Bad Monkey Ep. 8 - "The Russian Mob Is Very Active in Key West"

The GPS is set for hell, and we're getting on the highway.

OK, I’ve figured out why the music isn’t really working for me in a lot of “Bad Monkey.” It’s Tom Petty. I confess, I’ve never liked him. And they’re not just Tom Petty songs, but covers of Tom Petty songs, so once or twice an episode, whether it fits the scene or not, we’re hearing a pale echo of a song I didn’t really care for in the first place. (This time it’s “Here Comes My Girl” and “You Don’t Know It Feels.”) With so many great musical options to choose from in the Miami area and the Caribbean, it doesn’t feel very adventurous and simultaneously a little forced . . . even though Petty is technically a Floridian. 

Is this a minor complaint? Mostly, yes. “Bad Monkey” gives us so much else to like that a tin-eared needle drop once every 20 minutes ago isn’t such a big deal. Just a missed opportunity to be even better.

Do I have to tell you that spoilers follow after this point? I suppose it’s polite. 

As we begin, we’re reminded of how Carl Hiassen’s narrative rewards those who pay close attention to everything, because the plot is about to turn on a couple of characters that have been easy to ignore thus far. First is Pestov (Anthony Belevtsov), whom I have not previously mentioned here since he’s only shown up in a couple of scenes so far; as the rodent-like manager of the T-shirt shop where Melanie, the hapless ex-girlfriend of the murdered first mate Finny works. It turns out that her suspicions that he was connected to the Russian Mafia were right – hence the title of the episode.

Just that description took almost as long to write as all of Pestov’s screen time so far. Nevertheless, he shows up here at the head of the armed goons who were set to attack Yancy’s place as we left Episode 7 – which is lucky for Yancy, since Pestov owes him a favor for keeping his buddy’s restaurant open, so he calls off the assault. But he wasn’t sent by Nick and Eve Stripling, as Yancy assumes (and we did, too) – no, it was the smarmy real estate agent Evan Shook (Alex Moffat), finally seizing his opportunity to matter in this story as well. Shook is tired of Yancy spoiling his efforts to sell his monstrous house, and wants to scare him, but succeeds only in pissing him off. 

Pestov and Shook may be crashing the party, but all our main players are starting to cross paths now as we move toward the endgame, and the promised showdown that we’re setting up is going to be a doozy, but probably not the way we expect it to be, if “Bad Monkey” remains true to form. 

Back on Andros, Nick rewards Eve with a new swanky boat, which quickly becomes their place for social gatherings and business — because bribery and champagne go well together in Andros, where Nick regards local leaders as “third world country” rubes. Unfortunately, both Gracie and her newly besotted Egg hear the message behind these words pretty clearly, and it confirms what they already knew – that Nick has no respect for anybody on this island. And two of the most truly powerful people on Andros now understand that perfectly. 

Nick is still heartbroken about his estrangement from his daughter Caitlin, much to Eve’s irritation. So, when Caitlin calls to put him in touch with a rich churchmate who wants to buy property on Nick’s resort, he’s overwhelmed with relief and joy. This perhaps blinds him to the possibility that she may be lying, which she is. Yancy and Rosa have enlisted her help to get to the Bahamas and bring him and Eve back to the USA, where the FBI can’t make a move until they show up on American soil. Nick has by now lost almost everything that matters to him, so the possibilities of what will happen when he eventually discovers Caitlin’s betrayal are truly frightening. 

Meanwhile, the plotters head to Andros with a cover story for Rosa playing the part of the rich investor, and a plan to bait the Striplings into coming back with them to Miami to get her payment in cash. They take the bait, hook, line, and sinker, but this fish story isn’t over yet. They’ve unwittingly put themselves at risk by befriending the Striplings’ pilot K.J. Claspers (Bob Clendenin) at an Andros bar, and getting their Polaroid on its wall of customers. 

Gracie’s journey continues to be fraught and uncertain as well. On a few occasions, the Dragon Queen’s perception seems as keen as ever, and she has an iron conviction – she thinks – that will allow her to “bleed [Nick and Eve] for all they got.” She knows that they criminally underpaid her for “her” property (see previous recaps to find out why that’s in quotation marks), and that they think they got away with it; and she’s determined to make them pay in all sorts of ways. Yancy echoes this sentiment when he briefly crosses paths with Gracie at an Andros coffee shop, and inquires about the “bad people” from whom she stole Nick’s watch. It’s wonderful to watch Jodie Turner-Smith and Vince Vaughn play off of each other in this scene, but sadly, it’s all too short.

But Egg is pretty sure that Gracie still doesn’t know who and what she’s playing with, and after he trashes her friend Asia’s shop on the Striplings’ orders, she’s left seemingly friendless again, her isolation now absolute as she can’t even find Ya-Ya anymore, the truest companion she never appreciated. 

Finally there’s Bonnie, who makes her way back into the story with a bang, if you will pardon a somewhat limp pun from a late-night writer. After Agent Russell (Ashley Nicole Black) hauls her all the way back to Oklahoma, they’re met with a large round of indifference from the entire law enforcement establishment, so Bonnie’s quest for accountability is thwarted, and Russell has to drive her anywhere she wants now.

“Yeah,” she replies, “Bottom of the ocean, straight to the depths of hell.”
“Done. I already set the GPS for Florida.”

Once back in Florida, Bonnie finds a way to get the attention of the law after all by blowing up Evan Shook’s wretched yellow eyesore house with about 20 cans of gasoline. She looks positively radiant as she smiles her way into the back of a squad car – but there is still time for Shook’s hilariously impotent rage to cause some problems. 

Indeed, the surest sign that there is trouble ahead comes from Yancy himself, who congratulates Rosa, Neville, and his other companions with a rousing speech about how bad guys will get their just deserts. But of course we have two whole episodes left, so it can’t be that easy yet – right? 

We’ll find out soon enough.