While traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday,s I became enamored with a new-to-me podcast called Till Death Do Us Blart. Hosted by Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy along with Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery, the comedians watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 every year and release a podcast annually on Thanksgiving delving into the intricacies of the Kevin James masterpiece. I've never seen Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, but having listened to the first three episodes of Till Death Do Us Blart (about four and a half hours devoted to Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2), I have a pretty good understanding of the film's nuances. The hosts discuss the finer details of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, including secret characters and the simultaneous meta-genre psychosis of the film.
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With this as background, Episode 10 of Kevin Can Wait provides clear evidence of how this show works in the greater King of Queens Cinematic Universe. As avid readers and Kevin James fans know, Kevin Can Wait is a prequel to King of Queens and takes place after the events of Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. As I've noticed from the detailed analysis of Till Death Do Us Blart, the characters, events, and themes of Kevin Can Wait fit with that of PB:MC2—specifically the two-part Kevin Can Wait Season One finale, called "Sting of Queens." It details Kevin and King of Queens Star Leah Remini going under cover to catch a phony art dealer, which is similar to the art thief plot to Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
In Episode 10, Kevin and King of Queens Star Leah Remini go undercover to get information about a car dealership owner. Throughout the episode, Kevin utilizes many of his skills as a star mall cop in the Paul Blart: Mall Cop franchise, and fans will notice the distinct similarities in the two characters. Kevin also reveals a strange obsession with small electric vehicles—a trait he shares with the Segway-loving Paul Blart. As part of the King of Queens Cinematic Universe canon, it's clear that Paul Blart—burnt out from the high stakes mall cop gig—changed his name and became a regular NYCPD officer named Kevin Gable. Kevin Can Wait picks up after Kevin's career as a cop, when he's happily married to Donna Gable and the father of three children of varying personalities.
Now, here is where our greater mystery comes in: What happened to Donna Gable? In terms of writing, it's clear they needed to find some way to fit Kevin Can Wait into the greater King of Queens Cinematic Universe. To do this, Leah Remini needed to be introduced as Kevin's love interest. Narratively speaking, the question is still unanswered, even if we have a possible motive for the writer's decision to kill off our beloved Donna.
It should also be noted that there was no mention of Donna this week. But I'll be honest, Kevin's Brother (Kevin 2) buying the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs car was pretty funny.
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