Episode 2x22 "Career Day"

If this episode doesn't involve a career day, I am going to feel betrayed.

Okay it involves a career day. And it takes place in Mr. Turner's class because what else are you gonna do in English class. But Cory's not excited! He's using his "this is about to shame the shit out of me" voice to remind Shawn (read as: the audience) that his father is a grocer. Alan gives the two boys a preview of his presentation, and it's looking quite grim. The first to present is Topanga's father, Jedediah, who has chosen to wear the Goron Tunic from Ocarina of Time today. Jedediah is annoyingly humble about his cool job of making guitars for famous musicians, and then plays a little bluegrass to really drive home his superiority over Allen, unintentional as it may be.

Alan goes next and he's all sweaty and nervous and fumbling with notecards. It's cringey, but it's supposed to be, so it works. This would probably be a good episode just with Alan's story, but they went ahead and gave us more. Shawn's father, Chet, shows up at the classroom's door and decides he's going to present next. Chet starts grandstanding and making up shit like inventing the microwave. I think this is the first time we've actually seen Shawn's father, so I'd like to comment on what a great actor this guy is. His name is Blake Clark and he's been all over Hollywood for decades. Most recently he voiced Slinky Dog in Toy Story 3 and played the billiards teacher on Community. He really brings an incredible charisma and fire to the character of Chet Hunter. The show never says it explicitly, but he's essentially a con artist.

You can't tell from the gif, but everyone except Shawn believes these wild stories, even Cory. Shawn, however, is not pleased.

At lunch, the Ericlogue begins as the man himself talks with his best bud Jason about their SAT prep course. Eric comments that he's so focused on studying that all his other senses have shut down. He proceeds to spill his soup onto his lap but doesn't notice (because his senses shut down). This makes the audience laugh for, and I'm not exaggerating, fifteen seconds. It's fifteen seconds without dialogue. Eric is just eating to the sound of laughter for fifteen seconds. It's pretty bad.

The camera pans over to the table where Cory and Shawn are eating, and then Chet shows up with the news that Shawn's mother has taken their trailer/home and run away, "this time for good". Chet says he has to chase after her, and Shawn storms off. This marks one of the few times in the series that Shawn's storming-off is actually justified.

At the Matthews house, signs of stress are continuing to manifest in Eric's behavior, causing him to rethink the idea of going to college altogether. Due to his shame and embarrassment from earlier in the day, Alan gives Eric the "Son, don't be like me" speech to motivate him to go to college. It's not an original father-son moment by any means, but they set it up well. I would be much less interested in this part of the story if we hadn't witnessed Alan's embarrassment first hand earlier in the episode. At the same time, he was juxtaposed with a hippie playing a guitar and a compulsive liar, neither of which is likely to have gone to college either. And surely Alan would know that Chet Hunter is as full of shit as his trailer's septic tank. So it's not quite on the mark, but still thorough and it's obvious that they put thought into it.

And then!!!!!!!!!!!! Something exciting happens. The next scene opens at Mr. Turner's apartment, where he and Ms. Kat Tompkins, his season-long romantic interest, are finishing up a a romantic dinner. Turner thinks it's about to be business time but Kat initiates the "where is this going?" conversation. Turner's got his "oh shit" face on, and is saved by a knock at the door. Our very own Shawn Hunter is here! Ms. Tompkins decides the moment is over and hits the road, while Turner invites Shawn in. They have a chat while Shawn eats some of the dinner's leftovers, and we learn that Shawn's staying at a shitty motel while his dad goes to search for his mom. Turner's being a real cool guy like "hey if you ever need anything, you can always stop by here", and turns his back for a second. Turning back around reveals an exhausted Shawn asleep on the couch.

This scene is so good you guys. If someone had only seen, say, the season premiere, and then watched this episode, this scene would look pretty stupid. But we know better, don't we! They've been steadily building up Turner as a father figure for Shawn for a while now, so this feels very natural. The dialogue is well written, both actors do a great job, and Shawn's trying his best not to show how shitty he's feeling, he's bottling it all up inside, and that's a big part of his character. In the past I've commented on the writers not building up to the big moments, and that sucked, but this time they got it right. Thank goodness.

The next day, Turner is at Feeny's house for some reason, and they're talking about what's happened with Shawn. Feeny advises Turner in a genuinely respectful way to be careful of the line between friend and authority figure. This is the first time Mr. Feeny truly talks to Turner as an equal, quite possibly because it is also the first time Feeny has seen what a good heart Turner really has. It's a wonderfully meaningful conversation.

Alan joins the two teachers outside for a moment, but then Amy calls him back in saying that Shawn's father has just arrived. Turner asks to come along for this conversation, since he'd like to add in a few choice comments for Chet.

Shawn, previously upstairs with Cory, (thinking about it, maybe Turner had just dropped Shawn off and went to talk to Feeny,) comes downstairs to join in the discussion. Unfortunately for Shawny Shawn, his old man's going back on the road to look for Mrs. Hunter, and has come to ask the Matthews parents if they'll watch Shawn. Of course they agree, and it's very reminiscent of that one scene from Fresh Prince, with Will's dad. If you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you.

The first scene of this episode is readdressed, bringing us full circle, as Turner and Cory both point out to Alan that he's not just a grocer, he's a father. And a damn good one.

William Russ is so fucking perfect at playing a father, I can't even handle it.

During the credits Eric realizes there's a math section of the SAT and freaks out, launching a bunch of food onto Mr. Feeny. .....Didn't we already do a food bit........... Ugh.....

Plot: 1.0 - It's good! Shawn finally has a legitimate reason to be pissy. Showing up at Turner's apartment was well founded and believable. Now, this is the first time we've seen Chet. It might otherwise be hard to swallow the idea that he would just abandon his son like this, but the way he's been played since the very first scene really sells us on how irresponsible this guy is. I can't tell you how satisfying it is that the writers didn't just throw these big developments at us.

Character Development: 1.0 - Shawn and Turner? A+. Chet Hunter? A+. Alan? A+. Feeny too, for seemingly gaining more respect for Mr. Turner. Fuckin spot on here.

Humor: 0.5 - A lot of humor was sacrificed for emotion and plot, which is fine. The Ericlogue was supposed to serve as the primary source of laughter, but it just didn't work for me.

Life Lesson: 1.0 - This is a tough one, because the biggest real lesson here is learned by Alan, meaning that the target audience of this show won't internalize it as much. Either way, Alan learns that he isn't defined by his job. Everyone loves and respects him because of his kindness and his strong willingness to take care of the people close to him.

3.5 out of 4.0 - I don't think there were as many jokes as usual in this review, so sorry for that, but I definitely feel like there was a ton of analysis here. I guess I'm not sure why people read this blog, but hopefully it's a combination of both. Either way, thanks for reading, see you Friday for the finale of season 2!

All images used under fair use.