Joy in a Bubble
Updated 2008-10-03 09:21:32
Earl doesn't like to drive, but he's generous enough to drive Catalina to work on those occasions where she's so late she'll have to change in the car. It couldn't be because he gets to watch her change, could it? He's taking it slow to watch the show in his passenger seat, but Catalina asks him to please hurry since it's "Disabled Learner Day" at work -- she doesn't want to get stuck with Jed, who's paralyzed from the waist down, so you never know if you're doing a good job. I'm no stripper, but I think I'd prefer the waist-down paralysis in lap-dance situations. I'm just saying...
Unfortunately, Earl's engine won't go over 40 ever since Randy put his gum in the gas tank. He did this even though Earl told him bubbles wouldn't come out of the exhaust. Oh, Randy! You're even adorable and funny when you're not actually on-screen.
Right then, Earl sees a big yellow pile of something on the side of the road. Somehow, he can tell this is a used hot tub, so he pulls over. See, he needs a hot tub because he owes one to Joy. It's No. 72 on his list, in fact: "cost Joy a hot tub."
Flash back to Joy looking at herself in the mirror as a title card says 2001. Joy's wearing a shiny blue dress with a leopard-print halter-ish top that I'm sure is supposed to look tacky, but is actually pretty smokin' on Joy. That's probably mostly because Jaime Pressly could look good in almost anything, but also because the royal blue actually weirdly works with that print.
She's hair-spraying her hair, and Earl's waking up in the bed next to her. He says, "Wakey, wakey. Hands on snakey?" Classy. See how much of a step up Darnell is? I am quite certain that he'd never utter those words. Anyway, Joy can't do it, because she has a job as spokesmodel at BarbeTubbaCon, Camden's barbecue-hot tub convention. Earl didn't even realize that was today, but requests a quickie before she leaves. He can't resist her when her hair's all classy and up high like that, after all. She agrees: She also gets horny looking at herself when she looks this good. She doesn't want to be late, though, because they're paying her with a free hot tub. But she promises they'll do it after. She's still spraying her hair, and then Earl stands up and lights his cigarette. Which does the obvious: lights her hair on fire. Wait, it actually causes an explosion that Randy can hear from the other room, where he's eating cat food. Earl and Joy look in the mirror, bald and charred, and Earl hollers, "Randy, come here! We look like cartoons!" Joy doesn't look nearly as amused.
Back in the present, Earl and Catalina are trying to load the hot tub into the El Camino. It's only successful when Earl promises Catalina he won't fart this time and tells her to make sure her top doesn't fall off. They successfully lift it, but there's a homeless guy living under it. Earl apologizes, saying they didn't know anyone was living there. Homeless Joe (that's actually what the show calls him; not my nickname for him) says, "It's an upside-down hot tub laying on the side of the road. Of course someone's living in here!" Good point, Homeless Joe.
They trade a bar of deodorant for the hot tub (Joe immediately eats the bar of deodorant, which serves the double purpose of not being funny and not making sense), and they pull the hot tub into Joy's trailer park on top of the El Camino, chased by the many, many kids who apparently live in the trailer park. They're chasing it because, as Earl says, "It was the most exciting thing to come through the trailer park since Mr. Henson tried to teach his pet monkey how to drive stick." I must admit that if I saw a monkey driving any car -- manual or automatic -- I might be tempted to follow that car.
They pull up to Joy, as victorious music plays, and she says, "Sweet baby Jesus" and crawls up onto the car and inside. She sits down and it zooms in on her relaxed face. When we pan back out, she's in the now set-up and full hot tub. And she tells Earl that for the first time he has satisfied her in a way Darnell never could. Darnell says, "Go Earl!" Earl says he thinks this means he can cross her off his list. She says he can, and that the timing is perfect for her ingrown toenail, because she's been having to soak it in an old Cool Whip container. I realize this isn't the point, but do people really soak their ingrown toenails? I guess I'll just be thankful not to know that answer from personal experience, because I hear they're pretty painful. Joy not having to soak her toenail in that means Mr. Turtle gets his swimming pool back, so it's a win-win-win.
