#offscreen CUL

[ask-dress-up-galaco]

GALAAAAAAAAA CULLLLLLLLLLL

IS A BEAUTIFUL WEATHER AINNITTTTT

g: You made it you made it!! I haven’t seen you in so looooooong!!

C: Is that Ribbons? It really has been a while.

[marklikely]

take me back to 2016 when i could enjoy a star wars without remembering rian johnsons garbage movie and getting mad

[aihoshiino]

So in regards to Ruby randomly becoming the new center of B-Komachi offscreen (😭? ), do you think it would've been better for her to become the new center between mainstay & scandal, so that it adds more weight to Kana's feelings during Scandal and her outburst during her fight with Ruby? Or would it be better to leave Kana as the center during those moments (and leave her as center until she graduates) so that it adds more to Kana's frustration that despite being the center, she's the least popular? I assumed for the longest time that Ruby would become center after Kana leaves B-Komachi, to signify her growth as an idol. As of now, its weird that Ruby found out that Kana was resentful of the current B-Komachi situation, and then just...doubled down on it lol

YEAH LOL… A big issue I have with the B-Komachi stuff currently is how much time the main story & Viewpoint B + 45510 spends on communicating just how shitty the environment of gen 1 B-Komachi was for everyone while also being careful to get across that it wasn't the fault of anyone actually in the group, but the management and the generally miserable place the entertainment industry is for everyone but especially the young girls in it. It's bizarre, then, to see the story basically repeating all these same mistakes with gen 2 but never drawing attention to them… but I've ranted enough about how I dislike the way Ruby's idolhood is being handled lately that I'll hold my tongue for now.

So IMO, I actually think Ruby officially becoming the B-Komachi center and having it happen earlier in the story would have really strengthened and given better foundation to both Kana's insecurities and the blowup that happens between her and Ruby as a result. Kana feeling down about not being popular despite being the center is a good idea, but it's one of those things the story kind of talks about w/o really doing anything interesting with it. It spurs Kana to take action, yes, but it's largely an issue that just sort of takes place in the margins between panels and we don't get to engage with it much as readers. But I think if Ruby's popularity (resulting from her BH era) leading her to take the center from Kana would both emphasize Ruby's callousness towards the other two members of the group and make the reader really understand why Kana feels so helpless and at a loose end in B-Komachi. Not only is she unpopular but now the one thing she actually meaningfully contributes - acting as center - has been taken from her. Kana is a character defined largely by how desperate she is to be of use to other people, so I think that would make the spiral she goes into that leads into Scandal feel a lot more weighty.

It would also make the RBKN-AiNino parallels the Movie Arc tries to force feel a lot more grounded. By having Ruby usurp the center position from Kana just as Ai did from Nino, we would have an actual sense of these dynamics fully replicating themselves in this new generation of the group. It'd feel more organically woven into the story and thus it wouldn't feel quite as much of a plot cul de sac as it does in the main story.

[gascon-en-exil]

A Very Belated Octopath Traveler II Ranking

I had an anon asking me about Octopath Traveler II story rankings a few weeks ago. I'd been wanting to do one of those for a long time now, but between all my other projects I haven't really had the time. I can however throw together a quick summation. If there's any interest in longer versions I might be persuaded to explore that...but when I say "long" I really do mean it. Most of my notes at the moment go on for paragraphs for almost every traveler.

#8 Ochette

Knockoff Pokémon. Kind of shapeless thanks to the nonlinearity. Brings up heavy themes but can't really explore them in part because the beastlings are just handled weirdly. The villain only existing offscreen sucks.

#7 Hikari

Literally the standard Fire Emblem plot, only it doesn't work in the Octopath format because of geographic isolation and the travelers being handled oddly as a group like always. Has some pacing issues especially in Chapter 4 with its massive cutscene dump. Was pretty much exactly what I expected from start to finish.

#6 Throné

Fantastic opening and even better midgame, then dives off a cliff at the end because it has to escalate to the Final Story. Overall story can't accommodate such a bittersweet ending so it just kind of...doesn't. Still earns points for how it handles familial abuse and the perpetuation of the cycle of violence.

#5 Partitio

Man's dads get divorced, so he starts an industrial revolution to get them back together. Is as awesomely ridiculous as that sounds, and is enhanced by various unique stylistic flourishes. Succeeds as long as you don't try to bring any serious economic or political themes into it. Also extremely gay homosocial all around, soured only by the token female character...and not remotely in the way you'd expect based on how I'm describing it.

#4 Agnea

A low-stakes, feel-good romp that's exactly what you think it's going to be, and is wonderful at it. Begins leaning on the fourth wall in amusing ways by the end, and although it's also weirdly leashed to the Final Story it goes over better than it does with Throné's or Partitio's stories. Primrose was my favorite from the first game, and while the tone of this one is completely different I'm surprisingly okay with that.

#3 Temenos

A bit lazy doing another story with a Sherlock Holmes-esque approach to mystery when the first game already did one, but the stakes are higher from the start and Temenos is also doing most of the heavy lifting building to the Final Story. Crick provides some much-needed emotional stakes, even including his ultimate fate. Gets a bit lost in its own plot twists at one point, but that's mostly a minor nitpick.

#2 Osvald

Opening is constraining and atmospheric in just the right way. Appropriately dramatic at all the right points with a delightfully hammy villain, and pivots from revenge to the Power of Love adequately enough so as not to feel too cheesy. Spaces out its multiple flashback sequences much better than Hikari's story. It and #1 are actually helped by being narrative cul-de-sacs relative to the Final Story.

#1 Castti

Does pretty much everything the other stories do right. Deftly handles an amnesia plot with clever presentation and a strong supporting cast. Healeaks is devastating, the villain is hammy but also sympathetic (his turn being offscreen is the weakest note of the whole thing), and Castti is a solid presence throughout even if she never really stands out much to me as a character. Ending is satisfying but still allowed to feel melancholy, and it doesn't lead to mood whiplash like Throné's does.

[lucklopbunny]

*Ed Edd n Eddy title music plays* Ed-strogen injection

Eddy: That’s it, Double D! We’ll provide Hormone Replacement Therapy for all the saps in the cul-da-sac! Then when they are all transed up we can sell them new clothes for Cash! Edd: Eddy, discovering ones gender identity is a delicate task. It can require intense inner reflection and potential years of- *Ed carelessly slams a large cabinet into Double D. pushing him offscreen* Ed: I couldn’t find any gender in here, Eddy! should I check the fridge?

[book-o-scams]

One Of Those Eds - Alternate/Deleted Scenes

Thanks to Scott "Diggs" Underwood for sharing these in this interview he did for Concept Art Empire!

'One of Those Eds' is one of my favorite season 4 episodes, and a while back, Scott Diggs posted these lost scenes that reveal quite a different early interpretation of the episode's outline!

First up, an incredibly different approach to Eddy's mattress scam. Eddy is in some sort of an exaggerated doctor outfit, directly acknowledges that he kidnapped Jonny, and tries harder to do a bit with Jonny about how tired Jonny is. In this version, Jonny is not ready for his 3pm nap and is instead wide awake. I prefer the aired episode's much simpler interpretation, but Doctor Eddy is cute.

Eddy sits Jonny on a shopping cart or something.

Eddy: "Sorry for the kidnap but it's an emergency."

Jonny: "Say what?"

Eddy: "You've got all the symptoms... (drapes handbags over Jonny's eyes) You've got bags under your eyes."

Jonny: "Clever."

Eddy does bits sometimes, but this feels pretty heavy-handed, lmao. Jonny having a sarcastic response feels very out of character, sounds more like an Edd response to Eddy's joke.

The handbag handles effectively lower Jonny's eyelids.

