Dead Drunk Detective: What Sup Doc?

This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Dead Drunk Detective. If you want to listen to them ahead of reading this analysis, they can both be found here.

What stands out to me about 'What Sup Doc?' is how blue the jokes are. I think Johnny blurting out innuendoes on seeing Hyde nude is a level of cheekiness we can just about get away with. His final scene lewd quip about the model demonstrating her gratitude however rightly elicits a surprised reaction from the audience. 

I too now find the line jarring, Up until that point, the series had been playful. This was lurid. The crowd's reaction told me instantly that the joke did not fit. It was a particularly instructive moment for determining the tone of the show. Later episodes feature few, if any, suggestive lines.

I am not completely down about the episode though. I enjoy how many visual jokes it pulls off. Indeed, the subplot revolves around a recurring sight gag: Johnny's legs have been swapped out with a set wearing tights and pedicured toes.

Admittedly how he was able to do this is not addressed. Would zombies be able to switch out limbs painlessly? Could the walking dead theoretically rejuvenate themselves with fresher body parts thus enabling them to live forever? I don't think I gave the internal logic of this much thought - the story was written more with a view to giving Johnny and Betty something to chat about in the office and to see if I could pull off a sitcom-style intertwining of both plots at the end.

In other superpowers news, Johnny's literal interpretation of 'watch your back' suggests he can rotate his head back fully like an owl. As with the limb switcheroo, this never gets referenced again.

Another source of joy for me in this episode is the abundance of Steffs. Having previously acknowledged my love of casting him as often as possible, I am delighted that he features here in multiple iterations. Doc Madd has both his 'real' voice and the deeper tenor he uses to intimidate Johnny. If you count his three clones, Steff technically plays four parts.

'What Sup Doc?' is a curious episode overall. It contains some of the silliest jokes of the series - the main plot was almost certainly reverse-engineered from the punchline 'he's besides himself' - but also the crassest. It makes bold additions to what zombies can do - which are then never addressed again. The show's voice was clearly in flux.

I am glad this episode exists though. Part of the fun in revisiting long-running programmes is being reminded of how many elements writers threw in early on that are subsequently adjusted, ignored, or dropped. This instalment is packed with them. 

Like Doc Madd, I was experimenting. Looking to build upon the pilot, I tried out a load of new ideas, some of which were mistakes. This episode, as did the entire first series, helped me figure out what feels right for the show.

That said, I really adore the next episode.