Lodge 49 is a mystery-box hangout dramedy about working class people looking for meaning. It's timely, relatable, etc etc. plenty's been written about that. And while I'm invested in the alchemy and the scrolls and the mummies, I go back to it, mostly... for the shit-shootin'. It's as comparable to LOST as it is Cheers. In fact, imagine if the van-fixing subplot from Tricia Tanaka Is Dead was an entire show, the overarching mythology peripheral to the friends we made along the way.
L49's plot takes a back seat to the characters bullshitting up front with the radio dialed to surf and psych rock, which is probably why a lot of people tuned out. Because the plot is predicated upon a lofty Pynchon-esque stoner stumbling in and out of it, it's got a jagged, fits-and-starts kind of momentum - to paraphrase Joe Bob Briggs, "there isn't a whole lotta plot to get in the way of that show."
The Dumplings scene is my favorite moment because it comes at a time when the plot is finally starting to coagulate. It's about a third of the way into the penultimate episode and, by this point, everyone has been driven to the same place because McGuffin is there. I actually started to worry, seconds before this scene happened, that it was going to hand the wheel over to the plot entirely. Hahahahaha NO
This very moment is the most fun scene in the series.
It comes out of nowhere and just me writing about it is a spoiler in and of itself. I'm not spoiling what little plot points or story beats there are, I just mean I'm potentially spoiling the experience. So if you're about riding a high and don't want me to blow it: stop reading, man.
Soundtracked by Oh Sees' pummeling, guttural, guitar-shredding ANIMATED VIOLENCE, one character challenges another to a dumpling-eating contest and everyone else picks sides by placing bets. Gluttonous one-upmanship commences and it's funny, exciting, disgusting, and has absolutely zero bearing on the plot. It doesn't sit in someone's gut for a foreshadowed shit later either; it's just an isle in the overall topography of the show. Sonya Cassidy and Paul Giamatti are gloriously sloppy, especially Giamatti as he spews chunks and wine.
That's it. There's nothing more to it. It's the kind of scene that a room full of executives scratch their giant collective head at and would just as soon turn into a deleted scene for Blu-Ray extras.
But, instead, they deleted the entire show.
I knew going into Lodge 49 that it'd been cancelled but it looked funny so I thought I'd get a few laughs out of it and then dip out, no strings attached. But I done gone and fell in love with it. So now it being cut down on the ratings butcher block and unable to live a full life is beyond just a bummer; I'm in mourning. Had it been able to fulfill its 4-season plan it would've probably dethroned Community as my all-time Favorite Show. I still keep an eye out for any news that it's coming back or the story is, at least, being concluded in a graphic novel or something...but, no dice, so far; two perfect seasons and no closure for the characters, the mysteries, any of it.
They've shopped it around to other networks and streaming services; TBS, FX, FXX, HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Amazon - nobody wants it. Even Tom Hanks has tried to revive it and if someone with his clout can't give it CPR, then... it's not getting back up. Patton Oswalt said he plans to do a yearly rewatch to remind the world that it exists and convert new fans. So, consider this me trying to do the same.
Embrace the Zugzwang, baby!
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