"Drive By" is the seventh episode of the HBO comedy series ''
Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's come ...
''. The episode first aired in the United States on Sunday, July 29, 2007.
Plot synopsis
A sidewalk fruit vendor, Sinjay (
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series '' Mas ...
), refuses Bret and Jemaine service due to the fact that they are New Zealanders. He disinfects the fruit they touch, and they leave empty handed.
They visit the consulate for a band meeting, where Bret is clearly upset about the incident. There they meet Jessica (Joan Hess), the pretty blonde tech support lady who is upgrading the consulate's computers from aging
VIC-20
The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...
s to newer IBM PCs. After she leaves, Murray tells the band that he is in love with her. Bret asks Murray about his wife, Shelley, and Murray reminds them that they are separated. Bret receives a package from home — his favorite cardboard box — and Murray lends them a tape of New Zealand TV shows that he received from his mother.
At their apartment, the pair discuss the incident while they watch some of the recorded shows on Murray's tape. One of the shows is episode six of a children's program called ''"Albi The Racist Dragon"''. Bret, still upset about the vendor's attitude, watches from the comfort of his cardboard box.
At Mohumbhai & Son, Bret and Jemaine consult Dave about the racism they experienced. Dave informs them of the great amount of "prejudism" against the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
that exists in America. Ignoring their insistence that they are not English, Dave admits that even he hates them sometimes. A montage of scenes follow in which we see Jemaine and Bret being jostled on the street, being denied entry to a nightclub, getting cheated by a hot dog vendor, and being forced to ride at the back of a bus.
They try once more to buy fruit from Sinjay but are chased off again. The frustrated pair ride off on their bicycles singing ''"''Mutha Uckas''"''.
At another band meeting, Murray fakes a computer problem in order to see Jessica again. He asks the band to help him with a love song he is writing for her (so far he has written one word — "Hi" — which Jemaine admits is better than he expected).
Back at their place, Bret, Jemaine and Dave try to come up with ideas for dealing with Sinjay. Dave suggests that they frame him for murder by poisoning his fruit, but settles for merely teaching Bret and Jemaine how to " flip the bird".
After Sinjay escalates the conflict by nailing a kiwi fruit to their door, the boys storm to his fruit stand to confront him. They furiously flip him the bird and chastise him for his racism. However they soon realize that he has New Zealanders and Australians mixed up, and it is actually Australians that he hates. Realizing his mistake, the vendor apologizes and gives them some free fruit.
Back at the consulate, Murray learns from Greg that Jessica is gone, as her upgrade work is complete. A despondent Murray sings "Leggy Blonde" to his lost love.
Over the end credits, we see shots of Bret, Jemaine and Sinjay flipping the bird to the guard at the Australian consulate.
Notes
* We learn that Murray is married, which explains the wedding ring that he has been wearing in the preceding episodes.
* We discover that Dave is of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n descent, as is
Arj Barker
Arjan Singh Āulakh (born 12 August 1974), known by the stage name Arj Barker, is an American comedian and actor from San Anselmo, California. He has toured in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. He was born to an engineer father a ...
, the actor who plays him.
* This is the only episode of the series in which
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...
(Mel) does not appear.
Songs
The following songs are featured in this episode:
"Albi the Racist Dragon"
"Albi the Racist Dragon", sung by Jemaine, concerns the eponymous dragon's persecution by an angry mob and subsequent redemption, through the companionship of one of his victims, a "badly-burned Albanian boy." It is mostly spoken word set to an
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
sequence in a children's TV style. The animated sequence was directed by Oliver Dear, a
storyboard artist
A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.
Work
A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mark ...
and illustrator. The plot parodies the simplistic and ridiculous resolutions that occur in plots of children's TV shows.
"Mutha'uckas"
"Mutha'uckas" features Jemaine and Bret singing about their frustration with the racist vendor and other annoyances of daily life.
"Leggy Blonde"
"Leggy Blonde""Flight of the Conchords" album – Sub Pop Records is a love song, sung by Murray, about Jessica, the tech support lady. Bret and Jemaine sing backup, and other consulate staff provide percussion using office supplies.
Cultural references
The first TV show we see them watch on Murray's video tape is ''
A Dog's Show
''A Dog's Show'' A Dog's Show NZ On Screen. is a
''. This is a real New Zealand television show from the 1980s that broadcast
sheepdog trial
A sheepdog trial (also herding event, stock dog trial or simply dog trial) — is a competition or test for working abilities of herding breeds dogs. It is a type of dog sport that emerged in the 1860s in New Zealand. By the 1870s regular trials ...
competitions.
After this, we hear an ad for ''What Have You Done to My House?'', another TV show. This show is fictional, but satirizes a number of shows with the same premise.
In the advertisement for the New Zealand's Library telephone service, the man (
Taika Waititi
Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at ...
— the writer and director of this episode) asks to reserve the new
Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...
album. The Gipsy Kings are a French band.
Dave makes reference to the film '' Escape from Alcatraz''.
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The bicycle-bouncing shots were filmed nearby at the Worth St end of Columbus Park.
* Bret and Jemaine confront Sinjay with their "offensive hand gestures" on the corner of Mosco Street and Mulberry Street in front of Columbus Park.