Episode 202: Identifying A Body

Cast:
Brendon Small – Brendon Small
Jason Penopolis – H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Robbins – Melissa Bardin Galsky
Coach Jon McGuirk – H. Jon Benjamin
Paula Small – Janine Ditullo
Josie Small – Loren Bouchard
Mr. Lynch – Ron Lynch
Arnold Lindenson – Andy Kindler
Ken Addleburg – Bill Braudis

Synopsis: Brendon gets money for Mr. Lynch’s walkathon, only to blow it on a road trip to identify a body with McGuirk.

History:
· This is the first time we see McGuirk’s “Reckless” mobile.
· Though this isn’t the first episode to introduce Walter & Perry, this is the first episode where we see exactly what type of friendship they have.
· This episode introduces Paula’s boss, Arnold Lindenson.

Lawn Gnomes: (Click for picture)
· A Lawn Gnome falls outside right before “The Wall”
· Brendon is sleeping with a lawn gnome when he finds out he missed the walkathon

Brendon’s Filmography:
· “The Wall” – A man crushed by a wall repents his sins to a priest.

The Movie-Episode Connection:
· In “The Wall”, Brendon’s character’s biggest sin is that he stole from charity, which is basically what Brendon did with the walk-a-thon money and the McGuirk road trip.

Random Observations & Facts:
· Brendon’s foot gets stuck in a “Burpsi” cola bottle.
· In the first scene with Brendon & McGuirk’s road trip, it is 4:09 PM.
· McGuirk has an 8-Ball on the top of his stick drive.
· On McGuirk’s rear-view mirror, something hangs that says “Class of 83”.
· Brendon pays for: Gas, soda, bagels, pants, and dinner.
· 15% of $39.50: $5.92. Under McGuirk’s logic: $4.10.
· There is a bloody basketball net hanging over the morgue’s trashcan. There is also a burger on a bloody napkin.
· McGuirk’s uncle has the same type of hair.
· Playing at the Booth Cinema: “Farmageddon” and “Not Without My Schnapps”.
· Ken Addleburg is on the “Not Without My Schnapps” poster.
· Brendon (as Mr. Lindenson) shakes Paula’s hand with his foot.
· A wheel rolling by to switch to Paula/Lindenson’s scene is the only time Home Movies has used a Home Improvement style scene-changing system.
· Apparently the lawyer has been keeping the old watery sausage in his expensive suit.
· Addleburg stands on a stool in the butcher shop.
· Lindenson has an autographed poster of a basketball player on his wall, and also a framed $100 bill. (I’m guessing it’s 100)
· Jason has less screen time in this episode than in any other.
· The big-wheeler Jason rides has a flag that says “Holy Roller”.
· Does anyone else find it weird that Brendon missed the walkathon? Back at my school, they always had those things on a regular school day.
· Although she is still in the episode, Josie is featured a lot less in this episode than usual.

Past Episode References:
· Lindenson’s car runs into the same people who hit Brendon in Episode 112 – Law and Boarder.

Movie & Other References:
· “Farmageddon” is a reference to the movie “Armageddon”.
· “Not Without My Schnapps” is probably a reference to “Not Without My Daughter”.
· We can see McGuirk & Brendon’s shadows on the movie screen when they watch “Farmageddon”, a Mystery Science Theater 3000 reference.

End Credits: “Season Two Theme”

Reviews: WARNING: Spoilers

Spectre: For some odd reason... as much as I loved "Politics," and as much of a Home Movies fan that I am, this one sort of disappointed me. It wasn't as funny for me as other Home Movies episodes usually are. And for once, I actually spotted an actual bad joke(Brendon and McGuirk yelling "Road trip!"). There were some extremely funny moments, but otherwise, it is probably the worst HM episode I've ever seen. Grade: C

Randomguy: Well, after loving "Politics" I have to say this one kind of fell flat. I really enjoyed the bonding-type scenese between Brendon and McGuirk, especially when they were looking at the stars (I think Brendon and McGuirk understand each other more than either would care to admit). I think Lynch's obsession with beating the fifth graders, and the classes' response, was hilarious, as was the whole sausage thing. What I didn't like was the gross underusage of Jason (It was well over halfway into the episode when he made his singular appearance), and the whole subplot with Paula and her boss. One of my fave parts of Season one was how, unlike the newer Simpsons episodes, the writers at Soup2Nuts didn't feel the need to add cumbersome, tacked on subplots like every other sitcom. After two fairly boring Paula-related subplots, I'm kinda starting to worry about that. Don't get me wrong, I love Paula's character, but I'm dissapointed by the boring, forced events they've been putting her in. I'm still waiting for Erik and Dwayne to appear as well, thoug I'm sure they'll pop up sooner or later. Still though, it was solid enough overall, definitely worth watching. I'd say B-

A few months later...

