Sounds like it should be a great episode. Did you see the preview for it though where MONK is stuck in a car underground?? That made me feel VERY clausterphobic!!

Well, Monk was buried alive in coffin in Mr. Monk and the Cobra, but then he was alone. In this eppy he'll be with Kroger's son Troy, so that means he can't just close his eyes and imagine Trudy...

Monk was already buried alive in a casket in an earlier episode. Being in a tiny casket without being able to move and thinking everyone believes you are dead would probably make being buried in a car seem like a cakewalk, especially since Monk took the other problem pretty well (while dreaming of Trudy - he actually enjoyed it).

To save money why not just recycle old scenes from earlier episodes and have Tony Shalhoub and Ted Levine sit in front of a darkened theater improvising new dialog and adding commentary - "Mystery Science Monk Theater 10,000"?

I'm not sure I'll be able to watch it, I couldn't watch that part of Cobra all the way through for a long time, and it still makes me feel like I can't breathe when I see it now.

The preview looks great. As RC quoted that they have buried Monk before in vs Cobra, it is a totally different situation in Buried Treasure. I would totally be freaked out just about being buried alive but even more with someone with me...using up all the oxygen...even more up there I feel dizzy just thinking of it!

Yeah, if someone buried me alive in the car...I don't know what I would do...I think that I could use my cell phone but the question is...is there a reach underground? Probably...but I don't know...There are only two people in the world (which aren't a stars of the show) that know what about this eppy is and how it ends...Teresa and Spinner....They're lucky...

I have mixed feelings after seeing the preview..I'll have to wait and see.

lol

I think it'll be harder for him because, remember, he was ALONE in the casket. Now he's with someone else... breathing the same air... He's breathing Troy's air and Troy's breathing his air and... Well, it's very complicated.

True; this is slightly different. I'll give it a chance.

I wish the writers would call a few people with OCD, though. I can give them about 1,000 new OCD-related issues not covered yet they could use in the show instead of burying Monk alive again. I remember when Monk memorized a serial number on a $10 bill (I could have the denomination wrong) and caught the killer that way. That was very simple yet brilliant, and actually believable. That is one of Monk's "gifts." Having Monk remember the killer in the photograph on Julie's shirt is similar, but think about all of the other events that had to occur by chance in the last episode! There were just too many crazy coincidences. I was not "nitpicking" earlier in my criticism for using repeated plot lines as someone suggested, but let's do that just for fun. By the way, I am making all of these odds up off the top of my head and I only speak for myself (disclaimer).

The odds against the murderer - totally unrelated to the carnival - being in that spot with Julie and getting a photo taken by accident which could later be retrieved by the police at all were probably 10,000 to 1 (even if Julie or the victim were not there at all). It was just a public meeting place. Having a LEGIBLE pic taken on Julie's T-shirt WITH the murderer AND the murdered guy identifiable in the background was about 100,000 to 1 against even if they were there together (think about the focus of a digital camera, which centers on the main subject in the foreground and blurs everything in the background). Then having Julie show up at the murder scene was about a trillion to 1 (this is supposed to be San Francisco, right?). Having her show up wearing the shirt - another 50 to one against (the odds do not increase all that much because she had the boyfriend and was wearing the shirt a lot in my opinion). Having the murderer even notice she was there, since she stayed outside in the yard/street, was very unlikely (100 to 1?). The murderer recognizing himself in the background of the photo on her shirt: Another trillion to one (why is a thirty-year-old guy looking at Julie's chest? Creepy). The murderer is not like Monk and wouldn't notice details like that. Then.......well, you could go on a long, long ways from there. The couple of things I mentioned in my post right after the show came to me immediately, They were not "nitpicky" points. I couldn't even remember the exact shows in the first instance and had to go back and make a correction. But I knew this: There was no need to do another "murderer has to get rid of an incriminating picture" show, or a "guilty guy tosses evidence into the ocean stupidly thinking it will sink and be irretrievable" show. Even if the series continues for another ten years they can file those plot devices into a database under the "do not use again" field. Unfortunately, I don't think they have such a database.

