- List of Moral Orel episodes
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This is a list of episodes for the Adult Swim animated television series Moral Orel.
Contents
Series Overview
Season Episodes 1 10 2 20 3 13 Season 1: 2005-2006
# Total Title Original airdate Prod. code 1 1 "The Best Christmas Ever" December 13, 2005 110 On Christmas Eve, Orel learns of the Second Coming of Jesus, and that he may already be on this Earth, though not as nice as before. After overhearing his parents discussing his younger, terribly spoiled brother Shapey's unplanned birth, Orel believes Shapey to be the reborn Jesus; in truth, his mother was impregnated with Shapey in an extramarital affair, and she plans to divorce her husband. On Christmas morning, Orel does everything he can to make Shapey happy. In the process, Shapey ends up destroying a manger scene and Orel joins him. This is called to his mother's attention, and she tells him about the divorce. That night, Orel sees his father drowning his sorrows at the local pub. Orel remarks that this may not have been the best Christmas ever, but also that there are two minutes left until both Christmas is over and the episode ends, and that he has complete faith that God will fix everything. He piously stares up at the heavens waiting for divine intervention which, it is implied, never comes. 2 2 "The Lord's Greatest Gift" January 23, 2006 101 Orel believes that everyone buried in the cemetery is being disrespectful to God in that they are rejecting His greatest gift, life. He decides to bring his best friend Doughy's dead grandfather back to life using the Necronomicon he stole from the library, naively believing the corpse's unchanged clothes are causing it to stink and stripping it naked. Doughy's grandfather comes to life as a zombie and kills a nearby police officer, whom Orel also brings back to life after stripping him of his bloody uniform. Within minutes, Moralton is being terrorized by naked, flesh-eating zombies. Orel is confronted by his father who explains that everyone is afraid of the zombies due to their nudity, which is prohibited by the "Lost" 11th Commandment, "Thou shalt be ashamed of thy natural anatomy." Orel and his family proceed to clothe the zombies, who continue to terrorize the town, though everyone is laughing instead. 3 3 "Waste" January 30, 2006 104 Orel begins drinking his own urine so he won't waste it, which is prohibited by the "Lost" 14th Commandment, "Thou shalt always clean thy plate and not waste anything, whether thy stomach is full or not." He brings his urine to school and begins improving in gym track due to its richness in vitamins. His gym teacher, Coach Stopframe, tells the rest of his students to start taking Orel's mysterious new "energy drink". When the students turn to Orel for some, he decides to sell it, leading his school to state championship. When his father learns this, he forces Orel to tell the truth to the school. After making his public apology, Orel is chastised not because he allowed people to drink his urine, but because he charged them for it when it didn't cost him anything to make. 4 4 "Charity" February 6, 2006 103 After getting a part-time job at the drug store, Orel learns that good Christians should help the poor. He gives a homeless man, who turns out to be a drug dealer, money he made at the store in exchange for crack. Knowing that good Christians never waste anything, Orel is obliged to smoke it, and becomes hooked to the extent that he starts injecting it. Soon, he quits his job to make more money by donating blood. Eventually, the dealer is arrested, and Orel is confronted by his father again. First, his father lets him know that he wasn't helping a poor man; being a drug dealer, the man was actually rich and "lucky". Orel is then chastised not for smoking and shooting up crack, but for using slang for, according to the "Lost" 13th Commandment, "Thou shalt not bastardize the American language." His father proceeds to take the crack to donate it to charity for double the money. 5 5 "Omnipresence" February 13, 2006 106 Orel learns that God is in everything and everyone. The next day at school, Orel gets into an argument with his teacher, Ms. Sculptham, over a lesson she deemed him to be wrong in, believing he can't be wrong with God in him. Thinking that everything, including himself, should be treated divinely, he excuses himself from school and goes on a trip across town. He eventually winds up at a lake, where he attempts to walk on water. Before he can, he sees a man trying to commit suicide. Orel calls 911 and the police arrive to arrest the man, since suicide is a crime. Having saved someone, he decides to repeat his actions at the hospital. The nurse there, Nurse Bendy, humors him and lets him visit sick people. He first finds a man in a wheelchair who turns out to be a doctor who wanted to take a rest and sit in it. Thinking that he healed the man, he moves on to an old lady on life support. Orel can't heal her, so the old lady asks Orel to take away her pain by pulling the plug. Orel does so and is caught by Nurse Bendy, who calls Orel's father, Clay. Clay explains that while God's in everything, there's not enough of him in those things to make a difference, and that Orel can't act as judge and jury, but just judge. 6 6 "The Blessed Union" February 20, 2006 105 Orel learns that people should do everything they can to keep their wives happy. That way, God has an easier time listening to their prayers. To that end, he goes around town asking about how to do that. He first asks his teacher, who is unwilling to answer any questions after class. The next is the librarian, who decides to protest outside Reverend Putty's church because he's putting these ideas into children's heads. Orel asks his mother next, but she is too busy cleaning. Finally, he goes to his father, who tells Orel to read magazines written by men who think they know what women want. Orel goes to the drug store and reads the magazines there. When the owner sees him reading, he recommends an adult magazine. It leads Orel to a sex shop. There, he asks the owner Stephanie, a woman wearing all black who has many piercings, for a piercing that will increase the pleasure of intercourse. Stephanie decides to give Orel a Prince Albert piercing. After the procedure, Orel develops a crush on her, since she's nicer than everyone else in town. At the school gym, Coach Stopframe notices Orel's piercing. He calls Clay, who has written his number on a napkin with the phrase "Call me" emphasized. Back at the sex shop, Orel tries to find ways to spend time with Stephanie. She lets him down softly, telling him to go outside or he'll never grow. After he leaves, she gets "maternal pangs", so she gives herself a piercing to get rid of them. Clay shows up as Orel leaves, taking him to his study. There, he explains that Stephanie was nice because she's different. When you're not different, you're allowed to be mean some of the time. As for his piercing, Clay explains that women don't need that because they're too smart. They've learned that cooking, cleaning, and bearing children will keep them happy. During all this, Bloberta is cleaning a bear skin rug near Clay with dandruff shampoo. 7 7 "God-Fearing" February 27, 2006 107 The children at school are learning how to be safe on Halloween. A police officer tells them that the only "safe" costumes are those that promote God. The children decide to go to a church-hosted haunted house that night. When they get there and go through it, Orel fails to be scared even once. He tells his friends it's because he has God and Jesus on his side, and there's no reason to fear anyone or anything. In church the next day, he learns that if you sin, all you need to do is repent and God will forgive you. Orel decides he can make God angry with him (and be able to get scared) if he breaks all the Ten Commandments and then simply repents the next day. He breaks every commandment in order (his order, not the actual order), except for the third commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," which he has trouble with. He inadvertently breaks this commandment when he tries to help an old man across the street, and he is hit by a car and dies. Orel's dad sets up a meeting with Reverend Putty and Orel, for had he known beforehand Orel was going to repent, he wouldn't have given him the usual belting. Putty tells Orel that no matter what day of the year it is, God is the only thing you should ever fear because he creates hurricanes, diseases, and foreign cultures. After Orel leaves for dinner at home, the credits roll over the lonely Reverend as he silently eats his own dinner while his windows are being pelted by eggs. 8 8 "Maturity" May 15, 2006 109 Orel and his little brother Shapey are outside, and Shapey is aiming around haphazardly with his BB gun. Orel scolds his brother for being so careless, and Shapey begins a tantrum. Their mother, busy in the kitchen, tells Orel to play nicely with his brother, otherwise the neighbors will think her a bad parent. While Orel is preoccupied with explaining to his parents about the situation, Shapey gets the barrel of his gun under the boy's eye and shoots. Orel is then admonished by his father because of the accident, and told that he will have to be more responsible and mature. In order to learn more about adults, Orel decides to visit the local pub, where the adults of Moralton go to drown their sorrows. Orel absorbs from his experience that the key to being an adult is to drink the special "maturity juice". Returning home, he goes into his father's study and helps himself to the liquor supply. Soon he becomes so drunk that he begins seeing himself as middle-aged, then as an old man. Orel is later given a talking to by his father. This time, he is told that one cannot simply drink alcohol to be more mature. First, you must experience stress over things you cannot control, as well as an unfulfilling job, among other things. Gradually, as one endures these hardships and learns to accept them as normal, that person earns the right to drink on a daily basis. This was the first of the three episodes awaiting approval from Standards & Practices due to its depiction of a child drinking alcohol. 