Classics: Early Edition 1:10 - The Wrong Man

Overall: 9.4

Don’t listen to them when they tell you that a show that is rated K for Kindergarteners (even more genial than G…heh) can’t be hilarious, touching, and very enjoyable from start to finish. A dark comedy? On Early Edition? Naaaahhh… :)

Plot Synopsis:

Marcia once again disrupts Gary’s life, this time to inform him that she will soon be getting remarried. Gary, naturally, is quite disgruntled by this turn of events, but his own feelings must take a back seat when he reads in the paper that a former colleague at the brokerage – Roger Harrison – will jump to his death from a 26^th story window later that day. Gary and Chuck head to Strauss & Associates, where Chuck urges Harrison to try to seek out the source of his stress and shut it off before he does anything rash.

After the conversation with Harrison, Gary decides to suck it up and give his ex-wife his blessing. Before he can approach her, however, he sees Pritchard – his former boss – approach Marcia with flowers. Now this is something Gary cannot abide. With renewed outrage, he confronts Marcia at their former home, demanding to know what she could possibly see in a guy like Pritchard. Marcia replies that she and Pritchard are a good match – that their careers meld well. Before Gary leaves, crushed, Marcia gives him his model boat as a sort of consolation prize.

Later, as Gary attempts to work out his frustrations on the squash court, the attendant comes in and informs him that Chuck will not be able to make it. Instead of Chuck, the attendant brings in “another single” – Pritchard. A furious game of squash ensues – a game during which Pritchard spends most of the time twisting the knife by bragging about his good fortune in snagging Marcia. Then, just as the game really gets to fever pitch, Gary accidentally smacks Pritchard hard with his squash racket, breaking Pritchard’s nose and giving him concussion. Chuck is certain Gary’s subconscious is responsible for this incident despite all of Gary’s vigorous protestations to the contrary.

The following morning, Gary dares the cat to throw him the paper’s worst – and gets a doozy: a front page headline reports that Pritchard will be murdered that night by a “disgruntled employee.” Out walking with Chuck, Gary declares that he has no desire to save Pritchard, and, in an interesting turn of the tables, it is Chuck who must convince Gary to obey his better instincts. They go back to Strauss & Associates, but Gary barely gets a word out before Pritchard runs away and holes himself up in the bathroom. Gary tries to warn Pritchard to watch his back and gets tossed out by security for his trouble. At this point, Gary decides to wash his hands of the whole affair.

Ah, but this turns out not to be so easy, for the paper next sends Gary to a French restaurant to prevent a food poisoning incident – and Pritchard just happens to be lunching with Marcia and her parents at that self-same restaurant. Gary tries to convince the head chef to pull the bad chicken, but his efforts are in vain. Finally, he is forced to wrestle with a waiter to prevent the chicken kabobs from going out. A flaming kabob flies free during the struggle and lands by Pritchard, setting Pritchard’s arm on fire. Gary jumps on Pritchard and smothers the fire with a table cloth; he is subsequently arrested for creating a public disturbance.

Marcia bails Gary out and informs him that Pritchard has called off the engagement for fear of reprisals from Gary. She demands that Gary talk to Pritchard and assure him that Gary has no intention to cause him any harm. That night, a reluctant Gary once more visits Strauss & Associates, where he finds Harrison working late yet again. Harrison remarks in passing that someone ought to teach Pritchard a lesson on how to treat his employees with respect, and Gary, fearing that Harrison may be the unknown shooter, urges Harrison not to do whatever he is planning. “You heard I’m quitting?” Harrison asks, surprised. Gary looks at his paper, sees that the headline about Pritchard’s murder is still there, and asks Harrison where Pritchard is now. Harrison tells him he saw Pritchard heading down to the parking garage.