Eddy: "Eyelids gettin' heavy..."

Jonny: "It's the bags!"

Eddy: "Why, you can barely walk!"

Jonny: "These bags are heavy!!"

Eddy: "Denial is the last symptom."

Eddy looks woefully as Jonny walks forward until the bags falls off his eyes, Jonny looks at Plank.

Again, Doctor Eddy is an adorably design, and a scene focused on Jonny's walk cycle has a nice season 1 feel to it, but this is all a bit much for this dumb scam, and Jonny's backtalk continues to feel out of character and a little too obvious of a bad idea for deception.

On this page, we learn that 'One of Those Eds' originally had the much more straight-forward title, 'Eds-Calibur'. Come to think of it, I guess this is another parody episode in a way... Guess season 4 was loosening up on the non-parody rule from the series bible.

We also learn specifically why Edd arranged the kids' Quarter Removal lineup in the order he did...

Edd: "You have been placed in a lineup in the fairest way possible... Namely, of course, brain mass to cranium girth ratio."

Jimmy: "I AM SO SMART!"

Eddy to Ed: "So how come YOU'RE in front of ME?"

Ed: "Swelling, Eddy!" (points finger... up Eddy's nose)

Edd: "It appears you're..." (starts to open the rope for Jimmy)

Edd was trying to low-key put brains ahead of brawn, even when it put his friends at a disadvantage... Also that's an extremely troubling gag that Ed is apparently suffering from cerebral edema, pretty glad that's cut, hehe.

Edd: "It appears you're first, Jimmy."

Sarah: "Go Jimmy!!"

[Kev and Rolf speak off screen while Eddy watches Jimmy nervously]

Kev: "Yeah right."

Rolf: "A sour chance at best."

In this version, we see Jimmy's attempt-- hard to tell from the sketch but I think he's still using his eyelash curler. However, the outcome is less interesting in this one, it doesn't injure him, he just runs home crying over his failure.

In the aired episode, we don't see his attempt at all, and it's implied his curler curled some part of him that required an ambulance. The cut to his house would've felt a little out of place, since that episode's camera is notably pretty fixed on the location of the quarter. I believe the beginning with the mattress scam is the only departure from that stretch of sidewalk between the cul-de-sac and the playground the entire episode.

Rolf: (offscreen) "Idiot Box." (I believe that's the end of dialogue that is still in the episode?)

(Rolf squeezes open a miniature barrel of beets and chomps 'em)

Eddy: "What's he doin'?"

Now we skip ahead to Rolf's turn and Eddy's very worried. Rolf does a Popeye parody and I think that's why Danny wasn't into it. He likes a Popeye reference as much as the next guy, but this is a bit specific for this show.

Edd: "Um... Rolf? If we could just quickly review current copyright law."

(Rolf's arms become goat heads and DING Edd away, Rolf's tongue flexes a big muscle with a little animated tractor imagined within it)

Eddy: (pressing down the rope in stress) "AAAH..."

Rolf: (gears up for attack) "SHASHBYATROT!!"

Rolf's tongue with the tractor image in its muscle is a pretty funny switcharoo from how Popeye's gag goes, but Rolf's arms randomly turning into goat heads for one moment just to bop Edd is a bit far to take the surrealism. That art of Rolf's reflection in the quarter is awesome though, they should've found a way to put that in.

[popculturebuffet]

OK KO Reviews: Back In Red Action

As you can probably tell by the fact Red Action week started 4 days ago my schedule slipped a bit, with a bunch of unexpected stuff, an expected job for a friend, and a day of laziness with the isle of armor meant I never got around to writing it. As such i’ve decided to play catchup.. all 3 reviews, HOPEFULLY all in one day. And yes 3 as I decided to cut Plaza Prom for a number of reasons: It’s not all that necessary, I was doing it more for myself, and if I find time before or after pride ends, I can easily cover it in isolation, so being done in a timely manner isn’t an issue like it is for the red action ones, or the other three pride month reviews I have planned after red action week. So witht hat dust settled let’s talk about Enid.  While I went on about Enid a LOT last time, for good reason, a LOT has happened since episode 3 as you’d probably guess, episodes I will cover in the future because enid is awesoeme. And the two episodes that built her up a bit had plaza prom as the creamy filling for that airing sandwitch, and were unsuprisingly good. But since we’re not covering them just yet Enid confronted her ex best friend and dealt with her and rad’s bumpy past, and that coupled with our previous episodes and some others have melted down her walls a bit. She’s still a bit distant, and still terrible at her job as ever, but she’s grown as a person and grown past her past. Now it’s her turn to do what K.O. has done for her, he was inttrumental in getting her to stop ignoring Elodie and confront her, for someone else. Let’s recap this.  back in red action under the cut...

We open with a normal day at the Plaza and Enid’s alone, with K.O. offscreen and Rad not in this episode so he’s not around and Gar clearly gone or else he’d be yelling at enid probably.  Enid’s checking around on her phone and after checking to see if anyone’s there, once again decides to look at Red’s social because that’s not creepy. But Enid browses it wondering why Red came here in the first place, figuring there’s probably better food, better this , better that and trips up on a picture of Red with her old girlfriend, Yellow Technique.. and yeah i’m not beating around the bush, while they never come right out and SAY IT, the episode contextualizes things as such. I Mean granted given my shipping habits on this blog, you can see i’m willing to ship plenty of kids together, and even then only in a “Awww” holding hands, maybe an awkard kiss way, and am a shipping monster who has plenty, but here i have no horse in this race, it’s just really obvious subtext. 

Anyways enough Cul De Sacs, Enid sees a new picture... Red taking a selfie with an unaware Enid.. and who probably just heard Enid’s last few sentences and at the very least dosen’t care. After a flirty “Hey Ya” and enid awkardly hiding her phone, Red buys some gum for cover then invites Enid to hang out for the afternoon then leaves.  Then KO pops up out of nowhere hilariously, and for his only scene this episode to gush about Enid’s sorta date, though Enid is paranoid it’s just a setup for some sorta joke or prank.. which given that red was willing to set a child on fire while her friend spanked him because that’s not weird at all, yeah kinda a good point, even if she’s ignoring the obvious signals that, for once, Red seems to be genuine. She WAS a bit awkward at times during asking her out, pausing or stammering, she just quickly recovered. But it also shows the downside, if breifly to red’s kind of life: If your an ass to everybody, even people who genuinely like you may worry your just messing with them. 

But when Enid goes to return the gum, she finds Red not only waiting but ninja snatching the gum.. and doing that to a NINJA takes skill. Top notch. Enid realizing this isn’t a prank holy fuck her crush really did ask her out out of nowhere, suggests a few things before Red shoots them down gently and revealz their going crusing. She also has enid turn her back and cover her ears while she summons her submarine.. using a sentai/power rangers set of poses and summon chant, as you do.  With their ride here and enid buckeled into Red’s Submarine, and Red dodging any questions Enid has about her past , you know, the oppsitie of normal first date behavior. Everyone knows your supposed to talk a lot, get them coffee, look deep in her eyes and tell her about your family, hold hands then shoot cocaine into your eyes and rock a buglarly.��

But no instead of any of that Red has something just as romantic and dangerous planned their going high into the...