There should be a continuity team that at least has each plotline mapped out on a giant board or wall someplace if this show is going to continue offering quality without being repetitive. If the show can continue like a lot of folks suggest, then let’s see the new ideas to prove it! I sure would like to be proved wrong, but so far I don't see any logical arguments; only angry "Well, then don't watch it you bully!" comments. I want to see the show wrap up the storylines, even if they do it poorly, since I have been watching from the first episode. Monk is one of the best series ideas I have ever seen, and it hits close to home for me. So I'm not changing the channel. And I am going to keep asking for new ideas and good quality until the end. Right now the show can still be labeled an all-time "classic" detective series, but another two years like the last two and I'm not so sure.

Okay, could you give me ten plots (motive, method of murder, plus resolutions/how Monk will figure them out) with unique OCD related issues that aren't in some way like at least one previous episode? How about five? They need to make sense, they need to somehow involve an OCD related issue, they need to have a cohesive plot that somehow ties into whatever OCD issue you chose for that episode, and they must be completely different from any other episode of Monk, while still being in character and having a 'Monkish' quality or feel to them. And they have to be plausible for an hour long show. I'm not putting any constraints on you that the writers themselves don't have to deal with. I'm genuinely interested to find out if someone who hasn't been writing with the show for the last six years can offer any/many fresh ideas.

There's a Monk/Psych video on main site www.usanetwork.com ...I really like this eppy a lot...and I've not see him beofre

Do I get paid? Sorry, but I may have been unclear, which is not unusual. I can come up with issues that are OCD-related and have not been covered. They wouldn't even have to be the central theme of an episode. The other part would be the "mystery" part of the plot, and other detective and comedy devices which should also be tracked and not repeated. All of that is way too complicated for me to attempt. I am not a professional script writer, so your "challenge" would be a waste of everybody's time....the result would be crap if I tried it.

I know everyone gets protective and acts like I'm attacking a best friend when I am critical, but I have great respect for what the writers have done up until last season. In fact I would rank their work until last year among the best in television history. I just contend that they either need to do something new or quit (I say "quit"). Do you think they could have had the killer in the last episode do something other than toss the evidence into the ocean after being chased by Monk, just like in the marathon runner episode? If you are a fan you are sitting there thinking "Wait, this is a new episode, right? I've seen this." Do you think they knew they were essentially repeating the same scene and just said "Ah, screw it, let's do it again."? I doubt it. If so, why on earth would they do that?

My point is that if the writers can't come up with new plots - or even new ways to film scenes - then they should end the show rather than rehash ideas over and over. Either the writers are not keeping track of past shows, they are out of ideas, or they know what they are doing and they are rehashing ideas. There is no fourth choice. I believe they can think of new ideas, but I don't see evidence of it lately.

EDITED
Hey, after five minutes I thought of an alternate ending to replace the "Birds and Bees" ending that would have only required an addition of one quick scene. If Monk and Natalie had briefly visited the photo stand at the carnival earlier in the show, and Monk had messed around with a few things (the way Monk does) without letting the viewers know exactly what he was rearranging. Then, at the end the killer could have grabbed the archived CD and destroyed it irretrievably after a great deal of running and difficulty, apparently getting away with murder. Except, of course, for the fact that Monk had earlier arranged the CD's by color (or something else) and he could have strolled over and grabbed the incriminating CD from the photo stand. The killer could be shown covered in dirt and ripped clothes, angry and completely baffled by why the archived CD's were out of order. I still admit I couldn't work everything into a complete show. Or even a five minute show.

Of course, that idea has probably been done in some other episode and I just don't remember it right now.

SCRIPT
Killer Guy: "You have no proof now [after he went to a lot of trouble and destroyed a CD he thinks shows him in the background of Julie's picture]."

Natalie: "Actually, we weren't able to take the CD when we were here yesterday, but Mr. Monk rearranged everything according to color. So you grabbed the wrong CD just now.

Killer: "What.....But.......Why would anyone.....?

Monk: [Holding the incriminating CD] "I'm sorry. It's a curse."

Stottlemeyer: "And a blessing. You're under arrest. Randy, cuff him."

