MovieChat Forums > I Love Lucy (1951) Discussion > Arguments Part Two

Arguments Part Two

posted 7 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
9 replies | jump to latest

Did a second marathon last night of fights between the couples,
but picked the eps so that different angles could be explored:

Breaking the Lease

Perhaps the most childish of all those "couples" fights. Both couples over-react (Ethel
and Fred DO "change in such a short time"), with Lucy and Ricky resorting to the most
infantile of behavior. A very funny offering, though.

No Children Allowed

After years of ignoring this ep (Lucy's like a walking fridge throughout), I realized recently
that this is a fun offering (after a slow start). Here, the fight is Lucy and Ethel's, THEN
Fred and Ricky's It's unique in that while they ALL fight, they don't all fight at the same
time.

Never Do Business With Friends

The first "greed" fight. And a fave.

Lucy in Monte Carlo

No classic to be sure, but this one features a (rather serious at first) fight between Fred
and Ricky over possible embezzlement. Fred really wants to deck Ricky, who backs
away from physical violence. Then Ethel gets mad at Fred, THEN at Lucy ("You and I
are THROUGH!"). A strange ep, and not much of a story. But that casino set is
gorgeous.

Lucy Does the Tango

Again, the fight begins with Fred and Ricky, then travels over to Lucy and Ethel, as the
four accuse each other of being "chicken thieves!" And, of course, we have that
classic eggs-in-the-blouse-tango! Still hilarious!

[–] [email protected] (5507) 7 years ago

I always laugh when I see Lucy do a tango with a shirt full of eggs! I think this episode is the last one where we see the Ricardos and Mertzes fight. After all those years of friendship, it was hard to believe that they STILL distrusted each other.

Never Do Business with Friends- The Ricardos were right to not want to sell the washer to their friends. They knew about the pitfalls, yet they fell right into them. Both couples were wrong in this one. Very funny scene when Lucy and Ethel go literally head to head pushing the washer. Mrs. Trumble is so cute as the actress tries not to laugh at what they are doing.

"You're going about it the hard way!"

'Breaking the Lease' was super childish of both couples. But the finale with "El Breako the Leaso" is a scream with the Mertzes entering covered in plaster. One of the few times you can see that the Arnazes break up for real and can hardly look at them.

In 'The Diner' I think Lucy and Ricky were in the wrong. They really should have been sharing the work behind the counter. Since when does a diner need a host AND a hostess? It was only fair that the two couples share the work. I didn't blame the Mertzes for walking out on them.

But in 'The Sublease' Fred and Ethel were being spiteful. So what if Lucy and Ricky could get some extra money for subletting the apartment? The Mertzes were getting their rent money! That's one episode where the Mertzes really annoyed me with their pettiness. I would have left the apartment empty, paid the rent, and moved OUT. I thought Fred and Ethel were real jerks in that one!

The two couples had a brief argument when the Mertzes were invited to go to California. I suppose Ethel had a bit of a point in saying that the Ricardos were "sticking" them for half the expenses. But still, that wasn't Lucy's reason for inviting them along! She really wanted them to go and would miss them otherwise.

I couldn't believe Fred's utter cheapness in refusing to pay for some of the gas. Gee, a friend was offering him FREE transportation on a cross country trip! I myself would feel terribly cheap if I didn't at least offer to pay some of the expenses. Why did Fred think he and Ethel deserved a FREE vacation? If they couldn't afford anything, they should have declined the invitation.

Of course Lucy came to the rescue and said that they WERE going anyway and had to pay for the gas anyway, but Fred didn't have to be such a tightwad.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

You're right, "The Diner" would've been a good choice to include. I did "The Sublease" in part one of my arguments theme.

Can't say I agree about "Never Do Business with Friends." It was awful of Lucy and Ricky to expect their best friends to pay
"for that hunk of junk." Ethel only had it a day or two! Look at all the damage it caused. I think they should've went
"halfsies" on getting it fixed.

[–] [email protected] (5507) 7 years ago

Well see, there IS a good reason to "Never Do Business with Friends". lol The washing machine was working when Lucy had it. But still the Ricardos didn't want to sell it to the Mertzes directly in case something went wrong. And when something DID go wrong, Fred, who had said previously that he was "handy with tools" and could fix any problem, didn't want to pay for it.

When it comes to money, people get very touchy and think they are in the right.

As far as "halfies", yeah either the Ricardos should have offered to pay half the repair bill or else they should have charged Fred half the original asking price. Money makes people nuts!

[–] AndrewHNPX (42) 7 years ago

The Monte Carlo one always bothered me a bit. Ethel being absolutely aghast at Lucy's behavior always rubbed me the wrong way, why was that the last straw for her? Lucy had done way worse stuff throughout the course of the series than merely using Ethel's name in some dumb excuse.

[–] [email protected] (5507) 7 years ago

Yes, Lucy had doe a lot worse to Ethel in the past! And I never unnderstood why Lucy was so worried about Ricky finding out. She WON money. It's not like she had a gambling addiction and dropped a fortune.

So what if Ricky told her not to go to the casino. She was a grown woman. He was her husband, not her keeper.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

Trying to interfere with her marriage, by outright lying that Ethel's rich aunt DIED and left her money, only to rediscover
Fred's I-only-love-you-for-what-you-might-inherit is pretty bad. I can clearly see Ethel's anger, and her stating what
she did in a state of hurt and rage. And besides, she's gets over it quickly, as they also rush to tell Lucy Ricky's okay
with her keeping the money.

As for Ricky, he was trying to protect her in a foreign country. And gambling can become a serious problem for many
people.

The emotions/reactions of the episode work for me, especially the scene where Ricky calmly believes Fred has
stolen from him.

[–] [email protected] (5507) 7 years ago

Actually I think it's one of the better European episodes. Lucy's accidental gambling was hilarious.

Lucy's story about Ethel's "rich, French aunt" was funny, but so outrageous, hard to believe the fellas bought it. And wouldn't Ethel have mentioned her French aunt while they were in Europe?

I do think Ethel was really more angry with Fred for acting so affectionate only because he believed Ethel had inherited a lot of money. Yes, the moment brought it home to Ethel and she was angry with Lucy for starting the whole thing.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

Agreed. Ethel's REAL anger was with Fred, mind-f$%^&ing with her heart again. Emotionally, the scene makes
sense.

Also, this ep isn't too far off from Fred's sudden "romantic phase" with Ethel on the cruise ship.

[–] [email protected] (5507) 7 years ago

Yes, I wonder what made Fred SO romantic on the cruise ship. In an earlier episode we learned that he got seasick. Was he on some heavy duty dramamine for the ocean crossing? lol Did that affect his behavior?

Fred must have had some romantic feelings for Ethel when he proposed. It certainly couldn't have been about money. When we see Ethel's dad, he was the owner of a soda/ice cream shop, so Ethel was hardly an heiress.