My Name Is Earl: Stole a Motorcycle

The last week episode I was introduced to Earl's life after prison, which wasn't much of an improvement seeing as he was now in a coma. While his body lay lifeless in a hospital bed, his imagination was busy living inside a classic three-camera sitcom. It was nice to see the show returning to form this week with an episode that took advantage of all those timeless sitcom clichés wrapped around some creative non-linear storytelling.

I learned that crossing items off the karma list improves Earl's health. As a result, Randy decides he'll work on the list in order to help his brother. When it's determined that his first item is "stole a motorcycle," Randy begins his quest to not only return the bike, but to remember all the craziness that surrounded the theft as well.

The chronology of events was a bit confusing at times because one third of the episode took place in the present day, one third took place in flashbacks and the last third took place inside Earl's imaginary TV show, "The Hickeys." It was like a sitcom version of Memento only with a Scooby-Doo-type mystery. That's not an insult, but rather a compliment given the time constraints and the fact that this is a comedy after all.

Once the show unfolded and pieces were put into place, it became evident that a lot went on that night, including a drunken limbo contest, an assault with a "pantenna," (a TV antenna with panties hanging from it), and a mini-car chase through Camden County. However, the funniest exploit of the night had to be when Randy, dressed in a chicken suit, entered the Crab Shack and threw customers' chicken dinners on the floor while screaming, "You're eating my baby!"

Whereas the last episode didn't execute the idea fully, there was no escaping the very funny and self-aware laundry list of sitcom clichés on "The Hickeys" this time around. There was 1) the classic husband/wife misunderstanding due to someone overhearing a double entendre-filled conversation. 2) A perfect freeze-frame right before the commercial break with the actors in mid-smile staring into the camera. And of course what sitcom parody would be complete without the crème de la crème of clichés: 3) a pregnant woman giving birth in an elevator. This episode took full advantage of all the built-in humor a sitcom parody provides and it was great to see the show fully embrace the idea, now that it seems to be a running gag in these next few episodes.

The decision to have Randy work on the karma list is an interesting twist. It's still a show about redemption, but now it gives Randy more of a purpose other than playing second banana to Earl. This opens up a new realm of comic possibilities as well, given that Randy is a dim-witted buffoon who tackles problems much differently than his brother. Earl can't stay in a coma forever, but it will be interesting to see where they take this idea and for how long.The producers should get credit for going in a slightly new direction, while still staying true to the spirit of the show.

Hopefully I'll soon be able to learn about Billie's fate and explore her present day character as well as her June Cleaver alter ego. Overall, this was an improvement over the last show. While not at the level of the series' best episodes, they executed some interesting storytelling devices and delivered some solid jokes throughout the episode.