Randy: [Eating a caramel candy apple] "mmmm-mmmm, guilty."

Killer: "Are you hitting on me?"

I wasn't being protective, I genuinely did want to know if you, or a person who hasn't been writing the show for the last six years could come up with ideas that would work for an episode that the writers hadn't done in some form before. If you could, it might have been sign that the writers maybe need to bring in some fresh blood to get some new ideas. I will admit that I didn't think it likely that you could because there are only like eight truly original and unique stories in the world, and all of the others are basically derived from those or are combinations of them told in a different style with different settings and characters. I would have been extremely impressed with you if you had come up with even one entirely unique story. The Monk writers are in the same boat as everyone else; they can just take those few really original stories and retell them with enough variation in style, characters, elements, timing and so on to 'make them their own'. The trick is to be original in the telling.

And I think, (though not positive) that some of the times where they seem to repeat things are done intentionally, for what I think of as 'Monk, The Home Game'. See, the show is about a guy who can't ignore the details and who makes all sorts of connections, notices when little things are changed, and can see the very tiny differences in things. Well, a lot of the shows have little, small things that show up more than once, like the same poster on the wall in Trudy's room that was on the wall in Adrian's childhood room, the guy that played 'Fraidy Cop' in Billionaire Mugger showing up again as the cop who initially found Tommy in the park in The Kid, having the same actress who played Beth Landau in Back to School playing the phys ed teacher with a drinking problem in Bad Girlfriend, and having Gail O'Grady, who played Miranda St. Claire in the pilot come back and play the Lovely Rita in this last episode. The Lovely Rita wasn't really vital to the resolution of the case, she was more for comedic affect or maybe a red herring, possibly, but the show could easily have been done without her, or if she had been played by someone else. The point I am making is that maybe they are dropping these things in there for the viewers who want to play at home and see what tiny little details they can pick up on. It's like playing those hidden picture games in Highlights for Children. And then there are also the similarities in episodes or scenes, that I think are maybe intended so that we can try and figure out what they remind us of, what other episode. Like the ending of Birds and Bees reminded me of Marathon Man and Carnival. I like it when they do things like this because I enjoy making the connections and comparing the episodes, the mysteries and the contexts and seeing how they are alike and how they are different. The reason I think this may be intentional is because some of these things don't make a lot of sense otherwise. Like in Vegas when Monk and Natalie are knocking on the hotel room door and they show a shot of a table by the white chaise that Randy is asleep on, in one take there's a tennis shoe on that table. The angle of the camera changes, and when it flashes back again, there is a very different looking shoe there. If for some reason the shoe was moved or couldn't be used for the next shot (which seems unlikely) why put another shoe that is so obviously different there? Why not just leave it out all together since the absense of the shoe would be less noticable and easily explained. The different shoes on the table had absolutely nothing to do withy the plot, so they didn't have to be there at all. Like the Lovely Rita really didn't need to be there. So I'm thinking that things like that and the similarities between episodes are there for a reason, so that those of us who want to can play the home game. I could be wrong, but I don't really care since I will still enjoy playing the home game whether it's intentional or not.



I don't think it's been done before but the reason that the guy grabbed all of the CDs is because it would be pretty difficult to know which one the specific picture he wanted was on. There are a lot of variables that come into it, like did the photographer close out each CD at the end of the day and start a new one for the next day? That might be very wasteful and kind of impractical because on a Monday he might only take ten pictures, which would be a very small part of the space on a CD, but on a Saturday, he might take so many photos that he'd need to start a second disc. More likely he just put them on the CD till the CD was full and then started a new one, marking each CD with the date that he started it and the date that he closed it out. The result would be that there could be three or four CDs that covered the date that Julie and Time were there, if the photographer was very very busy and his camera saved images in super huge files, or the date they were there could be on a CD with four or five other days. A lot could rely on the Camera he used, the editing software, the CD burning software, whether he burned back up discs like I tend to do, if he had some sort of code or dating system to mark his CDs that isn't readily obvious to someone else...so he probably figured it was safest just to grab all the CDs and get rid of them. The best way to do that would be to break them, but since the photographer yelled and called attention to them, and he knew Adrian was after him, he really didn't have a chance to stop and start breaking CDs, he probably paniced and went with the first thing that came to mind, which was tossing them into the water. He probably didn't even know if they would sink or float or if the salt water would have some damaging affect on them, but was hoping that they would sink or be ruined by the salt. The same way the guy in Marathon Man didn't think about the hide a key box might be waterproof and would float, and Adrian even mentioned it to him. But CDs in cases do float and are not damaged by the salt water. I know because I tried it. It really is harder than you might think to irretrievably destroy a CD, there are people now who can retrieve data from damaged CDs or even stuff that's been erased from CDRWs I think. Your best bet is to smash it into as many pieces as you can.

