(S02E22) Continuing on his quest to become a real adult, Earl goes and finds himself a job. And of course Randy gets a job at the same retail establishment because, well... he's Randy.This episode was also the very special "laugh n sniff" episode. If you shelled out a couple of bucks for this week's TV Guide, you could pick up a card with 6 different odors. Rub the numbered odor when a number pops up during the episode, and you'll get a bit of extra-sensory Earl. Turns out all the odors smelled a bit like paper and a bit like something else, be it junk food or cologne.
I don't think the olfactory gimmick added much to the episode, but it didn't really detract from it either. Other than the cologne, there didn't seem to be too many "smell me" moments thrown into the episode just for the hell of it.
As for Earl's ongoing efforts to become a real man, we were treated to an examination of class warfare as Earl learns that the stockroom workers do not mix with the show floor employees. He may have his GED, he's told, but the sales staff went to junior college.
The explanation of the differences between the Dockers and the Dickeys may have been one of the funniest things I've heard on Earl or any other show for quiet some time. "In a perfect world, we'd switch pants, but Dockers doesn't make a coverall."
Sean Astin didn't get nearly as much airtime as I would have expected in this episode. If he's going to play a jerk, it would have been nice to see him play even more of a jerk. But most of the action happens in the back room, where we see Earl struggle with his choice to move up in the world, and Randy's desire to just fit in.
Meanwhile, Joy prepares for the possibility of going to jail by selling most of the items she and Darnell own and buying a blow-up doll so that her husband doesn't get lonely. None of it makes any sense, "but hey," I said to myself, "since when has Joy ever made any sense?" That said, I was taken completely off guard when the plan finally did make sense, and it turned out that all along her goal had been to flee the country.
Hopefully her flight to Mexico means we'll get to see Catalina's family again. If there's one thing that the producers love, it seems to be recurring characters.
And as for character backstory, we find out how Earl decided he wanted to live his life with a mustache: the first time he drank chocolate milk. The irony that voice-over Earl says this line in all seriousness while fulfilling the second part of his three-part quest to be an adult is delicious. Almost as delicious as chocolate milk.
On a scale of 1 to 7, I'm going to give this episode a 6.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-03-2007 @ 10:56PM
Zach said...
I thought the best part of the episode were the Rudy references. Both Astin and Charles S Dutton were in the film and this episode. Esp Duttons speech to Earl and all the dock workers putting their cards down on the bosses desk mimicked Rudy exactly. Well done tribute,
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5-03-2007 @ 10:56PM
Really said...
How can you review this episode without mentioning the homage to the film Rudy? Half the people in the store were in Rudy. Earl was Rudy for pete sake.
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5-03-2007 @ 10:56PM
David Woods said...
What a great episode. I was blown away when the Rudy thing hit me. :-)
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5-04-2007 @ 12:07AM
Mark said...
The store owner was the head coach in Rudy. What a great send up
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5-03-2007 @ 10:57PM
Bill said...
I didn't get the Rudy thing until Charles S. Dutton said "Six-foot-something, a hundred and something," and then I was absolutely dying the rest of the episode. This was one of my favorite episodes ever, I think. Great guest stars, great parody, and a good story too.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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5-03-2007 @ 11:04PM
Steve Shickles said...
What a great episode.
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5-03-2007 @ 11:31PM
Borat said...
Ok I have not watched Rudy so I have no idea that they referenced it, but it was still a great episode!
At it's core, Earl is a sweet show.
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5-04-2007 @ 12:42AM
Donnie said...
I was blown away by the endings of both stories- the Rudy thing and Joy going to Mexico both caught me by surprise. I don't know how I missed that Sean Astin, Charles Dutton and Chelcie Ross were all in Rudy.
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5-04-2007 @ 7:55AM
RSL said...
Am I the only one who noticed there were _two_ Astins in this episode? Mackenzie and Sean?
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5-04-2007 @ 9:27AM
Nova said...
