The Floating-Human-Body-Parts Capital Of America – The episode begins with a Narrator/Captain Fitzpatrick’s (Tom Nowicki) introduction of James Mayberry (Matt Shively), an inexperienced fisherman with extremely deep pockets. Being that James pulls a severed arm, shooting the rod, he likely won’t be forgetting his first time at sea any time too soon.
The Narrator then introduces viewers to Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn), who has been purposely ignoring his ringing cell phone all morning and is described as the simplest of men. It isn’t long before Yancy is joined by his mysteriously incessant caller, Rogelio (John Ortiz). Their ensuing conversation reveals that although Yancy is currently suspended, Rogelio apparently has something in his car that Sheriff Sonny Summers (Todd Allen Durkin) wants him to escort to Miami. Even though Rogelio assures Yancy there is no faster way back to reinstatement than by getting on Summer’s good side, Yancy continually refuses the offer. As the Narrator further introduces Rogelio as Yancy’s former partner, he also tells viewers that over the years he has learned exactly how to get what he wants from Yancy. It’s merely minutes later that this is proven true.
After briefly learning that the arm likely belongs to a white male in his mid-40s, Yancy learns that Summer is afraid the arm deter tourists. Although Yancy assures him that absolutely nothing could hurt Key West tourism, Summers remains adamant about pawning the discovery off on Miami. Apparently, he’s already made plans for a press conference the following day to announce as much. Yancy agrees to take the arm if Summer reinstates him. Summer claims that it is Bonnie Witt (Michelle Monaghan) and her testimony that is preventing his reinstatement.
Yancy delivers the arm to Doctor Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez) and immediately feels the need to inform her that the middle finger pose was random rigor mortis. Despite Yancy’s charm, Rosa is clearly not an idiot and his day only worsens when he learns that he won’t be pawning the arm off on Miami. A brief call with Rogelio leads him to a marsh where he considers ditching the arm as advised but decides otherwise.
As if to remedy the disaster that will ensue with him not ditching the arm, Yancy invites Bonne over for dinner where he tries to convince her to drop the charges. Although they make love in the shower, she shows no signs of dropping the charges. Things only get stranger when the mention of Doctor Clifford Witt (Jeffrey S. Herman) shines a light on why she is pressing the charges in the first place. Their evening is abruptly ended when she discovers the arm in the icebox.
It is at this time that the Narrator switches the story to Neville Stafford (Ronald Peet) in the Bahamas. Neville is immediately introduced as an even simpler man than Yancy and his one-room shack confirms the assessment. Just like Yancy, Neville has a partner as well, but his turns out to be a monkey named Driggs (Crystal The Monkey). Neville’s dreams of the simple life are dashed by a single visit from Mr. Knowles (Terry Allen Jones) who tells him that his half-sister has sold the property to some real estate mogul named, Christopher (Rob Delaney).
Yancy has a brief encounter with his new neighbor, Evan Shook (Alex Moffat) before Rogelio shows up asking about the arm. Yancy initially claims that he disposed of it as ordered but it doesn’t take Rogelio long to get the truth out of him. It turns out that not disposing of the arm was a smart decision due to Eve Stripling (Meredith Hagner) wanting to honor her husband with a funeral and the works. He not only drives several hours to deliver the arm but he questions her like a suspect.
Yancy later discusses his suspicions with Rosa who isn’t in the best of moods at the time because she spent the entire morning autopsying a 15-year-old girl shot by her mother’s boyfriend. Her mood isn’t improved when she learns that his true intentions are to get background on Nicky Stripling. It isn’t long after telling him about Nicky’s involvement in insurance scams that she realizes he’s actually managed to cheer her up. Despite this, she turns down his offer of lunch, claiming that she is already involved with someone. Matters only get worse when he returns to Key West to discover that he’s been fired for snooping around.
Merely hours after being fired for poking around the Stripling case, Yancy decides to attend the funeral. He not only notices two Feds (Matthew Williams/Demian Castro) in attendance, but he also has an interesting conversation with Caitlin (Charlotte Lawrence) and Simon (Tyler Picchi). Although Caitlin is quick to admit that she didn’t have much of a relationship with her father, she is just as fast to accuse Eve of masterminding his death.
Completely out of ideas, Neville spends the remainder of his money and the night buying drinks for several friends, including Willy (Jacob Daniel Smith). Much to his surprise, their drunken debates lead to a possible solution – a visit to the island’s most feared Voodoo practitioner, The Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith). He will later learn that he needs a piece of clothing worn by the developer which prompts a break-in. He narrowly escapes thanks to an assist from Driggs.
At the same time, Yancy appears to be plotting a scheme of his own by having a local beekeeper, Miguel (Eric Diaz), plant a beehive in the chimney of what appears to be a vacant house. He follows that up with a visit to Captain Fitzpatrick to question him about sharks. This eventually ends up with them at the bar where Yancy meets Fitzpatrick’s first mate who actually pulled the arm from the water, Charles Phinney (Brett Cormier). Yancy’s interest only grows when he learns that Phinney recently quit, claiming that he came into a load of cash. After joining Phinney at his table and insulting him in front of Madeline (Nina Grollman), he storms off into the approaching storm where he is eventually shot by someone on a motorbike.
Neville and Driggs visit the Dragon Queen and YaYa (L. Scott Caldwell). She appears to appreciate his straight–to-business approach as well as the offering of liquor. Before warning him that the developer might die, she hints at him returning for a different type of business. He doesn’t offer much of a response to that but as for the developer, he says whatever is God’s Will is God’s Will.
The episode ends with Yancy and Madeline watching as the paramedics uselessly attempt to pump life back into Phinney while Neville races to watch Christopher’s plane land. It appears to do so without incident.
Bad Monkey Review
Being the first episode, I’ll try to keep this short without revealing too much. I didn’t mind the episode but it was needlessly too long. I wouldn’t necessarily say the cast was oversaturated but it did feel that way at times. Vince Vaughn has never been the greatest talent but I felt like his approach goes well with this series. There were no doubt some cheesy scenes/jokes here and there but things weren’t entirely bad.
The old-school narrating reminds me of the old Dukes of Hazzard Series. I have also always enjoyed Voodoo and the marshes. That with the unique mixture of Florida’s marine life should make for some potentially intriguing concepts. I’d give the first episode a 5.4 out of 10 but do hold out hope for the ensuing episodes.
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