Be Kind, Rewind is the first episode of season 22, Never Stop Blowing Up.
Introduction[]
Lake Elsinore, California. The year, 2024. Behold now a land of those big outdoor ice machines that they have outside of gas stations, just really big. I feel like it's always the first thing I see. It's like, oh, look at that big ice maker. Who is solving their ice problems here at the Shell in this way? We see a huge billboard for a nearby BMX exhibition, huge part of what's going on in Lake Elsinore. We see that there is a big poster on the outside of a building for a new flavor of Monster energy drink, and the air is arid, dry, hot, here in this spring day. Dust kicks up on the wind as yet another dawn has come to the place where all of you congregate, one of the last video rental stores in the United States of America, Dave's Video World.
Synopsis[]
In the middle of a dying strip mall, Dave's Video World employee and high school senior Wendell Morris watches action movie 2Quick 2Perilous on one of the store's TV screens. Wendell is small and lanky, black, with messy twist-out hair and braces, rectangular glasses, and a pink shirt reading P=X under a blue employee vest. He likes action movies and anime. In the film, Vic Ethanol fights a henchman on a propane truck barreling through a canyon. When it seems all hope is lost, Vic's wingman, Shaun Nitro tosses Vic a wrench. Vic bludgeons the henchman, sending him careening into the canyon below to certain death. At that point, Wendell's brothers show up doing donuts in the parking lot with their dirt bikes, much to Wendell's chagrin. They rib Wendell about continuing to work his full hours despite the fact that Dave's Video World is closing at the end of the week, as well as his crush on classmate and fellow Dave's Video World employee, Liv Skyler. Wendell's brothers also express concern about Wendell's fear and reluctance to leave Lake Elsinore to go to college at University of California, Irvine, where he's been accepted. They leave.
Elsewhere in the strip mall at Walgreens, valedictorian Liv browses the aisles of the store. She's a girl-next door type, 5'6", wearing a pink off-the-shoulder T-shirt and several necklaces. Her eyes catch on "Midnight Secret", a black nail polish sitting apart from the others in its own display. After a moment of contemplation, she swipes the nail polish and hides it at the bottom of her backpack alongside her Stanford University acceptance letter, which was supposed to be returned three days ago. As Liv heads out of the store, she encounters her high school English teacher Ms. Deloupoulos (or "Ms. D"). After some pleasantries and aggressive encouragement from Ms. D of Liv's bright future, they part ways and Liv puts on her vest while heading into Dave's for her shift. Wendell clumsily greets Liv (accidentally calling her beautiful instead of saying it was a beautiful day) and Liv goes to clock in at the back of the store. While headed to the back office, Liv walks past the store's sad going-out-of-business party decor and catches the movie Squeeze on a nearby screen. In the movie, a henchman pleads for his life to his mob boss Kingskin, a behemoth of a man, because the henchman did not stop a mysterious individual from taking a floppy disc full of information. His pleas to be spared fall on deaf ears, and Kingskin asks him to step behind a door, slowly crushing him between the door and a brick wall.
In the back office is centenarian and bookkeeper for Dave's, Usha Rao. She doesn't look a day over 85, has dark skin, grey hair, wears several cardigans and necklaces on top of one another, all under her actual work vest. A technophobe, Usha does everything on pen and paper (or pencil and paper when she feels like might make a mistake), drawing all the invoices for the store by hand with a ruler. Liv asks Usha to set up direct deposit for her checks, but Usha says she does not know how to do so and that the computer must be broken since she can't turn it on. At that moment, the store's rotary phone rings with Usha's granddaughter, Lisa, calling because Usha's house phone is still disconnected. Over the course of the call, it becomes clear that Usha fundamentally misunderstands how technology works. Lisa invites her grandma to move in with her, but Usha declines. On a TV screen behind Usha the movie Shadow Falcon Protocol plays, where hacker G13, an acne-ridden kid with a grey hoodie, greasy brown hair, a backpack and jeans, clacks away furiously at his keyboard while talking to his associate, Tanner. When G13 gets into the database, a message appears: Database Hacked. Well done, Mr. G13. The pixels form the shape of a "B" and a voice through the computer says: "We've been expecting you, G13." The jig is up: they've been on to them the whole time. Though he screams for Tanner to "get out", explosions ring through the phone. Wherever Tanner was, it was wired to blow, and Tanner appears to be dead. Usha turns around, perplexed at the action onscreen. She unplugs it and the store's rotary phone so they can "save battery".