In the parking garage, he discovers that Sam, the kooky mail kid, has tied Pritchard up and is now threatening him with a gun. Sam wants to trade stocks, but he has been stuck in the mail room, unnoticed, for the past several years. Thus, he has concluded that Pritchard must die. Gary cleverly coaxes Sam into giving him his gun, thus diffusing the situation. After Sam leaves, Gary, gun in hand, forces Pritchard to promise to marry Marcia and treat her well. On the fateful wedding day, however, Marcia is a no-show. Pritchard seems genuinely heartbroken by this twist, and Gary, in a show of magnanimity, offers him a sympathetic ear.

At the end of the episode, Gary at last takes off his wedding ring.

Stephanie S.’s Ratings:

Writing: 9.5

This is Early Edition’s blackest comedy – and also one of the show’s greatest. Most memorable, of course, are this episode’s hilarious incongruities: for example, the shots we see of stock brokers celebrating Pritchard’s demise while Gary reads the paper’s sober description of Pritchard’s murder; or Chuck being the better angel for a change when Gary contemplates exacting a bit of vengeance through inaction; or Gary – gentle Gary – forcing from Pritchard a promise to treat Marcia right at a point of a firearm. Up until this point, I haven’t laughed harder.

This is also an episode that does some great things with characterization. In previous reviews, I have complained about Marcia’s seemingly senseless cruelty. Here, however, we are at least provided with a hint as to her motivation when we are introduced to her parents. Her father in particular comes across as a WASP-ish social climber who cares more for his daughter’s status than for his daughter’s happiness. Could the influence of Marcia’s father have affected Marcia’s impression of Gary? It seems likely.

Then there’s Pritchard. Yes, for most of this episode, the writer sticks to the caricature of the profit-driven boss lording over his pathetic little fiefdom – and that’s fine for the standard comedy. But then, in the final scene, Pritchard’s reaction to being stood up at the altar suggests that he has a heart – a small yet real one – after all. It is a coup de grace that pushes the episode beyond the standard.

Acting: 8.5

Helped along by a classic script, all of the regulars and most of the guests do excellent comedic work. I suppose the only two performers who didn’t particularly impress me were Rya Kihlstedt – who didn’t come across as sincere in her concern for Pritchard when perhaps she should have done so – and Jim True, whose turn as Mailroom Sam depended a little too much on Alex Taub’s words and not enough on True’s comedic timing.

Message: 9.5

Ask three different experts, you get three different weather reports. That’s why you gotta give people the benefit of the doubt.

As suggested above, this black comedy has a heart of gold, as it teaches us to turn the other cheek in the genuine Biblical sense. Here, Gary has a chance to really stick it to the adult version of a schoolyard bully – but he refrains, not because he doesn’t want to sock Pritchard in the eye – not because he doesn’t despise Pritchard with every fiber of his being – but because he is, quite simply, a man of Christian honor. In an age in which a House-ian lack of civility seems to rule the day, we desperately need role models such as this.

And there’s something else that this episode teaches: that civility is catching. If Gary had treated Pritchard with equivalent rudeness and disrespect, he would never have discovered that one part of Pritchard that sincerely loved Marcia – would never have reached that final peace. Remember that the next time someone is rude to you.

SABR Matt’s Ratings:

Writing: 9.0

The script is very tight, though dominated less by the words and more by the clever direction (most of the juxtaposition to which Stephanie S. referred was visually done, though the screenwriter probably planted the basic ideas). I think the thing I enjoyed most about this episode, from a writing sense, was Chuck (and Steph will not be surprised by this given my constant teasing about this show jumping the shark when Chuck leaves). It is not often in the early episodes that we get to see Chuck play the clever, sympathetic hero. Mostly, he’s there for comedy relief, but in this episode, he’s just a truly wonderful friend and he does what a friend should do in times of trouble – remind his pal who he is at core and make him live up to his own expectations with gentle support.