9 9 "Loyalty" May 22, 2006 108 When arriving at church one morning with his family, Orel runs into Coach Stopframe, who introduces the boy to his nephew, Joe. Stopframe tells Orel that Joe isn't quite settled into the Christianity scene yet, and so asks him if he wouldn't mind being the boy's "Bible buddy". Orel accepts. The two sit together during the sermon, and Orel learns that an important aspect of friendship is undying loyalty. Unfortunately for Orel, his new friend is a violent sociopath. Although Orel is skeptical about this sort of behavior, he remembers what he learned about friendship and loyalty, and so reluctantly joins in on Joe's "fun" at the sake of spending time with his own friends. Orel's real friends become concerned about his dangerous interest in Joe, so they go off to find Clay and tell him about the situation. While Clay indulges them (over a few glasses of liquor), Joe leads Orel into the woods to beat up some "homosexuals", which in this case is two small boys taking turns kissing each other on the cheek with innocent glee. Clay comes driving up in his car, knocking down trees along the way. He orders Orel into the car and they have a talk in Clay's study, while the boy Orel stopped beating knocks out Joe and resumes kissing his friend. Orel is scolded not for having gone and done something he knew was wrong, like bashing two innocents with a baseball bat, but for neglecting all his other friends in favor of one single friend. Clay tells Orel that rather than ditch them, he should have invited all his friends along so they could all take part in whatever was going on. Thus does the Lost Commandment 18, come into play: "Thou shalt be loyal to all thy friends at the same time." This is the second of the three episodes to get cleared by Standards & Practices due to its depiction of homosexuality and the plot centering on Orel and his new best friend beating up the boys said to be gay. 10 10 "God's Chef" July 31, 2006 102 In an unseen event, Orel discovered masturbation a week ago and enjoys it to the point that he sneaks off to the bathroom at school where he is caught by Clicky the janitor. He is then told, first by Principal Fakey and later Reverend Putty, that masturbation, among other things, is worse than murder and that he'll go to Hell for it. Putty explains that every sperm must be used to make babies. Seeking to continue masturbating without going to Hell, Orel consults Clay on where babies come from. Using a book specializing in age-appropriate conception tales, Orel is told that "God's chef" comes down to sleeping women each night fills them with his "delicious glaze from his holy pastry bag." Taking this to heart, Orel borrows his mother's pastry bag and proceeds with breaking into houses each night, filling the bag with his sperm, and impregnating the sleeping women, hereby taking on the role as "God's chef". After a month, an entire block experiences a wave of pregnancies, raising alarm in the community as some couples hadn't consummated yet. However, Orel is caught in the act that night and is about to be taken away by police when his father arrives to take him to the study. There, he first scolds Orel for being out past curfew. After Orel admits that he did it because he wanted to spread his seed, Clay first explains that "God's chef" is more of mythical figure like Santa Claus and Charles Darwin, and in an odd turn of events, admits that keeping Orel ignorant about sex was wrong and incorrect behavior. He then proceeds to explain to Orel that there can only be one way to make babies, the missionary position, citing the lost 12th Commandment, and admonishes Orel for using the pastry bag as a fun and unusual implement. When Orel asks if he should spank Clay after he admitted that he was wrong, they share a laugh, but Clay quickly refuses. This is the final episode that was held back due to Standards and Practices for its strong sexual themes. Season 2: 2006-2007
# Total Title Original airdate Prod. code 1 11 "God's Image" November 13, 2006 201 Orel's family reluctantly reunite after their proposed divorce in "The Best Christmas Ever" (though as Clay explains, its not because they've resolved anything, but to "keep up appearances" in front of the neighbors) as Orel helps the young Billy Figurelli when he gets hurt. Orel tries to put a bandage on him with the same color as God's skin but the bandage doesn't blend in with the kid's skin color. However, the bandages blend in with other kids' skin just fine. This leads Orel to prompt the city of Moralton to segregate God's people from the Figurellis, the only non-WASP, Italian-American family in the town. But this, however leads to a form of reverse racism as the family is sent to live in a large mansion outside of town and become free from the repressive theocracy that controls the city of Moralton. This angers the men in Moralton, who become jealous of the fact that the Figurelli family have a better house than they do and that their children, seeing how well the Figurellis are living, adopt their mannerisms and are dubbed "Wiggurellis". Feeling that their society is being torn apart, the citizens of Moralton have the Figurellis' house burned down and refuse to put it out. But when the fire spreads to all the other buildings in Moralton (except the church and the Figurellis' dream house), everyone roots the whole problem to Orel and teach him (after all the men in town give him a belting) that his actions made it inconvenient for the racists, and not the "racers", thus removing the need of discrimination. 2 12 "Love" November 20, 2006 218 While at the park with his family, Orel finds a stray dog who immediately takes an attachment to Orel. After being permitted to keep him as a pet, Orel names him Bartholomew and the two become inseparable with the dog being very popular around town. Later, Reverend Putty delivers a sermon, announcing that God wants the faithful to "love Jesus more than anything else in the world." Orel takes this message to heart but soon develops a conflict, he loves his dog more than Jesus and is unsure what to do. He first goes to his father who tells him that love is merely temporary and Orel tries to distract himself. He cannot, but Doughy, whom Orel told of his problem earlier, arrives with a group of adults (who all hate the dog for the love and attention he gets from the children). They convince Orel to give up Bartholomew and the puppy is led away to its destruction. After feeling sad, Orel perks up realizing that they'll see each other in Heaven. This realization is dashed by his mother who informs him that because animals have no soul, they can't go to either Heaven or Hell and are meant to be eaten. It ends with Bloberta boiling a lobster who shrieks with agony, attracting Clay, who is excited about dinner, hearing the screams of the boiling lobster: "Something sounds delicious!" 3 13 "Satan" November 27, 2006 204 This episode focuses on Coach Stopframe, a disloyal opportunist who offers himself to both God and Satan. Seeking help from Satan to win the heart of Orel's dad, Stopframe contacts a secret group of Satanists who will help him craft a love spell if he brings a virgin to their next meeting. Stopframe chooses Orel as the "virgin", but when he gets to the meeting, he is shocked at the truth about the Satan worshipers: the group is not the murderous disciples of Satan like Stopframe is, but instead a group of nerdy, overweight hedonists who get together to gorge themselves on junk food and have orgies. Stopframe and Orel leave the party and Stopframe resumes his ambiguous relationship with Orel's dad. 4 14 "Elemental Orel" December 4, 2006 207 Orel solves problems using logic. After the money from collection at church is stolen, he sets out to find out who took the money, only to blame a young girl for the crime while falling for the rather over-the-top lies that the real culprit (the school bully) spins to trick Orel. But in the process, Orel discovers his parents engaging in sex games, regarding his mother cleaning another man's house as a form of "wife-swapping" his father has forced her to do with a friend, in order to gain sexual pleasure from watching her clean a stranger's home. 5 15 "Offensiveness" December 11, 2006 210 Orel witnesses Mr. Figurelli giving Ms. Censordoll free, underfried eggs (eggs are her "only source of pleasure") to keep her from protesting his corner market. This inspires Orel to join her crusades against movies, books, and pretty much