At that moment, the store's caustic owner, Dave Balt, pulls into the store in his sports car. Dave is the definition of a mid-life crisis. His hair, tied in a ponytail that reaches all the way down to his buttocks, is dyed a hideous (and obviously unnatural) black. He wears a shirt that would fit better at a Margaritaville, with white snakeskin pants, black cowboy boots, a face older than his years, and a rusted watch and two bracelets on his left arm. He barges in, apoplectic about a number of things, including that one of his employees, Andy "Dang" Litefoot, is perpetually late and swears to fire him if he's late again despite the store closing in a few days. He argues with Usha over her producing the store's invoice tables by hand, as the IRS is conducting an audit the next day. She is nonplussed by Dave's behavior. Dave's hair dye begins to leak down his face (Usha calls it his "mascara") as water drips onto his face from the ceiling. Dave demands Usha call the store's handyman, Russell Feeld, to fix the leak which is coming from the Walgreen's toilet in the store above, but Usha cannot because the phone "isn't working." Liv excitedly offers to call Russell. Dave then orders Usha to contact Barsimmeon Higgs, a mysterious Dave's customer who owes approximate $1,200 in late fees from renting the same film thousands of times since the store opened in the mid-nineties. Dave then asks Wendell where the donut tire marks came from in the parking lot, to which Wendell denies any knowledge of. Dave furiously tells Wendell that he's going to look at the security footage with the strip mall's security guard Paula Donvalson and that if Wendell's "BMX pals" made the donuts, there would be hell to pay, in part because Dave claims the marks negatively impact his luxury car. Dave leaves the store in a huff.
Elsewhere in Lake Elsinore, 48 year-old Russell and and his nephew, Dang are hanging out at Russell's home, where Dang is temporarily staying for free. Russell lives in a nice double wide trailer, while Dang is staying in the small tool shed out back, which has a window, twin sized cot, and ceiling fan, as Dang is not permitted to sleep in Russell's guest bedroom. Russell is "Inland Empire hot" and wears a perfectly worn-in tank top, jeans, and is sculpted like a Greek god. Russell gets a call from Liv, who bumblingly flirts with him while Russell is both charming and slightly creepy. Liv informs him of the leaky pipe and water damage, and Russell says he'll head over. Before he heads out, he gets a text and photo from his closest friend and old bandmate Noah, who is embarking on an world tour starting in Amsterdam. Russell likes the photo and asks Noah to keep sending pictures of his adventures, while Russell also glances at his other recent messages, almost all from unsaved numbers regarding jobs Russell has done and/or flirting with him. As he prepares to head to Dave's, Russell catches a glimpse of the movie Atomic Brunette playing on his living room TV. On screen is cat burglar and badass Jennifer Drips, a femme fatale-type in a full latex bodysuit squaring up against gentleman thief and old flame, Agent Carter Haldwell, aka "the Shadow Falcon." Carter shoots while Jennifer flips out of the way, swiping a security clearance from Carter that he had just stolen for himself.
In the shed, Dang uses a tape dubber while Russell walks in to offer Dang a ride to work as the two move Russell's tools into his truck. Dang has lots of cool musical instruments and Pirate Radio paraphernalia, though Dang is reluctant to share any information on them with Russell when asked. Dang has grown out and fried hair that is dyed with his natural roots showing. He wears a band t-shirt that says "Blast Radius" with an explosion graphic on the front and "Santa Ana, California" on the back. In lieu of the Dave's employee vest, he wears a jean-jacket vest scattered with band patches and cheetah-print along the collar, and pants that are now more patches than they are pants. Russell and Dang head over to the video store in enough time for Dang to be, unusually for him, on time.
