This is an uncharacteristically weak episode that's mostly devoid of story and constructed mostly of comedy vignettes as Earl celebrates his birthday at the Crabshack.
Proud of a year of doing good, Earl is constantly reminded of all the bad things he's done in the past--the practical jokes he's played on Randy, the way he made fun of Joy when she was pregnant, the way he mixed up the Crabman's pot brownies and his regular ones, the time he peed in the middle of his parents' living room, etc. etc. We do get to see Beau Bridges back as his dad, Earl Hickey Sr. and the return of many favorites such as the one legged girl, Donnie Jones, the guys from Earl's "english as a second language" class and more, but the construction of this episode is pretty much one joke after another at the sacrifice of story and character. And once again Catalina is left with nothing to do.
In the end, the results are disappointing, especially for a "sweeps" show. Some of the jokes are funny, but in the end this episode points out how important story and character are to the success of "My name is Earl".
Proud of a year of doing good, Earl is constantly reminded of all the bad things he's done in the past--the practical jokes he's played on Randy, the way he made fun of Joy when she was pregnant, the way he mixed up the Crabman's pot brownies and his regular ones, the time he peed in the middle of his parents' living room, etc. etc. We do get to see Beau Bridges back as his dad, Earl Hickey Sr. and the return of many favorites such as the one legged girl, Donnie Jones, the guys from Earl's "english as a second language" class and more, but the construction of this episode is pretty much one joke after another at the sacrifice of story and character. And once again Catalina is left with nothing to do.
In the end, the results are disappointing, especially for a "sweeps" show. Some of the jokes are funny, but in the end this episode points out how important story and character are to the success of "My name is Earl".