everything. Eventually, he realizes that eggs come from a "naughty place between chickens' legs" and starts protesting them being served at Figurelli's market. This angers Censordoll, but she is incapable of telling Orel to stop the protest without losing her credibility as a protestor. Censordoll reluctantly joins in the protest against her beloved eggs, causing a townwide ban on all eggs save for "sin-free" Cesarean-born eggs. The episode closes with her sneaking off to an illegal egg black market set up by a deranged farmer, who is sexually-obsessed with the way that his hens lay eggs. 6 16 "God's Blunders" December 18, 2006 206 For questioning the school's policy of demanding students reject all forms of science in favor of forcing students to believe God is responsible for everything in the world, a classmate of Orel's is declared mentally retarded by the school and forced into a "Special Education" class, where all the kids who defy the town's theocracy with wanting to learn the truth about reality are exiled. Orel wonders why God would let people be retarded, leading to his father declaring mental retardation "God's blunders" and that people don't understand "God's blunders" because these "mistakes" are part of God's master plan that humans "can't understand." This plays out as Orel's friend becomes the defender of the other intellectual students, protecting them from Orel's other friends, who throw rocks and taunt the "retarded" students. Orel comes to his friend's defense and convinces the school to not hate the "retarded" but pity them instead. 7 17 "Pleasure" January 8, 2007 202 Orel takes Reverend Putty's puritanical sermon against earthly pleasures to heart and begins eliminating all things he enjoys from his life, which is all his good deeds. After a good deed-free day, Orel has a wet dream in which God congratulates him on being good, and he wakes up to find he has had a wet dream. Seeking Putty's advice, the Reverend tells Orel to inflict pain on himself to stop whatever "impure thoughts" gave him his pleasure, which Orel realizes is worshiping God. He begins physically abusing himself with crushed glass, barbed wire, and rocks each time he thinks about God, which is frequently. Eventually, he meets a fellow self-abuser, actually a masochist, who shows Orel the "Glory Hallelujah Hole", a Christianity-themed Sadism & Masochism club, which he joins and there comes to enjoy pain. That night, he has another wet dream in which God spanks him for being "bad", so he tries to consult his father. Clay is angry, but then realizes that he can't use his belt on Orel as usual because Orel would enjoy it. He explains to Orel that unless he learns to fear pain again, he can't learn any lessons. 8 18 "The Lord's Prayer" January 15, 2007 211 A new family, the Posabules, moves in next door and initially everyone gets along, with Orel being smitten with their daughter, Christina. However, the families have a falling out over the interpretation of the Lord's Prayer with the new family advocating forgiving debt and the Puppington's advocating forgiving trespassing. As a result, the parents become bitterly estranged and Orel is banned from seeing Christina. However, Orel and Christina meet up in secret, but fearful of the consequences of going against tradition, he runs away from her. After a meeting with Reverend Putty, Orel is told that if he goes against the Lord's Prayer, he'll go to Hell. In the end, Christina moves away with her family and they take Shapey, whom no one noticed had been taken accidentally the entire episode. 9 19 "Holy Visage" January 22, 2007 203 While on a class field trip, Orel befriends a Jewish doctor named Dr. Chosenberg. However, after placing a spiky wooden bobble-head Jesus doll in front of Mr. Figuerelli while he's driving the bus, Figuerelli barely avoids an accident but in the process, Dr. Chosenberg is badly injured when the Jesus doll embeds itself in his side. Upon recovery, Dr. Chosenberg is horrified to learn that because the wound looks like Jesus, they consider it a miracle and no one will treat him or his terrible pain. Despite his pleas for reason and sanity, the doctor responds by having Nurse Bendy sedate him. Dr. Chosenberg becomes even more horrified when patients with contagious and fatal disease are kissing, breathing, and coughing on the wound in the hopes that it will heal them, and everyone in town is lined up to see it. After attempting to suture the wound himself, his arms are restrained. In two days, Chosenberg's condition worsens and he desperately turns to Orel for help. Conflicted, he wants to help but is afraid that would be a sign of losing faith, Orel turns to his father who tells him to simply "lie to himself." In the end, Orel decides to leave the Jesus bobble-head on a medicine cart and pushes it next to Dr. Chosenberg. With the medicines in reach, Chosenberg manages to concoct an antidote and uses his Star of David to get the medicine onto the wound. The next morning, Orel and Clay are surprised to discover that the wound has healed. When Orel claims the bobble head is a miracle, Clay tells him that it was made deliberately to look like Jesus and thus cannot be considered a miracle, only accidents can. Clay then quickly discovers that the medicine bottles are arranged to look like Jesus. Claiming it a miracle, Clay grabs the foot powder to treat his foot ailment while Orel correctly guesses that Dr. Chosenberg did it himself. 10 20 "Be Fruitful and Multiply" January 29, 2007 213 While purchasing a new belt for his father, Orel runs into Reverend Putty at Mr. Figurelli's store. Putty, annoyed, shoos Orel away and happily purchases a new heart-shaped waste basket to replace one that was stolen years ago. Orel then heads over to the sex shop where Stephanie works and attempts to convince her to come to church. To his surprise, she agrees to go and then examines a picture of Putty in private. The scene switches to Putty's bedroom where he angrily and desperately pleads with God to provide him a woman and then masturbates to unconsciousness. The next day, Stephanie comes in, much to Reverend Putty's delight, and after a less-than-subtle sermon regarding procreation, he is very happy when he and Stephanie make a lunch date. His joy though is squashed when Stephanie reveals that she is his daughter. Her mother had stalked Reverend Putty for weeks and stole a sperm sample from his wastebasket. After wallowing in sorrow over yet another failed chance to lose his virginity, Putty consults Orel and after an inspiring sermon from Orel about what brings him joy, Putty comes around and he and Stephanie agree to become father-daughter. 11 21 "Praying" April 30, 2007 208 Orel is entered into a praying competition against the Begging Mantises, an extremely powerful team of prayers with a record of 50 wins to 0 losses. In order to train him, he is forced to practice praying every day; however, halfway into the training sessions, he is no longer able to pray, as forcing himself to pray causes him incredible pain. Desperate, he attempts to pray at a local park to God for help on praying, and an ad for Buried Pleasures, Stephanie's sex shop, blows into his face. Convinced that God had sent him there as the answer, an obviously-stressed Orel goes to Stephanie for advice, who gives him a pack of incense and a vinyl disc containing Buddhist chants, telling him that he can use it to relax. Orel plays the disc in his room, lighting the incense, and finds that meditation serves him well in helping him relax. Meanwhile, Clay comes home and Bloberta tells him that Principal Fakey has called for him. It is revealed that there are a lot of bets made for Orel to win. Clay finds Orel meditating and promptly admonishes him for using Buddhism at all, citing it as a "Communist cult" that allows any religion under the sun, then explains to Orel about the concept of dogma as restrictions on religion, stating that "It sounds cute enough to make you want to throw it a bone." The day of the praying competition comes, and it is shown that the Begging Mantises are very, very tough; one competitor is shown walking off the stage with heavily bleeding hands. The competition begins as both Orel and the leader of the Begging Mantises start praying with an obviously large amount of effort. Dogma literally starts stressing Orel as the heads of Clay, Fakey, Putty, and the nurse, all on dog bodies, start verbally attacking Orel. Orel then throws an imaginary bone at the dogs and while watching the dogs run towards it, he is transported into his own Nirvana, where he converses with the Buddha. Orel accepts that he can use Buddhist techniques in order to become a good Christian, and the Buddha's face slowly transforms into Orel's face as Orel becomes "awake". The Buddha tells Orel to not tell anyone else in Moralton, then is absorbed into Orel as the viewers are taken back to the real world, where Orel is calm, but Clay is looking extremely mad. However, the Begging Mantis member is horribly stressed out and he collapses, and Orel is declared the winner. Clay transforms from angry to happy and joins the crowd in cheer as Orel's friends crowd near him to congratulate him. The scene ends with Orel still in meditative pose, slightly levitating from the ground, as he slowly uncrosses his legs, sets himself back on Earth, and joins his friends. 