#ed in a halfshell

[eddwardmarianvincent]

IT’S GYM CLASS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!

[verycorrectslugterraquotes]

Junjie: This is quite possibly your most preposterous plan ever.

Eli: I don't see you coming up with anything, Da Vinci!

[cyanidefilledcandy]

How important is Ed in a Half Shell? What important information do we learn?

Ed in a Half Shell is one of the most important in the series. It sets up some nice character development for both Eddy and Jimmy. 

On Jimmy’s part, it elevated his character from mischievous to actually very cunning and manipulative. Kind of more Bro like when you think about it. (Though, Jimmy being young and flippant in mood, I don’t think he’ll actually turn out like Bro. He seems to run the gambit of being genuinely concerned for others and wanting to help, to taking delight in seeing other’s misery….but this is an entirely separate conversation for another time.) But, we see those traits manifest and become important parts of his character throughout the rest of the series. And when you think about it, it kind of gave a character known for being weak a bit of strength. 

As for Eddy, we get a bit more insight into his thought process and the ideals that drive his character. It kind of brings you back to episodes like “Laugh Ed Laugh” and “Stuck In Ed”. In both episodes, we see how much importance Eddy places on scamming and his ability to do so. It almost defines his sense of self. And us learning that he actually got these ideals from Bro and it all makes sense. Eddy feels that he needs money to be liked and accepted and when you really think about it, it’s kind of the driving force behind the entire show. 

It also was a first major hint of Bro not being as great as Eddy made him out to be.

So yeah….pretty important episode. 

[mooncruiser]

Been binge watching Ed Edd n Eddy with my niece (6 years old) and nephew (10 years old). Our favorites are all varied. My niece loves Ed cause he’s funny, and her favorite moment where she dies laughing is where Kevin kicks Rolf’s broken back back in place in One Of Those Eds, and the reaction on his face. My nephew loved Eddy, like me, until he saw Ed In A Halfshell where he triggered Double D, so now he’s like, “I hate him. I prefer Double D”. I wonder if he’ll change his mind after the movie... :)

[where-fading-princesses-live]

Do you feel that season 2 is more driven in story, character or the scams?

I think characters. 

For instance, ‘’Dear Ed’’ explores more of Jonny and Plank’s relationship. The scam is really just in the background. And even though ‘’Shoo Ed’’ ‘s original premise is turning Jonny into a scam, this also kinda explores more of the Eds’ relationship with Jonny. 

‘‘In Like Ed’‘ and ‘’Hot Buttered Ed’’ explores the Eds’ paranoia of Kevin. 

‘‘Who Let the Ed In?’‘ and ‘’Floss Your Ed’’ explores more of Ed. Even though the latter is focused on a scam, it’s also more about the cul-de-sac kids’ antics and their unusual willingness to work with Eddy. 

‘‘Home Cooked Eds’‘ and ‘‘Honor Thy Ed’‘ explores more of the Kanker-Ed feud. 

‘‘Knock, Knock Who’s Ed?’‘ and ‘‘Rambling Ed’‘ features more of the Eds’ and Rolf’s relationship. 

‘‘To Sir with Ed’‘ examines Nazz’s relationship with the Eds, mainly Eddy. 

‘‘Ed in a Halfshell’‘ is probably the biggest one of them all. 

[t0m0kii]

What are your top 3 favorite eene season 2 episodes and why?

one + one = ed bc duh it’s absolutely iconic

urban ed bc i just love how silly it is fvjdhsbks they just make a WHOLE CARDBOARD CITY AND THE KIDS JUST LET THEM

ed in a halfshell bc it’s an iconic episode for my favorite boye a.k.a jimmy my son

[book-o-scams]

What has been your most favorite analysis you have ever done? What inspired you to analyze? What is your favorite part about sharing analysis with the fandom? Has your perspective been changed from others analysis?

