Last Friday, Swearnet and Netflix released the twelfth season of Trailer Park Boys, and me being the huge fan I am, binged it all weekend long. Although I haven’t been a big fan of the seasons—or content—post-season-seven, apart from seasons eight and eleven, I am a huge fan of this new one. Not only does it go back to the show’s original roots, it is also a beautiful send-off for our dearly departed friend, John Dunsworth a.k.a. Jim Lahey, the drunk bastard. Before watching the season I had to remind myself that this would be John’s final appearance on the show or any show for that matter, and that was a tough pill to swallow.

Nonetheless, when I was hanging with my friends on Saturday night, we all dived in knowing this would be the end of Jim Lahey. We made it through about four episodes before calling it a night, but already I was hooked. By then I could tell there was something different about this season, and it was the fact that it actually felt like Trailer Park Boys again. Although some of the Netflix seasons were good, none had that classic trailer park feel that the original run held onto dearly. It was refreshing to finally see Ricky be Ricky again, and Julian being about the community and his family, rather than himself. As for Bubbles, he also felt like the original Bubbles, the smart and collected character that he once was—he was actually using his brain and was once again looking out for the boys, trying to keep them in line. The “V” team, as Bubbles labels the trio in season eight, is finally working together again, the way they always did before things became high def.

What I really liked about this season was that the stakes were high and they felt high. At points, I was genuinely concerned for the boys. For example, in episode six “Follow Me The Money” when Julian is on trial for shoplifting, and all hope was gone for his release after his lawyer quits on him, Ricky comes out of nowhere and represents his friend just like he did back in season two, in the episode, “If I Can’t Smoke and Swear. I’m Fucked.” For a little bit there I thought he would be a goner. What’s even funnier is that the judge, the honourable judge Ticklebury, is the same guy that was the crown prosecutor against the boys back in that season two episode. Not to mention that the crown prosecutor in the new season is non-other than, Candy, Julian’s ex-girlfriend from season one. That’s another thing about this season, the call-backs are amazing and well appreciated.

The way the season progresses from Bubble’s having a licensed business to Ricky trying to do legal jobs like fixing Marguerite’s bathroom (which goes terribly), and Julian getting a real job by being a security guard, is classic Trailer Park Boys. What makes it classic is that although all the boys are trying to do things legitimately they either get screwed by the law, by the stupidity of Corey and Jacob, or by Julian secretly doing illegal things. All three of those things end up forcing the boys to do the Big Dirty, like all the other seasons, but this time it seems like it’ll actually work. However, what is also different is the fact that the Big Dirty is a means to get their legitimate business up off the ground. After the Halifax Beer Company offers them a chance to produce their highly in-demand craft beer, Freedom 35, the boys need to come up with fifty-thousand dollars to make their end of the bargain. Of course, in order to do so, the boys eventually come to the conclusion that they must do something illegal. In this case, selling magic mushrooms to the Japanese Yakuza that their old Japanese friends, Dennis and Terry, have contact with. Unfortunately, Dennis and Terry’s pal Cyrus isn’t around for this season so the duo is teamed up with the slingshot-wielding Tommy “Bean” Tombolopolus, who isn’t quite as interesting as Bernard Robichaud’s character Cyrus. Oh well, their roles in the season aren’t that important and so their time on screen works well for what it is.

Another thing that happens this season is that both Ricky and Julian get engaged. Ricky gets engaged to his new crazy girlfriend Susan, who’s a newer and better version of Lucy, and Julian gets engaged to his ex-girlfriend Candy, who also tried to put him behind bars. I really like how Candy comes back and gets back together with Julian, I enjoyed that call-back and felt it was fitting. As for Susan, I was incredibly surprised with how great of a character she turned out to be. She was fierce and mean, and mostly insane, but she actually seemed to love Ricky. She was what Lucy used to be but better. I was never a fan of Lucy, not even in the original run. I was glad that Ricky finally had some relationship drama back in his life because he seems to be himself when he’s got a crazy lady to chase after.

