[Images] [Site Updates] [How I Became a Fan] [Contact] [Sign Guestbook] [View Guestbook]
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: If you could somehow quantify sitcom humor, feed the data into a computer and ask it to spit out the name of the average Corner Gas episode, it would almost certainly produce "Mosquito Time." More often than not, either the main plot significantly outshines the side ones or vice versa, but this episode is one of the rare instances all plots running right at the same level. By Corner Gas standards this episode is not spectacular at all, but on the other hand it is one of the most representative of the show's consistent excellence. On some episodes the peaks are sky-high, on other episodes ("I Love Lacey," "Hurry Hard") you get the rare troughs, but the show overall is best represented by this episode. If there's a truly "typical" episode in a show with no hard-set plot guidelines such as Corner Gas, this is it. It even qualifies as "most typical" in its presentation of each character, for example:
� Wanda as the town brain as she effortlessly convinces Oscar to quit Corner Gas (this made her inability to work a simple coffee carafe the funniest scene in the episode);
� Oscar as a clueless, cranky curmudgeon as he quits after being played like a violin by Wanda;
� Brent's unflappable sarcastic nature as he simply bails and goes to the Ruby in response to every annoying situation he faces;
� Lacey as the relative newcomer who still doesn't quite get the town as she grasps with the concept of the annual time capsule (there are also several other examples of her not being a part of the town, such as her begging to be included in the time capsule project and her not knowing what "Dog River Fun Days" are);
� Emma as the gruff-but-funny wife as she gets on Oscar's case when he isn't even there
� Davis and Karen as typical examples of Dog River when they get a proper explanation from Lacey as to what a time capsule is supposed to be, promptly dismiss it as lunacy, and write off Lacey as a presumptuous outsider.
It's true that most episodes do in fact portray the characters this way, but rarely if ever will you see an episode that does such a good job of nailing down the essence of every one.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: There really isn't one that stands out, which is what makes this episode such a good example of the show as a whole. If pressed to name one, though, I'd go with the scene in the bar when the usual suspects open the time capsule while Lacey, utterly bewildered, watches the spectacle as if she was staring at the aftermath of a car wreck.
MEMORABLE LINE: Because it happens so often, the most memorable line of this episode is "I'll be at the Ruby."
KUDOS TO GABRIELLE: Along the lines of the episode being the quintessential example of a typical Corner Gas episode, Gabrielle shows here why she's so well-suited for comedic acting, especially with her delivery of the line that summed up the annual time capsule as "goofy" and her astonishment at the town's inability to operate her new coffee carafes. Nothing she does in this episode stands out as a top five example of her best work, but from start to finish you can easily see why she got this role.
FUNNIEST LINE IN THIS EPISODE: "If you live a time capsule for 25 or 50 years, by the time you open it again it's just a bunch of old stuff" from Hank. The funniest part of this was that nobody mocked him for saying something so curiously dimwitted, as everyone except for Lacey thinks the annual time capsule is actually a good idea.
FUNNIEST SCENES IN THIS EPISODE:
1.) When Lacey mocks Hank by using "When Harry Met Sally" as an absurd example of what the gang is trying to explain to him, and he still doesn't get it.
2.) When Hank repeats Davis' suggestion that Lacey put a coffee mug in the time capsule.
3.) Davis' suggestion that Lacey put a broken record in the capsule.
4.) Brent's exasperation over the new coffee carafes, and the look on Lacey's face when Karen also proves unable to use them.
5.) When Hank's brain chews him out over screwing up a knock-knock joke.
6.) When Brent asks Wanda to tell his dad that he'll be at the Ruby.
7.) Emma's call to the Dog River PD's emergency line.
8.) Wanda's confidence in her ability to operate the new coffee carafes and her "What the hell?" when she can't do it.
9.) Oscar asking Wanda if a particular penny looks round.
10.) Lacey's impassioned explanation of what a time capsule should be and her recommendation that it contain "non-mug" things.
BLOOPERS:
1.) Starting at about 2:15 and ending at about 2:55, the towel in Lacey's hands shifts positions significantly without enough time to do so. Example: when Davis asks Lacey what she wants to put into the time capsule, Lacey is holding the towel as if it were the shape of an arch, with both of her hands plainly visible (just before this, the towel covered most of the index finger of her left hand). When Lacey asks for time to think about it, she's holding the towel in such a way that it flows over her hands as a waterfall would flow downward (covering half of one of her hands and all of the other one except for the thumb). When Davis suggests a coffee mug on the counter, the towel in her hands is now back to the arch shape, and when the scene shifts back to Lacey (when she asks "You think my personality is encapsulated by a mug?"), it's back in the waterfall position.
2.) Starting at about 3:00, when Wanda and Brent are standing at the counter looking at Oscar, Wanda is holding a piece of red licorice in her left hand in such a way that the end of the piece is about an inch from her elbow. The camera then zooms in on Wanda, and we see that in that fraction of a second the end of the licorice piece is about three inches higher. The end climbs even higher - and sticks out towards Oscar somewhat, as opposed to hanging straight down - when the camera switches to the angle needed to show Wanda from behind.
3.) Watch the plate of fries Lacey serves to Davis when Hank come in and Lacey tells him (Hank) to close the door because of all of the mosquitoes. First, Lacey bends down a little at the waist to set down a plate of fries on the table to Davis' right - at this point, the camera angle switches to a shot from behind Lacey, and you see her straighten up (only her right shoulder is visible. But when the camera angle switches back to the shot showing the fries on the table again, Lacey has gone a split second back and is leaning slightly forward again as she sets the fries on the table, apparently for a second time. The whole thing takes place in a second or two (on my DVD player, from 4:04 to 4:06), and you may need your remote to catch it, but it will seem fairly blatant when you finally do.
