Frisky Dingo/Flowers for Nearl

Flowers for Nearl
Season 1, Episode 10
Airdate	December 17, 2006
Written by	Adam Reed Matt Thompson
Directed by	Neal Holman
← 1x09 The Odd Couple	1x11 → The Grate Escape
Frisky Dingo — Season One

Flowers for Nearl is the tenth episode of the first season of Frisky Dingo, and the tenth episode overall. The Xtacles attempt to fool Stan into believing that Nearl is Xander Crews, in hopes that he'll stop blowing them up.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

In hopes of stopping Stan from blowing off any more of their heads, the Xtacles have taken Nearl onto the X-Calibur to turn him into a reasonable replica of Xander Crews. One of the Xtacles comes back with a wing-collared tuxedo shirt and is berated for his lack of taste, but they figure that they can fix it later. The Xtacle running the sewing machine complains and realizes that his daughter is playing a piano recital and also has one of the exploding Xtacle helmets. After having a razor taken to him, Nearl looks surprisingly similar to Xander, but he's still incredibly mentally handicapped. One of the Xtacles injects Nearl with a brain chemical and he takes on the Xander Crews identity.

Stan comes aboard the X-Calibur dressed as Awesome-X and suggests that they have a DNA test to proves that this Xander Crews is the real deal and not just an elaborate switcheroo. They try to stop him saying that the DNA machine is broken, but Ronnie fixed it. But, as luck would have it, Nearl's DNA matches Xander's. Nearl tells the story of how he is Xander's identical twin and that his retardation caused him to be sent to a mental asylum until it was closed down. Nearl declares that they need to kill Xander, but is shot in the head by Ronnie, who has decided that things are complicated enough without evil twins involved.

Meanwhile, Killface and Barnaby are chained to an assembly line putting heads on Awesome-X toys. Killface shouts at his partner and winds up being denied dinner for the third night running, but is given a radish by an old Chinese man. The man claims to be honoring the father of iron legs, which of course is Simon. Simon is now running an illegal underground ring of "death rabbits."

Arc Advancement

Referbacks

• 1x07 - Meet Antagone: One of the Xtacles says that the DNA machine is broken, but Ronnie claims to have fixed it. Ronnie was the one who destroyed the machine in the first place so that he could lock himself in a room with Xander Crews and "make love to his face."

Ronnie: I fix. With my pliers.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Flowers for Algernon: The title of this episode, and the central premise therein, is based on the short story Flowers for Algernon. In the story, a mentally handicapped man named Charlie Gordon is given several drug therapy treatments along with a mouse named Algernon. Both of them quickly lose their intelligence, however, and it is implied that the drug will ultimately kill Charlie.

Xtacle: Who's read Flowers for Algernon?

• Harrison Bergeron: The story about the chains, goggles and a man being killed with a shotgun in the end is Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is about a dystopic world where all individuality and physical or mental superiority is curbed so that all humans are the same. In the end, Harrison declares himself emperor after discarding his handicaps and is shot dead by the handicapper general with a shotgun. The story was loosely adapted into a made for cable film starring Sean Astin.

• Tom Bergeron: In the string of misheard references, Tom Bergeron is mentioned. Tom Bergeron is a television personality who hosted several television programs including America's Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars

• Agamemnon: The last name referenced in the misheard Algernon bit was Agamemnon, the most distinguished of the Greek heroes. He led an army of Achaean soldiers against the city of Troy and eventually triumphed through the use of the infamous Trojan Horse to gain entry to their fortress.

• Press Your Luck When the Xtacles are chanting "No whammies," they explain that the whammy is a character on the game show Press Your Luck. Press Your Luck worked much like a roulette wheel with prizes on each space. A contestant hits the buzzer to stop the light on the board and adds the prize to their cache. But, if they hit a "Whammy," their winnings are stolen. Three whammies means that they're out of the game.

Xtacle: The unwelcome thief of Press Your Luck.

• Ronald Reagan: Mr. Ford vents his anger over the mental hospital being closed down in the direction of Ronald Reagan. Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, during his first term in office, he completely dismantled the public psychiatric hospital system and instead advocated community run organizations to supplant this change. But, many mentally unstable people were instead put on the street instead when local organizations couldn't compensate suitably.

Mr. Ford: You can tan Ron Reagan's ass for that.