TV Verdict

There are some episodes that are undone by continuity errors, predictable writing, and rather convenient plot twists. Then there’s this week’s episode, where even though some of the writing was a bit dicey, it doesn’t matter because the emotion and humor is so strong that it’s ultimately easy to overlook the flaws. There may have been episodes this season that were better-constructed but it’s hard to recall one that was this sweet and touching. I feel the obligation to point out some of the things that didn’t sit right with me (mainly because that’s my job), but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. This episode was just too poignant to get anything less than a thumbs-up.

So who is Pinky? It’s a long story that begins when Earl and Randy are reminiscing at the Crab Shack about Randy’s brief dalliance with the Camdenite girl from last season’s finale. Randy then recalls the one girl he truly loved: Pinky, a pink-haired adolescent he met back when he and Earl were still kids. Back then, Earl and Randy were sent off to take care of their horrific Aunt Gail at a lake far from home. There, as Randy skipped rocks and earned the nickname “Skipper”, he met Pinky, a girl with pink hair who was so impressed with his rock-skipping abilities that she became his sweetheart and promised him his first kiss. Randy prepared himself to meet her one night for his kiss, but she never showed. Randy is reminded again when he sees Joy bring in Dodge to the Shack for a time-out after he spent time with a neighbor’s daughter that Joy deeply disapproves of. So Randy and Earl return to the lake and convince the lake’s harbormaster to recall who Pinky could have been, and after a 6-hour search of his very ancient records, he calls Pinky and sets up a meet between her and Randy. Earl is hesitant, insisting that the whole thing will end badly and begging Randy not to get his hopes up. Randy fantasizes that he and Pinky will once again fall in love, that she’ll leave her husband for him, they’ll move to Connectikit (sic), and they’ll have 3 kids: Taylor, Brent, and Lizzie. He insists that he’s not getting his hopes up, however, because Lizzie will have cerebral palsy. Clearly, he’s being very realistic. Then he finally sees Pinky, in her pink wig, waiting for him on the same bridge they would have met originally. This set up the biggest reveal: Pinky was actually a very young, yet strangely recognizable, Joy.

Okay, so this was something of a stretch. Given that Joy has always had a distinctive personality, wouldn’t Randy have noticed at some point over the last 5 or 6 years that his ex-sister-in-law bore a stunning resemblance to his childhood love? The episode even pointed out that Joy has been exclaiming “Oh, Snap!” since childhood, so surely Randy would have caught on. Yes, as Randy himself would say, he’s not the sharpest knife in the toolshed, but still, he’s not that stupid. And also, how could Randy proclaim that Pinky was the only girl who ever loved him? How about Catalina? (Remember her? Somebody? Anybody?) Or the crazy cat lady played by Amy Sedaris? Furthermore, wasn’t it rather obvious that when Earl seemed so unenthusiastic about Randy tracking down Pinky he was really trying to hide something, namely his forged note that broke them up? That was kind of a predictable point in the story.

Still, having gotten that out of the way, let me say it: as much as I winced at those flaws, I just couldn’t help liking this episode a lot. When Earl finally convinced Joy and Randy to meet in order to make up for what he did to split them up, it seemed initially like it would simply be a dud. As Randy pointed out, Joy looks mean on the outside and is mean on the inside. However, as he also added, somewhere in there was Pinky, who really did love him. Even despite her attempts to sanitize his mouth with bleach and rubbing alcohol, eventually, she did remember, once he started skipping rocks on the lake, why she liked him. Their last scene together, where they finally kiss and relive their past memories, was so sweet that it pretty much overshadowed all of the writing errors, especially when Randy was still trying to cop a feel all these years later. I know some viewers may have been put off by some of the gross-out gags, such as Aunt Gail’s back fat and Randy’s Booger-Cam, but I thought they were fairly tame compared to what we’ve seen this season (nothing will ever top Randy grilling and eating human organs). Besides, for me the really gross part was that bizarre Doritos-stuffed turkey Joy was making at one point; I don’t even want to think about what that could possibly taste like. Also, special mention to this week’s very brief celebrity cameo, Bernie Koppel (The Love Boat) as the decrepit but helpful harbormaster. Overall, an enjoyable episode even despite itself. It’s just too bad for poor Earl that he got labeled as a pedophile twice, both for completely different and erroneous reasons. Forget it, Earl. It’s Camden County.