4.) Again with the fries and even more blatant: at the end of the blooper I just described, the fries are to Davis' right with a coffee cup to the left of the fries. At this point, the camera switches to show Hank asking "Mosquitoes are like the birds?" The camera switches back immediately, and the fries have moved to the left of the coffee mug and in front of Davis.
5.) Starting at 4:35, Davis tells Hank that Lacey is choosing her contribution to the time capsule. The shot switches to Lacey (looking proud of herself), and then to Hank. At this point, look at the silverware wrapped in a napkin and the coffee mug closest to Hank's only visible hand and remember where they are - the silverware is lying flat on the table and the mug is about three inches from the one Karen is using. Now, Hank suggests that Lacey put the coffee mug on the other counter into the time capsule, the shot switches for a second to Lacey (now looking sad) and back to Hank. At this point, the silverware has been rolled 90 degrees on its side and the mug closest to Hank is now about six inches from the one Karen is using.
6.) After Brent complains that the new carafes are like a Chinese coffee puzzle (6:27), the shot switches to Lacey and you see her sweater open with the top buttons about five or six inches apart. The shot switches to Brent, who says "This is too hard," after which we see Lacey again - only this time those top buttons are more like nine or ten inches inches apart. Now the shot switches to Karen, who asks for help with the carafe, and then back to Lacey - and her sweater is back to the original position with the top buttons about five inches apart.
7.) Starting at about 7:29, Emma is leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and has both of her hands on a coffee table as she works on a jigsaw puzzle. Instinctively, she yells at Oscar before realizing that he isn't even there. The camera angle switches to an overhead shot, and now she is leaning back with her hands on her knees.
8.) Starting at about 7:45 you can see another blooper with Lacey's sweater. Look at the area where the top button is on her right (viewer's left) side when she says "No, Hank, it is so easy,you just take it..." and you'll see that the buttons are fairly far apart. Immediately after that you see another shot of Lacey with her sweater looking the same. Then the next two shots of Lacey (one when she says mosquitoes aren't so bad when she stands next to Hank and the next when she's playing along with Hank' knock-knock joke) show the sweater a bit more closed, and the last shot of her in this scene (when she walks away in frustration after Hank screws up the joke) shows the sweater as it was in the first two shots I describe here.
9.) At 8:45 Wanda enters a scene holding what's left of the debit machine. The part she's holding in her right (viewer's left) hand has a cord dangling down a few feet towards the floor. The shot switches to Brent for a split second and then back to Wanda, but now almost all of the cord has vanished, with only an inch or two visible.
10.) At 10:01, Brent has three carafes in front of him as he tells Lacey "I hate to say I told you so." Pay attention to the positioning of the carafes, especially the middle one, over the next twenty seconds or so. The most blatant blooper here starts at 10:12, when Lacey decides to join Hank in a dish soap run to the co-op. The scene switches to Brent and three carafes are directly in front of him, with the middle one almost "pointing" at Hank, but when Hank and Lacey leave, the middle carafe is now "pointing" at Brent.
11.) In the same scene, shortly after Lacey touches the third (far right) carafe, look at how it's positioned when Hank says "The more the merrier," and look again when Brent says "Had to happen eventually." The lid has rotated about 45 degrees counterclockwise.
12.) At about 14:33, Lacey puts the top back on the carafe for Wanda and pulls her hands away slightly behind the carafe as Brent calls her. The next shot of Lacey shows her hands folded behind the carafe, just a little too fast for the scene. This blooper is admittedly pretty marginal, but if you watch it two or three times you'll see that it is just a bit too fast. Bear with me, the next few bloopers (13-16) are much better than this one - and if you pay close attention to the carafe in them, you can probably get a good idea the order in which these scenes were actually shot.
13.) After Lacey sarcastically blows off Brent's clock update (14:40), look at the red button on top of the carafe. Assuming that Lacey is at 12:00 o'clock and Wanda is at 6:00, the red button is at 9:00 at that moment, but when the scene switches to Lacey and she complains about Brent's comments, the button is facing Wanda at 6:00.
14.) In the same scene, the shot switches to Wanda and then back to Lacey as to Lacey explains that Brent just sits around all day commenting on things. The lid on the carafe, which just seconds before was neatly twisted into place by Lacey, is now off kilter in both shots.
15.) Just seconds after that, the shot switches to Wanda as the lid on the carafe remains off kilter, but after Wanda mentions her 30-minute conversation about ceiling tiles with Oscar, the shot switches to Lacey and the lid is now neatly screwed in as it was less than half a minute before.
16.) When Emma walks in to the Ruby (15:18), Wanda and Lacey are still at the table with the carafe between them. Using the previous 12:00-6:00 example, the red button at this point is still facing Wanda's 6:00 position, but when the camera switches to Lacey (as she tells Emma not to worry because Brent's occupied), the red button is not visible - which means it must be facing Lacey's 12:00 (and neatly screwed in again). The shot switches to Brent for a split second and then back to Lacey, and now the red button is at 7:30 or 8:00. It remains in that position until Wanda says "You and I are very different people" to Emma, after which the shot goes back to Lacey, and now the button is again at 12:00 (and again, neatly screwed in). When the shot goes back to facing Wanda, the button is now at 8:00 again (where it stays for the rest of the scene), and the carafe is slightly open (look at the red lines and see how they fail to line up with each other).
17.) When Oscar says he should go tell Brent to pay him (17:01), Wanda raises her right arm to stop Oscar. Her arm should still be in the air when the next shot faces her, but her elbow is on the counter.
[Images] [Site Updates] [How I Became a Fan] [Contact] [Sign Guestbook] [View Guestbook]