Joy wants Darnell to join her in the hot tub, tempting him by telling him there's a jet in a place he's going to like. He refuses, though, saying that since he boils animals all day, he can't get into boiling water, or God might strike him down just to be ironic. Sort of how Darnell's fisherman uncle choked to death at a sushi restaurant.
Joy loves her hot tub, and swears never to leave it. She's relaxing later with sweet pickles on her eyes, which she then removes and eats. Ick. I don't know why I find that disgusting, but I do. She's been in there for 24 hours, so Darnell asks if she's ever coming out. She says that by noon she'll probably need to go buy another 40 , unless Darnell thinks they can send Dodge to the liquor store with a note again. (Her 40, by the way, is called "Old British," which is a nice touch.)
Darnell's next request is that she puts on headphones, because one of their neighbors hates the loud music. It's making her baby cry. Joy tells Darnell she already put her top back on like he asked her to, and she doesn't care what these dumb neighbors think anyway, adding, "She's the dumbass that sold her Pontiac to pay for the in vitro. Now she's living with the consequences." She also said she doesn't complain about the baby's dialysis machine (yet another sign, according to Joy, that the baby wasn't meant to be).
Darnell tells Joy he wishes she could see her foot from where he is, because the water's making it look like she has a giant toe. She says she can see it too. She tries to do a trick and pull it out of water to make it look small, but it's gigantic there, too. Darnell and Joy both scream and make the most horrified faces I've ever seen. I'm thinking maybe soaking the ingrown toenail wasn't such a good thing after all. See? I know stuff.
Joy's at the foot doctor, who tells her that her toe's infected. Joy's response, "So, what? Drink a little cranberry juice?" So Joy's had a bladder infection, and assumes all infections are treated the same? But the doctor tells her this one's different. It's actually a very contagious, flesh-eating staph infection. That's right: Flesh. Eating. Never what you want to hear in any context. Darnell is upset that he helped her squeeze her flip-flop on. Joy just wants to know how she got it, and she spits at Darnell that if this is some kind of mad-crab disease, she'll kill him. The doctor assures her it's not shellfish-related, and that the only other case she's seen in Camden was in a homeless man. Uh-oh. I'm thinking Earl might be putting Joy back on his list after this one. Joy's clueless since she doesn't associated with the homeless, other than to watch videos of them fighting. The doctor says that it was a man named Joe and that he lives in a hot tub out on Route 4. Joy puts it together and is not happy with Earl.
Soon enough, Earl's apologizing, saying that he had no way of knowing Joe had an infection. He had a soup can full of toothbrushes, after all, so Earl thought he was clean. Catalina says that it was also full of soup, though, so hygiene was probably not a priority. Joy whips out her toe and puts it on their table at the Crab Shack, and Earl, Randy, and Catalina all have the same looks of disgust and scream just like Joy and Darnell did. And I think the toe is actually getting even bigger and red. Randy thinks it looks like a hot dog that plumps in the oven. He immediately tries to bite it.
Joy says Earl's paying for everything. He's happy to and even offers to come over and help, but she says all she wants to see of him is his money. Then Randy asks if someone spilled milk, and there we have what I think is this show's first pus joke, and what I'm hoping is also the last.
Darnell had spent time working with bioweaponry, according to Earl's voiceover (are we supposed to assume that Earl actually knows this, or only voiceover Earl knows this? I think it's the latter, but if it's the former, does Darnell tell people his spy secrets now?), so he knows how to handle this situation: take it seriously. He lets Joy in the house, but she can only walk on tin foil, while everyone else gets to walk on the carpet. Joy's annoyed that he put it "shiny side up," because that means she'll have to wear underwear. Darnell's puzzled at what side he should have put up. For being smart, he sure is dumb sometimes.
