My Name Is Earl: 3.20 ‘Girl Earl’ Recap
Original Air Date: May 8, 2008
How ironic is it that when Earl gets ecstatic over his alleged soul mate Billie’s decision to start her own Karma list, everyone nearby reacts negatively? Very, and the contradiction — or at least the gunshot — should have warned Earl of the difficulties to come with regards to his new wife.
Once the glow of being newlyweds diminishes, Earl is left with the shocking realization that he and Billie have different opinions on just about everything, from which Van Halen is better (the one with Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth) to whether it’s okay to barge into the bathroom when the other is peeing.
Earl’s dismay decreases a little when Randy and Joy, neither known for their great wisdom, both advise him that having a partner means putting up with differences and little annoyances. So, Earl tries his best, but he draws a line when it comes to Karma. Props to Earl for making it clear he won’t tolerate Billie’s early approach to doing good, which is lazy at best. Read on to see why.
After Billie gets inspired by Earl and makes her own Karma list, the newlyweds realize they have one item in common regarding a local grocery store employee named Joel (Blades of Glory and Napoleon Dynamite’s John Heder). A competitive bagger, he returned home from a prominent national bagging competition to find his house empty after being robbed by thieves, two of whom were Earl and Billie (at different times).
Earl gets a figurative smack in the face when Billie is content to just return the ceiling fan she took (after knocking out the first thief who had it), despite the fact that Jim’s life and chance at winning the national bagging championship were completely ruined because he angrily punched the wall with hurtful graffiti that called him a tea bagger. The resulting broken hand left it forever deformed.
Good thing that Earl isn’t willing to start half-assing his list like Billie, who thinks it’s fine to just apologize over the phone to people she’s wronged instead of actually helping them. She calls this working smarter instead of working harder, which is true but misses the point. Earl has the right idea when he counters that the Karma list isn’t about shortcuts; to do it right, you have to put your whole heart in it.
That’s why Earl goes along when Joel discovers his natural bagging talent and trains him to compete. Earl performs well, until Billie breaks his finger for poking her like she poked him during a discussion about how to work the Karma lists.
Randy steps in again with more good advice, suggesting that Earl and Joel put together their two good hands to finish the final round against the twelve-time bagging champion, a show-off nicknamed Bagger Lance.
The actor who plays the reigning champ gets extra points for his antics during the final championship bagging scene, which are stupid-funny, if you know what I mean. The best part of the episode overall, however, is the closing scene. Earl and Randy immediately agree that Billie has to go when she advises Earl he should cut off his moustache. How they’ll accomplish that remains to be seen, though.
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