Wow.... Home Movies episodes are like fine wine, they get much better with age..... the first time I saw "Identifying A Body", I immediately considered it the worst HM ever. What a difference a couple of months makes... watching it this time, I loved every minute. The real highlight here is the McGuirk/Brendan interaction. Their scene on top of McGuirk's car philosophizing (albeit in a disillusioned way) about death is one of HM's better moments by far. It goes a long way towards illlustrating the bond between McGuirk and Brendan- not quite fatherly, but not quite brotherly. Something inbetween. It's lighthearted but also somewhat poignant. The dialogue is great, my favorite moment being Brendan and McGuirk's coversation with the buisessman about Uncle Pedro's will.

McGuirk: Oh no.... I'd kill myself if this guy was my son.
Brendan: I'd kill you too.
McGuirk: Shut up.

Yeah, the retroscripting really shined here. There were some great little touches (the two in the convertable are from "Law and Boarder", the homeless guy sprouts legs and walks off in the end), and Brendan was really at his best in this ep (his Mr. Lindenson was dead-on, pretty amazing for someone who hasn't even met the guy). Lynch had some great lines as well. I complained about Paula's subplot the first time through, but compared to the rest of the Paula subplots from Season 2, it looked great this time around. At least it was integrated into the main plot through a couple of conversations with Brendan. I'll admit, it was a bummer that Jason only made one appearance, but it was a good one, and at least Melissa got in some good moments. Overall, what was great about this was that it reminded me of Season 1- a simpler plot, a lighter focus, just more streamlined overall. And did anyone notice Brendan's line at the close of his argument with Melissa? I believe he said something to the effect of "If you dump me you will only make me stronger." I mean, it was pretty fast, but that's what I heard. Hmmm....anyhow, I up my "Identifying a Body" grade to a A. Event the "worst" HM eps still beat the best Simpsons episodes from the last 3-4 seasons.... not too shabby. I await Season 3 with much anticipation.

Shnay: I'm gonna have to conquer with the others about this one being much better the second time around. The first time it was shown, I enjoyed it more than most seemed to, but (at the time) it still failed to meet my high expectations for the beginning of season two. I was expecting a lot from season two, and was weary about the changes to the show. So I think that I, and possibly many others, were judging these episodes by different standards. Now, in retrospect of all of season two, this is certainly a very good episode.

This was, for the most part, a very solid and complete episode of HM. It had great interactions between the characters, with McGuirk and Brendan's scenes the clear standout. Paula was much more her usual character than in later season 2 eps, and the subplot was also comparatively solid. Mr. Lindenson is good for some things, but very bad for others. The scene with his secretary over the intercom and their "code" was great, but him getting injured was kinda stupid (I don't think physical humor works in flash). The comedy was good overall, but there were also some unfortunately slow points.

A few final, random points: Who knew the sausage guy would return in so many different roles (guess he has a strong resume). I would have like to have seen more scenes with Jason and Melissa and not just because they're usually hilarious. Their scenes together usually add a lot of insight (along with a lot of humor) into how Brendan really feels about his weekly conflict. And, finally, Randomguy, I believe the line was, "If you doubt me I will only grow stronger," or something to that effect