Which, befiting this wonderful show, is an actual place that’s full of explosions, maurading gangs and dinosaurs.. I mean every place is full of dinosaurs but this place has extra dinosaurs. It’s like the savage land if it didn’t annoy me as a setting. So the two cruise on exotica style, though in a great bit Red keeps enid from unbuckling, and when asked about her past again Red dodges and instead takes them down thunder road, where the lightining strikes.... I.. I can’t stop waxing lyircal this review. Help.  On thunder road the two share a moment when both go up top and see how damn pretty the place is, what with all the glowing orbs, Red gets electrocuted and both look at each other lovingly at diffrent points with that faded light effect, you know the one. I”d name it jeremy but it definitely has a name. The two really bond and it’s telling that it’s those moments where things go well: Enid’s not nervously trying to ask first date questions, if not wrongfully and Red isn’t running from them. Their just two teenagers attracted to one another getting to know you getting to know all about you.. getting to know if you like me.  Anyways, enough of my nonsense that’s now clearly a medical condition, Red’s old friends show up to spoil the mood, with Red brushing them off as performance artists, and a chase insues.. and it’s really well done. I’ll get into this more in a minute. The two max max race, Enid gets into the cockpit and makes good use of it as it’s just like shooting womp rats back home. With help from red, they manage to get two of the hue troop cars to collide and the two hide behind a sign despite it telling them not to back to the future style. It’s here we get into the heart of the episode and what makes it really work for me: For most of the season, before and though not as often after this, Enid’s been standofish even to people she cares about, blunt and hard to get to open up. But the two incidents I mentoined last time that caused her to harden her heart and swallow her tears... got some closure in thos enidcentric eps. IN short Elodie returned and Enid tried to act like it didn’t bother her and Elodie throwing their relationship away like hot garbage for her own admitssion into point and then came back smug as ever, but KO once again got through to her and convinced her that she needed to face her and in a stunning action sequence, i’ll gush about it more when I review the episode eventually she whalloped her and got closure, even if Elodie was ssitll super popular. She then patched things up with rad after Cupid showed up to force her and rad on a date to deal with their sexual tension since Rad went on one with her in middle school that went terribly because rad listend to his friends and his friends are obnoxious piles of toxic masculinty who sucked and were not unsuprisngly phased out of most of season 2 aside from the one episode they were needed and only showed up in season 3 for rad to tell them off. It went poorly, Enid nearly died and Rad saved her and apologized for being a dick, taking the two from would be exes who are understandibly bitter to best friends at long last. 

So Enid’s healed some of her wounds.. sure she’s still standoffish.. but she’s finally opening up and letting the right ones in. And now it’s Red’s turn. Red has the same problem: She dosen’t hide but she does run or scream at issues, and as someone who tends to be quick to anger I totally understand that, a tendency to lash out due to some other thing bothering you even when the person did nothing wrong. But her crush, and now possible relationship with, Enid gets Red to finally stop dodging Enid’s questions and open up and we get Red, and her friends Backstory Red and Friends are The Hue Troop, a group of warriors founded by a woman who long ago found a powerful prisim that linked to the mysterious Zordon-like alien Ren-Bow, a precog who could sense oncoming disasters and thus empowered the woman and her 4 friends with attitude to  stop them. Like Minority Report meets Power Rangers but the Minioirty Report part actually works. And like civil war 2 if the leaders of both factions weren’t douchebags especially you Carol. But given the fight is eternal they pased their powers on generation after generation , and it was Red and co’s turn. But Red chafed at being part of a team, wearing uniforms, following orders from a rock, doing sily poses, which came to a boil when she accidently, truly accidently broke the Prisim and rather than face up to what she’d done, ran for it and thus ended up here, hiding from her past in the past.  It’s also revealed Enid’s one way crush on her is not one way. Red had also been stalking HER social media, like Enid too intimidated to make a move before now, though we DO have an explination for what changed things coming. She liked how unlike Red enid had her own style, moves and a disregard for authority. it also frankly explains a lot about Red.  spent her whole life probably, given we see what could be a kid version of red or red’s mom in the finale, preparing to be a hue trooper, given the whole generational thing i’m theorizing the Hue Troop we see are the kids of either the first gen hue troop or the second, the flashback also supporting this. Her whole life being what other people told her to be, following orders doing poses.. not being her own woman. So when being forced to turn fugitive meant she had to hide, it also meant she was free to do what she want, and went about it in the worst way: being rude to people and lashing out at them because she could, only spearing the girl she found cute and her two friends, who went along with the beahavior likely due to both liking red and being deeply insecure themselves as we saw last time, from her obnoxiousness. Even if it wasn’t a generational thing, I still supset the pressure of having to be part of a regimented group drained her and rather than talk about it she likely just avoided it like she tends to do.. and like ENID tends to do.. So it’s says something for Enid’s own development when she encourages Red, who also asked her out since Red figured shed idn’t have much time left, to STOP RUNNING and face her problems.. and punch them in the face.

Yellow shows up right as Red agrees, and a fight breaks out.. and a damn good one. I put a pin in this earlier, but the shows battle scenes, vechicalr and man to mand, are utterly gorgeous, well coregraphed and part of why I belive the animation style is so simplified. Besides allowing for the necessarily unique background cast, it also means that when it’s time for an action scene they can go balls out and give it everything without the episodes taking as long as say steven universe or a disney show.And it shows as even this brief fight is tense, well done and full of emotion as Red’s ex and her former friends fight Red and her new girlfriend with both sides having every reason to go at it. It’s crimnally cut short when a metor hits.. the same metor delivers the crystal. While the rest of the Hue Troop instantly realize this and run, Red dosen’t because it was in the distant past.. and in a great move Enid has to tell her dumbass girlfriend that they ARE in HER past. They run, Red is hit and we get the cover image for the shippers and to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that yes this was a date. They didn’t steal a few picassos while on a sexy date heist but still. 

Also  Red stole the crystal, and her friends assume it was her plan all along. Red almost takes credit for it.. but a glare from Enid shoots that plan down and Red, once again genuinely opens up, apologizing for running from them and her problems,and implicitly hurting Yellow, as while they clearly aren’t together anymore, either due to this or other shenanigans, it still had to hurt what red did. She also thanks Enid for being the one to show her the error of her ways. that being said with a fresh prisim, it’s just as likely that the Hue Troop can now clone it and get a copy back to the past for Red to be her own grandma, as I theroize given the finale again and all and red still being around.. more on that nexttime, the troop have a working prisim till then. They part as friends with the rest of the troop encoourging enid to visit sometime and Yellow giving her approval and getting her own closure as the troop leaves.  And so we end as Red and Enid decide to resume their everything but saying it’s a date date and go Lava Surfing as they drive out into the sunset. THE END.

Final Thoughts: Just as good on rewatch as the first time around and a great ep, not just for the LBGTQ rep, as while I belivie we’ve seen a bi flag sticker on enid’s bike helmet at this point, and would in all future appearances of it and she’d later stick one on her flying motorcycle she gets in the last season, and there was subetext with elody and red and text with rad, this showed she was a bisexual beyond any shadow of a doubt and did everything short of having them kiss, that comes later, to confirm it. But besides being one of the series delightfully gayest episodes, it has good story, good charcter progression for enid as we see how far she’s come from those early episodes, and Red gets a good character arc that both explains her past actions and has her grows as a person. And we’ll see more of this next time as we hit 88 miles per hour and Red Action to the Future. Until then, follow for more reviews of animated shows, check my blog for more as I have pages for each show, and hit me up iwth an ask if you have a show you’d like me to review or force me to review it for 2 bucks by asking for a commission! 

[eenefangirlanalysis]

The girls finally made it home locking the door behind them.

I really like that shot of Lee locking the door. It’s so suspenseful. And it also makes me fear that the girls have been in this situation before. Tat and they’re realizing how true their mother's words are. 

And this shot of the Kanker’s is well-directed. It just goes to show you how small the Kankers feel. They don’t want to let anyone in. That’s why they are closed off. 

May shudders. She has no clue what just happened.

Lee barks, “Mom was right. Throw a man a bone and he’ll mess up the carpet!”