But I liked the way it was done because of fact that it reminded me of earlier episodes. I didn't see it as the writers being lax, I saw it as a connection game.

It would have been funny though if the photographer had shouted something like, "Stop him! He's got my Metallica mix! And my Van Halen!" and it turned out that the photographer did have back ups of all those CDs and the pictures he'd taken for the last few months on his computer hard drive.

I understand your "eight basic story lines" point, but they can still do something different scene-by-scene. Even if they connect shows intentionally, which I agree is interesting in many cases, I did not see the "inventiveness" in the last show's ending. And they don't have to bury Monk twice, even in six years. I contend that nobody can breathe all that much life into a show after more than a few years. But the writers don't have to bury him again, make him visit another carnival (what has it been, three times?), or have the killer toss the evidence stupidly into the sea twice. I guess that could be a running gag, but not a very good one.

I think they should enlist you to help. You win the award for the most extensive and logical board posts. I'm too tired to even read everything. I'm definitely not saying I could write an episode. Maybe a bad episode of "Lost in Space" or "Lassie."

Puzzle:
Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure - Small Pieces
Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure - Medium Pieces

If you can't see the photo Click here

P.S. It's my 1,000 post

preview clip Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure

I'm curious what kinda song it is, isn't that Metallica? Probably not, it's not their type..this is more hard rock or hard metal, maybe even industral rock...But really I don't know, so if somebody know what kinda song it is...please let me know...

second preview clip from Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure

Thanks, Alex! I have been looking for a preview on Yahoo but it hass't been put up yet.

That song's not Metallica, I'm pretty sure of that, but I have no idea who did it. It's kind of catchy though, I like it, at least at tolerable volumes and when I can turn it off if I need to.

Poor Natalie, crammed into the back seat of that tiny car between two headbanging boys! And probably the speakers are mostly in the back, too and the one boy is hitting on her! I lost it when he started flirting. Natalie has a Biggest Fan now!

Troy not using the blinker because he doesn't like people to know what he's thinking is funny and says more than he meant to say I imagine. He's very protective of his inner thoughts, probably from being raised by a psychiatrist who always knows what he's thinking or feeling or at least thinks he does. I imagine he has heard, "Troy, I know how you feel right now..." or "I know you think..." often enough to get really, really on edge about it now. Like, "Get the hell outta my head, Dad! I don't *want* you to know what I'm thinking or feeling!" Especially once he reached puberty. One thing is that when you're a teenager you think the whole world is watching you, so you are easily embarrassed and prone to blowing everything way out of proportion, and another thing is that when you reach puberty, a lot of the things you are thinking about or are feeling really are sort of embarrassing! Especially if you're a boy I imagine. You don't want your parents especially to know about what's on your mind most of the time. But usually, those thoughts are a whole lot more personal than whether you're going to turn or not! That's just ... LOL!

Here's a hint, if you really know what your kid is thinking about all the time, then you know why he's angry. If you don't know why he's so angry, maybe you don't know what he's thinking about or feels all the time. Whether you do or not, you should not say that you know what he's thinking and feeling to him because it will just piss him off. Teenagers(People in general, but especially teenagers) do not appreciate it when people tell them what they are feeling rather than let them work it out for themselves; it's what they are supposed to be doing at this point in their lives (among other things) figuring out who they are, how to think for themselves and work through their own crap without their parents help. Let them do it, but just let them know that you are there to talk to *if they want to talk*, and if they do want to talk, then *let them talk*. You just sit there and listen and nod your head unless they ask you something. You won't really know what he's thinking unless you let him tell you. I think Troy hasn't been in the mood to tell Dr. Kroger, though, or else when he's tried, he felt like his dad was trying to be his therapist rather than his dad.

