Hard Right Jay

**Hard Right Jay** is the third episode of Season 5 of *Letterkenny*.

## Synopsis

An out-of-towner causes a ruckus in Letterkenny.

## Cold Open

> We were discussing headlines from the city newspaper the other day… — Wayne
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The Hicks have a drink at the Ukrainian Centre, home of the cheapest beers in Letterkenny (with the Legion being a close second). Alas, MoDean's II has burned down, like the first. Bonnie has been able to pick up shifts at the Ukrainian Centre, but Gail has left town to get her fill at a South American singles resort. Dan growls after reading an article in the newspaper.

> Now, I'm a devout pupil of Social Justice Warriors Professor Tricia… But dare I say things in the city is getting wee bit out of hands. — Dan
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It seems a group of women said they would stop tweeting for a day out of protest for sexual abuse towards women, asking men to do the same. Some black gals joined in, but got angry that women of color didn't receive the same report as white girls on similar issues. The cycle of offense and outrage progressively expanded to encompass a paraplegic soldier who called women "broads" in high school; the quadriplegic president of Iceland; his daughter Alfheiour, a Somali war refugee with Down syndrome; "Special Olympics advocates"; World Vision; and the War Amps.

All this occurred on Twitter on a day they weren't supposed to be tweeting, prompting an exclamation of "Jesus!" from the Hicks. Then, Dan warns about what's happening in local news.

> Stay tuned to find out. — Wayne
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## Plot Summary

An SUV bearing a "This vehicle makes alt-right turns" sticker and logos of the Confederate flag and the "Hard Right" rolls up behind the church. "Hard Right Jay" exits, retrieves a tiki torch from the back, and walks around the card, as the sign for "John Letterkenny Field / Home of the Chiefs" comes into view—with a sticker noting "name change coming soon" affixed.

The local news is that the Letterkenny Chiefs have decided to change their name and logo, to which the Hicks react nonchalantly. The *Letterkenny Banner* avers the world is going to hell in a handbasket; Katy finds the notion of handbasket as a mode of transport to be a consolation. Wayne wonders what other kinds of basket exist besides hand and wastepaper, and Katy objects that there are a bazillion different kinds, before backpedaling somewhat as they debate over the use of bazillion. After she and Dan name five other kinds of baskets, however, Wayne withdraws. Daryl pronounces it "bak-sit," one of two words he can never pronounce, the other being the first meal of the day: "bre-fekst."

Dan continues that the Letterkenny "Rough Riders" is the leading candidate for the new name in an online poll, despite teams of that name already existing from Renfrew, Wilno, and Greater Madawaska. Everyone likes cheering for a Rough Rider, after all.

> Yeah, but if we're all going to be "Rough Riders," why even have teams? Why not just be a big bunch of Rough Riders? Why don't you just name the whole league the Rough Riders? Why even stop there? Why don't we just go ahead and name the whole human race Rough Riders? — Wayne
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In second place is "Muff Riders," followed by the "Foot Fuckers" and a tie between the "Big Nickelbacks" and the "69ers."

At the Skids' basement, Stewart craves more of the Dark Web. Everett emerges, demanding he receive the meth first in exchange, but Stewart pounces on him. As a distraught Roald watches in horror, Stewart mock-strangles Everett until he releases his satchel, containing a laptop computer. As Stewart opens the laptop, Jay's voice can be heard, irritating him at "these stooges."

> Appreciate the Stooges reference. Everyone knows Curly was the original skinhead. Plus Ron Asheton from Iggy and the Stooges had a real Third Reich obsession. — Jay
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Jay is there in the flesh, mourning the proposed name change. Stewart does not even know who the Chiefs are, and when told they are the junior soccer team, could not care less; politically, he is an anarchist. Jay reacts sharply to this, calling them "far-left liberal fucking pinko snowflakes" and "beta male SJWs," to Roald's objection:

> I actually identify as a wood nymph. — Roald
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The Skids accompany Jay to the Ukrainian Centre, where he enthuses about the "alphas" in the room, and about the cause of white nationalism. The Hicks are skeptical, noting that it is good that Gail is not present; Jay assumes she must be a "good sixth-generation Scottish woman." Jay rants about the name change and the "out of control PC police," and that the government is trying to keep their humble agricultural lives "thoroughly cucked," but the Hicks cannot understand why he is so exercised. After some discussion, Wayne offers to fight him: if Jay wins, they will accompany him to the field, and if Wayne wins, they ask for nothing in return. Jay scoffs at this, dashing out.

Jay makes his next recruiting attempt at the hockey arena, where Reilly and Jonesy are mulling over team unity on the Shamrockettes. Jay tries to compare renaming the Chiefs to renaming the Shamrocks, but the hockey players agree that "Chiefs is kinda not PC though," and in fact, the Shamrocks is somewhat of a suspect name as well. Betty-Anne and Mary-Anne object to this for their own reasons, arguing that if any team should have its name changed, it is theirs.