Our of all the offscreen parents on Ed, Edd n Eddy the Kankers mother is my favorite. It’s implied that some of the parents are home in the cul-de-sac. Whenever the Kanker’s are home I get an instant vibe that they are alone. Their mother has to work a lot. She is trying to give her daughters the best life. 

Whether or not the Kanker’s are the same in age or they’re a year apart, there have been a couple or a few different birth fathers. My headcanon that one of them (May’s dad) is still around. But he and the Kanker’s mother are not on good terms.

Lee is the oldest. She has witnessed her mother's actions with men longer than Marie and May. Even though the girls catch on to the Ed's scheme, I notice that they don’t invade the cul-de-sac as much. 

That’s when Edd appears welcoming his ‘dainty, Douty darlings’ home.

I’m not sure whether I find this Edd face adorable, funny or creepy. It’s a mixture of all three. 

He offers a sock to each Kanker. Actually, he only has two. Whose socks are those? I’ve never seen Edd where any other sock beside his red ones. 

Edd also refers to the Kankers as his contemptuous cupcakes. Is Edd copying his behavior from Eddy? He’s very laid back in this episode and he knows what he is doing.

What if Edd is tracking down his inner kid and aggressive behavior like how it was implied during the dodgeball incident. I also believe that Edd is hiding his true person. He’s trying to escape from his parents who forced him to become an adult too early. 

And Ed has made pancakes with ketchup for the Kanker’s. 

I love Ed’s unique way of spelling.

The Kanker’s are terrified and announce that they are going to hide in their room.

Marie calls out to her sisters to ‘wait up!’

In the very first episode where they are introduced, as the Kankers are running off to the kitchen, Marie playfully tells her sisters to ‘wait for her.’

That is an interesting detail about Marie’s character. She is a loner but does not want to be left behind. She’s always tagging along with one of her sisters.

Meanwhile, Eddy is trying to stay out of this chaos keeping a safe distance. It’s sad how he is dragged into this considering that Bro has dragged him into countless situations that he never wanted to be involved in.

Lee’s pose is my favorite in this screenshot. It’s like she’s saying, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’

I wonder who put up the poster of ‘Moby Dick’. It’s very subtle but in one episode of season 5, it was shown in the background that Marie likes to read. However, it’s likely that the poster belongs to May as she is quite the nerd. 

The Kanker’s room is a mixture of all three of the girl's personalities. This is the only bedroom in the house. I think their mother sleeps on the couch so her daughters can be more comfortable. Though they don’t show it, the sisters are very close. The girls protect each other at all costs. 

Edd has already tampered with their room labeling everything. He even calls the room ‘their love nest’.

While parents aren’t the best example, I wonder where Edd learned this phrase. We have seen Edd’s parents bedroom once. While his parents don’t label everything in the room, they don’t sleep together. Does Edd have a different opinion about love that he wants to invest more into?

Oh, look, there’s a pair of dice hanging around the bed! Eddy has a pair of dice!

Objects in Kanker’s Room

- Two bags of Oats                  - Fan

- Crutch                                   - Plant                        

- Posters                                  - Tree Scent

- Magazines

- Clothes

And then Edd reveals this diagram on how they are going to organize the room in his eyes.

Not going to lie, but this a little unsettling. Edd feels very controlling as a boyfriend/husband. Again, that is due to his parents who have their bedroom set up in a strict diagram and have rules laid out for Edd. Edd isn’t even allowed to go inside their bedroom which is cruel if you ask me. 

[kagaintheskywithdiamonds]

still working on writing transcriptions for these until I can give them proper captions (look below the cut)

[intro music]

Gayle: Haven’t slept much the past couple weeks. Been up all night trying to make a Kindle from scratch. And on top of that, I’ve taken on some new duties with the Mothers Against Road Head. The ladies and I decided to put on our 2nd annual walk to end bisexuality. Needless to say, my plate is full. Linda doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. Bonnie went to art school, so she’s a functional illiterate. So the success of this venture is, once again, up to me.

Linda: Well, I think that we should have fillets like we had for lunch last year. Gayle: That was a dover sole, Linda. It’s a cheap fish. Bonnie: I think we should have a VIP speaker. Uh, I think Katie Couric grew up around here? I bet we could get Katie Couric. Gayle: No no no no no. No way. Don’t get me wrong, I’d hate-scissor Katie Couric till the cows come home, but that doesn’t mean I want her representing my event. Linda: We gotta have sunscreen. Gayle: SPF 260, bare minimum. If my husband ***D A V E*** doesn’t reapply every 20 minutes, he’s out of commission for the whole summer. Cries until I rub him down in aloe vera, the pasty slob.

Dave, from offscreen: Oh come on Gayle that was once in Turks and Caicos, I fell asleep in the sun reading that book about the New Deal. Gayle: You were reading the jacket you sterile boar! Dave, speaking in his usual voice: Oh don’t do this in front of the ladies, Gayle. Gayle: Don’t talk in that register. Why are you hitting the high notes like Olivia Newton John? Dave: I’m gonna go to the store. Do you need anything? Gayle: Yeah, return the mug, it’s in the front seat. It has wind damage. And try not to let anyone see you. I hate the way you move in public. [door opens, closes] Gayle: [muttering] son of a bitch.

[phone buttons beeping] Gayle: And if they only offer you store credit, tell them that I will be ghost-riding my car through their store front. [hang-up beep] [slams the phone on the table]

Gayle: Where were we?

Gayle, narrating: I’ve been having a hard time trusting the ladies. I keep waking up in the middle of the night thinking that one of them’s trying to take something from me. The only thing I love in this world — my 200 pound chest of couscous. [windchime sounds] Yeah I know I’ve never officially told Bonnie about it but she knows. You think a woman’s gonna be in the presence of all that couscous and just be oblivious? Dream on. She thinks maybe if we get close enough I’ll leave it to her in my will. Well I got news for you, asshole. I’ve rigged that thing with C4 so that when I go, it goes.

Gayle narrating: Bonnie’s being awful fidgety today, I’ve noticed she keeps taking trips to the bathroom. But I got a feeling she’s really going to my chamber of couscous. [ominous music] I knew something was wrong. I could feel it in my Crate&Barrel tramp stamp.

Gayle: Can I take a look in your purse, Bonnie? Bonnie: Gayle, Gayle that’s my purse what are you doing? Gayle: I have reason to believe that you’ve taken something from me. Bonnie: Gayle, it’s- Gayle: Something very important to me. Bonnie: It’s my- … alright Gayle, now this, this isn’t what it looks like. Calm yourself- GAYLE! *spritzes liquid* [Bonnie screaming] [Gayle hits the floor] Bonnie: ah, my eyes! Gayle, my eyes! I can’t see anything! Gayle! [vacuum cord whooshing] [Bonnie screaming] [sound of LInda’s footsteps as she runs away, exits the house. door creaking]

[shaking liquid] Gayle narrating: So right as I was about to torch my own house with Bonnie in it, I decided to take one last victory bump of that couscous she stole from me. I noticed that it smelled like the Gaza Strip, and the diameter was twice the size of what I keep in my chamber. This was Israeli couscous. It wasn’t from my supply after all. Bonnie was just keeping it in her purse at all times, like some kind of starchy good luck charm. And for that, I could only respect her.

[hopeful music]

Gayle narrating: So it was all a misunderstanding. To celebrate, and to ease the tension, we go on a whole grain bender — take enough couscous and rice pilaf to see the devil. I black out, wake up the next morning feeling like a bucket of ham, and I see I’m sitting out in my sea kayak. I look up to see my husband DAVE standing over me, tells me I have a problem, and I need to go to detox. You think I’m gonna go there, and lose all the cul-de-sac cred I’ve worked to achieve? To cheer me up, he gives me a Yanni CD — don’t get me wrong, I’d let Yanni into my acropolis any day of the week — but I would’ve preferred a gift card to Crate&Barrel. Nothin’ gets me hot like a decorative tweed bundle.