Another preview clip keeping evidence on

LMAO!! Now we know how Randy stays so hyper and thin!

I love Randy.

I hope they start the show soon. I'm excited!

Tony was right, Ted and Jason are *hysterical* in this episode! I love it!

Yay, Disher's not so stupid after all.

I loved this episode!! Randy saved the day. It was so cool watching this one again...fond memories.

************SPOILERS*******************









I felt so bad laughing at Monk's panic attack inside the car after they got buried by all that gravel. I have panic disorder so I'm no stranger for PAs, and a large part of me could feel his pain, but it was still funny the way he was going nuts in there lol

LMAO! That's great! "Tell them I had a hunch." "You didn't have a hunch, you had to pee and that's what I'm puttign down."

Of course, I have to gush about Troy. Alright, so I was a little upset when I saw that Troy wasn't the shaggy, black-haired, Miniature you-know-who that he was in New Shrink, but he was still pretty cute! If he works on his patience a little more, he's gonna be a great shrink.

Man, my female intuition must be working on overtime. Cause I was thinking, when they were trapped in the gravel 'If i was in that situation, I'd turn up the rock music really loud so they could hear.' And, like five seconds later Troy pulle dout the CD's. I'm good!

!chik!

Funny episode.
The stabbing cup scene was hilarious.

Yeah, I thought it was a great epi. Alot different then I imagined and most Monk episodes but I loved it. Randy's cup was hilarious. Troy was awesome too and pretty hot I agree with you chik. I loved his friends. The one that kept saying how hot Natalie was was reallly funny. Another great one!!!

I just read Natalie's blog for this episode, and I want to say, Yes, Natalie, that guy does exist, he can order a meal in fluent French, as long as the resturant delivers, he does like to cook, he would not expect you to take him all over the place, and no, you would never see him in the parking lot of a mini-mart. And he probably already knows how many stars there are and whether it's an even number or not.

Call Ambrose.

Or Og. I think I have Og's number around here someplace.

She didn't say anything about having a problem with a guy who collects things, right? Like newspapers, for instance.

I give it a an 8.2. Something weren't covered on the characters' personalities that may have been, but it doesn't hurt anything from where I'm seeing. Now we know exactly how low Monk's threshhold on heavy metal is. Advice to Disher; next time tell them not to send them you prize if you' be on duty at the time. I was waiting for Stottlemeyer to either hurl it out the window or throw it to the ground and stamp on it. Now our hero has extra incentive to go wring Harold's neck next week...

Monk may not like heavy metal...or even any kind of metal music, but I just love this type of song!
I didn't saw this episode yet, I only watched the two minutes replay...and it seems that this eppy is just COOL!

I have a panic disorder too, and I couldn't help but laugh... and be sad... but laugh at the same time.
I think his reaction was accurate! Especially the whimpering. I whimper just like that when I'm frustrated or can't figure out how to cope with a situation.

"It's locked."
Hahaaa!

I love the scenes between Ted and Jason this week. When they interviewed the assistant branch manager on the robbery and the person found in the car, when they giving Monk the 411 on the robbery, and of course at the crime scene, it was very funny! Somehow, I knew that Randy would be the one who saved the day (even he did have to pee and the captain telling him like a little kid: I told you to go at the filling station.) With the cost of a soft drink, heck, I would want free refills for life. See, Randy is not dumb.