Once at the store, Liv awkwardly flirts with Russell and leads him over to the leak. Dave berates Dang despite the fact he's on time, and is relieved Russell is there to fix the store's problems. Dave commands Dang to his post guarding the adult section of the store, and Dang continues to insist Dave call him by his nickname rather than his first name Andy. Behind the red curtain, a porn film plays on the television. Dang switches the channel to the Greg Stocks's spy movie Santo Patron. In the movie, during the final round of poker at a private casino in the mountains of Luxembourg, the villainous Count Otto von Shrike goes all-in against Greg Stocks, a (seemingly English) neutral figure excellent in being unassuming, though still looks good in a suit. Behind the Count is his henchman Manfred, a Jaws-from-Moonraker type that bares his diamond teeth, and behind Greg is his lover, sticking a gun to his back in an act of apparent betrayal, though she secretly informs Greg that the gun is filled with blanks. Dang, thinking the movie seems weird, changes the channel yet again.
Meanwhile, Dave finds security officer Paula Donvalson in her small office that also stores janitorial supplies. Paula is newly hired, 58 years-old, and curvy/buxom with a security belt tightly wound around her waist, blunt blonde bangs and a ponytail, and heavily mascaraed eyes. Paula hurriedly puts on bright prink lip gloss, expecting Russell, when Dave knocks on her office door instead. Frustrated by Dave's presence and tone (among other things), Paula rebuffs his request to review the security footage of the parking lot from earlier in the day to see who was doing the donuts and blames Usha for unplugging the cameras. The conversation worsens, as Paula pushes back on Dave's demands while Dave belittles and mocks her, until Russell comes to Paula's aid by "accidentally" body-slamming Dave into the door while coming into the closet to get tools. Dave shakes it off. Paula and Russell two flirt briefly (though mostly Paula), with the two bemoaning Dave's attitude and Paula offering to buy used tools off Facebook Marketplace on Russell's behalf. After Russell heads off, Paula sees on Facebook that her ex-husband Don posted pictures of his trip to Cancun with Paula and Don's kids and Don's new partner. Paula slams the monitor down in frustration, as if it were a laptop, breaking it.
Paula leaves the security office on the way to Dave's, when the Walgreens's manager gives her a cassette tape of the store's daily security footage. Walking into Dave's, Paula notices the Jack Manhattan movie Tough Kill playing on a nearby TV. Detective Jack Manhattan is a John McClane type, "a funny-looking guy in the hottest way" with a dirty white tank top, pants, and no shoes. Jack stumbles barefoot through a series of boiler rooms under the White House and comes across his arch-nemesis: Hans Gruber Johann Schrader. Johann punches Jack and the two exchange verbal barbs before Jack pulls out a gun that was duct-taped to his back and shoots Johann, killing him while saying his famous catch-phrase, "Cock-a-doodle-doo, bitch." After entering Dave's, Paula approaches Wendell, subtlety indicating that her reticence to show Dave the security footage was because she was trying to protect Wendell from Dave's wrath. Wendell makes a technical case that Dave was looking for BMXers, but his brothers are motorcrossers, so that wouldn't be what Dave was looking for. Paula happily accepts this rationale, indicating it's not the first time the two have had such a discussion.
Liv happily greets Paula calling her "her work bestie" and Wendell tries to give his phone number to Liv, seeing her excitement in calling Russell's cell, but the exchange is awkward. Paula and Liv catch up as Russell rips up the carpet damaged by the leaky pipe, during which Paula is ogling Russell. Usha then joins the conversation, partially blocking Paula's view of Russell much to her dismay, and chats away. Usha suggests that Paula looks flushed and may be going through menopause, to which Paula insists she is still has "a powerful period" and is "powerfully fertile."
