Scene L is the tag in the script, pp. 37-39, and I'll save my comments to the end:
INT. APARTMENT - DAY
LAVERNE AND CARMINE ENTER THE APARTMENT. CARMINE IS CARRYING LAVERNE'S SUITCASE.
LAVERNE
I tell you, Carmine, those two weeks in the convent were wonderful. It feels so good to finally be in a State of Grace.
CARMINE
You want me to take a picture so it lasts?
LAVERNE
Don't worry, it'll last. I got a lot out of that place. From now on, as long as I watch myself, I'm going straight to Heaven.
CARMINE
You?? That must have been some incredible place.
LAVERNE
It sure was and I brought you a little present from it.
LAVERNE REACHES INTO HER BAG AND PULLS OUT A BADLY MISSHAPEN PIECE OF POTTERY. SHE HANDS IT TO CARMINE.
LAVERNE (CONT'D)
I made it myself.
CARMINE TURNS THE POT OVER AND READS THE BOTTOM.
CARMINE
Hushware...Hmmm...I can see why they would want to keep it quiet. But I like it. Thanks.
AS HE GOES TO HUG LAVERNE, HE NOTICES SOMETHING ELSE IN HER BAG AND BREAKS THE HUG. HE GOES FOR THE BAG.
CARMINE (CONT'D)
Whoa, hey, Laverne...
LAVERNE
(TRYING TO BLOCK HIM) There's nothing in there...
CARMINE PULLS FROM THE BAG A TOWEL WITH THE INSCRIPTION "ST. ANDREW THE DEVINE"
CARMINE
Is this what you meant by "you got a lot out of the place"?
HE TOSSES THE TOWEL AND STARTS TO EXIT. LAVERNE FOLLOWS HIM.
LAVERNE
C'mon, Carmine, lighten up. Everybody takes towels.
CARMINE TURNS AT THE DOOR.
CARMINE
Julie Andrews wouldn't take towels.
HE EXITS. LAVERNE CALLS OUT AFTER HIM.
LAVERNE
Well, what could I do? They didn't have any ashtrays.
AS WE:
FADE OUT
THE END
So I guess this is meant to give us closure, since he knew she was going to a convent for a couple weeks, although not necessarily why. Them coming in together, and him carrying her suitcase, suggests that he picked her up at the convent, or at least the bus station near Burbank.
Laverne is happy to be in "a State of Grace," so I guess we're meant to feel she's repented of her "misbehavior" on the aircraft carrier. Carmine teases her about her state, and it's still unclear what he knows about what she's been through in the past two weeks. He also teases her about her bad pottery, which might've been a cute moment on a different episode.
He somehow sees into her suitcase well enough to identify a stolen towel. Was "Devine" visible or something? The Julie Andrews reference is a callback to Scene C.
If I were Carmine, I would assume that Laverne was repenting stealing property from the U.S.S. Hackbush, and it is like the writers have switched "sins" on us. They couldn't face the issues of sex and consent they brought up and so they tried to show us that Laverne remains a lovable "sinner" who at least might now "watch herself" around sailors. Or not. Who knows what the message was supposed to be of this Not So Very Special Episode?
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| Back when Laverne had a support system |
God. Well, at least it's...quasi funny?
ReplyDeleteThe LBYL picture just makes me SAD because the show was that good!
Definitely not the least funny scene in the episode, so there's that.
DeleteSigh, I know. I chose that pic deliberately because it encapsulated the differences between LBYL and TMS, between Seasons Two and Eight. How far they'd fallen, and what they did to Laverne, who could once upon a time be vulnerable without being a pathetic idiot.
That picture also made me realize that Laverne and Shirley are wearing different outfits than they wore when they went to the OBGYN's. So Laverne had to wait a day or more to get those results back. So much more depth even in this tiny detail than "gang bang wrong, spotlight speech right."
DeleteThat makes sense that she'd have to wait for results. There was no pretense of realism by Season Eight.
Delete