> What the hell's a Shamrockette anyway? A leaf with tits? — Mary-Anne
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They want a name that is fierce and feminine, like "Screaming Banshees," not just "-ette" added to the end of the men's team name. Betty-Anne is not as impressed, and starts a chirping match with Mary-Anne, to Jonesy and Reilly's frustration. They tell him to get out, and Jay leaves, calling them "Tumbrlinas."

He and other Hard Right members, dressed as he is in white polos, khaki pants, and blue jackets, and holding tiki torches, assemble at the field, but there are no townsfolk joining them. He wonders whose idea the name change was, at which Tanis and a group of Natives appears: "Ours."

> S'up, Nazis? — Tanis
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Jay takes exception to being called a "Nazi," citing various tastes and possessions as evidence, which the Natives find extremely thin. Jay then attempts to curry favor with "Sacagawea," saying his group and theirs both support traditional values, traditional morals, and a very anti-immigration stance, on which they can find common ground. Tanis points out that sharing ground has never been his strong suit. The groups exchange a few more insults, but Tanis has lost her patience. No one in town had had a problem with the name change, only the outsiders.

> Yeah, we didn't come here to counter-protest. Ain't nothing peaceful gonna happen today. — Tanis
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The Natives set on the Hard Right members, joined by the Hicks, and the Hard Right scatters, leaving Jay behind. Tanis throws him to the ground and gives him a hard punch, then walks off.

She and the Hicks return to the Ukrainian Centre for a Puppers. Dan returns to the *Letterkenny Banner*, and announces that the online poll for the new team name as been canceled, as Muff Riders was running away with it. The team will now be the Letterkenny Rough Riders, and will play the Renfrew Rough Riders in the playoffs starting next week.

## Quotes

* Wayne: Now, it's from the neck down that he's paralyzed, you say?
Katy: So, how does he even make a tweet?
Wayne: And they're all doing this on Twitter?
Dan: Where else but Twitter would this be happenings?
* Hard Right Jay: You edgelords are a walking horde of participation trophies. Go back to giving out hand jobs for free.
Stewart: We're not socialistas.
Roald: And I'm still with her.
Stewart: We're anarchists.
Roald: And our hand jobs aren't free.
* Hard Right Jay: I'll admit, I was anticipating the low energy, country cuck road show, but you're curious. Color me glad. It's time to wake up. It's time for you to spit out all of the toxic sludge you've been spoon fed by the lan Hanomansings and the Gloria Macarenkos of the world. We are a movement.
Katy: Bowel movement by the looks of it.
* Hard Right Jay: Hockey, eh? Fastest sport on Earth. And the whitest too, arguably, so bonus points there.
Reilly: Okay, the Catholic school games are on the other rink.
Hard Right Jay: Uh, we just, uh, thought you strapping alphas might want to know that the globalists are trying to turn your small town into a hive of post-castrati extremism.
Reilly: What the fuck's castrati?
Jonesy: Uh, it's a pasta, bro.
Reilly: Uh, it's pronounced "pah-sta," bro.
Jonesy: Is it?
* Mary-Anne: We should change our names to something fierce and feminine and powerful, like the Screaming Banshees.
Betty-Anne: That's good, Mary-Anne. lmpressive creativity…
Hard Right Jay: Couple of hens clucking away….
Betty-Anne: …especially for a girl who had to start kindergarten two years late because she couldn't grasp colouring.
Mary-Anne: I've plenty of good ideas, Betty-Anne, like convincing your dad to get a vasectomy so I wouldn't have to worry about another you coming into the world while I fucked him.
Reilly: You're screwing it up, bro.
Jonesy: You're getting them all fired up again.
Betty-Anne: Bringing family into it now, Mary-Anne? I would never stoop so low, especially with the recent passing of your mother, who told me before she died that my dad is your dad too.

* Tanis: S'up, Nazis?
Hard Right Jay: Nazi? Hilarious.
Tanis: Ain't nothing funny about this, honky.
Hard Right Jay: No, but Nazi, really? Nazi? Would a Nazi ride a Yamaha scooter?
Tanis: A pansy Nazi? Sure.
Hard Right Jay: Would a Nazi have a Jew for a lawyer?
Axe: Could you refer me, asshole? 'Cause I'm gonna need one in a minute.
Hard Right Jay: Would a Nazi own a game-worn Tim Duncan jersey?
Shania: You sniff that shit before bed at night, cupcake?
Hard Right Jay: Would a Nazi's favorite snacks include ramen, pad thai, or foe?
Slash: It's pronounced pho, pho, dummy.
Hard Right Jay: Oh. All right, would a Nazi get turned on by interracial gangbang porn?
Tanis: Who fucking doesn't?

