My Name is Earl: Early Release

(S03E12) "They keep playing this game called eye poke. It's all fun until one of them gets poked in the eye." - Darnell Turner

When I first found out that the warden was going to burn Earl and keep him in prison I was intrigued. However, when Earl found out about it and kneed the warden in the groin, I was ecstatic. Apparently, I have secretly been waiting for Earl to revert to his dastardly ways for some time now. Now, it seems that time has come and it has brought me a newfound interest in the show.

I knew when I saw the look in Earl's eyes as he let Randy in on his plan to escape that this was going to be a great episode.

As I watched this episode, I got the feeling that many of the cast members decided that this was their turn to be like Jaime Pressly and get themselves an Emmy. Randy's delivery was extra hilarious and Darnell's performance leading the prison church services was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Over the season, I have grown so fond of Craig T. Nelson's character that I actually felt bad for him when Earl held him at gunpoint. I know he totally screwed Earl but, give the guy a break. His job comes with a lot of stress.

I had a hard time picking a favorite quote for this weeks episode. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud so often in one half hour. Not to get on a soapbox, but that's the kind of quality that only comes from union writers.

I don't know what was funnier, Darnell's line about Mr. Parrot, his fro or the awesome pimp walk he did when he walked out of frame. All those things, along with "Richard Jammer's" ridiculous toupee has me laughing so hard I had to rewind the scene to watch it again.

One of my favorite things about My Name is Earl is how past characters and plotlines are often brought back. I had all but forgotten about Paco and Catalina. It's almost as if the show's storylines were planned out before the season began. This gives me hope that we'll be seeing the warden, Frank, Paco and maybe even church guy again before the season is over.

I'm really glad that Earl voiced his concern about how karma was treating him because I couldn't help thinking the same thing. Will this cause Earl to abandon his path of goodness altogether? I mean, things are drastically different from when the show began. He's got no money, no place to live and because of him, all his friends are accessories to a felony. I have a feeling that some major changes are going to take place before this season us over. Let's just hope the current strike is resolved so we can see those changes take place.

Usually I end each review with one or two things I didn't like about the episode but tonight nothing qualified. This episode was as good as a sitcom gets.