"The First and Last Supper"

[tdr]

I know this episode has been discussed on this board before, but I finally got to see it again yesterday, and there are some points of discussion that I think may be valid again.

It seems that nobody was really honest, or even wanted honesty, in this ep. Edith was a sucker, as well as a wimp, when she accepted the Jeffersons’ invitation to come to dinner because she “can’t say ‘no’ to nobody.” And then, not even telling Archie about it until the time was almost there—often, I sympathize with Edith, but this shows a lack of common sense.

It always did bother me that, after Archie says he has tickets for a Mets’ game, Edith and Mike and Gloria all gang up and say he can’t possibly refuse to go to the J's dinner, because “they won’t understand.” Archie would not voluntarily go to dinner at the J’s house because they are black, but actually he does have a legitimate excuse in his game tickets, and the fact that Edith didn’t even tell him about the dinner invitation is, in the minds of E, M, and G, immaterial. They want him to pretend to be something he isn’t, when if he went to the game instead of to a dinner he would not choose to go to anyway, would be the truth, and the ill-advised meeting would not take place.

Then Archie tells the J’s a big silly lie about Edith spraining her ankle, instead of telling the truth; apparently for the comedic effect that a bigot is a coward. He wanted Edith to tell them the truth, but the ‘king’ proved the cowardly lion. Then Lionel, who seems to have the best sense of anybody involved, makes the suggestion of his mother bringing the dinner to the Bunker house; smart thinking—he takes care of Edith’s inability to walk, whether he believes it or not, and to still have dinner on, most likely for the inevitable laughs of Archie and his “father” meeting. But he does maintain the coverup of his uncle pretending to be his father.

All liars, and/or hypocrites and/or presumptuous. Honesty would have been the best policy all around, and saved some spit in the face at the end.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by tdr

I know this episode has been discussed on this board before, but I finally got to see it again yesterday, and there are some points of discussion that I think may be valid again.

It seems that nobody was really honest, or even wanted honesty, in this ep. Edith was a sucker, as well as a wimp, when she accepted the Jeffersons’ invitation to come to dinner because she “can’t say ‘no’ to nobody.” And then, not even telling Archie about it until the time was almost there—often, I sympathize with Edith, but this shows a lack of common sense.

It always did bother me that, after Archie says he has tickets for a Mets’ game, Edith and Mike and Gloria all gang up and say he can’t possibly refuse to go to the J's dinner, because “they won’t understand.” Archie would not voluntarily go to dinner at the J’s house because they are black, but actually he does have a legitimate excuse in his game tickets, and the fact that Edith didn’t even tell him about the dinner invitation is, in the minds of E, M, and G, immaterial. They want him to pretend to be something he isn’t, when if he went to the game instead of to a dinner he would not choose to go to anyway, would be the truth, and the ill-advised meeting would not take place.

Then Archie tells the J’s a big silly lie about Edith spraining her ankle, instead of telling the truth; apparently for the comedic effect that a bigot is a coward. He wanted Edith to tell them the truth, but the ‘king’ proved the cowardly lion. Then Lionel, who seems to have the best sense of anybody involved, makes the suggestion of his mother bringing the dinner to the Bunker house; smart thinking—he takes care of Edith’s inability to walk, whether he believes it or not, and to still have dinner on, most likely for the inevitable laughs of Archie and his “father” meeting. But he does maintain the coverup of his uncle pretending to be his father.

All liars, and/or hypocrites and/or presumptuous. Honesty would have been the best policy all around, and saved some spit in the face at the end.

I was laughing when Archie said over and over to Edith while she was on the phone with Louise-"PUT THAT PHONE DOWN, PUT THAT PHONE DOWN, PUT THAT PHONE DOWN-LOL

[Pug Lover]

My favourite scene was when Archie and Henry exchanged razzberries.