[outro music]

[whileiamdying]

Cul-de-sac: High Tides

By David Thompson

ON FILM/ESSAYS

— AUG 16, 2011

“It is my best film. I always loved it. I always believed in it. It is real cinema, done for cinema—like art for art.” That was Roman Polanski’s view of Cul-de-sac in 1970, four years after its release and just following his hugely successful Rosemary’s Baby(1968) and before the similarly acclaimed Chinatown (1974). Would he maintain that verdict today, despite those obvious—and his subsequent—career peaks? I suspect he would. Part of his pride in Cul-de-sac came from the fact that it sprang directly from his imagination, being neither an adaptation nor a response to someone else’s demand. The shoot was a much-troubled one, yet the world he created before the camera, both weirdly real and abstract, appears perfectly achieved. As a movie, it unashamedly flirts with several genres—thriller, horror, comedy—but ultimately belongs to none, other than that of a Polanski film.

Cul-de-sac was the second feature Polanski made after leaving Poland, one of three shot in Britain before he began his adventures in Hollywood. Even by this early stage in his career—he was only thirty-four years old—it was clear the filmmaker would put a distinctive spin on any subject he touched, with dark humor and dramatic suspense delivered through a brilliant yet unpretentious camera style. Cul-de-sac confirms this from its first frame, a mysterious, long-held shot of a road empty but for a slowly approaching car. Audiences may at first think they’re in for a thriller. But as the credits finish, we perceive something peculiar that alters those expectations. The vehicle is in fact not being driven but pushed along, by a blustery American with his arm in a sling, Richard, or Dickie (Lionel Stander), while Albie (Jack MacGowran), an Irishman seriously wounded in the gut, sits redundantly at the wheel—two gangsters on the run from a botched robbery. 

What follows is an unpredictable confrontation between these outsiders and the occupants of an isolated medieval castle. The latter are a very odd couple indeed: George (Donald Pleasence), a bald, pedantic Englishman, and his much younger, flighty French wife, Teresa (Françoise Dorléac). Leaving Albie in the car for the time being, Dickie takes refuge in this bizarre household. He banks on help appearing in the form of a mysterious offscreen presence called Mr. Katelbach, but has to contend with some unexpected guests who serve to upset his control of the situation and wind up the tension. It’s a pitiless clash of opposing worlds, with movie hoods crashing into a scene of sadomasochistic marital games, all in the ideal setting for a gothic horror film. Yet the predominant tone of the film is, albeit blackly, comic.

Such a disturbing, ironic vision of human existence could be found in the theater of the absurd, typified by plays, all familiar at the time to the director, written in the 1950s by Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, and Harold Pinter. In these works, intense tragedy shared the stage with low comedy, while the everyday speech of clichés slipped into philosophical discourse, as people found themselves trapped in situations out of their control. What Polanski created with Cul-de-sac was a cinema of the absurd, delving into situations of humiliation, role-playing, and betrayal, and evoking an unsettling atmosphere quite unlike anything else on the big screen. This is underlined by his then favorite composer Krzysztof Komeda’s haunting music, a nagging cross-mix of cool jazz and early pop electronica that continuously twists back on itself in repetitive phrases—even to the point where, when Teresa plays a gramophone record of the main theme, the needle becomes stuck. It’s just another reminder that this is a film in which the characters are imprisoned in a circle defined by the shores of an island, and are ultimately faced with the option of departure or death.

Material of this kind calls for a sure hand to not descend into prankish self-indulgence, but then Polanski had already demonstrated his full command of the medium. His extraordinary self-assurance is often related to his survival of an appalling childhood, fleeing the Kraków ghetto at the age of eight and hiding out on his own throughout the war, disguising his Jewish origins while his mother perished at Auschwitz. After the war, the teenage Polanski immersed himself in theater, radio, and, later, cinema. Studying first fine art and then filmmaking at the famous school at Lodz, Polanski proved himself an instinctive storyteller and a natural surrealist. His early short films—Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958), The Fat and the Lean (1961), Mammals (1962)—seem to be preparatory sketches for features like Cul-de-sac, as they deal symbolically with power struggles between oppressive masters and wily slaves, the well-meaning and the amoral.

Polanski has been characteristically reluctant to connect Cul-de-sac’s themes to his own life, but that hasn’t stopped writers from drawing neat conclusions. Biographer Barbara Leaming, for instance, suggests that the roots of the irresponsible Teresa lie in the events surrounding the recent desertion of the director’s first wife, Polish actress Basia Kwiatkowska. Polanski has, however, gone on record as saying that Dickie and George were based, respectively, on the actor Andrzej Katelbach (the burly protagonist of The Fat and the Lean) and producer Pierre Roustang, and that the “hot foot” episode had its origins in a similar stunt played on Roustang by his wife. When Cul-de-sac caused some American critics to complain of elements of “necrophilia, homosexuality, and sadism,” as Polanski has said, his curt reply was to suggest that that was their problem. As he told Joseph Gelmis in The Film Director as Superstar: “I am not obsessed by these things. It was just a film.”

The British critic Kenneth Tynan, who knew Polanski well and collaborated on his 1971 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, famously described the director as playing variations on the theme of imposition—how one person comes to dominate and manipulate another’s sense of the world. This theme was at the heart of Polanski’s acclaimed first feature, Knife in the Water, made in Poland in 1962, in which a bourgeois couple—again, an older man and a younger, attractive wife—have their yachting holiday disrupted by the presence of a hitchhiker, an enigmatic young man who threatens the authority of the husband and wins the eye of the woman. With this film, Polanski showed he could create the greatest tension by placing characters in an isolated setting and, through a deft use of image and sound, achieve something close to what Hitchcock referred to as “pure cinema.” But the deep ambiguities of the story, with its discomforting challenge of an older generation by a younger one, led the Polish authorities to be wary of this precocious master. Polanski, who was born in Paris, realized that greater artistic freedom would be offered there; the French New Wave had successfully stormed the barricades of the once impenetrable film industry and made young directors hot. He decided to try his luck at riding that wave himself (while deriding the lack of professionalism he found in most of their work) and moved to Paris. There, at a party one evening, he found himself talking to Gérard Brach, an impoverished aspiring screenwriter of whom he later said in his autobiography, “We found we had a great community of ideas, Gérard and I: the same kind of humor, the same sense of the absurd.”

Together, the two began cooking up the story of Cul-de-sac, which at first was called Riri (the French version of Ricky), and then changed to When Katelbach Comes. The name Katelbach was borrowed from the aforementioned actor, but the title bore a more significant point of reference. Polanski had previously approached the august Beckett about making a cinema version of his revolutionary Waiting for Godot. But the author saw no reason for something conceived for the stage to be adapted into a film and refused the rights. Nevertheless, Beckett’s exploration of universal human experience through a pair of philosophical bums had a great influence on the young Polanski, as did the disturbing plays of his contemporary Pinter, with their theme of, yes, imposition, laced with menace and black humor. Although he would downplay it, Polanski’s eventual casting of Jack MacGowran, who had acted in Waiting for Godot and Beckett’s Endgame, and Donald Pleasence, who was in both the stage and film versions of Pinter’s The Caretaker, suggests more than pure coincidence.

