0219 - IMPODENT


Synopsis:   Marcy’s frustration with having been barred by Steve from driving his nice new 
Mercedes reaches a boiling point, so while Steve is away, she decides to take it out for a spin.  
After Steve comes home and sees that Marcy left a large dent in the car Steve finds himself 
unable to become aroused by Marcy anymore.  Needing knowledge on how to get a man excited, she 
turns to the only place she can...Al.

Thoughts:    Arguably the centerpiece of season 2 and a celebration of men and their place in the 
home.  Every household member has their own possessions no matter what anybody says and Steve has 
his own as well, his Mercedes.  After Marcy "violates it" Steve hits a low which he tries to hide 
from others.  Thankfully, Al and his still untapped wisdom (being only the second season) can 
assist both Steve and Marcy, and it is with his advice.

	 Why this episode resonates the way it does is that it is still in MWC’s early days and a 
plot like this would have been a little out of tune later on when Marcy would be wiser and not 
listen to Al’s advice.  Later on in the series Steve all but folds up before his departure and 
Jefferson was always horse whipped so the idea of the "my car don’t touch it" couldn’t have 
worked the way it did here to far down the road.  The time was now to do this kind of story
because both Marcy and Steve are still naïve enough and inexperienced in marriage.  

	Al displays more of his chauvinistic side with Marcy in two scenes.  One has him hearing
about Marcy finally driving Steve’s car and a surprised  Al asks her "Whaddya hit?"  Marcy 
launches into her "women can do anything usually better then men mode" and chides Al about how 
safe women drivers are and Al casually replies again "Whaddya hit?"  When Marcy breaks down and 
confesses hitting the fire hydrant, you gotta love it.  Similar to the speech about the driveway 
scam in "Nightmare on Al’s Street" This scene comes at the end of the show and presents Al and 
his aforementioned chauvinistic side to a level that would become a caricature by the series end. 
Here though it’s a little on the harsh side and tends to make one almost sympathize with 
Marcy...almost.  You can’t help but laugh when Al remarks on the “world renowned social 
scientist...Mr. Hugh Heffner."

	Another in ‘n out scene for both of the kids at the beginning which is a smart move since 
it wasn’t necessary to have them present as it would only bog down the show but they put enough 
of a hold on the show getting started that it comes close to being ruined.  The reason being that 
the momentum of the rest of the show is so great, it makes the opening feel like it crept by like 
a snail.   

	The plot is straight forward with no side story to speak of.  Just one great story and to 
see Marcy suffer (I never really liked her) makes it even better with a closing scene is the 
quintessential way to button it all up.  A better scene wouldn’t come until "The Mystery of Skull 
Island" almost 4 seasons later and in my opinion it’s the funniest ending, whereas this one is a 
little more satisfying.

Rating:  9.9 shoes out of 10.  It took a while to build up to something so I must dock it for 
that, but once it did, it is arguably one of the best episodes of the entire series.  Not to be 
missed.


Quotable Quotes:

Other then the couple I mentioned up top, there will be no quotes here as I want to keep this
one apart and a surprise for all who watch it.