Recap / Corner Gas S 2 E 02 Wedding Card

"There's no wedding... let's eat!"

A Plot: When Brent asks his parents why they have no wedding photos around, they tell him it's because they never actually got married. Finding this out, Davis talks Oscar and Emma into having a wedding so he can plan it. Eventually they reveal that they did get married, but were ashamed about having an Elvis wedding, where they were dressed as Elvis.

B Plot: Hank tries to get back a Darryl Sittler rookie card Brent won from him in a game of Knuckles when they were kids. Karen and Wanda get in on the debate about whether a schoolyard game can be legally binding.

C Plot: Lacey becomes convinced that Oscar can't read and goes about trying to help him, as well as get everyone else to believe her.

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Tropes Referenced:

• Butt-Monkey: Lacey gets blamed for quite a few things, such as wanting to host a wedding, which was Davis' idea.
• The Cameo: After everyone involved in the B Plot vows to never discuss the issue again, Darryl Sittler himself is shown, feeling like he's just been snubbed.
• Chain of Deals: The Darryl Sittler plot eventually resolves by passing the card and $20 between everyone involved to clear up perceived debts, though Hank decides to keep the money instead of repaying Wanda (and gets called a bastard/"son of Elvis").
• Continuity Nod: Just as in the first episode, Hank refers to the over-decoration of the Ruby as it being turned into a gay bar. Brent even says "again with the gay bar" in response.
• Elvis Impersonator: Oscar and Emma only pretended that they were never married because they were embarrassed about their "Elvis wedding". Everyone in town reassures them that being married by a guy dressed as Elvis isn't that embarrassing. What the town doesn't find out is that Oscar and Emma were also dressed as Elvis.
• Flashback: Parodied. Brent and Hank are talking about playing Knuckles as kids when the scene cuts to two small children who look similar to them. Then adult Brent and Hank walk by them and wonder who the kids are.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  Wanda: Oscar and Emma were never married.
  Lacey: You know, sometimes you jump to wild conclusions. [Beat] Oscar can't read.
• Insistent Terminology:
  • Once everyone thinks that Emma and Oscar never married, Wanda tells Brent that he's literally a bastard. He says he prefers the term "love child". And then later, "Son of Elvis".
  • Hank insists that he never "flinched" during Knuckles, he "winced", so Brent's win didn't count.
• Late to the Punchline: In the Cold Open, it takes Oscar several seconds to realize that Emma just compared him to old junk in the basement.
• Never Learned to Read: Due to a Sustained Misunderstanding, Lacey thinks this about Oscar.
  Lacey: I think he might be functionally illiterate.
  Wanda: He's not illiterate. He's barely functional. He's non-functionally literate.
• Opinion Myopia: invokedOscar gets mad at a ketchup bottle for being labelled "catsup", claiming "it's spelled wrong".
  Davis: You can spell it that way. It's an option.
  Oscar: It's a wrong option.
• Prenup Blowup: Played straight when Oscar and Emma decide to get married, and Lacey "convinces" Oscar to ask for a prenup. This was due to her mistakenly thinking that Oscar can't read, and she interpreted his desire to "put things in writing" a bit differently than he had intended. Oscar asks Emma for a prenup on Lacey's "advice" (she thought she was helping him learn how to read). Emma reacts how you'd expect, and Oscar winds up in a neck brace... but only because he tripped and fell while walking backwards away from Emma.
• A Rare Sentence:
  Hank: Is Knuckles legally binding?
  Karen: I don't understand that sentence.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Tall, gruff cop Davis gets giddy over the chance to plan and decorate for a wedding.
• The Reveal: Emma and Oscar make a confession about their marriage at the reception, but the full truth isn't shown until they're burning photos in The Stinger.
• Serious Business: The legal ramifications of the schoolyard game Knuckles.
• Shout-Out: Wanda mocks Karen for thinking she knows the law just because she's a cop in a small, sleepy town like Dog River. Karen counters that she also watches Law & Order.
• Stag Party: Brent throws one for Oscar at the bar, but it's incredibly boring. Emma gets a party as well, and is disappointed that Wanda hired a male dancer.
• Sustained Misunderstanding: Lacey's insistence that Oscar can't read, starting with misinterpreting his examining a "catsup" bottle. Of course it all comes to a head as embarrassingly as possible for her.