Unhappily for Polanski and Brach, no one in France would back their screenplay, and they made up time by writing “River of Diamonds,” the director’s episode in the portmanteau film The Best Swindles in the World, and the feature-length comedy A Taste for Women(directed by Jean Léon), both from 1964. Budding producer Gene Gutowski, another Polish exile hungry for success, began hawking the Katelbach script around the smaller British production companies. He eventually found a glimmer of interest at the Compton Cinema Group, whose distinguished-sounding name disguised the fact it had made money showing soft-porn films in a small club in London’s Soho. Keen to invest in something more upmarket, the two men in charge—Michael Klinger and Tony Tenser—were hardly seduced by Polanski’s offbeat drama but said they would gladly back a horror film. According to the director, he and Brach set to work immediately and wrote Repulsion (1965) in seventeen days. Filmed in London, this superbly executed tale of a beautiful schizophrenic (played by Catherine Deneuve) turned murderer in an isolated apartment won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. In turn, Polanski won over Compton to produce the script he had first shown them, now retitled Cul-de-sac.

Polanski was then living in London, and his growing confidence with the language is evident in the greater fluency of the dialogue in Cul-de-sac. Resisting Compton’s suggestion of shooting by the Adriatic Sea, Polanski researched the British coastline. He found the ideal location in the northeast, on Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, which provided a ready-made castle (substituting for a house in the original script) that was cut off from the mainland by the tides for hours in the day. The principal male characters of George and Dickie were assigned to Pleasence and Stander, an American actor living in England as a victim of the Hollywood blacklist. More problematic was finding an actress to play Teresa. Polanski’s choice, Canadian Alexandra Stewart, realized her own unsuitability after a few rehearsals (she looked “too wholesome and healthy,” according to the director) and agreed to quit. Jacqueline Bisset, already in line for a small part, was considered too inexperienced, and with only a few days left before shooting, the role went to Françoise Dorléac, Deneuve’s sister, who had previously given a memorable performance in Truffaut’s The Soft Skin (1964).

Polanski has described the shoot of Cul-de-sac as one of the toughest of his career. Miserable weather, the isolation of the setting, and the hardships of local life brought out all the latent antagonisms among the actors, but in the end, that appears only to have contributed to the film’s palpable intensity and sense of unease. In particular, Stander, by all accounts a first-class bore, tried everyone’s patience, driving the director to goad him to consume yet more raw eggs and pints of milk to achieve the best take. In the scenes of aggression between Stander and Dorléac, the tortures they inflicted on each other became expressions of a genuine and intense antipathy, it has been said. Pleasence arrived on set with a shaved head, something not asked for by the director, though he conceded that it gave a useful twist to the character. The only actor who caused no problems was MacGowran. Polanski was so enchanted by him that he went on to write the role of the professor in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) expressly for the eccentric Irishman. Cul-de-sac soon ran over schedule, but Polanski retaliated with a plan to shoot an entire scene in a single day. This was the bravura seven-minute take of a drunken tête-à-tête between George and Dickie, played out on the beach, with Teresa running off for a nude swim and an airplane passing by dead on cue. Everyone except Polanski felt it was impossible to achieve, but he proved them wrong.

In an interview on the set of Bitter Moon (1992), I asked Polanski how he chose his camera positions, and he disarmingly insisted that it was simply a matter of observing the scene in question and filming it from the most interesting angle. Such moments in Cul-de-sac as a feminized, giggling Pleasence peering into the wide lens as if into a mirror, or the camera recoiling from a sudden outburst of laughter from Stander when Dorléac throws down a coffeepot, are obvious examples of his judgment in finding that perfect point of view. This assured sense of style, which has become more “classical” as his career has advanced, has made Polanski’s films especially satisfying to watch on repeated viewings. 

After working with the director on eight films, from Repulsion to Bitter Moon, Gérard Brach died in 2006. Of their more outrageous collaborations, Cul-de-sac was by far the most artistically successful. The only similarly “original” one they penned together was the comedy What? (1972), a film that was sporadically amusing in its very seventies mix of “Alice in the Playboy Mansion” sexual perversity and cultural in-jokes. Neither that nor Cul-de-sac was a commercial success, and since then, the director has tended to play by genre rules, and been rewarded accordingly. Nevertheless, he has remained an auteur director, but one who has escaped the art-house ghetto and survived in the world of popular cinema. Cul-de-sac is that rare instance of a movie that doesn’t quite fit in either domain, and is the richer for it.

[eene-fangirl]

Did Ed ever meet Eddy’s Brother Pre-BPS?

I believe Ed met Bro when he was a baby up until he left the cul-de-sac.

But, wouldn’t that mean Ed would remember the abuse Bro put on Eddy?

We have all been discussing that Ed has a cracked skull.

My Head Canon: Bro did it.

The skull fracture ruined how Ed thinks, along with his memory. Ed says many times how he forgets what he just said or what they’re doing.

 Ed doesn’t remember how he cracked it, but Eddy does.

That’s why Eddy looks at Bro. He is seeing if Bro remembers Ed. This is the only interaction Bro has with Ed in this scene and after ignores him. There is a chance he may remember him and feels that he is useless in the situation.

Eddy is very protective of Ed. He fears that Ed may remember his brother hurting him. Eddy always gives Ed a chance and is patient with him.

Ed’s parents are still under fault because they never gave their son the proper care he needed.

Let’s go back to a season 3 episode, Ed... Pass it On

Eddy: This should've worked! This scam always worked for my brother! Everything always worked for my brother.

Ed: Let me say this about that.

There is so much behind this line. Seconds later Eddy whacks Ed offscreen. He feared that Ed was going to remember who Bro was.

And then a few moments later when Eddy announces that his brother will be coming home.

Ed: Wait, until he sees how much I have grown!

This may be Ed just being Ed, but what if he did meet Bro before?

Ed and Eddy have known one another since they were babies. They put together their own scam. Bro mostly taught Eddy how to scam, but Eddy passed them along to Ed or he just helped.

Being a 3-4 years old Ed wouldn’t remember Bro much. Even Eddy has a hard time remembering Bro seeing how young he was when he was around.

Ed always looks up to him because Eddy praises how he is the best older brother anyone can have. Ed’s memories are muddled due to the skull fracture. Eddy wants to deny what Bro did to Ed.

He’s always saying how cool Eddy’s Brother is I think it’s mainly due to what Eddy says about him

Watch how scared he is in every moment upon realizing that Bro abuses Eddy.

He remembers.

And it’s time for his revenge

Now Bro has a probable cracked skull.

So, yes Ed did meet Bro pre BPS, but wasn’t able to remember him much. Due to how Eddy was praising him Ed wanted to see what a good older brother was like. Turns out he was doing everything right.

Ed shows Bro who the true brother is.

[bookburning]

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

To Leamus this observably passive role was repellant; it brought out the bully in him, so that he would lead the other gently into a position where he was committed, and then himself withdraw, so that Ashe was constantly scampering back from some cul-de-sac into which Leamus had enticed him. 

↑ Guilty. Guilty, also, of identifying with the offscreen bureaucrat spymaster—it’s no secret my biggest career aspiration is to be addressed as “Control.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i had never read le Carré before and found him somewhere in the neighborhood of Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene, which made more sense once the Internet informed me le Carré is not actually French. Relative to the other two, le Carré is perhaps less emotionally sophisticated but always more cinematic—he seems to write and think in terms of motion, which produces dramatic, vivid scenes (see both the opening and the finale) with an impressive economy of language.

Due-diligence: le Carré’s flat, cartoonish female characters are convenient plot devices and not people. As he is a Man of a Certain Generation, this is a no-fault ruling; nonetheless, let it be said.

[eenefangirlanalysis]

Sorry for the delay! I have been busy! I had a great vacation to California and then I had a few other little outings. Just a heads up, I’m not sure how much I will be updating in Augst due to work, but I will update whenever I can. For now, enjoy A Twist of Ed!

Edd lowers Ed down on a rope. He’s still testing out Ed as the guinea pig to his operation. Any reason? As implied in Too Smart of His Own Ed, Edd doesn’t think too highly of Ed. Then again, he understands Edd’s theory in his own way.