I actually tend to forget everything I write immediately after I write it, so it’s very hard for me to choose!  I have no idea if any of these analyses are good, I often wonder if I should go back and redo them all, haha.  The most fun ones for me are the episodes that are popular with fans, like ‘Dawn of the Eds’ or ‘One + One = Ed’, and more recently I’ve been analyzing specific scenes from seasons 3-5 because those are the seasons that resonate with me most and contain most of the emotional content.  --Oh you know what, I just got a note on the ‘Ed in a Halfshell’ analysis, and in retrospect that was a really fun episode to review!  For a season 2 episode, it foreshadows a LOT of the character developments that I associate more with later seasons, even featuring the closest we get to seeing how Bro corrupted baby Eddy!I always appreciate the attention because analyzing this show was a weird obsession for me even when I was a kid. A lot of people back in the day, inside and outside the fandom, would get hostile over how much these doodles mean to me, so it’s been validating to see the fandom keep growing AND become ever more analytical since the show’s cancellation!I don’t have a specific example of how others have shaped my opinions recently, but I always prefer to build my headcanons by discussing theories with other fans and figuring out how to fit them all together.  For example, a lot of my Bro headcanons (and most of the Bro Show lore) came from summer 2010 when a friend and I were constantly IMing each other and combing the series to collect as much character insight as possible on Bro, despite his approximately 8 minutes of actual screentime.  A really interesting point I remember specifically coming from my friend was that the walls of Bro’s old bedroom are noticeably grimy, stained and otherwise damaged, and they pointed out that this could be a side effect of Bro staying locked in that room and smoking all day, especially since he blocked all of the room’s possible ventilation and the smoke would have nowhere to go. Just a clever interpretation I wouldn't have come up with on my own just from looking at the spray paint effect the show utilizes in the backgrounds.

[spacefunclubs]

What was your reaction when you found out Jimmy was the culprit in If It Smells Like an Ed? Did you see it coming? What do you like most about that episode?

Honestly, it took me by surprise! I remember watching it and everytime I saw those big red shoe footprints, I ALWAYS thought it was Rolf, cause with that footprint size being comparable to Rolf’s shoe size (and him always munching on those marshmallows/jubs jubs and not really taking part of the whole situation/act like nothing’s wrong), but given to what Jimmy’s learned from Eddy on how to cleverly deceit/scam people in ‘Ed in a Halfshell,’ I think it’s safe to say that he’s learned from his master, so to speak, and successfully got away doing what he did.

I mean, this WAS a whole plan to get back at Eddy for doing what he did to Jimmy (and it also managed to squeeze Ed and Double D into it), but it was like Jimmy is ONE WHOLE STEP ahead of Eddy, and can easily trick people better than Eddy can (if that makes sense?), and has a better strategy of pulling off something like this and end up not getting caught, unlike Eddy does (a lot of episodes from season 5 (Truth or Ed, Too Smart for His Own Ed, etc..) have a better time showing off those particular kinds of cases). While it wasn’t a scam per say, it defintely was a good comeback from Jimmy to show Eddy that he’s better one-up man other than Eddy.

[eene-fangirl]

I feel so bad for Eddy in Stuck in Ed. Season 4 was the starting point of his downfall. Failing to be the perfect mirror image of Bro is affecting him. This is is the summer where Eddy finally realizes that Bro may not have been a good person after all. Starting at Ed in a Halfshell when Eddy teaches Jimmy everything from his brothers teachings. Jimmy turns out to be a better scam conniver which bothers Eddy. Bro's teaching also open up Eddy's eyes. Maybe he never had a good relationship with him to begin with. And why hasn't he seen Bro in years? I feel bad for Eddy because he doesn't know how to speak up and talk about his problems. He's always hidden his problems. And he's already told everyone he knows that Bro is his idle. Eddy has always been confused about Bro. A part of him fears his brother telling him he shouldn't go after him. By season 6 Eddy starts to let go of Bro and act like himself. Bro is always looming throughout the shadows.

[eddwardmarianvincent]

[verycorrectslugterraquotes]

Eli, seeing the ghoul Dr. Blakk has created: Boy, Blakk, you truly created a monster.

Dr. Blakk: No kidding. [feels proud] Kinda makes me feel all warm inside.

[dragonkeeper19600]

What do you like about Nazz's friendship with Sarah? How does it differ with Jimmy?

