Miss Piggy and Reese Witherspoon have a heated rivalry but when the two volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, their feud escalates to a whole new level. Meanwhile, Fozzie and his girlfriend hit a rough patch.
Miss Piggy has always been a diva. That has been the foundation of the character since the very beginning. And yet, it's a character trait that has become very one-note on this show over the first five episodes. The show is so aggressively pushing that side of the character because it is so wickedly fun and over-the-top. People love Miss Piggy because she's a diva. The show shouldn't risk changing the character from what the people enjoy. But the show definitely has to find nuance in that character and let that come out in the storytelling. So far, the show has struggled with its characterizations of the muppets. They still feel like a bunch of plot devices and character constructs. They don't feel like a part of an ensemble yet that meshes well with each other - something the audience knows these characters are capable of being.It's not surprising at all that Miss Piggy has so many feuds with famous celebrities. In "Walk the Swine," that feud is with Reese Witherspoon who Piggy hates because she beat her for the role in Walk the Line - which led to a big Oscar win for Reese. Booking her on the show seems like a mistake on Kermit's part that he isn't even aware of until that day. Piggy just wants to one-up Reese no matter what the task. At first all of this seems very one-sided. All the animosity seems to come from Piggy. Reese is perfectly friendly and appears genuine. Of course, her competitive side comes out later that adds some fuel to the fire that both of them are capable of making mistakes while in this feud.
All of the action escalates until Piggy finds herself at the site of a house being built for Habitat for Humanity. She wants to be seen as charitable. And yet, she's just looking for her picture to be taken. She's not interested in the work until Reese says she can't do it. Piggy has always been surprisingly strong. Not only is she able to do the work, she enjoys it because she is beating Reese. But these emotions get the better of both of them eventually. They accidentally knock over one of the walls of the house just as a camera crew (that Piggy called) arrived on the scene. That puts both of them in a predicament where they have to apologize to the other.
And yet, the most enjoyable moment of this story - and of the entire episode - comes when Piggy delivers her apology to Reese on the show. Reese's apology is very simple and sincere. Piggy understands that she must do the same in order to avoid a potentially show-destroying mess. But she still believes she needs to one-up Reese no matter what. So for her apology, she breaks out into this elaborate dance number. How Kermit didn't know that was going to happen is further proof that he is a horrible executive producer. However, it's a fantastic moment. The studio audience eats it up even though it's abundantly clear that Piggy just wants to put on a show in order to be better at apologizing than Reese. It works too because that moment is phenomenal. It's a great moment that has value even though the show could have pushed this story a little further in order to make that concluding moment land more effectively than it did.
The big musical moment in "Walk the Swine" is really the only good thing in the episode. The Piggy story is watchable even though it continues a very worrisome trend with the character. The two subplots are just bland messes that don't really have much value to the overall show or the characters. Scooter and Rizzo get into a car accident and Rizzo wants Scooter to use his sketchy relatives instead of his insurance to deal with it. That's all the story is. It's one joke that's repeated over and over again with a horrible resolution of Scooter being easily distracted. Additionally, this is the latest episode to feature a Fozzie subplot. He's a character the show enjoys a bunch considering he has had a prominent story in every episode so far. This one is once again about his relationship with Becky. He has to figure out if it's okay for him to use their relationship in his stand-up act. It's a story with its ups (the crew singing Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" to make Fozzie emotional) and downs (Becky quitting because of Fozzie's latest mean-spirited joke at her expense). But it's hard to understand what the show is trying to do with this story. It's Fozzie and Becky trying to better understand their relationship. But it still ends with Becky once again leaving because of something Fozzie does. Is that suppose to be taken seriously? Or is everything going to work out by the time the audience sees Fozzie again? It's very confusing and distracting.
Some more thoughts:
- "Walk the Swine" was directed by Randall Einhorn with story by Dave Caplan & Steve Rudnick and teleplay by Gregg Mettler & Nell Scovell.
- The basis for Miss Piggy having a feud with someone is that person winning an Oscar for a role she once auditioned for. The thing with Reese is the most intense but she also has a feud with Natalie Portman over Black Swan.
- I really hope the fact that Fozzie gets emotional whenever he hears "True Colors" becomes a running joke on the show. Now that the crew knows about it, it would be easy to implement on an ongoing basis. It's great when Zoot starts playing it on his saxophone during Fozzie's talking head.
- This episode proves that Miss Piggy is the only muppet who looks good and real with a full body shot. She needed to if that elaborate dance number was going to happen. She pulled it off - unlike the full body shots of Kermit and Fozzie.
- Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe are still struggling as writers for Up Late. This week in ideas, Gonzo thinks one muppet can write the beginning, another can do the middle and the last one can do the end. But it doesn't work because Rizzo doesn't know when he can stop. Again, how is Up Late a successful show?
- Of course, Miss Piggy doesn't know what a porta potty is. That joke worked even though it was very similar to her being confused by the surveyor - which didn't work at all.
- Reese's joke about doing all of her own walking in her film Wild was lifted straight out of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's Golden Globes monologue earlier this year. It was exactly the same - except it was Reese bragging about it here.