## Callbacks and Running Gags

### Introduced

* Women's team names being the men's team name with *-ette* appended
* Daryl's pronunciation "brefekst" and "baksit"

### Recurring

* Hockey players not sure that's PC (The Native Flu)
* Stewart's force choke powers

## Cultural References

* As the location used for the original MoDean's was no longer available for filming when production began on Season 3, it was written out of the show as having burned down. When the same occurred with the location used for MoDean's II, the same explanation was used for the second,
* Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, president of Iceland at the time of the show's production and initial airing, is not a quadriplegic, and none of his children or stepchildren is named Álfheiður.
* Dan cites the Special Olympics, World Vision, and the War Amps getting involved in a Twitter war; none has been involved in any wide-scale Twitter war in real life. The Special Olympics are a worldwide organization sponsoring sports competitions for children with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities. World Vision is a predominantly Evangelical Christian international children's humanitarian and development organization. The War Amps, officially the War Amputations of Canada, is a charity which provides assistance to those who have lost a limb or total eyesight in wartime military service, and other Canadian amputees.
* Renfrew, Wilno, and Greater Madawaska are all locales in the Ottawa River valley in Renfrew County, Ontario, where the former real-life town of Letterkenny, Ontario was also located. The specific in-universe location of Letterkenny has never been established, and one fan theory places it in this region.
* The suggested team name "Big Nickelbacks," the only name not a crude sexual reference, is an obvious reference to the Canadian rock band Nickelback, but also a play on the "Big Nickel," a 9-meter (30-ft) sculpture of a Canadian 5¢ coin located in Sudbury, Ontario, where *Letterkenny* is filmed, installed in 1964 as a monument to the region's nickel miners. An earlier reference can be found in Wingman Wayne, where the Shamrocks play the Sudbury Nickel Barons, which was a real-life Junior A team that played in the NOJHL from 2012 to 2015.
* The various vulgar nicknames proposed in the online poll reflect the general susceptibility of Internet polling to manipulation; prominently, in 2016, the winner of a public poll to name a new £200 million British science vessel was *Boaty McBoatface*, a name eventually given to one of the submersibles it carried. Similarly, in 2009, *Colbert* received the most votes in a NASA poll to name a new module of the International Space Station, the work of Stephen Colbert fans. Eventually, NASA named a treadmill the C.O.L.B.E.R.T. (Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill).
* The premise of the episode is understood in the larger context of controversy over the use of Native American/First Nations team names and mascots in the U.S. and Canada. Starting in the late 20th century, many non-native teams named after native peoples, or more generically as "Indians," "Braves," "Redskins," and so on, have been renamed, reflecting greater sensitivity to the matter.
* The Hard Right logo employs the colors used in the flag of "Kekistan," a fictional land of "shitposters" on 4chan. The circumscribed triangle logo is reminiscent of logos used by Generation Identity and other so-called "identitarian" groups, but also of the "I Will Kill You" symbol of Trackanon, the alien overlord from "Scepter," episode 10, season 1 of Jay Baruchel's 2015–17 FXX show *Man Seeking Woman*.
* The character Hard Right Jay uses numerous insults and tropes associated with the so-called "alt right" in the U.S., but also those of more traditional white nationalists, men's rights advocates, and other allied groups; these include "snowflake," "cuck," "beta male," or "globalist." A "Tumblrina" is a stereotype of an easily offended female who posts rants about her offense on the blogging service Tumblr.
* Jay's white polo shirt, khaki pants, and tiki torch are a reference to participants in the infamous "Unite the Right" rally of August 11 and 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia USA, in which there were numerous clashes between a number of right-wing extremist groups and counterprotesters, and where counterprotester Heather Heyer was murdered. A widely distributed photograph of a Friday night march showed a shouting Peter Cvjetanovic, a University of Nevada student, dressed in a white polo with an Identity Evropa logo, carrying a lit tiki torch.
* Ian Hanomansing and Gloria Macarenko are well-known CBC journalists and news presenters.
* Ron Asheton of the Stooges was an enthusiast of military history, and had a known interest in Nazi memorabilia. There are reports of him wearing Nazi emblems, though this is generally acknowledged to reflect a "punk" sensibility of provoking controversy, rather than any known political sympathy.
* Sacagawea was a Shoshone woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition as a guide and interpreter, and who is featured on a U.S. $1 coin. Donald Trump has used the name to mock U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who claimed to be of Native American ancestry during her academic career.

## Trivia

* This is one of the only episodes of *Letterkenny* that does not include any scenes on Wayne and Katy's farm
* The "city" newspaper, the *Metro Free Press*, appears to carry headline of local interest: "Global Moose Count Underway," "Charity Concert Supports Youth," and "Sports Gambling Plagues a Community," the last foreshadowing the "degenerate gambling" that corrupts the Letterkenny Spelling Bee.

## Music

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

* Last Hack by The Hunches (Hard Right Jay arrives)
* La Rondine: La rondine, Act I: Chi il bel sogno di Doretta performed by Ľuba Orgonášová (the donnybrook)
* The Rest Will Follow by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead (closing credits)

## Locations

* Ukrainian Centre
* Basement
* Hockey arena
* John Letterkenny Field

## Appearances

* Dan
* Daryl
* Wayne
* Katy
* Bonnie McMurray
* Hard Right Jay (Jay Baruchel)
* Stewart
* Roald
* Everett
* Reilly
* Jonesy
* Mary-Anne
* Betty-Anne
* Tanis
* Axe
* Slash
* Shania (Jade Willoughby)

## Gallery

At the Ukrainian CentreReading the BannerJohn Letterkenny FieldThe dark web is yoursLooking for the alphawNo patience for JayThe Hard Right gathersTanis a little punchy