Bupkis – Season 1 Episode 7 “Borgnine” Recap & Review

Borgnine

As the title suggests, episode 7 of Bupkis honours the memory of Borgnine, Roy’s dog, who garnered the affection of the whole family. Pete is the only one not there and he arrives in style. Well, hurtful style as he crashes his car into a tree and starts bleeding.

While sprinkling mud on the casket, Pete, who is heavily under the influence of drugs at this point, falls down into the grave. Everyone is shocked, including Joe and Amy, who are livid with him.

Casey drives Pete home but is disappointed in her brother. She breaks down while explaining how hard Pete has made living normally for his family. His behaviour has meant they are constantly worried about him, something that even Amy alluded to in episode 4. Pete promises he will go to rehab to get better but before he does, he wants to have everyone over for an intimate family dinner. Casey is happy and shows up later that night. Pete cleans up his basement and rids it of all substances, and he even performs stand-up that night. In doing so, he once again sees Romano’s apparition.

They start dinner without Joe and Amy, who do not show up on time. They do eventually arrive, showing how much they actually care about Pete. He literally spoiled the entire funeral for such a dear member of the family and yet they came before he went to get better. Pete tries to apologize to Joe who does not accept it. He says if he does, Pete will just go back and do it again and the cycle will repeat. Pete explains that he’s found a rehab place but Joe first asks him to sever his ties with his friends’ group.

Things are a little better among the members and Pete reiterates how much he loves Amy. She reciprocates his efforts and supports his decision to go to rehab. Joe teaches Pete how to dance when Joe mentions Nikki. Amy and Casey join in, making for a wonderfully wholesome family night. The next morning, Pete meets John Mulaney, one of his friends, to act on Joe’s advice. John is quite shocked to hear this from Pete, given “he is one of the good ones.” He also tells Pete that John never called him for a crisis of his own as Pete is himself in a crisis all the time. His decision-making has not been the best and that is why he has suffered so much.

John also claims Pete isn’t made for a normal life. He takes Nikki to the dance, as Joe asked him to. They have a great time but Nikki is sceptical of him changing. They sit in the car together on Pete’s last night before going away as rain patters down, making it the perfect romantic mood. Pete stops in between, even though Nikki presses him to push on. Pete has an awkward conversation with Evan, implying that he might not be there when Pete comes back.

Evan is the best of the lot, who genuinely cares about Pete and goes about his friendship in a responsible way. Pete appreciates it but wants a clean slate. He then tells Crillz the same, who takes the news quite well.

The Episode Review

This episode was the final nail in the coffin for Pete to submit himself to the care of a rehab. One feels pity for Pete because of all that happens to him. At times, there is the threat of life’s unfairness that looms large. But most of the time, Pete is rushed into making rash decisions instinctively. It is almost as if there is a systemic trail by the Gods against him for no obvious reason.

Episode 7 presented the real problem of drug abuse, and how difficult it is to shrug off. This is one of Pete’s life’s most uncomfortable and unsavoury truths. He has projected his real-life issues into the show in a bold and courageous manner and we see him as his true self. It is rare to see someone this troubled to embrace their flaws in front of millions of people like this. Credit to the entire team for still maintaining a lighter tone about these serious issues and giving us such a fine mix of dramedy.