Eddie At His Worst

[Scrabjan1]

Okay let's vote on which time Eddie was totally out of line and should have really paid the piper. I'll name some times and you decide which behavior was worse than the others.

In Wally's Weekend Job when Eddie (and Lumpy) double crossed him and had Wally deliver 6 quarts of ice cream to a girls' sleep over.

In Wally's Test when Eddie wrote a note to Mr. Gannon accusing Wally of cheating on the test.

In Beaver's Report Card when Eddie changed Beaver's mark from a D- to B+.

When Eddie took the money Wally paid him for his new battery and bought a suave vest instead of paying his father back.

When Eddie knew his blind date for the dance was very tall and tricked Wally into changing names with him by showing her photo.

When he talked Beaver into sending away for an accordion also talking Beaver into being a model and having his photo put into modeling registries.

[Bonniegirl]

I vote for Wally's weekend job!

[Bonniegirl]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

When he taught Beaver to greet his new friend in Spanish, but really taught him to say, 'You have a face like a pig."

That was a shame. That little boy's feelings were so hurt, and poor Beaver had no idea what was happening!

[Scrabjan1]

I completely forgot about Beaver and Chuey. That was one of the worst and I knew I would forget a bad deed Eddie did.

[tdr]

One more, of course, is the season 6 ep when Eddie's girlfriend is knitting a sweater for his birthday and Eddie finds out Wally has been seen going to his (Eddie's) girlfriend's house. He was there to model for the sweater, which was to be a surprise, so when confronted, Wally can't tell the reason. But Eddie's jealousy spurs him to accuse Wally of 'moving in,' and he finally strikes Wally at school with other students watching. Wally does not retaliate because he's well aware it's a misunderstanding, even though he knows he is going to be accused of being afraid of Eddie. So finally this girlfriend knows that to keep the nonsense from spreading further she has to give Eddie the sweater early. The only thing that does not make sense is that she needed Wally to come to her house too many times. If he's modeling, then once she knows the right measurements, that should be all she needs him for (right?).

I think the one above, because he hit Wally, plus "Beaver and Chuey" and "Beaver's Report Card" are the worst things Eddie did. The incident with Chuey is really bad because he deliberately caused hurt feelings of a little kid who was quite disadvantaged by being in a strange area where he couldn't speak the language, but thought he had a good friend in spite of that; as well as hurting Beaver with such a trick. Eddie's devious grin as he realizes his scheme 'worked' makes me want to slug him, as Wally said at the end. And in the report card ep, Eddie interfered with communication between teacher and parents when he changed Beaver's mark on the card. Maybe Ward and June couldn't think anything else but that Beaver himself had changed it to keep them from being upset with his D- grade, and that makes it another "double" against Beaver, where he was innocent but can't prove it, as with Chuey.

[Scrabjan1]

Right because of Eddie, Beaver was accused of something he didn't do (change report card) and interfered with school business. Ward should have banned him from his home then he wouldn't be there to give bad advice to Beaver in seasons 5 and 6. Thought of another bad thing. Eddie took all the Cleaver trash and dumped it illegally then tried to take a bigger share of the money. I like when Wally got retaliation against Eddie like in Wally's Weekend Job.

[MickeyMac]

Originally Posted by Scrabjan1

I completely forgot about Beaver and Chuey. That was one of the worst and I knew I would forget a bad deed Eddie did.

This one might be the worse, because another person did get hurt.

[Bonniegirl]

Another thing that Eddie did was when Beaver and Wally were caring for Puff Puff, the Donaldson's cat. Eddie convinced them that it didn't take two people to care for a cat, so Wally went off with Eddie. Eddie also had his dog there, and put Puff Puff in danger! The dog scared him and he ran away.

Not the worst thing Eddie did, but it was still Eddie shenanigans!

[Scrabjan1]

Eddie learned early to cause trouble. When he was young he said things to make Wally wonder that made trouble like the one with Puff Puff and Wally going to military school. He also got Beaver all upset when a neighbor lady kissed him. I often wondered where he learned to be such a creepy kid (to keep it clean.) He often quoted his old man so maybe he learned about life from him. My favorite: "My father says that anything is okay if it's funny enough." (Beaver and Chuey)

Oh you have a girl, Eddie?
"Yes she goes away to boarding school. My father says that's a good indication her family has money. He says not to waste time with people who don't count."

In Wally's Present Eddie says he bought his present in the city because his father says you can't buy anything good around here. Wally wants to know what's in his presents and June tells him to wait. Eddie says "I think so too it takes all the fun out of presents if you know what's in them."

To Wally: So what are you getting?
Wally: I don't know.
Eddie: "You mean you have't been snooping?

[tdr]

I think it is indicated in the early episodes, especially in season #1, that Mr. Haskell was the example of teasing and troublemaking to Eddie. But as the show progressed, the character of Eddie's dad, rarely seen and played by 3 different actors, did become a seemingly more level-headed man. Although I'm not positive, I think we only see him a few times in season #1, when he did seem to be something of a joker; and in one of the middle years, when Eddie connives at staying the night at the Cleavers when his dad think it has been all set and calls Ward from wherever he was, thanking him for allowing his 'nervous' son to stay. Ward, of course, doesn't tell him that Eddie and Wally had a fight and Eddie went home; and then in the final season, when Eddie bought a vest with the money Wally gave him to reimburse his dad for the car battery bought on credit, and in the "Summer in Alaska" episode, when Mr. Haskell tells Wally that he hoped the hard fishing cruise would teach Eddie how well he's had it at home.

So, I don't know if the viewer is expected to see the character of Eddie's dad as just inconsistent, or as progressive, who goes from a jokester to realizing he was developing an irresponsible candidate for prison, to releasing him into the harsher realities of the world.

But we probably tend to take this too seriously. Eddie was meant to be a comic character, especially in contrast to Wally, and his notable trait was talking out of both sides of his mouth. We can speculate, if we want, on how he came to be that way, but there are no 'real' answers.

[JudgeGarth]

Eddie's dad appears in one of the 'New Leave It to Beaver' episodes and it turns out the two have been estranged for years.

[Scrabjan1]

I recall also in the one when Beaver is pushing the baby carriage down the street that Eddie says something about his father. Eddie was given a home permanent as a child and was very embarrassed. His father laughed at him and he never confided in his father again. Maybe I have that mixed up with another time but I remember he said "he never told him anything again."