Eds or Tails is an episode from Season 3 of Cartoon Network's critically acclaimed show Ed, Edd n Eddy.
In this episode, Ed's package arrives and it turns out he ordered two Slovakian jawbreakers (for free) by sending it away in a comic book. But the problem is there's three of them and only two jawbreakers.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: In the end, the Eds lose both jawbreakers. The first accidentally gets eaten by Jonny and the second falls into a creek and is presumably dissolved (since Ed didn't actually find, or already eat it).
- Artifact of Attraction: The jawbreaker, the one that Edd did not stupidly try to divide with a refrigerator.
- Berserk Button: Eddy really pushes Edd's nerves when he starts tearing open Ed's package without his permission.Edd: WHAT IN SAM HILL ARE YOU DOING?! (calmly) You're violating Ed's privacy, Eddy. A Federal offense, I might add.
- Big Ball of Violence: The Eds have one when fighting over the last jawbreaker (Ed even dives into the ball) until Rolf intervenes.
- The Big Race: Rolf declares that if the Eds must fight over the last jawbreaker then they should have a contest to decide who gets it, with Rolf setting up a gladiator-styled race for them. Rolf officially declares Ed the winner, but the Eds continue to fight over the jawbreaker anyway.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: Ed thinks that live snail tastes like chicken.
- Calvinball: The race Rolf sets up to decide who gets the remaining jawbreaker starts out with set rules, having to run around a U-shaped course while trying to balance an egg in a ladle, but the Eds quickly resort to cheating to get ahead, which Rolf allows because it makes for an amusing performance. In the end, Ed wins by simply going directly for the jawbreaker without doing the course despite being "eliminated" by Eddy tripping him up by tying his shoes together.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Subverted; the Eds all cheat in some way during the race (mostly Eddy), but face no punishment for it. When the kids point out to Rolf how the Eds are blatantly breaking the rules, Rolf calls it "a fine performance".
- Clown Car: Eddy was able to stuff Edd and Ed inside one off-screen.
- Didn't Think This Through: Ed bought the two-pack of jawbreakers to share with his friends, but didn't account for the fact that there are three of them. It takes him an entire day to piece this together.Eddy: Should we tell him?Double D: He's a big boy, Eddy.
- Downer Ending: Both jawbreakers get lost because of the Eds. The first one Edd accidentally gave to Jonny through a failed division attempt and the second gets knocked into the river when the Eds keep fighting over it. Eddy also decides to let Ed keep eating a large snail that he mistook for such.
- Honor Before Reason: Because he wasn't willing to accept Ed's offer to let him and Eddy enjoy the jawbreakers that were Ed's, Edd, not one to see his friend upset, decides the best they could do is split one of the jawbreakers in half so all three could enjoy them. This ultimately causes them to lose both jawbreakers in a matter of hours.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Ed thinks he found the jawbreaker, but when he opens his mouth to show Eddy and Edd, it turns out to be a large snail. Subverted in that Ed never figures out what he's actually sucking on, and Eddy prevents Edd from warning him For the Lulz.
- In One Ear, Out The Other: Ed mistakes a snail for the jawbreaker, and as the episode ends, the snail sticks its head out of Ed's ear for the Iris Out.
- Insane Troll Logic: Edd (Double D) tried cutting open a jawbreaker with... a refrigerator. It goes about as well as you expect.
- It's All About Me: Eddy when he is handed over a whole jawbreaker by Ed, but then all three Eds fall into this trope when they lose one of the jawbreakers and are left with only one.
- Jerkass Ball: Eddy when he ripped apart Ed's package to see what he got.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While he definitely wanted the Jawbreaker for selfish reasons, Eddy isn't exactly wrong when he points out to Double D that if they had just accepted Ed giving them the jawbreakers, then they wouldn't have lost both of them.
- Kick the Dog: Edd considers Ed sucking on a poor snail to count as this trope. Though so could Eddy allowing him to keep doing so.
- Loophole Abuse: Not that Rolf gave a toss about the cheating anyway, but Ed ends up exploiting two to end up the winner: Rolf only said they had to make it to the finish line to claim the jawbreaker; he didn't say the eggs they were carrying had to be intact, and he didn't say they had to go through the course. So after being out of commission for most of the race because Eddy tied his shoelaces together, Ed just hops to the finish line and is declared the winner.
- Never My Fault: Edd complains to Eddy that it's not his fault they lost one of the two jawbreakers to Jonny and Plank. Bear in mind that Edd suggested they divide a jawbreaker with the unwise decision of a refrigerator so Ed wouldn't get left out. Eddy simply wanted to gulp down one for himself and let Edd figure out what to do with the other one.Eddy: I almost had it! But you had to be a goody-goody-two-shoes! (mockingly) "Let's share it."
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- Edd's attempt to split the jawbreakers just makes the Eds lose one of the two.
- Also Ed. He selflessly decides to give up both his jawbreakers to his friends, leaving none for himself, despite them being his to begin with. Yet this act of charity ends up being in vain when both jawbreakers are lost.
- Punny Name: The episode's title is a play on "Heads or tails". For some reason, it's called Ed or Tails, not Eds or Tails. And like most episodes, the title has nothing to do with the plot.
- Tastes Like Chicken: Said word for word by Ed while he eats his "jawbreaker".