Nazz and Sarah are really nice to each other. This is especially striking because, well, it’s Sarah, and anytime she’s nice to anyone who isn’t Jimmy is noteworthy. There’s a scene I feel like embodies Nazz and Sarah’s friendship in “High-Heeled Ed.” Nazz does a flip off the pull-up bar at the playground and lands in a leaf pile (underneath which is Eddy and Ed doing a stake out, but never mind). Sarah also lands in the leaf pile, presumably after jumping off the swings, and expresses admiration for Nazz’s move, calling it “rad.” She then asks if she can try it, too, but Nazz gently directs her to the spinning wheel first, as jumping off the pull up bar is too dangerous. Sarah immediately agrees, shouting, “Okay, girlfriend!” as she runs off.

This scene is really cute. I’ve seen a few people citing the series’s bible’s description that Sarah admires Nazz like a big sister, and that is clearly visible here. Sarah thinks that Nazz is cool, imitates what she does, and takes her advice. It’s like the “mirroring” behavior Edd describes between brothers in “Ed in a Halfshell.” Looks like it holds for sisters, too.

At the same time, this is a little bittersweet, in a way. Sarah and Nazz are the only two girls in the cul-de-sac, but their difference in age prevents them from being true equals. When Nazz hangs out with Sarah and Jimmy she’s very clearly “playing with younger kids.” She may have more girlfriends at school, but when it comes to playing around the neighborhood, she can only relate girly things with Sarah and Jimmy, and the age gap prevents them from relating to her in other ways. 

As for Jimmy, I think Nazz is even more patient with him than with Sarah, since he’s even younger and has a weak constitution. Nazz and Sarah get in a cat fight in “Truth or Ed,” and Nazz retaliates against Sarah smacking her with a toilet with… tossing a tissue box at her head. While she didn’t go all out against Sarah the way she has against Edd, Eddy, or Rolf in previous episodes, it’s hard to imagine her doing even that with Jimmy. That tissue box would probably put him in the hospital for a week.

[starryoak]

What are your top 3 favorite Edd moments and why?

*CRACKS KNUCKLES* SO IT BEGINS.

I may have some things to say about Eddy, but HOOO BOY let me tell you how much I have to say about Edd because I have a LOT to say about this nervous OCD babbu who I love intensely.

Honorable Mentions:#5: Literally any of his snark he is a snark knight here to save us from a lack of insight.

#4:

No, I don’t have any shame. At all.

Ok now onto the actual moments XP.

#3.

Hey, can we call it foreshadowing if the event was never actually explained in detail? Because I want to claim that here. Also, the time Edd obviously had an actual flashback episode in ‘Ed in a Halfshell’ so basically anything foreshadowing the whole incident and how it screwed Edd up is A+

#2. All of ‘A Fistful of Ed’. Just…all of it. I don’t have the ability to go through all of it. Maybe read the girl who’s asked me’s analysis of the episode for a full reasoning.

#1:

“A SAP?! WELL, EXCUSE MY SINCERITY FOR THINKING I HAD LOST THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE I HAVE LEFT IN THIS WORLD!”

This. Fucking. Line. I love this whole scene, which is why it features on BOTH Edd and Eddy’s best moments, but with a single freaking line, the entire.. everything, everything about how I feel about Edd can be summed up here; the fact that he honestly, without any joking or any exaggeration, believes that Ed and Eddy are the only two people he has that care about him.

And…. he’s��� right.

That’s the worst part; his assessment is entirely correct. I don’t care what his parents jobs are, whatever they do, it’s clear and obvious that they.. they are not there for their son and it is not acceptable in any way. Edd is a child; Edd is a child who, again, most likely has OCD, which, as I said, is about intrusive thoughts, something that being left alone with is mentally unhealthy, and even if he didn’t have OCD (which I doubt, considering how much I see it in him as someone who has it), it is still obviously not mentally healthy to have a child live so alone. It isn’t ok. And not just Edd’s OCD; his continued guilt and personal hatred of himself from the Dodgeball Incident is obvious and is again, not something you leave a child to deal with on their own.

Even in a series where no parents are ever seen, there is always some form of sense that their parents exist. The only real proof that Edd’s parents haven’t literally abandoned him is that they leave notes around; notes where they misspell their only son’s name, where most if not all of them are not actually emotionally supportive messages, but reminders to do the cleaning and housework in his house.

He is his parents maid more than he is their son, and this scene proves that he has now come to understand that he cannot expect to ever rely on them or have them in his life, and that is not something that ANY child should ever have to understand, or even believe. Even just thinking it, and being incorrect, is  heartbreaking…for that to be an accurate assessment of his living situation?

