The Native Flu

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**The Native Flu** is the fourth episode of Season 2 of *Letterkenny*.

## Synopsis

Reilly and Jonesy have an away game on the Rez.

## Cold Open

> You're out pickin' stones with your pals the other day… — Wayne
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Wayne admits to Dan, Daryl, and Katy that he saw Stewart's penis, looking like "a tall boy can of Red Bull hanging there.… a tube of tennis balls… policeman's flashlight from the 1980s…" The men are happy for him. Katy raises the question of proportionality. "Like a deflated football hangin' there." Katy leaves, bothered.

> There's such a thing as too much horn talk and a fella oughta be fuckin' aware of it. — Wayne
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## Plot Summary

Reilly and Jonesy observe that the other Letterkenny Irish players do not use oral tobacco, but they are focused on the upcoming match. Neither Reilly nor Jonesy know who the opponents are.

> This is senior A whale shit hockey. Do you think I check the scheddy? — Reilly
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The opponent turns out to be the Natives, and the other players accuse them of having the native flu. They deny this, but go to the farm to ask the Hicks for backup outside the arena. Katy tricks them into admitting they had received handjobs from their billet sisters while the three were dating.

The Hicks are reluctant, but Katy reminds them "when a man asks you for help, you help him," and they assent, Wayne so he can have a scrap, Daryl to get cheap darts, and Dan for the venison pepperettes. For additional backup, they recruit Joint Boy and Tyson. They do not invite the Ginger and Boots, but Wayne explains in detail that it would have been impossible for them to fuck an ostrich unless it was a dead ostrich.

Katy approaches the Skids as they breakdance in the dollar store parking lot. Devon strikes up a chirping match with her, in defense of the heartbroken Stewart.

> Actually, I'm just looking for some three-inch screws to hang a frame.
> Hey—you know what three inches looks like, right? — Katy
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Reilly and Jonesy arrive at the arena at the Rez and, as expected, are met by Tanis, who directs her gang to "do some damage" to them. The Hicks show behind them, and Tanis backs off, but warns them the hockey players she has four lines of "BFIs" ("Big Fuckin' Indians") waiting inside as well. She approaches Wayne and asks him to lift the ban on Letterkenny, but he declines.

Inside the arena, Reilly and Jonesy are attacked the moment they get on the ice. In the parking lot, a series of one-on-one brawls ensue between the natives and the Hicks. As the Hicks have a tailgate cookout, discussing the best beef and how best to cook it, Reilly and Jonesy are ejected from the game for fighting twice, then jumped a final time as they stumble to the lockers.

    Tanis approaches Wayne again and threatens him with a BFI she has on standby, but Wayne does not believe he exists. Tanis tells him that they sell darts because the proceeds go to benefit the community. To underscore that point, she presents Dustin, a young boy who needs a baseball mitt, and Wally, who talks about the bare shelves in the elders' lodge, but Wayne is unmoved. Tanis then presents a three-legged dog— and then another three-legged dog— and Wayne is moved to lift the ban, allowing the natives to sell darts Saturday morning in the farmers' market parking lot.

Katy and Devon have another chirp match in the dollar store parking lot. Katy tosses him a bag of Gus' excrement.

Back at the produce stand, the Hicks debate whether the big dude Tanis threatened exists or not. Later that night, Wayne is sleepless thinking about the issue, and drives over to the Rez. Tanis admits that he does not exist

> Youse worked through our finest. No one else measures up. — Tanis
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She invites him to stay for a cookout, which he initially declines, but after she tells him how she likes to prepare steaks, he hesitates, and she grabs him by the jeans.

## Quotes

* Wayne: We all lay off the Ginger and Boots now. Because the Ginger and Boots did not fuck an ostrich.
Reilly: Yeah, I heard they fucked two ostriches.
Dan: Allegedly.
* Glen: Ginny? The Ginger and Boots effed a dead ostrich. Of course I know what the male ones are called—check my browser history!
* Reilly: We do not have the native flu.
Barts: No? So what's got you looking like a fraidy-cat, you little bitch? Yorkie.
Yorkie: Cacophobia? The fear of ugliness? Don't think so. I'm gorgeous. Scholtzy.
Scholtzy: Coprophobia? The fear of poop? Nah. You both pooped your pants when we mentioned the natives, pussy. Fisky.
Fisky: Alektorophobia? The fear of chickens? Uh-uh. 'Cause you'd be afraid of each other. Boomtown.
Boomtown: Pentheraphobia? Fear of your mother-in-law? Fuck that. I love my mother-in-law like I love my wife. I'm a good man!
* Devon: This is awkward but your shirt seems to have shrunk in the wash.
Katy: Not awkward, things shrink in the wash. How do you explain your dick?
* Wayne: Get off the cross, we need the wood.
* Reilly: We do *not* have the native flu.
Tanis: Right. And one tit's better than two.
Reilly: Tanis, what we want to do is go inside, rip a couple of snap bombs and then go home.
Jonesey: Just wanna rip some snaps and bury some claps, Tanis.
Reilly: Hack some limbs and rack some PIMS.
Jonesy: Lay beats and fill seats.
Tanis: Yeah? Youse want to get pucks deep?
Reilly: Get pucks deep.
Jonesy: Yeah, get pucks in the net.
Tanis: Shut the fuck up.
* Tanis: One-inch thick wagyu, New York. Heavily salt and peppered. Grill at 400. Four minutes total. Flip once a minute for those good grill marks. Let sit for two minutes and then down the hatch.

