Originally based on a YouTube series of shorts called Letterkenny Problems that debuted in 2015, Letterkenny, the TV series, has run through an incredible 12 seasons in just eight years. 

 

The show follows a group of four working class friends from rural Ontario who are hardworking, hard drinking, and strangely obsessed with pop culture. Tonally, there are similarities with everything from early Kevin Smith to Gilmore Girls, in that the dialogue is rapid fire, the vernacular is totally distinctive, and the payoff for viewers can range from a disinterested shrug to a rabid devote. 

 

Series creator Jared Keeso plays Wayne, "the toughest guy in Letterkenny" who lives on a farm with his sister, Katy (Michelle Mylett). With them almost always are Darry (Nathan Dales) and Squirrely Dan (K. Trevor Wilson), two loyal friends who work on the farm and are constant companions. 

 

The core foursome is affectionately known as "hicks," and the town is also populated by other social groups dubbed "skids" (emo/goth kids obsessed with drugs), jocks (hockey players), Christians and natives, among others.

 

Keeso cowrote most of the series with Jacob Tierney, who plays the barely closeted town pastor, Glen. The cast are mostly unknowns outside of the series, almost exclusively Canadian, and there have been very few changes or additions throughout the dozen seasons. Episodes run around 20-25 minutes and generally breezy, with just a handful of setups that are almost always self-contained and resolved right away. 

 

It's also worth mentioning the unique selection music, mostly in the punk, indie rock, and garage genre, with occasional bits of trap and house thrown in, usually to score moments involving the skids and some harebrained scheme they've cooked up. The score, along with the rural Canadian setting, play almost a big a role as the cast of characters. 

 

In the final season, Darry finds himself on the outside looking in with the friend group he's had for virtually all his life. He falls in with a group of "degens" after meeting a pretty girl at a bar that someone dubs "Degenifer Lawrence." Instead of drinking beers after work at the farm, he spends his time at a Canadian trailer park where activities include chasing each other through barren fields with a loaded rifle. 

 

Squirrely Dan, meanwhile, contemplates becoming a Mennonite, Katy thinks about moving to Mexico, and Wayne finds himself on the outs with longtime girlfriend, Rosie (Clark Backo).

 

The core four all find themselves "stuck" in one way or another, a kind of meta commentary on the series itself running along generally the same lines for 12 seasons with very little variation. It's a gag, to be sure, but it's one the writers managed to make contemplative and earned for their characters, rather than merely one-note. 

 

Letterkenny is at its best when it’s taking the absurd, weird, vulgar, and mundane elements of a rural community and making them earnest, inclusive, and sometimes even bordering on the sublime. That happens again in the final season, as all the spinning plates set up over six episodes are essentially resolved by one of the show's recurring mantras, "when a friend needs help, you help them."

 

The performances continue to be solid throughout the entire cast, and the incredible chemistry is very much a selling point here. Keeso is the squinty-eyed, strong silent type; Mylett is the whip-smart object of almost everyone’s affection; Wilson is funny and philosophical; and Dales is a particular standout as the focus of much of the narrative. He acts as sort of a POV character as he struggles with his place and his identity. 

 

It’s also just fun to watch this cast spit out some of the dialog that is so fast, so steeped in geographical, social, and pop culture references, almost always said deadpan with a totally straight face. 

 

In a very real way, the final season is all about how sometimes you might feel stuck in life, but you're never really stuck when you're surrounded by people who love you. Granted, that message is filtered through a series of jokes, fistfights, a herculean amount of cocaine, and even a legit country and western music video. But it also feels like this cast very much love each other and what they’ve gotten to do together over the last decade. 

 

It's remarkable that Letterkenny has been so prolific and consistently funny and meaningful, despite the no-name cast, and despite flying under the radar as a streaming series.

 

Longtime fans of the series are likely to drink up the final season like an ice-cold case of Puppers. For those new to the show, well, pitter patter, there's no time like the present to tune in, catch up, and fall in love with some of the best, weirdest, rudest, and most lovable characters on television.