The rest of the scene is important to Edd’s character, but that sentence, that line, hit me like a brick. It’s what stands out most. Even Eddy’s confession of self hatred and literal self harm isn’t as heartbreaking to me as the fact that Edd honestly doesn’t believe his parents love him, or will ever be there for him, and the fact that he is most likely right….

I hate Edd’s parents almost as much as I hate Eddy’s Brother. They don’t beat their child, but they’ve left marks on him anyway. Scratch that, I might actually hate them more. I can’t tell. They’re different shades of horrible people than he is, but they’re undeniably terrible.

[where-fading-princesses-live]

Sometimes Jimmy plays himself as an evil mastermind and then he plays off as a sweet kid. Which is he really?

Both. I don’t think Jimmy is merely pretending to be one or the other. For instance, I don’t believe his more cunning side is a facade to mask his inner insecurities, and I don’t believe he wears the mask of Sweetness Light Sad & Contrite to hide his ‘‘true’‘ antagonistic nature. I think Jimmy is equally both. He’s flawed, he’s human, he has his breaking points. I think generally he has a pure child’s heart and WANTS to believe wholly in the goodness of others, but I do think he’s pushed too far sometimes. No human being is wholly good or evil and Jimmy exemplifies this. He’s a perfectly mixed bag of both personalities. Sometimes he’s completely aware of what he’s doing (’‘If It Smells Like An Ed’‘) and sometimes he completely blacks out (’‘A Fistful of Ed’‘), so he’s genuine, it’s not an act. Anyway, even before ‘‘Ed in a Halfshell’‘ there was ‘‘An Ed Too Many’‘ where Jimmy expressed jealous rage over Sarah’s crush on Edd. Sure, we can argue Eddy brought out Jimmy’s ‘‘true’‘ dark side in ‘‘Ed in a Halfshell’‘ but those emotions were always there under the surface. Jimmy tries his best to remain eternally optimistic, but sometimes, humans can only stay so sane.

[t0m0kii]

Why do fans hate Jimmy?

I think that one of the main reasons people hate Jimmy is because he’s “annoying”, or because of the way he acts toward the Eds in episodes like “Ed in a Halfshell” or “If It Smells Like an Ed”. He’s the kind of character that makes people wonder whether he’s a character that is worthy of analysis, or just an annoying little kid. More often than not, it’s the latter.

[book-o-scams]

What is your favorite thing about Edd’s character in A Fistful of Ed? Is there more of a reason behind why he is upset?

When it first came out, I loved A Fistful of Ed for a lot of reasons!  First of all, Raven’s scenes are the highlight of season 5 for me, I had loved her art since before she worked for the show, so it was really exciting to see her do the bulk of an episode, and for it to be upgraded from an 11-minute story to a two-parter.  

Secondly, Edd was a hard character for me to understand, he has a lot of traits and a fairly consistent only-rational-character role in the series, but AKA didn’t always try to connect his actions to details about his life outside of each episode, the way that the writers clearly understand Eddy’s home life even if they rarely address it. I can’t remember where/when it was brought up, but season 5 was suggested to be thought of as Edd’s season, after season 4′s finale revealed the spotlight to be on Eddy.  While Edd did take the focus more often at that point, I didn’t feel like anyone but Raven was digging into his inner life and making him as much of a main character as Eddy. So it was even MORE exciting when it became clear how much the episode was turned over to Raven’s understanding of him.

 THIRD, I couldn’t believe I was finally getting what I’d always been asking for. GENUINE EMOTIONS!  As much as I value simple slice-of-life stories, the way the style developed toward complicated expressions was begging for a more serious tone than just the show’s usual topics of outrage and failure.  When the storyboards were being pitched, there was push-back behind the scenes because it was so unusual to play a scene as outwardly dramatic and break the characters down to tears.  But from what I hear it was actually Danny who was most interested in seeing Raven’s vision through, and gave it the green light. I am so grateful that we got the story the way it was originally pitched, because there’s really very little else in the show that suggests how strongly Ed and Edd feel about each other and their group, and we need to see them finally erupt so that Eddy’s exposed backstory in Big Picture Show doesn’t feel out of place in an otherwise numb universe.  That they managed to find such an emotional story while not letting up the violence at all is especially impressive.  For once, beating people up feels cohesive to the character development, instead of a shortcut to slapstick.  It’s also a humongous relief after the focus on the Eds’ increased suffering for the past two seasons, it puts a really nice bow on everything without actually being an ending.

