Review: Corner Gas Animated “Law and Quarter”

 

 

Overview:

After Brent and Karen have a dispute, she ends up writing him a ticket over an old law about folding knives. Both begin to take the outdated laws of Dog River too seriously. Things go too far when Lacey ends up doing jail time for serving fish on a Wednesday. Even worse, Davis loses faith in the justice system, and the entire town falls into anarchy.

Meanwhile, Hank has started a new business of helping people exchange their loose change for bills. Unfortunately, while helping Emma, Hank accidentally swaps Oscar’s prized collectable quarter. Wanda is left with occupying Oscar while the pair of them search all over town for the missing coin.

 

Our Take:

Leave it to a television series that has already been cancelled to deliver its best episode to date. Corner Gas Animated has been an entertaining spin-off of a wildly successful Canadian live-action series but has wandered through mediocrity for most of its run. Certainly, the series has had grand acclaim through the Great White North but has not faced much competition in its field. However, as the final episodes trickle out, the show may have just hit peak quality.

This was one of the most entertaining inclusions to the entire Corner Gas collection from start to finish. The cold open was a sign of things to come with a clever exchange between Karen and Brent that escalates into the latter having his folding knife confiscated and receiving a ticket. Still, the intro managed to pack even more laughs in, with Brent unintentionally showing off his adult Spider-Man underwear.

The episode escalates from there, with the focus being on outdated laws. Brent upgrades from his lost flip knife to the more “legal” machete and broad sword. Karen gets a taste of her own medicine for wearing pants indoors. And poor Lacey receives the worst of it when she receives jail time for breaking Christian traditions about serving fish on a weekday.

Humorous enough, the real laughs come when Davis receives his own backlash of the antiquated laws. Disgruntled with the mess the old rules are making, Davis loses faith in the justice system. When the townspeople catch on that Davis has given up, the town goes into complete anarchy (kind of). Littering, jaywalking, and worst of all, public urination, take over the streets of Dog River. Even better is when Davis decides to start cracking down once more.

This episode is so packed full it could have done without the B-plot of Hank losing Oscar’s prized quarter. However, it does add its own pack of laughs. Especially when Wanda is left to babysit the old man, much to her annoyance. But when Oscar reveals why he prizes the coin, it makes the entire side plot extra ridiculous.

To top off an already incredible piece, the episode ends with a look at Corner Gas in the far future. The deep-space gas station is precisely the type of stuff that the animated series should have been doing from the start instead of keeping things so localized and simple.

Four seasons in, and this is undeniably the pinnacle of Corner Gas Animated. Taking on so many pop culture references and packing in the laughs is precisely what this show is about. The unfortunate thing is that this near-perfect edition will only make us miss Corner Gas, even more, when it is gone.