The Piss Test – The episode opens with Backwoods (Dan Petronijevic) encouraging an extremely overworked Todd Stool (Robb Wells) to go home. Despite his insistence to push through the fatigue, Backwoods uses Todd’s own advice against him. (Work safer, not faster). On his way out of the plant, he learns from Chelsea Nakamura (Jennifer Spence) that they are right on track to getting the tip mounted that week. Todd appears so exhausted that he doesn’t even notice the Golden Stream Laboratories he passes on his exit. Lucky for him and the other employees, Marcus (Jonni Shreve) does and sends an early warning to Taser/Big Nate (Brandon Oakes). News of the lockdown spreads far and wide and fast. An offsite Homer (Jess Camacho) even receives a notification before stepping foot inside the plant. Elsewhere, Medhi (Raoul Bhaneja) appears to be taking his recovery seriously and looks to be going better than he could have ever imagined.

It soon becomes clear why the unexpected arrival of Golden Stream has caused so much hysteria when Taser is shown hawking Whizzinators as fast as he can put them out. Being new to the plant’s rituals and having previously smoked a ton of weed, Audrey Stool (Anastasia Phillips) finds herself in a bit of a precarious situation. Luckily, she is saved by the over-preparation of Steph (Susan Kent), who has an extra bag of pee. Audrey also learns all about the former military medic, Dr. Bridges (Neil Whitley) as he conducts the tests.

At a session with his Nurse (Jonah Campbell), Meedhi realizes his newfound sobriety is coming along with some long ago repressed memories. At nearly the same time Chelsea learns from Leonard (Eugene Sampang) that a big section of Medhi’s plans are incomplete. This news sends her scrambling to track down Audrey who then calls Todd for assistance. Although he’s just taken a handful of weed gummies and appears to be in the middle of a smoking session, he jumps on the opportunity to help.

Dewey (Jason Daley) causes a huge stir at the plant when he’s caught with a Whizzinator. Not only does this lead to Dr. Bridges doing away with the honor system, but everyone is being required to submit new samples. Audrey and Chelsea appear to be growing closer when Backwoods interrupts to share the news about Dewey’s mistake. Although Chelsea quickly solves the problem of providing clean urine, they are still faced with the challenge of swapping out the samples.

By the time Todd arrives at the plant to collect Leonard and Medhi’s plans, the gummies have taken full effect. Jimi (Enrico Colantoni), Chelsea, and Bev (Koumbie) race to provide the rest of the urine samples just as Leonard and Todd arrive at rehab. The irony that Todd checked Medhi into the center is not lost on Leonard, and he wastes little time pointing it out.

When Steph shows up at the testing area to draw Dr. Bridges away, she immediately becomes distracted by Backwoods, who is in the middle of providing his sample. After gaining her composure, she draws Bridges away using the guise that an employee fell down the steps. Once she, Backwoods, and Bridges leave the site, Audrey comes in to collect the samples so they can be swapped out. By the time Bridges has Taser in a wheelchair; the team manages to swap out the samples.

Despite Medhi’s newfound sobriety and repressed memories, he can’t make heads or tails of the blueprints. Medhi soon realizes that the only way he’ll be able to remember the forgotten section of the plans is by getting high. Although Todd appears all for it, he stands down when both Leonard and Medhi advocate for another method to finish the plans. Seemingly, Medhi already had his mind made up because before Leonard and Todd can leave his room, he’s puffing on Todd’s stolen vape pen.

The episode ends at a Conch Industries board meeting, where Charles Conch (AC Peterson) asks for volunteers to join him on his trip to Imperial Valley. When no one does, Charles volunteers Jamar (Yan Joseph).

 

The Trades Review

As far as setting the story for the finale it would be hard to ask for a more succulent episode. Along with that, I really enjoyed the scrambling, hysteria, and sheer chaos caused by the random drug test. Although Medhi isn’t a preferred character, I’d much rather watch a sloppily drunk version any day than a sober version. With Charles on his way to the plant, episode 8 is set for the finale showdown. The real question is what are his motives behind his wanting to shut down the plant if they aren’t financial? Is it even him?

The episode deserves a 5 out of 10. Get more The Trades recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can help build your brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss new and classic movies and TV series, crime, and more.