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Recap / Dinosaurs S 01 E 01 The Mighty Megalosaurus

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The first episode begins with Earl Sinclair watching TV, when the Baby interrupts, wanting to hear a story. An annoyed Earl begins with "once upon a time, Dinosaurs didn't have families. They lived in the woods and ate their children and it was a golden age." Baby is amused rather than scared, and says that he wants to be in the story. Earl assures him that he is, but it starts before he was born. In flashback, Earl comes home after a day of work, only for his family to want him to buy them things, as well as the planned dinner escaping the house. At work, Earl tells Roy about how every dollar he makes goes to the family. Roy talks Earl into asking B.P. Richfield for a raise, but Mr. Richfield angrily orders Earl to quit. Earl comes home to find that Fran laid an egg.

Earl is not particularly happy at the news of getting a third child, but then wonders if there is anything in the egg. Earl holds the egg to the light, where he can see the Baby's silhouette. Earl then leaves the house and goes to the forest to see if life was better before dinosaurs had families and houses. While enjoying life in the forest, Earl comes across a mammal, Arthur Rizzic, who turns out to be the same mammal who escaped being Earl's dinner previously. Arthur, however, wants Earl to eat him, since "some bully" pushed down the tree that he lived in, and he doesn't know what has become of his family. Earl thinks Arthur should be happy not to have a family, and when thinking about how his family has cost him, Earl angrily pushes down a tree, revealing to Arthur that he was probably the one to push his tree down. Earl says that he had done him a favor, but Arthur explains his point of view - if he was a big dinosaur like Earl, he'd probably get respect from everybody, but nobody really listens to or respects him except for his family. Earl realizes that without his family, he's nothing. Earl is about to eat Arthur, before deciding not to. Earl realizes that life in the woods isn't great, but then Fran encounters him and brings him home.

The next day, Earl comes back to work to find that Arthur Rizzic is now Mr. Richfield's assistant, and Arthur has put Earl down for a raise. Earl comes home appreciative of being the head of a household. It is at this moment that Baby hatches out of his egg.

Includes examples of

  • Alternate History: Implied by the opening lines of the episode, no less. Howard reports that an asteroid is going to collide with Earth to wipe out all life on the planet, presumably implying (incorrect size aside) that this is the asteroid that was, at the time of the episode's production, the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. But then Howard receives an update that the asteroid won't hit. As the Grand Finale shows, an asteroid doesn't kill the dinosaurs in this universe... the dinosaurs kill themselves.
  • Bait-and-Switch: At the end, Earl and Baby look out the window and see two cave people making a round object, which appears to be the wheel. But then they break the inside, and instead they make a hoola-hoop.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Earl decides not to eat Arthur Rizzic, and when he becomes Richfield's assistant, he arranges for Earl to get the raise he had previously been denied.
  • Dramatic Irony: At the end, while looking at humans out the window, Earl tells Baby that dinosaurs will rule the world forever.
  • Foreshadowing: The series opens with Howard Handupme reporting that an asteroid will collide with Earth, killing all life on the planet - but then he receives new information that it won't hit after all. Earl is as relieved as you would be that the forecast ends up saying there won't be any rain on the day you're going to a pool party. In the series finale, Earl causes the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, but via basically nuclear winter instead of an asteroid.
  • George Jetson Job Security: When Earl asks for a raise so he can support his family better, Richfield refuses and orders Earl to quit. He goes back to his job at the end, and Arthur arranges for him to get his raise.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Earl doesn't eat Arthur, who becomes Richfield's assistant and gets Earl the raise he had been denied.
  • Let's Meet the Meat: Arthur Rizzic escapes the Sinclair house, but not before pointing out to Fran that the television is advertising a special screen to put on pots to keep food from escaping. After Earl sees Arthur in the forest and prepares to eat him, he actually wants to be eaten and they have a conversation before Earl decides against it.
  • Surprise Pregnancy: Earl is shocked to find out that Fran laid an egg. This shows us that Baby was an accident; when Fran assures Charlene and Robbie that she and Earl feel the same way about Baby as they did about them, Earl walks by and says "How the hell could this have happened?!?"
  • This Just In!: "A meteor three times the size of Earth is heading towards us in a collision course that will result in the extinction of all life on this planet. This just in: No, it's not."
  • Whole Episode Flashback: Earl tells the baby the story of when he was born.

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