I think Earl’s list is becoming too limiting. Right now he’s looking at karma as things he has to tick off a list. He needs to decide if making good for something on his list is the “right” thing to do. And we started seeing that with the episode “Frank’s Girl.” Earl started making a new list, and one of the things he put on it was the break up of Frank and Billie’s relationship. Initially, his only thought was to put Frank and Billie back together. But after speaking to Billie, Earl realized she was studying to be a nurse but stopped after coming under Frank’s influence. Earl realized for Billie’s life to turn around, he had to abandon that item on his list. He then got Frank to agree that staying away from Billie was the best thing to do for her. Earl began to figure out the real meaning of karma. You have to really examine the decisions you make and how they affect others instead of slavishly ticking items off a list as though you were shopping for groceries.
I’m not saying Earl should abandon the list, but he should start to grow beyond it and understand how he can truly make a difference in a person’s life…