Rewind to the First Season: Flight of the Conchords Episode 1, “Sally”

By CC Staff

[Warning to the reader: Story line and contents of this episode are discussed below].

Bret and Jemaine have moved to NYC from New Zealand. This first episode – the pilot – is my favorite, as FOC packs in a number of songs, allowing the viewer to get a real sense of what their act is all about. (The other episodes, I’ve found, don’t include as many songs as this first one).

With a full introduction to Bret and Jemaine, the show also highlights all the side characters. There’s Mel (Kristen Schaal), the “fan” (viz. a stalker); Murray (Rhys Darby), their incompetent “agent,” who is, as I mentioned in my previous piece, also a representative for the New Zealand consulate; and Dave (Rick Shroeder), their uneducated, coarse American friend.

THE PREMISE

Although Bret and Jemaine are trying to get gigs, there’s another issue – the two musicians are both on the look out for “hot girls,” and long to have a real girlfriend. As it turns out, when one or the other dates a girl, problems ensue, and the hilarity of these situations is a delightful highlight. In this case, the main love interest, for Jemaine, is a woman named Sally (Rachel Blanchard).

Jemaine first sees Sally at Dave’s party. She is in a spotlight, her make-up is impeccable, and her hair is blowing around her face. When Jemaine sees Sally from across the room, he begins to belt out a song, called “Part-Time Model.” As the first song for FOC, it demonstrates their ability to weave tunes into the story line – its seamlessness is nothing short of impressive. (Incidentally, all references to songs hereafter will be listed below each recap, and if you want to read the actual lyrics, HBO provides a useful page for that).

After munching on a samosa, Jemaine exclaims, “Looking ‘round the room/I can tell that you/Are the most beautiful girl.” Bret adds humorously, “In the whole wide room.” Jemaine and Sally wind up eating “kebaabs” (as he says with a thick, New Zealand accent), and finally land on his couch, at which point they begin kissing in the dark at Jemaine’s apartment.

Shortly thereafter, a little light comes on from the bedroom, and the song comes to an end. This is a shared bedroom. Bret and Jemaine sleep in separate twin beds and both sides of the room are different – Jemaine has old wallpaper up and Bret’s side is painted in lavender. The interruption, the light and Bret asking if he should leave it on or off, causes Sally to leave abruptly, and the next morning a debate begins. Jemaine is convinced that Sally left because of the light, but Bret then makes it clear that it was more likely a result of the fact that he had dated Sally. The rivalry begins – a theme that will become a common feature in the following shows, as their friendship is often on the brink of collapse and that poses as a threat to the band.

Although Jemaine only goes out on a few dates with Sally (Bret tags along on the last one, just as Jemaine had done when he had dated her previously), he lets Bret know that she’s the one, at which point, we learn that Jemaine has had “many ones.” A clever stab at the notion of “true love,” Bret and Jemaine begin to debate the idea of having many special and one-of-a-kind loves, a scene that takes place after they “film” their first music video, a song called “The Humans are dead.”

Shortly after this scene, where Jemaine proclaims his love for Sally, she ends up dumping him. Again, and as a result of this traumatic event, Jemaine begins to belt out a frightfully funny tune, “I’m not crying,” which turns into a duet with Bret. Mocking sad, love song videos, the previous color disappears, when Bret begins to sing – washed out in black and white, he gazes out a window, the glass panes drenched with rain droplets, mirroring his tear-stained face. At one point Bret claims, “These aren’t tears of sadness because you’re leaving me/I’ve just been cutting onions/I’m making lasagna/For one.”

In this first episode Jemaine and Bret are providing a much welcomed form of satire. It is neither malicious nor imbued with that from of Gawker-ish cruelty. In a word, FOC abounds with fresh humor, which is not predicated on a form of narcissism. Thankfully, for FOC fans, this first season is packed full of good, intelligent, non-malicious fun AND great music.

MISCELLANY

A few of those who commented on my first piece, expressed a lot of excitement about this series. Thanks for all the feedback. Also, one of you asked when the next season was set to begin. I checked HBO’s site and, at this point, there was no exact date. There is, however, a list of dates for their live tours. Their last few shows will be in LA (May 30 – June 1).

Links to the songs from the “Sally Episode”

Part-time model

The humans are dead

I’m not crying