Blindspotting Season 2 Episode 6 Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Thizzly
Blindspotting Season 2 Episode 6, “The Good, the Bad, and the Thizzly,” is an exuberantly silly homage to the Western genre that captivates from beginning to end. The title alone is a play on the 1966 Clint Eastwood-starrer The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
“The Good, the Bad, and the Thizzly” knows precisely what it is: it’s a joyous, immersive Western outing that provides as much escapism for us as it does for Ashley, Sean, and Miles while they have another family weekend at the prison. When they part ways, it’s a heartbreaking affair.
ASHLEY: You’re gonna break him out alone? Have you seen the sheriff’s muscle? You’re gonna need more than a load of pointers.
It’s particularly gut-wrenching for poor Sean, who struggles under the weight of his dad’s absence at home. For most of the series, we’ve watched Ashley miss Miles, but this episode is one of the few thus far that outright addresses Sean’s grief over getting these “dad crumbs” every few months.
Of course, the subtle nod to Sean’s feelings regarding his father began in the Season 2 premiere when he was gifted Thizzly Bear. It became evident when he started seeing an animated manifestation of Thizzly Bear à la an imaginary friend that Sean was compensating for his father not being there to protect him.
Thizzly Bear even appears in “The Good, the Bad, and the Thizzly.” Rafael Casal’s sleek direction, coupled with Sanjay Shah’s tight script, culminates in a wacky shootout sequence involving the aid of Thizzly Bear, Janelle, and Collin (Daveed Digg’s second appearance this season). It’s the stuff you dreamt about as a kid, borne from a childlike imagination.
JANELLE: Y’all clear out now and you won’t get hurt by the other end of my hammer.
This episode is the definition of ebullient. You can’t watch it without cracking a smile or feeling like a carefree child again, where as long as you have creativity, the sky’s the limit. Atticus Woodward is a delight as Sean, and we’ll undoubtedly see his star on the rise in the coming years.
Blindspotting never half-asses anything. Time and time again, we’ve seen this series commit fully to whatever fantastical premise it tackles. It commits and then some to “The Good, the Bad, and the Thizzly” while inserting reminders that this game of “cowboys” is of a kid’s devising. We view this setting through a childlike lens — Sean’s perspective — and it’s tons of fun.
We see Sean’s creative flourishes throughout the episode, from the finger guns possessing actual ammo (such a fun detail) to Miles shooting his twin brother and leaving a massive, perfectly circular hole in the bullet’s wake. The zombie cowboys also feel like Sean’s invention.
ASHLEY: What is this?
TRISH: Shh. It’s a metaphor.
Overall, “The Good, the Bad, and the Thizzly” is a lighthearted action-adventure chock full of Western elements and immersive visuals that’ll charm you. Everyone goes all in, performance-wise. The boisterous, buzzing score, the pitch-perfect sound effects, and seeing our players in an out-of-the-box setting make this a must-watch episode of Blindspotting.
Stray Observations:
- Zombie cowboys? I’d watch that movie in a heartbeat.
- There’s nothing more compelling than an “evil identical twin brother” plot. Plus, Good Miles and Bad Miles switch colors — the hero dons black while the villain wears white. Sean could go into filmmaking one day.
- I want Rafael Casal to helm his interpretation of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly or a feature-length version of this episode. We need more fun Westerns (without the racism). Please give us another badass POC Western along the lines of The Harder They Fall.
- Janelle and Collin have the best entrances during that gunfight. Hands down. I squealed when Daveed Diggs appeared. (Side note but still pertinent: seeing Daveed dressed as a cowboy was something I never knew I needed.)
- Miles’ “Thank you for saving me” line feels like it bears multiple meanings: 1). He’s thanking Sean for saving him from the Niners gang, and 2). He’s thanking Sean for saving him as a human, as in, Sean’s birth changed Miles’ life for the better. The multiple ways to translate this line cut right through me.
- The Niners Gang is a nod to E-40’s (the narrator) song “Niner Gang.”
- This is 100 percent a long shot, but I wonder if the establishment names “Kinky Blinders” and “Hotel Selby” are subtle nods to the TV series Peaky Blinders. I know the family surname in that show is Shelby, but it sounds similar. Of course, “Kinky Blinders” is also the name of Trish’s business. Let me make vague connections between two completely unrelated TV shows!
What did you think of this episode of Blindspotting? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Blindspotting streams new episodes every Friday on Starz.
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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.