‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 8 Recap: “Wanna Go To Andros?”

‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 7 Recap: More Like Pad Monkey

‘Bad Monkey’ Episode 6 Recap: Show Us What’s Real

Scott Glenn’s Jim Yancy has quietly become an MVP of Bad Monkey , with an outlook on life that reimagines cynicism as enlightenment. With his finger on more than one pulse of South Florida wildlife, Jim understands how the frenetic pace can slow when you realize what’s underneath, a perspective we’ve seen his son Andrew apply throughout this season, whenever his trademark fast talk conceals perceptive listening skills and a sharp investigative mind. Jim also helped Bonnie see the light – for clarity, look to the manatee – and understands the value of what his son has with Rosa, as long as Andrew doesn’t fuck it up. “The stars put a good woman in your path. I know because she saw your worst qualities and she smiled. I know you think that badge made you whole again, but it didn’t. Don’t hang onto what you think you need and lose the stuff that really matters.” We should all be listening to Yancy the Wise. But first it’s time to put a few holes in neigh-bro’s yellow monstrosity.

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Smarmy real estate developer Evan Shook is somebody who might benefit from the touching of grass that Jim Yancy preaches. But in the meantime it was Evan who hired the gunmen from the end of Bad Monkey Episode 7 , the guys who shot up Andrew Yancy’s place. And it’s actually crazy that, for once, this violence was not generated by Nick or Eve. Instead they’re buying pleasure boats in the Bahamas, and continuing an insulting/patronizing local dance with Gracie/Dragon Queen. As she tells Egg, Gracie understands they’re awful people, terrible for life on the island, who will double-cross her without notice. “You mean to tell me those two dishonest pieces of shit are trying to take advantage of me? I’m just a stupid girl from the third world.” But Nick and Eve also represent a revenue stream, one which Gracie still wants to access, despite Ya-Ya giving her the silent treatment and her friends on Andros getting hurt by the Striplings’ strong arm tactics.

With their tips to the FBI amounting to nothing, and his observations of their continuing to get away with everything, a frustrated Neville calls Yancy about Nick and Eve. “Seems like the bad guys won.” Yancy also can’t get the feds to act. What if Rosa and Yancy somehow grabbed these jerks on their own? Sort of a hand-crafted extradition, to get them into the US and under federal jurisdiction? Would that be a dare-to-be-great moment, a realization of what matters that would make Jim Yancy proud? Or would it be a ruin-your-life scenario? While Yancy and Rosa weigh these options, Bonnie appears with her own method of re-balancing the world’s karma. Flame on!

When Johnna Russell and the state of Oklahoma got their wires crossed on her pursuit, arrest, and prosecution – this is explained as Russell having gone after the accused sex offender without authorization – that mess also screwed up Bonnie’s newfound quest for accountability. Implausibly freed from custody and driven back to Florida, Bonnie even more implausibly sees becoming an arsonist as her only route to the punishment she deserves. Maybe this is her not holding onto what she thought she needed. Maybe it’s her “snapping,” as the narrator puts it. But either way, when Bonnie uses 20 cans of gas to blow up Evan Shook’s house, her act of personal accountability inspires Yancy and Rosa enact their DIY extradition of Nick and Eve Stripling. “Wanna go to Andros?”

Here’s the plan. To grifters, a large amount of hard currency is like a manatee – slow-moving, but also endangered – so Yancy and Rosa will ensnare Nick and Eve with just such a lure. She’ll pose as “Rosealba Ramos,” cash-rich and Miami-based, who’s interested in their Andros resort properties, while he works on the ground with Neville to ensure the plan goes smoothly. And who will introduce this prospective buyer, to insure the big fish gets on Nick’s hook? The estranged daughter who’s been leaving her dad’s texts on read, of course. In the spirit of forgiveness, Caitlin, the ex-addict who found God, agrees to call Nick and vouch for “Rosealba.” Don’t hurt Nick, she urges Yancy and Rosa; despite everything, he’s still her dad. But Caitlin’s sense of forgiveness doesn’t extend to psychotic stepmothers. “And also if you get the chance, shoot Eve in the fucking face.”

As the Bad Monkey narrator tells us, whenever a hurricane is en route to the region, Bahamas culture is the same as it is in Key West: everybody goes to the bar. And while storm surge predictions take over local conversations, Yancy and Rosa repair to one of Andros’s indoor-outdoor dives for a few rounds of Kaliks and conch fritters. Rosa’s improvised undercover operation seems to have gone well – she certainly had Nick and Eve salivating at the idea of hoovering up all of Rosealba’s loose Miami cash. Neville is happy that the bad guys seem to no longer be winning at such an impossible clip. Gracie has decided to cut what she lost in trying to game the Striplings on her own, and is seen hopping a taxi to the airport after another tense phone call with her grandmother. And Eve shuts down Nick’s bellyaching over Caitlin by issuing one of the self-serving ultimatums she slathers in artificial sweetness. “As long as you always take care of me.” With only two episodes of Bad Monkey remaining, who’s actually gonna get taken care of, and who will manage to hang onto the stuff that really matters?

Johnny Loftus ( @glennganges ) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

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