There are comedy episodes like The Pimple — which strain to milk comedy out of narrow topic — and then episodes like Rock ‘n’ Roll, which take advantage of having such a broad topic to focus on. The writers are firing on all cylinders during Rock ‘n’ Roll, which is aptly named because it takes…
I really enjoyed Math Class, the first episode centered around Mr. Collins’ algebra class, and I enjoyed Math Class Squared, its sequel, even more. The first half of this episode puts Kevin in a believable, morally complex conflict: Should he rat out the his cheating classmates? It’s a tough question that has been answered a…
The pimple story is probably the default coming-of-age story (assuming you exclude boyfriend-girlfriend troubles). I can’t count how many times I’ve seen some iteration of this story. In many ways, it’s also the most idiotic, because teens on TV and in the movies almost never have acne unless it’s the focus of a plot. It’s actually…
Although these changes have come With your chrome heart riding in the sun Long may you run -Neil Young The Family Car would not have been nearly as successful if the setting of The Wonder Years didn’t line up with The Greatest Generation fading out and the dawn of Generation X. But because it does,…
Odd Man Out makes a few crucial mistakes: For one, it never really gives a good reason for Kevin to break off his friendship with Paul. Second, it never adequately shows us Paul’s perspective. Lastly, it paints Kevin to be a pretty big asshole the entire time. Those three flaws prevented an episode with a compelling…
I’m of two minds about On the Spot. On the one hand, it gives us our richest Winnie story to date. There are some really beautiful moments and shots. The episode also gives us a substantial amount of time to actually observe the play unfold. The impact of Winnie’s performance is more moving because of…
If we get an Alley Mills-centric episode every season, I will not object. I rarely remember to cite her excellence in these recaps, but she’s just as consistently impressive as Dan Lauria, Fred Savage, or Josh Saviano. Here, she does a gerat job capturing a mother’s unease about her youngest son getting to that point…
My least favorite episode of the previous season, Hiroshima, Mon Frere, was a Wayne-centric episode, just like Wayne on Wheels. But where that episode struggled to make me care about Wayne, this one depicted him in a way that made him more interesting and human without betraying his garish, bullying, slightly crazy ways. Kevin pursues…
I’m actually kind of surprised The Wonder Years didn’t do a bad grades episode before now. It seems like one of the default plots for a coming of age show. I really liked the way The Wonder Years tackled it. They essentially took the plot from Loosiers and reversed the roles of Kevin and Paul.…
“A lot happened on the beach in Ocean City that summer night in 1969. But, of course, none of it was permanent.” -Kevin Think of everything that happened to Kevin Arnold in the past year — Brian Cooper getting killed in Vietnam, his up-and-down relationship with Winnie, getting beat up by Eddie, etc. — and…