12 22 "Repression" May 7, 2007 205 Principal Fakey's affair with Nurse Bendy continually leaves him with horrible guilt that becomes harder and harder for him to bear. Fakey continually confides his problems and concerns about his affair to a less-than-receptive Reverend Putty, who lives on Fakey's embellished details. When Fakey refuses to divulge and begs for guidance, Putty abandons Fakey in disgust, leaving Orel to provide guidance. Having received earlier advice from his father about how authority figures are above the law and thus not responsible, Orel provides the same guidance to Fakey, concluding that if a man in Fakey's position is free of sin, then he is not actually guilty of anything. This leads Fakey to confidently continue his affair with Nurse Bendy until he receives some shattering news - he has gonorrhea. Although the STD was clearly contracted from Bendy, the earlier guidance leads Fakey to assume that his wife was responsible and promptly throws her out of the house, ending their marriage. Having witnessed the dissolution of the Fakey's marriage and feeling responsible, Orel comes to Putty, only for Putty to abandon him when he learns that "Mrs. Fakey is a free agent," and tells Orel to use the same advice he gave to Fakey. Orel does and skips off happily. 13 23 "Turn the Other Cheek" May 21, 2007 214 After listening to a Christian-themed children's record extolling the virtues of turning the other cheek even in the face of a beating, Orel takes this advice to heart when he is confronted and beaten up by Walt, the school bully. Believing in showing strength by being weak, Orel continually gets beaten up by Walt everyday until Bloberta complains to Clay about the blood on Orel's clothes and that she would need to double her detergent budget. Fearful, Clay finds Orel in the front yard and tells him that God actually wants him to be healthy and defend himself to fight for God and recommends that Orel show the bully "how to turn the other cheek." Seeing this as a way to teach the Bible, Orel knocks out Walt after he confronts Doughy and makes a fist. Orel is initially praised but the praise turns to fear as Orel starts automatically pummeling anyone forming a fist, including Doughy after he throws "rock" in rock, paper, scissors. Everything culminates when Orel savagely beats his mom and dad. In his father's study in the aftermath, Clay tells Orel that he isn't going to be punished as Orel was following Clay's advice at the time and any punishment would be "admitting wrongness." The episode ends with the two of them in the study, standing and squirming in uncomfortable silence. 14 24 "Geniusis" May 28, 2007 215 While on a Pious Scouts trip in an artificial forest, Orel and Doughy are first told about the "evils" of Darwinism when they stumble across a hominid frozen in a block of ice. After thawing it, Orel considers the Missing Link to be his new friend. After he runs amok in a church bake sale, however, the town insists on forcibly educating the caveman on Christian dogma and Moralton thinking in general. After re-education and a complete grooming change, the Missing Link becomes "Link McMissons" - a now popular right-wing talk radio host. His star, however, quickly falls when debating a scientist on the Theory of Evolution, he is confronted with his own background. The citizens of Moralton riot and soon capture Link and lock him in a church freezer, where they leave and go drink at Forghetty's. Forgotten, Link is once again frozen and not discovered until one million years later when an Orel look-a-like, Zorel is retrieving pastries for Reverend Flashwing's bake sale. A scale up reveals that Moralton has completely taken over the United States, and the U.S. is the only country remaining on Earth. Perhaps less noteworthy, it can also be observed that "this future" displays no suggestion of any technological advancement that would be expected over the passage of time, which in itself may be a jab at the idea that the blind following of dogma inhibits the advancement of society. 15 25 "Courtship" June 4, 2007 217 While staying over at Doughy's house, Orel unwittingly leads Doughy to realize the neglect he experiences at the hands of his parents, especially that they never call him "son". Though Doughy quickly perks up thanks to denial and a free ice cream from Mr. Creepler, though Doughy spurns Creepler's invitation to explore his van. The next day, Ms. Sculptham returns papers and compliments Doughy's "C-", calling him "son", though in a condescending fashion. Happy with the praise, Doughy quickly forms an attachment to Ms. Sculptham that develops into a massive crush. Using the money saved up from the years of half-hearted parenting from his father, Doughy gives Ms. Sculptham a necklace and he instantly becomes her favorite pupil - though her favor does not extend beyond circling Doughy's "F" with a heart. However, things turn rocky when Doughy runs out of money and Ms. Sculptham instantly scorns him. Desperate for help, Orel suggests that Doughy should manipulate Mr. Creepler into giving him expensive gifts that he can then pass on to Ms. Sculptham. Unsure if this is an acceptable practice, Orel asks his mother who tells him that women should receive everything from their husbands and denies that the Bible states, "It is better to give than to receive." With Mr. Creepler lavishing gifts on him, Doughy quickly regains Ms. Sculptham's favor, even taking her to Paris. Realizing however that his love would never be reciprocated, Doughy decides to do what he felt he should have done from the very beginning - get into the back of Mr. Creepler's van. The encounter is short-lived when Doughy flees in disgust and announces that he is giving up romance forever. The episode ends with Doughy left alone on his stoop while his parents make out in the living room. 16 26 "School Pageant" June 11, 2007 209 Six months after the breakup of the folk-trio, the Crucifolk, the long-forgotten bass player - Mr. Armiture, resurfaces at Diaroma Elementary with his universally-ignored musical, Crooning Jesus. Orel eagerly auditions hoping to get the role of Jesus, but is devastated to learn that not only did Junior Christein win the role of Jesus (with his magnificent voice and powerful connections), but that he would be playing the role of Judas. With Orel threatening to back out, Mr. Armiture wins Orel over with this argument - if it weren't for Judas, there would be no Christianity and that he could be considered one of Christianity's biggest "heroes". The night of the play is a tense affair for Mr. Armiture, as not only is Junior's Broadway-producer Uncle Bernie in attendance, but so were the infinitely more popular 2/3's of the Crucifolk - Lily and Leaf. The show goes over badly, although Junior performs well, the audience not only does not like that Orel isn't Jesus but they're all simply bored by it. Orel's performance though, a lavish song and dance which was a hateful diatribe against Jesus is received quite favorably among the town and the show is considered a success except to Mr. Armiture, who is informed by Bernie that if it weren't for the Judas number, the play would be "forgettable". His point is proven three weeks later with everyone in town singing "I Hate You, Jesus" - even Reverend Putty leads the congregation joyously singing. The episode ends with Orel realizing what the implications of the song were. This is the first episode since the Christmas special that did not feature the regular opening title music. 17 27 "Presents for God" June 25, 2007 216 Reverend Putty delivers a sermon extolling how lost souls are "God's presents" before descending into self-pity over the town's repression. Wanting to cheer Reverend Putty up, Orel and Doughy venture into the nearby town of Sinville where they encounter massive partying and Catholics. Orel and Doughy are soon steered towards a brothel, where they in turn send three prostitutes to Putty for them to be "saved". Very grateful over the encounter, a relaxed and cigarette-smoking Putty thanks Orel and suggests that "every Christian should experience such glory." Taking his words literally, Orel steers the prostitutes of Sinville to Moralton and sets up a service for people to "save their souls." With the vast population of lonely and repressed men eagerly taking advantage of the service, Orel and Doughy soon rake in over $4,000 while the town experiences a massive outbreak of STD's. While setting up a rendezvous, Clay finds out Orel is behind the prostitution ring and orders him into his study...in one hour, Clay then resumes making the arrangements with a now unnerved Orel as the show draws to an end. 18 28 "Orel's Movie Premiere" July 2, 2007 220 Orel holds a premiere in his backyard in front of his family and almost all of Moralton's authority figures. Using exceptionally crude stop-motion and a voice-over script, Orel and Doughy recreate the events of "The Lord's Greatest Gift", "God's Chef", and "Charity". Joe, however, gets restless and seizes the microphones and uses this opportunity to berate and insult everyone in attendance. The audience, already perturbed by the events and their portrayals on screen (with the exception of Coach Stopframe) take it in silence while Orel bemoans Joe's actions and ends the show by absentmindedly wondering about misinterpretation while holding the Bible. 