Poor Ned. Even at the Academy of Sadness, he stress-baked. One night, in fact, he was caught in flagrante delicto by none other than his BFF Eugene, who immediately joined him in the act. This lead, as Jim Dale tells us, to nothing less than a booming industry in which Ned provided comfort-via-pie to his schoolmates, lifting their spirits. Of course, this service came with consequences -- Ned got in trouble with the headmaster -- and he is to learn this lesson yet again years later at the grave of his girlfriend's father. Which he has just dug up. In order to bring the desiccated corpse of her dad back to life. In front of her. As one does.
This was just slightly hard for me to watch, this scene right here. My father died unexpectedly in 2001, and I am glad I have enough perspective on it now to be able to see this and really feel the sweetness of Chuck's reaction beside the good-natured humor the show injects into all scenes like this. That being said, HOLY LORD, they WOKE UP CHUCK'S DAD. I mean, I know they prepared us for it last week, and all, but... was I the only one who thought they'd open the coffin and it would be empty somehow? I was amazed they went there, and impressed with how inoffensive it was, while still being darkly funny. Also, while his appearance is fairly alarming, sure, the man has been dead for 20-something years, right? I was expecting more... uh, you know... I was expecting his remains to not have remained in such good shape, is what I'm saying, but I suppose I am grateful that they did.
After some debate over which one of them will have the first 30-seconds of the interview, Chuck insists ("I'll hit you with a shovel") that Ned go first in order to find out the deal about Dwight. Ned lays down the touch and swiftly explains to Mr. Charles that Dwight is hanging around and seems to be a dangerous guy. "Oh, yeah," Mr. Charles confirms. Dwight's a bad guy. "Oh, no," Ned cringes. "He stole Chuck's -- I still call your daughter 'Chuck,' still, like when I was nine..." Chuck interrupts: "Fifteen!" Ned: "No, I was nine." Chuck: "Seconds!" Ned gets back to it. He explains that Dwight stole Chuck's pocket watch and is threatening to expose a very important secret of theirs. "Well, if he's got the watch, you've got nothing to worry about," Mr. Charles says. "The threat is his insurance policy -- if you don't say nothing, you've got nothing to worry about." With that, Ned says thanks and scurries away to the cemetery gates to give Chuck the final portion of the minute alone with her father.
Television Without Pity • © 2013 Bravo Media LLC • A Division of NBCUniversal •
Comments