Recap / Kevin Can Fuck Himself S 02 E 08 Allisons House

Allison: Kevin, shut up. I'm going to talk and you're going to listen. I want a divorce.

Six months after faking her death to help Patty, Allison, now sporting dyed dark brown locks, is living in New Hampshire as Gertrude Fronch. While happy to be away from Kevin and thriving without him, she still feels like something is missing. Meanwhile, Kevin, while claiming to still be struggling with his grief over Allison’s “death” (to the point of growing a beard), has rebounded with a new girlfriend named Molly, who he’s been dating for the last four months.

Patty is still struggling to come to terms with Allison’s departure. After tending to a customer, Patty flips through a folder filled with newspaper clippings and various files detailing Allison’s disappearance. As this goes on, Pete announces he’s departing Worcester and moving to Florida to live with Lorraine. Pete refuses to disclose her address to Kevin so he can’t visit.

Tammy and Patty patched up their relationship, but things are still bumpy. Tammy wants to leave Worcester, feeling like they’re stuck in a rut; she believes that putting this town in the rearview mirror might rejuvenate their relationship. Patty finds it difficult to even think about leaving, especially since she’s only resided in Worcester. She’s also secretly still waiting for Allison to possibly return.

Allison is hard at work at her new job at a consignment shop; she earns some praise from her supervisor and bonds with a coworker. After leaving work, she spots a red SUV following her around town, putting her on edge. Meanwhile, Kevin catches Neil with Diane as they get hot and heavy. Kevin reacts by laughing at and insulting them, especially Neil for deigning to give Diane the time of day. Diane storms out.

Later, Patty meets Sam at Bev’s. She admits that Sam’s been her only friend these past six months. Sam sadly tells her that she should let Allison go, reasoning that she probably doesn't want to be found. Later, Kevin confronts Neil at the bar with Molly in tow. Kevin believes he’s owed an apology because Neil lied to him and was sleeping with Diane behind his back, which has been cutting into Neil spending time with Kevin, his supposed best friend. Neil refuses to and instead calls out Kevin for treating him badly, finally realizing and accepting that Kevin was never a good friend to him and officially ends their friendship.

While relaxing at home, Allison hears a knock at her door and finds Tammy on the other side when she answers. Allison confesses to faking her death and that she deserves the blame, not Patty. Tammy breaks down what she believes happened: Allison and Patty assaulted the trucker for the oxy pills in Vermont and then sold the pills for cash to give to Nick so that he’d break into the McRoberts' house. Tammy reassures Allison that she's not here to arrest her. She also reveals that Nick died the week before, so the drug dealer case died with him. Allison breathes a sigh of relief. Before departing, Tammy wishes Allison good luck. Later that night, Allison, after sharing drinks and a chat with her work friend, realizes what she must do and makes the trip back to Worcester.

Tammy surprises Patty at the salon by dropping some big news — she just quit the force. She tries once again to persuade Patty to leave Worcester with her. However, Patty doesn’t want to uproot her whole life. Thus, Tammy and Patty break up. Later, while Patty is packing Tammy’s belongings, Neil barges in, demanding she talk to Diane for him. Instead, Patty puts her foot down and firmly tells Neil she's kicking him out. When he asks in confusion what to do, she tells him to figure it out for himself.

Allison surprises Sam with a visit to the diner. Allison has come to realize she can’t run from her problems anymore and needs to confront them head-on. Sam in turn informs her about what has happened in her absence and of Kevin’s funeral service for her, which was held at the same bowling alley Molly works at. Allison goes to meet Molly while she's working and asks if they can talk.

Neil knocks on Diane’s door in a frenzy. She chastises him for showing up at her house in broad daylight, especially where Chuck can see him. Neil confesses his feelings for her, saying everything makes sense with her and she can make him better. Diane puts her foot down, asserting that it's not her job to fix him, and tells Neil to get his act together for his own sake.

That night, Kevin sits alone at home in silence. He starts to feel disturbed with no one else around to bounce off. Molly enters the house and Kevin immediately tells her she’s moving in with him. Molly, rattled by both her previous conversation with Allison and Kevin’s clingy behavior, backs out of the door and claims she’s leaving to get cigarettes. Kevin realizes quickly that she’s dumped him.

Suddenly, Allison appears before Kevin in the living room, announcing she’s still alive. Kevin embraces her and immediately tries to get back together with her. However, Allison shoots that down and tells Kevin the truth. She reveals to him that she faked her own death to get away from him because she hasn’t loved him for years and now she’s returned so she can finally officially divorce him.