19 29 "Nature (Part 1)" July 9, 2007 212 The episode starts off with Orel and his father wrapping up another lecture session in his father's study. Orel then noticed his father's hunting trophy, prompting Clay to take him on his first hunting trip. After a viewing of Clay's large arms hallway, Orel is gifted with (and then relieved of) Ol' Gunny, the family pistol. After this, they head off to the Moralton Nature Reserve. The trip quickly turns sour however as Clay immediately begins drinking while Orel has trouble with the idea of killing an animal. Frustrated with Orel's lack of action when a deer licks him, an inebriated Clay shoots the deer and then proceeds to kill a hunting dog he mistakes for a rabbit. Tensions escalate that night as Clay gloats over his kill (and roasts the dog on a spit and eats it) while Orel is alarmed at how drunk Clay is. Put off at Orel's suggestion that he is too drunk to hunt, Clay goes off on a wild rant cursing women and then grows horribly and disturbingly despondent about his life. During this time, a terrified Orel accidentally fires the pistol he is holding and shouts "Dad!" as the episode ends with "To be continued." 20 30 "Nature (Part 2)" July 16, 2007 219 After a recap of the events in Part One, Part Two opens to reveal that Orel did not shoot Clay, but destroyed his remaining two liquor bottles. For the first time in the series, Orel directly confronts his father, screaming "You become a bad person when you drink!" Clay is furious and attempts to punish Orel with his belt, but is too drunk to remove it properly. Giving up, Clay decides to "make Orel a man" and grabs his rifle and accidentally shoots Orel in the leg. Rather glibly, Clay blames the incident on Orel while Orel begs for help. Clay fashions a crude tourniquet from the sleeve of Orel's lucky shirt, then drinks all the rubbing alcohol Orel had brought along. At this, Orel declares, "I hate you," and Clay responds with a smarmy "Hate away" before passing out. A bear soon comes along, attracted by the smell of the roasting dog carcass, and turns its attention to Clay; Orel is forced to shoot the bear in order to save his father. Clay revives from his drunken slumber the next morning, only to ask Orel for his sleeping bag to cover his eyes from the Sun. Clay then returns to sleep for thirteen hours. Afterwards, Clay awakens refreshed but with no memory of the previous night. When he sees the bear carcass, Clay turns to Orel and asks him if he killed the bear, saying "Make me proud, Son, and tell me you killed that bear yourself." After some thought, Orel lies to Clay and says that Clay was one that killed the bear. Clay, confused, accepts the lie and takes Orel to Doctor Potterswheel. Back in his room and being fed bacon and eggs by Bloberta (under Doctor Potterswheel's advice that fatty foods will help his leg clot), Orel asks her why she married Clay. Bloberta responds, "Why not?" Orel expresses his concerns that his father "changes" when he is drunk. Bloberta blithely remarks that that his father doesn't change, but his "true nature" emerges when he is drunk. The episode ends with Orel quietly eating his food while the blue bird seen following him in part one looks on from the tree branch outside. The episode was dedicated to John Cassavetes. Season 3: 2008
# Total Title Original airdate Prod. code 1 31 "Grounded" April 1, 2008 302 In an episode numbered "2 of 13" - and which chronologically follows immediately after the events of the episode, "Innocence" - Orel is grounded for holding a neighborhood kids' bloodletting in the upstairs bathroom. We're informed that this episode takes place four weeks before the hunting trip. After the incident, Clay grounds Orel from church for a month. After only a few days, Orel appears to be going crazy, jonesing for church. He manically draws a church on his bedroom wall in an attempt to get closer to church. On the second Sunday, Orel is banned from church, with Clay telling him that going to church gives people insurance from going to Hell. Locked in his room, Orel builds a model church, which Clay takes away from him. On his family's next trip to church, a deranged Orel leaves the house, finds his church by the garbage, and wears it like a Halloween costume. Running down the street, crazed and calling himself a church, he slams into Doughy. They search for a cross for the top of his steeple. They find a metal cross in the form of a plus sign on the roof of the "Morbidly Plus-Sized" clothing store. Immediately after placing it atop Orel's steeple, Orel is struck by lightning. Orel finds himself floating in an endless nothingness. He expects to meet God, but he is merely alone...nowhere. He suddenly sees a tiny light that might be God, but he is violently yanked back into the living world where he's being revived in the emergency room. After coming back, Orel becomes obsessed with dying again to get closer to God, because he still cannot go to church. He engages in suicide twice more - once by electrocuting himself in a light-bulb socket, and once by having Doughy apply electrified defibrillator paddles to him. After his third near-death experience, a bizarre nightmare of familiar and prophetic visions with the song "Airetaina" by the High Priestess playing - including seeing himself say "I am a church" backwards - Orel wakes up and tells the six people around his bed that he saw Heaven and it looked nothing like it was always described to him. Clay attempts to silence Orel, and when they get home he hits him with his belt until the enlightening experience has been beaten out of him. The episode ends where the episode "Nature (Part One)" begins, with Orel saying that he'll "never do THAT with THOSE in THERE for that LONG ever again!", only this time we know he's talking about "flat-lining" to meet God. After Orel's punishment, Clay asks him if he'd like to go on a father-son outing. The end credits include pictures from previous episodes, including "Nature (Part One)" and "(Part Two)". This episode aired on April 1st as an April Fools prank where Adult Swim showed new episodes of upcoming show seasons without announcing it. 2 32 "Numb" October 9, 2008 301 Episode 1 of 13 - "Numb" opens and closes with the song "No Children" by The Mountain Goats playing, and takes place during the events of "Nature (Part One)" and "Nature (Part Two)", showing what Bloberta had been doing while Clay and Orel were away on their hunting trip. It starts with Clay waking up to take Orel away, with Bloberta unenthusiastically watching from the window. She later masturbates with a small power drill in bed before returning it to her collection of hardware tools she uses as dildos, in the process pulling out a photo album, filled with pictures of her and Coach Stopframe together, as well as a few pictures of Shapey. After examining the picture for awhile, she realizes that Block isn't Shapey, and proceeds to try to get Shapey back "for sentimental reasons." After taking Block back to the Posabules', both Block and Shapey show love to Bloberta, and Mrs. Posabule slams the door on the scene, leaving Block with Bloberta. After taking both of them back home, with Block and Shapey forming a quick bond, Bloberta heads to the pub to meet up with Coach Stopframe. After trying to start another relationship with him, Stopframe completely shuts her down, saying that he only built a relationship with her to get close to Clay. After his refusal, Bloberta desperately seeks love, or at least an affair from Reverend Putty, who has a sexual climax from her pleas, then tells her to leave. Distraught, and desperate to feel something, Bloberta then goes to Nohammer's Hardware, where she buys a large jackhammer with the intention of using it as a vibrator. After taking it home, she mutilates her vagina, prompting her to go Dr. Potterswheel. After examining her, he prescribes powerful painkillers. After using them, she proceeds to use the power tool again, further injuring herself, yet numbing the pain to a pleasurable experience, and sending her back once again to Potterswheel. While examining Bloberta's more severe injuries, it is shown that Dr. Potterswheel has a sexual fascination with his patients' physical pain. Potterswheel sends her home again with an even stronger dosage of painkillers. Bloberta also ends up taking Dr. Potterswheel's handkerchief home with her. When Bloberta arrives home to her bed, the combination of desperation and physical sensitivity gives Bloberta an orgasm simply at the thought of Dr. Potterswheel. Excited by her discovery and new feelings of completeness, Bloberta returns to the clinic later that day, only to be rejected by Potterswheel when he sees she isn't injured any differently. After refusing to so much as look at Bloberta, he receives a call from Clay, who tells him that he shot Orel in the leg, while Bloberta, only slightly affected when Orel's name pops up, gazes distantly at the wall. The episode ends from Clay's point-of-view, stumbling, drunk, through the house, up the stairs. He stops outside of Orel's room, where he overhears Bloberta and Orel's conversation from the end of "Nature (Part Two)" about why Bloberta married Clay. Bloberta momentarily breaks down after she leaves his room, only to become cold and stiff upon seeing Clay. The two climb into their separate beds as the credits roll, both looking completely cold, almost as if waiting to die.
