Season Three of Lodge 49

Season three of Lodge 49 does not exist and likely never will.

I only finished watching the first two seasons, which are the only seasons, a few weeks ago, and I miss the show’s quirks and goofiness more than anything. For a show with absolutely nothing at stake, it sure felt like everything was on the line. Is that how alchemy works? I’ll never know — season three is an eternity in coming.

This chlorine-blue AMC show created by Jim Gavin probably struck Breaking Bad fans as too light and airy to be a true desert of human behavior, and for those seeking Mad Men, a limping guy named Dud who isn’t quite the rakish ringer Don Draper is probably hit a bit too close to home. Dud’s carousel-moments aren’t exactly something to which the imperceptive viewer might aspire. He’s a bit more the conned true believer than the sales pitch. He can convince a close friend or two to rally, but he’s not mesmerizing strangers in suits. There’s no real power there — just a lodge full of losers there and a bag full of the all-important toilet paper.

That second season ends with Dud’s twin sister crossing that threshold to the lodge, and she’s struck by the same awe-like déjà vu that she’s been there before that infects and inspires her brother throughout the show’s brief run. She seems on the verge of some true belief. And surely some prophecy revealed is at hand. After…