The Pre-Intro Gag is Urkel posing as a Greek God for Eddie’s art project.
Laura enters & insults Urkel:
Post-Intro finds us in the Winslow’s kitchen, where Eddie’s friend Rodney shows up.
SIDE NOTE: So far in this series, Rodney has thrown a party at the Winslow’s while Carl & Harriette were away and left Eddie to take all the blame; at school, he changed his entire grade’s report cards (which got Eddie into more trouble at home); and Rodney sat idly by while Urkel was almost beaten to death by a Bully (Eddie made the save).
In short, Rodney’s an asshole & his appearance can only mean doom for the Winslow clan, Eddie in particular.
On the up-side, I don’t remember seeing much of Rodney after this season, so I guess Eddie started making better friends soon-after:
Anyway, Rodney has nearly convinced Eddie to run for Freshman Class President at school & when Sweet Telma Hopkins tells Eddie about all the pussy he’ll get if he wins, Eddie’s in it to win it.
Later that night, Laura & Judy are doing their homework.
Future porn-star Judy is working on her math problems out loud; Laura tells her to shut up. Judy responds:
Harriette tells them both to shut the fuck up & go upstairs.
Then, Sweet Telma enters. She’s working on an environmental article & is now a rabid recycler:
Later, Laura helps Eddie with his campaign to become Freshman Class president.
I nearly had a stroke since no one does anything nice for Eddie, ever.
But soon, the truth of the situation is revealed:
SIDE NOTE 2: In the next scene, Eddie is practicing what he’ll say to potential voters with Carl & Harriette. During his speech, he references the TV show 227 & Harriette references Gimme a Break! (which Sweet Telma was on.) Go Meta-humor!
Anyway, Laura tells Eddie that if he can just lay low for the next couple of days & live off his campaign promises, he’ll win the election.
Suddenly, Rodney shows up & says he arranged for Eddie to debate his opponent — Margie — in front of the whole school:
Next, Urkel shows up & hits on Laura. He also calls Margie a nerd.
The next day at school, Laura tells Eddie to just avoid any real “issues” during his debate & he’ll be fine.
Eddie skirts all the issues, while Laura & Rodney burst into chants of “Winslow” at random intervals.
This gets all the other kids chanting “Winslow”, including (maybe) Brad Taylor, the oldest son on Home Improvement:
As the debate continues (despite Rodney & Laura’s douchiness), Eddie slowly comes to the realization that the student body would be better off with Margie as the Freshman Class President, because she actually wants to help other kids through things like clothing drives, fundraisers, etc., while Eddie himself just wants the handfuls of ass being a politician brings:
Meanwhile, Sweet Telma’s recycling has gotten out of hand:
Carl & Harriette tell her to knock off this recycling shit, or find another place to live rent-free with her kid:
Back at the debate, the crowd has completely turned on Margie, all yelling “Nerd” at her, in unison.
Finally, Eddie’s had enough:
Eddie drops out of the race & tells everyone they should vote for Margie.
Once home, the heartwarming music comes on as Eddie & Laura agree that doing what’s right is more important than winning.
Eddie hangs his jacket in the closet & Sweet Telma’s recycling revenge strikes one last time:
Roll Credits.
EPISODE RECAP: Eddie runs for student council and loses; Sweet Telma recycles actual garbage instead of just shitty plot lines for her short stories; Rodney fucks almost everybody (nice try, Future-Judy).
LESSONS LEARNED: His family has so thoroughly squashed Eddie’s hopes & dreams that he loses even when he wins; Fuck Recycling?; Rodney’s a racist (I assume).
Family Matters Reviewed 