Note: This is actually the first episode of Season 3. However, the real second episode, "Grounded" was aired as the first.3 33 "Innocence" October 16, 2008 308 Episode 3 of 13 - The show is four weeks and a day before the events of "Nature", specifically picking up directly from "School Pageant". With the townspeople realizing that the song Orel sang in the school musical is blasphemous, and conclude that God wants to punish Moralton as a result (citing various signs, such as how Orel raised the dead in Season 1). However, Reverend Putty makes the (for Moralton, surprisingly realistic) analysis that maybe Orel does so many zany and blasphemous things because the townsfolk give him bad advice, which he then misinterprets. At Putty's urging, they agree to avoid giving him advice altogether. This is quickly challenged as a guilt-stricken Orel seeks to make amends for making the song so popular. First, Orel goes to his father, but Clay avoids him and directs Orel to Reverend Putty. Putty tries to make it clear to Orel that he doesn't need to atone, that God understands that he was innocent. Putty, however, soon gives up as well and sends Orel to Miss Sculptham. Orel informs her that children are always innocent - so says Putty. Miss Sculptham tells Orel that everyone is innocent until the age of 18 and tells Orel about the children's crusade and how children are innocent and pure. Miss Sculptham then sends Orel to the Christeins. After Orel tells Mr. Christein that God is angry with him, the Christeins respond by painting lamb's blood on their door frame, citing how it keeps away plagues and the wrath of God, and then remarks that the markings show God that they are innocent. Orel leaves with a directive - find some innocent blood. Orel first heads to the blood bank, only to find it closed. Orel then runs into Coach Stopframe outside of the bar next door, where he and Clay had been drinking together. Orel proceeds to tell Coach Stopframe everything he has learned but Coach Stopframe takes issue with the painting of blood, calling it a "waste of perfectly good virgin blood." Stopframe tells Orel that if he bathes in virgin blood, he can stay young. Orel runs off in search of virgin kids while Stopframe informs Clay that everything is all right. Soon, the townspeople watch with alarm as Orel leads his friends (Doughy, Billy, Tommy, and Maryenetta) back to his house, all wielding knives and other cutting tools. The next morning, Orel goes to a tired and inebriated Clay for clarification. Clay asks if Orel has been listening to his "elderlies" and upon receiving the affirmative, tells Orel that he is doing everything right. It ends with Orel bathing in blood he has collected from the town's children and provides the background for the beginning of the episode "Grounded". 4 34 "Alone" October 21, 2008 303 Episode 4 of 13 - This episode is unique in that Orel does not actually even appear in it - though he can be heard on an in-show radio broadcast. The story takes place the evening before Orel heads out for a wilderness outing with his father as depicted in the episode "Nature (Part One)". The story revolves around three female members of the Moralton community that each live a life of isolation. They are Nurse Bendy, Miss Sculptham, and Ms. Censordoll. The story reveals that Miss Bendy is mentally disturbed; she plays house with teddy bears and calls them her "family" because she suffers from emotional loneliness stemming from the fear that people only care about her for sex. She suffers a breakdown when a teddy bear falls and lands on her back in a suggestive position, making her think that her proxy for a loving husband is only interested in sex as well. The story also reveals that Miss Sculptham was previously "raped" and impregnated by Mr. Creepler. She subsequently gave herself an abortion - as strongly implied by the bloody coat hanger she fixes - but remains infatuated with him due to having experienced sexual gratification through him. Finally, the story reveals that Ms. Censordoll's obsession with chicken eggs is due to the fact that she does not possess human eggs herself: when she was an infant, her mother had her sexual organs surgically removed. It is suggested that her immaculacy has given her a god complex and that she might be plotting something sinister as evidenced by her keeping a scale, model replica of the town with everyone in it.
- When commenting on the episode "Nesting", creator Dino Stamatopoulos said he believed "Alone" was the main reason that Moral Orel was canceled.[1]
5 35 "Trigger" October 23, 2008 304 Episode 5 of 13 - This episode happens before "Nature (Part One)" and "Nature (Part Two)". Doughy is first seen playing baseball with himself. After an injury, he asks his parents for a bandage, only to be shoved away. Seeing various fathers bonding with children, Doughy becomes more depressed. When seeing a father and son squirrel, he throws a rock at them and claims he feels no remorse for his actions. Upon walking, he hears gunshots and runs to see Orel and Clay practicing at shooting a handgun. Orel's poor marksmanship is scolded by Clay. Doughy tries his hand at shooting, doing much better than Orel. He claims that because he feels unimportant and invisible, he is able to focus, and shows little remorse at the idea of killing something. Since this happens before the eventful hunting trip, Clay insists Orel keeps the gun twenty-four hours a day until he learns to use it and tells Doughy to help him. Doughy wants Clay's approval and craves attention, so he happily takes the task. Doughy sees that Orel's nervous tic, caused by sadness, makes him a terrible shot. Seeing this as a means to get more praise from Clay, Doughy sets out to upset Orel. Eventually Orel is phased out of the family as Doughy takes his place, with Clay even showing Doughy how to smoke. Depressed as Doughy once was, Orel is able to shoot easily; he is no longer bothered by Doughy's attempts to upset him. Clay is overjoyed that Orel can now shoot a gun properly, and has no more use to Doughy. When Doughy attempts to take Orel's place on the hunting trip, Clay tells Doughy that the offer was simply a ploy to get Orel to learn to shoot better. It ends with Doughy once again being ignored. 6 36 "Dumb" October 29, 2008 306 Episode 6 of 13 - This episode tells of Joe, the resident bad kid in Moralton. The episode takes place right before and slightly after "Nature". Joe is the son of Dr. Secondopinionson, who is unable to participate in his son's life due to his rapidly increasing age and senility. This lack of parental authority damages Joe and he acts out in order to receive attention; he constantly derides everything around him as dumb, eats only sweets, and does outrageous things because no one in his house has the authority to stop him. His only real parental figure is a woman with a monotone, masculine voice who claims to be his half-sister, whom Joe verbally abuses every time they interact. Joe has a morbid fear of aging because he resents his father for being too old and arthritic to be able to do anything with him, and is still angry over his mother's death - of "old age" - in childbirth. After seeing Orel going on the hunting trip with his father, Joe attempts to find a father figure in his uncle, Coach Stopframe, who informs him that his mother didn't die in childbirth, shooing him off with a reference to Nurse Bendy. Nurse Bendy reveals that she dyes her black hair blonde, and had a child "like, twenty years ago" - Joe corrects her and says twelve, his age. She invites him to her apartment, where she describes her teddy bear son as having Joe's characteristics, like having recently been in a play. It mirrors his actions as he sticks his tongue out and mocks it. The two of them realize that they are mother and son and that Joe's father had been lying about his mother's death. Nurse Bendy peevishly says that somebody should teach Dr. Secondopinionson a lesson. Joe returns home and brutally beats his father. His half-sister explains that the identity of Joe's mother was the first thing that his father forgot when he started to lose his memory and that is why he thought Joe's mother was dead. Joe then demands to know why his half-sister never told him that his mother was alive. She replies, "Why should I tell you anything? Like you said - I'm not your mom." Joe accepts this as his sister tenderly cleans the blood from his face. When he returns to the hospital, carrying a suitcase and intending to move in with Nurse Bendy, he sees "Sonny" Bear in the trash outside. When he asks why she threw away the bear, Nurse Bendy explains that she'd rather have Joe as her son than a bear. The episode ends with the two of them affectionately sticking their tongues out at each other as "Failsafe" by The Choir Practice plays. 