Way back in Very Bad Things, Joy stole a truck (it also turned out that the guy died, as recounted in Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck, but it started at the beginning of the season). It also turns out that the offense would be Joy’s third, which is why she’s trying to get out of it. Her third strike means that she goes away for a long time, which she doesn’t want to do. It also means she’s running from the law, like The Dukes of Hazzard, which means we get to hear that classic, and the fact that she’s running also means we get a bonus appearance from Dog the Bounty Hunter, and strangely that fact isn’t mentioned. But I digress.
Crab Man is having a tough time – but it’s tough to tell if it’s with the kids, or because the kids appear to be taping Mr. Turtle to various surfaces of the trailer where he doesn’t seem to want to be taped. Randy is also having issues, but then Randy always has issues, and it’s not really a problem. Mostly it is because Earl is now trying to make something of himself, and Randy isn’t sure how he’ll be left to fend for himself. I suspect that he’ll be just fine.
Earl decides that to try and restore some order, he needs some character witnesses for Joy, so he starts looking all over Camden County. He looks at Joy’s friend’s house, but Joy apparently had some indiscretions with her friend’s family. Yeah. Joy’s minister? He’s not going to help, because Joy would come to church dressed inappropriately, and her response was to think that Jesus might like a piece of it. Probably not the most appropriate dress, not the most appropriate response. Catalina is the lst try, and of course, Catalina thinks that Joy is a whore. That one’s out too.
Then Earl goes to the lawyer’s office, and decides to discuss strategy. He ends up in bed with Ruby (the lawyer), after a date at a pizza place. When in bed, he finds out he can cross an item off his list – that he had been a lazy lover. But then it turns out that he had stolen something from a deaf woman, who just so happened to be Ruby. Things aren’t looking good for Joy as Earl takes the stand. Then it gets worse.
It turns out that the prosecutor has a bunch of 911 calls from times when Earl was afraid for his life – times when Joy was coming after him. As the last call winds down, Earl sees just how much Joy fears being locked up for life, and how much she’ll miss the kids, and he shouts out that he’s the one that did it, taking the fall for her. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a slap on the wrist for his act of honor – he gets thrown into the slammer. Locked up. Sent to the big house.
When he gets there, we find out that it’s not just a joke or a stunt – he’s really sent in. And a blast from the past awaits. Out of the darkness comes none other than his good friend (?) Ralph, who hands him a sock stuffed with what appear to be batteries, and a warning to be on the lookout. Looks like Ralph’s up to his old tricks. And Earl is going to have a heck of a time keeping up with the list from the inside. Maybe we’ve seen the last of the show, or maybe not. We’ll just have to see if it comes back for a Season 3.
