Bupkis – Season 1 Episode 5 “For Your Amusement” Recap & Review

For Your Amusement

The central theme in episode 5 of Bupkis is Pete’s gnawing realisation of an emptiness in his chest. He feels all his problems flow from the fact that he doesn’t have a child. Pete struggles with addiction, substance abuse, and negative perception by the broader media and the public… but will bringing a child into his life truly change that?

Uncle Tommy vehemently disagrees. He feels he would be happier if the roles were reversed, believing Pete is lucky to be leading a life of fame and privilege. Why would he want to give up on that?

Amy feels Tommy is wrong and Pete is right. She wants him to have a child – but less so than she wants a grandchild. Nikki, his ex, is a possible surrogate who could help Pete with this plan. Amy is so excited, she is herself ready to take care of it.

Pete meets with Nikki to pitch the idea. She seems to appreciate Pete’s thought process, which reflects his growing maturity as a person. Coincidentally, she mentions that she is looking after a small girl, Anna, as her mother is “doing Ayahocus in Costa Rica.”

Feeling bad for her, Pete decides to take her to the park with Nikki. Pete arrives with a few of his crew – including Crillz – and Nikki is flustered. She thought they’d be spending time almost like a family but now, the plans are ruined. Gill, disgraced after Pete found out about his snitching and kicked him out of the entourage, shows up at Action Land. But the guys confiscate his phone. Pete’s first awkward steps in making conversation find familiarity when Anna confesses she doesn’t understand things being a child.

Pete supports her and they bond over this shared childhood trait. Nikki is heartened to see Pete doing well and making decent strides. If he wants to become a father, that is how he must embrace the responsibility.

Amy is making her own plans for Pete; she is meeting up with Pete’s ex-girlfriend, Carly, and propositions her with surrogacy. Pete and Nikki have a hilarious instance where a strange man dupes them out of a thousand grand by posing as one of the stall owners.

Amy wants her to marry Pete but Carly says she is in a serious relationship. Amy’s desperation gets the better of her as she offers money for her boyfriend to leave her. Carly calls her boyfriend and it turns out that he would actually take the money and break up with her. She is heartbroken and blames Amy’s drive and newfound excitement. She feels Amy has “been going on without oxygen” for far too long, hinting at the dysfunctionality of the Davidson family.

Pete and Nikki venture out looking for Anna, while Crillz and the others go in the other direction. Crillz goes through a couple of men from a haunted house attraction. When one of them returns to beat up Crillz, Gill saves him. He is impressed and takes Gill back into the squad.

Pete and Nikki finally find Anna, who was eating pizza on a bench, sitting all by herself. Pete encourages Anna to go on a ride that scares her. When she successfully completes it, she will feel good about herself.

Even though this was meant to be a profound life lesson, it turns out Anna hated it. She cries and whimpers in front of fans who recognize Pete. Anna calls her “horrible” and repeats controversial statements that Pete made about gay people, and having pretended to like Black Panther even though he hadn’t seen it. The crowd turns on him and taunts Pete.

He drops Nikki home in his car and apologizes for letting her down. Nikki says this wasn’t a test, and even though Pete isn’t ready to be a father yet, she sees potential in him. Pete is touched and kisses Nikki. But she runs off crying asking Pete not to confuse her about his feelings. Pete comes back home to Amy, who had a rough day herself. They watch “Grey’s” together but Amy refuses to watch Black Panther after it. Has Pete Davidson seen Black Panther yet?

The Episode Review

In this episode, Bupkis turns into a full-blown dark comedy with a tinge of romantic melodrama. We have seen many different shades of Bupkis in these five episodes, but episode 5 is arguably the most familiar.

It is almost as if Davidson and the other writers are ticking off their personal versions of television fantasy one by one, while also scaling up their creative experiment to a level that we are compelled to rethink our perception of Pete. Chase Sui Wonders, who plays Nikki, finally got an opportunity to showcase her acting prowess too. We haven’t seen much of her but she used the platform quite well.