7 37 "Help" November 4, 2008 309 Episode 7 of 13 - This episode is a flashback that Bloberta has when Orel asks her why she married Clay. It begins with a group of women showing off their engagement rings; everybody is getting married except for Bloberta. Principal Fakey's future wife is seen here, assured that their marriage will be a success (however, in the present, Fakey has an affair with Nurse Bendy and treats his wife very poorly). The women of Moralton gather in Miss Censordoll's basement to make protest signs. Bloberta insists on helping, trying to prove how clever she is. Censordoll is not impressed with her abilities and promptly shoos her away. Bloberta is seen going home where her mother, younger brother, eldest sister, and father are all singing. She tries to join in the choir but is abruptly stopped. Her mother appears to be very domineering, praising her other children yet neglecting Bloberta. She is especially harsh on her husband, who cowers in fear. Bloberta is told by her mother to make herself useful and clean her room. Her father comes in, nervously, to speak with her, telling her how he tries to include her in family things but her mother won't have it. In these moments alone, she is seen to have a flask, pointing to a drinking problem. Later on, she is at Fakey's wedding and she notices Clay, who admits that he thought the wedding was a "regular service" and didn't leave as he thought it would be awkward. Clay is very pure of heart, handsome, and, of course, a bachelor. Bloberta assumes he will be a good choice for a husband, and asks him to go the reception with her. They order apple juice and sit down to talk. Bloberta questions why Clay doesn't "'drink' drink" and assures the righteous Clay that "Jesus drank a lot" and he should, too. Clay overindulges and becomes very drunk. Bloberta asks him to dance and pressures him into proposing, wanting to be accepted. Clay refuses, unsure and unready for marriage. At this point, Clay is much like Orel: his is a kind, decent person who mostly wishes to study his Bible at home. A few drinks later, Clay has lost most of his inhibition and is leering at the women passing by. Bloberta promptly leaves him to go to the bar, announcing to the bartender she has given up drinking. She begins to furiously clean the bar while Clay flirts with women around him. Annoyed with Clay's actions, Bloberta gets up and punches him, knocking him out. She is seen the next day tending to his wounds and explaining how much she "helped" him and how much he "should need" her. Stumbling across words, Clay agrees to marry her. It's a rushed decision, made without knowing much about one another and the two seem unhappy from the start. The wedding ensues and their usual habits begin; Clay drinks through the whole wedding and Bloberta angrily watches and cleans obsessively. The credits roll with pictures of the wedding. A song is rolled in the opening and closing sequence "Old College Try" by The Mountain Goats. 8 38 "Passing" November 6, 2008 305 Episode 8 of 13 - This episode, mirroring "Help", is a flashback which explores Clay's relationship with his mother and father. The episode begins with Clay giving Orel "Ol' Gunny" before flashing back to Clay as a child. It is revealed that when Clay was around Orel's age, his mother doted on him endlessly, much to the chagrin of his uninterested father. Clay's father seems completely unaffected by the religious extremism of his wife and the other people of Moralton, often expressing doubts and taking the name of God in vain (at one point even claiming "there are no miracles"). While looking through old photo albums with his mother, Clay discovers pictures of his mother, presumably pregnant with him. It is revealed that Mrs. Puppington actually miscarried ten times before successfully bearing Clay and it is hinted this is due to her smoking, drinking, and engaging in strenuous activities such as jumping on a trampoline or riding roller-coasters during her other pregnancies; she says she was too busy praying while pregnant with Clay to do any of these things. After being devastated by the news that he is not indeed his mother's "precious only-ever" child, Clay pretends to shoot himself with "Ol' Gunny". Clay's father eventually discovers the ruse, and when he forces Clay to cease the charade, his mother has a heart attack due to the stress and dies, crying out to God to take her life instead of her son's. Clay's father blames him for the death of his wife, frequently hitting him to express his frustration. Clay actively seeks his father's punishment, finding it the only source of attention he can get from his emotionally distant parent. At the end of the episode, Clay's father gives "Ol' Gunny" to Clay, insisting that he can no longer bear to have it since it is "tainted with blood." Clay attempts to defend himself from his father's blame, but when he looks up, his father is gone. The final shot of the episode comes in the form of Clay staring into his drink. The song that plays throughout the episode and during the closing sequence is "Love Love Love" by The Mountain Goats. 9 39 "Closeface" November 11, 2008 307 Episode 9 of 13 - This episode is about the Annual Arm's-Length dance at Orel's school. It begins with a quick recap of "The Lord's Prayer" before showing Principal Fakey introducing the chaperon Reverend Putty. In a flashback, we see Kim and Stephanie kissing as a younger Reverend Putty makes the same speech. Kim cheerfully claims that she's not interested in the opposite sex and kisses Stephanie. After getting a good laugh, she insists they go to the dance together and kiss in front of Reverend Putty. Stephanie, having visibly enjoyed the first kiss, agrees. In the present, Orel is shown working in Stephanie's store part-time when Doughy's parents come asking for some nonsensical sex toys before laughing and making out, much to Stephanie's annoyance. Another flashback shows Kim and Stephanie in a room, where Kim insists that she and Stephanie "practice" kissing more. Stephanie, not realizing that Kim merely thinks of the act as a joke, eagerly agrees. When Kim leans in to Stephanie, Stephanie's eyes cross, showing Kim as a one-eyed smiling version of herself, which Stephanie dubs "Closeface". In the present, Orel realizes he has no crush to take to the dance and explains his problem to Stephanie. Another flashback shows Kim and Stephanie waiting in a hallway; Kim repeatedly attempts to kiss Stephanie whenever Reverend Putty or Carl walks past, laughing hysterically every time the two men react and reacting negatively to Stephanie's request for a real kiss. Stephanie realizes that Kim was only pretending to have feelings for her. In the present, Orel prays in his room for God for help and a sudden interruption from Block reminds Orel that he does have a crush - Christina Posabule. Orel goes to take Block back to the Posabules an excuse to visit Christina, but claims Block ran off upon arrival. When Orel and Christina begin to kiss, Orel sees a "Closeface" version of Christina. The moment is cut short by her father slamming the door in his face. A saddened Orel returns to the shop, where Stephanie explains that Orel saw his own "Closeface". Determined that Orel have a better time at the dance than she did, Stephanie helps him sneak Christina away to the dance. Outside, Reverend Putty reveals that he knows that Stephanie is a lesbian, and dismisses Kim, citing that they never would have worked out: not because they are both women, but because Kim was insincere and never really cared about her. The episode ends with Orel and Christina dancing happily - holding each other while the rest dance at arms length - as Reverend Putty joins Stephanie in singing "Closeface". 10 40 "Sundays" November 13, 2008 310 Episode 10 of 13 - "Sundays" takes place throughout the entire series and is named as such because each scene takes place on a Sunday. The episode follows the lives of two Moralton women, Florence and Dottie. Both are recently divorced single mothers with limited visitation rights to their kids. While Dottie is attractive and stuck-up, Florence is fat and frumpy. The two strike up a tenuous friendship and move into an apartment together. Florence's attraction to Reverend Putty grows, despite Putty's clear disgust at her and attraction to Dottie, which Dottie callously brings to Florence's attention again and again. As events from previous episodes take place in the background (such as Orel raising an army of zombies), Florence eventually grows tired of Dottie's haughty attitude and ends their friendship, devastating Dottie. Later, Florence finds herself alone at an all-you-can-eat buffet with Putty, and manages to drag him back to her apartment. Though very reluctant, Putty eventually succumbs to having sex with Florence, only to shout out Dottie's name as he climaxes. He leaves, ashamed, as Florence cries over the humiliation. Listening in through the door, Dottie is initially pleased to hear Putty cry out her name instead of Florence's, but is immediately saddened by Florence's crying. The final scene takes place after the events of "Nature", with Putty preparing to deliver a sermon on hope, only to notice his entire congregation is depressed and lost. He searches the pews for Orel, looking for one last ray of hope, only to find him with his leg in a cast, looking as dejected as everyone else. Clay is not present. The episode concludes with Putty seemingly giving up as well, changing the title of his sermon from "Hope" to "Hopeless". 11 41 "Sacrifice" November 17, 2008 311 Episode 11 of 13 - This episode starts with a flashback to the episode "Numb", which shows how Clay has found Dr. Potterswheel's handkerchief at home. The rest of the episode takes place very shortly after the conclusion of "Sundays". Reverend Putty, as dejected as the rest of the congregation, delivers a quick Easter sermon about how nothingness can mean hope, as when the tomb was opened after Jesus' death. Clay, who has skipped church, goes to Forghetty's to drown his sorrows. Reverend Putty, Officer Papermouth and Potterswheel later join him, with Putty breaking up with Florence as he enters. Clay launches into a series of alcohol-fueled despondent rants, threatening that he will kill someone if he has to go into work and claiming to make repeated sacrifices for his family. He also mocks Papermouth for Florence sleeping with another man (hinting that it's Putty) and implies that Potterswheel gave his wife an overdose of painkillers when she was sick. Clay rants about relationships and tries to goad everyone into hitting him, but instead the bartender and three men walk out of the bar. Clay fumes that the town's role-models have made Orel "sensitive". At home, Orel tries unsuccessfully to call Clay at the bar and Bloberta searches frantically for Potterswheel's handkerchief. Shapey says his first complete sentence ("When I'm thirsty, it feels how I feel when I'm alone."), leading Orel to remark how things have changed. The episode ends with Clay going into the nature reserve and coming back with a bear (presumably the same bear killed in "Nature (Part Two)") strapped to the roof of his car. 12 42 "Nesting" November 19, 2008 312 Episode 12 of 13 - This episode begins with a flashback to when Orel was picketing eggs during the episode "Offensiveness". Clay walks in complaining of his dead-end job while it is revealed that Bloberta is knitting a picket blanket for Orel. Orel is still picketing, revealed before he gets the ban on them, he decides to go to the mayor. Upon walking in, he discovers his father, Clay, is indeed Mayor of Moralton. Enthralled, Orel is assured he can get the eggs banned, since Censordoll is reluctantly picketing for the sake of picketing. Clay is reluctant to ban the