Great episode. It was nice to see that Paul Sr. is not ALWAYS one step away from total brain hemmorage. The scenes with the kid (Cody?) and with #2 son Mikey were actually somewhat touching. The show still balanced that out with some totally randon screaming at Paul Jr. which is what we all tune in for anyway.
I missed the first bit, what was the deal with the kid? Is he on a work study or something? For someone who wants to be a mechaninc or bike builder, man what a break for him. Paul Sr. is really taking time and giving the kid amazing experience not only in bike building, but also all of the “sub-contracting” that goes into it.
Also, a few general questions: 1) Is Mikey disabled or perpetually stoned, or do they just make him look that way for the show? 2) At the Easter egg hunt, did anyone catch the relationships? Paul Sr. mentioned a granddaughter, does Paul Jr. have a kid?
Paul Sr. has a daughter too, so i am assuming that its her kid. Cody works at the shop, he’s been on a couple other episodes (his mom asked if he could work there with them, he built one other bike before.) But he is also on some type of Coop as well from School.
I think they just make Mikey look like that for TV purposes, but he seems to be just there for some sort of comic relief (thats what Paul Sr. said the reason why he’s at the shop for real!)
Cody was allowed to visit the shop and do a few odd jobs by his mom (who I think knew Paul Sr.) He was a huge hit at the shop, and eventually designed a Bike with Paul Jr. The “Cody Project” bike was the nice green one they delivered in Daytona. They even had these cool stickers made up for it.
Since then Cody entered a work-study program at his school, which now allows him to work during some of the days and go to school at night. Paul Sr. loves the kid. Cody is quiet, but works hard, listens well, and doesn’t take sides. The unspoken message is that there is a job at OCC for Cody whenever he wants it.
Mikey is an interesting case. He is none too focussed, and can be wonderfully passive-aggressive with his father, but he handles Paul Sr. much better then Paul Jr. does. Man I busted a gut when the drill bit kit was up there the whole time. Paul Sr. is a riot sometimes. Watching Mikey handle him is very interesting.
Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. are way too similar for their own good. Paul Sr clearly loves both his kids, but handles this emotions with bluster. Also while he is proud of Paul Jr, I think he is a bit jealous as well which leads to him always trying to assert is dominance over Paul Jr. The show is great, and should be required viewing for Psych 101 students.
Thanks for the background on Cody. He’s the perfect sounding board for Paul Sr. because he NEVER says more than five words strung together. I get the feeling though that if he was around Paul Jr. he’d be going right along with whatever Jr. had to say about the old man.
I can’t wait to see how long it takes for the new shop to turn into chaos despite Paul Sr.'s mandate that it stay clean.
I’m betting on hours, followed by the usual meltdown from Paul Sr. Though I can’t take him seriously since I saw an episode a couple nights ago where he was screaming at Paul Jr. and this big, burly guy says “I’m going to get a massage!” as a finisher…
Don’t forget his fear of the dentist. That was a riot too. Paul Sr. is definitely a three dimensional character. Always surprises me in small ways (except for the meltdowns- those are as predictable as the tides).
Personally, I don’t see that happening. Paulie has it pretty good, and something tells me that the yelling and screaming are a normal part of that family. All he has to do is show up and make bikes. And Paul Sr. said it in a previous episode… Paulie only gets to make those theme bikes because Dad’s paying the bills through the sales of the other bikes that shop builds. The name and the reputation are fully established, and Paulie gets to cash in on that.
Plus, I think it would be a mistake for Paul Jr. to try to handle the business end himself. He appears to (understandably) hate that stuff. The exchange about answering the phones was classic.
Sr.: Build bikes, don’t answer the ing phone!
Jr.: I don’t want to answer the ing phone!
Sr.: Just shut up and build bikes, don’t answer the g d phone!
Jr.: I don’t want to answer the g* d*** phone but it keeps ringing!
