Friday, November 12, 2021

Gimme, Gimme Never Ed / My Fair Ed - (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 3 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 47

 If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on TwitterNow on with today's review:

Gimme, Gimme Never Ed

They may be scams, but the things the Eds come up with to get money are almost always exciting spectacles in their own right.  In the right circumstances, they can even be considered a highlight.  The scam in this cartoon is one of the most exciting of the series in fact as they’re all about thrill rides, the most fun a lot of people can have.  At the same time, it’s a great contender for something to look into the nature of the show’s most intriguing enigma, Plank.  

On the surface, Plank is nothing more than a board with a face that Jonny made to be his own personal friend, but it may not be that simple.  His thoughts dictated by Jonny upon seeing the Eds in the middle of one of their scams, Plank’s apparent desire for thrill rides drives the ensuing events.  The claim that he, a wooden board, also gets an allowance he loves to spend on thrill rides is especially a big incentive.  From there, the cartoon becomes a showcase of various fabricated rides that manage to function impressively well and lead to humorous sequences.  

In a way, the rides kind of build upon each other when it comes to intensity, size, and antics.  That said, the first one, bumper cars made from wheeled stands and inner tubes around them, has a big effect of his own.  Plank’s bumper car is given a simple push, and it sends the Eds’ bumper cars in all directions.  It could be argued that such an extreme reaction from an inanimate object means it has more life than one would think, or maybe this is cartoon logic talking.  

Anyway, the next thrill ride is still a significant setup, and Eddy raising the price reflects this.  It has Plank get shot into the air while riding a roller skate over a pit of termites.  The magnitude of this ride comes in both its creative setup as well as the genuine danger too it.  Jonny’s worry over Plank’s safety as he’s set off feels very genuine, which helps make Plank feel real.  For Jonny’s sake, Plank is saved by a parachute which lands him in a tree.  Getting Plank out gets him to safety, but the Eds are given a particularly extreme after effect when retrieving him.  Their termites backfire on them as they eat the tree, and send them into a creek which in turn has them go over a waterfall.  

As extreme as this is, one more ride tops them all.  In accordance with most amusement parks, it involves their biggest attractions yet, roller coasters.  This is the best demonstration of the Eds’ scams’ craftsmanship of the cartoon.  The various junk that makes the track and a shopping cart to serve as the coaster cart impressively works to be a functional attraction.  To really show it has a lot going for it, Plank is said to pay 5 whole dollars if the Eds ride with him.  

This leads to the biggest instance of Plank seeming to have a mind of his own.  Before joining the Eds, he’s suddenly out of Jonny’s hold and at the control needed to release the roller coaster.  He was said to be looking for kicks, and gets them by sending the Eds down the roller coaster themselves.  The ensuing ride has all the speed, thrill, and fun of a real roller coaster.  It’s a grand old time watching the Eds in action, and even if they’re screaming and want it to stop, it’s easy to wish you were joining them.  Again, it’s impressive that a random assortment of junk ends up feeling like a real roller coaster.  There is a dangerous drawback from the Eds being launched at the end and them losing the money they got from Jonny is a real misfortune, but the authentic feel of the ride sill persists.  

It shows that despite the nature of scams, setups like this can have them make a cartoon, even when a plank with a face is involved. 

A+

My Fair Ed

This may be obvious, but characters with a lot to themselves are far more compelling and enjoyable than those defined by single prominent traits.  The Eds themselves, for the most part have a lot to them where they can be aggressive but still look out for each other, and smart and calculating but able to get ahead of themselves.  However, there are times when characterization goes a simpler route which negatively affects their portrayal.  Putting it bluntly, Double D is moralistic and logical, so he’s automatically the good guy.  Ed and Eddy, however, are more aggressive and prone to causing trouble, so they’re nothing but a nuisance.  Such a portrayal devalues a lot of complexities and layers the dynamic has been shown to have throughout the series; for example, isn’t it true that Ed has a good heart? Sadly, this comes up frequently in later seasons, but this cartoon is where it starts becoming more apparent.  It’s certainly not the worst instance of this though, as it does have a lot of strong comedy to it. 

The opening demonstrating Double D as the sane one in the trio and Ed and Eddy as totally reckless especially gets solid laughs.  After the two mess around with Double D’s groceries, they go around the cul-de-sac chasing each other while trying to get one of them to eat broccoli. There’s a lot of variety to the off-the-wall chaos they cause as they carelessly interfere with the lives of the other kids.  They smash Jimmy into a fence after he has painted a unicorn on it, his specialty; they give waste to Rolf’s garden of eggplants putting him into mourning; they destroy Kevin’s bike in the middle of a wheelie; and they almost separate Jonny and Plank.  It’s a wide assortment of ways to show the ways Ed and Eddy inconvenience everyone, and while childish, the extreme lengths over something like eating broccoli is worth a good laugh.  

