SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers for Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head Season 3, Episode 3, “Scent of a Dumbass/New Couch.”

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head Season 3, Episode 3 hits on the best concept in the history of Beavis and Butt-Head: they’re funniest when they get hurt. It’s an interesting reversal to have viewers rooting against any show’s protagonists, but it works so well because Beavis and Butt-Head often deserve it.

“Scent of a Dumbass” is a perfect example of this idea. Beavis and Butt-Head walk off with a can of mace, and the audience already knows someone is going to get hurt. No episode of Beavis and Butt-Head doesn’t involve something going wrong. But the writing staff don’t just wait for the laughs to come from the calamities; they find the humor in what leads up to them, too.

Beavis has not one but three chances to avoid macing himself—first he points the can in the wrong direction, then he can’t find the “spray hole” while holding it right up to his eye, and then Butt-Head tells him to stop for, of course, a totally unrelated reason. This sequence is hilarious because audiences understand he’s had several chances to escape injury, and yet still winds up hurting himself. In that sense, he “deserves” it because he had every opportunity to do better, and he didn’t. And honestly, no fan expected him to.

At the same time, one can’t help feeling for Beavis in particular, who continues to get the majority of physical pain. In “Scent of a Dumbass,” Butt-Head maces him for an extended period of time while he’s writhing on the floor of the Highland Mall. And in “New Couch,” he gets crushed by the couch after tumbling down the stairs with it, because Butt-Head won’t help carry it. This is the dynamic that Beavis and Butt-Head have always had, but it can still be frustrating.

That’s the sweet spot of Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head. Fans are laughing at them, knowing that they’ve most likely brought whatever happens on themselves somehow, and yet there is still that tiny amount of caring about them as characters. When they get hurt, which is what happens throughout both stories in this episode, it’s funny because they’ve walked right into it—the audience is in on the joke. But what keeps viewers coming back is wanting to see what happens next. It’s not just a series of gags.

Both stories further extend the plot beyond the main joke, which is something that the season premiere did very well. “Scent of a Dumbass” doesn’t stop with the duo macing each other; the bit about them putting the can in the microwave takes it that one step further. Likewise, “New Couch” could have just ended with them tearing the new couch to bits. Yet the reveal of them bringing it into the wrong apartment is a genuine surprise that then adds another layer to the mayhem (sorry, Donna).

There’s a limit to how far Beavis and Butt-Head can grow as characters, even in their Old Beavis and Butt-Head incarnation, because the premise of the show is that they’re static. The Season 1 segment “The Special One” was great because it showed how Beavis could easily better himself if he wanted. Judge and company have kept the show fresh by giving them moments of opportunity or nuance—and then pulling it away. The characters stay true to themselves, but there’s all kinds of story flexibility in how they get to that inevitable disaster. Beavis and Butt-Head getting hurt will never not be funny; it’s how it happens that continues to be interesting.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central and streams on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.