The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers were a trio of stoner hippies is a series of underground comics in the 1970s. In 2020, they spun off into an animated series. From left to right:
1. Freddy (John Goodman), fat, frizzy blond, with a constant case of the munchies.
2. Franklin (Woody Harrelson), a tall, thin cowboy with an 11' cock, primarily into getting laid.
3. Phineas (Pete Davidson), frizzy black hair covering his whole face, into environmental and social issues
The premise: after taking some magic weed, the guys were in suspended animation for 51 years. They awaken in 2020 San Francisco, and must adjust to cell phones, the internet, people telling you their pronouns, cancel culture, and marijuana being legal. In San Francisco? There must be gay characters.
I reviewed the Season 2 episode "Trans Am Trans Am." The A and B plots are self contained, so I will keep them separate. I'm skipping the C plot, about a marital problem in the couple that the Freaks are living with.
The A Plot: The San Francisco Grand Prix Road Race.
Scene 1: Franklin hears the sound of his old trans am car, Betty. He follows it to the Trans Trans Am Garage, and discovers that now its name is "Bernie." And it has new parts.
Scene 2: The race. The mechanic wins, but just barely. Franklin is a surprisingly good driver.
Scene 3: At the Trans Trans Am Garage, Franklin is angry because he got beat by a girl. Then he discovers that the Mechanic and all the other workers are trans women, and is elated: he didn't get beat by a girl after all! The Mechanic doesn't like the misgendering, but he's a good mechanic, so she hires him as her assistant. They're going to compete in the San Francisco Grand Prix.
Problem: The Evil Mayor, who looks like a Stephen Hawkings parody, always wins, and he fights dirty.
Scene 4: Time for a test run of the car Franklin and the Mechanic are working on. The Evil Mayor spies on them, comments "The cocksucker can drive," and tells his lackeys, Chuck (Adam Devine/Kelvin Gemstone, wearing a cap) and Charlie (Blake Anderson, orange Afro), to summon "Sheldon." They are nervous, but comply.
Sheldon turns out to be Officer Sheldon of the San Francisco Sensitivity Police, arresting people for being insufficiently "sensitive." "You called me 'sir.' How dare you assume my gender!" Uh-oh, here's where they parody people who have the audacity to be gender-atypical or nonbinary.
Scene 5: Franklin is sentenced to a sensitivity class taught by Officer Sheldon. It turns out to be bogus, instituted to get the good racers out of the way so the Evil Mayor can win the race.
Scene 6: The Sensitivity Class. The trans Mechanic was nabbed because she accidentally used her own deadname. Franklin confuses Officer Sheldon by claiming that he identifies as past, so he's offended by people referring to him a present tense. He babbles so much that he is removed from the classroom. They're free!
Scene 7: Lackeys Chuck and Charlie approach the Evil Mayor with the bad news. Charlie begs him not to torture them: "Don't choke us to death. Don't shove anything up our ass." Chuck: "Wait -- what? Speak for yourself!" So Chuck likes things shoved up his butt? The Mayor suggests sabotage.
Scene 8: As the Mechanic zooms down the street, Chuck and Charlie push the Mayor's wheelchair in front of her, so she crashes. (It's actually the Mayor's brother, being paid $40 to do it).
Franklin yells at the Mechanic: "If you'd made different choices, you might have been able to avoid the wreck...all that body modification...you don't fuck with the original parts!" He's talking about the car, but she thinks he's being transphobic. They split up: race team split up, not a romantic partner break-up.
Scene 9: Franklin being miserable without his car. The Mechanic appears. He explains that with "keeping the original parts," he was referring to the car, not her transitioning. She broke her foot in the accident, so she asks Franklin to drive the car in the Grand Prix.
Scene 10: The Grand Prix. Contestants include Schoolboy Q, Elon Musk, the woman the Freaks are staying with, the Evil Mayor, and Franklin. Chuck and Charlie sabotage the race with bowling balls. The mayor uses torpedos and car pranks. Franklin wins, of course. He and the Mechanic celebrate and hug, but don't kiss. I thought they were going to date, but I guess not.
More after the break
The B Plot: The Drag-Off
Scene 1: Phineas, Freddy, and the Cat stop into a drag bar. Freddy is mesmerized by the drag queen Lady Sinagoga, and rushes on stage. She thinks that he wants to perform, and improves a drag outfit. He sings "Ain't no man man enough for me," and, to the surprise of Phineas and their Cat, is quite good.
Scene 2: Lady Sinagoga tells the Freaks about the Drag Karaoke Competition. The prize is $1,000! Freddy just wants to sing to have fun, but the other Freaks have their eye on the money.
Scene 3: Phineas and the Cat disapprove of Freddy's drag outfit and song choice ("Dolly Parton? She's older than us!") They suggest a new persona: Dua Labia, Two Lips.
Scene 4: Dinner. The other Freaks deny Freddy food so he can slim down for the drag contest. He is miserable.
Scene 5: Freddy rehearses in the ridiculous outfit that the other Freaks recommended, singing "I'm the life of the party." They criticize him: "Smile! No one likes a sourpuss with big titties."
Scene 6: The big Drag-Off. It's Freddy's turn, but he's out back, crying. He hates his drag outfit and persona. The Cat, following, admits that he should perform as his "authentic self." He performs as Hizzo in a flab-enhanced outfit: "Don't hate on me if my stomach's flopping loose." The audience loves it. He wins the prize, which comes with a bouquet of dildos: "I'm a lucky queen. I gotta put these in water."
Scene 7: Phineas, Freddy, and the Cat go to the Grand Prix Race. Afterwards, Freddy, still in drag, congratulates Franklin and the Mechanic on winning. Not realizing who he is, Franklin follows to get "her" phone number. The end.
Gay Characters: The drag queen, of course, but no one expresses any same-sex interests. I'm not sure if Freddy is gay or just likes drag.
What about Chuck and Charlie? Given that Adam Devine and Blake Anderson played heterosexual dudebros on Workaholics, it's likely that these two are also a pair of heterosexual dudebros, but the "speak for yourself" quip was suggestive.
I looked at the Chuck and Charlie appearances in some other episodes. The Freaks encounter them as DJs, podcast broadcasters, pet owners, workers at a cannabis dispensary, workers at a record store, and so on, not just as the mayor's henchmen. There is a great deal of physicality in their interactions. They don't appear to express any interest in women, and their podcast theme song goes: "Semen and blood! Semen and blood! So much semen, all over the wall!" Strong gay subtext here.
Homophobia/Transphobia: None. These guys are remarkably queer-positive for people who have been on ice for 50 years.
Drugs: Surprisingly, the Freaks are never shown using drugs, at least not in this episode. They visit a cannabis dispensary and a cannabis coffee shop in other episodes, but it appears that Chuck and Charlie have taken over most the stoner jokes.
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