Rhett and Link's Buddy System Review: Soul Searchin' / Another We

"I belonged to Rhett's grandfather. He rode me like the wind, until he died, right there in front of Rhett." What?" "That's right, I killed him. OKAY, LET'S GO, LINK!"

"Soul Searchin'" is an interesting episode to discuss considering it's the most hated installment in the show's first season, and I can see why - it's Buddy System at its most detached, and nothing that happens in it matters at all or really ties into anything. (That which it does manage to introduce, for the record, is immediately thrown out/murdered in "Another We," at least.) But I think that's why it works - it's just eleven goofy minutes of Rhett and Link and nobody else.

You can tell it's the sort of episode that the duo would be most excited about doing - "Soul Searchin'" is full-length, but doesn't utilize anybody in the supporting cast, or even anybody else at all. It's just them messing around and trying on new characters, and as a result, it feels almost like a return to their comedic sketch roots.

First of all, though, it should go without saying that "Tough Decisions" is easily the most on-point song from the entire season; if anything, the episode might've simply been created to accommodate for the song. The entire premise borders on the nihilistic - regardless of whatever decisions you make in a life, a whale is gonna die (as well as any odd variety of endangered wildlife or yourself), and assisting in the song's message is its presentation - here, Rhett and Link act as teachers in a dingy classroom using a projector, shot through sped-up footage. For such a simple premise, its execution is shockingly elaborate and a spectacle to watch, let alone that the song is as catchy as they come.

But back to the plot: tasked with figuring out a solution to Aimee's abduction if GMM, Rhett and Link set out across the desert in search for answers, and it's a premise that allows for Buddy System to go as insane as possible with our heroes separated and sent through their own strange journeys for spiritual enlightenment.

Rhett's search leads him to Peder (with a "d"), a gangling hobo played by Link who, among other things, wears shorts made out of dirt - "dorts" ("I'm gonna make you a pair. I'm taking your measurements right now with me eyes.") - and insists that Rhett dance with him repeatedly. It's the sort of oddball character work that proves how great Link can be as a character actor to, more than less, completely dissolve into this strange figure and all of his idiosyncrasies.

Meanwhile, Link's soul searching is a little bit more complex. After getting knocked cold from drinking the ironically-named water of Clarity Springs, he finds himself whisked off to a hallucinatory universe, stumbling upon Rhett's exercise bike - now sentient and voiced by Rhett with only the hippest of slang, shawty - and Rhett in scarf-and-vest garb. It's all slightly too complicated to work in the time alloted for it, but just as Link goes for broke as Peder, Rhett does some astonishingly funny work as the talking bike, helped in no small favor by his absurdly dark dialogue.

Whereas Rhett's quest leads him to conclude that he has to put up a fight to save the channel, Link, accompanied by an alternate-reality Rhett in scarf-and-vest garb ("because in your imagination, necks and chests get cold but arms don't."), reaches the opposite conclusion, considering the loss of their channel as an opportunity to move onto greener pastures, but conflict arises when both alternate selves decide to break the hallucination barrier with Rhett's exercise bike, escape Link's mind, and make the channel transaction a done deal.

That's where "Another We" picks up, and it instantly struggles a bit because of it. It's a momentous episode that has to tie up so much and juggle a bit too much stuff at the same time as the season's penultimate episode, and while it does the task serviceably, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Most notably, Rhett and Link's clone alternates, having delivered the channel to Aimee, serve no purpose beyond their initial gist, which is a bit of a shame. There's something to be said about how Buddy System so willingly pulls out twists and immediately destructs them - it keeps the audience unable to guess what could happen next, most importantly - but other than the titular "Another We," finding the clones and real duo paired up in a barbershop quartet (it's very good, mind you), they're dispensed of immediately. Perhaps if another episode existed as a buffer between "Soul Searchin'" and "Another We," things would be properly addressed, but it's a noble if frustrating sacrifice.

The real meat of the episode, of course, is in Rhett and Link's ultimate confrontation with Aimee, with the two under disguise to infiltrate some infomercial shoots. Yet again, it allows Rhett and Link to do more fun character work, albeit much broader. Rhett kills as Odell Nobell, a.k.a. Pigeon Blood, one-time flutist for the Skeeter Brothers Band with a long, uncaptivating life story to boot; Link kills even more as Sink Mirror, a character with a hook that starts and end with announcing his name.


With these new identities, Rhett and Link finally get to appear on the same screen as Aimee (who was previously lucky enough to appear in the middle of a phone call in previous episodes), and where it lacks tension, it makes up in the hilarity. The infomerical for the PowerPelvis especially, fnding Aimee struggling with her lines in advertising a product (all with Rhett boredly power-washing a fence behind her with increasingly less purpose in being there) gave us a nice taste of Aimee's manic energy.

 Link, on the other hand, plays a slightly more active role in sabotaging an infomercial run by Mandip (Aimee's incompetent assistant who I've somehow never brought up before), and hilariously enough, it ultimately proves to be his downfall - taking the helmet off ruins his disguise, and as a last resort, he calls Rhett out (as well as doing some hefty expositing), sending the two off to an uncertain fate under the hands of Aimee with Maxwell running off to save the day.

In spite of having so much going on, though, "Another We" sort of works. It never feels rushed, even if it is a bit rigid, and that's commendable, especially considering we just went from three innocuous episodes in a row to an episode with 70% of the season's plot.

Takeaway:
-"It's okay to do things to people if they don't know you're doing it. That's why I've always wanted to be a dentist."
-I liked the touch of a busted-up can of Gorillergy laying by the side of Clarity Springs.
-There were more nice callbacks during the dialogue exchanges with the exercise bike, too, primarily in the requirement that Rhett and Link go faster than a half-pregnant cheetah, or Speed 7 - a number which Link still fumbles in pronouncing.
-One of the low-key best moments of "Soul Searchin'" was Rhett's cons gourd having "Buzzfeed would win" scribbled on it.
-"Have you killed them yet?" asks Maxwell while wearing a police uniform.
-Oh yeah, George also appears in the bathroom when Rhett and Link go over their false identities; he doesn't do much but offer up another joke about Rhett and Link's secret, though it's always nice to see the supporting cast rotate throughout the show. It breathes more life into them.
-Aimee Brells stimulating masturbation on Rhett was not something I was clamoring to see, but it exists, I suppose.
-I'm sorry. Link repeatedly expressing variations of "I'm Sink Mirror!" will never not be funny. Link is a gift.


Final Grade: A/B. I'm sure my opinion of "Soul Searchin'" is a bit controversial, but darn it, if I didn't love it. It's just joyously comedic and reeking with creativity - it's the kind of episode that reminds me of why Rhett and Link are such a gift, and it reassures me that they haven't gone anywhere, even if their presence has been subdued as of late. "Another Me," meanwhile, is a mandatory exposition episode, but it executes the job charmingly as always, so I really can't complain.

For the last reviews of "Rolling on Turds" and "Magic Is Real," CLICK HERE.