eggs, claiming Censordoll has a lot of power in the town and that banning eggs would be wrong. He pulls out a drawer, revealing a threat-letter written by Censordoll claiming Clay's days in office would be numbered if he dared banned her eggs. Clay then goes on speaking about how people don't always say what is on their mind. During this, he has a somewhat erotic vision, this including his mother as a giant chicken and he as an egg, desperately trying to reunite with his mother. This reveals he has a Oedipus Complex for his dead mother. Fearful of this realization, he quickly bans the eggs. Three months later, after the Easter sermon, Orel is seen in Figurelli's store where he runs into Censordoll. She is briefly compassionate and speaks of how Clay only wants death and how she desires life. Mesmerized by the tenderness, Orel agrees with her and becomes her campaign manager for her race to become mayor. Clay sees a rally with Orel and Censordoll, and after her speech, he tells Orel to see him in his study. Orel now seems to be completely numb to Clay's threats and pleas to keep his job. In the fall, the two are having a debate. Clay gives his opening speech to the town about what he'd do to help. Again, he has another fantasy about his deceased mother. Obviously flustered, he finishes his speech quickly. After hearing his speech, Censordoll quickly concedes the race and leaves. Frustrated, Clay goes to Orel, apologizing (albeit half-heartedly) for being a poor father and shooting him and demands to know her plans. Orel admits he does not know. Clay doesn't believe him and becomes angry and leaves after taking back all he said and exclaims he was happy to shoot Orel. The present is now seen at Christmas. At Forghetty's, we see Clay leaning in to kiss Daniel Stopframe, but quickly stops to "tend to business" with Censordoll. He vents to her how hopelessly pathetic and powerless he is and how he wishes to release the tension without the fear of making another child. Speaking to his inner need for a mother, Censordoll promises to mother him and assures that her barren body will be all the tension release he needs, if only he listens to her. Promptly the two begin to passionately make out as they fondle a chicken egg. 13 43 "Honor" December 18, 2008 313 Series Finale - Episode 13 of 13 - The episode begins with a brief flashback to the end of "The Best Christmas Ever", with Orel professing his absolute faith in God. A rapid-fire montage shows scenes of all the events since, culminating at Forghetty's with Clay and Coach Stopframe nearly kissing before being interrupted by Miss Censordoll. After seeing she and Clay make out, Stopframe leaves, vomits, and becomes angry and despondent as a result. Stopframe starts to see Clay's face everywhere in town and realizes he still has feelings for Clay. Meanwhile, Orel's cast finally comes off, but he is informed by Dr. Potterswheel that he is going to be crippled for the rest of his life due to the shooting. A despondent Orel heads home, trying to find a way to talk to his father. He finds Clay drinking in his study, pretending to instead lecture the stuffed bear Orel shot about the Fifth Commandment ("Honor thy father and thy mother," or as Clay phrases it, "Honor thy father. Not mother, just thy father."). Conflicted, Orel asks Reverend Putty for advice on how to honor his father, and Putty suggests asking someone who likes Clay as much as "women like jerks". Orel does not know who such a person could be, and the reverend directs him to Coach Stopframe. Stopframe, meanwhile, has become completely apathetic towards everyone except Orel. After having a conversation, Orel and Stopframe begin to forge a father-son relationship over Christmas caroling, much to the chagrin of Clay, who has been trying to spend time with Stopframe. Clay eventually becomes so angered that he storms into the house and declares that he, Bloberta, Shapey, and Block are going caroling. In the meantime, at Stopframe's apartment, Orel finds a picture of Stopframe and Clay and figures out the truth about Coach Stopframe's attraction to Clay. However, he still is depressed because he still cannot figure out how to honor his father. Stopframe points out that Clay did do one honorable thing: he created Orel. Clay bursts into the apartment and starts loudly accusing Coach Stopframe of using Orel the same way he used Bloberta to get to him. He makes several thinly-veiled attempts to declare his love for the coach, but cannot commit completely, outing himself to Bloberta and making her suggest the family should leave. Coach Stopframe tells Clay "it's too late" (for their relationship) after Orel tries to get his father to leave with the family, and the Puppingtons go home after Clay gives up on mending his relationship with Stopframe. The series concludes with Orel slowly morphing into an adult as Putty gives a radio address about family, noting that while most of the time we are simply stuck with them, occasionally a "miracle" happens and there is a family that truly loves one another. As Putty wraps up his sermon, we are shown a final scene of an adult Orel in his own home, happily married to Christina with two children - a girl, about three-years old, and a boy, about twelve-years old - and a puppy. On the wall behind them are photos of an adult Shapey and Block, who have become a policeman and a fireman respectively, and the still (presumably) unhappily-married Clay and Bloberta. The credits roll over the young Orel in his room with the stop-motion camera making a movie, and when he finishes, he packs up the equipment and figures, puts them all in a box, and places it under the Christmas tree as a gift for Shapey and Block. Lost episodes
According to Dino Stamatopoulos in the commentary for the series finale, there were seven finished episode scripts that Adult Swim chose not to produce due to their decision to cancel the series/roll back the number of season three episodes from 20 to 13.[1] It was suggested that Adult Swim might be willing to make a "Moral Orel special" of some sort in the future, but Stamatopolous stated that he declined the offer in favor of moving onto other projects, resulting in the creation of "Honor" as a series finale for the character.
Had the show not been cancelled and cut down to 13 episodes, the show's second half would have played out quite differently: Orel's paternal grandfather would have joined the cast, having shown up in an episode that takes place following the events of "Sacrifice", while Clay went to retrieve the body of the dead bear Orel shot. Most of the later half of the season would focus on Orel's relationship with his dying grandfather, who would help further Orel's emotional growth into adulthood and help Orel reconcile his faith with the realities of life. Other aborted plotlines would involve Orel's father's affair with Miss Censordoll and Bloberta's affair with Officer Papermouth, culminating in the death of Orel's grandfather and Orel's transformation into a goth-type figure in the wake of the death of the only good parental figure in his life.
Some of the aborted episodes involve:
- Clay Puppington's father, after finding out that he was terminally ill, moved in with the Puppingtons and was forced to share a room and bed with Orel.
- Bloberta and Officer Papermouth becoming lovers, with Bloberta finally achieving happiness through her relationship with the divorced police officer
- A second episode involving Orel and Christina's relationship
- Reverend Putty becoming cold and distant towards women following the events of "Sunday"/"Sacrifice", resulting in him finally gaining dates with women of Moralton, while Florence loses her weight and becomes slim and thin; Reverend Putty ironically finds himself attracted to the now-thin Florence but ultimately comes around to winning her heart.
- Miss Sculptham's further attempts to find love, including a lesbian relationship and one with a prisoner, both of which end badly due to Moralton society frowning upon each relationship and refusing to allow the teacher to marry either lover (a denial that she compares to having been raped); Miss Sculptham also discovers that she was actually pregnant with twins due to her rape and that her coathanger abortion only killed one of the two unborn children within her.
- An episode focusing on Shapey and Block, where the two unruly kids bond with each other and as a result, become less hellion-like.
- Orel becoming a Christian Goth following the death of his grandfather.
There is also another lost episode titled "Abstinence", animated entirely by David Tuber and Mick Ignis, two of the production staff of Moral Orel, that was finished after they learned the show had been canceled. The episode is rendered in a somewhat cruder than normal style using clay figures since the animators did not have access to the puppets normally used to create each episode. The episode centers around Doughy instead of Orel, and was only screened once at a special live event, "Sunday with Moral Orel" in San Francisco on January 18, 2009.
Possible revival
For the next four years after the final episode "Honor" aired in 2007, Moral Orel was not heavily rerun on Adult Swim other than sporadic and out-of-sequence airings late Sunday nights. However, beginning on September 19th 2011, Adult Swim began rerunning the entire series in heavy rotation every weeknight, with the intention of rerunning all three seasons from start-to-finish. When the reruns began, Dino Stamatopoulos commented on his Facebook account that "If enough people watch, there may be hope for a special or two." One month into the reruns, on October 20th Stamatopoulos made another post on his Facebook account stating: "Got a great call from the Head of Adult Swim yesterday raving about the ratings that the Moral Orel reruns have been getting. Great job, everyone! Keep watching and the Moral Orel special will be imminent." [2]
The Frankehnhole marathon run on Halloween night 2011 ended with the surprise reveal of Orel (who was actually dressed up as Dr. Frankenstein throughout the entire marathon). Orel stated to the viewers to "Expect a Moral Orel special sometime in the near future!"
See also
References
Categories:- Lists of television series episodes
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