Yup. Scotty's character has made some unexplained changes. I think he lost his flamboyance based on the producers and writers ideas on the role. Maybe Luke wanted the change as well. Anyway, I think it was a great change. I like the new Scotty much better than the initial one. On the accent side, I didn't really notice a change. I don't think he ever had a real Mississippi accent. He may have dropped it since it was already poorly done.

His parents were initially in Mississippi, but if you notice from the wedding episode neither one of them have a southern accent. But you will notice (as I observed in a couple screen shots) Scotty's address book does show a Mississippi address for his parents that has been crossed out with an Arizona address right below.

The lack of southern accents has not be explained. I think his parents are from another state, but moved to Mississippi when Scotty was young. Thus they don't have an accent and Scotty's accent is influenced by his youth in another state and his time in Mississippi.

 

PS. Here is a fantastic K&S fanvid to help you get through the loooooong summer hiatus. http://youtube.com/watch?v=o_hxPD15JQE&feature=PlayList&p=B36A1C0B1DAB3F4B&index=9

I dont think scotty ever DID have a southern accent to begin with.

As for his flamboyancy....eh, i think he has a bit of it left...maybe not as noticeable as he did in the first season...but it's still there a tad....

 

I don't remember much of a Southern accent or a flamboyance so much as a flirtiness with Kevin from the beginning -- and I do remember his first appearance, which was one of those POW! who is that? appearances that turns a day player into a regular -- but when a person flirts, he or she often engages a certain "something extra" that, in the case of a boy from Mississippi, might be a little extra spin on the accent he's pretty much dropped, or a little extra mannerism that might be called "flamboyant."

As for Scotty's parents, there's any number of reasons or times during Scotty's life at which they would have moved from Mississippi to Arizona -- lots of people move to the desert for health reasons, so they might have done that after Scotty was grown.

What I don't understand is why the writers picked the name "Bertha" for his mother. I come from a family with some pretty darn weird names, but I don't know anybody in their 50s or early 60s (which is what she and Michael O'Keefe are) named Bertha.

I guess Scotty said it best in 2.03: "I've been trying to be a grown up." And I agree with Kevin's reply: "It's hard work, isn't it?"

I think that Scotty realised that if he wanted to be taken serious as a sous-chef, he would have to change his attitude and act a bit more mature, more responsible.

I agree - it wasn't particularly southern - just flirty. The "trying to be a grown up" comment - as well as his attitude and new goals fit in.