Funeral for a Doornail: Rate this episode

[Cindy]

Rate the episode Funeral for a Doornail

[babyhayes]

I quite like this episode, mainly because I like the quick banter in the arguments, but the very very end seems a bit out of place - "Say goodnight david". Think this has been mentioned before so apologies if it has, it just struck me now as being quite random and slightly disjointed. maybe like an end had to be done very quickly or something. Anyway, thats me, I'll go now, is a little late and I could easily start rambling

[gypsygem81]

'No backbone - I like that in a woman'

I love this episode! It's really funny and has some great banter. I was wondering - the wedding that Maddie asks David to take her to - her cousin in Chicago - I wonder if it's Annie's??

The scene with the dirty book shop is hilarious! I think it's one of the funniest scenes in the show.

'She makes me come here, I hate this place!'

Love Gem

[lin212]

I also think that this episode has great banter. I love David's reply when Maddie asks him how he'd sleep at night if he took the fee for finding Mrs. Clements - something like "...on my stomache with my boxers around my ankles...quite a mental picture, isn't it?" Makes me laugh every time.

One small nit picky thing I have with this episode is another one of the inconsistencies that we see throughout the series. David says that Roger Clements saw his wife (or thought he saw his wife) from a 5th story window. Clearly the scene at the beginning shows in at least 2 shots that Roger Clements was on the 9th floor. It always makes me curious about the writing and editing processes...

[Veronica]

I totally agree with you, Gem

[Turbo Grom]

Well, first I want to say hello to everyone I`m new here and I hope I`ll have a great time.

In Yugoslavia, actually in Croatia (but It's all Yugoslavia for me), they again show Moonlighting and I enjoy Today was this episode, and I am laughing all day. Scenes from bookstore are great ('David, she is going to take off her clothes. David, she is taking off her clothes. David, she took off her clothes' and when they've just entered bookstore when Maddie said 'My Godness' and put on her glasses, and David said 'My Badness' and take off them'). This is one great episode!

P.S. I'm really sorry because of my spelling and grammar errors, but my English is bad

[funkycat]

Welcome Turbo Grom! i love that line "Oh my badness too".

Hope you post often.

[Turbo Grom]

Tnx I'll try to post as much as I can, 'cause I really love this show

[Frontier]

This is a very funny episode, despite the fact that we are dealing with a man's drama of losing his wife.

Maddie is so innocent when she visits the adult shop with David; their reactions are well conceived and executed. I do like the expression on her face when reading the American Woman magazine; she is shocked from what she sees ;D

The adult scene booth is so funny that it's almost impossible to get all the jokes at once; David's trying to collect as many coins as possible, Maddie's request to David for explaining to her what's going on here, their reaction to woman's striptease. So many good and hilarious moments

I wonder too if the marriage Maddie was referring to was Annie's, probably could. A pity that they did not managed to go to the wedding as "couple"; actually David would be Maddie's "bought" escort, kind like a gigolo as he told her in the pilot. It's also strange how Maddie thinks in this particular episode; she prefers to pay David for his services than asking him a favour. This contradicts to the fact that they are pretty close by now, but I assume that the writers plotted this way so that it could be funny.

The end is also hilarious: the "Star Wars" battle with the vrooms, David's line to Maddie "Finally got you prawn and I'm facing the wrong way" ;D

I agree with those who think that Maddie's braking of the 4th wall at the end, was out of sync and not funny, but maybe they were experimenting with her braking the 4th wall after "In God we strongly suspect".

I'd give it a 9.

[lin212]

Just wanted to jump in here, frontier, and say that the wedding couldn't have been Annie's. I believe it is in When Girls Collide, Annie and Maddie are at lunch and Annie mentions something about being married 10 (or is it 11?) years. I think Maddie asks her when they are going to have children and Annie says that after 10 (?) years of marriage, Mark still doesn't think they're married...so I guess he wasn't ready for children yet.

[Frontier]

Quite right lin, I've forgot - I wasn't watching what Annie said btw, I was watching Cybill instead

[nazel]

I didn't like it much actually, I think this is my favourite in season 2 .. I just can't believe how I always agree with David, we're so alike! I hated the plot & it wasn't very funny .. I'd give it a 7 ..

