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The Luck of the Ed
When the general public looks at shows like this, they’ll often classify them as being for kids. Such a judgement isn’t really fair as it compartmentalizes it for just one demographic as if anyone older shouldn’t be watching it. Really, the best way to figure out the kind of people the show is aiming for is to actually watch it. By doing this, a conclusion can be made that there are plenty of works that can resonate well with kids and adults alike. In the case of this show, it’s certainly appealing for kids, but people older can also connect well with the inventive art style, exhilarating personalities, and smart comedy. For this particular cartoon, the comedy is something adults can probably get more than kids.
The story is about Eddy getting Ed to hide his prized magazines. However, after Ed does that, he can’t remember where he left them, so the Eds try to retrace his steps. The thing is that Ed’s memory is extremely scattered and nothing adds up. There isn’t even a good look at what the magazines look like anywhere prior. This is where the more adult area becomes apparent. We might not see the magazines, but a few hints suggest what they’re like. Eddy talking suggestively about them gives a strong implication at first. Then moments like Eddy worried about their pictures when he thinks the magazines fell in a sewer and Double D surprised that he reads them are even clearer signs. In a way, the cartoon is saying that these magazines are sexy magazines full of porn-like pictures. It’s features like this that broaden the reach of not just of this cartoon but the whole show. Without showing anything too raunchy and uncomfortable, adults can get the reference and find it clever while kids sit back and have a fun time. This could very well justify how the cartoon goes when it comes to hunting the magazines down, or rather not.
Ed’s recollection of where he hid the magazines, as mentioned earlier, has no concise answer. First it seems like he was simply carrying it, got caught up in his antics, and dropped them in a sewer. Then, Double D’s microscope suggests that Ed buried the magazines in the sandbox, only when they look there, they stop without even looking through the whole thing. During this time though, Eddy’s growing frustration over the situation explodes. He’s so paranoid about what happened to his magazines that he’s constantly snapping at everyone and gets unjustly suspicious over kids he doesn’t like such as Kevin being the culprit. They come to a head when he irrationally thinks his friends were working with Kevin to steal his magazines.
This results in a climax of escalation where he takes Double D’s hat and Ed’s eyebrow and threatens to throw them down the sewer.
To get Kevin to talk sense into Eddy, his
friends steal Kevin’s prized bike which leads them all to the sewer in an
aggressive mashup of angry expressions. Then
it seems like Jonny had the magazines all along and Eddy calms down, but he was
just carrying an empty box. Then Ed
retraces his steps the way he did before, and that’s it, the cartoon just
ends. There turns out to be absolutely
no clue as to where the magazines are, meaning that the aggression and stress
have no payoff and wasn’t really worth it.
However, given the suggestive clues about what the magazines are like,
this could just be a humorous way of censoring them. When considering that, it’s easier to have
more fun with this cartoon as an adult than as a kid. Still, even after all these years, you
wouldn’t be blamed for wondering whatever did happen to those magazines.
A-
Ed…Pass it On
Looking at the Eds’ antics, it’s easy to assume that the motives behind them are very simple. All they care about could very well just be getting kids’ money and spending it on jawbreakers. This is why it’s a great touch to get stories to really show the complexities behind how they work. For this cartoon, deeper motivations for the Eds are brought to the forefront that make them all endearing, and work well with development of some of the biggest mysteries.
It starts with the Eds pulling off the usual scam, this one filled with a lot of promise being a restaurant right in a living room. Sadly, it backfires when Ed presents his naked self as a turkey and the kids are too repulsed to finish their meals. It’s after this when, while lamenting over another failure, Eddy reveals the deeper reason behind what he and his friends do regularly. He’s after something even deeper than materialistic goods, respect. It’s something just about everyone wants in some way and a sign of a good productive life of friends and success. This in turn makes the Eds, Eddy especially, much more relatable, and the cartoon more interesting and engaging than ever.
Now, since Eddy’s been known to get respect back when his brother was around, he gets an idea to earn the kids’ respect. He’s going to make it seem like his brother is coming home to the cul-de-sac which should in turn boost his status since he’d be with someone so revered. He sets up a sign and decorations at his house welcoming his brother home to give such an impression, and the rumor takes effect. The big takeaway is how there are different approaches to Eddy’s brother returning. In some cases, his return causes fear and worry with Kevin visibly scared of the prospect of his presence, while Rolf goes to extreme measures to protect his home and chickens. However, Jonny and Nazz are more excited about Eddy’s brother, seeing him as someone cool, though Nazz surprisingly goes further through sporting a random climbing getup. This only adds to the mystery behind this character where there’s no clear reason of what to make of him.