## Callbacks and Running Gags

### Introduced

* Stewart's endowment
* Too much horn talk
* Not sure that's PC
* Down the hatch

### Recurring

* The native flu (Rave)
* Allegedly (Super Soft Birthday)
* Wayne doesn't give a fuck about your kids (Fartbook)
* Just kiddin', I don't give a fuck (Super Soft Birthday)

## Cultural References

* The use of oral tobacco ("dip") among hockey players of all levels, both male and female, rose as cigarette smoking declined in the 1980s and 1990s. A survey of 2,000 junior hockey players conducted by the Sport Medicine and Science Council of Manitoba found that 54 percent indulged.
* Scheddies: rock musician Tom Petty (Tom Scheddy), grunge musician Eddie Vedder (Scheddy Vedder), 1980s talking teddy bear Teddy Ruxpin (Scheddy Ruxpin)
* "Chiclets" is hockey slang for teeth, especially when missing, due to their resemblance to the candy-coated chewing gum of the same name.
* A "chin check" is slang for a punch to the jaw.
* A "fridge ticket" is a certification to work on refrigeration units.
* "Pulled salad" refers to yanking out hair.
* "Seatbelt" refers to a Brazilian jiujitsu hold in which one arm is placed over the opponents shoulder and the other under the arm of the other shoulder, like a car shoulder belt.
* "Sally Ann" is a nickname in Canada for the Salvation Army.
* "It's no fuckin' mystery, Murdoch" is a reference to *Murdoch Mysteries*, a television detective series set in 1890s Toronto that has played on CBC since 2008.

## Trivia

* Daryl's anecdote about nearly punching a street meat vendor outside a Blue Jays game is nearly the same as the actor delivered in Letterkenny Problems Ep. 1.
* This is the first time Ginny, Glen's girlfriend, is mentioned since the first episode, Ain't No Reason to Get Excited, and also the last time.
* The facility depicted as the hockey arena at the Rez is actually the same building used for the Letterkenny hockey arena (the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex), just shot from a different side.
* Literally translated, *Wagyu* means *Japanese cattle*, and thus *Japanese wagyu* is somewhat redundant.
* Wayne, Daryl, and Tanis are agreed on grilling at 400 (degrees Fahrenheit, or 204.4°C). Although Canada is largely metricated, and official sources like health codes give food temperatures in Celsius, recipes and kitchen equipment frequently employ Fahrenheit. This is both the older system in Canada as well as that used in the U.S., where both recipes and kitchen equipment are commonly sourced. U.S. or Imperial measures are also familiar for measurements like a person's height or weight in everyday, but not in official usage.

## Music

According to Tunefind, the following songs are featured in this episode:

* Darkhorses (feat. Johnny Bell) by Annakin Slayd (Reilly and Jonesy drive up)
* Droptop by AMAC (Katy drives up to the Skids)
* Bike Home by Humans (Katy and Devon)
* Stand in the Sand by Twin Peaks (Wayne fights the BFI)
* Hyperbolic 2 by Busdriver (end credits)

## Appearances

* Wayne
* Dan
* Daryl
* Katy
* Reilly
* Jonesy
* the other Letterkenny Irish
	+ Barts
	+ Yorkie
	+ Scholtzy
	+ Fisky
	+ Boomtown
* Glen
* Stewart
* Devon
* Roald
* Tanis
* Axe
* Slash
* Joint Boy
* Dustin
* Wally

## Locations

* Farm
* Dollar store
* Hockey arena
* The Rez

## Gallery

*→ See **56** images from The Native Flu at **Images from The Native Flu**.*
Glen overhears part of a conversationDo you think I give a *fuck* about the scheddy?The Irish don't have the native fluWish you weren't…Confronting KatyTanis and her crew arriveFour lines deepVisitors benchTanis makes a proposalThe Hicks tailgateMeet me halfwayWayne meets a three-legged dog