Kevin initially refuses to believe her but when Allison makes it clear she's serious about this and nothing he says or does will make her change her mind, even Kevin’s own sitcom studio audience turns against him and cheer for Allison. The mask of a playful goofball slips off completely, exposing Kevin for what he truly is – a cruel, self-absorbed, and domineering lout of a man who abuses and controls others to keep them dependent on him and always worship him. He rants to Allison that she’ll come to her senses and beg him to take her back eventually, citing how she never finishes anything or follows through with her desires. Allison stands her ground and brushes off his attacks, stating her decision is final. When Kevin threatens to destroy her, she tells him to try his worst and leaves the house.

Left alone with only his rage to keep him company, Kevin drinks copious amounts of alcohol before grabbing whatever belongings Allison still has lying around the house and tossing them in a trash can. As he gets ready to light Allison’s belongings on fire, he starts calling Pete, Neil, and Molly, leaving them increasingly vicious and hateful verbally abusive voicemails after not one of them takes his calls. After Kevin sets fire to Allison’s things, he passes out from drinking too much. Meanwhile, Tammy leaves Patty’s house with her belongings, gets in her car, and drives away. Patty visits Sam at the diner again, where he lets slip that Allison’s back. However, before Sam can reveal where Allison is, Neil calls Patty with shocking news.

The fire has spread out of control and the McRoberts’ house is completely ablaze, a crowd of neighbors gathering outside to watch the inferno burn away. While Patty watches on, Neil walks by her with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. They exchange a glance before he departs.

After the fire department snuffs out the blaze, Patty sits on the stairs and lights up a cigarette. She’s joined by Allison, and they embrace. Allison tells Patty that she wants to stay in Worcester. Patty half-heartedly jokes that they can “die alone together” and they hold hands as they watch the sunrise, ready to move forward into a better and brighter future without Kevin.

