‘Spinal Tap II’ Buries a Crucial Plot Point in the End Credits

This article contains spoilers for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

One of the oddest, arguably least-successful aspects of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is its central emotional arc. But as a great musician once said, there is a fine line between stupid and clever. 

When the film begins, we learn that Spinal Tap hasn’t played together for 15 years, for reasons that have nothing to do with their multitude of cursed drummers who met untimely deaths. It turns out that David St. Hubbins (played by Michael McKean) hasn’t even spoken to his ex-bandmate and former childhood friend Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) in all that time. 

David alludes to some terrible incident that ruptured their friendship, but won’t specify what actually happened. And Nigel is seemingly as confused as anyone, confessing to his wife that he has no idea why David is so mad, and can’t find the courage to ask him. 

Clearly the sequel is attempting to mirror the original This Is Spinal Tap, which also mined drama from David and Nigel’s rocky relationship. As you might recall, Nigel ends up quitting the band after David’s girlfriend Jeanine takes over the band’s management.

But we actually got to see that drama play out on-screen. Here we’re just told that something happened, and we have no idea what went down until the very end. David and Nigel finally hash it out, and David accuses the guitarist of having sex with Jeanine, who it turns out that he married (before she decided to become a nun). 

Nigel protests that he didn’t sleep with Jeanine, but David refuses believe him. They eventually make peace after David realizes that their decades-old bond transcends this one infidelity, leading him to forgive Nigel. But Nigel still insists that he did nothing wrong, and seems utterly baffled by the whole thing. 

Weirdly, David never actually explains why he suspected Nigel of doing the deed with Jeanine, who Nigel basically hated in the first movie, which is a little odd considering that so much of the movie was predicated on this one misunderstanding. 

We do get an explanation of sorts, but not until the film’s closing credits. Just like in the original film, the credits of Spinal Tap II contain additional interview clips and scenes that didn’t make it into the movie itself.

In one brief moment, Spinal Tap’s bassist Derek Smalls randomly tells director Marty DiBergi that he had sex with David’s wife all those years ago. So presumably, it was that affair that caused the mix-up.

That seems like a pretty big detail to stick into the end credits. It’s not like Citizen Kane revealed that Rosebud was a sled while simultaneously listing the names of the boom operator and key grip.