Episode 24
FADE IN
DP and Jolene with their friends Mona and Radish are enjoying an evening together wandering among the colorful booths at the annual St. Orpine Festival. As they drift along Main Street someone begins to recall the many and varied adventures, escapades, heartbreaks and good times they have shared together throughout their intertwined life stories.
the four friends stroll the midway and reminisce
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Goomar’s aborted flight from the feds on the Herbsoflife® nutritional conspiracy rap and the near disaster with the “Miss 2 Coasts Girl” bass boat cliffhanger still make for a good story as they walk along the midway. Everyone is pleased that the boat survived and that she resolved the crisis over the title to DP and Jolene’s trailer before serving her time. When she got back to town the entire group wanted to know whether she had really met Martha Stewart.
the 'cliffhanger' is a favorite story
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With the trailer title no longer an issue, her sister Nonna was soon forgiven her longtime deception in the matter. In no time the boycott had ended at the Nonna Bowl and soon all eight lanes were once again busy. She was even able to rehire both of the same pin boys.
Nonna's business came back after the trailer title was settled
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DP remembers the swell meal they had at the TipTop following his unexpected lottery win. While he grudgingly credits Pastor Sopfan’s divine intervention in procuring the winning ticket, he still grumbles that no further winnings came from the other portion of the $25 that he invested in additional tickets.
but, why not a prayer for a second winner, too?
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Jolene wonders if her now more frequent bouts of morning nausea might have to do with any of the curious mixtures she encounters at her evening job at Bern’s Schoolbus Fumigation Yard. She vows to ask Bern if it would be all right to wear some sort of air filtration device.
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Jolene wants to use protection
No one of them has personally sampled the wild game menu introduced by Maf at her tavern, but each of them has a yarn involving the curious relics that other, more daring, customers have reported in their entrees. Over at the Happy Hour Club Sonny continues to drink without his old friend Red who has now become a regular at the TipTop.
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some of Maf's customers moved to Mamie's TipTop
DP is still unaware of Shvoo’s intermittent appetite for him but the whole town has heard the rumors about her burgeoning feelings for NY Guy following their brief session in his pool as a threesome together with the Shvoo-mobile.
you and me and the Shvoo-Mobile makes three
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Nerdy has survived the short-lived attempt by a Mr. Pujol to muscle in on her cut rate funeral business and has also solved the challenge of getting people to visit her St. Orpine’s festival booth with the simple expedient of serving beer. It so increased her drop-in traffic that she is now trying to find a tasteful way to incorporate the idea into her regular business.
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Nerdy fights class with a class act of her own
Mac’s great Dollywood adventure with seven of her closest friends and one runaway TV set in a cramped RV is always good for a few laughs - by those who weren’t there.
what can you say about Mac's vacation choices?
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DP is still unsettled over the big city political shenanigans that NY Guy employed in his unceasing efforts to add new businesses that would increase competitive pressure on the local scene. But, so far, there have been enough adult entertainment dollars available in town that Mamie Rey’s foray into that ignoble arena is also thriving.
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a heated competition for the hot (and slightly sweaty) dollar
Neither Radish nor DP was actually a part of the great rescue of Shvoo and Mamie and NY Guy from the Bowlamat car wash pool, but the girls were avid spectators and enjoy reciting the soggy details. The beginnings of a surprising new fondness between Mamie and Thad McCone also can be traced back to their mutual submersion that afternoon.
where Thad rescued Mamie and Radish rescued DP
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Radish is especially proud of his rescue of DP when he had entangled himself with Nerdy’s daughter Little Boo in several public venues while wearing Jolene’s thong and a purloined muumuu. Jolene still occasionally wonders aloud what ever became of that garment.
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where DP shops when he wants to accessorize his thong
Their twin adventures with Jerry Springer and Oprah – and very nearly with Roxy and Omny as well – may always be remembered as the apex of their lives. At least until the new pickup models for next year are unveiled.
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so, has anyone figured out Omny's name?
DP and Radish are still swapping lies and stories about the astonishing fabric of Americana that permeated so many inspiring miles as they made their way home from Chicago. Radish is eager to run into C. Heavy to see what he is willing to pay for the cellphone photos he took of the Trish Stratus billboard they visited just across the river from Cincinnati.
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the never-ending wonders of roadside America
Mona’s mother’s recent news is, of course, a sobering moment as the consequences of the Airstream Incident have yet to be fully revealed. Trying to make sense of it all they have, this beautiful evening at the festival, already visited both the Dream Weaver booth and Swami Paul. In each case the mystery of who might be the unknown brother to DP and half-brother to Mona has become ever muddier.
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enigmatic puzzles abound
(and they don't even know what 'enigmatic' means!)
Now, thoroughly sated with remembrance and each one restlessly preoccupied with myriad emotions after having the past wash over them, they finish their evening’s stroll along the carnival midway this final night of the festival. They admire the many valuable plaster statuettes and improbably colored semi-identifiable overstuffed animals that call out to be acquired by the fling of a tiny hoop or with the simple toss of a baseball at a fringed semblance of a cat.
Radish has lagged behind and is busy making friends with a stray dog on the midway. After allowing it to take a bite from his hot beef sandwich, Radish polishes off the last tasty morsel and hurries to catch up with his friends as the dog energetically returns to his toilette.
Still puzzled over the dual enigmatic prophecies at the fortuneteller’s booth, Mona, DP and an imperceptibly nauseous Jolene take turns wondering aloud at the meaning of an predicted upcoming “diminutive mullet”.
Jolene's baby would wear WTB® Baby Clothes
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They are especially intrigued at the clairvoyant’s declaration to DP that “What you now have in part shall be made whole before the sun next sets upon this very festival.”
DP intends to purchase new sunglasses at a booth run by a newcomer with whom he has an unresolved official city business issue. Although they have been linked by an ongoing controversy at the Licensing Board, the two men have not yet met.
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has DP noticed who else wears this model?
(SPOILER ALERT: check Episode 16)
He motions Jolene, Radish and Mona to come with him for what he assumes will be only an introduction and a short conversation. As he approaches the booth his gaze falls on the medallion the newcomer is wearing around his neck. There, entangled with the other ostentatious bling that can be seen courtesy of the conspicuous stranger’s gaping shirtfront, is what appears to be a small bronze likeness of NASCAR legend Richard Petty.
could that be Richard Petty?
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What makes it so distinctive is its shape. The medallion has been raggedly cut in half.
With a start, DP looks down past the missing buttons of his Nonna Bowl league shirt to the lone keepsake he has from his childhood and his most cherished possession after his beer can collection. There, nestled within the pizza crumbs ensnared in his beer-dampened chest hairs, dangles the other half.
the mind reels !!
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“Hey, look at that!” blurts out DP. “Do you have any relatives around here?"
DRAMATIC MUSIC UP - WAY UP
ROLL CREDITS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode marks the end of White Trash Blues season 1. Viewers who have enjoyed the series so far are invited to join the WTB fan community at HBO.com to discuss the entire first 24 episodes while our merry band absorbs the implications of the most recent developments that have shaken their narrow world.
Once they have gathered their collective breath they will dive headlong into a new season of adventure, excitement, uncertainty, heartbreak, revelry and good white trash values beginning in the not very distant future.
Thank you for being part of our WTB family in this, our debut, season.
- Dex Panthenol
