Original air date: May 12, 1952
We open on Ricky playing cards in the living room. Lucy just finished doing all the dishes, but somehow it’s Ricky who’s in a shitty mood. He doesn’t want to hang out with the Mertzes and doesn’t want to play cards.
He’s your average six-year-old at the end of summer.
Lucy: I’ll get you a gun, you can shoot yourself.
Well, that escalated quickly.
(Or: Stalking can be fun!)
**Get the background story at this week’s Episode Watch Party.**
Happy 20th episode, Ballers! We open on Lucy reading a New York Times about Hitler.
Actually, the person on the cover is Gen. Sir Gerald Templer, who was put in charge of British forces in 1952 during the “Malayan Emergency.” But, being Jewish, I can’t go five sentences without mentioning Hitler.
Lucy is a highly educated woman with a strong handle on world affairs… as long as Ricky’s not looking.
Ricky comes in totally creeped out by a perverted teenage psychopath named Peggy. She lives next door, she’s “like a spook,” and she’s legit stalking him. Lucy thinks it’s hilarious, and reminds Ricky that teenage girls are totally unreasonable.
I used to have a massive crush on Ricky myself, and considering he was a) fictional and b) 80 years old by that point, I have to side with Lucy on this.
(Or: Lucy and Ricky do something together for once)
Welcome back, my dear Ballers. I’ve missed you like Ethel misses singlehood. Let’s dive in.
We open on our typical Ricardo-Mertz double date. Everyone’s standing around the piano singing “I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old Dad.” Freud’s like, “Yeah, I know! I’ve been saying this for decades!”
Those lyrics are creepy as hell. Here’s the first verse of that song (emphasis mine):
(Or: Lucy Pursues Her Lifelong Dream of Fetching Ricky’s Slippers)
Get all the WTFacts at the Episode watch party!
Why hello, Ballers. I didn’t see you there. Shall we?
This week we open on Ricky sleeping in because he works late at a nightclub and absolutely not because the writers are stereotyping Cuban-Americans.
Lucy comes in beautiful and ready to face the day. We can assume she’s been up since 7am and has already vacuumed, mopped, and prepared breakfast from scratch. Ricky will not care.
To wake Ricky up, she plays “Babalu” on the conga drum. This is the first time we hear Desi’s signature song on the show, and I’m pretty sure he’s super pissed she gets to sing it before him. At least that might explain why he’s about to be such a total asshole.
WTF Lucy 