I should also probably bring up the 3-day marathon of the first 5 seasons, leading up to the premiere of Fistful, which was being advertised as the last episode ever, despite ads running during the final day for the Invaded special (and the fandom being completely aware that two winter episodes and a movie were on the way as well). “The Best Day Edder” marathon in April 2007, making fun of a similar-but-disappointing “Best Day Ever” SpongeBob marathon from November 2006, was a dream come true for me, a brief moment where EEnE was treated like CN’s proudest project and celebrated for being the network’s longest-running series.  The end of the episode left me quaking, I was so satisfied and excited to see the Eds start winning and protecting each other.  The whole marathon was a really inspiring experience for me.

Compared to that, I was pretty depressed leading up to the next series finale, Big Picture Show.  It felt significantly more final, and more than two years passed between Fistful and BPS, so it was really nerve-wracking waiting to see if AKA could pull off another big emotional feat.  But when information about Edd’s deleted dodgeball-incident-retelling was presented to me, it really cemented my love for the show and permanently renewed my obsession with Fistful.

Basically, after starting school in another town, Toddler Edd was targeted in dodgeball by the other students, who were presumably a little older and jealous of his advanced grades. This provoked Edd to build a dodgeball cannon and go around the school mutilating other students.  He ultimately regretted seeing how much damage he could do to the human body and was further traumatized by the shame and ridicule after being arrested, forced to give a public apology and kicked out of his first town.  He moved to Peach Creek, hid any evidence he had of the incident in his hat so he knew where it was, and attempted to reinvent himself. It works phenomenally as a backstory for his warring morality and dark side, it would’ve worked well to finally put him on the same level of “bad but improving” as Ed and Eddy, and most of all, it does nothing but support and reinvent previous episodes without retconning anything.

It affects one scene in ‘Ed in a Halfshell’ and one scene in ‘Every Which Way But Ed’, but it affects ALL of ‘A Fistful of Ed’, because Edd’s clumsiness isn’t just being misinterpreted as him being a tough guy. The kids frame it as “it’s always the quiet ones,” suggesting they think Edd has finally snapped from their bullying, and the severity of their injuries makes them treat him like a soon-to-be killer.  They have no idea Edd has actually been through that reality already, but it very clearly wears on him throughout each scene, until he’s finally crying in front of everyone on the cafeteria floor.  Edd struggles to defend himself for an impressively long time, but the final straw being Ed’s mom banning Edd from his friends suggests that Ed and Eddy are the only people who give Edd the strength to forget he was ever MORE violent than the rest of the characters. When I watch the scene of him alone, in the dark, working and crying in the botany room, it’s now very easy to see that he’s not just thinking about the events of Fistful.  He’s stepping back and taking a look at his life, everyone he’s hurt, wondering if he can ever escape it or if it will eventually return to haunt him in every town he ever lives in.  Edd probably struggles a lot with forgiving himself– he knows he has to if he’s ever going to move on, but he’s completely betrayed his morals and in retrospect it probably explains why he accepts so much abuse in Peach Creek.

Big Picture Show is the other half of the dodgeball incident coming back to haunt Edd.  Fistful makes him think about the acts he committed and the judgement he faced, but it probably helps Edd make it to the cafeteria scene that he knows he didn’t actually do anything and that he was hurting himself at the same time these acts were occurring.  In Big Picture Show, the scam not only forces him to see the kids gorily injured, with chunks of their bodies missing, it also causes him to be banished from yet another town by yet another set of angry schoolkids.  This (and ‘A Town Called Ed’) plays into why I approach Eddy and Bro’s backstories with so much “history repeating itself”�� almost ALL of Edd’s story has been about him having to face the same guilt over and over with slight changes.  I wish that the final cut of the movie had included his backstory so that we didn’t have to piece the most important part of his character together from insider info, but it’s still impressive enough to me that so much of it IS visible, even if only through Edd internalizing it in Fistful and BPS.