Working Man (Trailer Park Boys episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Propane, Propane” | |
|---|---|
| Trailer Park Boys episode | |
 Mr Lahey holding Ricky hostage. |
|
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 8 |
| Guest stars | Rita MacNeil |
| Written by | Mike Clattenburg |
| Directed by | Mike Clattenburg |
| Production no. | 408 |
| Original airdate | May 30, 2004 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Propane, Propane" | "Give Peace A Chance" |
| List of Trailer Park Boys episodes | |
Working Man is the eigth and final episode of season four of the hit Canadian mockumentary series Trailer Park Boys. Directed by Mike Clattenburg, it aired on May 30, 2004.
[edit] Plot Synopsis
Picking off from where the last episode left off, the trailer explodes in a burst of flames, but Ricky emerges from the wreckage unhurt but shaken up. It seems that the hot tub protected him from the blast and the flames. Jim Lahey is shown running away into the woods nearby, plotting mayhem, for which Barb wants to contact the police, only to get convinced by Julian that they don't want the cops involved in this. He and Bubbles tell Ricky that the police found and destroyed three of their growing crops. However, their major dope-growing field has still not been found by the cops, and they decide to harvest it now and drive to Moncton to sell it to the dealers. While getting a bit to eat at King of Donair, they explain to an undercover and disguised J-Roc that they must sell the remaining weed now, and Tyrone tells them that they need to sell all of that dope at the Snoop Dog concert in Moncton, to which they agree. They assign Cory and Trevor to harvest the weed while they steal a courier truck, since the propane truck blew up in the fire. Against Julian's wishes, Barb calls the police to inform them that Jim Lahey has lost his mind again. Meanwhile, in a gas station washroom, Lahey straps dynamite to his chest and begins muttering about killing Ricky.
The plan to steal a courier truck is successful, but Cory and Trevor have forgotten they had chores to do for Sarah and Lucy back at the park. Deciding to finish the crop later, they head back home, only to collide with the boys in the courier truck, after Ricky's smoking fogged up the windshield, making it impossible to see for Bubbles. During the drive, Ricky starts to worry when he briefly sees Lahey standing at the side of the road eerily at him. Cory and Trevor are trapped inside the wreckage of their car with the force of the blow, the gas starts to leak, and Julian panics when he learns that they didn't finish what they were assigned to do. Taking extreme steps, he, Ricky and Bubbles don nylon masks, go onto the highway and flag down the next transit bus. The occupants of the bus turn out to be Canadian singer Rita MacNeil, of whom Bubbles is a fan, and her entourage, so they force her and the others at gunpoint to harvest their crop. After the job is done, they allow MacNeil and her followers to go on their way, they free Cory and Trevor from their wrecked car, and they continue their journey to Moncton by passing through Dartmouth. Along the way, they must stop and recover the disoriented Cory and Trevor, since the chain connecting their demolished car to the truck snapped.
While preparing to leave the city, Bubbles loses control of the truck, crashing it into another car, and causing all the weed to spill out. It seems that someone or something cut the truck's brakelines. Ricky is really frustrated at this, so he calls another courier down to the scene to get the weed all loaded and ready. Cory and Trevor are sent in one of the boxes to the concert, to take care of things themselves. Suddenly, Lahey appears wearing a dress and with dynamite on his chest, deranged and dangerous. Holding a gun to Ricky's head, he begins mouthing off at everyone, while Ricky asks for a cigarette as a last request before dying. The police, led by Officer George Green, arrive at the scene, and a tense stand-off between the gunman and the cops begin. Because of Ricky's long criminal record and past, the SWAT team thinks that they are really targeting him, while Lahey continues to threaten to shoot Ricky and then himself. George Green rushes off to the nearest King of Donair location, where he finds Randy (AKA "Smokey") prostituting himself in front of the restaurant and convinces him that Lahey needs his help. Back at the hostage stand-off, a SWAT member accidentally shoots Ricky in the leg, and he starts screaming about a lawsuit against them as he collapses. Randy arrives on the scene, proclaims his love for him, and he convinces Lahey to turn himself in and plead guilty, since he'll be let off easy. He then asks Green to take him to prison with Lahey. As both of them are taken away, the courier truck is able to slip away quietly, and Green finds the fake driver's license in Bubbles' pocket. The three of them are quickly incarcerated for violating the Motor Vehicle Act and for carrying dope on them while still on probation (in Ricky's case).
A few weeks later, we learn that the boys are back where they started: behind bars. According to Ricky, Barb dumped him due to his going back to prison, but he doesn't mind the two-month sentence, because they get free books, TV, great parties with the guards, and two hours of recreation time every day. Bubbles, being a first offender, got special permission by the judge to keep one of his kitties with him in a cell. Lahey has been put in a mental health clinic for the next month with Randy, who promises to help him get off the liquor. So far, he has not said the word "Ricky," much to Randy's relief. Meanwhile, Julian is confident that by the time they get out in two months they will own Sunnyvale, since he tracked the courier shipment on the Internet. However, Cory and Trevor, sick and tired of their constant abuse and mistreatment by Ricky and Julian, have taken the money from the weed-sale with the encouragement of Sarah and bought the park for themselves!
[edit] Trivia
- This is the first time Bubbles actually goes to prison, although he got sent to the drunk tank for the night in Never Cry Shitwolf.
- Trinity, Ray, and DVS do not appear in this episode.
- The climatic stand-off is reminiscent of the finale of Dog Day Afternoon.
- Bubbles' cat, Vince the Pince, is really Mike Smith's cat Bubbles in real life. He made an appearance as a female cat in the earlier short film The Cartboy.
- The name of the episode, "Working Man", is the name of a famous song by Rush, which was realeased in 1974 on their first album, Rush. Most importantly, however, it is also the title of a song released by Rita MacNeil.
