S02.E03: Idiot Inside

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Mo tries to extricate Keith from a difficult situation.

Original air date 2020.03.22

[auntiemel]

Wow, was that ever intense! 😮

[Joimiaroxeu]

Columbian daisy dukes. Probably scrotum-related.

Chocolate man.

Spic 'n span.Yikes.

Forgot to carry the Juan. 😑

I don't understand why the bank security guard blew up.

Those were the good 'ol days. When you could get on a plane with a duffle bag full of cash and no one was the wiser.

Man, they turned the Scarface up to 11!

[Dewey Decimate]

I loved the way every person slaughtered in the bank massacre was set up as a scuzball each in their own way - pervy creep uncle, drunk and yellow-bellied guard, greedy old lady stealing the dreams of children... Of course, it was contrived, but somehow it totally works for this show. Thirty minutes of ridiculous, nostalgia-laced escapism is just what I needed! (And now I feel the need to get a Toblerone on my once-a-week venture outside the house.)

[angora]

Man, that was a ride! They did such a great job ratcheting up the tension, jumping between the meeting with the cartel and the different people in the bank lobby, and when it finally popped off, it was WILD. But I loved how there was still so much comedy in the cartel scenes - Mo trying to hold the whole thing together despite the copious interruptions and screw-ups was hilarious.

Also? I laughed out loud when Mo was playing basketball with his friend's kids and jumped straight into the garage door. OW!

I missed Dawn and Blair, but I think this episode needed to be this way. You needed that uninterrupted momentum for everything going on at the bank, and it really paid off IMO.

[DoctorAtomic]

The Spic and span is the best joke. 

1 hour ago, angora said:

I missed Dawn and Blair, but I think this episode needed to be this way. You needed that uninterrupted momentum for everything going on at the bank, and it really paid off IMO.

That might have been peak Cheadle. 

The Lionel Richie song during the shoot out was PERFECT. 

[Jade Foxx]

On 3/22/2020 at 6:13 PM, auntiemel said:

Wow, was that ever intense! 😮

I WASN’T READY

[Corgi-ears]

4 hours ago, Dewey Decimate said:

I loved the way every person slaughtered in the bank massacre was set up as a scuzball each in their own way - pervy creep uncle, drunk and yellow-bellied guard, greedy old lady stealing the dreams of children...

Even better, the episode set up these characters as tropes -- and then blew up our expectations. The seemingly down-on-his-luck father turns out to be a creepy pedophile kidnapper! The nice old lady giving the little girl a coin got that coin from the wishes of sick children!! The lady with the pram, whose "baby" might get endangered during the shootout, turns out to be part of the hit squad!! The guy in the disguise, who seemed like he would be carrying on a simultaneous bank robbery, turned out to be proposing to the bank teller!!! They were, however, all running with the night.

And it's actually "spick" when it's "spick and span."

Edited March 24, 2020 by Corgi-ears

[Marley]

I thought this episode sucked so bad. I didn’t know what the fuck I was watching. Love this show but the whole episode was ridiculous and not in a good fun way.

[DoctorAtomic]

So since this was a whole plot from Mo to put everyone away, I'm wondering if this season is going for some bonkers Count of Monte Cristo revenge narrative.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

And it's actually "spick" when it's "spick and span."

Not according to Proctor & Gamble (or the original trademark owners, Whistle Bottling Company):

😉

Given the time frame, I think the reference was to the soap since the subject was money laundering. The racial insensitivity was just a side bonus because the gangsters were Hispanic/Latino.

[Corgi-ears]

6 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Not according to Proctor & Gamble (or the original trademark owners, Whistle Bottling Company):

Down a rabbit hole I go!

The P&G cleaner was introduced in 1933.

According to the OED, the expression "spick and span" dates to 1665, with Samuel Pepys' diary containing the sentence: "My Lady Batten walking through the dirty lane with new spick-and-span white shoes." The OED does suggest that, occasionally, the phrase is written as "spic and span": for example, in 1793, in one of William Cowper's letters. This is probably because the Old English and Old French forms of the adjective "spick" does not have the "k."

The etymology of the word "spic" is more contentious, but it's generally considered to be a different word than the "spick" in "spick and span." The first OED-documented use of the term (i.e., as a racial epithet), in 1913, makes clear that it's meant as a shortened form of "spigot" or "spigotty" (aka a Spanish speaker): "It was my first entrance into the land of the panameños, technically known on the Zone as 'Spigots,' and familiarly, with a tinge of despite, as 'Spigs.'" But of course, when words get shortened, they get shortened in various ways; plus, "spic" and "spick" are so close that they are often conflated. The OED says that "spick," "spig," and "spik" have all been used as variants of "spic"; Tender is the Night has a character call another a "spic."

However, in the expression "spick and span," the original spelling (insofar as that is a thing) does appear to be "spick."
 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Corgi-ears

[Joimiaroxeu]

Okay, caution to people who want to use the phrase "spick and span" in writing and want to avoid looking like they're making a racial slur.

However, the context the phrase was being used on this episode of Black Monday, a dark comedy which does not shy away from making offensive references and is an equal opportunity offender, I think "spic and span" was the usage they intended. The soap is probably what comes to mind today when most people hear the phrase now, the OED notwithstanding.

[DoctorAtomic]

It was a great joke for the context of the scene. I'm good with it ending there.