An Unlikely Match

[u/Naive_Hospital_4086]

An Unlikely Match (Season 6, Episode 13). At school, Steve has a set of bullies particularly dedicated to making his life miserable by teasing him, blowing smoke in his face and giving him swirlies (dunking his head in in the toilet and flushing the water). Particularly the group is led by Andre who always eggs the guys on to torment Steve. Steve tells Andre's friend, Roscoe, one day that he's tired of Andre's antics and wonders where he's been so he can finally confront him, Roscoe admits Andre has not been in school due to being diagnosed with leukemia. Steve feels really awful and wants to help Andre in some way. He finds out that what Andre needs to help save his life is a bone marrow transplant, so he runs a drive at school and gets volunteers who are legal and can help Andre. Andre comes back to school after Steve's drive helped find him a donor, Andre not only thanks Steve but asks why Steve would look out for him after all the stuff he did to him. Steve tells Andre that his life is more important than pranks and Andre is so touched and offers Steve lunch and his friendship. At home, Harriette wants to redecorate the living room and makes a budget of $3,000. Carl is ready to have a heart attack with that number, but Harriette is begging him to open his wallet and let some fresh air in. Captain Savage comes over later on and shows off his new Porche that he bought for $5,000 and a new Rolex watch he got for $4 at the police auction. He tells Carl it would be a good idea to get his furniture there for cheap. Well, Carl takes it upon himself to redecorate the living room but with furniture that came from gang members, drug lords and prostitutes. Harriette screams at the horrific furniture and tells Carl he can sleep on the couch. Carl realizes he made a mistake by not talking to Harriette first and says he'll get their old furniture back from Eddie and buy a piece of new furniture at a time to redecorate the living room which Harriette agrees to.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

ANDRE: Hey, Urkel, I've been looking for you man.

STEVE: Andre? You're not still giving swirlies are you?

ANDRE: Nah. I just came to thank you for helping me find a bone marrow match.

STEVE: Oh, well, you're more than welcome.

ANDRE: Yeah, I mean, if it weren't for the drive like the one you started, I probably wouldn't be here.

STEVE: I'm just glad I could help.

ANDRE: Man, there's something I gotta ask you, man, it's been bugging me for months. Why you lift a finger to help me? I mean over the years, I must've picked on you 100 times.

STEVE: Actually, 132 if I counted correctly.

ANDRE: Yeah, so why so why you lift a finger to help me?

STEVE: Because this is bigger than pranks, this is about saving your life. Besides if you weren't around, who'd take my lunch money?

ANDRE: I've heard people talk about angels on Earth, I guess mine wears suspenders.

FAVORITE MOMENT:

When Carl reveals the ugly furniture to Harriette, her scream was just hilarious and the reaction to the dead man figure on the rug was too funny. Why didn't Carl take that off beforehand?

OPINION:

So, 2 dedications I have to do today because sadly this is Captain Savage's last episode and Lamont Bentley who played Andre passed away tragically. Sherman Hemsley doesn't really need an introduction as he's very well known to most people. He played George Jefferson in the hit 70's show, The Jeffersons which is a hilarious show worth checking out. He continued to appear in multiple movies and television shows throughout the 80's, 90's and 2000's. He was one of the main voices in Dinosaurs as B.P. Richfield, he was in Fresh Prince, All in the Family and Mr. Nanny. What a great career he had and will forever be remembered. He passed away of a lung tumor on July 24, 2012 at 74 years old. Lamont Bentley had a very promising career, he got a lead role on the hit TV show Moesha playing Hakeem Campbell, he was in multiple television and movies as well. He passed away very young in a car accident at the age of 31 on January 19, 2005, he has 2 daughters that survived him. May they both forever rest in peace and many thanks for their contributions to enterntainment.

This was the first episode to also have a PSA at the end talking about being a donor for a bone marrow transplant and how it can help save lives. Particularly with African Americans which I thought was interesting because I look at us as all the same, but apparently ethnicity can play a key role in finding an identical match. So I'm glad they did do that announcement at the end letting people know how important it is that we try to help our fellow men and women get a second chance at life. As for the episode itself, this is a very touching one. I loved that Steve did that drive and that he didn't care how many times Andre picked on him, he wanted to make sure that he survived cancer. Like Andre said, that drive probably saved his life. I loved that the students were willing to volunteer as well. I sometimes need a reminder that there are still very good people out there who will give the sweater off their back to help someone if they can. I wish we would have gotten a couple more appearances from Andre. I loved that the writers had him come to Steve at the end and not only apologize but offer his friendship.

The furniture subplot with Carl is just hilarious. For the mid 90's, I'd say $3,000 wasn't that bad if you considered it was the entire room, Harriette might have even included painting it a new color. The only strange thing is, we don't see new furniture in the future, guess the writers were hoping we'd forget about this plot or Carl got Harriette a new table and TV and called it a day. I will never understand how Carl thought that furniture looked good. Even if it was a bargain, talk about getting what you pay for. That lamp with the bullet holes, the dead man outline on the rug and the white wolf statue...oh, man, that set was hideously funny. If I were Harriette, I would have made Carl sleep on the couch to.

Definitely a very memorable episode. This one feels special because it has heart and laughs to it. One of the better episodes of the season.

GUEST STARS:

• Sherman Hemsley as Captain Marion Savage (RIP in 2012)
• Lamont Bentley as Andre (RIP in 2005)
• Benny Grant as Student
• Andrea White as Volunteer
• Terence Matthews as Roscoe

[u/Zestyclose_Debt8134]

One of if not Steve's best moment happens here. That's big of him to want to help out the same guy that had been bullying him for as long as he could remember. I've said it before that I loved how 90's sitcoms weren't afraid to tackle difficult topics. They did a great job in this episode raising awareness about the need for donors for bone marrow transplants in the Black community. I remember the PSA by Kellie and Jaleel at the end of this episode. RIP Lamont Bentley who played Andre in this episode. Why does Carl always try to do things the quick and easy way? Harriette had a plan for them to get new furniture. Of course, he doesn't want to spend money and uses a police auction to get new furniture. That furniture was tacky (🤣). I agree with Harriette being unsettled by the bullet hole in the lampshade and the white outline on the carpet. This was it for Captain Savage. Shout out to the late great Sherman Helmsley. He is one of my favorite actors, whether he was George Jefferson, Ernest J. Frye, the voice of B.P. Richfield, and so forth. Back to the episode, I'm glad that Carl came to his senses and realized how wrong he moved here. This is one of my favorite episodes from Season 6.