Show: My Name Is Earl (NBC)
Episode: Number One – First Season Finale
Originally Aired: Thursday, May 11th 2006
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Quick Synopsis: Earl gives his money all away and gets it all back.

Long Synopsis: Crabman selects the first thing on Earl’s list for him to do next. That being the last bad thing he did before “old lady karma” hit him with her car. He stole ten dollars from a guy at the convenience store. Then used it to buy his beer and a lottery ticket. Turns out the guy was about to buy a lottery ticket but had no money. Earl figures that the money should of belonged to that guy and set out to give it back.

After doing so he tries to check things off his list that won’t cost money. He completes a couple of those but has to end up selling the El Camino in the process. While riding the bus the guy Earl gave the money to, is hit by it. The lady that hit Earl is sitting right behind the driver. Turns out that right after she hit Earl that after turning around to go back she hit this guy also causing him to lose the ticket that he picked up after Earl had gotten hit. Having seen this lady who he calls “old lady karma” each time he was hit he tells Earl to take the money back.

Also in there we get to see the path the ticket took to get back to Earl. The one-eyed mailman couldn’t pick it up, Joy missed it while stealing a video from the return bin, the daytime hooker never saw it and it floated back to Earl at the motel.

Review: This was a fun episode. It wasn’t the best of the season but seeing the story of the ticket was good. They have created a nice bunch of characters and a story that can pretty much go on for however long people keep watching.

The episode was also a nice capper for the season. It brought the story full circle. You got to see the whole story behind Earl and his list. It was great to watch him stay true to his list no matter what the circumstances that tried to get in his way. This is a great jumping off point for next season. They should be able to really have fun with the items on his list.

What did you think of the first season finale of My Name Is Earl?