Fiction stories have all kinds of characters. Most have protagonists and antagonists, and we have no trouble differentiating between the two. Then, we have the anti-hero -- someone who has the characteristics of a villain, but ultimately does the right thing. But, here's something I don't understand; I see more and more movies lately where the main character, someone who is supposed to be the protagonist, is unlikable. Movies parade these characters out and expect us to get behind them in their endeavors, but it's nearly impossible. I say nearly because there is one show which manages to overcome this challenge by going over-the-top; Eastbound & Down.

As Season 2 opens, we learn that after Kenny abandoned April, he went to Mexico, where he told everyone that his name was Steve and he become involved in cock-fighting. When we meet Kenny, he is involved with a foul-mouthed little man named Aaron (Deep Roy) and when he's not cock-fighting, he's in his apartment drinking and doing drugs. He sometimes talks to his downstairs neighbor, Catuey (Efren Ramirez), and he becomes involved with a singer named Vida (Ana de la Requera). However, Kenny spends most of his time simply telling everyone around him how much better he is than them. Things change when Roger (Marco Rodriguez), the manager of the local ball team, recognizes Kenny and convinces him to come play. Kenny resists, but then gives in. Things get even stranger when Stevie arrives, having tracked Kenny across the country. With his man-servant back, Kenny decides that its time for him to once again begin working on his comeback.

This sounds like a terrible idea, right? And on paper, it is. But Kenny is so moronic and over-the-top that his behavior is funny. His narcissism is so out of touch with reality that we can't help but laugh at it. Nearly everything that comes out of Kenny's mouth is quotable in it's idiocy. This was certainly the case in Season One, but at times, the mean-spirited nature of Kenny's behavior over-shadowed the humor. This isn't the case in Season Two, where things get so out there that the comedy can't help but take over. Kenny's views on life, baseball, and especially Mexico are so incredibly offensive that his buffoonery takes on a life of its own. Is it offensive? Of course it is, but only the most uptight person would take anything that Kenny says seriously. In fact, Kenny's off-color remarks become a sort of twisted philosophy that begins to make sense after a while...which is frightening.

One would think that after Season One, Kenny would get toned down, but instead they simply let him loose to do whatever he wants, and it works. The show still has some issues though. The Stevie character is supposed to funny, but he's simply sad and disturbing. The story drags somewhat in the middle of the season, even though it's just thirteen episodes, as we wait for Kenny to decide what he's going to do. Still, this is some wacky stuff which is unlike anything else on TV and I'm really looking forward to Season 3.

Eastbound & Down: The Complete Second Season takes jingoism to a whole new level on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Warner Home Video. The two disc set contains all 13 episodes from the show's Second Season. The shows are letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 28 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing no defects from the source material. The image does show some grain at times. Was this a stylistic choice to make the scenes in Mexico more gritty? The colors look good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The level of detail is fairly good and the landscape shots show good depth. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are good, most notably those which take place in street scenes and crowd scenes. The baseball game scenes provide notable surround sound effects from the spectators. The subwoofer effects are minimal, save for some musical cues.

The Eastbound & Down: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Disc contains an assortment of extras. Disc 1 features two extras. "Chapter 7" offers an AUDIO COMMENTARY with McBride and Writer/Director Jody Hill. We get another COMMENTARY on "Chapter 10" with McBride, Hill, and Steve Little. The remainder of the extras are found on Disc 2. The COMMENTARIES continue with "Chapter 11" featuring Director David Gordon Green and Chris Gebert, who also chat on "Chapter 12". "Chapter 13" has COMMENTARY by McBride, Hill, and Little. "Invitation to the Set" (9 minutes) features on-set footage, as well as interviews with McBride and the team behind the show. They discuss the direction in which Season 2 went and how the characters and story progressed, especially the things which influence Kenny's odd behavior. "Big Red Cockfighting" (4 minutes) repeats some of the quotes from "Invitation to the Set", and then takes us on set to meet the "cock wrangler" (can I say that?) and to see how the fights were staged using fakes cocks (can I say that?). The Disc contains12 DELETED SCENES which run about 16 minutes. There are some funny moments here, and we learn that Kenny kept April's bra. The final extra is a 12-minute reel of OUTTAKES.