Draft:Coffins and Cradles

"Coffins and Cradles"
Home Movies episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 13
Directed by	Loren Bouchard
Written by	Brendon Small Loren Bouchard Bill Braudis
Production code	313
Original air date	May 25, 2003 (2003-05-25)
Guest appearance
Tom Kenny as Doctor

"Coffins and Cradles" is the 13th episode and the season finale of the 2nd season of the American animated sitcom Home Movies. It originally premiered on Adult Swim in the United States on May 25, 2003. In the episode, while getting ready for a Halloween party, Brendon's step-mother goes into labor. Meanwhile, Coach McGuirk suffers a heart attack and is taken to the same hospital where Brendon's step-mother is bearing.

"Coffins and Cradles" was written by Brendon Small, Loren Bouchard, & Bill Braudis and directed by Loren Bouchard. The episode was meant to air after Stowaway around the end of 2002, but was delayed for unknown reasons and aired in May 2003 instead. The episode stars Tom Kenny as the hospital's unnamed doctor.

Plot

Melissa, Brendon, and Jason sit outside during recess to discuss the upcoming Halloween party, and Melissa lectures Jason on his strange behaviors when he eats an excess amount of candy, to which Jason says he's been off of candy for a month. Mr. Lynch asks the kids what they are dressing up as for Halloween, to which he says he plans on dressing up as a cat, annoying Brendon, as a cat was his costume idea.

Brendon's step-mother, Linda, is in her third trimester and is ready to give birth at any moment, and Brendon's mother, Paula, announces that Linda will be staying at their house while Brendon's father is on a business trip. Meanwhile, Coach McGuirk gets a visit from Stephanie, a girl who previously came onto him at Linda's wedding, who is now working for her own made up religion to which she goes door-to-door to recruit members. After Melissa, Jason, and Mr. Lynch show up to Brendon's house for candy, and Mr. Lynch is getting ready to drive the kids to their Halloween party, but Linda's contractions start earlier than expected and she is driven to the hospital. Concurrently, after chatting for a bit, McGuirk puts on his Halloween costume, arousing Stephanie, but right as they start to have sex, McGuirk suffers a heart-attack, and he is forced to stay in the hospital until his test results come back with a conclusion on his condition.

Linda is getting ready to give birth in the hospital, and Brendon attempts to video-tape the birth, but the doctor scolds him for doing such, until learning he has a role in the movie. Linda, under stress from the childbirth, snaps at Brendon and starts cursing at him, causing Brendon to start yelling at Linda, beginning a screaming-match between the two. In the waiting room, Lynch offers Jason a piece of candy, but Melissa reminds him that Jason is on a break from sugar, but after some encouraging from Lynch, Jason starts to devour the entire bucket of candy, going into a sugar high, screaming at Melissa and turning into a "monster", but eventually he crashes, reverting back to normal. While trying to cool off after his fight with Linda, Brendon finds Coach McGuirk in a hospital bed, dressed in his Halloween costume, and films McGuirk who says in the video what he wants to do with his life. Lynch, finding some candy wrappers leading to a door, accidentally falls down a flight of stairs. After all the madness, the baby is born, and everyone gathers around to welcome it, and the episode ends as Mr. Lynch curses at everyone when they ask about his injuries.

Production

"Coffins and Cradles" was written by Brendon Small, Loren Bouchard & Bill Braudis, and directed by Loren Bouchard.

According to DVD commentary, the episode was written as a potential series finale, as the crew were not sure if Adult Swim would renew them for a Season Four.

Cultural References

Jason's Halloween costume is a businessman and Melissa's costume is the Grim Reaper, according to Brendon Small the gag is that they are "Death and a Salesman", a play on words of the 1949 stage play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Broadcast and reception

"Coffins and Cradles" originally aired on Adult Swim, a cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network, on May 25, 2003.

Since airing, the episode has been considered by fans and critics to be one of the show's finest episodes. On his review for the 3rd season box set, Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk called the episode "excellent in its own right", writing that the return of many fan-favorite characters and the guest spot from Tom Kenny allows the episode to be "poignant".

Kristen Bates of Nerdist included the episode on her list of essential episodes of Home Movies, she comments that Melissa running around the hospital dressed as the Grim Reaper, a character associated with death, was "funny".

Jason Bailey, also of DVD Talk, in his review of the series' tenth anniversary box-set gave the episode a positive review, stating that the episode gave "big laughs" and had a bit of "warmth" to it.