Acting: 9.0

OK, I didn’t really have a problem with “Mailroom Sam,” though he didn’t exactly blow me away. I hated Marcia when she first appeared (from an acting point of view I mean) and I thought she did a MUCH better job playing a well-rounded character this time. Pritchard is what makes this story work though, IMHO. The regulars are always going to be solid, but in a dark comedy, you need a hilarious villain. If Pritchard hadn’t been so hilariously pathetic, the story wouldn’t have been fun at all…it would have been sad and kind of shocking. Gary turning on Pritchard for a while would have felt like character assassination if the mood wasn’t deliciously dark and funny and if we didn’t think of Pritchard as a sad little Napoleon before it happened.

Message: 10.0

Perhaps I’m just a sucker for the golden rule…and for episodes featuring the vital importance of good friends in a man’s life. I just love this particular episode’s focus not just on turning the other cheek as Steph pointed out above, but on staying true to yourself, even when doing so might seem excruciating. I have personal experience with being forced to choose between doing the right thing (and knowing that right thing might seriously complicate my life) and doing the logical thing (and knowing the guilt would drive me nuts if I did). For a brief moment, Gary stopped listening to that little voice and Chuck, and equally important, God…forced him to listen again. Plus, I always feel better after watching an episode of TV where someone you are made to despise learns something and maybe grows a little.

The Benevolent Hand:

As it was in Baby, God’s sense of humor is fully in evidence here. I don’t believe it is outside the bounds of legitimacy to argue that, in this episode, God hands Gary his toughest test to date. It’s one thing to save friends and innocent total strangers; it’s quite another thing to rescue an enemy; and it’s downright supernatural to befriend an enemy when all is said and done. But God recognizes that Gary is capable of accomplishing the second and third and pushes him, over and over, to confront his hatred for Pritchard and conquer it in the service of the good.

Check out the highlights under the cut!

Highlights:

(Chuck is thrown into Lake Michigan by the Polar Bears.)

CHUCK: My hair is frozen. It hurts. It’s a block.

GARY: It’ll thaw.

CHUCK: Just get me to that shower. And you better have a clean towel. Why is it that you’re the one who gets the paper, and I’m the one who gets punished every time? Every time?

MARCIA: Gary.

GARY: Marcia? What are you doing here?

CHUCK: Oh....Gary? Keys? Shower? Freezing?

GARY: Oh. Oh.

(Gary hands his keys to Chuck.)

CHUCK: Marcia, it was a pleasure, as always. And I gotta say that for the first time today, I understand why you divorced this guy.

MARCIA: I’m getting married Gary. That’s why I came down here in person: to tell you first.

GARY: So, so, when did, when ah, so when did this all happen?

MARCIA: Just happened. It was quick.

GARY: Yeah....So who is he? No, no, no, no, you know, ah, that’s a dumb question. I shouldn’t have asked.

MARCIA: Gary--

GARY: Cause, I understand that we’re not married anymore, and you don’t have to clear it up through me, and that’s a dumb question, and it doesn’t matter, so...

MARCIA: Gary, you all right?

GARY: Oh, yeah.

MARCIA: So you’re happy for me?

GARY: Oh, yeah.

(The scene changes to McGinty’s, and we can see that Gary is clearly not all right.)

GARY: So who the hell is he?

MARISSA: I thought it didn’t matter. I thought you were bigger than that.

CHUCK: Are you kidding? No man is that big.

MARISSA: Are you all right?

CHUCK: Yeah! He’s great. He’s never been better. Another man is marrying his wife.

GARY: I’m fine.

CHUCK: Probably wants to kill himself.

GARY: I just wanna know who he is.

MARISSA: You know, Marcia’s right. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that now he can move on.

CHUCK: Move on?

MARISSA: Yes.

CHUCK: Gary does not know who this guy is. For all he knows, she could be marrying the most successful, best looking guy in the city, with the biggest...

MARISSA: (warning) Chuck.

CHUCK: Boat. The biggest boat. A yacht… on Lake Michigan!

MARISSA: It takes time, but he’ll get over it.