[sandra]

I give a 7 too.

It has great quotes, and there's shown quite a bit about where the relationship might be... could be... should be going. I think David showed pretty much openly his interest to Maddie.

Awwwwwwwwwww, blondie, NSM huh?

[dedaved]

Rating: 7

One element of Moonlighting that fascinates me is its ability to juxtapose seamy, gritty unpleasantness with screwball farce. No scene better captures that then D/M on the case in an adult peep show. One of the funniest sequences of the season. Another element of Moonlighting that fascinates me is how this show sometimes decides to fill airtime. It does so in ways that no other show would ever contemplate or have the audacity to. Take the car scene where David rambles on about the impressive form of the female cop interrogating him which then leads to his observations on bras while Maddie drives exhausted, unimpressed and silent. This scene has NOTHING to do with anything that happens either before the scene or after it, it is a completely superfluous monologue of no consequence to the story. This is on a TV show where the plot constantly needs to move, we need to get to the next inciting incident toot sweet. NOW! The audacity of this show is a revelation at times and this wonderful bit of David musing on lace and "woman hoods" is a testament to this shows indifference to giving priority to a negligible plot in favor of idiosyncratic writing such as this.

Even so the mystery in this episode is actually one of the more engaging and fun. But the 4th wall breaks get way out of control in this episode (something like 10 moments). Breaking the 4th wall maybe one of my favourite things about Moonlighting, but less is always more.

[vic]

I thought this was a very good episode, and an example of the Moonlighting perfecting their formula.

First off, the mystery was actually very intriguing.
It started off with some eerie music, then a very emotional scene of this guy dealing with the loss of his wife.
Then it swerves into this seedy adult theater district, looking like something out of Taxi Driver or 9 1/2 Weeks.
Why is going there...?
Wait, he's there to take out a hit on himself?
What??

Then, only to find out later on that he thinks he sees his dead wife. Like something Hitchcock would come up with. Inspired by, or a homage to?

It was a great opener for the episode, and even if David and Maddie weren't in it, it seems like it would be a great story.
Is this guy losing his mind? Imagining his dead wife alive? Is she back from the dead? Someone impersonating her? Faked her death? What??

Once that's set up, we get into light-hearted territory with Maddie having to go a wedding, and not wanting to go alone.
The exchange between these two here is perfect.
Maddie goes through this drawn out explanation of something that she's dreading...only to finally ask David if he'd be her date.
Typical Maddie.
Their back-and-forth is a good example of their relationship prior to them actually getting together.
He's happy that Maddie would want him as her date, and happy that they can go on a "date."
But she does't want to mess up their business relationship, as she's disappointed he's "delighted."
I wish there were more episodes like this that focused on this aspect of their relationship.

Back to the mystery, once we see the guy in the office moving all his stuff, it's obvious he's the bad guy. Why else would they show this guy in the middle of moving, after someone rich died?

Celia Clemens was BEAUTIFUL, and had the whole 80s elegance going on.

The chase scene and lightsaber duel wasn't that great. I'm getting used to a wacky chase in the tail end of episodes.
But I did like how the music changed to what the bad guy was doing. He picks up a mop to sword fight with, we get Star Wars music. He picks up an axe and we get the slasher/psycho sound effect/music.

Definitely one of my new favorite episodes.

Some random additional thoughts:

I was actually excited early on, because I thought I'd get to see Maddie and David at the wedding. I was as disappointed as David was. Usually he's so cavalier about everything, but he was visibly disappointed. Very relatable.

David going on and on about the girl cop/woman cop/cop-ette.
"Sometimes...when I get tired...I start talking and I say whatever comes to my brain."
That bit was priceless.
And yeah, what makes it great is that it shouldn't be there, and yet, the episode is better because of it. Shows like this, you got to keep the momentum of the story going, keep it moving. But ML comes to a complete stop, for David to go on some rant about female cops and lace undergarments, with Maddie just rolling her eyes and nodding to herself.

Man, I love this show.