My Name is Earl: The Gangs of Camden County

For two seasons, Earl Hickey has made great strides by righting all the wrongs he's done to people from his past via his karma list. In this episode, karma and his list aren't even mentioned, but Earl is still able to help a ton of people, most importantly, himself.

As a result of last episode's good deed, (helping Glen the Camden Scout get parole), the under-qualified and overwhelmed warden, (played by Craig T. Nelson) offers Earl a deal: help curb the violence between the Latin gang and the Black gang in return for one month off his sentence. Warden Hazelwood needs all the help he can get. His wife is the governor, and she only got him the job so he wouldn't embarrass her by spending all his time at home playing Guitar Hero in his boxers.

Earl takes the deal but soon realizes, not surprisingly, the task is not what he expected. What makes Earl such a satisfying show each week is that while a seemingly obvious problem never turns out to be as simple as it seems, the solutions to that problem are just as unexpected.

As it turns out, the violence isn't the result of hatred between rival gangs, but rather the two gang leaders, Hector and Jamal, intentionally picking fights so they can hide within the ensuing brawl and consummate their forbidden love. Yes, in a very surprisingly reveal, I'm clued into their relationship with a great music cue, (The Persuaders' "Thin Line Between Love and Hate") as well as a full-on kiss right before the commercial break. The episode becomes a homosexual version of West Side Story, with Earl caught right in the middle.

When Earl advises the gang leaders to go public with their relationship, Hector refuses, leaving Jamal as the spurned lover and thus causing violence to escalate further. In easily the funniest part of the episode, Earl's plan to get the guys back together features a twist on two great late-night clichés: the slow-motion hose-down of Jamal's tight white t-shirt and his suggestive eating of a Popsicle. Needless to say, Hector swoons over his lost love.

On the outside, there's another person who's filled with longing. Randy is still miserable without Earl, and continues his pathetic crime spree in the hopes of getting imprisoned with his brother. Failing that, he decides there's only one other way for them to be together. He takes the prison guard exam and scores a "55 percents." Apparently, that's the highest score they've had all year.

This was a solid show with the some great jokes including the warden's incompetent decision to let an outside company use prison labor to build ladders, (you know how that turned out), and Jamal repeatedly expressing his deepest feelings of heartache and desire with, "I feel sad."

The episode also sets up storylines for the future. First, Randy's impending exploits as the worst prison guard in history, as well as a potential "win-win" relationship between Warden Hazelwood and Earl. If Earl keeps helping out in exchange for months off his prison term, he'll be free by the end of the season. Hey! That works out perfectly.