Trailer Park Boys: Jail – season review

Trailer Park Boys is my ultimate pick-me-up show. For the better part of two decades now, I have absolutely, wholeheartedly adored the show and its characters, and have eagerly consumed every piece of media related to the show that has been produced thus far. Whether I’m watching the main series, old or brand new episodes, movies or one-off specials, recordings of live shows or actual live shows – of which I’ve been to two to date – Out of the Park or animated seasons, Swearnet.com shorts, in-between seasons or pretty much any other content on the boys’ streaming site, Ricky, Julian and Bubbles and the productions associated with them and their real-life alter egos, Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith, never fail to make me laugh and feel better, and I can never get enough of, and never tire of, Trailer Park Boys.
Suffice it to say then, I was thrilled when the boys announced that they’d be releasing a new 10 episode season of the show starting January 1^st of this year, and, completely unsurprisingly considering I’ve never not enjoyed anything released under the Trailer Park Boys banner, Trailer Park Boys: Jail – the name of the new season, which has just concluded – most definitely did not disappoint me.
Given that the boys have spent so much time behind bars down through the years, it was actually a genius idea to set an entire season of the show in jail. Episodes of the aforementioned Swearnet in-between seasons have chronicled some of the boys’ exploits behind bars in the past, and have done so hilariously, but, as anyone well-versed in the show will obviously be aware, before this latest season, the boys’ various stints in jail have predominantly played out off-screen between the show’s main seasons. So reversing the usual set-up of a season starting with the boys’ being released back into the world by instead beginning a season with the boys getting arrested and sent to jail was a great way to shake the show’s formula up and give viewers something fresh and heretofore largely unseen to watch, and the new format worked magnificently.
Confining the boys to a prison for the majority of a season didn’t result in less comedic escapades, rib-tickling schemes or uproariously ridiculous situations. The boys are just as productive, for better or – much more frequently – worse, in Sunnyvale Correctional Facility as they are while trying to make money or get a buzz on in the trailer park, and their antics give rise to boatloads of comedic moments that are likely to leave long-time fans struggling to catch their breath as a result of laughing so much.

From the extremely funny fallout of sneaking exotic peppers into inmates’ meals to a hilarious not-quite-conjugal visit during which Ricky goes wild satisfying his libido to the uproariously chaotic side effects of consuming substances that are not supposed to be put in the human body in a bid to get high in a jail that has a strict no-narcotics policy to the immensely amusing mayhem induced by Julian’s failure to deliver the exact R-rated visual content that his fellow inmates demand to the comedy gold that arises as a result of the craziness caused by trying to keep hash concealed from the prison’s staff, among many other hilarious situations, Trailer Park Boys: Jail is absolutely jam-packed with hilarity from commencement to conclusion. Even the reason that the boys end up back in jail in the first place is as hilariously absurd as ever.
And the latest season of the show features the boys doing everything that you’d expect them to be doing, that’s characteristic of each of them and that makes them so damn lovable.

Julian may be in jail, but that certainly doesn’t stop him from cooking up business schemes and attempting to turn a profit. His enterprises this season include but are by no means limited to a toilet paper venture that causes some of the season’s funniest moments – “The boys are gonna put that on their ass, it’s gonna feel like Frosty the Snowman’s giving them a little fuckin’ massage down there” is definitely one of the most hilarious sentences I’ve heard in recent memory, but it has to be heard in context and from Julian’s lips to be truly appreciated.

Meanwhile, Ricky attempts to smoke, inhale and eat anything that he thinks might make him high, and, naturally, hilarity ensues, and there are also plenty of amusing Rickyisms thrown in for good measure.

And, of course, in attempting to help his two best friends and keep them safe, poor Bubs ends up suffering as a result of their short-sightedness. Characteristically, he also throws out some of the season’s most rib-tickling lines in reaction to Julian and Ricky’s exploits as well as in response to the zany things that they ask of him.
But comedy aside, one of the things that I love most about Trailer Park Boys is the strong and affecting familial bond that exists between Ricky, Julian and Bubbles, despite the fact that they often annoy and cause problems for one another, and that bond is as evident as ever throughout Trailer Park Boys: Jail as the lovable trio constantly attempt to keep one another safe and look out for one another in their own unique ways, and the season finale features a particularly, hilariously extreme but tremendously touching example of the lengths to which they’re prepared to go to ensure one another’s well-being and show how much they mean to one another.
And, while I’m sure it goes without saying at this point considering I’ve spent the last several paragraphs talking about how much I enjoyed what Ricky, Julian and Bubbles got up to this season and the interactions between them, I want to say it anyway – the individuals behind the big three of Trailer Park Boys, Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith, deliver impeccable performances that are equal parts uproarious, charming and touching, which I’m sure is a statement that doesn’t come as a surprise to long-time fans of the franchise, since such devotees will know that the three actors can seamlessly slip into character and perfectly maintain the façades of their Sunnyvale alter egos in seemingly any situation, fictional or otherwise.
The big three of Trailer Park Boys aren’t the only familiar faces that pop up this season though. Thanks to the wonders of the modern age such as communications and drone technology, the boys maintain a constant link to Sunnyvale Trailer Park throughout the season and, without giving anything away about the roles that they play in the season, you can expect to see the likes of Randy, Cory and Jacob among other familiar faces pop up for some hilarious scenes over the course of Jail’s ten episodes. And speaking of supporting characters, another hilarious component of this season is Ricky’s endearingly amiable cellmate, Terry, who, despite being extremely placid in nature, is not always the best influence on Ricky, and, consequently, he’s a catalyst for more than a few moments of hilarity.
Unlike the last few seasons of Trailer Park Boys, which were released on Netflix, Jail is exclusive to the boys’ aforementioned streaming site, Swearnet.com, and if you’re a fan and aren’t subscribed to said site, then I highly recommend you do so immediately. It’s more than worth the price of signing up to watch Trailer Park Boys: Jail alone – as is undoubtedly apparent by now, I don’t have a bad word to say about the show’s latest season. It’s consistently hilarious, at times quite affecting and relentlessly entertaining. Even after 20 years, the quality of Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith’s work shows no signs of deteriorating, in my opinion at least, and I for one hope they don’t stop portraying Ricky, Julian and Bubbles any time soon. So if you’re a fan of the franchise and haven’t seen Jail yet, do yourself a favour and sign up to Swearnet.com and experience its awesomeness ASAP. Jail aside, the boys’ streaming site is stuffed with side-splitting content, Trailer Park Boys-related and otherwise, that’s likely to keep you laughing for a long time to come. And if you’ve never seen Trailer Park Boys and are curious about it, then what are you waiting for?! You have two decades worth of comedic gold to check out, so get to it!

Trailer Park Boys: Jail rating: 10/10.

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