Charity

Charity
	Season 1, Episode 3
	#4
Air date	February 6, 2006
Written by	Dino Stamatopoulos;
Directed by	Dino Stamatopoulos;
	Episode Guide
Previous; God's Chef	Next; Waste
	Season Guide
01 The Lord's Greatest Gift	06 Omnipresence
02 God's Chef	07 God-Fearing
03 Charity	08 Loyalty
04 Waste	09 Maturity
05 The Blessed Union	10 The Best Christmas Ever

"Charity" is an episode from Season 1. In this episode, Orel is taught to help the poor or face divine retribution. This sets off a chain of events where he gives money to a homeless man, is gifted with crack, and becomes addicted.

Plot[]

This adventure starts with Clay and Orel perusing Mr. Figurelli's store. As Clay orders two cartons of alcohol-infused milk, Orel begs for his father to buy a bandage box and some new Biblical hero figurines. Clay objects, saying that Orel needs to learn the value of money and the goods you buy it with - Clay only has so much dough to go around, after all. To satisfy them both, they make a deal with Mr. Figurelli: Orel can deliver packages for him and use what he earns to buy stuff, even if he'll earn very little from the tightwad.

The Puppingtons then walk to their weekly Sunday sermon, Clay chugging his milk in a flash. Reverend Putty's latest spiel is about helping the poor, since God deliberately stripped them of their worth in order to test the other Christians' moral compasses. He explains that if a fellow Christian refuses to help out the poor, they're going to burn in Hell!

While all of this is happening, Orel is wounding himself to use the bandages in his box (so he can put figurines in there without wasting the contents). Bloberta and Shapey get annoyed at Clay's clumsy, rude behavior.

The next day, Orel delivers the day's packages and makes a lot of money from tips. As he goes home after a job well done, he notices a homeless man sulking in an alley. Remembering the Revs' profound words, Orel gives his tips to the poor man, initially refusing his offer to buy his crack. The homeless man explains that his offer is also an act of kindness, and one that would do them both a favor. Orel, convinced, brings some crack home.

At the house, Clay and Bloberta relax in their chairs. Clay is eager to caress the sweet dollars Orel made that day, but the kid explains that he gave it to a homeless man. This initially disappoints Clay, but he figures it's okay as long as Orel got something out of it. As Orel heads upstairs, they don't bother to ask him what he bought.

Orel is later seen in the middle of an epic dogfight between Jesus and Samson. He turns their attention to the crack he bought and rationalizes that he must use it, as he believes it's safe and it's a sin to waste his money anyway. After "Jesus" suggests that Orel smoke some, the boy has dramatic changes in personality and appearance: his pupils dilate, he starts hearing voices from the figures, and he nonchalantly throws Jesus to the side after telling him to shut up.

Over the next few days, Orel delivers his packages at a breakneck pace, earning more money to spend on more crack. He gradually grows impatient at the lack of cash in his paycheck, and his appearance becomes more disheveled. Orel's consumption of the stuff even escalates from smoking to injections. When Mr. Figurelli tells him that he completed all of his delivery for a day, Orel gets so desperate and aggressive that he tries bartering his figurines for more dough, beating up his employer when that fails. Orel quits on the spot and looks for some other way to earn what he needs.

While he's passing Forghetty's, Orel notices a flyer advertising the blood bank, from which a man exits and chants how he's going to spend the money he earned on booze. Orel immediately sees an opportunity for more cash and enters Dr. Potterswheel's office for a sudden donation. While he knows that Orel is too young for this, the good doctor rationalizes that the boy needs to learn the importance of money and starts the process. Orel is so jittery that Dr. Potterswheel can't target his veins, and Orel is so impatient that he performs the operation himself. When he demands his pay in slang, Dr. Potterswheel gets concerned.

Orel races to the familiar alleyway for his fix, when he and the crack dealer are suddenly caught by the police and the adults who noticed his strange behavior. Officer Papermouth arrests the dealer, while Clay orders his son to approach him. Orel exclaims that the situation is "jive," shocking everyone else and triggering Clay to take him to the study once more.

After his scheduled beating, Orel explains that he just wanted to be a good Christian and help the poor. Clay explains that the homeless man was actually rich beyond belief thanks to selling crack, and while Orel was right to not waste his money, the true danger of crack lies within the slang its users adopt. Orel learns to prioritize proper language over his actions in any situation to follow the lost 13th Commandment. As the episode ends, he gives Clay his remaining crack to sell, and fortunately, it was so good that Clay can sell it for double its original price.

Characters[]

First appearances[]

Major characters[]

Minor Appearances[]

Notes[]

Release[]

For reasons unknown, this episode was released after "Waste."

Deleted scenes[]

In the uncut version, Orel exclaims "Okay Jesus, I'll smoke the crack!" This was altered to "Great idea, I'll smoke the crack!"

Goofs[]

During the montage, Orel walks up the stairs with his post-montage appearance.

Running gags[]

Intro type: Aside glance
Church sign: "Reminder: Ant poison on grass - 23rd; Church picnic - 24th; Picnic at your own risk!!"
Lost commandment: #13 ("Thou shalt not bastardize the American language.")
Belt: Clay gets up from his chair to eat dinner without putting his belt back on.
Ending movie: Jesus, Abraham and the crack pipe are playing with a ball. When the latter two won't pass it to Jesus, he squishes the ball and leaves.