(S03E21 / S03E22) "Whoa, not on the menu!" - Earl Hickey
In the entire run of this series, I have never been more sympathetic to any of Earl's situations than the one he is in now. What is a man to do when he has a full-on hottie in his bed and everything she does drives him nuts? I see now why Billie and Frank got along so well.
The sad part is that it seems like Earl is destined to be shackled to women who are just plain evil. Karma takes him to Billie, he can't seem to get away from Joy and any time he meets a woman who seems half way sane, his list gets in the way. I can only hope this is all part of karma's master plan.
As a brief aside, I want to say how much I love the kids who play young Earl and Randy. They are perfectly cast as they look just like the trouble-making kids I grew up with. I don't know what they tell those boys to give them the look of malicious boredom, but it works.
When I found out today that the California Supreme Court had made it easier for same-sex couples to get married, I felt a sense of pride in my country that has long been absent. It's nice to see that some real changes are being made in this country. That being said, I would vote against same-sex marriages in a heartbeat if it assured me that I would never have to see a couple like Kenny and Stuart kissing each other.
I can't wait to see how many people were offended by Earl's hopping adventure. A few weeks ago, all the wheelchair-bound characters seemed to rub a lot of people the wrong way. I guess the writers either like to make folks feel uncomfortable or just don't care if they piss people off. In truth, it's probably a little bit if both.
It makes perfect sense that karma has a special set of rules for past wrongs done unto the opposite sex. We all know the guy who is a great person and treats everybody with respect and kindness except his wife. It's these guys for whom the addendum to the big book of karma was written.
How great is it that the strict religious population of Camden County are just as stupid as the rest of it? The consistency is one of the things about Earl that I admire most. You'd think with all the recurring characters and flashbacks some continuity errors would be inevitable. I, however, have yet to see even one.
I don't know what was more brilliant: having Billie become the evil version of Earl or the CSI:Miami reference. I know that's an easy choice to make but after seeing Catalina in her stripper outfit, I can't really think straight.
I had a feeling that Billie was going to become a permanent resident of the Camdenite community. I'm sure I wasn't the only who saw it as the perfect way for Ms. Milano to exit the series and for everything else get back to normal. While the season has certainly had its ups and downs, I think we can all agree on one thing, the soundtrack for this season's finale was awesome.
Comic-Con Countdown: You ask Sci Fi the questions, we deliver
Giveaway Monday: ER - Season Nine DVD
Giveaways reminder: Stargate: Atlantis, X-Files, Fastlane
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-16-2008 @ 9:21AM
Argent said...
i liked the ending essentially saying 'everything old is new again'. heh.
btw, is it just me or is camden slowly but surely becoming something akin to a live action version of springfield? :)
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 10:01AM
Chuck said...
What a great observation! Last night especially, where pretty much every character showed up, at least for a second. It definitely has that same sort of vibe to it.
5-16-2008 @ 9:56AM
pahles said...
It's monster hunting time. (puts on sunglasses)
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!
I stepped on a nail.
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 10:08AM
Tom said...
I honestly can't imagine how they could have made a worse season of Earl than this one. I hated almost every moment of it. But this finale hit all the right notes. I was honestly thinking about dropping the show but now I'm excited about next season.
Having Billie become "Evil Earl" was brilliant and everything wrapped up so perfectly it almost seems like it was the plan all along. It was a near perfect finale that actually reminded me of how great the pilot had been.
(I was a little surprised that the Catalina/Paco point got completely dropped but that's a minor quibble)
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 10:33AM
Peanut said...
I mostly agree with what Tom said, but last week's show and the finale reminded me of why I like this show so much.
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 11:11AM
Haggis said...
Agreed with everyone else.. The whole season was on teh verge of jumping the shark. Too many ridiculous plotlines that derailed from what we all loved about this show last season:
1. Earl being in jail (Craig Nelson was the ONLY good thing about this story)
2. Earl in a coma (I wanted to stab my eyes out during his coma dream sequences)
3. Earl married and hating it (Although I always welcome the addition of Alyssa Milano to anything)
Last week and definitely this weeks episode reaffirmed my love of this show. I hope they don't try the same stupid ratings stunts next year, they really don't need it.
And the Springfield ref is perfect, and they should expand on that. Have more episode revolve around the weird residents!
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 11:14AM
Haggis said...
Yes, and I lost my mind when they did the CSI: Miami ref. I knew it was coming as soon as Earl started talking in that pregnant-pause way that Caruso delivers his lines every week. And then the sunglasses, and of course the guy screaming like the theme song. I don't know if I would have gotten the joke if I hadn't seen Joel McCale do it so many times on The Soup. :D
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 11:26AM
Chuck said...
Okay, can someone explain the CSI thing? I heard Randy say "Crime Scene in Miami," but I didn't realize there was more to the joke than that. Anyone help out someone who doesn't watch that show?
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 3:11PM
Gowan said...
I'm not sure what you need explained.
CSI: Miami is a spinoff of the original CSI. It is set in Miami. It stars David Caruso as Horatio Caine. Part of Randy's joke was not knowing what CSI stands for (Crime Scene Investigators). Instead he thought it stood for "Crime Scene In: Miami.
Also, Caruso's acting style is a bit...unique. He is well-known for that type of "wind-up and pitch" style setup and then putting on or taking off his sunglasses. "It makes you wonder...was the mob sent to draw us to the crime scene... ....or destroy it?"
5-16-2008 @ 11:56AM
kevjohn said...
The CSI:M scene and the Command Center sequence was about the funniest thing I've seen all year. It really helped to lift this episode which had a fairly mundane first half. I too was about to give up on Earl, but this ep. has renewed my interest. That was a ballsy move by the writers if they'd planned this entire Alyssa Milano story arc like this. There were an awful lot of subpar episodes thrown in there to get to this rewarding payoff.
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 1:06PM
RC said...
I loved the CSI sunglasses joke, but I also really laughed when Earl and Randy were seducing Amish girls. That was brilliant.
http://bitsmack.com
Reply
5-16-2008 @ 2:13PM
Elf said...
I'm kind of hoping that Randy's Camdenite girlfriend sticks around. I love the concept of Randy being her guide to "the outside world" and her treating him as the smartest and most fascinating man around, simply because she doesn't know any better.
But I am still rather peeved that they did not address Catalina's reunion with Paco or her sudden switching of teams.
Reply
5-17-2008 @ 1:26AM
nickmagoo said...
MORE TIM STACK!!!!!!! easily my favorite character. btw, anyonw know if his fake talk show from a few years back is on dvd? that show brought me to heaving sobs of laughter...
Reply
5-20-2008 @ 3:26PM
kevjohn said...
I LOVED Night Stand. The timing of the show was perfect too. It was right at the height of popularity of sleazy talk shows. It did low brow humor, and it did it very well. :)
Oh, and no I don't think it's out on DVD. I searched for it a couple of years ago but turned up empty-handed.
5-17-2008 @ 2:42AM
ral said...
What??? No Catalana-speaking-in-Spanish-to-the-fans this season?? Blast...and I had my dictionary with me this time!
Reply
5-19-2008 @ 1:21PM
Jennifer said...
Man, that episode was great. Better than a lot of what preceded it.
Reply