What isn’t a mystery is that this is all a ruse just as Eddy planned, and it’s actually working. He’s allowed access to hang out with the other kids in sort of a “party at Kevin’s house,” and just being among peers feels much more meaningful than anything. He’s a part of something and seen as someone big, and to him it’s rewarding even if he is figuratively riding on someone’s coattails with the 'respect' feels more like fear-mongering. It’s this element that slowly leads to his undoing though as Sarah and Jimmy, known to see through scams the best, barge in and ask where his brother even is. This shows he can’t keep the rumor up forever, but Eddy tries in saying that his brother simply missed a bus and will come the next day.
This spares him the expected scorn from revealed lies, but the next day his comeuppance comes in a more unique way. It seems that his brother comes after all, and instead of being grateful and excited that he’ll have real honest respect now, Eddy is scared of his presence all throughout. It’s a huge departure from his impressed views of his sibling as is him rushing off to make him a sundae. While this is an appropriate consequence for the rumor, it’s actually clever foreshadowing for his brother’s actual appearance; here he’s really Sarah and Jimmy in disguise.
So Eddy’s brother really doesn’t come and the mystery remains, but this cartoon is still one of the show’s most intriguing for what it builds up and the characters it develops.
A+
Series Ranking
1.
An Ed is Born
2. One
+ One = Ed
3. A Glass of Warm
Ed
4.
It Came from Outer Ed
5. Rent-A-Ed
6.
Once Upon an Ed
7. Fa
La La La Ed
8. Urban
Ed
9.
Ed…Pass it On
10. Laugh
Ed Laugh
11. Dawn
of the Eds
12.
Wish You Were Ed
13.
Dueling Eds
14. Mirror,
Mirror On the Ed
15.
Gimme, Gimme Never Ed
16. Ed-N-Seek
17. Keeping
Up With the Eds
18. Who
Let the Ed In
19. Avast
Ye Eds
20. Flea
Bitten Ed
21. Fool
on the Ed
22. Ready
Set Ed
23. The
Ed-Touchables
24. Who
What Where Ed
25. Dear
Ed
26.
Momma’s Little Ed
27. Hot
Buttered Ed
28.
Ed or Tails
29. Stop
Look and Ed
30.
See No Ed
31. Shoo
Ed
32.
Rock-a-Bye Ed
33. Ed
in a Halfshell
34. Scrambled
Ed
35.
O-Ed Eleven
36. Vert
Ed Go
37. Oath
to an Ed
38.
Ed, Ed, and Away
39. Button
Yer Ed
40.
An Ed in the Bush
41. Read
All About Ed
42. Rambling
Ed
43. Home
Cooked Ed
44. Honor
Thy Ed
45. Floss
Your Ed
46. Quick
Shot Ed
47. Look
Into My Eds
48. The Luck of the Ed
49.
Is There An Ed in the House?
50. Knock,
Knock Who’s Ed
51. A
Boy and His Ed
52. Eds-Aggerate
53.
Three Squares and an Ed
54.
Will Work for Ed
55.
Boys Will Be Eds
56. High
Heeled Ed
57. Know-it-All
Ed
58.
For Your Ed Only
59.
Dim Lit Ed
60. Cry
Ed
61. Eeny
Meeny Miney Ed
62. A
Pinch to Grow an Ed
63. Pop
Goes the Ed
64. Hands
Across Ed
65. An
Ed Too Many
66. Sir
Ed-a-Lot
67. Over
Your Ed
68.
From Here to Ed
69. A
Key to My Ed
70.
X Marks the Ed
71. It’s
Way Ed
72. In
Like Ed
73.
My Fair Ed
74. To
Sir With Ed
75. Nagged
to Ed
76. Tag
Yer Ed
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the last episode of Season 3 where the Eds have debt to pay when Ed is pressured into spending Sarah's money on jawbreakers, and everything goes out with a bang with the rampage that comes from Ed thinking he's a monster.
If you would like to check out other Ed Edd n Eddy reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
