Conan O’Brien Must Go wraps its third season with the Philippines, because, of course, he’d save the best for last. The Season 3 finale, which premiered on September 12 locally, sends the comedian to Manila and Batangas, where he tries his hand at acting, hotel management, and real estate, with mixed results across the board.
The episode opens with Conan O’Brien reconnecting with Mustafa Mustafa, a podcast listener who’s “trying to be the Philippines’ greatest action star.” O’Brien brings him along to the set of the daily police drama Sanggang-Dikit FR, where he lands a guest role as a medallion-stealing villain who declares himself invincible moments before getting flipped onto a table and arrested.
From there, he goes to Rizal Park to formally introduce the country to viewers: “Ah, the Philippines. Founded, of course, by King Philip — and Queen Peens.”
There, he meets media producer Inky Nakpil and journalist Girlie Linao, who serve as his Manila tour guides. They walk him through Intramuros and fit him for a barong Tagalog. Describing the piña fabric, O’Brien says, “This resembles my own skin, which is very white and see-through.” The first part of the Manila leg also includes a tour around the walled city on a bamboo bike, complete with a matching bamboo helmet, and a jeepney ride.
At the Manila Hotel, O’Brien tours the MacArthur Suite, a room with past guests ranging from Nelson Mandela to Vanessa Hudgens. He settles into the moment accordingly: “I’m getting chills. I’m sitting in a chair that was once occupied…by Vanessa Hudgens.”
Elsewhere in Metro Manila, he meets a fan named Charles, whose uncle runs Philip Sweets Manufacturing, maker of the once popular Tarzan and Texas candies. To help revive the business, O’Brien puts up a billboard for the brand in Guadalupe, featuring the comedian as Tarzan, and with the tagline, “Me love gum, pardner.”
The trip then heads south to Tanauan, Batangas, where O’Brien helps a fan named Trisha run the front desk at the Bravo Tanauan Hotel. His shift includes huffing glue at reception and unjustly soliciting several tips from a guest, who willingly hands him P100 bills. Between stops, he tries his hand at Filipino street food, though a talking duck intervenes right as he’s about to eat balut, walking him out of it entirely.
The episode, and the season, close in the municipality of Mabini, where O’Brien attempts to buy his own island after learning that the country has over 7,000 of them. “I was thinking I’d have a lot of guests come,” he says. “And then I would hunt them.”
With this finale, Conan O’Brien Must Go rounds out a season that took the comedian through India, the Netherlands, Morocco, and now the Philippines. The show is available to stream on HBO Max.
Frequently Asked Questions
Season 3 of the HBO travel series follows Conan O’Brien on trips to India, the Netherlands, Morocco, and the Philippines. On these trips, he meets fans who have been previously featured in his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend.
In the Season 3 finale, O’Brien travels to Manila and Batangas, where he scores a guest role in the drama series Sanggang-Dikit FR, tours Intramuros in a barong Tagalog, visits the Manila Hotel’s MacArthur Suite, helps run the front desk at a Batangas hotel, and makes a bid to buy his own island.
O’Brien meets Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo, the stars of the cop show Sanggang-Dikit FR, but aside from previews of his guest appearance in the drama, the actors aren’t featured extensively in the travel show.
Season 3 of Conan O’Brien Must Go streams on HBO Max. The Philippines episode was released on September 12 in the Philippines.
O’Brien meets Mustafa Mustafa, an aspiring action star; Trisha, who works the front desk at the Bravo Tanauan Hotel in Batangas; and Charles, whose uncle owns the candy company Philip Sweets Manufacturing.
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