Of course, we needed another antagonist this season as Mr. Lahey and Randy took more of a backseat to thwarting the boys’ plans. For some reason, the dumbest cop ever, George Greene, managed to secure a job as the assistant trailer park supervisor. However, as soon as he gets the job he becomes this tough-mean-bastard and starts acting like Lahey’s muscle, he begins to abuse Randy and shove him out of the picture, and he’s hell-bent on taking the boys down. Only after he slaps Randy across the face in front of him does Lahey realize that George is cancer, and he fires George from the job. Lahey realizes that he can’t let somebody abuse the love of his life. Afterwards, Mr. Lahey and Randy join the boys for their combined mega-stag party, unifying the two parties amicably for the first time. George still tries to take down the boys after they shoot down his drone, but they don’t care and tell him to F-Off.

Of course, in the end, nothing goes right for the boys, as per tradition. Tommy gets caught in the harbour giving the mushrooms to the Yakuza, and he immediately rats out the boys as the responsible party. This ruins their mega-stag as they’re just finishing up partaking in a crash-derby where Jacob has his neck broken for the second time in the season. Candy breaks off her engagement to Julian and he’s obviously upset, but not Ricky, he’s excited because now he doesn’t have to marry crazy Susan. Eventually, police sirens are heard and the boys take off in Bubbles’ Freedom 35 RV, they get chased down the highway and are eventually pulled over after Ricky drives over a spike strip. Realizing that Ricky still has a big bag of mushrooms that he was saving for the mega-stag, the boys, Randy & Mr. Lahey, and Cory and Jacob are all forced to eat them to get rid of the evidence. This seems like a good idea at first; however, when they are in lock-up and begin to trip out and they quickly realize how screwed they really are. All of a sudden, the season ends with the lot of them turning into cartoon characters, same with the world around them. I thought this was a really cool way of showing the state that they were in as well as possibly hinting at going into an animated direction?

The season doesn’t end with Mr. Lahey dying or leaving, it ends with him, along with the boys and his Randers, locked-up in jail, tripping out on magic mushrooms. I liked that. No better way to say goodbye to his character than with a funny moment with all his friends.

After the scene ends, there is a pause, and the “In Loving Memory” appears. This is when I began to cry. I’m not afraid to admit that. I’m quite the emotional guy. I like to cry because I like to feel and Mr. Lahey made me feel for so many years. Not by making me cry but by making me laugh, but yeah, this time he made me cry. What really got me was the short clip that came on after the “In Loving Memory.” It was a clip from John Dunsworth telling us a good final piece of advice. He says something about how the greatest currency is gratitude and finishes off his time on the show by saying, “When you’re dead, you’re dead. But you’re not quite so dead if you’ve contributed something.” I have to say, I’m having a hard time writing those words right now. You sure did contribute something John, you sure did.

When I was much younger, around the age of twelve, my friends and I would pile into the children’s swing-set in my backyard that we had converted into a fort, and we would watch season seven of Trailer Park Boys on our tiny eighteen-inch box TV. My friend Chris, the eldest of the group, owned the season—it was the only season we had at our disposal, but we loved it. I remember watching that season at least ten times and I can’t count how many times I’ve seen it since. I fell in love with the characters, they were all amazing, but I particularly fell in love with Mr. Lahey, the drunk trailer park supervisor. Ever since then I’ve thought that Trailer Park Boys was the greatest show ever created. Of course that doesn’t mean that it is the greatest show ever created; however, I have always thought of it as an above average television series and, for me, it is the greatest show I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. But what I’m trying to say is that for a long time now John Dunsworth, and the boys, made me laugh a lot and I will always be appreciative of that.

I’m not sure what the future holds for this show but I have a feeling the boys will keep going to make sure the legacy lives on. But one thing is for sure, it won’t be the same without our dear friend John “Mr. Lahey” Dunsworth.