StrangerAtaru: This one is another one that isn't that good, but isn't that bad either for some reason. I might as well get started on the good stuff, and that would be Paula. For some reason, she was great in her quest to get a raise, as well as putting up with a certain somebody I'll get to later. Brendon wasn't too bad in this episode either, as he learns a valuable lesson about charity. Well, two: never loan McGurk money since he'll never pay it back, and sometimes the homeless just want the money straight and forward, even if some aren't exactly homeless. Of course, he reteaches himself this lesson in his movie (where Jason makes his only appearance this time, but it was a strange cross between funny and freaky). Speaking of McGurk, he really didn't have much to do in this episode even if he is front and center for the main plot. I liked the conversation he has with Brendon about crappy movies, but did feel for him when all he got for an inheritence was a sausage. (a tasty sausage, but a sausage no less) Lynch was another pleasant character in the episode, getting some of the best lines about the Walk-A-Thon obsession (as well as playing off Brendon's and the rest of the class' deficiencies) Unfortunately, there is one more character I need to talk about whom I have been dreading for most of this review: Mr. Lindenson. While it was funny watching Brendon act like a strange guy when Paula was trying her plea on him, I don't like that she basically has Jerry Lewis as her boss. Not literally, but you know what I mean: a goofy weird guy who you think doesn't take things seriously, but really does. And then there was the scary scene with the cast....lets just say that Paula is at her best in this episode for putting up with him. Not much else to say about this episode except: the Walter and Perry madness has begun!

Moreysurf: Moreysurf: Identifying a body was a mediocre episode. It had some funny moments but on the whole...not very good. Lindenson is OK. I loved his line "I thought this was a thing...I thought we were doing like a raise-schtick." Also Mcguirk's lines about the sausage being able to go to war and vote, and the whole thing about not going to a movie because people said it was bad. Jason as a Rabbi/Priest was pretty and I enjoyed the flag on his big-wheel that said holy roller. But except for those things listed above...not very funny
I give it a C

DrWeird: When it comes to Home Movies (especially season 2 Home Movies) you have two types of episodes: Ones without a lot of continuity and focus just on comedy (like yesterday's Politics, or Writer's Block) and those with continuity that focus around characterization and situations along with comedy (think "Brendon's Choice" or "Dad"). When an episode is able to combine character elements and be really funny at the same time, you have a classic episode (such as "The Party" coming up next week). Out of the two choices, "Identifying A Body" seemed to be more of a McGuirk and Brendon characterization episode, which is fine. However, this episode just wasn't all that funny.

I'll start off with the comedic parts that worked. Lynch probably had the funniest plot; his obsession with beating the fifth graders and the "talking in unison" with the class thing was funny ("Who do we hate?" "THE HOMELESS!") (a jeer within a cheer because we never find out if he did in fact beat the fifth graders). The Wall Movie was pretty good (Jason's only scene, BTW), and had a nice connection to the episode. Brendon as Lindenson was great. As for Lindenson himself...I'll get to that in a minute. Unfortunately, thats about it as far as comedy goes. This episode even had some jokes I thought were just dumb, such as the "Road Trip!" line and Brendon's "I'll get the _____ but that's it." And the more I think about Brendon's ending the more it just seems weird to me. Brendon misses a walkathon designed to help homeless people, so he spends he money to take a homeless person to see a movie, but the homeless guy turns out to just be a faker and skateboards out of the theater?

I'm kind of split as far as Lindenson goes. He can be funny, but he can just be stupid as well. This is probably the weakest of the 3 Lindenson episodes, but his conversation with Paula about getting a raise was great (as for locking his keys in his car, then crushing his hand in the door, then crashing into a car, then getting hit by a biker...a little too...i dont know what).

Now, as for the characterization aspects, this episode was great. Throughout season 1, the relationship between Coach McGuirk and Brendon was a soccer coach that gave advice to one of his players. This episode is really the first episode where they go beyond that, presenting McGuirk as a father-figure (maybe not the best father figure, but a father figure nonetheless) with things like the scene where they looked at the stars. I believe this is one of the things season 2/3 have over season 1 in general, and it seemed to start in this episode. I give the episode a lot of credit for that.

Though the McGuirk/Brendon father/son thing brought this episode up in the rating a little bit, "Identifying A Body" remains a weak episode in my opinion. I'll go with a D+.

Positives: McGuirk/Brendon relationship angle, Lynch and the fifth graders, Brendon as Lindenson, Lindenson's conversational humor
Negatives: The actual identifying a body/road trip storyline, Lindenson's slapstick humor, The ending of Brendon's story, lack of any good Jason/Melissa/Brendon scenes

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