As Liv opens her backpack, Paula sees Liv's acceptance letter to Stanford and the Midnight Secret nail polish. Wendell heads back with the ledger for Barsimmeon Higgs into the adult section and finds Dang doubled over and sweaty. As the curtain swings open, Dang snaps to attention, and insists he wasn't masturbating. Rather, he was in a trance the alien entity who contacts him, Rashab, and Rashab has a message for all the employees that he will deliver at 4:20pm. Wendell presents the late-fee ledger, which does not list the name of the film, only the serial number, and Dang examines it. The two call Barsimmeon while Paula prepares to watch the Walgreens security tape. Barsimmeon is an Englishman who speaks anachronistically and rather ominously, already knowing of Wendell's father Charles and his brothers, though not of Wendell. Barsimmeon is surprised to hear the store is closing. While shocked at the price tag of the late fees, Barsimmeon ultimately agrees to return the film and pay the staggering approximate $1,200 as Wendell said, and says he will bring the tape, money, and a bottle of wine to the out-of-business party starting shortly at 4:00pm. However, he sinisterly says that Wendell must know that with the store's closing comes an "end of an era".
Paula plugs in the TV and puts the Walgreens's security tape into the the tape deck to try to catch who was making donuts in the parking lot. The Walgreens's security camera is pointed at the entrance of the store, however, Paula sees catches a mirror in the makeup department, which reflects Liv down the aisle stealing the Midnight Secret nail polish in her bag. The revelation shakes Paula to her core, and she slams the television set down, breaking it as Liv approaches behind her. The two have a stiff conversation as Paula knows Liv stole, but Liv does not know Paula caught her on tape. Liv says she going to take her break and go over to Walgreens, and Paula insists to come with. The rest of the store starts requesting various food, drinks, and lots of medicines and accoutrements (per Usha's insistence) from the drug store. It's revealed that Russell is wearing a thong. Wendell tries to get Liv's attention, but she doesn't notice. As Liv and Paula leave, Russell comforts Wendell, and Russell, Wendell, and Dang agree to take a "boy's trip" to Walgreens once Paula and Liv are back. Wendell grabs a broom to start sweeping up the broken glass, and Usha deducts the TV from the store's inventory in her books so its absence is not noted, which is not how accounting works.
As Paula and Liv enter the Walgreens, the Paula immediately accosts Liv asking if everything is okay at home. Broken up over her work bestie's theft, Paula tests her by asking Liv if she would tell Paula if she had ever done anything illegal (and that Liv has to tell Paula, under the law). Liv says she would tell Paula if she had done anything illegal, and Paula hides her face, weeps uncontrollably as she knows Liv is lying. The two split up to get their things—Liv to grab hers and the boys' requests, and Paula to grab her things. Along the way, Liv steals a thermometer in a spur-of-the-moment bout of kleptomania, but Paula doesn't notice. They return to Dave's Video World with the drinks and food.
Now 4:10pm, Dang asks Dave if he can take his 15-minute break in 10 minutes (so that he may be alone at 4:20pm when Rashab contacts him). This causes Dave to explode, launching into a tirade about the work ethic and general attitude of the people in his employ. Dave blames the store's closing on the employees and makes another reference to his unusual wealth (for a store owner who's store is closing) as he is wearing expensive snakeskin pants. No one goes unscathed. At that moment, a ridiculously ancient man who makes century-old Usha look like a child, Barsimmeon walks into the store to settle his debt. He is led off by Usha, and the two shamelessly and bizarrely flirt, much to the disgust of the other witnesses. Usha admits to not knowing how to use the register, and takes him to the back of the store. While everyone is distracted, Paula glances down at Liv's open backpack, and sees the shoplifted thermometer and several other shoplifted items.
Paula confronts Liv, and Liv lies, saying all the items were brought from home. Paula derisively repeats "from home", clearly not convinced. Noticing this, Wendell jumps in to cover for Liv, and asks if she brought him the thermometer from her house as he requested as he may be getting sick "at some point." Paula remains unplacated, and asks about the next item in the bag, but Liv continues to lie. Meanwhile, in the back office, Barsimmeon dips his signatory stamp into a black inkwell and presses it to a promissory note issued by a foreign bank in the amount of $1,200. When Usha doesn't recognize the check, Barsimmeon says it is "as old as time."