GARY: The truth is...

CHUCK: Not if it’s a Kennedy. He’d never get over it if it was a Kennedy. I know I wouldn’t.

MARISSA: This is exactly what he needs. Closure.

CHUCK: Wrong. What he needs is a martini and a date....with a supermodel.

MARISSA: Oh, great. That’s your answer to everything.

CHUCK: Ask him yourself. Gar - closure? Or a supermodel? I’ll bet you two to one.

GARY: (has finally had enough) Guys! Thank you very much for all your input, but I’m fine. I’m over it. I’m good. And I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.

CHUCK: Touchy. He’s very touchy.

MARISSA: Very touchy.

(During the account of Harrison’s suicide -)

GARY: "Yesterday afternoon, he typed a suicide note which read, 'I leave this life. It was all too much. Tell my family,' and distributed it to everyone on the staff."

(Harrison makes copies of his note, hands them to everyone he sees, and throws the rest on the floor.)

GARY: "Without a word to anyone, he shattered a window on the 26th floor of the high-rise, and moments later hurled himself to the street below."

(Then Harrison grabs a chair and smashes the window. The scene shifts, and we see Pritchard scolding his staff.)

PRITCHARD: There’s fat in every company. Your job is to find it. Employee moral is not a factor.

(At this moment, Harrison falls past Pritchard’s window, yelling as he goes -)

HARRISON: Pritchard, you suck!

(Gary accidentally thwacks Pritchard with a squash racket.)

CHUCK: You gotta learn how to control your impulses.

GARY: It was an accident.

MARISSA: You really broke his nose?

CHUCK: And a concussion. Tell her about the concussion.

GARY: It was an accident.

CHUCK: Are you sure?

GARY: What do you mean, am I sure? What, do you think I aimed at him? I didn’t even see his fat face. (Gary starts muttering to himself.) Weasely whiny voice, yapping behind me - “Yeah, Marcia this, Marcia that, Condo on the lake.” (Then he notices Chuck giving him a Look.) What, you don’t believe me?

CHUCK: Come on, Gary, haven’t you ever read Freud? There are no accidents. This was no game of squash. This was a textbook Reverse Oedipal Triangle.

MARISSA: Here we go…

CHUCK: Two father figures, in an enclosed space, fighting for the favors of the same woman, using rackets. Come on, people. The symbolism is all there!

GARY: Oh yeah? Well, Chuck, sometimes a racket’s just a racket.

CHUCK: Sometimes, yes. This time? No. I don’t think so.

GARY: Marcia’s gonna kill me.

CHUCK: Tell her it was an accident.

GARY: (bellowing) It was an accident!

CHUCK: Yes! Now, if you tell her like that - with that kind of conviction – then – then – she might believe you!

CHUCK: You’re making it up.

GARY: Well, its right here in black and white. “Partner in brokerage firm found murdered late Tuesday night at the firm of Strauss & Associates...”

(As Gary reads, the incident is played out on screen.)

GARY: “Vice President Philip Pritchard was shot dead.”

(Pritchard’s body is dragged out of an elevator.)

GARY: “The bullet-riddled corpse was discovered early the next morning by his secretary.”

(Pritchard’s body is propped up at his desk. His employees begin to gather.)

GARY: “Trading was suspended as grief-stricken Strauss & Associates employees spent the day in mourning.”

(Hilariously, we see Pritchard’s employees drinking and celebrating around his corpse.)

GARY: “Based on initial evidence, police suspect a disgruntled employee is responsible.”

CHUCK: Ha, ha, ha! Somebody’s gonna whack Pritchard! I can’t believe it took this long!

GARY: I don’t want to do it.

CHUCK: Excuse me?

GARY: I don’t wanna save him!

CHUCK: You don’t want... You? Gary Hobson? Cub Scout to the world?

GARY: There’s not a reason in the world why I should! The guy made my life miserable! He makes everybody’s life miserable!