Not so funny is how Double D takes the heat for everything they did which hardly feels fair.  He may be the most sane Ed, but normally the kids would attack the Eds who were the real instigator, or all of them.  Also, if they’re acting this way because Double D is the better of the three, why do they not treat at least him as one of them on a regular basis?  Is it only when it’s convenient for them? Along with the implications from the characterizations, this is a sure way to hurt the cartoon going forward.  

Anyway, through Double D’s treatment, he gets his hat tied in a pretzel, and is threatened to have the same thing happen to his legs if he doesn’t reform Ed and Eddy.  In a good portrayal of the Eds’ dynamic, Double D’s friends would see what’s at stake and make an effort to have him avoid the neighborhood kids’ wrath.  

At first it seems like that’s the direction when Double D sets Ed and Eddy up for etiquette training.  He has an interesting approach to it where he serves his friends soup, and whenever they behave badly, he rips off one of three bandages to let them know their faults.  The pained reactions of every bandage rip are greatly timed and exaggerated to comedic effect, so even when Ed and Eddy are unruly, it’s easy to enjoy what’s happening.  This exercise also seems to work as both Ed and Eddy realize that behaving well will keep them from getting hurt from the bandage rips.  This in turn convinces Double D that they’ve changed for the better, so they test out their reformed selves by helping the neighborhood kids with various problems.  

Sadly, the apparent progress doesn’t translate as more problems arise.  All of Ed and Eddy’s help wrecks the kids’ property and puts them in awkward and painful positions, and one instance is concealed in a bag.  If that’s not enough, it’s even worse than their first round of chaos in the cartoon as they’re aware of what they’re doing and act like their doing good.  Once again, the unfair tone of the story persists with nothing changing for the better and Double D taking the heat for his friends’ actions.  Worst of all, it later turns out that all of this was a prank for Ed and Eddy to think that Double D changed them, which is messed up.  This only seals the feeling that basing likability on who’s reckless and who follows the rules really hurts a cartoon.  It lacks depth, makes it seem like Ed and Eddy don’t care for their friend which hasn’t been the case before, and is on the whole unpleasing.  At least Double D kind of gets the last laugh by sending his friends running away from broccoli again…even if he’s left at the mercy of Kevin when his friends re-wreck his bike.

With unfair dynamics and making it seem like predominant traits are certain characters’ only traits, much of this cartoon sadly falls flat.  It’s the weakest of Season 3, but even at that, with solid comedy and energy, and some instances of justice, it’s still serviceably entertaining.  However, this dynamic of simple traits is going to become more apparent in seasons to come, so it’s best for the audience to brace themselves.

C

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.      Laugh Ed Laugh

10.  Dawn of the Eds

11.  Wish You Were Ed

12.  Dueling Eds

13.  Mirror, Mirror On the Ed

14.  Gimme, Gimme Never Ed

15.  Ed-N-Seek

16.  Keeping Up With the Eds

17.  Who Let the Ed In

18.  Avast Ye Eds

19.  Flea Bitten Ed

20.  Fool on the Ed

21.  Ready Set Ed

22.  The Ed-Touchables

23.  Who What Where Ed

24.  Dear Ed

25.  Momma’s Little Ed

26.  Hot Buttered Ed

27.  Ed or Tails

28.  Stop Look and Ed

29.  See No Ed

30.  Shoo Ed

31.  Ed in a Halfshell

32.  Scrambled Ed

33.  Vert Ed Go

34.  Oath to an Ed

35.  Ed, Ed, and Away

36.  Button Yer Ed

37.  An Ed in the Bush

38.  Read All About Ed

39.  Rambling Ed

40.  Home Cooked Ed

41.  Honor Thy Ed

42.  Floss Your Ed

43.  Quick Shot Ed

44.  Look Into My Eds

45.  Is There An Ed in the House?

46.  Knock, Knock Who’s Ed

47.  A Boy and His Ed

48.  Eds-Aggerate

49.  Three Squares and an Ed

50.  Will Work for Ed

51.  Boys Will Be Eds

52.  High Heeled Ed

53.  Know-it-All Ed

54.  For Your Ed Only

55.  Dim Lit Eds

56.  Cry Ed

57.  Eeny Meeny Miney Ed

58.  A Pinch to Grow an Ed

59.  Pop Goes the Ed

60.  Hands Across Ed

61.  An Ed Too Many

62.  Sir Ed-a-Lot

63.  Over Your Ed

64.  From Here to Ed

65.  A Key to My Ed

66.  X Marks the Ed

67.  It’s Way Ed

68.  In Like Ed

69.  My Fair Ed

70.  To Sir With Ed

71.  Nagged to Ed

72.  Tag Yer Ed

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Ed hassome strange yet telling nightmares, and the Eds follow a map from Eddy's brother to an interesting treasure.

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.

1 comment:

  1. Yeah, I agree with your assessment on "My Fair Ed". While not completely without merit, it's one of the show's worst for sure.

    ReplyDelete