Joy crawls into bed and tells Darnell she's been looking forward to sleep so she won't think about this toe for the next 14 hours. She tries to snuggle, but apparently Darnell's wrapped himself in a blanket (I call this a "taco," and it's how I like to sleep, too; although, now that I actually type it, I think it would be more accurate to call it a burrito, but I don't know if I can change something this important this late in life) to keep her away because someone has to stay alive for the kids.
Darnell's watching TV, and Joy comes up to sit by him. She's put a plastic bag on her foot so she feels free to cuddle with him, but he's still grossed out. She's offended that he doesn't want to touch her. He denies that he's uncomfortable with it, but offers to go make iced tea instead. He goes into the kitchen and boils his clothes. Joy catches him and is not happy. She says, "Lord love a duck, Darnell!" She doesn't understand what she has to do to not feel like a filthy leper in her own house. Darnell apparently tells her, because next thing we see is her inside the bubble that gives this episode its name. She wants Earl brought to her.
Earl says it's sort of like being inside a snow globe, except in the summer, so it's not as cold. Joy asks Darnell to please kick Earl in the knee since she's in the bubble. Earl starts talking, but Darnell actually does kick him in the knee. Darnell says he's sorry but he has to appease her so she doesn't break out, like a "tiny, pink Hulk." He has to go to work, and he won't even kiss Joy through the plastic.
Earl feels bad and would like to help, so Joy made her own list. It's the things she needs to do every week, and until she's better, Earl has to be her. He's surprised to find that she's actually "busy." For example: She buys meat out of the trunk of a car, which is the most horrifying thing I can imagine. She spends four hours at the salon to catch up on gossip; Earl does this by taking notes with curlers in. He tells Joy the salon gossip, and his hair's all fixed up in a crazy old-lady style. Joy also tracked down the ice cream man and told people in a megaphone not to buy from him. So, Earl does it.
Earl spends time with the rest of the family too, and learns that Darnell gets migraines. Darnell's laying with his head in Earl's lap with Earl massaging his temples. I'm guessing he probably is a kinder Joy than Joy, so Darnell's not complaining. Well, he's complaining, but it's about his life: "two boys, a demanding job, making $2.95 an hour."
Joy finishes her "shower" (which is basically wiping herself off with a wet nap) and tells Earl to bring her some fresh clothes and new hair. I'm not sure what that means, because we immediately cut to Earl learning that Dodge and Earl Jr. don't have any friends.
Randy's sad when Earl tells him the boys don't have friends. Randy says there's a man downstairs who's friends with lots of young boys and that they should introduce them. Oh, good. A molestation joke. Those are so hilarious. Earl ignores this, but does wish he could do something. He asks what Randy did that year he didn't have any friends. Randy says Mom got him deodorant and then he met Bill. Earl points out that Bill was imaginary, but Randy says their friendship was real. They have a way-too-long conversation about Bill's move to Canada and his bout with alcoholism.
Earl goes to the school to pick up Dodge and Earl Jr. He watches a mom handing out invitations to a party. She tells the other kids, "See you at the party, everyone's going to be there," but hides the invitations behind her back when Dodge and Earl Jr. walk by. Earl is not pleased. He makes the boys wait in the car and goes to have a talk with her.
He tells the lady that if this is a B.O. problem, he has it covered, but that they should be able to come. She asks who he is, and he says he's their mother's ex-husband. The lady laughs, "Oh, then, well, you know." She says her name is Phyllis Woo Hoo (though I'm guessing it's not spelled that way), and that the boys aren't the problem at all; they have issues with Joy. Cut to scenes of Joy talking about sex and needing a cigarette in front of all of the other kids, which the kids of course repeat immediately. Then she's letting her boys and Phyllis's son use condoms as water balloons. Phyllis is horrified.
