TV-Reviewed

Yes, unfortunately we do get these types of episodes of My Name is Earl every now and then. This episode doesn’t really show any growth in any of the characters and is merely there to entertain us. Unfortunately, there were some good moments, but overall it was merely a decent affair.

This week, Earl takes on the daunting task of crossing off two things off his list. Now crossing off one thing takes up a whole episode so trying to fit two things doesn’t work out so well. The first thing Earl crosses off is “cost Randy the chance to have a big brother”. Some of these things on Earl’s list are a bit ridiculous and Earl being responsible for his mother getting her tubes tied didn’t feel right. Since apparently Earl’s mom can’t just have another kid when her kids are both over thirty, Earl sets Randy up with the big brother program, which Randy ultimately is rejected.

Eddie Steeples as Darnell

Randy then decides to take care of Catalina’s nephew Oscar. When Randy sees Oscar steal a tip from a table, he goes to confront him about returning it. Then Oscar gets Randy to believe that he’s doing voodoo. A little kid doing voodoo is a bit of a far-fetched thing even for Earl.

There were some good moments in this episode mostly due to the ridiculous comments Randy kept making and the way he reacted to the whole voodoo thing. Earl talking in his high-pitched voice was somewhat amusing also. I also liked that the character brought into question Earl’s belief in Karma. Earl kept saying that voodoo wasn’t real, but believed in Karma and it was cool to see Oscar bring it up and make Earl think about it. The whole belief thing didn’t really pan out into anything deep though.

Earl’s second item was “ruined Dodge and Earl Jr’s Halloween,” but there wasn’t a lot of time devoted to this item. In fact, Earl crossing it off his list just seemed too easy and due to the other item, he just was able to cross it off.

Fitting two tasks from the list onto this episode was a bad idea and the fact that either one led to any character development or even a very good episode is disappointing. I’m not sure if we were supposed to feel bad for Oscar or what because if we were supposed to feel some sympathy for him, it didn’t work. Even at the end when Oscar saves Randy, it doesn’t erase the fact that he acted like a monster the entire episode.

There were some things to like about this episode, but ultimately this episode just seemed like a lame way to cross two items off the list.

Rating: 6.5