DUCK DYNASTY: REDNECK ROADTRIP

DUCK DYNASTY is a countrified Reality TV show on Cable. It’s about the Robertsons, a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream as they operate a thriving multi-million dollar business for duck hunters, Duck Commander. The company fabricates top-of-the-line duck calls and decoys out of salvaged swamp wood. It also sells other duck hunting paraphernalia. Running the business is business-savvy Willie and his brother Jase.

The series focuses on the two brothers, their beautiful wives, their father (the founder of the company), their funny uncle, and their mother. All the men wear long beards. In spite of all the humor in the show, the series celebrates the Robertsons’ Christian family values. The whole family often gathers around the matriarch, Miss Kay’s, dinner table for good eats.

In the episode “Redneck Roadtrip,” Jase, Uncle Si, and a couple employees “borrow” Willie’s luxury RV to pick up two custom ATV vehicles Willie has ordered in Shreveport. Si finds that the RV only has a limited supply of food, including some beans. So, he cooks up a spicy concoction for lunch that has some rather obvious but hilarious results. This results in Si deciding to ride in the trailer on one of the ATVs to avoid the unpleasant smells still inside the RV. A couple cops notice Si doing this. They stop the RV and make him go back inside it.

Meanwhile, Father Phil is working on his weekly sermon for his church while Miss Kay prepares some of her special jambalaya in a big cooking can outdoors. Willie stops over. Much to everyone’s surprise, he finds a young alligator hiding in the open boat shed close by Kay’s pot. As Jase and the others pick up his ATVs, Willie helps his parents coax, and eventually drag, the alligator back to the swamp.

“Redneck Roadtrip” is one of the funnier episodes in DUCK DYNASTY. The alligator scenes are hilarious, as is some of the other dialogue. “Redneck Roadtrip” is also a really great representative of all the things that have made this series such a success, including its relatively wholesome content. Best of all, the episode briefly shows the father sitting and diligently working on his sermon with an open Bible. Then, it shows him leading his congregation in a great prayer. After the prayer, a voiceover from Willie paraphrases James 1:19 and other Bible passages, “Be slow to anger but quick to forgive.” Finally, “Redneck Roadtrip,” as with many other episodes of DUCK DYNASTY, shows American family capitalism at its best. Despite the show’s unique bayou setting and their wealth, the Robertsons seem to be an average American family. DUCK DYNASTY shows that Americans can love their work, love their leisure activities, love their food, love their families, overcome any conflicts in a good-natured way, and love God, their country, and Jesus.

All that said, “Redneck Roadtrip” has a couple light profanities. There are some references to unpleasant smells created by Uncle Si’s bean dish. There’s also some comical family conflicts and comical insults. For example, Willie calls his brother, Jase, a “moron” after Jase makes a funny rationalization for borrowing Willie’s RV. Later, however, Willie forgives Jase for taking the RV and briefly mentions the importance of biblical forgiveness, but jokes that he can’t forgive him and Si for smelling up the interior with the after-effects of the bean dish. Also, for example, when the guys get to the ATV sales place, Jase jokes about one of his friends and employees, who’s a bit chubby, “He supplies his own airbag.” This comedy, however, seems good-natured and not mean-spirited.