FX's sitcom The League has returned. In "The Lockout," Ruxin (Nick Kroll) is still swaggering from his win, motivating the others to cheat when it comes to draft order. Only Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi) feels guilty, and the others pressure him to stay quiet. Jenny (Katie Aselton), Pete (Mark Duplass), and Taco (Jonathan Lajoie) all experiment with training Kevin. The guys continue to punish Andre (Paul Scheer) for his loss last year, including letting Rafi (Jason Mantzoukas) and Dirty Randy (Seth Rogen, The Green Hornet, Knock Up) shoot a porno in Andre's apartment.
This series is hilarious, and the season three premiere is very welcome. It takes no time at all to get back into the mindset of the group, who are all friends, but pick on each other mercilessly, and will stoop to low levels to win their fantasy football league. Even half an hour into the season, it is clear that Jenny is finally a full-fledged equal, something she struggles with previously. Again, awesome, because Aselton is hot AND funny, and her character can be more masculine than a couple of the guys. Plus, she has sex that she can use as a weapon, something the others lack.
Ruxin and Andre are the most frequent dumped on-ers, being singled out as the weak members of the pack. Kevin is kind, but Jenny and Pete can be pretty cruel. Yet, there is some reason that they all stick together. After all, there are out-of-town members of The League, and they aren't missed or included in any of the events. Instead, no matter how much one individual might have to take some crap, there is a deep affection between them all.
Training Kevin is a very humorous subplot. Pete catches Jenny using a dog training book to do so, and reveals he has already been conditioning Jenny's husband for years, a fact easily proven. But no on expects Taco to be telling the truth when he claims to have high-notized him (that's hypnotized while high). Yet, Taco's tactics save the day when Kevin finally breaks and is ready to confess their shenanigans to Ruxin.
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