What whiff on that review/recap, you completely missed the Rudy homage. The whole laying down the credit card thing was exactly the same as the laying down of the jerseys in Rudy. Dutton's speech was a great addition as well.
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5-04-2007 @ 5:56PM
zach said...
I agree completely with bill, i knew there was something and then when charles dutton started that speech it just clicked, i can't believe the reviewer did not mention that, it was a basically the second half of the episode.
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5-08-2007 @ 2:39PM
Grover said...
This was one of the Best 'Earl's of the season. Every episode lately has been solid. The Dickies v. Dockers speech... never laughed harder, until the Rudy Homage at the end with the credit cards... WOW, hysterical! And how the heck was that not mentioned at all in the review?! 6.5/7
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5-04-2007 @ 9:31AM
Brad Linder said...
I'll admit, it's my bad here. I knew there was something over the top going on at the end, but I haven't seen Rudy in at least a decade so I didn't put it together.
But that's the beauty of blogging. If I miss an important point like this I can always count on our readers to help out. Thanks for contributing!
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5-04-2007 @ 10:39AM
andy said...
THE RUDY CONNECTION WAS SOOOO GREAT WITH THE SAME COACH AS THE MANAGER AND EARL LIKE RUDY AND THEY COME INTO THE OFFICE AND PUT THEIR CREDIT CARDS DOWN
HOW CAN YOU NOT SAY ANYYYYYYTHING ABOUT THAT IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING IVE SEEN AND I DONT EVEN WATCH EARL I JST SAW IT CAUSE OF OFFICE/SCRUBS
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5-04-2007 @ 10:40AM
h8rain said...
I personally loved the dockers-dickies speech but the delivery seemed a bit off, but still funny none the less
I totally missed the Rudy reference, but I have never seen it, which makes me want to rent it now :)
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5-04-2007 @ 4:53PM
Mel said...
I loved the Rudy homage too. I hate sports, but that movie is so cute.
I'm looking foreward to seeing more scenes with Earl's new job at the appliance shop, and how that may hinder his crossing people off the list.
I actually thought the scents were pretty good, especially the cinnamon bun one, #3. Hope there'll be some cards included in the DVD release.
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5-04-2007 @ 5:13PM
Happy Steve said...
Was anyone else a little leery at finding out what the sex doll smelled like?
Actually I totally forgot about the whole scratch and sniff dealy, so I didn't get to participate in that respect. But when I saw the number pop up, I was like "Gah! There's a scent??"
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5-05-2007 @ 8:19AM
Chrisfa1 said...
Just a Fun Earl Location Tidbit:
Until October, I lived in the neighborhood where they film most of 'Earl."... in fact, my moving day was interupted by filming when they took over my street, and the moving guys couldn't get to my house.
The appliance shop where Earl & Randy worked this week is a real place, and they used the real name "Waadt Appliance" has been there on Sherman Way in Van Nuys, CA for decades I think. I bought my refrigerator there last summer! http://www.waadtappliance.com/
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5-09-2007 @ 6:42PM
Bill said...
Please, please please...someone please tell me the name of the Docker who looks like Ray Romano's 1/2 brother. He's the one who said "that's the Harvard of Camden Junior Colleges" and who loudly called Earl a "Dickie". I need to know this guy's name. I've seen him in Seinfeld and a few other sitcoms, but I never knew his name. Thanks for the help!
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5-10-2007 @ 7:44AM
Michael MacIntosh said...
It took me until halfway through that it finally hit me that this was an homage to Rudy (the boss looked so familiar, but couldn't place him until then). When he did the "100 and nothin'" speech, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. The credit card thing just about killed me. Earl has the best writers on TV since Seinfeld.
To those who haven't seen Rudy - it's one of the all-time greatest sports movies ever. I've watched a dozen times (and the end about 20 times). Go rent it!
PS - The Ray Ramano's brother look-alike was Billy Gardell, better known as The Guy From Those Roundtable Pizza ads (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0974080/).
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