I do not think that could have been metal. Real metal may have really scared viewers too much and be too distracting. But I thought the show could have gotten closer to metal, or maybe found something in lighter progressive metal with minimal screams. Actually I think the screams and some heavy drum riffs could have been fun with the whole car in the pit scene. Nothing is scarier than metal music when something else is scary! The metal lovers were just too clean cut. No tattoos, no one in a darker shirt with a dead bull's head or anything, no Elephant ear earings, no rings, no shaved heads or longer hair....some of the dumb behavior was accurate though. (But having said that, metal fans can be very smart......but some seem pretty far gone.) Half the fun of the metal thing is the way some of the bands and some of the fans dress. Wish the costume people had had some fun with this. For someone who is like Monk, or just a normal middle aged person, metal in itself can be very scary---the show could have taken advantage of that for sure!

I listen to every type of metal and rock...death metal, gothic metal, power metal, industrial metal, hard rock...etc...
And I wearing clothes like normal girl, no tattoo, no black clothes (I'm probalby will be in black clothes soon ) I was wearing for short time three years ago black clothes, but I didn't want to make my mum feel sad or something...(She'll be in black clothes soon just like me.... ) Some of you probably know what I'm talking about....

What was the reason the bank manager actually made the map? Monk said it was to make people feel like the found something so they would leave. But what did that have to do with the dead body?

Wouldn't Troy get fined or jailed for finding the body in the car and not reporting it?

A similar pencil-cup trick was done in Twin Peaks, I think the pilot.

I'm glad Julie Teeger did not have to deal with these jerks who are probably 3-4 years older than her.

This was a good ep and was the best one since Biggest Fan.

No, he made the map to show the other partner where to bury the body of his brother, but after he found out that Troy and his friends had the map and they thought that it was where the money was hidden, he rushed to the quarry and buried a little of the money, and put a big, obvious red X over the money so that they would dig there, find the money and think that they had found all that there was to find and leave rather than finding his brother's body which had been buried very near there by his other partner and what the map was originally drawn for. He didn't have time to dig up his brother's body and move it before Troy and his friends got there and it would have been too risky to do in broad daylight anyway.

There are probably some legal repercussions for finding a body in a car, taking items from the body and the car and then not reporting it, but since Troy and his friends are only 17 and the case was solved quickly and easily anyway so their actions didn't hinder it, I doubt very much that jail time would ever have happened.

And those boys are a couple of years older than Julie but I'm glad too that she's not likely to even think of dating them. I don't think many girls would consider dating Ridley, his pick up strategy seriously lack subtlty. "You wanna go make out behind that tree?" "No thanks." "How about that tree?"

Yeah I agree with the look. I think in New Shrink, Troy looked more like a metal fan than he did in this one. He looked a lot more mainstream in Buried treasure. But, the behavior they potrayed was definantly metal. My boyfriend is a hardcore heavy metal fanatic, and he acts like that all the time. And, yeah, I think metal is scary too. (I must be "old"!) I didn't find the music they were playing scary, so it was probably more hard rock than hard metal. I'm not a big metal fan, but I was head bopping to the music they were playing so I don't think it was actually metal. But that's just me.

OMG! I just read Troy's blog! It was great! Did anyone else read it?

!chik!

Hello Everyone!

I thought last night's episode was a lot of fun. I'm interested to find out the technical aspects of how they did the car-under-gravel scene. Tony really played "unhinged." That was fabulous. You know Monk's on the edge when he's thrashing around, repeating himself, losing touch with reality AND openly weeping. All the young actors were great. You could really feel the close bond between them. And poor Natalie, having to deal with all that testosterone. And I did enjoy the "Big Gulp" scenes. That was one huge drink cup.

Not sure what the music was supposed to be but it sounded like a mish-mash of electronic dance metal. It had too much treble to be real metal and it didn't sound like death metal or thrash. Wonder if it was a Jeff Beal concoction? I didn't notice a credit for any other musician or group.

On an aside, sorry you are going through tough times, Agnes. We're thinking about you.

Crystal sez: Randy, here's the number for a support groups for your 'drinking problem', and Captain, quit breaking Randy's stuff or you'll get a time-out.

We had a crisis at the house last night (too long to get in to), so I didn't get to see the show last night. On the plus side, my VCR decided to work and tape it at 2AM and I just watched the show.

