User Reviews

When you saw the subject matter for this episode, you probably thought it would be a sappy one at that, but you'd be wrong, as Archie is very funny here, although that's because he's probably in denial about his old buddy's death. I didn't like his first reaction when he got the bad news from Edith, as he seemed cavalier and gave her one of those "I told you so's", because he thought Stretch died while fooling around with a girlfriend. Since Archie worked and joked with the man for years, I expected some sadness from him, and I think the writing came up small during this early scene; soon after this, a relative of Stretch's comes by the Bunker house and asks Archie to give the eulogy, which he's hesitant to do, but decides to do it anyway. While he's speaking at the funeral parlor, he unintentionally mentions Jewish jokes that was said around Stretch; we find out that Stretch was Jewish, although Archie doesn't think a name that ends in "ham" could be Jewish, and he even tells a joke himself while giving the eulogy! The next moment is what sets this show apart from all the others, and it's when Archie gets serious about his buddy, and says something about how Stretch was "one of those up guys", and they say laughter adds years to one's life, and that he hoped that he did the same for Stretch, and puts his hand on the coffin and says, "shalom", as he walks back to Edith, who's crying and blowing her nose.