Main cast: Josh Fadem (Private Herbert Smalls), Toby Huss (Sgt McCreedy), Katelyn Farrugia (Private Kelly), Joel Murray (Colonel Douglas), and Badger Koon (President John F Kennedy)
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait
It’s a wonder how Private Herbert Smalls ever made it past the recruitment officers, because he is arguably the worst person to be enlisted into the military. Clumsy, incompetent, and accident-prone, he is the butt of Sgt McCreedy’s harsh attention and the subject to the derision of his mates. Even the newest recruit, Private Kelly, tries her best to keep him at a distance despite being polite to him at all times. You see, Herbert is at the same time a rather, shall we say, polarizing figure. He always believes that he is special, and he is destined to be a famous actor, so he has horribly done headshots and professional shots of him at hand to autograph and pass to poor people like Kelly. He also walks like Mr Bean, talks like he’s better than everyone else, and generally becomes the litmus test that will determine whether viewers will switch off the TV or keep watching after ten minutes of his performance.
In Patsy, after shooting the rear end of Sgt McCreedy by accident, he is picked by the US Department of Time to go on a very special mission. Sent back to the time when President John F Kennedy is just about to meet his maker, Herbert has an urgent mission to fulfill. He is elated. At last, he can finally prove to all that he is special like he insists he is, and now, everyone will pay attention to him…
Frankly, I can see the “twist” coming from a mile away, and for way too long, I have to endure Josh Fadem’s painful effort to channel Mr Bean in an episode that is completely wrong for that kind of slapstick acting. That’s the one big, fatal problem with this episode: Herbert Smalls is Mr Bean in a South Park episode, so to speak, although Bobcat Goldthwait has neither the wit nor the capability to pull off anything that comes close to even a third-rate episode of that show in its glory days. As a result, as obnoxious as Herbert may be, he ends up being mercilessly bullied by the other characters that take advantage of his delusion to manipulate him. As much as I dislike that character, I end up feeling sorry for him and wondering what the point of this whole episode is. Does Mr Goldthwait want me to cheer on the bullying of this character? Considering how enlightened he tries to be at times in previous episodes of this series, he’s not being very consistent in his performative wokeness then, hmm.
At any rate, I’d suggest skipping this unless one really wants to see Mr Bean meets a bad end. Heaven knows, Josh Fadem really does a good job channeling that character here!
