Season 17 is Getting REAL Weird With It!

Last week our first “leak” of Season 17 was the confirmation that Sunny will have a crossover episode with Abbott Elementary, one of the most wholesome sitcoms currently airing on television. This week, our second “leak” went the exact opposite direction of wholesome when Rob chose to share Network notes regarding scenes in an upcoming episode (while attempting to redact certain information):

As you can see, his attempt at redaction was fairly crude, so when you brighten the image, you're able to make out pretty much the entire redacted portion of the screenshot. The Network Note reads:

“Caution on scene where Dennis sho[ws/ots] video footage of him masturbating a dog & [w/t]hen Dennis holds up a Tupperware container. Any graphic bestiality simulation must be avoided for cuts airing on both FX linear channel & the Hulu platform. Given the nature of the scenes, always shoot alternate angles and positioning so that there are options to work with should they be needed during Post Production. Please keep the semen Tupperware as generic and nondescript as possible.”

And, even with the redactions properly redacted, “graphic bestiality simulation” is an eye-catching phrase which would immediately cause a stir among the fandom every-which-way, so being able to uncover Rob’s redactions and learn that this season we will be witnessing Dennis jerking off a dog to completion (on camera) and collecting the semen as part of a currently-unknown plot only exacerbated the fandom’s reaction to Rob’s post. 

We saw basically everything from “I’m throwing a party, they’re finally letting Dennis get really freaky,” to “I’m not watching the newest season, this is too far even for Sunny.” But, after a day of initial reactions, the fandom has pretty much settled into a space of either moving past this leak, chalking it up to being something egregious, added (and shared by Rob) for “shock value” that's better off not to be thought about, or trying to deduce if there is a “rational” (for Sunny) explanation as to what could be happening in connection with this content warning.

If you know me, you know I’m always in the camp of figuring out a plot (and then well beyond it), so taking the content at face value for what we uncovered (collecting dog semen, yeah that’s what we’re talking about) let’s try and deduce something about this Season 17 episode:

First thing that immediately struck me is the Network Note referencing Page 26 of the script. For a 22-minute show, this a pretty big tip off that the scene(s) being referenced are toward the end of the episode, if not serving as the actual end of the episode. Thankfully, Rob just supplied us with the Season 16 scripts, so we have a perfect point of reference:

And funnily enough, the average script length for an episode last season hovered around 26 pages. (The script in question was likely sent to the Network as a Production Draft, so you can also look to the four Season 16 Production Drafts to see page 26 is about on par with what would be the final scene(s) of an episode.) 

Since the note regarding bestiality simulation is being inserted at Page 26, it’s probably pretty safe to say this is the first instance of such a thing in the episode, so the video footage, and Dennis presenting a Tupperware full of semen, is likely an end-of-episode reveal. My best guess, based on all of the information we have on hand, is that this plot in the episode (whether it’s the A, B, or rare C) hinges on some mystery “product” being implemented or used and, as a final scene reveal, Dennis shows the video footage of where the product came from, revealing to his audience (and the audience) that the product is actually dog semen. (Think, opening of Kitten Mittens, where we watch the advertisement on the CRT TV and then reveal Charlie presenting it to the Gang, cut to their reactions, and cut to title, only this time it’s raw footage on the TV, reveal Dennis’ Tupperware, maybe reactions, and then cut to black, cue end credits.)

That’s my guess as to how this all goes down…WHY Dennis needs dog semen (for himself? or is it for a scheme the Gang are pulling? or perhaps tied to a dog we already know?) or WHAT he’s using it for (an ingredient in a product to be used or is it something to inflict on others? or is it for its actual purpose, making more dogs?) is impossible to glean at this point, it’s really anyone’s guess… and you can guess too! There have been some good theories about dog semen usage floating around, so I’ve laid them all out on this Tumblr poll that’s open to voting for the next week. The options are as follows:

(Results to be published October 16)

None of the poll options calling to you? Let me know if you have your own theory (with rationale and evidence, if you've got it). Does this plot perhaps link to the episode Rob shared of Charlie’s whiteboard? (If so, that would make for quite the tone shift of season finales we’ve had in the last few years... so I'm leaning toward doubting that connection.) It really, very much probably doesn’t link to the Abbott Crossover (or ABC would have notes, surely…), but we wont’t know for sure until we know!

Thanks for the plot leak, Rob; you’re excellent blog fuel!

- Seth