest,” Fred and Carrie admit they are slacktivists, and try to do more than just tweet, post, and hashtag about issues.

It satirizes the social media image of being “woke” versus actual activism.

While it is good to get the word out about causes and injustices, sometimes you have to back it up with action.

Fred and Carrie fail at this spectacularly.

The Chico sketch brings the episode down a little bit, but for the most part it is an enjoyable watch. I wish we could have seen more of the show’s recurring characters, though.

Stray Observations:

• I love when Carrie Browstein as Lisa falls into that box.
• Chico is super cute—as the dog, not the dude.
• The skit about the parents teaching their son about alcohol is pretty great. “Mom! Help me! What’s a tiki drink?”
• “The video is on a one-minute loop.” “What does that mean?”
• “You can follow me on Twitter @CarrieIsWoke.”
• “I don’t get what you don’t get.”

What did you think of this episode of Portlandia? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Portlandia airs Thursdays at 10/9c on IFC.

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