Barsimmeon says that above all else, he values kindness and offers to rewind his VHS tape (referencing the phrase "Be Kind, Rewind" commonly used in video rentals stores to urge patrons rewind their tapes for the next renter). He brings the tape to the rewinder behind the counter and places it in, explaining that he forgot to rewind it at home. He holds aloft the film, emblazoned on the front with Never Stop Blowing Up. As he rewinds the tape, he begins to monologue about the nature of time and space. He asks if anyone else has seen this particular film, but no one has as he's rented the only copy perpetually. Barsimmeon bemoans the store's closing, and the general state of the dying strip mall. When Liv suggests he could stream the movie now that he wouldn't be able to access the tape, he rebuffs that idea and calls Liv by her name, even though she's never met him. After all, Barsimmeon says he knows everyone who works at his favorite video store. With the tape now rewound to the beginning, Barsimmeon pops it into the VCR for the whole store to watch as the clock ticks over from 4:19pm to 4:20pm. As the movie's title Never Stop Blowing Up comes on screen, the store's inhabitants feel a jolt of electricity. Feeling the most powerful feeling coursing through their bodies and then the sensation of falling through endless night skies, the Dave's video crew are transported through time and space into the VHS tape and in media res in their respective scenes.
Wendell, now in the body of Vic Ethanol, is racing in a car going 180 miles per hour down the Los Angeles River. Chasing him is a guy on a motorcycle with a katana on the end of a 14-foot length chain. Whipping the chain over his head while laughing menacingly, the guy slices off Wendell's side-view mirror. Wendell slides the car into a tall post, skidding to a stop. Wendell looks down as his new, buff body with confusion, and finds a stick of dynamite on the seat next to him.
Liv, now in the body of Kingskin, is in a loud and busy night club. One of Kingskin's henchmen approaches asking if he wants the package, to which Liv responds confusingly. Kingskin's crew respond with nervous laughter, thinking Kingskin is joking. Liv says to she's take the package now and the henchman hands Kingskin a brick of cocaine. Liv asks if she should open it now. One of Kingskin's henchmen, Johnny Knife, thanks Kingskin for his generosity and stabs his own hand, doing a bump of his blood mixed with the cocaine.
Dang attempts to channel Rashab as the clock hits 4:20pm. Now in the body of Greg Stocks, Dang finds himself in a metal hallway in a submarine. Dang, confused to be wearing a gorgeous suit, is attacked by foreign soldiers walking around the corner of the hallway. Dang miraculously clicks in to defend himself, suddenly with neurons in his brain firing that have never before. He grabs one of the soldiers' guns, flips the magazine out, puts his own magazine in, and shoots and kills them both. He thanks Rashab for this new power, now fully convinced of his reality. A slightly English voice in his ear, a member of Greg's team, calls him "St. Lawrence" and asks him what in the world he is talking about when Dang calls him Rashab. He tells Greg to keep an eye on the mission, and to pull schematics from the rear guard's front left pocket. Dang does so, pulling out a deck of cards. As he grabs the deck, Dang hears a beep, confirming he has retrieved his mission objective.
Paula, now in the body of Jack Manhattan, is sprinting over Los Angeles rooftops. Ahead of her is a guy with a duffel bag and ski mask who is doing incredible leaps from rooftop to rooftop. Paula arrives in Jack's body mid-sprint and screams, asking why she is running so fast and hard. Paula surprises herself, leaping between two 50-foot skyscrapers to take the parkour assassin to the ground. The assassin swings at Paula and breaks his hand on the sturdiness of Jack's jaw. Paula is confused why her arms are now hairy as the would-be assassin skids the duffle bag over to her. An evidence pouch of bullet casings from the duffle bag skids out in front of Paula.
Usha, now in the body of G13, is sitting in a room filled with servers, cards, chips, and mainframes. In G13's hands is a floppy disc called the Shadow Falcon Protocol. Something beeps as someone starts to speak to Usha, asking her to upload the protocol as they are now in position. Confused, she looks down at her body saying that she is now "skin and bones" and "disgusting." Usha asks the person on the line if they are Lisa's husband and if she can talk to Lisa. She attempts to put the floppy disc in a computer slot, but instead puts the disc in a fan vent between two machines which shreds it. The person on the other line screams, saying they are now being shot at and that they are being killed. Usha asks if the download worked.