CHUCK: Gary, listen...

GARY: He’s marrying my wife!

CHUCK: Your ex-wife. Ex. Look, Gary, Gary. I know - I’m the one who usually says ok, let this person - this angel of mercy - do the world a favor by plugging Pritchard full of lead. But...I know you. I know your style. You’re not gonna want to see Harrison - or any other sap for that matter - go to the chair for offing Pritchard. You got no choice.

(Pritchard is tied up in the parking garage. Sam – the mailroom guy – is holding a gun on him.)

PRITCHARD: Please, please. Please don’t do this.

SAM: Oh, I see. Suddenly it’s “please,” and it’s “thank you.” Now you’re Mr. Polite. Well, now it’s too late.

PRITCHARD: Help me! Somebody! Whatever you want, Sam, it’s yours. Just name it. Anything.

SAM: I want you to die.

PRITCHARD: Uh-huh. Anything else?

GARY: Hey, Sam? Why don’t you give me the gun?

SAM: What?

GARY: Well, I’m not saying you gotta let him go. I’m - I’m just saying, give me the gun, huh? Look, if anybody should settle a score with this guy, it should be me.

SAM: Why?

GARY: I worked for this guy two years. Every single day he let me know what a lousy job I’m doing. Then my wife leaves me. I’m having a hard time. Pritchard here threatens to fire me, so I quit. Then the day before yesterday, you know what I find out? My ex-wife is remarrying. Guess who she’s marrying.

(Gary and Sam both look at Pritchard.)

SAM: You’re right. You should shoot him.

PRITCHARD: Oh, leave me alone, Hobson. I promise - I promise I’m not gonna marry Marcia. I’ll never speak to her again!

(Gary brandishes Sam’s gun.)

GARY: Wrong answer, Pritchard. Now, you’re gonna get on with your life, and I’m gonna get on with mine. But you will marry Marcia.

PRITCHARD: I will?

GARY: You’re gonna promise me you’re gonna marry Marcia, or I’m gonna plug ya full of holes!

PRITCHARD: I promise I’ll marry her. Now, can you untie me?

GARY: And you’re gonna treat her well. Promise!

PRITCHARD: I will, I promise.

GARY: And every day, you’re gonna tell yourself that you’re the luckiest man alive, cause you don’t deserve her, and she’s far too good for you. Say it!

PRITCHARD: I’m the luckiest man alive and I don’t deserve her.

(Gary shifts back to Mr. Mild-Mannered.)

GARY: Well, all right.

(Gary unties Pritchard.)

PRITCHARD: Thank you. Can you help me up, please? (Gary does so.) So...I can just go?

GARY: Yeah. Go on. (Before Pritchard can leave, however, Gary stops him.) Hey, Pritchard, one more thing: maybe you should treat your employees with a little bit more respect, huh?

PRITCHARD: Don’t you push it, Hobson. I don’t need you to tell me how to run a business. That stupid mailroom kid - he was just a bad apple.

GARY: Uh-huh.

PRITCHARD: My employees love me!

(Pritchard activates his keyless entry and his car explodes.)

PRITCHARD: She wasn’t right for me. She was getting into it for all the wrong reasons. I should have seen it coming.

GARY: You never see it coming.

PRITCHARD: Still, I guess its better I find out now, rather than three or four years down the road.

GARY: Oh, absolutely.

PRITCHARD: In a way, I’m better off. Not as invested.

GARY: That’s right. You get to move on. You get closure.

PRITCHARD: I envy you, though. You had those three or four years.

GARY: Yeah.

PRITCHARD: Did you ever see her dance?

GARY: Oh, yeah. Lots of times. Hey, did she ever take you to that Salsa joint?

PRITCHARD: Yeah, once. I couldn’t keep up with her. I wrenched my back.

GARY: Twisted my knee.

PRITCHARD: I really did love her.

GARY: Yeah, I know.