Kevin Can F**k Himself Review: The Grand Victorian (Season 1 Episode 6)

Kevin may fail spectacularly at juggling two parties but this episode shows no struggle in the face of so many festivities.

Kevin Can F**k Himself Season 1 Episode 6, “The Grand Victorian,” is a celebration of what makes this show captivating, and what makes Annie Murphy such a force to lead its unique premise.

This episode is an entertaining marriage of the sitcom restaurant shenanigans and darker notes of Allison’s drama. It’s the addition to this season that proves one can elevate the other while breaking ground as separate entities.

Allison and Kevin’s night out on the town isn’t just great — it’s grand!

Taking the show on the road is the best thing this season could do. Not because it allows Kevin to display his enormous ego for everyone to see, but because it allows these genres to work seamlessly within the same space.

Some genuinely funny bits amount from Kevin’s weird sports feud with guest star Sean Avery, and there is even funnier physicality from Allison as she reacts to her two worlds colliding with Kevin and Sam. It’s a full course meal of awkward dialogue, deadly undertones, and chaotic frustration.

The drama is drizzled onto this bright cockamamy appetizer rather meticulously as a mere walk by from Nick provides Allison with enough panic to send this episode spiralling. The fact that Nick is just trying to do his job and not murder anyone rounds out the supposed conflict nicely.

Allowing humour to shine through the grit in such bleak laugh-off-the-pain ways speaks to the brilliance this premise is sitting on.

Sam and Allison continue to be a sore spot for this season’s progression.

There’s something incredibly toxic about their affair, despite this show pushing this relationship as a form of rebellious freedom for Allison. Nothing is freeing about watching her gain independence to shackle herself to a man who is just as problematic.

Sam seems kind enough but the more heated interactions between them and those bizarre backroom makeout sessions mimic much of what Allison is escaping with her marriage to Kevin.

Sam goes as far as to point out Allison is the one calling the shots in their relationship. This comment goes unchecked but there’s something incredibly problematic about Sam being allowed narratively to blame the affair entirely on Allison.

Both parties are in the wrong here and for Sam to suggest otherwise is not promising for their future as a couple.

It doesn’t help that this affair has yet to impact the story in a meaningful way that a platonic relationship between them couldn’t already do.

If Sam and Allison as a romantic entity are going nowhere, it would be better for this season to cut its losses and move on to something messier. Preferably before this one-note romance threatens to stall the escalating conflict for the sake of a few steamy make-out sessions.

That said, this episode does utilize Sam in ways that manage to elevate the larger story and not drag down Allison in the process. Sam and his wife’s arrival at the restaurant add to the story’s tension considerably, and his looming presence makes the transition between genres that much more interesting.

Sam as an individual is a clever obstacle for Allion going into the finale episodes.

He not only knows what Allison is capable of, but unlike most people in this town, he takes notice of our leading lady. That’s a combination just waiting to implode as the murder plot escalates.

For all that Sam and Allison add to the show, Patty and Tammy add so much more.

Their relationship, even in the early stages, manages to craft a problematic romance we can still invest in and compliments the heart of the story Kevin Can F**k Himself is attempting to tell.

Patty has never felt comfortable with getting married and settling down with a man, so she threw herself into the role of “one of the guys” in hopes that could fill the void. To have Tammy come into her life and push her to see love is still in the cards is incredibly rewarding to Patty’s development this season.

And having Patty be completely blindsided by the fact that Tammy was inviting her out on a date and not a murder investigation just adds to the adorable meet-cute vibes.

By exploring these one-note sitcom women in the roles they would never be able to pursue, the show is finally making a lasting statement on the treatment of female characters in comedy.

Yet, as great as that happiness is for Patty, it’s disheartening to see Allison constantly punished by the premise for trying to find similar happiness in her independence. It’s bizarre that the sitcom wife we’re here to analyze isn’t getting anywhere near the story Patty is.

“The Grand Victorian” delivers a promising meal from start to finish, but it’s ultimately the aftermath that has us coming back for more.

By having Allison refuse to let someone else decide her husband’s faith and threaten Nick into submission with the same tactics he so easily applied on her at the beginning of this episode, Kevin Can F**k Himself revisits the diabolical side of the sitcom wife we fell in love with.

It’s a reminder that this isn’t just any lead the show has on its hands. This is Annie Murphy, a heavy-hitting actress that does not strike out when she’s up to bat.

This episode goes out of its way to spin the narrative that Nick is crazy, but Allison is crazier and she’s that way because a man has psychologically abused her for years. She’s the one everyone should fear, and it’s exciting that no one but us can see Murphy’s wrath coming.

What did you think of this episode of Kevin Can F**k Himself? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Kevin Can F**k Himself airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

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