I dunno, that’s exactly what cracked me up about that scene. Earl was looking back. He saw the bowling ball coming! Jump? He could have just stepped a foot to the left, and it would have rolled on past.
There was just something about the look of despiration on his face, the calm certitude on the cop’s face, and the strange inevitablity of the ball taking him down . . . I was howling.
That element of the surreal over-the-topness worked for me. I agree that the episode as a whole was a bit weak, though.
Okay, I am kicking myself now. Through the whole scene with them fighting over it, I was thinking “God, this seems familiar…” I even asked Mr. Bunny: “Sweetie, are they referencing a movie or something that I can’t think of where everyone is fighting over something really cool?”
:smack:
I really liked this episode, even if the whole arrest/release scene at the end seemed a little rushed.
I liked it, but it wasn’t as good as some of their others – and I agree too that the ending felt rushed.
Going back and looking at it again, I notice that the background music is reminiscient of the LOTR feel, when they first find the badge. Chalk me up as another who can’t believe he didn’t notice it the first time around!
Also, when they throw the badge away, into the stream, there’s an eagle sound that’s reminds me of the Eagles coming to rescue Frodo.
Some Good bits:
Catalina doing the motel laundry in the stream, so she can keep the money meant for use at the laundromat.
Crabman: “Hey Rodney, you’re not a cop. Cops don’t sell fake watches out of their trucks.”
Joy, looking at her watch: “Damn! I thought that said Cuchi!” (Coochie…?)
Earl (to Randy): “We’re not going to start thinking of ways to get an octopus to commit a crime because that just has failure written all over it.”
I think yer’all crazy with the LOTR references. So who was the cop supposed to be? Sauron? I don’t think so. I guess no one can use an item in a show that people obsess and fight over anymore without people calling it “the ring”.
Some coincidences maybe but I don’t think they were going for a full on LOTR parody.
However, you have The (golden) Badge being found half-buried in the sand at the bottom of the stream. Something Our Heroes hoped to never see again. You have the creepy guy that nobody wants to be around who finds The Badge, uses The Badge for evil, retrieves The Badge (all the while hunched over and cackling to himself), and then is destroyed by The Badge (‘lift your shirts, ladies!’).
You also have Our Hero who is the only person who is willing to give the badge up (Earl - Bilbo) to someone else (Stewart - Frodo) who voluntarily makes The Badge (Unwanted police career - One Ring) go away forever (Resigns - Crack o’ Doom).
Hell, if you want to go really nuts you can even say that Someone Else (Stewart - Frodo) was going to turn away from their mission (Stewart Arresting Earl - Frodo Succumbing to Temptation) until their hand was forced by someone else (Bowling Ball vs. Gun - Gollum Biting the Ring Off).
Oh, and what did Earl say The Badge represented? Power. The One Ring was the Ring Of ______.
It’s not a 100% correlation, and I never claimed it was. But you’ve got to be kidding yourself if you don’t think things were pretty intentional in this one.
Quite possibly the poorest choice for a user name…
A blind monkey knows Clint Howard when he sees him…
I really liked this episode but I will agree that the ending with the bowling ball was a little flat. Although we have already seen go to jail while doing his list so I’m gald that they avoided doing that again.
…It honestly blows my mind that people didn’t get the LOTR references… I mean the music alone when the badge is rediscovered scream LOTR.
So we’re doing both episodes on one thread? Cool. I loved when they showed everyone doing their jobs and Randy was giving a presentation, four empty beercans on the floor.
An additional logic error. As the 5 female cops were hauling away “Gollum” they left the Badge on the Ground.
Joy swept in shortly after and grabbed it. I believe she said “Sweet” and then demanded some woman’s jacket.
I’m not willing to go as far as Merijeek with the correlations, but God damn - the scene with the badge in the stream and the music that went with it was a total reference to Golum finding the ring. Also, the overall theme - that power corrupts, was similar to LOTR, although that theme is certainly not exclusive to LOTR.
This from someone who has seen the movies and read the books just once each.