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'Muppets Now' Episode 2: Pepe the King Prawn and 'gay scientists doing arson' steal hearts of fans

The introduction of two new segments, featuring Pepe the King Prawn and Dr Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, was a huge hit with the Muppet fandom

Although the second episode may have had some troubles uploading (an irony which the fans did not appreciate), the wait for the episode seems to have been very worth it for viewers, as the second episode was a marked step up in quality with the introduction of two new segments featuring characters that immediately won the fans' hearts all over again.

The Muppets' characters have been around for decades, and everyone has their favorites. While the first episode wasn't able to cram all of them in (although heavens knows they tried), the second episode brought in Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta), Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (Dave Goelz) and his trusty assistant, Beaker (David Rudman). The fans even appreciated the Swedish Chef's (Bill Baretta) segment more this week, as the Chef mocked safety precautions in his taco-making contest with the toughest actor in Hollywood, Danny Trejo.

"This new episode was SO MUCH BETTER than last weeks imo. Felt a lot more like classic Muppet show to me. It was great seeing Pepe again! I think he had my favorite skit this time around," writes one fan, as Pepe takes the stage to disrupt Scooter's (David Rudman) carefully planned trivia game show.

Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honedew's segment drew a lot of love from the fans, as Dr Honeydew attempts to replace Beaker with a Beak-R virtual assistant on the 'Muppets Lab: Field Test' segment. One fan writes, "I love how the first episode of muppet labs in muppets now is just about arson. The gay scientists doing arson. Litterally that tumblr post of "be gay do arson".

Another fan feels like the show has only deepened their love for Beaker's character, writing, "AYO? MUPPETS NOW EPISODE TWO FINALLY CAME OUT AND I LOVE BEAKER EVEN MORE NOW??"

Some fans, of course, just want to watch the world burn, no matter how terrifying that may be. "Retweet if Beaker turning to second-degree murder during an unscripted segment of Muppets Now scarred your childhood." 

Even fans who aren't sold on the show's format agree that the show's still just plain funny, like this one fan, who writes, "Episode 2 of Muppets Now was much better & I got so many laughs with Swedish Chef Vs Danny Trejo! Still not a fan of the format, but funny is funny." 

One fan writes a heartfelt plea to others who might have been turned off by the show's first episode, writing, "I saw a lot of unhappy reactions to episode one of #MuppetsNow, but please... please watch episode two. It is three times as funny as the first one. If it keeps growing the way it has between these two episodes I’m going to die of laughter. The Muppets are back, man. They’re here."

The next episode of 'Muppets Now' will air on Friday, August 14, on Disney+ at 12 am PST.