Portlandia, Season 3, Episode 6: Off the Grid, Review

If you asked me who was the biggest energy hog in Portland, I’d have to say the owners of the motel known exclusively for having an overabundance of outlets. In “Off the Grid” we find out that the man chosen to lead is leading the city towards a power failure.

 George Wendt (yes, Norm from Cheers) plays a journalist from the Portland Tribune and he’s following a lead that will expose none other than the Mayor as the biggest energy hog in Portland. Wendt’s role as the editor of the Tribune comes back in another sketch but first we’ll discuss the Mayor.

He fails to realize that printers can be turned off. After 10-years of owning a printer he calls “Prince,” he has to come out to the public and make everything right. He does so by polluting, which never looks good in the public eye and is forced to resign. It’s about time. I love the Mayor as a character, but he is clearly unfit to rule Portland. Fred and Carrie follow his every command, which is goofy and good, clean fun but it is time we had a change. 

So now that the Mayor is gone, who’s in charge of Portland? We get a two-part episode that will continue next week. But before Portlandia signed off, they dropped the bombshell news on the fans… ROSEANNE is the new mayor! 

Holy 1980’s sitcoms, I thought Portland embodied the dream of the ‘90s?

Character of the Week:

The Mayor doesn’t realize that printers can be turned off, so he’s more like the dweeb of the week. He does make a pretty seamless transition to farm life but the kerosene used to heat his home makes him pass out. The goats he lives with revive him and since the Mayor is a character we love, the goats are the characters of the week for their improbable CPR skills.   

Catch Phrases:

“Banned-Wagon.”

“We’ll call you the mitten mayor.” 

Underrated Skit of the Week: 

It’s no secret the newspaper industry is struggling. When a new company buys out The Portland Tribune, Armisen’s character tells the editor that traditional journalism standards aren’t what the people want. 

“Think of yourself as less of a journalist and more of a linkalist,” he says.

Wendt’s character comes from a long line of newsmen in his family, but ultimately, like any rational journalist, he has to embrace change. He gets 70 million hits, a new company record, for his brilliant journalistic work that I’ll present in its entirety. 

“Charlize Theron NSFW.”

Hipster Moments:

In the Battle of the Gentle Bands, we get Armisen rocking a pair of ridiculous glasses while he drops the magical opening line of his song:

“I had a dream of my grandfather… in a wooden chair…”

Every artist gets gentler until a girl blowing on a feather wins the Battle of the Gentle Bands. Her prize should have been a gift certificate to a coffee shop, but instead she is rewarded with one free ticket to a monster truck rally.