Back in the present, Phyllis tells Earl those boys are fine, but Joy's the problem. Earl says it's Phyllis's lucky day, because Joy can't be a problem now that she's stuck in a bubble. Phyllis is glad she got a real disease, since she says she has cancer every time they need parents to go on a field trip. They even raised money for her the first two times -- Earl thinks Joy used the cash to buy cigarettes, if that makes Phyllis feel any better. Phyllis gives Earl directions to the party, and Earl promises not to tell Joy what Phyllis said. He says he's learned to keep his mouth shut, and points out a wound.
Joy's giving her toe a pep talk by showing it pretty shoes when Earl comes home. She wonders where the boys are, and he says they're at Dennis's party. Joy asks, "Dennis who? Dennis Woo Hoo? Earl says yes, and that she was wrong about how unpopular the boys are. Joy says she knows her kids never get invited to anything, and this is a prank to make fun of them by tying them up and throwing dog poo on them. She said it's hilarious, but not if it's her kids, and insists that he go get them. Earl says it's not a prank, and they'll have fun. She said it won't be fun, because kids don't like them. She threatens to go get them if he won't. He asks her to trust him, and she says she can't because of his track record: He used to leave Dodge at doggie day care to go drinking.
She's going to get them, so Earl has to jump in and tell her it's not the boys, it's her. Joy: "Says who?" Earl: "Phyllis Woo Hoo." This show sure likes the name repetition jokes lately, doesn't it? He tells Joy she makes the other moms uncomfortable by acting trashy and wild. She walks away and he feels bad, telling her not to beat herself up. She turns and punches him instead. She breaks the bubble wall, gets in the El Camino and heads out.
Earl jumps on the hood of the car, begging her not to do it. She says, "Oh, it's gonna be did!" She speeds out, with no worry or regard about Earl being on the hood. She comes to a stop and throws him off. She's mad as she drives off. She literally crashes the party, by driving her car over a pile of gifts. She gets out of the car and says, "What's up, PTA hos? Looks like I saved you the trouble of unwrapping these. You're welcome." We flash to Joy in the car, and realize that was a vision of what she might do. Then another one: She turns into a monster and crashes the party, including sticking a knife in the inflatable bounce house. Joy, back in the car, laughs at this vision, but less enthusiastically. Then another vision: She has Phyllis in a headlock, forcing her to lick the toe. It's terrible. I can't even think about it, let alone recap it.
Earl runs up to the party to stop Joy, yelling "Don't do it!" before he notices she's not there. They're like, "Don't do what?" and he improvises that Dennis shouldn't forget to make a wish. Dennis says, "I wish I was a girl" as Earl walks over to where he's spotted Joy sitting in the El Camino.
He approaches, and she says he runs like a fairy. She says she's not afraid of those "stuck-up bitches" and will go make a scene in their faces and doesn't care what she thinks of them. But you can tell she's trying not to cry. And this is what makes Jaime Pressly so amazing, really. Because as much as Joy could be -- and sometimes is -- a cartoon, she's still capable of bringing this shred of humanity to the role. Joy tells Earl it's not fair that they'll let their opinions about her victimize her children. Earl agrees it's not fair. Joy says sometimes her personality helps her kids, like when they were late to the movie and she scared the projectionist into replaying the beginning of Ratatouille.
Joy asks if Earl thinks she's a bad mom. He says if she were, she wouldn't be sitting in the car letting the boys enjoy the party. We zoom out to an ending, and Joy tells Earl he may want to wipe off the gas pedal, because "I was toeing it pretty good."
Another good episode. Is the show I used to love really back?
We even have our old Earl and Randy in bed moment, though I could have lived without this one: Randy's laughing because of something Bill told him. Turns out he reconnected with him because Earl's been spending so much time with Joy. Bill works at a gas station, and is about to get married. But Randy's pretty sure he's drinking again. Earl tells him he could imagine Bill sober, but Randy says it's not that simple; Bill has to want it for himself.
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