Kevin Can Go F**K Himself (1×01) Living The Dream Early Review

Any excuse for more Annie Murphy. It’s time for her to break out and she definitely does not disappoint here.

Synopsis: Kevin throws his annual “Anniversa-rager” party with help from Patty, Neil and Pete. After Patty reveals the truth about her bank accounts, Allison goes on a bender and makes a decision to take back control of her life. (AMC)

After being graced by WandaVision, an original series that approached sitcoms and combined them with some genuine MCU drama and action in inventive ways, here comes another fourth wall breaking, creative genre mashup though with a more adult spin in AMC and AMC+’s Kevin Can Go F**K Himself, a series with a very heavy-handed title and after watching the first episode, it’s pretty easy to see why. That being said, it may not be all doom and gloom as far as the series’ central relationship is concerned but suffice it to say that it will need some work, however, whether or not these characters will each make it on the other side remains to be seen. In the end, the series is certainly off to a compelling start.

The title may be deceiving as Kevin Can Go F**K Himself tells the story of Allison (Murphy) a classic sitcom housewife set in some unspecified Boston-area sitcom. With wives more or less being an afterthought in classic sitcoms, this series took a different path by putting her at the forefront. If only her husband Kevin (Eric Petersen) held her in as high of a regard. Nevertheless, she continued to love and support him despite being seen as less than by Kevin and their friends and neighbors Pete (Brian Howe), Neil (Alex Bonifer), and Patty (Mary Hollis). Little did they know, Allison was a woman with her own agency and the series showed this in an inventive way through the change of perspectives between her and Kevin. Unlike the caricaturish nature of Kevin, Allison was more of a real person who lived in the real world therefore whenever the series focused on Kevin, it was a classic laugh track sitcom, and whenever it focused on Allison or any of the other characters, it was a more realistic and grounded dramedy.

Meanwhile, the contrast between the two with Allison living in both of these worlds was the most interesting part thus far as each side added to the other. Regardless, Allison was so fun to watch as it became easy to relate to her feelings and frustrations as she held on to the idea of the man she thought she married and the kind of life of her dreams with him as over the course of the episode, it became abundantly clear that Kevin was arguably not the man she thought she married and the life of her dreams was probably never going to happen. As an audience, those truths were probably clear almost right away though one can’t help but feel bad for her. Once she began to take back control of her life, it was glorious to watch because of Murphy’s excellent performance as Allison and the great writing. Playing the sitcom wife beautifully, using her excellent comedic timing, she also imbues Allison with levels of pain and frustration underneath. Her relatability and likability pulls the viewer in and makes it easy to connect with her on a deeper level.

At the end of the day, though Allison is starting to take her life into her own hands, there is surely still some drama with Kevin to deal with. Maybe their relationship can be saved? The way which Kevin Can Go F**K Himself balances contrasting tones beautifully is again a testament to the writing but as long as that holds up, the series is sure to be a winner.

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.