Monday, December 10, 2007

"No good, lame-oid boyfriend stealer!" or Pal Joey (2.15)

To preface, the network skipped over airing episode 14 because it's the Valentine's Day episode with D.J.'s royal blue sweater. Look for that one in mid-February, as we move onward and upward through Season Two.

Danny and Michelle are sliding around the kitchen with paper towels on their feet. J&J coming in being all silly and totally in love with one another and you can see the resentment boiling deep within Danny's bowels. Harry and Stephanie arrive home from school, Harry lamenting that he doesn't understand subtraction. D.J. steps in to lend a helping hand and sparks a little something in Harry's eyes.

Down in Joey's room, the guys are trying to work on a new advertisement and Jesse comments how his partner's bedroom resembles Pee Wee's Playhouse. They seize this opportunity provided by a pop-culture reference to declare "office" to be the secret word. Danny comes down and says the word, sending J&J into a yelling, laughing fit. Heh, this kind of makes me want to incorporate a secret word into my everyday life and scream at people when they unknowingly use it. Kind of. Danny has been feeling neglected and for some reason misses Joey, so they schedule a play date for later that week.

Harry has arrived at the Tanner household bearing a gift for D.J. It's a giant lollipop that says "I Love You." Stephanie is pissed at D.J. for stealing her man, and trades rooms with Michelle so that she doesn't have to live with D.J.

Danny and Joey go to play basketball together and are interrupted by Jesse. Apparently there's some sort of celebratory party with some people from the office that they don't actually work at, and Danny is miffed that their quality time is being cut short. Joey suggests that next point wins and Danny sarcastically thanks him for pencilling him on and proceeds to foul him with a smack to the wrist. Jesse concurs with Joey's assertion that Danny fouled him and Danny gets pissy and stalks off of the court. J&J go home to talk to Danny about his outburst on the court which opens the doors for a flashback sequence! Yes! My favorite part of the show!

This one centers around Danny and Joey's first meeting. It was February 23, 1968, and I have to say that the child actor they got to portray young Danny has an uncanny resemblance to Bob Saget. It's scary! Danny is sent to sit on the bench during recess because he has a nosebleed and in the background we see a young Jesse Katsopolis running around the playground, chasing the girls and asking for kisses. The schoolyard bully stops by to torment Danny until he is saved by a young Joey Gladstone and his slew of insults. I am less impressed with this child's wit when he reveals his secret: that loser needed a joke book to provide all of his material. Hack! HAAAAACK! I knew you were a fraud, Gladstone! The bully goes to tell the teacher and Danny fibs to keep Joey out of trouble. Bully responds that Danny is lying and the teacher replies, "That's impossible. Daniel Tanner's never been in trouble a day in his life." She then awesomely reveals that the bully's name is Sheldon! Bwah! Atleast we know why he's so angry and goes around bullying all of the other kids.

Danny and Joey then thank each other for saving the other's ass, and pledge to be friends for life. They bury their most prized possession and seal their friendship with a soul brother handshake. This awesome moment is made fucking amazing by the fact that there's a young black boy using the water fountain in the background, watching all of this, and he just shakes his head at them. It's just a really humorous, really nice touch. The memory is concluded with the hot teacher sitting Jesse down with her as punishment for kissing all of the girls. Jesse couldn't be happier as he ends our trip down memory lane with a "Have Mercy!" Danny and Joey are still upset with one another, but the fight is put on hold as Michelle enters the room, confused about where she's supposed to be sleeping. Jesse goes upstairs to figure out what's going on.

Jesse sends Michelle back to her room and sits Harry, Stephanie and D.J. down in his room to work this whole mess out. D.J. not-so-kindly tells Harry to bugger off, and her and Jesse manipulate Harry and Stephanie like puppets in order to prompt them to make up.

Joey and Danny are in hot pursuit to dig up the coffee can holding their childhood prized possessions. Joey criticizes Danny for digging so slowly and Danny chastises Joey for not even remembering when they buried the can. Joey strikes the metal of the can on the first dig and they remove it from the ground. Danny buried his San Francisco Giants hat which no longer fits, and Joey pulls out his old insult book, which is still alive and well in his present day comedy act (HACK!). They read the pledge that they placed inside, calling themselves soul brothers and I pray that the adult version of the boy from the water fountain returns for another head shake but am left disappointed. The pledge is signed Daniel Ernest Tanner and Joey Alvin Gladstone. They laugh about their horrible middle names and realize that they have an long history of great times and good memories that shouldn't be cast aside.

They decide to re-bury their items, but not before one minor addition. The next scene shows Jesse arriving at the schoolyard with his blow dryer in hand. They command him to toss the dryer into the can and sign the pledge and he grudgingly does. They do one more soul brother shake and again I pray for the water bubbler boy to return. He doesn't, so I just shake my head at them and all is right with the world.

1 comment:

Vani B. said...

The little kid who played Jesse was adorable. So was the one who played Danny (Phillip Glasser - watching this episode again, his voice should be easily recognizable to those of us who watched the first two An American Tail movies; he was Fievel).

I actually do remember the soul brother handshake and the kid with the afro in the background. Classic!