My 2nd Greatest Only Fools Episode
So far we have seen my top 5 formed in the following order
5th FRIDAY THE 14TH
4th THE JOLLY BOYS OUTING
3rd TOUCH OF GLASS
In at number 2 is….
CHAIN GANG
Why does the Chain Gang episode stand at number 2
- Plot – 9
- Characters – 9
- Laughter – 8
- Twist – 8
- Love/hate – 5
- Length – 6
- Detail – 5
Total 50/70
The episode has a great plot. A team of hustlers real put Del and his mates through a long con and it really works. Trig is so dumb in this episode and the banter between them all is fantastic. Especially when Boycie thinks he has lost his money. Probably the biggest negative is i’m always a bit cringey when they sit in the restauraunt and Del pretends he is a doctor and a punch goes flying etc. Just felt a little amateur. But that is probably why this didn’t make number one for me.
Episode Summary
Faced with the opportunity of buying 250 18 carat gold chains from retired jeweller, Arnie, Del can’t resist. Hastily a business consortium is formed. Everything’s pretty cushty until Arnie’s taken ill just as the deal is about to be sealed and Del is left feeling that all that glitters…
Del strikes up a cushty deal with a retired jewellery dealer called Arnie. When a case of 18-carat gold chains is offered to him, Del agrees buy them to the tune of £12,500.
For the Script and details on the episode go to https://www.ofah.net/blog/chain-gang/
Tomorrow we reveal which episode is number 1. Yes our very greatest episode ever!
I love this episode but one thing always bothered me. Why would an Asian Doctor phone Del to tell him Arnie was dead? Why would Arnie have his number on him and wouldn’t the doctor only phone next to kin? The Doctor even says his wife has took the gold chains with him so even more reasons that it would be strange that the Doctor should phone. I know it was a con but surely this would be something the other lads would have worked out. Aside from that, a wonderful episode and definietly one of my favourites.
I like this one too. Its clever but not over-plotted premise of ‘con-men vs con-men’ is reminscent of The Sting in a way. In fact it’s a story that could have been made without any Only Fools… characters and existed as a seperate play/film. That said, it was still a great use of Del, Boycie and Co. The only sad part is that I was always expecting Arnie to return in a later episode like a bad penny (the way Slater did) for some kind of revenge. Come to think of it, what do you think they actually did to him at the end of the episode? It (or indeed he) was never referred to again was it?