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Original Air Date: January 27, 1985 Review completed January 29, 2006 "Henry Falls in Love, Part 1" Henry, while working, meets an old flame named Maggie, who turns out to have just as many old feelings for him as he does of her. Punky eagerly sets up a re-creation of their last date to help Henry out, and it works, as Henry proposes. The couple are in trouble quickly, however, almost immediately getting into an argument over their honeymoon plans. Because she feels that she's holding them back, Punky runs away to remove the problem. Thank you, Henry. I couldn't have said it better myself. As if in living proof of this, the story hits the ground running, with Maggie being identified and established within a couple of minutes. No cramming the story in here; there's a lot of story to tell and we know it pretty quickly. Nice to see. As nice to see as the chemistry in the casting; with Maggie being played by Gaynes' real-life wife (Allyn Ann McLerie), we're assured of no fake, broken moments. Both play their parts darting in and out of character, and the story is stronger as a result. Something to really note here is the balance between the main roles, one that surprised me. Yes, this is by and large Henry's story, given that he goes so far as to propose to his old lover, but it's interesting how Punky is written in as a relevant part of the plot. She isn't just hanging around; she is a major help to Henry and his goals and she has her own vested interests in the ongoings. The last time that Punky spent this much time as a background character was "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", which had Henry seeing her as an impediment, and "Punky Finds A Home, Part 3", where she faded into the background, somewhat literaly. Here, it seems that they've figured out what to do in such cases. Looweegee's Italian Restaurant, meanwhile... heh. Right here is a great example of the episode's straight approach. The jokes in this one, let's face it, are not high-concept. Nothing in here is the kind of thing you'd need explained to you. But it works; it works in that it looks like something a kid would pull off, and it works in that you know darn well why Punky is pulling it off in the first place. And really, I'm not too old to laugh at stuff like the adults pulling faces at their first look at Punky Pizza. Especially with the gumball garnish. (And as a side note, where did Allan get that violin he's killing?) Things go quickly from here. Henry's "then and now" proposal strikes a poignant chord, again because he's playing the part well and getting a little help from the fact that he's playing against his wife. The fight afterwards over Punky being a factor in the honeymoon plans is... well, it's something they should have thought of far earlier, but I like seeing Henry's selfless streak. And then Punky runs for it. Interesting response there. It's an in-character reaction, given Punky's own selflessness (big theme), but I couldn't help but think that it also showed Punky as just the barest bit unsure of really being part of the household, given that she still feels that she can run away without overly impacting Henry's plans and happiness. Maybe I'm just reading too much into that, though. It all sounds so serious, but there's actually a fair bit of humour in the episode as well. You may think that it's mostly concentrated into the "Looweegee's Restaurant" bit, but most of the episode is full of some decently clever one-liners. Actually, scratch that; it's all in snappy comebacks. Punky's "I might be Cyndi Lauper, but I'm not!", Henry's, "Not from this angle", and even Snooty Chaffeur gets in on the action with a well-timed, "I may be ill". Pretty much anyone should get at least one chuckle out of this one. And at least one good laugh too; I'm a sucker for the oblivious bit, and Henry ends up with one when he smoothly starts admiring the passport photos over some obvious come-ons. (Also, having Punky as Henry's sense of the obvious was a nice touch.) Really, I don't have much more to say. It's a basic story of two people finding love. You can dissect, prod, poke, jab, debate, and argue it all you want, but there's not much to dig at. The story doesn't depend on mazes of prior knowledge or any major plot twists; it just presents the actions and lets you provide most of the meaning in there. It's a complement to the story that it is well-built enough to do that, I will say. But to try and dress it up further just doesn't work. I've got to give the writers some credit for this episode. They took a basic love story, peppered it with just the right humour blend, and fit Punky really well in an episode that, if played straight, might have left her out almost entirely. You won't argue into the wee hours of the morning about what the episode's all about, but you'll just sit and want to see what happens. That's all it needs to be. Writers, have a hand. - Jimmy Vibes Do the click |