This week’s Swamp People is the episode that shows the Edgar clan at loggerheads, with the prodigal son rebelling against the father.
We open the show with Daniel Edgar reflecting on his personal history and his own father, Paw’s, disciplinarian behavior.
Daniel reckons that if he doesn’t continually push on his kids, the law or life will do it for him.
It’s a 30-day non-stop “work, eat, sleep” slog in Franklin, Louisiana, which is where we begin, before dawn of course, and with 150 tags left to fill. The long hours are killing Dwaine who is visibly over it all.
Father Daniel bitches about their smelly boat as Dwaine can barely function. The Edgar boys go play football as Daniel cleans the boat and tells us how disappointed and behind schedule he is while scrubbing out the hold. It’s going badly already.
In Pecan Island 40 miles away, it’s a happier family mise en scene. Prairie Cajun Kristie and hubbie StringBean are making a new tradition. Get them toddlers a-shootin!
Heavy rains have brought the gators to Kristie’s back yard and she “ain’t having it”. Her kids are being raised up just like she was, hunting and fishing from the wee tot age.
In Gonzales, 60 miles west, the Duck Dynasty Uncle Si doppelganger of the show, swamp veteran Glenn Guist, apparently has a lot on his mind.
He has called Todd over to help him sort his thoughts. A mess of flotsam, mostly plastic jugs, is totally grinding his gears. His crazy idea? Make a floating bicycle. He wants to head to New Orleans to get a guy named Peter to make his invention. Off they go. Our Glenn forgets to wear shoes.
Around 90 miles away in the Atchafalaya Basin, the hardest working white man in the delta, Willie Edwards, is in big trouble.
He has yet to turn a profit despite his hard work at the halfway point of the season. He heads to Billy’s lake to catch some big ‘uns.
He pulls up to a downed line. One’s on the line! His gun is jammed and the gator is about to break loose. Edwards explains the reason why the gators are so big in this particular area — it’s due to the deeper water and currents which he claims allows them to get fat, long and happy. Sadly, he has no ginormous gator to haul in.
Back in Pecan Island, the StringBean clan are gator hunting with their two-year-old Griffin in tow.
Kristie reflects on her Navy service and love of her Cajun culture and the simple life of the bayou. And guns.
They really love guns in this part of the world. Understandably, as they live in the American version of Jurassic Park.
But 80 miles away in Buffalo cove, the Edgar clan is in full hunt mode. Guns are loaded and bait is ready. Bugs are flying all around as Dwaine readies the shot.
Seriously, the insect life of the bayou would make me run away and never be seen again! They get the gator and yet Daniel bitches about everything, even simple string which Daniel says is “expensive”. This guy!
About 125 miles away, Todd has driven Glenn to the big city of New Orleans, as Glenn remarks “I ain’t used to no city”.
The crush of humanity is bugging my guy out as barefoot Glenn seeks out the elusive Peter of Peter’s Bike Shop.
They luck out and find it as Glenn pitches him the floating bike idea.
In and around 200 miles away back on Pecan Island, there are flying bugs! No gators! Until…a paltry 5-footer is bagged by the StringBean man.
On Billy’s lake, halfway through the day and the season, Willie has one 7-footer and needs some trophies. A telltale bubble trail is spotted. The gator breaks free. The treble hook is used and success. But it’s a 6-footer. Yawn.
Nobody is doing well tonight as 54 miles away in Buffalo cove, the Edgars are having a bad day too.
Daniel redoes Dwaine’s loop. Daniel tells Dwaine another charming memory: “Paw was rough, he didn’t say do this or that, he’d knock you on your a**.”
So, if you are in New Orleans, you might as well enjoy it, right?
Barefoot Glenn is munching on beignets from the world-famous 24-hour restaurant Cafe du Monde and tra-la-laing down Bourbon street. The only thing missing is a hurricane in his hand from Brennan’s.
Did you fall asleep yet? You will. Kristie and the StringBean gang are on the trail of another gator. He’s a biggie. Psyche! No, he is not. Kristie gets the shot, and another little bitty one is in the boat.
Back to Willie. He’s sucking wind like everybody tonight and his frustration is growing. Bubbles are spotted. It’s a big one. It gets away.
Tensions — like the bad moon — are on the rise.
Approximately 30 miles south in Buffalo cove, the air and discontent betwixt Daniel and Dwaine is thick as gumbo.
The tire is suddenly flat on the Edgar truck. The hot sun and weather exacerbated their dilemma. Their meh-sized gators are starting to cook in the hold.
Dwaine can’t even fix the tire without Daniel hectoring him. The boiling point is quite close for Dwaine.
Meanwhile, Willie is stumped at every turn. Desperate, he needs a win. He bags a 7-footer and toodles on.
The episode’s time-waster award goes to Glenn, whose floating bike is ridiculous.
If he uses it where he lives, it will serve him up close and personal for the gators and gars that live in the bayou.
Except his feet are so crusty filthy and black from walking around barefoot they would probably steer clear of him.
The episode wraps with a crab boil and bitch fest as Joey hears out Dwaine who tries to mansplain daddy.
Joey counsels Dwaine, saying: “He don’t mean no harm, but I understand.”
Joey then points out Dwaine is a chip off the old block which sets him off. We end this delicious dinner with Dwaine stating he cannot take it anymore.
This episode geared us up for what looks like a really exciting episode next week.
Willie has to deal with a poacher, and those in the know understand that in real life, poachers usually wind up as waited-down gator bait.
JP and Tommy have a bonafide monster with a four-foot head that nearly pulls them both in, while Troy eats green gator donuts and the Edgar drama continues to roll boil unabated.
See y’all next week.
Swamp People airs Thursdays at 9/8c on History.