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9.1
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EPISODE RATING: Superb
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It's Mother's Day again when Earl remembers that he has never given his mother a Mother's Day gift. Just as he and Randy are about to finish carrying out his long overdue gift, his mother decides her repayment should include Earl doing something for his father.moreless
  • Karma can work in mysterious ways

    9.5
    "Superb"
    This episode was very interesting indeed because we find out that Earl is on his own list and he can't forgive himself for the life he could have had had the mustang not been lost. This brought a lot of funny moments and I for one found this episode to be entertaining on a lot of different levels.

    Mother's Day was a great idea for an episode and the combination of the two was done perfectly, the coupon book being hilarious and showing that sometimes stealing isn't the answer.

    Overall, the plot and jokes of this episode are very good and it also develops the relationship between Earl and his father.moreless
  • Earl is on his own list...

    9.0
    "Superb"
    Earl gives his mother a happy mothers day to make up for all the bad ones she's had. When she asks him to do something for his father, he decides to get back his dad's car that he lost in a road race (telling his dad that it was driven into a lake) when he was 11. But instead of being overjoyed at it's return, Earl's father reveals that it was not his car but Earls, intended to be given as a 16th birthday present. So Earl finds himself in a new position: He's on his own list. He sets about restoring the car, with his dad reluctantly joining in to help. For the first time in years the father and son team are talking without fighting and at last Earl has mended his relationship with his father.

    I liked this episode a lot. It was not as funny as previous episodes (the best lines came from Joy in her side story of having Mother's day without her kids) but it had great character development. Perhaps it was a bit sentimental, but I think it is really starting to show how much Earl is growing as a person. Excellent episode!moreless
  • Earl tries to give his mom her first great Mother's Day.

    9.7
    "Superb"
    I have been getting bored with this show. Over the last month or two, I have mainly been watching the show strictly because my girlfriend and I always watch it together.

    This episode, however, reminded me why her and I began to watch it in the first place. Well written and funny. It was good to see that Earl is finally making progress with his father (a role Beau Bridges plays wonderfully) and the two are becoming closer, which is something those two have never had.

    Watching Joy totally drunk was also a bonus.

    This episode had some great morals in it. Earl and his father stop fighting and work on the car. Joy missed her children so much that she had Randy play with her. This episoded fleshed out some of the characters a bit more, namely Earl's father and Joy.moreless
  • They are all good, but this one is just hillarious.

    9.2
    "Superb"
    These Episodes are almost as compact and fast-pacing as video clips. Bang! Bang! Bang!
    Joke after joke. This one is just really funny. I like the short format and I always look forward to the next one. The characters in this ep. are just great. Earl's ex-wife, her boyfriend, Earl's mother and his father, his brother or the cruel guys at the junkyard. There are played with so much love. In times where ther are so many action series around where the topics are always just sex, terror, crime and the fight for or against it, this series is a highlight in the current us.moreless
  • Earl tries to make up for all the horrible Mother's Days he put his Mom through.

    10
    "Perfect"
    One of the best episodes of the first season. It is both heartfelt and hysterically funny. Heartfelt: Earl finally breaks through his Dad\'s rough facade when he returns a car that he had lost in a drag race. Hysterically funny: The first drag race and then the second drag race where we see all the changes.
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  • TRIVIA (9)

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    • Featured Music: "Things We Do For Love" by 10cc "Radar Love" by Golden Earring "Highway Star" by Deep Purple "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You" by James Taylor "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett

    • We learn that Earl lost his virginity in a public bus while Randy watched.

    • We learn that Earl was meant to be named Carl after his father, but was called Earl when the C was mistaken for an E on his birth certificate.

    • The day Earl moved out of his parents' house is March 14, 1989. Carl uses it as the pass number on his gun safe.

    • Randy remembers the story of the owl that died from smoking from when he was a kid, although he is shown to have poor memory. He doesn't remember that the cat's name was Crackers and he asks Earl what type of cracker he ran over.

    • In one scene, Joy has a pitcher of alcohol that she sets on the table when she plops down next to Randy. During the next couple of cut-away shots, the pitcher alternately switches position between her and Randy.

    • Earl's new Mustang's license plate reads "5IXV293".

    • Just before the Mother's Day flashback all the pool balls are white and after the flashback they are normal pool ball colors.

    • List Trivia: Introduced and crossed off in this episode #42 Cut holes in all of dad's shirts to show his nipples. #108 Lost dad's Mustang. #266 (new) Never gave mom a good Mother's Day . No number Lost my own car, because I'm an idiot. (Added by Earl's dad)

  • QUOTES (23)

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    • Earl: (voiceover) After 20 years of lying to my dad about what happened to his car, it was time to tell him the truth. (Earl knocks on his parents door) Carl: It's not mother's day anymore Earl. Come back next year. (goes to slam the door) Earl: No, no, wait Dad. I'm here for you. I didn't lose your car in the lake, I lost it in a race but I just won it back so I can cross you off my list like mom wanted.