Edd knows that Eddy won’t go through with it, still having no clue to what is going on.

So, why doesn’t Edd go?

It’s possible that Edd wants to see how the plan falls through with Ed first. Notice how Edd gains more confidence once the Kanker’s have backed off?

I love this subtle moment where Edd has trouble climbing back up into the tree. Edd is stronger then he lets on. He’safraid of his own strength due to the incident that happened in his childhood. 

His behavior, and the way he takes charge in this episode, lead me to believe that he is hiding the inner kid inside him that he wants to release. Only, his parents have trapped him. Although Edd knows that it won’t do any good, he tries everything to get his parents to notice his accomplishments, even joining the football team! 

“I belt you good day, ladies!” Edd greats the Kankers. 

Even the Kankers are caught off guard.

Aside from May having a crush on Ed, Lee and Marie are also fond of Ed. The girls have crushes on each individual Ed. 

The Kanker’s definitely learned a lot from their mother.

While their mother certainly got around as a teenager, I think she is overprotective with her daughters. I had mentioned that she refused to let them roam about the cul-de-sac having found out how much they wandered out of the house in the earlier seasons. Notice how the girls didn’t have that many appearances in season 3?

The girls have abided their mother, especially here. They realize what her words mean and learn to respect her more.

I love this shot or the camera pulling back into the tree with Edd and Eddy. It creates a suspenseful vibe. 

“You better be sure about this or Eds a goner!” Eddy warns Edd. Clearly, he wasn’t all for this plan. Throughout this episode, Edd never asks Eddy for his opinion while across the series Edd always asks Eddy what he thinks of his ideas. 

I love how Eddy is so protective of Ed. Eddy has been friends with Ed much longer than Edd has. 

We’ll get into more behind Edd’s behavior later on. 

Is anyone else reminded of the quicksand scene from BPS because of the way Edd tied the rope around himself?

Edd responds, “Have faith in the science of the mind, Eddy.”

Before the Kanker’s are about to jump Ed, Ed catches May off guard by shouting her name. 

Ed pays close attention to people and his environment. 

I am a big EdMay shipper! Post BPS I think Ed and May will start dating. 

“You look very pretty today!”

Oh, like that doesn’t look anything like... why don’t I just stop talking.

I do like how there a butterflies flying out from May’s hair.

The butterfly represents endurance, change, hope, and life.

May has a significant character change in the latter half of the series. She takes control of her own life instead of being controlled by her sisters. 

Blushing, May is so taken by Edd’s comment. “Jee, you’re makin’ me break out in a rash, Big Ed!”

May is adorable!

I think she is also embarrassed. The Kanker’s are not complimented enough. For most of their life, they’ve been hit with criticism. They’ve grown up differently from everyone else. Did their mother ever tell them what to do if a boy ever complimented them? Did a man, or anyone, ever compliment Mrs. Kanker?

Both Lee and Marie comment that Ed is good looking, while Marie cracks, ‘In a weird kind of way.”

They still don’t know how to act around boys. They haven’t been given a healthy lesson about men.

Suddenly, Ed grabs Lee and Marie around the waists announcing that it is time to mambo.

The girls are perturbed by this touch. Again, I will get into my theory later on.

Smashing them together, Ed forcefully tapes their hands to his hip.

“Slow down, casanova! We ain’t cooked yah dinner yet!”

Clearly, their mother has given them dating advice and told her share of stories. And this has never happened to them before, where the male figure is leading them on. Normally, they’d lead the Eds on.

Where did Ed learn to dance?

Ed’s wish is to become a ballet dancer in the future. He must have a passion to dance.

I love this screenshot!

Ed forcefully dances with them for a few more seconds until Lee and Marie are catapulted offscreen.

And then, getting down on one knee, Ed has a question for May.

“May I have your hand in carriage?”

And Ed tries to eat her hand! What kind of wedding proposals has he watched?

Uncomfortable, May backs away from Ed.

[eenefangirlanalysis]

The Eds meanwhile have constructed a plan to fly themselves over this cliffside instead of just walking around it. 

[GASP!] I just had a thought! Is this the same little trench in Boo Haw Haw where Ed traverses up each side with his friends? It’s similar! They went right around the cul-de-sac. The Eds still don’t know their way around their own neighborhood. Arguably they only walked two-three towns away from Peach Creek in the movie.

The Eds found an old recycling bin lying around. Wow, Edd actually stepped inside trash to get them to their destination. And I’m surprised that he’s not ranting off about how someone could throw away a perfectly good recycling bin. Maybe he did that offscreen. 

As Ed is keeping them from flying off Eddy asks Edd if it is safe to do so yet.

Edd: Frankly, Eddy, I’m concerned. The wind conditions aren't suitable for our trajectory. The lean is much too steep for the span.

Eddy disregards Edd’s diagnosis to get on with their plans for the day.

“Let a rip, Ed!”

“Gravy!” Ed comments until the three of them are flung high into the sky. 

Remember when the Eds spun around continuously in the ferris wheel in Big Picture Show? Ed and Edd were terrified while Eddy was having the time of his life. Eddy is a thrill seeker. He is not afraid to take a risk. And that’s how he was taught.

What is Edd’s face doing? Is he shutting his eyes saying ‘Oh Eddy...’ in his mind? Or is he closing his eyes?

Haha! I love smear drawings! I never noticed that Ed was still smiling. 

In a similar fashion to how they’re flung off the ferris wheel, The Eds go careening into the sky. Now Eddy looks more scared. Oh yeah, and Edd is holding his hat down for safety!

I thought Ed was afraid of heights. It may be due to the angle but I swear that Ed looks as if he’s smiling. It’s been canon since season 1 that Ed has had a fear of heights. We never find out why but its a fear like other people have. 

I also like how Ed is open about his fear, unlike Edd and Eddy who keep things bottled up. Ed even calls Edd out at one point during Dueling Eds where he makes a strong analysis about Edd. Ed closely watches and pays attention to everyone’s behaviors and mannerisms. Others believe that he doesn’t understand due to how he acts. You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Mirror, Mirror on the Ed is a big and very important episode for Ed.

The Eds crash land into the ground. Ed comments that he thinks he hit a pipe. Ooh, just like how Eddy stuffed his head in a pipe in Floss Your Ed!

Do you think they look smaller?

Joining in on the kid's story Jonny runs by repeatedly telling himself to ‘buzz off’.

Okay, I adore whenever Plank is in Jonny’s back pocket! In the earlier seasons, Jonny knows that Plank is not real. Due to being outcasted and ignored by the others, even more, Jonny’s mental health deteriorates. He actually believes Plank is speaking to him and moving around. I do have a headcanon that Jonny can do magic tricks. He wants to be noticed. 

Failing to buzz off, Jonny smacks into the gate. 

Poor Jonny.

Apparently, it was a sick dare by Kevin.

Jimmy and Nazz are the only sympathetic beings as Kevin, Sarah and Rolf laugh at Jonny’s misfortune. 

Nazz berates Kevin that he should not have told him to ‘buzz off’. 

This is the side of Nazz that I like. She’s unsure of herself and where she fits into the puzzle. Nazz visibly does not like when anyone is a bully. And yet she tends to go along with bullying or laughing at someone’s dismay. She fears being outcasted. Nazz wears a set of different masks. 

Nazz is misunderstood both by her friends and by the fandom. That may have been done on purpose by the writers because we have a lot talk about when it comes to Nazz. She was the least evolved character. And yet she made such a big impact.

[eenefangirlanalysis]

After breaking and entering through Jimmy’s house the Eds stop to think how in the world they are going to reach the balloon at this height.

