The Most Divisive Character On Trailer Park Boys Isn't Who You'd Expect
Trailer Park Boys has come a long way since premiering on an obscure Canadian channel. The boys are now more popular than ever, and the misadventures of Sunnyvale Trailer Park have graced screens all over the place. Unfortunately for the coolest people in the park, not every character is quite so beloved as Ricky (Robb Wells), Julian (John Paul Tremblay) and Bubbles (Mike Smith), and in fact, the most divisive character on Trailer Park Boys might not be who fans expected — because it's Bubble's puppet character, Conky.
Conky, a ventriloquist dummy who is modeled after Bubbles himself, takes on his own persona anytime that he's placed on Bubble's hand. While Bubbles became a a fan-favorite character because he's one of the nicest people in the park — not to mention, his kitties — Conky, on the other hand, is abrasive, rude, annoying, and a bad influence on Bubbles. He also says things that Bubbles would never say and, perhaps fairly, frequently taunts Ricky. This, in turn, leads Ricky to get into fights with the puppet (who he always addresses as Conky, and not Bubbles). There was one time wherein Conky is shown calling the authorities on Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles. In another instance, Julian goes so far as to shoot Conky with a gun (don't worry, he still had his beloved beverage in his other hand).
As a result, whenever Conky goes onto Bubbles' hand, the audience knows that there's about to be hostility between Conky and the boys ... and as the show's Reddit fanbase makes clear, not everyone in the audience enjoys this dynamic, with one poster bluntly writing, "Conky is not funny."
Why does Bubbles use Conky throughout Trailer Park Boys, anyway?
Funny or not, though, is Conky necessary to the show — and Bubbles' character, for that matter? Some would argue that he is. Between Ricky being Ricky, and Julian and Ricky always planning greasy jobs that usually involve taking advantage of Bubbles' kindness (thereby landing them all in illegal waters), Conky seems to function as Bubbles' security blanket. No matter who is in charge, Ricky and Julian put Bubbles through a lot — quite unfairly — and while Bubbles himself is too nice, or not confident enough, to speak out, Conky gives him an outlet to turn to when he's on the verge of going insane.
Basically, unless you believe in the supernatural explanation that Conky is totally separate from Bubbles (which the show does provide evidence for), it would seem that Bubbles doesn't feel comfortable speaking his mind directly, and uses Conky to do it for him. Sure, Bubbles says he has no control over Conky, but his mouth is moving when the puppet speaks. In the aforementioned Reddit chat, another fan, TheHollowCoaster, argued that Bubbles changed after Conky "died," writing how beforehand, "[Bubbles] was much more reserved and nicer. Post-Conky he turned into an arrogant know it all with zero of his previous humbleness."
So maybe Conky was a necessary evil, to get the Bubbles everyone loved. Or maybe he's the worst character on the show. The jury is typically split when it comes Conky's character, but trouble tends to follow him. Needless to say, there's a reason why Conky's puppet carcass belongs at the bottom of a swamp, and as far away from the boys as possible.