This was a surprising episode; I feel like we got a little bit of forward movement finally, as the show’s felt like it’s been running in place for a bit. We’ve got Yvette heading out to track down what the other celestial messengers know about Dave, and we have Kevin in a dilemma over whether to go to Reese’s play or help a struggling artist who happens to have an art show out of state on the very same day.
Don’t worry, Dave to the rescue!…Or is he?
Dave has been kind of a strange presence ever since he showed up. He seems like a likable guy, he seems to know what he’s doing, and his advice seems to work out for Kevin – plus, he even makes Team Kevin T-shirts. Still, he seemed a little too, well, slick, I suppose. He doesn’t have the used car salesman schtick, but there’s always been something a little too good to be true about his method for dealing with the universe’s various curve balls. Kevin decides to trust him – and that turns out to be his mistake.
Yvette decides to find out for herself what Dave is up to, and hunts down Ava to try and talk to her. Now here’s where I’m confused: Yvette said the trip to Earth was one-way. But all the angels, excuse me, messengers, left Earth after they couldn’t find the rest of the righteous ones. So, are you only stuck on Earth if you find your righteous one? Or are all the messengers now just stuck somewhere between Earth and heaven?
Anyway, I found it interesting that Yvette chose to create a bowling alley for her and Ava to meet in and bowl as they talk. Quite a contrast to Dave, who had a villa in Italy he would bring them to every time Yvette pulled him to the side for a “side bar” conversation. Do these places reflect the messengers’ personalities who create them? What would Ava create if she could pick the meeting place? Probably somewhere with puppies, I imagine. I kind of like Ava; she’s not the most helpful, but she’s got the Luna Lovegood kind of quirkiness that’s both disorienting and charming.
Yvette finds out from Ava that Dave is out to sabotage her and Kevin; he’s resentful that Yvette led them to Earth and into failure – which does not bode well for his “help” with Kevin.
Poor Kevin. He always finds himself in the strangest situations, and he just has to go along with them. The blue butterflies show up again (I must be thinking about Harry Potter a lot, because all I heard in my head was Ron Weasley’s voice – “Why did it have to be ‘follow the spiders’? Why couldn’t it be ‘follow the butterflies’??”) to lead him to an art classroom, where it turns out the art teacher, Ethan, is struggling with his confidence, and has yet to make it to an art show.
Wait! Kevin has a truck! He can drive Ethan and his art to the art show! But, of course – the art show is on the same day as Reese’s play. Dave tells Kevin to ditch Ethan and go to Reese’s play – he can drive Ethan to Austin. Because angels can drive, and swear, and a lot of things I never thought angels would be able to do.
To be fair to Kevin, I probably would have made the same choice. The problem is, Dave isn’t the one who needs to complete the tasks – Kevin is. And it turns out Dave isn’t all that great at being righteous, either, because he doesn’t care about the people he’s trying to help.
The confrontation between Kevin, Dave, and Yvette was a relief – there has been so much tension between all three of them, from Dave and Yvette arguing to Kevin going back and forth between who he wants to listen to. At last the truth comes out: Yvette told God that she could find the thirty-six righteous, and all of the angels followed her down to Earth – and they thought they failed, because they found only one.
First of all, Yvette told God she could do it. That is badass right there. Second of all, did any of the other messengers ever think of being a little more helpful? Third of all, Dave is a jerk. Things don’t go according to what they thought, and so now he’s going to spend all his time ruining the rest of Yvette’s work? I can see why God made humans to save the world, because angels can just be arseholes.
I felt for Yvette in this episode, and I felt for Kevin. He is so devastated to learn that no one really knows what they’re doing – maybe he doesn’t have a great destiny to find the righteous. Maybe there are no righteous. He’s just so desperate to tell someone what’s going on – but he can’t. That moment where he tries to tell Reese, and he ends up blurting out another secret, and he just stands there laughing and crying – it’s funny and heartbreaking at the same time. And I love that Reese doesn’t get mad – she just hugs him. When the writing hits that note of both funny and sad, I feel like that’s when the show is at its best.
Thankfully, things seem to work out: Dave leaves, Kevin puts together an art show for Ethan, and Kevin and Yvette finally found out what their destination is to find the next righteous one – Laos. At last, a destination!
When will Reese eventually find out about Kevin? Who will the next righteous one be? Are there going to be any more messengers who show up to “help”? Hopefully we will find out next week in the midseason finale!
Season 1, Episode 8 (S01E08)
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World airs Tuesdays at 10PM on ABC
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Cailin is a screenwriter and an aspiring TV writer. When not writing, she’s busy convincing random passersby that Firefly was the best show ever, converting her co-workers into Whovians, and waiting for the next season of Sherlock.
Follow Cailin on Twitter: @sherlocked1058
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Cailin Coane | Contributor