    • Joy: Thank you babies. You boys leaving for a whole week is the best mothers day gift a mom could ask for. Darnell: (holds out the tip jar) Here's some extra spending money. Can you empty it out now? I need the jar for Mr Turtle so I don't have to buy him a seat on the bus. Joy: Oh yeah (empties jar) Here you go. Bye boys. Dodge: We promise not to call Mommy. Joy: Oh, wouldn't answer if you did.

    • Joy: Damnit, who keeps putting Mr. Turtle in the toilet?

    • Earl: (voiceover) I felt bad we forgot about mother's day, 'cos this wasn't the first time we had to scramble at the last minute to get her a gift. Back when we were kids all we had to do was wait for someone smaller, weaker and more prepared for mother's day. (cut to young Earl and Randy waiting to tackle Kenny) We knew we'd find something good 'cos Kenny's backpack was the same place we did our Christmas shopping.

    • Earl: (voiceover) Stolen coupons sure made mom happy; until she realized we'd never let her cash any of them in. (Kay is waiting for Earl and Randy to bring her breakfast in bed) Kay: Those little jerks aren't coming back are they? Carl: Nope.

    • (Randy finds a shoebox buried in the garden) Randy: Hey look Earl, somebody buried a pair of shoes. Earl: Randy, hold on! Randy: Aah! It's a cat's skeleton! I should name him Crackers after our cat that used to sleep in the street.

    • Randy: What about number 42 - cut holes in all of dads shirts to show his nipples. Earl: No his nipples have drooped down like 6 inches so that one kind of crosses itself off.

    • Randy: Hey Earl, there's a long skinny dog lying down in the back seat. Oh wait he's standing up, he just doesn't have any legs. Maybe it's a snake… do snakes have hair? Billy: They do when they're ferrets. You scared? Is that it growed up Earl? You're scared I'll take another car off you? Huh? You scared? You should be, 'cos I'm Billy Reed. You know how many girls I've had sex with? (holds up five fingers) Five.

    • Patty: Alright lets get this show on the road! I got an appointment with a guy who likes to suck on my feet!

    • Earl: I won Billy, the car's mine. Billy: Fine you get the car, but it was a close race; I still got my dignity. Patty: Hey Billy! Is it ok if I cancel your appointment to suck my feet? I'm just not feeling it anymore.

    • Carl: Idiot, that car wasn't for me that was going be your car when you turned 16. Earl: What? Carl: Yep. So I guess I'm not the one who should be on that list. (grabs the list and writes on it) 'Lost my own car because I'm an idiot.

    • Earl: I'm on my own list. What the hell am I supposed to do about this? Randy: Can't you just forgive yourself and cross it off? Earl: I don't want to forgive myself Randy. I mean my life would have been a lot better if I had that mustang. I wouldn't have lost my virginity in a public bus. Randy: And I wouldn't have had to watch.

    • Earl: Mom said I could fix the car here. I can't work on the car at the motel, every time you slide under somebody tries to steals your shoes. Carl: I told you, I don't want the car. Earl: I'm not doing this for you dad. I lost myself a car, I owe myself a car. I'm doing this for me. Carl: Yeah, well fixing a car is a lot of work. So let me know when you give up and I'll call the junkyard.

    • Carl: You're putting a 1970 carburettor in a 65? Earl: It'll fit. Carl: Sure it'll fit. That size 4 dress will fit your mother, but I wouldn't take her out in it.

    • Earl: So I was supposed to be named Carl? Carl: Yep, after me. But on your birth certificate… I've always sucked at cursive so I put an extra loop on the C, so the C looked like an E… and here you are. Earl Hickey.

    • Earl: (voiceover) And then it came to me. What I had cheated myself out of all those years ago wasn't a car. It was a chance to have some quality time with my dad. And now that I got that, I can cross myself off my list. (crosses himself off the list) Carl: Well here you go (gives Earl the car keys) Now the paint's not totally dry so don't let Randy slide across the hood like he always wants to.

    • Billy: You scared? You better be, 'cause I'm Billy Reed! Do you know how many girls I've had sex with? (holds up four fingers) Four. Earl: (voiceover) That was the day I learned I had trouble backing down from a challenge. Young Earl: Come on Randy, lets go get Dad's car. Billy Reed: See ya at the drag strip PeeWee! Ed: Who was the fourth girl? Billy Reed: I counted Trisha twice, 'cause I got her with and without her back-brace on.

    • Earl: Mom, dad hates me. Mom: Oh, hate's a strong word. Dad: (walks into the room) Kay, I remembered the combination, 3/14/89, it's the day Earl moved out.

    • Randy: You're gonna do something for your mom, Catalina? Catalina: My mother is dead. Randy: I'm sorry. Catalina: Oh, it's ok, it was either her or me.

    • Joy: I told you I could drive just fine. Randy: I drove, you were steering with a paper plate in the passenger seat. But, you did get a couple of turns right.

    • (Joy is on the floor and a pitcher of beer falls on her) Joy: Damn it! Who threw their drink on me?

    • Randy: (to Earl)Number 67, ran over crackers. What kind of crackers did you run over? Saltines? Did it make a crunchy sound?

    • Earl: The race turned out to be less about horsepower and more about brotherpower.

  • NOTES (3)

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  • ALLUSIONS (1)

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