You know, the Eds never take advantage of cartoon physics to retrieve this balloon. I’m surprised because they usually do that during important times. It could be a sign that the Eds are starting to face reality. Although you can still imagine as an adult, you no longer a kid. 

The Eds are using their wit to try and capture this balloon.

“Fly, Double D! Fly!”

This is the best screenshot ever.

I love how concerned Eddy looks. The viewers don’t get to see Edd crash, but Eddy does. Aw, he looks like he wants to run over to his best friend and help him up.

Just then Nazz makes her cameo. The Eds have always intrigued Nazz. She wishes that she doesn’t have to go along with the kids whenever they bully them. 

She’s just afraid that if she doesn’t then she made me be outcasted too. Nazz wants attention in order to understand herself. But the key to understanding one's self is to love yourself. Nazz has a long way to in self-love.

I love how Nazz creates peace among the cul-de-sac. It's her wish for everyone to make amends and be friends. She puts others needs before herself.

“Fly, Nazz, fly!

Apparently, Nazz meets the same conclusion as Edd did.

Eddy frustratingly points out that Nazz didn’t even make a grab for the ballon. This is quite a contrast from how concerned Eddy looked when Edd landed on the ground offscreen. Hmm...

Next, it is Eddy’s turn.

A frightened Eddy backs away from Ed. That’s a little out of character. And here is an example of the real Eddy showing through the Bro mask. I believe that true Eddy is a shy kid. We see snippets of that in Big Picture Show after the reveal of Eddy’s Brother. Still, Eddy could just be afraid upon witnessing what Ed had done to Edd and Nazz. I would be, too.

Winding up the cord to Eddy’s wallet that stretches out from his pocket, Ed winds Eddy up like a motorboat. 

It took me a while to learn that this string hanging out from Eddy’s pocket was his wallet. I honestly thought it was just an accessory. 

Oh, look Edd has returned. He’s fine. But what about Nazz?

Okay, let’s see out of context... um, Eddy is a wind-up toy? Or Ed pulling a cord out of Eddy’s hammerspace? Your guesses?

“Why I outta...”

Hold that thought...

What’s this?

Helicopter Eddy?

Ed commands Eddy that he get the balloon while a dazed Edd just stands there trying to figure out of this is humanly possible.

Honestly, this is my favorite moment from Ed Ed and Away.

“This better not mess up my hair, Ed!”

Oh, Eddy! I love you! Why can’t we see more of dramatic Eddy worrying about his hair or clothing?

This is should have been a recurring gag in the movie! 

It looks like this plan may actually work!

Oops, I spoke too soon. The balloon shifts from Eddy’s helicopter hair.

“Remind me to ask you how you did that, Ed.”

I love whenever Ed is surprised by his friends. There is never a logical answer to anything. Ed and Eddy opened Edd up to fun and imagination. And even taking risks.

[eenefangirlanalysis]

The cul-de-sac kids are still looking all around for Sarah’s diary.

Rolf has gone into the sewer. Nazz has taken advantage of cartoon physics and looks between the cracks of a streetlight. Sarah has given up and runs off. Jimmy follows. 

This is a protective group of friends. 

The cul-de-sac stick together. They’re always seen hanging out and talking even in the school season. No other kids are ever seen. EENE is from the perspective of three boys who reccounting their tales as old men. 

When looking back on a memory do you remember only the important key people who every single person who was around you at that moment? For example a dance. There are crowds and crowds of people and yet you really only imagine the people who you can to the dance with to make it memorable.

I wonder if the cul-de-sac kids are outcasts. They’re unique. They may have conversations with other fellow classmates at times but they tend to stick together. It’s ironic seeing how they won’t understand the Eds friendship. Maybe that’s how other kids view their group. They have different personalities, interests, and age too.

They’re are trying to bring out a positive message that you can be friends with anyone. Whether age, gender, sexuality, or anything nothing should separate from a friendship!

The Eds spy around the corner waiting for the perfect time to safely move out.

Edd is barricading his mouth shut with tape so no other dangerous ideas can slip out.

He is chastising his mouth deeming it ‘bad’.

Compared with the bandaid punishment that will come up later in this season, Edd’s punishments against himself or his friends are a little unsettling. He thinks pain is the rightful punishment. That’s what he’s been getting his whole life. Pain. Mental pain. He was already heart physically in the dodgeball incident. He’s left with the nightmarish memory continuing to blame himself. 

Edd’s parents don’t give him the support he needs. They shame him. His parents are implied to have been embarrassed which is why they moved to the cul-de-sac. Other then the pedal steal guitar and the label maker, they have done nothing to help their son’s mental well being which is at a dangerous breaking point.

Could Edd have adapted these unsettling mannerisms from his parents?

I could do a whole analysis on Edd’s parents but I’ll save that for another day.

Ed immediately attached to the tape wanting to play with it.

The Eds sneak around to the back of Ed’s house once the coast has cleared.

They act casual whistling. The whistling should have been their theme song!

Edd is fully hidden in a jungle of tape.

Ed had to be behind this. He wanted to have fun.

Edd is the first to lead the group to the back of the house while Ed takes his time much to Eddy’s impatience.

“WILL YOU MOVE IT?!”

And Eddy proceeds to flip Ed behind the corner to hard that Ed slams into the side of the house rather hard.

This is such an important moment.

That rather abusive situation is clearly something Eddy copied from Bro.

And it is obvious that it’s the first time Eddy went through with it. He only witnessed Bro do it. And then we see Bro actually throwing Eddy against his trailer in the movie.

Look at how unsettled Eddy looks when he listens to the impact of Ed hitting the house. He can’t believe he did that. And then he glances to the side. It’s up to interpretation on whether he’s checking if anyone is coming or questioning his own actions. I believe it’s both.

After watching Big Picture Show you can catch many split seconds of the real Eddy. It’s always when he’s out of sight from the other characters. He’s really confused about his true self. He’s afraid of what people will say when they find out. When he confesses to Ed and Edd in BPS he has the full knowledge that they won’t be his friends anymore. He’s prepared. He’d probably been preparing for that moment every day if they were going to find out his secret. Imagine that. Eddy is living in denial, in a lie, and fear. He’s such a strong kid. 

Sneaking into the backyard Eddy proclaims the lawn chair is the safest place to hide the diary.

A relatable issue.

Eddy stomps so hard on the chair that the diary flies out.

“Let’s bury that book!” Ed proposes having found a shovel.

I think Eddy’s original idea would have worked best. Burying it underground would have ruined the book.

“THAT BOOK’S ATTACKING! DUCK!”

Edd frees himself from his self made prison to complain that he’s sweating.

Considering that Edd sweats all the time I didn’t think it would be much of an issue for him.

Edd is roughly smacked in the face with Sarah’s diary.

“Are you alright, Double D?” A concerned Ed asks.

This is one of my favorite Ed moments! It’s not often when Ed asks if one of his friends is okay. And this is really stressful moment. Although Ed has forgotten about his friends needs, such as not helping Eddy when he was taped to the back of a bus, he still cares about them.

Even Eddy is concerned. I wonder if he’s blaming himself. He’s the one who let the book sly into Edd’s cheek.

The diary has someone landed in Edd’s hat. If you look at the screenshot above it actually flies offscreen presumably landing on the ground. 

Edd quips, “Well, I deserved that,” as he takes the book out from underneath his hat.

Hey, Sarah’s diary filled with all sorts of secrets is under Edd’s hat which hides a big dark secret. Diaries don’t have to hold your secrets. Everyone has a secret whether on their body, in their mind, written down... anywhere.

Why does Edd believe he deserved this? Again, Edd was physically hurt. Did he parents have physically punish him? They better not have. I already dislike Edd’s parents enough.