Date of airing: February 26, 2000 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 9.30 million viewers, 5.8/11 in Households, 2.5/8 with Adults 18-49
written by: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec
directed by: Sander Stern
This could easily be the best episode of the entire series, simply because it went back to its strengths from the first season and decided to care about its characters. It decided to not depict Gary in a constant rage about having to save the lives of Chicagoans, and instead put him at the side of a dying man who needed company and someone to talk to as he was taking the steps into the afterlife. It showed Gary as somewhat of an angel, helping another person to move on, which means this episode came close to being a version of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL as the series was during its first season, which is what I liked about the show back then.
I was rather surprised that EARLY EDITION was able to deliver such an episode three and a half years in, with the writers having figured out that they did not need to follow the tone and style from previous seasons (under a different showrunner), and with the series generally being seen as on the chopping block, as the ratings suggested that the show would never be a success again and that it might be cheaper to just cancel it instead of paying for another season. Who knows, maybe the writers came to realize the show was on its way out, so they decided to go back to its roots and just have Gary be out in the city, saving lives, dropping himself into a tragic world that needs the attention of its viewers (in this case: the homelessness crisis during the winter months). There was not much of a character arc for the main character, but there has been a study of the main guest star. Sometimes, those are the better episodes of 1990s scripted dramatic television.
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| Kids often get stuck head-first in piles of snow during blizzards. |
This episode is the twin sister of season one’s "Frostbit," not only because both hours delivered the same premise, but it also stepped foot in the same real-life issue that every metropolitan city faces: the homelessness crisis. In "Frostbit," the story might have been about a runaway teenager who did not care a lot about his life, while in this episode, Earl was the exact opposite person. In "Frostbit," Gary had to convince the teenager to allow himself to be helped, while in this episode, Earl was already a person who helped others. In "Frostbit," the story was just about the teenager, while in this episode, the homelessness crisis gets attention in a general sense, to tell the viewers that this problem exists and cannot be just shrugged off. While you are sitting comfortably on your couch to watch this episode of television, there are people on the streets in danger of freezing to death because of capitalism. I have no idea if the writers remembered "Frostbit," but I believe they must have, as this episode took a different turn than the episode from the first season, with the different turn being a more dramatic one.
I generally love episodes that do not deal a lot with Gary as a character and only have him be the catalyst for the guest star character's story of the week. Yes, that is a premise you cannot deliver in 20 out of 22 episodes, because this is the 1990s (and early 2000s) after all, and television has moved on from focusing the episodes on the episodic guest stars, but every once in a while, when the guest star is a good actor and their characters are interesting and worthwhile following, episodes like this one are a treat for this armchair reviewer. Not only were the writers spared from having to come up with an absurd plot filled with inconsistencies, conveniences, and plot holes, but they were also given an opportunity to shine a light on a real-life issue.
Earl was a close-to-perfect character in this episode, showcasing that people who were once angry and had to pay for it can change and do good, and that giving second chances can pay out greatly in the long run. Gary saved sixteen lives (seventeen, with Mr. Mourning) in this episode, which is a wonderful number, but think about how many lives Earl might have saved after his days in prison, after he was given that second chance which he used greatly. Earl could have decided to be angry for all of his life, but on that fateful night, which kind of looked like B roll from the second part of "Fatal Edition," Earl put himself on a new path, and that might have saved people who would not have been recognized as being in danger. You could see that in the runaway kid Earl talked to in the abandoned building – a life Gary did not need to save because Earl was already there. Earl was the only one who cared to even go in there and check, instantly
saving the young man’s life. You could write a dissertation about how
Earl and Gary were one and the same, only with completely different
backgrounds. They were given second chances recently, and they made them
count – Gary’s second chance being the paper, giving him the chance to
break free from a slave-ish life as a stock broker. And then, Earl’s death gave
another person a chance for a second life. And that makes you think,
when Gary dies, will he give a second chance to someone? In the form of the
paper, maybe?
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| Before stepping into the afterlife, Earl thinks about his entire life. |
Meanwhile, Jon Polito returned for another guest appearance on EARLY EDITION, after he played the lover of an elderly lady in the first-season episode "The Cat." It was easy to recognize him, as there are not many actors out there who look like annoyed and overweight mafioso who comb their couple of dozen of hair from one side to the other to hide the fact that they are bald. Polito's character may not have been interesting enough for this episode, but he served alright as a plot device and as the closing "moral of the episode." I would almost wish for the character to show up in another episode in a few years, just to find out if he has taken that second chance he was given (in a quite convenient way, I might add – the guy suddenly has issues with his heart and there is already a donor for him, he does not have to wait years and years on the UNOS list). But then again, there were only ten episodes of EARLY EDITION left, so Mr. Mourning will not get the chance to prove himself.