Tropes

• Angst? What Angst?: In-Universe, it's pointed out that Kevin got over Allison's death pretty shockingly fast, what with him even going On the Rebound with Molly just two months after her disappearance.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Kevin goes on a rant claiming Allison will come crawling back to him eventually, she asks him where everyone else is now that he's driven them all away.
• Beneath the Mask: Kevin was still plenty cruel and abusive when in the sitcom filter, but he was played like a dumb goofball selfishly unaware of anyone's feelings. When the filter is taken off, he knows full well what he's doing and even mocks Allison for wanting anything out of life, assuming she'll come crawling back to him after some time.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Allison gives one to Kevin when she reveals to him that she's still alive and he tries to get back together with her.
• Break-Up Bonfire: A fatal example for Kevin - when he tries to burn up Allison's stuff (in the living room, no less), the fire quickly spreads out of control and burns the whole house up.
• Casting Gag: Molly, Kevin's new girlfriend, is played by Erinn Hayes, who played Donna from Kevin Can Wait, whose unceremonious offscreen death after the first season of that show served as the inspiration for Kevin Can Fuck Himself.
• Character Development:
  • Neil's development comes to a head in this episode when he finally accepts that Kevin was never a good friend to him and cuts him out of his life. And with Patty kicking him out and Diane encouraging him to get his life together for his own sake, it's implied at the end that he'll grow beyond his manchild ways and become a more functional and independent adult.
  • Pete's is more subtle — and restricted entirely to the confines of the sitcom reality^note making Pete the only character who never breaks the sitcom filter — but, finally realizing over the course of the second season what a terrible person his son has become after having enabled him for his whole life, he finally walks away and leaves him to fend for himself. He is rewarded by getting to spend his golden years in sunny Florida with a woman he is ironically shown as having a much healthier, more functional relationship with than his son and daughter-in-law ever did.
• Did Not Get the Girl:
  • A more bittersweet example for Neil - while his affair with Diane doesn't end with them officially getting together, she does encourage him to get his life together for his own sake and things close off on the suggestion that they could make it work once he does.
  • Sam and Allison don't rekindle anything romantically, but they do strike up a genuine friendship with each other.
• Differing Priorities Breakup: Patty and Tammy break up for similar reasons as Patty's break-up with Kurt.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything she'd gone through, Allison is finally free of Kevin, as is everyone else who was caught up in his abusive domineering ways. Kevin accidentally offing himself is the cherry on top.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Kevin's little dry-erase marker scoreboard of him versus life. Life had gotten a few more victories over him after Allison left, basically.
• Get Out!: When Neil tries to order Patty to talk to Diane for him, Patty kicks Neil out, declaring she's done taking care of him.
• Grand Finale: This episode is not only the second season finale but the end of the show as a whole.
• Holding Hands: Just like in the first season finale, this episode ends with Patty and Allison doing this as they make a vow to each other to "die alone together".
• Humiliation Conga: Over the course of this season, Kevin's former ironclad grasp on the narrative slowly loosened, with more and more of his friends realizing what a toxic person he is and subsequently getting sick of his shenanigans. By the end, his former best friend openly hates him, his father's cut all ties, and his girlfriend has left him without even the dignity of actually dumping him. Notably, just before he's forced into the real world, his own studio audience turns against him, cheering for Allison when she says she's divorcing him.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Molly leaves Kevin by telling him she's going to grab cigarettes. Even Kevin notes how lame an excuse that is.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: After having inadvertently driven away every other member of his social circle, Kevin notes how quiet the house is. He becomes extremely disturbed and starts talking to himself to fill the atmosphere with noise.
• Last Episode, New Character: Molly is this.
• Maybe Ever After: Neil and Diane don't officially get together, but the latter is open to them giving things a genuine shot if Neil manages to get his act together.
• Mirthless Laughter: This is literally all Kevin can do when he catches Neil making out with Diane.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: After being ground down by him for the last decade, Allison finally stands up to Kevin and tells him to "do [his] worst" when he threatens to "destroy [her]".
• Pet the Dog: Tammy is cold at best and outright vicious at worst to Allison, but when she finds out Allison faked her own death, Tammy agrees not to tell anyone, as it would only make things more complicated than they need to be.
• Precision F-Strike: Just like Neil in "Fixed", when Kevin is forcibly brought into the real world, he threatens Allison, telling her that he will "fucking destroy [her]" (and calls Neil a "fucking idiot" to boot).
• Put on a Bus: Pete leaves for Florida early on in the episode and is never heard from again, playing no role whatsoever in the episode's climax.
• Replacement Goldfish: It's pretty clear Kevin's dating Molly so he can have a female paramour take care of him like Allison used to. Indeed, he started dating her just two months after Allison disappeared.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The last three members of Kevin's social circle all do this to get away from him. Pete moves to Florida to live with Lorraine, Neil breaks off his friendship with Kevin and starts forging his own independent path in life, and Molly simply gets the hell out of Dodge after speaking with Allison.
• Self-Disposing Villain: The series lives up to its own title in a pretty meaningful way with Kevin ultimately doing himself in by burning Allison's belongings in a drunken fit of rage, setting the whole house on fire and killing himself in the process.
• Stock Sitcom Grand Finale: True to form, several tropes common to sitcom series finales are deconstructed here:
  • There's a Time Skip of several months from the previous episode... but (apart from Allison's absence, and Molly being introduced to replace her) very little has changed in Kevin's life. Had the "sitcom" continued without Allison until her shocking return, she would have come Back for the Finale.
  • Everybody leaving the main setting to go their own way... because they all want to escape from Kevin's toxic influence.
  • The primary set being destroyed... because the main character set it on fire and killed himself in the conflagration.
  • The last episode setting up a Spin-Off is parodied with Pete leaving for Florida with Lorraine, even "explaining" why his son won't "appear" in his "show" by having him refuse to tell him the address.
  • Ironically the episode ends with the two main characters sitting outside (what remains of) the primary setting, vowing to stay put and live the rest of their lives together, an unusual ending for a sitcom, indicating that Allison's life is no longer bound by the constraints of one.
• Time Skip: The episode picks up six months after Allison fakes her death.
• Tired of Running: Allison comes to this realization after her talk with Tammy and decides to return to Worcester to finally solve her problems instead of running away from them.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Neil finally realizes that Kevin not only is a terrible friend to him but also is holding him back as a person, and thus, takes the first steps towards moving past his own toxic traits.
• Villainous Breakdown: After driving away his social circle, getting dumped by his girlfriend, and his wife telling him she's hated him for years to the point that she faked her death to get away from him and now wants a divorce, Kevin melts down and goes on a mini-rampage, screaming and wrecking everything around him.
• Wham Line:
  • It's not exactly a "line" per se, but the sitcom studio audience cheering for Allison when she says she's serious about divorcing Kevin shows that she's officially beat him at his own game and his sitcom delusions are over.
  • "I'll fucking destroy you!" Not only is this the first time Kevin curses, hammering in the fact that he's now in the real world, but it's also the first real glimpse we get into how Kevin is without the Played for Laughs sitcom veneer. Turns out, he's even worse than we previously saw.
• Wham Shot: After Allison makes it clear she's not changing her mind about leaving Kevin (even getting the sitcom studio audience to side with her), Kevin is forced into the real world, showing that he can't hide in his demented sitcom world anymore. This is also when the viewers get to see Kevin as he truly is, and it turns out that as bad as he was in the sitcom scenes, he is an absolute monster in the real world.