Russell, now in the body of Jennifer Drips, finds himself in a working air vent in a latex catsuit with a gun attached to his inner thigh. Russell is distressed to be in the tight, dark crawlspace without a headlamp, but also intrigued that now his body doesn't ache in this new and limber form. He hears talking ahead and begins to move through the vent. As Russell's new latex catsuit squeaks through the vent, the security clearance grabbed by Jennifer earlier clatters out of his hand, alerting those outside to his position. Gunfire rings outside the vent as bodies hit the floor. Russell peaks through the vent to see an enormous, musclebound figure with a multi-pocket utility vest and a giant AK-47 slung over his shoulder now standing in a pool of blood. The figure looks across the room to the vent to makes eye contact with Russell, terrifying Russell in a way he's never been scared before. The figure speaks with Barsimmeon's voice, indicating that this is his Never Stop Blowing Up avatar. The figure refers to Russell as "Ms. Drips" and advises Russell to "Never Stop Bowing Up." At that moment, the wall explodes into flame, with a truck pulling out the wall and debris to make a hole in the building for Barsimmeon to escape. At the same time, a helicopter comes down with a rope ladder that Barsimmeon grabs on to, taunting Russell to enjoy the late fees as he rides away on the helicopter.
Locations[]
- Lake Elsinore, California
- Dave's Video World
- Walgreens
- Russell's trailer and shed
- Paula's security office/closet
- Never Stop Blowing Up Movie
- Wendell: The Los Angeles River
- Liv: Kingskin's club
- Dang: Submarine
- Paula: Los Angeles rooftop
- Usha: G13's server room
- Russell: Crawlspace, warehouse facility
Featured Characters[]
Amazing Action Heroes[]
- Paula Donvalson as Jack Manhattan
- Liv Skyler as Kingskin
- Andy 'Dang' Litefoot as Greg Stocks
- Wendell Morris as Vic Ethanol
- Russell Feeld as Jennifer Drips
- Usha Rao as G13
NPCs[]
New[]
- Marcus, Ricky, and Dejon Morris
- Shaun Nitro
- Dave Balt
- Ms. Deloupoulos
- Carter Haldwell
- Barsimmeon Higgs
- Count Otto von Shrike
- Manfred
- Johan Schrader
- Johnny Knife
- Unnamed Kingskin henchman
Mentioned[]
- Noah
- Don
- Charles Morris
Dice Blown Up[]
This season features a modified Kids On Bikes system, where player's dice "blow up" when they hit the maximum number for that die, after which the player can roll that skill with the next biggest die. Below are the dice that blew up this episode.
- Paula Donvalson as Jack Manhattan
- Stunts: d4 -> d6
- Tough: d4 -> d6
- Liv Skyler as Kingskin
- N/A
- Andy ‘Dang’ Litefoot as Greg Stocks
- Tough: d4 -> d8
- Wendell Morris as Vic Ethanol
- N/A
- Russell Feeld as Jennifer Drips
- N/A
- Usha Rao as G13
- N/A
Trivia[]
- Brennan seemingly comes up with the cast's season introduction phrase "Amazing Action Stars" on camera in the episode. This is later modified to be "Amazing Action Heroes."
- The majority of the cast grew up in Southern California, making the setting even more personal to members of the table. Izzy, Jacob, Ify, and Ally all grew up, at least in part, in SoCal. Ify once lived in Lake Elsinore while attending half a semester of college and Ally claims Lake Elsinore as their hometown (though also frequently shouts out the neighboring city of Temecula).
- This episode marks Jacob Wysocki's first time in the dome.
- The episode features the most player characters ever introduced in an episode, with the player's "real world" characters, "Never Stop Blowing Up" characters, and arguably the "hybrids" of the two at the end of the episode, for a total of 12 or 18 depending on your view.