If you're reading this, you're probably already a MWC fan and I don't need to tell you what a great show it was. The England Show three-parter is one of the most unique episodes of the series with an ending that really frustrates me, so I wanted to write about it. Had it only been done a little better, it could potentially have been the best storyline of the entire series.
Looking at the three parts as a whole, you basically have a feature-length Bundy adventure, with a creative premise that's more ambitious in scope than every other episode. The whole backstory behind the curse and Lower Uncton living in eternal night is a creative idea, the premise of having Lower Uncton out to kill the Bundys to end the curse while Upper Uncton is out to kill them to keep the curse while the Bundys themselves are oblivious to both parties is brilliant, and the subplot with Marcy and Jefferson getting lost in London is great too. There are so many classic moments: Al's speech at Speaker's Corner, Al killing the fish, and the "I'm Too Sexy" dance.
The whole thing has so much potential but it all falls apart at the end, due to there not being enough story for three full episodes and the writers not having a very strong ending planned. Basically it breaks down like this:
Part 1 - Great! Creative premise and funny stuff.
Part 2 - Still generally good, though feels a bit padded out.
Part 3 - Terrible! Let down, cop-out ending.
Why is Part 3 so bad? First off, it really does feel like they wrote themselves into a corner and didn't know how to end the story. Obviously the story had to end with the curse being lifted or the whole thing would have felt anti-climatic, yet obviously they also couldn't kill off our beloved Bundys. So they throw in Al being in a jousting tournament that just feels lame and anti-climatic and kills all the tension that was built up previously when we really felt the Bundys were in danger, then the curse gets lifted for a completely arbitrary reason (cop-out ending!), they get away, and the story ends with a throwaway gag about Al stealing a towel from the hotel, which feels unconnected to the main plot. Even the Marcy and Jefferson subplot seems to barely get attention by Part III.
On top of that, the episode just feels really cheap. I realize this was a low-budget sitcom made at a time when Fox was a fledgling network, but whereas the first episode generally got by and made good use of the London setting, Part 2 starts to show a nosedive in production value, and it really gets bad by Part 3. I can forgive the poor special effects when the Bundys are at the border between day and night (though that scene goes on way too long), but the whole jousting tournament feels so small and limited with only a handful of extras. Or Kelly rescuing the family by driving the horse-cart; the shot feels rushed and was likely filmed with doubles. Basically, you just get a very strong sense of the show being forced to work with limited resources, which hurt the narrative quite a bit, especially after so much build-up.
Something else that makes the whole thing feel hollow is the Bundys' lack of reaction to what's going on. They never seem particularly surprised to learn about the existence of a supernatural curse or Lower Uncton being in eternal night. You'd think Al would be somewhat taken aback to learn that his being alive is causing a village to live in darkness. But it's just kind of glossed over. And if our heroes aren't really engaged in what's going on, it hurts the feeling of conflict.
Looking at the three parts as a whole, you basically have a feature-length Bundy adventure, with a creative premise that's more ambitious in scope than every other episode. The whole backstory behind the curse and Lower Uncton living in eternal night is a creative idea, the premise of having Lower Uncton out to kill the Bundys to end the curse while Upper Uncton is out to kill them to keep the curse while the Bundys themselves are oblivious to both parties is brilliant, and the subplot with Marcy and Jefferson getting lost in London is great too. There are so many classic moments: Al's speech at Speaker's Corner, Al killing the fish, and the "I'm Too Sexy" dance.
The whole thing has so much potential but it all falls apart at the end, due to there not being enough story for three full episodes and the writers not having a very strong ending planned. Basically it breaks down like this:
Part 1 - Great! Creative premise and funny stuff.
Part 2 - Still generally good, though feels a bit padded out.
Part 3 - Terrible! Let down, cop-out ending.
Why is Part 3 so bad? First off, it really does feel like they wrote themselves into a corner and didn't know how to end the story. Obviously the story had to end with the curse being lifted or the whole thing would have felt anti-climatic, yet obviously they also couldn't kill off our beloved Bundys. So they throw in Al being in a jousting tournament that just feels lame and anti-climatic and kills all the tension that was built up previously when we really felt the Bundys were in danger, then the curse gets lifted for a completely arbitrary reason (cop-out ending!), they get away, and the story ends with a throwaway gag about Al stealing a towel from the hotel, which feels unconnected to the main plot. Even the Marcy and Jefferson subplot seems to barely get attention by Part III.
On top of that, the episode just feels really cheap. I realize this was a low-budget sitcom made at a time when Fox was a fledgling network, but whereas the first episode generally got by and made good use of the London setting, Part 2 starts to show a nosedive in production value, and it really gets bad by Part 3. I can forgive the poor special effects when the Bundys are at the border between day and night (though that scene goes on way too long), but the whole jousting tournament feels so small and limited with only a handful of extras. Or Kelly rescuing the family by driving the horse-cart; the shot feels rushed and was likely filmed with doubles. Basically, you just get a very strong sense of the show being forced to work with limited resources, which hurt the narrative quite a bit, especially after so much build-up.
Something else that makes the whole thing feel hollow is the Bundys' lack of reaction to what's going on. They never seem particularly surprised to learn about the existence of a supernatural curse or Lower Uncton being in eternal night. You'd think Al would be somewhat taken aback to learn that his being alive is causing a village to live in darkness. But it's just kind of glossed over. And if our heroes aren't really engaged in what's going on, it hurts the feeling of conflict.