I would like to thank the writers for giving this Who fan an earworm of "Happy Jack". However, my record collection is blocked by a bookcase now, so I can't pull out my records and get this tune out of my head! (Well, that's what an earworm is, isn't it?) To make up for it, I present you Exhibit A: The video of "Happy Jack" by The Who. You will notice, Your Honor, that the video involves criminals. Crinimals who forget about robbing and go nuts with cake instead. (I think Monk would lose his mind watching them make such a mess with the cake, so maybe we shouldn't tell him...)

I really liked this episode and Randy is always fun to watch.

I had to wonder why when they were buried in gravel they could hear the car driving away, but not driving up.

Like I have said before Monk doesn't make me lmho anymore but it still is worth watching. You can sure see how the show has changed when you see the episodes from the first season. The scene in the car was sort of funny. The funniest moments for me were the scenes between Randy and Stot with the diet coke cup and then the scene where Randy finds out that they were buried because he had to use the bathroom. I think Stot said "I told you to go back at the station." And then when Randy wanted to take credit for it because he had a hunch. Stot said : You had to pee and that is what I am putting in my report."

Great episode. I thought it was hilarious when Stot kept poking holes in Randy's soda cup.

Exactly! And the confusion and being disoriented, that's me too! lol

I liked the episode a lot. My kids were roaring everytime Randy was in the scene. I love the way Randy's youthful goofiness plays off Stott's mature seriousness (sorry if my grammar is off.) The show just wouldn't be as good if they made Randy more serious. He is adorable just the way he is (this coming from a Stott worshipper.) They make the perfect odd couple.

I thought his reaction was pretty good, too, the freaking out and flailing around, I'm pretty sure that's how I would be acting if I was in that situation. My daughter loved the looks that Troy kept shooting at him and I kept thinking, "Troy, at this point, it would be more merciful to knock him unconcious with a tire iron, your dad would understand." Hell, *I* would understand and appreciate it if I was the one freaking out in the car like that. Just tap me hard enough to knock me out and hope that I don't wake up till we are out of there or not at all if no one ever found us. Sedation by tire iron sounds good compared to sitting in a car looking at all the gravel on top of us. I liked when he was reciting to Troy what the weather was like each day in 1967, the way he was playing with his hair behind his ear. My daughter does that when she is anxious and trying to comfort herself, especially when she was a baby and tired. She would twirl her hair around her finger and make this low, droning, growling noise. We were waiting for her head to start spinning around. So it seemed realistic and cute to me.

And that music at the end had to be pretty loud, especially inside the car. I think the gravel on top and around it wouldn't allow the sound waves to escape as easily as they would otherwise. I was a little bit amused by the fact that the rocks on top of the car weren't 'dancing' and visibly vibrating in that little spot that Natalie, Randy and Leland cleared off on top they way they would if someone was playing music that loud, especially the bass parts. The kid across the street from me plays music with an extreme amount of bass in it on his car stereo with the bass and volume turned way up, and it shakes my windows. I like the kid most of the time, but when he starts doing that, it makes me want to go punch holes in his speakers or steal his stereo. I swear it feels like the vibrations are bouncing around inside my skull, it literally hurts.

I still love Ridley flirting with Natalie, it reminds me of the episode of Foster's when Mac and Bloo got big crushes on Frankie (Mac is 8, Frankie is I think 22). It was one of the funnier ones in my opinion.

I still laugh every time I see the scene with the Stottlemeyer punching holes in Randy's cup. Randy kind of has a good point; he gets free refills for life and Stottlemeyer gets a sticky office floor.

Did anyone else notice the way Adrian looked when Troy said that when his house got robbed, his dad said he had a rare coin collection? I wonder if that will come up again at some point, like the granola bar in Employee of the Month? Maybe he had a rare coin collection that Troy didn't know about.

I think when Troy's car wouldn't start, it was because when the bulldozer hit it, the fuel pump was disabled. There is a safety switch that's designed to trip off the fuel pump if the car gets hit with a certain amount of force, it's supposed to reduce the possibility of an explosion or fuel fire. When a tree fell on my car (which was also a Taurus) it tripped the switch off and the car wouldn't start until we found out about that switch. We had to take a panel out of the interior of the car and push this button to turn it back on.